Saint Jonas' Festival, also known as ''Rasos'' (''Dew Holiday''), ''Joninės'', ''Kupolė'',
Midsummer Day or
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 Ortho ...
) is a
midsummer folk festival celebrated on 24 June all around
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. 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)
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 cont ...
.
When Christianity came to Lithuania, it brought with it the
celebration of Saint John's Day and while Christians celebrate Joninės (St. John's) in the local language, Christians, Romuviai, and those with other beliefs all celebrate Rasos together. Lithuanians with the names Jonas, Jonė, Janina receive many greetings from their family, relatives and friends.
See also
*
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, author ...
*
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 ...
*
Jāņi
*
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 ni ...
*
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 mo ...
References
*
Pagan rituals and meaning of Rasos
Festivals in Lithuania
Saint John's Day
Annual events in Lithuania
Summer events in Lithuania
{{Lithuania-stub