. (Ukraine stamp), 1997 On this day, June 24, it was customary to pray to John the Baptist for headaches and for children. , 2011 Kupala Night is filled with rituals related to water, fire and herbs. Most Kupala rituals take place at night. Bathing before sunset was considered mandatory: in the north,
Russians were more likely to bathe in
banyas, and in the south in rivers and lakes. Closer to sunset, on high ground or near rivers, bonfires were lit. Sometimes, fires were lit in the traditional way – by
friction wood against wood. In some places in
Belarus and
Volyn Polissia, this archaic way of lighting a fire for the holiday survived until early 20th century. According to Vera Sokolova, among the Eastern Slavs, the holiday has been preserved in its most "archaic" form by the
Belarusians. In the center of the Kupala bonfire, Belarusians would place a pole on top of which a wheel was attached. Sometimes a horse's skull, called , was placed on top of the wheel and thrown into the fire, where it would burn, after which the youth would play, sing and dance around the fire. In Belarus, old, unwanted items were collected from backyards throughout the village and taken to a place chosen for the celebration (a glade, a high riverbank), where they were then burned.
Ukrainians also preserved the main archaic elements, but changed their symbolic meanings in the 19th century. Russians either forgot the main elements of the Kupala ceremony or transferred them to other holidays (
Trinity Day,
Peter Day). The celebration of Kupala Night is mentioned in the
Hustyn Chronicle (17th century): This Kupala... is commemorated on the eve of the Nativity of John the Baptist... in the following manner: In the evening, ordinary children of both sexes gather and make wreaths of poisonous herbs or roots, and those covered with their clothes set fire, and then they put a green branch, and holding their hands they dance around the fire, singing their songs... Then they leap over the fire... On Kupala Night, "bride and groom" were chosen and wedding ceremonies were conducted: they jumped over the fire holding hands, exchanged
wreaths (symbol of maidenhood), looked for the fern flower and bathed in the morning dew. On this day, "village roads were plowed so that 'matchmakers would come sooner', or a
furrow was plowed to a boy's house so that he would get engaged faster." In some parts of Ukrainian and Belarusian tradition, it was only after Kupala that
vesnianky were no longer sung. Eastern and Western Slavs were forbidden to eat
cherries before that day. Eastern Slavs believed that women should not eat berries before St. John's Day, or their young children would die. The custom of public condemnation and ridicule on Kupala Night (also
George's Day in Spring and Trinity Day) is well known. Criticism and condemnation are usually directed at residents of one's own or a neighboring village who have violated social and moral norms over the past year. This social condemnation can be heard in Ukrainian and Belarusian songs, which contain themes of quarrels between girls and boys or residents of neighboring villages. Condemnation and ridicule are expressed in public and serve as a regulator of social relations. According to
Hutsuls beliefs, after Kupala come the "", when thunders and lightnings are common. These are days when thunderous spirits walk around, sending lightning bolts to the earth. "And then between the dark sky and the tops of the mountains, fire trees grow, connecting heaven and earth. And so it will be until the
Elijah's day, the old Thunderous feast" after which, they say, "thunder will stop pounding."
Alexander Veselovsky, points out the similarity between the Slavic customs of Kupala Night and the Greek customs of Elijah's day, (Elijah the Thunderer).
Ritual dishes The consecration of the first fruits ripening at this time may have coincided with the Kupala Night holiday. In some Russian villages, "
votive porridge" was brewed: on St. Juliana's day (June 22), girls would gather to talk and, while singing, pound barley in a mortar. On the morning of St. Agrippina's day (June 23), barley was used to cook votive porridge. During the day, this porridge was given to the poor, and in the evening, sprinkled with butter, it was eaten by everyone. Among
Belarusians, delicacies brought from home were eaten both in separate groups and at
potluck and consisted of
vareniki, cheese,
tvarog, flour porridge (), sweet dough (
babka) with ground hemp seeds, onion, garlic, bread acid (
cold borscht), and eggs in lard. In
Belarus in the 19th century,
vodka was drunk during the holiday, and wine was drunk in
Podlachia and the
Carpathians. Songs have preserved mention of the ancient drinks of the night: Will accept you,
Kupal’nochka, as a guest, With treating you with green vine, With watering you with wheat beer, With feeding you with
quark.
