Where the fern blooms: customs, traditions and ceremonies of the holiday Ivan Kupala

30.04.2019

Ivan Kupala is a folk holiday of the Eastern Slavs, celebrated on July 7th. This day marked the top of summer, half of the year and was widely celebrated with songs, dances around the fire and the impromptu Kupala, which was played by a stuffed animal made of hay, tree branches, etc. There are many signs associated with the day of Ivan Kupala on July 7th.

Actions on Ivan Kupala on July 7 and signs associated with this day

On the night of Ivan Kupala, a variety of rituals were held with the attraction of water, fire and herbs. Miraculous powers were attributed to the first, so bathing in rivers, baths, washing with dew was welcomed. Fire also had healing and cleansing powers. It was customary to throw old unnecessary things into it and thus open your home for everything new, and your souls for luck. It was on this day that it was decided to harvest medicinal herbs for the entire coming year. After the obligatory washing at dawn, all young girls and women went to the meadows and forests, where barefoot, with a good mood and prayers, they collected the plants needed in the home medicine cabinet.

For those who are interested in what church holiday the day of July 7 is timed and what signs are associated with this, it is worth answering that in time it coincided with the Nativity of John the Baptist or John the Baptist. And since baptism is carried out by immersion in a font, then the entire Slavic people plunged into reservoirs, rivers, lakes, etc. Nobody was irritated, even when they unexpectedly sprinkled cold water on him, so ancient Slavs believed that it brings good luck, health and happiness.

Folk omens on July 7

Of course, most of them are associated with the weather, because the harvest depended on it, and therefore life for the entire coming year. Here is some of them:

a clear sunny day promised late autumn;
the abundance of morning dew promised a good harvest, especially for cucumbers and nuts;
the starry and clear Kupala night was a harbinger of a good mushroom season;
rain on this holiday was not expected, as it promised a bad wheat harvest;
the main good omen associated with this July 7th holiday was to find a fern flower. It was believed that after this a person would be able to see where treasures were buried underground, and also learn to understand the language of animals;
the night on Ivan Kupala was a great excuse to find yourself a mate. And if the young people, holding hands and jumping over the fire, did not untie their fingers, then this was a sure sign that they would become husband and wife.

On this day, people prayed to St. John the Baptist, asking him for health and happiness for their children, as well as to relieve them of headaches. In addition to jumping over the fire on this holiday, they exchanged brooms, plowed rural roads, luring matchmakers or paving a groove to the house of the guy whom they wanted to see as their son-in-law. The Eastern Slavs believed that women should not eat any berries before Midsummer, otherwise they would take their young children away. The fireflies appearing that night - "Ivanovskie worms" were considered the souls of deceased ancestors who came to have fun with their relatives.

On Midsummer's Day, it was customary to bring food and drinks with you to the walk. As a rule, everyone took with them what was in the house, but cottage cheese dumplings, cheese, flour porridge, unleavened cakes, to which were added flaxseed and hemp seeds, onions, garlic, etc. Belarus - vodka, and in neighboring Podlasie - wine. As you can see, the holiday was celebrated on a universal scale, and although today it is already perceived as a relic of the past, modern people continue to believe in some omens.

Ivan Kupala

Ivan Kupala. Painting.

Ivan Kupala (Kupalo, Midsummer, Ivan Travnik) - a summer folk festival of the summer solstice of ancient origin.

Ivan Kupala, also Midsummer - a popular pagan holiday, Midsummer's Day has an old tradition of celebration almost throughout Europe. Before baptism, Ivan's holiday was timed to coincide with the summer solstice (June 20-22, old style). With the adoption of Christianity, the holiday began to be celebrated on the birthday of John the Baptist - June 24, according to the old style. With the transition to a new style, the date of birth of John the Baptist shifted to July 7 (in the XX-XXI centuries). In this regard, the holiday has lost its astronomical correspondence to the solstice.

On this holiday, a large number of rituals and ceremonies are held for health, love and beauty.

A ritual for getting rid of the unnecessary and cleansing.

