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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to th ...

) and in Eastern Slavic countries according to traditional

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandria. ...

on the night between 6 to 7 July ( Belarus,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

and Ukraine). Calendar-wise, it is opposite to the winter holiday

Koliada Koliada or koleda (Cyrillic: коляда, коледа, колада, коледе) is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, to Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Christian ...

. The celebration relates to the

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 s ...

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 Slavic pseudo-deities (pseudo-gods, pseudo-goddesses) are Slavic deities that exist in popular or even scientific literature, but their historicity is not recognized by the vast majority of scholars, i.e., that the deity in question was not actu ...

; a

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In ...

fertility rite later adapted into the

Orthodox Christian Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Church ...

calendar by connecting it with St. John's Day which is celebrated on 24 June. Eastern Christianity uses traditional

which is misaligned with actual solstice; 24 June in Julian calendar falls on 7 July in more modern

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years diff ...

. This holiday symbolizes the birth of the summer sun – Kupalo. In the 4th century AD, this day was proclaimed the holiday of the birth of John the Baptist – the forerunner of Jesus Christ. As a result of the Christianization of the pagan feast the name "Kupala" got connected with the Christian "Ivan". The Ukrainian, Belarusian name of this holiday combines "

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

" (Joan/Johan/John, in this case

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

) and ''Kupala'' which was thought to be derived from the Slavic word for bathing, which is cognate. However, it likely stems from the proto-Slavic ''kump'', a gathering. The two feasts could be connected by reinterpreting John's baptizing people through full immersion in water. However, the tradition of

predates Christianity. The pagan celebration was adapted and reestablished as one of the native Christian traditions intertwined with local folklore.

Folklore and Slavic religious beliefs

Many of the rites related to this holiday are connected with the role of water in fertility and

ritual purification Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...

. This is due to the ancient

rites. On Kupala day, young people jump over the flames of bonfires in a ritual test of bravery and faith. The failure of a couple in love to complete the jump, while holding hands, is a

sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

of their destined separation. Ivan Kupala Day in Serebryany bor 2017 50

Girls may float wreaths of flowers (often lit with candles) on rivers, and attempt to gain foresight into their romantic relationship fortune from the flow patterns of the flowers on the river. Men may attempt to capture the wreaths, in the hope of capturing the interest of the woman who floated it. Kupała 2022 w Osadzie Mokoszy – świder ogniowy

Kupała 2022 w Osadzie Mokoszy – świder ogniowy

Ivan Kupala Day in Serebryany bor 2017 14

Ivan Kupala Day in Serebryany bor 2017 67

There is an ancient

belief that the eve of Ivan Kupala is the only time of the year when

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except th ...

s bloom. Prosperity, luck, discernment, and power befall whoever finds a

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: цвет� ...

. Therefore, on that night, village folk roam through the forests in search of ''magical'' herbs, and especially, the elusive ''fern flower''. Traditionally, unmarried women, signified by the garlands in their hair, are the first to enter the forest. They are followed by young men. Therefore, the quest to find herbs and the ''fern flower'' may lead to the blooming of relationships between pairs within the forest. Ferns are not angiosperms (flowering plants), and instead reproduce by spores; they cannot flower. In

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

's story '' The Eve of Ivan Kupala'' (also called

Saint John's Eve Saint John's Eve, starting at sunset on 23 June, is the eve of celebration before the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26–37, 56–57) states that John was born six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of J ...

), a young man finds the fantastical fern-flower, but is cursed by it. Gogol's tale was adapted by

Yuri Ilyenko Yuri Herasymovych Ilyenko ( uk, Юрій Герасимович Іллєнко, 18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Soviet and Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and politician. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2 ...

into a film of the same name, and may have been the stimulus for

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

to compose his tone poem ''

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (russian: Ночь на лысой горе, translit=Noch′ na lysoy gore, links=no), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian ...

''.

References

External links

Купалле

The Day of Ivan Kupala as it has survived in the Vologda Region
on th
Official Website of the Republic of Belarus

Kupala Night in Poland
{{Authority control Observances in Russia Russian folklore Saint John's Day Observances in Poland Folk calendar of the East Slavs Belarusian traditions Russian traditions Ukrainian traditions Observances in Ukraine Slavic holidays Days celebrating love Summer events in Ukraine Summer events in Poland lt:Rasos mk:Тајане sr:Ивањдан

History

Folklore and Slavic religious beliefs

See also

References

External links