Water The obligatory custom on this day was mass bathing. It was believed that on this day all evil spirits would leave the rivers, so it was safe to swim until
Elijah's day. In addition, the water of Kupala Night was endowed with revitalizing and magical properties. In places where people were not allowed to bathe in rivers (because of russets), they bathed in "sacred springs". In the
Russian North, on the day before of Kupala Night, on St. Agrippina's Day, baths were heated in which people were washed and steamed, while steaming the herbs collected on that day. Water drawn from springs on St. John's Day was said to have miraculous and magical powers. On this holiday, according to a common sign, water can "make friends" with fire. The symbol of this union was a bonfire lit along the banks of rivers. Wreaths were often used for divination on Kupala Night: if they floated on the water, it meant good luck and long life or marriage. A 16th-century Russian scribe attempted to explain the name () and the healing power of St. John's Day by referring to the Old Testament legend of Tobias. As he writes, it was on this day that Tobias bathed in the Tigris, where, on the advice of the archangel Raphael, he discovered a fish whose entrails cured his father of blindness.
Bonfire , 2008 The main feature of the Kupala Night is the cleansing
bonfires.
Kupala songs Many folklorists believe that the content of Kupala songs is poorly related to the rituals and mythological meaning of the holiday. The multi-genre song texts include many lyrical songs with love and family themes, humorous chants between boys and girls, khorovod dance songs and games, ballads, etc. As Kupala songs, these are identified by specific melodies and a specific calendar period. In other periods, it was not customary to sing such songs.
Wreath in 2019 The wreath was a mandatory attribute of the amusements. It was made before the holiday from wild herbs and flowers. The ritual use of the Kupala wreath is also related to the magical understanding of its shape, which brings it closer to other round and perforated objects (ring, hoop, loaf, etc.). The customs of milking or sipping milk through the wreath, reaching and pulling something through the wreath, looking, pouring, drinking, washing through it are based on these attributes of the wreath. It was believed that each plant gave the wreath special properties, and the way it was made — twisting and weaving — also added symbolism. Wreaths were often made of
periwinkle,
basil,
geranium,
ferns,
roses,
blackberries,
oak and
birch branches, etc. During the festival, the wreath was usually destroyed: thrown into water, burned in a bonfire, thrown on a tree or the roof of a house, carried to a cemetery, etc. Sometimes the wreath was preserved and used for healing, protecting fields from hailstorms and vegetable gardens from "worms". In Polesia, at the dawn of St. John's Day, peasants would choose the prettiest girl from among themselves, strip her naked and wrap her from head to toe in wreaths of flowers, then go to the forest, where the "
dzevko-kupalo" (
girl-kupalo – as the chosen girl was called) would distribute the previously prepared wreaths to her girlfriends. She would blindfold herself, and the girls would walk around her in a merry dance. The garland that someone received was used to foretell future fate: a fresh garland meant a rich and happy marriage, a dry garland meant poverty and an unhappy marriage: "she will not have happiness, she will live in misery."
Kupala tree Depending on the region, a young
birch,
willow,
maple,
spruce, or the cut top of an
apple tree was chosen for the Kupala. The girls would decorate it with wreaths, field flowers, fruits, ribbons and sometimes candles; then take it outside the village, stick it in the ground in a clearing and dance, walk and sing around it. Later, the boys would join in the fun, pretending to steal the Kupala tree or ornaments from it, knocking it over or setting it on fire, while the girls protected it. At the end, everyone together was supposed to drown the Kupala tree in the river or burn it in a bonfire. Before the ritual, the tree could not be cut down, but simply located in a convenient place for the
khorovod and dressed. In the
Zhytomyr region, in one village, a dry
pine tree, growing outside the village near the river, was chosen for this; it was called . The celebrants threw the burnt tree trunk into the water, and then ran away so that "the witch (didn't) catch up with them."
Medicinal and magical herbs ,
Paporotniki u vody, 1895 '' A characteristic sign of Kupala Night are the many customs and legends associated with the plant world. and the so-called
Ivan-da-marya flower (e.g.,
Melampyrum nemorosum; literally:
John and Mary) were associated with special Kupala legends. The names of these plants appear in Kupala songs. The Slavs believed that only once a year, on St. John's Day, a
fern blooms. This mythical flower, which does not exist in nature, is supposed to give those who pick it and keep it with them miraculous powers. According to beliefs, the bearer of the flower becomes clairvoyant, can understand the language of animals, see all treasures, no matter how deep they are in the ground, and enter treasuries unhindered by holding the flower to locks and bolts (they must crumble before it), wield unclean spirits, wield earth and water, become invisible and
take any form. One of the main symbols of St. John's Day was the
Ivan-da-marya flower, which symbolized the magical combination of fire and water. Kupala songs link the origin of this flower to twins – a brother and sister – who got into a
forbidden love affair and because of this turned into a flower. The story of incestuous twins finds numerous parallels in Indo-European mythologies. Some plant names are related to the name Kupala, e.g.