Well, what a bathing night without a bathing fire! Ritual fire is an indispensable component of this magical night. Our ancestors for such a fire brought and removed from their homes any old rubbish, there was also a custom to throw a sick child's shirt into the fire, along with which the disease burned out.

The Kupala fire is not kindled on the ground, so all unnecessary trash can be thrown into an old barrel (there are usually such barrels at every dacha and in your house). Throw into the fire whatever you want to get rid of (diagnoses, unpaid bills, cigarettes and beer cans). You can just come up with some kind of ritual thing, give it the name of your problem and throw it on the fire. For example, it could be an oversized dress if you want to lose weight or an old empty wallet if you want to get rid of your money problems.

If you don't have a summer cottage and a barrel, then show your imagination (for example, you can buy a disposable grill).

Don't take everything too seriously, do these simple rituals with humor and faith in your lucky star! Everything that came to us from our ancestors deserves attention, so why not take advantage of their knowledge, skills and experience.

Once on that night all over Europe, hills and river valleys were covered with numerous fires. In Slavia, Germany, Scandinavia, Britain and Russia, people lit fires - “the eyes of the Light”.

Kupala games and holidays

And while this holy and strange time lasts, you need to do a lot: jump over a fire, bathe in life-giving waters, collect herbs that only at Kupala gain special healing power. And you also need to drive the herd through the coals to rid the cattle of all ailments. The bravest bathers went into the thicket in search of a fern flower. Whoever gets it will easily find any treasure.

The name "Kupala" means "bright white". Therefore, the white flower is called kupava, and for a special whiteness they chose the word "boil". So they say: boiling white color.

On this day, the Orthodox Church commemorates the memory of John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus Christ himself. Perhaps that is why these two holidays came together because the purification took place in both cases with water.

Kupala games and holidays were celebrated in honor of a sunny wedding, one of the acts of which was bathing the sun in the waters. Hence the name of these holidays - "Kupala". In the songs that were sung in the villages, Kupala is called love, cleanliness, and cheerful. One of the Kupala songs directly says: "Ay, Kupala is our cheerful, our summer prince, kind".

Rites and beliefs

Dance on Midsummer's Night. Anders Zorn. 1897.

Love rites

Love Kupala is called because on his day, once a year, a fern blooms, with the help of which, according to one Kupala song, "a girl's heart is kindled with fires for love."

* On the day of Ivan Kupala, the girls curled wreaths of herbs, and in the evening they let them into the water, watching how and where they swim. If the wreath sinks, it means that the betrothed has fallen out of love and will not marry him.

Cleansing rites

Ivan Kupala is called neat because at the dawn of this day it is customary to swim, and this kind of bathing is attributed to healing power. With the same purpose in the morning of Ivanov's day, the women of Vologda "scooped up the dew." To do this, they took a clean tablecloth and beetroot, with which they went to the field. They dragged the tablecloth over the wet grass, and then squeezed it into a beetroot and washed their face and hands with this dew in order to drive away any "pain".

* In the Penza province, they drew dew in the same way, although here it served not only for health, but also for cleanliness in the house: they sprinkled the beds and walls of the house with Kupala dew so that insects would not be found.

* In some districts of the Yaroslavl province, peasants recognized Midsummer's Day as very dangerous, since the water day is considered a birthday man on this day. He hates it when people climb into his kingdom, and not only drowns everyone who is careless, but, having dragged into the depths of the river pools, mocks the already dead body.

* In the Oryol province, from Ivanov's day, they began to break the rods for bath brooms. It was believed that the brooms cut off before Midsummer's Day are harmful to health (there will be "chees" on the body). Cleansing fires were kindled on the bathing night. They danced around them, jumped over them, whoever is more successful and taller will be happier.

Kupala the herbalist

Herbs and flowers collected on Midsummer's Day are placed under Midsummer's dew, dried and cherished, considering them more healing than those collected at another time.

Night at Ivan Kupala. Henryk Siemiradzki

Miracles on Kupala

With the day of Ivan Kupala, people associated ideas of miracles. On the night of Kupala it was impossible to sleep, as all the evil spirits came to life and became active: witches, werewolves, ghouls, mermaids ...

