''Sânziană'' is the Romanian name for gentle

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

who play an important part in local folklore, also used to designate the '' Galium verum'' or '' Cruciata laevipes'' flowers. Under the plural form ''Sânziene'', the word designates an annual

festival A festival is an event 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, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

in the fairies' honor. Etymologically, the name comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Sancta Diana'', the Roman goddess of the hunt and

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, also celebrated in

Roman Dacia Roman Dacia ( ; also known as ; or Dacia Felix, ) was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today all in Romania, except the last regi ...

(ancient Romania). Diana was known to be the virgin goddess and looked after virgins and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, Diana,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

and Vesta, who swore never to marry. People in the western

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

celebrate the ''Sânziene'' holiday annually, on June 24. This is similar to the Swedish

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest Daytime, day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of Eu ...

holiday, and is believed to be a pagan celebration of the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice 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). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

in June. According to the official position of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the customs actually relate to the celebration of Saint John the Baptist's Nativity, which also happens on June 24.

''Sânziene'' rituals

The folk practices of ''Sânziene'' imply that the most beautiful maidens in the village dress in white and spend all day searching for and picking flowers, of which one MUST be ''Galium verum'' (Lady's bedstraw or Yellow bedstraw) which in Romanian is also named "Sânziànă". Using the flowers they picked during the day, the girls braid floral crowns which they wear upon returning to the village at nightfall. There they meet with their beloved and they dance around a bonfire. The crowns are thrown over the houses, and whenever the crown falls, it is said that someone will die in that house; if the crown stays on the roof of the house, then good harvest and wealth will be bestowed upon the owners. As with other bonfire celebrations, jumping over the embers after the bonfire is not raging anymore is done to purify the person and also to bring health. Another folk belief is that during the ''Sânziene'' Eve night, the heavens open up, making it the strongest night for magic spells, especially for the love spells. Also it is said that the plants harvested during this night will have tremendous magical powers. It is not a good thing though to be a male and walk at night during Sanziene Eve night, as that is the time when the fairies dance in the air, blessing the crops and bestowing health on people - they do not like to be seen by males, and whoever sees them will be maimed, or the fairies will take their hearing/speech or make them mad. In some areas of the Carpathians, the villagers then light a big wheel of hay from the ceremonial bonfire and push it down a hill. This has been interpreted as a symbol for the setting sun (from the solstice to come and until the midwinter solstice, the days will be getting shorter).

In cultural references

The consequences of heavens opening on ''Sânziene'' are connected by some to

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

events reported during that period of each year. According to popular beliefs, strange things, both positive and negative, may happen to a person wandering alone on ''Sânziene'' night. Strange ethereal activities are believed to happen especially in places such as the Băneasa forest (near the capital of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) or the Baciu forest (near the city of

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

). Mircea Eliade's novel, '' Noaptea de Sânziene'' (translated as ''The Forbidden Forest''), includes references to the folk belief about skies opening at night, as well as to paranormal events happening in the Băneasa Forest. In the form ''Sânziana'' ("the sânziană"), the word has also come to be used as a female name. It is notably used as such in Vasile Alecsandri's comedy '' Sânziana şi Pepelea'' (later an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

by George Stephănescu). The fairy Sânziene, "the fairy of the summer solstice", is described in a '' colinda'' (Romanian folk song) as the "sister of the Sun".Pócs, Éva (2018). “Shirts, Cloaks and Nudity: Data on the Symbolic Aspects of Clothing" rajce, Ogrinjala in Golota: simbolični Vidiki oblačil In: '' Studia Mythologica Slavica'' 21 (October). Ljubljana, Slovenija: 72. https://doi.org/10.3986/sms.v21i0.7067. Moldovan band Zdob şi Zdub recorded a song called Sânziene, which tells the story of a search for one's soulmate throughout a midsummer night festival.

References

External links

Sânziene picture and description

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanziana Fairies Festivals in Romania Saint John's Day June observances Romanian legendary creatures Romanian words and phrases Female legendary creatures Nature spirits Summer solstice

''Sânziene'' rituals

In cultural references

See also

References

Further reading

External links