Czech kupadlo "
Bromus", "
Cuscuta trifolii",
kupalnice "
Ranunculus", Polish
kupalnik "
Arnica", Ukrainian "
Taraxacum officinale", "
Tussilago", Russian "
Ranunculus acris".
Protection from evil spirits It was believed that on the Kupala Night all evil spirits awaken to life and harm people; that one should beware of "the mischief of demons –
domovoy,
vodyanoy,
leshy,
rusalky". In order to prevent witches from "taking away" milk from cows, Russians pounded consecrated
willow in pastures, and in Ukraine the owner pounded
aspen stakes in the yard. In Polesia,
nettles, torn men's pants or a mirror was hung in the stable gate for the same purpose. In Belarus, aspen twigs and stakes were used to defend not only cattle, but also crops, "so that witches would not take the spores." To ward off evil spirits, it was customary to hammer sharp and prickly objects into tables, windows, doors, etc. In the Eastern Slavs, when a witch entered the house, a knife was driven into the table from below to prevent her from leaving. Southern Slavs believed that sticking a knife or hawthorn branch into the door would protect them from vampires or nightmares. On Kupala night, Eastern Slavs would drive scythes, pitchforks, knives and branches of certain trees into the windows and doors of houses and barns, protecting their space from evil spirits. It was believed that in order to protect oneself from witch attacks, one should put nettles on the threshold and window sills. Ukrainian girls collected wormwood because they believed it was feared by witches and russets. In
Podolia, on St. John's Day,
hemp flowers ("porridge") were collected and scattered in front of the entrances to houses and barns to bar the way for witches. In order to prevent the witches from stealing them and driving them to Bald Mountain (no horse will return from there alive), the horses must be locked up. Belarusians believed that during Kupala Night, domoviks would ride horses and torture them. In Ukraine and Belarus, magical powers were attributed to firebrands from the Kupala bonfire. In western Polesia, young people would pull the sails from the fire, run with them as if they were torches, wave them over their heads, and then throw them into the fields "to protect the crops from evil powers." In Polesia, a woman who did not come to the bonfire was called a witch by the youth, cursed and teased. In order to identify and neutralize the witch, the road along which cattle are usually herded was blocked with thread, plowed with a plow or harrow, sprinkled with seeds or ants and poured with ant stock, believing that the witch's cow would not be able to overcome the obstacle. According to Slavic beliefs, the root of
Lythrum salicaria dug up on St. John's Day was able to ward off sorcerers and witches; it could be used to drive demons out of the possessed and possessors.
Youth games The games usually had a love-marriage theme: ,
tag, ,
celovki; ball games (
myachevukha,
v baryshi and others).
Ritual pranks On the night of Kupala, as well as on one of the nights during the winter Christmas holidays, among Eastern Slavs, youngsters often engaged in ritual mischief and pranks: they stole firewood, carts, gates and hoisted them onto roofs, propped up house doors, covered windows, etc. Pranks on Kupala night are a South Russian and Polesian tradition.
Sun It is a well-known belief that on St. John's Eve, the sun at sunrise shimmers with different colors or reflects, flashes, stops, etc. The most common way of referring to this phenomenon is as follows: the sun plays or jumps; in some traditions it also bathes, jumps, dances, walks, trembles, is merry, spins, bows, changes, blooms, beautifies (Russia); the sun
Crowing (Polesia). In some parts of Bulgaria, it is believed that at dawn on St. John's Day, three suns appear in the sky, of which only the central one is "ours" and the others are its brothers – shining at other times and over other lands. The Serbs called John the Baptist because they believed that on this day the sun stops three times in the sky or plays. They explained the behavior of the sun on John's day by referring to Gospel verses relating to the birth of John the Baptist: "When
Elizabeth heard
Mary's greeting, the child in her womb moved, and the
Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth." == Church on folk rituals ==