* Fern blooms at midnight on Kupala. A wonderful fire flower can indicate to the lucky person the location of all the treasures, no matter how deeply they are buried.

* Around midnight, a bud appears on the wide leaves of the fern, which rises higher and higher, then staggers, turns over and begins to "jump". Exactly at midnight, a ripe bud opens with a crash and a fiery red flower emerges from it. A person cannot rip it off, but if he sees, all his wishes will be fulfilled.

Who is Kupala

But who is Kupala and why is his name closely related to the name of Kostroma? Celebrated Kupala, the holiday of the summer solstice, on the night of June 23-24.

* Presumably on this day, the Slavs celebrated the holiday of the solar deity. The Kupala holiday was also associated with the veneration of fire. It was believed that the connection between fire and water personified the dependence of fertility on the bright sun and good watering.

* The God of the Moon and Fire, the god of fire sacrifices and the hearth Semargl Svarozhich at night stands guard in the heavens with a fiery sword. He does not let evil into the world. This is how he answered the goddess of the night, the Bathing Lady, who called him to the Ra-river in Rusalia - love games:

I need to stay awake all night until dawn

I need to stand guard in heaven

So that the Black Serpent does not crawl out of the darkness,

I would not have trampled a livestock in a wide field,

I wouldn't take milk from cows,

And mothers have little children.

The holiday begins to be celebrated on the night of July 7, which is popularly considered special - only on this night can you find the mystical fern flower, which will bring happiness and wealth to a person.

How did the holiday come about?

The bright folk holiday of Ivan Kupala takes its origins from paganism, although its origin has not been precisely established. Ivan Kupala, presumably, originated from the pagan rituals of purification, ablution, which took place in rivers and lakes on the day of the summer solstice.

The ancient Slavs Ivan Kupala had a holiday of the Sun, the maturity of summer and green mowing. Therefore, it was associated with the summer solstice, which, according to the old style, fell on June 20-22.

After the adoption of Christianity in Russia, Ivan Kupala, which was timed to coincide with one of the greatest Orthodox holidays - the Nativity of John the Baptist, began to symbolize the Christian rite of baptism.

The future prophet, who predicts the coming of the Messiah - Jesus Christ, and then baptizes him in the waters of the Jordan River, was born into the family of the Jewish priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth on July 7 (June 24 according to the old style).

Centuries have passed - the holiday of Ivan Kupala, which has undergone changes and lost its true astronomical time, people continue to celebrate widely and brightly.

According to ancient tradition, the holiday is celebrated to this day in many countries, including Europe, the Baltic States, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and so on. In many countries, the holiday of Ivan Kupala today is both a church holiday and a folk one, although it is called differently.

Traditions and rituals

The holiday, which was popularly called Midsummer's Night or Midsummer's Day, according to tradition, begins to be celebrated with the onset of night - people performed numerous rituals and ceremonies associated with water, fire and herbs, and of course, they wondered. By the way, many of these rites have survived to this day.

On the night of Ivan Kupala, the main tradition was mandatory swimming in the water, since in the old days people believed that, from that day until Ilyin's day (August 2, in a new style), all evil spirits left the waters of lakes, rivers and reservoirs.

Therefore, the water on this night was considered healing and had magical powers. Accordingly, she helped to cleanse from all evil, heal and acquire good health.

In those villages where there was no reservoir nearby, people flooded baths in which they steamed and washed themselves from evil spirits, and they used bath brooms that were prepared that day until the next day of Ivan Kupala. People believed that plants on this day have a special power and have a beneficial effect on people's health.

The people believed that it was at this time that water entered into a sacred union with fire. This was considered a huge natural force, the symbol of which was the Kupala bonfires, which they kindled along the shores of lakes, rivers and reservoirs today.

According to popular beliefs, fire, like water, on the night of Ivan Kupala had great magical and purifying power. Therefore, large fires were made on the banks of rivers, lakes and reservoirs, which could save people from all evil spirits.

