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Rasos Festival
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romuva (religion)
Romuva is a neo-pagan movement derived from the traditional mythology of the Lithuanians, attempting to reconstruct the religious rituals of the Lithuanians before their forced Christianization in 1387. Practitioners of Romuva claim to continue Baltic pagan traditions which survived in folklore, customs and superstition. Romuva is a polytheistic pagan faith which asserts the sanctity of nature and ancestor worship. Practicing the Romuva faith is seen by many adherents as a form of cultural pride, along with celebrating traditional forms of art, retelling Baltic folklore, practising traditional holidays, playing traditional Baltic music, singing traditional (songs), as well as ecological activism and stewarding sacred places. Romuva primarily exists in Lithuania but there are also congregations of adherents in Australia, Canada, Russia, the United States, and England. There are believers of Baltic pagan faiths in other nations, including Dievturība in Latvia.Dundzila (2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint John's Day
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox, and Lutheran doctrine, all of their faithful deceased in Heaven are considered to be saints, but some are considered worthy of greater honor or emulation. Official ecclesiastical recognition, and consequently a public cult of veneration, is conferred on some denominational saints through the process of canonization in the Catholic Church or glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church after their approval. While the English word ''saint'' originated in Christianity, historians of religion tend to use the appellation "in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people", referring to the Jewish tzadik, the Islamic walī, the Hindu rishi or Sikh gur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festivals In Lithuania
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes typical cases of glocalization, as well as the high culture-low culture interrelationship. Next to religion and folklore, a significant origin is agricultural. Food is such a vital resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn, such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere and Easter in the southern. Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanking to the gods, goddesses or saints: they are called patronal festivals. They may also provide entertainment, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced enter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festa De São João Do Porto
''Festa de São João do Porto'' ( en, Festival of St John of Porto) is a festival during Midsummer, on the night of 23 June (Saint John's Eve), in the city of Porto, in the north of Portugal, as thousands of people come to the city centre and more traditional neighborhoods to pay a tribute to Saint John the Baptist, in a party that mixes sacred and profane traditions. History Festivities have been held in the city for more than six centuries. During the 19th century Saint John's day became the city's most important festival. Description The party starts early in the afternoon of 23 June and usually lasts until the morning of 24 June. A tradition with roots in pagan courtship rituals is for people to hit each other either with garlic flowers or soft plastic hammers. Traditional attractions of the night include street concerts, dancing parties, bonfire jumping, eating barbecued sardines, Caldo verde and meat, drinking wine and releasing illuminated flame-propelled balloons over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaaniõhtu
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 feastin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan Kupala Day
Kupala Night ( be, Купалле, pl, Noc Kupały, russian: Иван-Купала, uk, Івана Купала, Купайла), also called Ivanа Kupala, is a traditional Slavic holiday that was originally celebrated on the shortest night of the year, which is on or 23-24 of June ( Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia) and in Eastern Slavic countries according to traditional Julian calendar on the night between 6 to 7 July ( Belarus, Russia and Ukraine). Calendar-wise, it is opposite to the winter holiday Koliada. The celebration relates to the summer solstice when nights are the shortest and includes a number of Slavic rituals. It involves herb collecting, bonfire lighting, and bathing in the river. History The name of the holiday was originally Kupala; a pagan fertility rite later adapted into the Orthodox Christian calendar by connecting it with St. John's Day which is celebrated on 24 June. Eastern Christianity uses traditional Julian calendar which is misal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kupolė
The list of Lithuanian gods is reconstructed based on scarce written sources and late folklore. Lithuania converted to Christianity in 1387, but elements of Lithuanian mythology survived into the 19th century. The earliest written sources, authored by foreigners and Christians, only briefly mention the Lithuanian gods. Beginning in the 16th century, the pagan religion received more attention from authors, but often their accounts were confused, contradictory, and heavily influenced by various religious agendas. Collection and recording of folklore began in the 19th century, by which time the pagan mythology had become fragmented and mixed with Christian traditions. The cults of old deities transformed into folklore (individual tales, myths, songs, etc.) without associated rituals. Because of such difficulties obtaining data, there is no accepted list of Lithuanian gods. Different authors present wildly contradictory reconstructions of the Lithuanian pantheon. Names from folklore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Lithuanian Mythological Figures
The list of Lithuanian gods is reconstructed based on scarce written sources and late folklore. Lithuania converted to Christianity in 1387, but elements of Lithuanian mythology survived into the 19th century. The earliest written sources, authored by foreigners and Christians, only briefly mention the Lithuanian gods. Beginning in the 16th century, the pagan religion received more attention from authors, but often their accounts were confused, contradictory, and heavily influenced by various religious agendas. Collection and recording of folklore began in the 19th century, by which time the pagan mythology had become fragmented and mixed with Christian traditions. The cults of old deities transformed into folklore (individual tales, myths, songs, etc.) without associated rituals. Because of such difficulties obtaining data, there is no accepted list of Lithuanian gods. Different authors present wildly contradictory reconstructions of the Lithuanian pantheon. Names from folklore m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonines In Vepriai
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples ( lt, baltai, lv, balti) are an ethno-linguistic group of peoples who speak the Baltic languages of the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. One of the features of Baltic languages is the number of conservative or archaic features retained. Among the Baltic peoples are modern-day Lithuanians and Latvians (including Latgalians) — all Eastern Balts — as well as the Old Prussians, Yotvingians and Galindians — the Western Balts — whose languages and cultures are now extinct. Etymology Medieval German chronicler Adam of Bremen in the latter part of the 11th century AD was the first writer to use the term "Baltic" in reference to the sea of that name.Bojtár page 9. Before him various ancient places names, such as Balcia, were used in reference to a supposed island in the Baltic Sea. Adam, a speaker of German, connected ''Balt-'' with ''belt'', a word with which he was familiar. In Germanic languages there was some form of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
