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Jaanipäev
or ('Jaan's Day') is the longest celebrated public holiday and one of the most important summer holidays in the Estonian folk calendar. It corresponds to the English Midsummer Day. On (the night of , which is the night before ) Estonians will gather with their families or at larger events to celebrate this important day with singing and dancing, drinking and eating, and lighting the bonfires, as has been the tradition for centuries. is arguably the most important holiday, more important than Christmas in the yearly calendar for Estonians. As Estonian National Open Air Museum describes it, "this is a time when nature is full of power and thousands of bonfires are set on fire throughout the country to celebrate the beginning of summer and ensure good luck". Name In traditional Estonian , commonly known as (loosely translated to English, 'Jaan's day'), is called Midsummer Day in English, or by Finnish, by Latvians, and St John's Day by the Christians. There are several o ...
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St John's Day (Estonia)
Jaanipäev (''St John's Day'' in English) and Jaaniõhtu, also ''Jaanilaupäev'' (''Saint John's Eve'' in English) are the most important days in the Estonian calendar, apart from Christmas. The short summer seasons with long days and brief nights hold special significance for the people of Estonia. Jaanipäev is celebrated on the night between June 23 and 24, the Western Christian feast of the nativity of Saint John the Baptist, which is a few days after the summer solstice. History of St. John’s Day Jaanipäev, although not known by that name in the pre-Christian era, it was celebrated long before the arrival of Christianity in Estonia. After the country was Christianised, the feast took the name Saint John's Day, or Jaanipäev (in Estonian). The arrival of Christianity, however, did not end fertility rituals surrounding this holiday. In 1578, with some disgust, Balthasar Russow wrote in his ''Livonian Chronicle'' about Estonians who placed more importance on feasting than ...
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Jaanipäev Annas 93 (33)
or ('Jaan's Day') is the longest celebrated public holiday and one of the most important summer holidays in the Estonian folk calendar. It corresponds to the English Midsummer Day. On (the night of , which is the night before ) Estonians will gather with their families or at larger events to celebrate this important day with singing and dancing, drinking and eating, and lighting the bonfires, as has been the tradition for centuries. is arguably the most important holiday, more important than Christmas in the yearly calendar for Estonians. As Estonian National Open Air Museum describes it, "this is a time when nature is full of power and thousands of bonfires are set on fire throughout the country to celebrate the beginning of summer and ensure good luck". Name In traditional Estonian , commonly known as (loosely translated to English, 'Jaan's day'), is called Midsummer Day in English, or by Finnish, by Latvians, and St John's Day by the Christians. There are several o ...
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Midsummer
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St John the Baptist, and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as Saint John's Eve. These are commemorated by many Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion, as well as by freemasonry. In Sweden, the Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been proposals to make the Midsummer's Eve the National Day of Sweden, instead of June 6. In Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Midsummer's festival is a public holiday. In Denmark and Norway, it may also be referred to as St. Hans Day. History Saint John's Day, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, was established by the undivided Christian Church in the 4th century AD, in honour of ...
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Midsummer Day
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr St John the Baptist, and the observance of St John's Day begins the evening before, known as Saint John's Eve. These are commemorated by many Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion, as well as by freemasonry. In Sweden, the Midsummer is such an important festivity that there have been proposals to make the Midsummer's Eve the National Day of Sweden, instead of June 6. In Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Midsummer's festival is a public holiday. In Denmark and Norway, it may also be referred to as St. Hans Day. History Saint John's Day, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, was established by the undivided Christian Church in the 4th century AD, in honour of the b ...
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Estonian Culture
The culture of Estonia combines an indigenous heritage, represented by the country's Finnic national language Estonian, with Nordic and German cultural aspects. The culture of Estonia is considered to be significantly influenced by that of the Germanic-speaking world. Due to its history and geography, Estonia's culture has also been influenced by the traditions of other Finnic peoples in the adjacent areas, also the Baltic Germans, Balts, and Slavs, as well as by cultural developments in the former dominant powers, Sweden, Denmark and Russia. Traditionally, Estonia has been seen as an area of rivalry between western and eastern Europe on many levels. An example of this geopolitical legacy is an exceptional combination of multiple nationally recognized Christian traditions: Western Christianity (the Catholic Church and the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church) and Eastern Christianity (the Orthodox Church (the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church)). The symbolism of the border or m ...