The people believed that it was impossible to sleep on the Kupala night, since it was on this night that all evil spirits - goblin, mermaids, werewolves, kikimors, brownies, water, etc., went outside and could harm people, so they tried to defend themselves fire from bonfires.

The youth led round dances, danced around the fires and, of course, jumped over the fire. According to tradition, whoever jumps higher and does not touch the flame will be happy. Men also pursued the goal of becoming luckier and bolder, and girls and women - to improve their health, add beauty and attractiveness.

The older generation spent their livestock between the Kupala bonfires so that they would not suffer death and illness. And mothers burned linen, shirts and clothes taken from sick children in bonfires so that no ailment would take them.

It was also popular to set fire to wooden wheels or tar barrels, which were subsequently rolled down the mountain or carried on long poles, symbolizing the solstice.

Nowadays, the most popular tradition on the day of Ivan Kupala is to douse yourself with water, as people continue to believe that water washes away diseases and cleanses a person. However, the church does not welcome pagan rites.

The meaning of flowers and herbs

Flowers and herbs also possessed magical, healing power on the night of Ivan Kupala, so there were many rituals associated with their collection. But, it was necessary to collect the grass before dawn, otherwise all the magical properties disappeared.

In particular, flowers and herbs collected on Midsummer's night were placed under the Kupala dew, then dried and used as needed. They watered sick people with medicinal broths, fumigated huts, drove out evil spirits, attracted good luck and prosperity.

Some plants were believed to confer the ability to talk to birds and animals. Some of the most popular herbs harvested that night were nettles, coltsfoot, oregano, wild rosemary and wormwood. They fought with such herbs against evil spirits and used in various magical rites.

According to legend, the main flower that night was and remains a fern, which blooms for a very short time. According to popular beliefs, the flowering fern, which was considered one of the most mysterious, witchcraft plants, not only fulfills innermost desires, but also helps to find treasures.

It was believed that not only the fern flower possesses magic, but also the blossoming hop-grass. Flight-grass, according to popular belief, can carry over to distant lands. And if on the night of Ivan Kupala you pluck the overpowered grass, then you will not be afraid of enemies.

Fortune telling, beliefs and signs

Fortune-telling with the help of wreaths remains the most common for Ivan Kupala. Wreaths were woven from various herbs - burdock, bear's ear, Bogorodskaya grass (thyme, thyme) or ivana da marya, into which small lighted bits or candles were inserted. Then they lowered them into the water and watched them closely.

If the wreath began to quickly float away from the coast, this meant a happy and long life or a good marriage, and if the wreath sank, it meant that the girl would not marry this year or her betrothed would stop loving her.

The happiest person could be the person whose wreath swam farther than others, and the longest lived - whose candle or splinter in the wreath will burn out longer than others.

On this night, people with nettles protected themselves from the encroachments of various evil spirits - for this, the plant was laid out on the doorstep of the house and on the windowsills.

On the Kupala night, people always locked up their horses, which were especially vulnerable that night, since the witches hunted them in order to go to Bald Mountain, from which the horses did not return alive.

On the night of Ivan Kupala, people searched for anthills and collected ant oil, which, according to legend, was endowed with great healing properties that night.

The Ivan-da-Marya flower, plucked on the night of Ivan Kupala, had to be put into all corners of the house - people believed that by doing this they were protecting it from the encroachments of thieves.

According to one of the legends, the ivan-da-marya flower is a brother and sister who fell in love with each other, and were punished for this, and turned into a flower. Brother and sister will talk, and this will frighten off the thieves.

It is believed that on the night of Ivan Kupala, trees can move from one place to another, talk to each other with the rustle of leaves. This also applied to grass and flowers. Even animals, according to legend, talk among themselves on this night.

According to one of the signs, at midnight you need to pick flowers without looking and put them under the pillow, and in the morning check whether there are twelve different herbs or not. If she has enough, this year the girl will get married.

A triputnik (plantain) is placed under the head, saying: "A tripwalker-companion, you live by the road, you see the small and the old, tell my betrothed!"

On Midsummer's Day before sunrise, you need to carry a bear's head through your herd and bury it in the middle of the yard, then there will be no deaths among the livestock.

And if you climb over twelve vegetable gardens on Midsummer's day, any wish will come true.

Strong dew on Ivan Kupala - to the harvest of cucumbers, if on Midsummer's night there will be a lot of mushrooms.

Material prepared on the basis of open sources

One of the most romantic, mysterious folk holidays is, undoubtedly, Ivana Kupala. Whose holiday, traditions and customs of this day - this will be discussed further.

They began to celebrate it in hoary pagan antiquity. Among the Eastern Slavs, it fell on June 24. But after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar, the date shifted to July 7th. Celebrations and rituals of Midsummer's Day necessarily include three main components: fire, water and herbs.

Ivana Kupala and Christianity

The history of the origin of the holiday of Ivan Kupala tells that after the baptism of Russia, the celebration coincided with the church holiday of the Birth of John the Baptist (Ivan the Baptist). The first part of the modern name of Ivan Kupala is associated with him. The second part, according to some researchers, bears the name of the pagan deity of fruits and flowers Kupala. But others argue that there was no such god in the Slavic pantheon, and the name "Kupala" is associated with the rituals held on that day.

The history of the holiday of Ivan Kupala contains information that such a double name arose at a time when the church tried to completely replace the pagan holiday with a Christian one. The priests were extremely negative about the festivities and fortune-telling that took place on this day. They constantly tried to prohibit them, considering such amusements to be godless, demonic and associated them with the worship of the unclean.

When Ivan Kupala is celebrated

The history of the holiday of Ivan Kupala brought us information that inAll major celebrations begin on the evening of July 6 (June 23) at sunset and continue through the night until dawn. The night on Ivan Kupala is considered magical. At this time, all the evil spirits are walking and dirtying: witches, mermaids, mavki, etc., and herbs, water and fire acquire magical and healing properties.

As noted by Ivana Kupala

What to do on Ivan Kupala?Already after lunch on July 6 (June 23), the girls began to collect flowers, herbs and weave wreaths. Also, the youth made stuffed animals of Marena and Kupala, the main characters of the holiday. In different regions they were made in different ways: from straw, branches, a whole tree, etc. They were decorated with flowers, ribbons, berries and fruits. Madder symbolized winter wilting, the dying of nature, while Kupala was a symbol of rebirth and abundance. Boys and girls danced around the stuffed animals and sang special ritual songs, thus glorifying the eternal natural cycle. Then the stuffed animals were usually drowned in water or burned at the stake, and the celebrations continued around the large Kupala fireplace.

Kupala bonfire

It was believed that on the night of Ivan Kupala, the fire acquires a special purifying power. Therefore, a ritual bonfire was an obligatory attribute of this holiday. It was made very large and tall so that it would blaze like the sun. In the center of the fire place, a high pillar was installed, on which the skull of a horse or a cow - "vidma" was often put on. Everyone, young and old, gathered around the fire, danced, sang and danced. When the fire burned out a little, young boys and girls began to jump over the fire to cleanse themselves, to cure ailments, to protect themselves from the evil eye and evil spirits. If a girl could not jump over the fire, then she was considered a witch. They could have doused with water, unfastened with nettles, sprinkled with feathers. Young couples jumped holding hands, and if the hands did not disconnect in the jump, they could hope for a strong union.

What else to do on Ivan Kupala? There was also a custom to burn old and unnecessary things on this day, getting rid of old grievances and troubles with them. Even at the Kupala bonfire, mothers burned the shirt of a sick child so that the sickness tormenting their child would also burn with it. And sometimes even livestock was driven over the Kupala bonfire in order to rid it of pestilence and disease.

Healing water

The history of the holiday of Ivan Kupala tells that inThe ode on this day acquires a special healing power. Swimming in water bodies on this day was treated differently. In some regions, ablution was considered an obligatory ritual, since it cleansed the body from diseases, and the soul from bad thoughts. In addition, all the evil spirits (mermaids, water) left the reservoirs, gathering for their sabbaths.