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Public Holidays In Estonia
All official holidays in Estonia are established by acts of Parliament. Public holidays The following are holidays that mean days off: National holidays The following holidays do not give a day off: References Public and National Holidays Act Estonian Holidays in 2014* List of holidays celebrated in the European Union in 2006 was used for translation: *in Estonian*in English {{Public holidays in Europe Estonia Society of Estonia Holidays A holiday is a day set aside by Norm (social), custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate ...
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Summer Solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer solstice is the day with the longest period of daylight and shortest night of the year, when the Sun is at its highest position in the sky. Within the Arctic circle (for the Northern hemisphere) or Antarctic circle (for the Southern), there is continuous daylight around the summer solstice. The opposite event is the winter solstice. The summer solstice occurs during summer. This is the June solstice (usually 20 or 21 June) in the Northern hemisphere and the December solstice (usually 21 or 22 December) in the Southern. On the summer solstice, Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the Sun is 23.44°. Likewise, the Sun's declination from the celestial equator is 23.44°. Since prehistory, the summer solstice has been seen as a significant ...
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Joninės
Saint Jonas' Festival, also known as ''Rasos'' (''Dew Holiday''), ''Joninės'', ''Kupolė'', Midsummer Day or Saint John's Day) is a midsummer folk festival celebrated on 24 June all around Lithuania. While midsummer day is celebrated throughout Europe, many Lithuanians have a particularly lively agenda on this day. The traditions include singing songs and dancing until the sun sets, telling tales, searching to find the magic fern blossom at midnight, jumping over bonfires, greeting the rising midsummer sun and washing the face with a morning dew, young girls float flower wreaths on the water of river or lake. For thousands of years, Balts, the ancestors of the Lithuanians, have celebrated the summer solstice (Rasa to the Lithuanians) by offering sacrifices to the pagan gods, and priestesses light the altar fire. This tradition still continues to this day. The ritual is usually performed by members of Romuva (religion). When Christianity came to Lithuania, it brought with it ...
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Solstice
A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around June 21 and December 21. In many countries, the seasons of the year are determined by the solstices and the equinoxes. The term ''solstice'' can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. The day of a solstice in either hemisphere has either the most sunlight of the year ( summer solstice) or the least sunlight of the year (winter solstice) for any place other than the Equator. Alternative terms, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context, are " June solstice" and " December solstice", referring to the months in which they take place every year. The word ''solstice'' is derived from the Latin ''sol'' ("sun") and ''sistere'' ("to stand still"), because at the solstices, the Sun's declination appears to "stand still"; that is, the seasonal move ...
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Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,200 other islands and islets on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, covering a total area of . The capital city Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest urban areas of the country. The Estonian language is the autochthonous and the official language of Estonia; it is the first language of the majority of its population, as well as the world's second most spoken Finnic language. The land of what is now modern Estonia has been inhabited by '' Homo sapiens'' since at least 9,000 BC. The medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last " pagan" civilisations in Europe to adopt Ch ...
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Jāņi
Jāņi () is an annual Latvian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Although astronomically the solstice falls on 21 or 22 June, the public holidays—Līgo Day and Jāņi Day—are on 23 and 24 June. The day before Jāņi is known as Līgosvētki, Līgovakars or simply Līgo. On Jāņi, people travel from the city into the countryside to gather and eat, drink, sing and celebrate the solstice by observing the ancient folk traditions relating to renewal and fertility. It is celebrated both in Latvia and in many areas where the Latvian diaspora lives such as the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Australia. Title The name "Līgosvētki" was first used and introduced in 1900 in his Jāņi songs collection by Emilis Melngailis, who back in 1928 wrote in the newspaper "Jaunākās Ziņas": Traditions Use of plants Plant material, collected and used for decorative, therapeutic and other symbolic purposes, is important in the celebration of Jāņi. Most herbaceous plant, ...
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Fern Flower
The fern flower is a magic flower in Baltic mythology ( lt, paparčio žiedas, lv, papardes zieds), in Estonian mythology ( et, sõnajalaõis) and in Slavic mythology ( be, папараць-кветка, pl, kwiat paproci, russian: цветок папоротника, uk, цвіт папороті). Tradition According to the myth, this flower blooms for a very short time on the eve of the summer solstice (celebrated on June 21 or sometimes July 7). It brings fortune to the person who finds it. In some tales, it allows animal speech understanding. It is closely guarded by evil spirits and its picker can have earthly riches, which have never benefited anyone, so some leave it alone. Estonian and Baltic In the Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian tradition, the fern flower is supposed to appear only on the night of 23 to 24 June during the celebration of the summer solstice which is called Jāņi in Latvia, Joninės or Rasos in Lithuania, Jaaniõhtu or Jaaniöö in Estonia a ...
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