And in others, on the contrary, they feared mass bathing precisely because of the evil spirits that roamed that day. But they certainly tried to walk barefoot, wash and even lie in the morning dew. This promised the youths strength and health, and the girls beauty. Also on Midsummer's Day they liked to take a steam bath with brooms of 12 medicinal herbs collected the day before, on the Kupala night. And the water drawn from the springs had miraculous powers.

Magical herbs

The history of the holiday of Ivan Kupala contains information that on the magical Kupala night, all herbs and plants acquire special strength. At dawn, herbalists and healers went to collect miraculous medicinal herbs covered with healing Kupala dew. When collecting, a special prayer-conspiracy was necessarily read. And in Belarus, for example, it was believed that the properties of herbs would increase even more if they were collected by "old and small", that is, children and old people. After all, they have pure and innocent souls.

The Slavs believed that on Ivan Kupala (July 7), medicinal plants grow forest spirits - Mavka and take care of them, supplying them with healing properties.

Symbols of the sun in the Kupala rites

Since the holiday of Ivan Kupala (July 7) was celebrated on the day of the summer solstice, many of its attributes symbolize our luminary. For example, the guys threw fiery wheels or burned tarred barrels from the hills, which was supposed to symbolize the solar cycle. And one of the indispensable accessories of the Kupala Christmastide is a wreath. The maiden wreath in the mythology of the Slavs has always symbolized the sun, as well as youth and purity. Round dances around bonfires and stuffed animals and special ritual songs were associated with sun worship.

Signs on Ivan Kupala for girls regarding wreaths

Each young girl certainly wove herself a wreath from flowers, herbs, twigs and berries, which adorned her head during dances and festivities. The maiden wreath on this magical night had a special, magical meaning. For example, girls lowered a wreath into a river or a spring, scooped water through them and washed their faces, believing that this would make their skin white, their cheeks rosy, and their eyes shiny. But the main ritual action began a little later, when the girls ran away from the guys and, attaching lighted candles to their wreaths, sent them to swim along the river. Each girl watched her wreath closely. If he sailed far, then his mistress certainly had to get married this year. If he was spinning in place, then the marriage had to be postponed until next year. But worst of all, if the wreath sank. Then it was believed that the unlucky woman did not have a couple and she would have to while away her century alone.

However, the guys did not ignore this action. Observing the ceremony on the sly, they then tried to fish out the wreath of their chosen one from the river and demand a kiss from her in return.

Fern color

The most famous Kupala legend about a fern flower. It has long been believed that once a year a fern flower blooms on a magical night. It blooms only for a moment and is guarded by evil spirits, but whoever finds it will acquire extraordinary abilities. He will be able to understand the language of animals, birds and plants, see buried treasures through the earthly firmament, open any locks, rule the earth, water and unclean spirits, become invisible, and so on.

Beliefs and omens about Ivan Kupala

It was believed that on this magical night, trees can move and talk to each other, just like birds and animals. And in the dark forest between the trees, you can see many fluttering fireflies. These are the souls of ancestors who returned to earth for only one night.

Also, on the night of Kupala, all kinds of evil spirits are activated: mermaids, mavki, goblin, brownies and other spirits. They arrange their festivities, having fun with all sorts of tricks.

But most of all harm could be caused by witches who repair various dirty tricks that night and gather for sabbaths. That is why a woman who did not come to the fireplace on the Kupala night could be considered a witch.

To protect themselves from otherworldly forces, they used a wide variety of amulets: branches of sacred willow, aspen pegs, hemp blossom, nettle and wormwood. And even torn men's trousers, which were hung on the lintel of the barn, so that the witch could not enter and take milk from the cow or take the horse away for a trip to Bald Mountain to the place of the witch's Sabbath.

Kupala night was the only opportunity for young people to have fun and dance until dawn, without causing condemnation from adults. Their innumerable pranks and some liberties caused only a smile. Perhaps that is why the people for many centuries so tremblingly preserved and preserved this life-affirming and magical holiday, its traditions and rituals.

On July 7, around the world, the day of Ivan Kupala or the Nativity of the prophet John the Baptist (John the Baptist) is celebrated. Despite the fact that this holiday has already a thousand-year history, in recent years in secular society it is increasingly moving away from the original tradition and is overgrown with various new ridiculous myths. And this is not surprising. There is very much we do not know about the origin of this holiday.

So, what do we DO NOT know about the day of Ivan Kupala?

7 forgotten facts:

1. Title.

Some cult workers, writing scripts for the holiday, seek out legends about the pagan god Kupala. However, alas, it never existed. He was added to the pantheon of Slavic gods in the 17th century by a certain overly zealous scribe. The chronicler, knowing about the "demonic games" on Ivan Kupala, took the name of the holiday for the name of a pagan god. Subsequently, this misunderstanding was repeated by early researchers of Slavic mythology, as a result of which a new deity appeared.

So, the ancient Slavs did not know any Kupala. The Prophet John the Baptist began to be called among us rather late. Basically in the Christian world, he is known as Yochanan ha-Matbil (Hebrew), Ioannis o Baptistis (Greek), etc., which roughly means “cleansing with water, immersion, bathing”. From here, by the way, came the name "Baptists" - "immersing", as they baptized by immersing a person in water, like the Orthodox, and not pouring water on him, like the Catholics. Thus, "Kupalo" is a Slavic translation of the common Christian nickname John. Then gradually the name “Baptism” was assigned to the church rite of immersion in water, and John became the “Baptist”.

2. Solstice.

In many books you can read that the day of Ivan Kupala was the holiday of the summer solstice. In fact, the summer solstice falls on June 21st, which is more than 2 weeks earlier! At the same time, in reality, it is almost never noted in the national calendar. How and when the day of the turning point of summer was celebrated in the pre-Christian era, as this holiday was called, no one knows.

3. Fern flower.

Many people know that fern does not belong to flowering plants and never blooms at all. And our ancestors were no more stupid than us. The fern as the main plant of the holiday, and even blooming on the night of Ivan Kupala, was promoted already in the XX century. Previously, on the Kupala night, they were looking for different plants: rue, sage, plantain, violet, Ivan da Maryu, wormwood, nettle, and sometimes fern

4. Fire.

Traditional bonfires lit on the night of Ivan Kupala are not at all symbols of summer or the sun. They are related to funeral pyres, in the fire of which the victims were burned: the sun is waning, dying, and it would be necessary to "feed" it. Alas, in pre-Christian antiquity, sacrifices were not at all solar sacrifices to the sun gods. Jumping over the fire, people, on the one hand, cleansed themselves of filth, and on the other, chose a victim. Those who could not jump were sacrificed - they say, the choice of the gods fell on him. By the way, in our time in Russia every year on this day there are many cases when people are injured and even die from burns with such "bouncing".

In accordance with this symbolism of fire, all the rituals associated with these fires were regulated. They still remember that you need to jump over the fire in pairs and holding hands. But many have already forgotten about the fact that not everyone had the right to jump! According to legends, it was not allowed to perform this rite to people who were married, as well as those who did not remember their ancestors - they were considered inferior members of the community. In some areas, people who had lost their virginity before the wedding (including boys) were not allowed to the bonfires, as they "defiled" the fire.

5. Water.

Despite the fact that the name of the holiday suggests swimming, swimming on this night was considered harmful and even dangerous, because this day was celebrated as the "name day of the water". But in the northern provinces on this day, although they washed themselves with river water, they certainly did it in the baths.

6. And copper pipes.

The media often presents this holiday as almost the most important holiday in the village. However, ethnographers point out the opposite. From the point of view of the Russian peasant, Midsummer's Day was far from the most important summer holiday. Much more important for the life of the community were the Spirits Day - the holiday of the earth, the "cattle holiday" - Flora and Laurus, the day of the apostles Peter and Paul, from which the harvest season and haymaking began, and a number of other holidays.