Where the fern blooms: customs, traditions and rituals of the Ivan Kupala holiday. Ivan Kupala holiday: history, rituals, signs, traditions and fortune telling

Many peoples divided the year into two halves - light and dark, warm and cold, summer and winter. The days of the summer and winter solstice were also calendar reference points for the Slavs. Winter festivals, when the resurgent sun was celebrated, over time transformed into, and. After the establishment of the Orthodox calendar, the summer pagan holiday became Midsummer's Day or Ivan Kupala's Day. It was celebrated on June 24 according to the old style, and according to the new style it falls on July 7 - the Nativity of John the Baptist.

The meaning of the word “Kupala” is not known for certain. According to one version, it goes back to the Indo-European root "-kur-", meaning “to boil, boil, passionately desire.” So, this word can have several meanings: a fire, a pond, and even a place where people gather to celebrate. Interpretations of the concept of Kupala are associated with fire, a symbol of the hot summer sun, and water, the moisture that gives life. Fire and water remain the main attributes of the Ivan Kupala holiday to this day.

On the night of Agrafena Kupala on Ivan Kupala, that is, from July 6 to 7, people everywhere collected dew, which was attributed with magical properties. People believed: whoever washes himself with dew that night will become prettier and be healthy for the whole next year. In some regions, night swimming was organized, in others they were afraid to enter the rivers, because that night the birthday boy was the merman himself. They lit high fires, through which they jumped to cleanse themselves with the Kupala fire.

Many Kupala ones have survived. For example, it was believed that whoever jumps over the fire the highest will have the happiest year. The girls floated wreaths into the water and watched whose drowned and whose floated away. In some villages, a wreath that floated far away meant a quick marriage, in others it meant a long life.

Ancient songs tell the story of the “crown” ceremony - a Slavic version of the story of Romeo and Juliet. Kupala and Kostroma were brother and sister separated in childhood. One day, an adult Kostroma was walking along the river bank. The wind tore the wreath from her head. A young man passing by on a boat picked up the wreath and returned it to Kostroma. Only after the wedding, the bride’s parents realized that the visiting groom was their lost son Kupala. In despair, the young people rushed into the river. Kostroma turned into (Mavka), and Kupala died. In response to the mermaids' prayers, the gods wove the bodies of the lovers into the Kupala-da-Mavka flower. Christians called him Ivan da Marya.

It is customary to collect Ivan-da-Marya just on Kupala night, when all the plants gain unprecedented strength. Beliefs say that if you place the picked flowers of Ivan da Marya in the corners of the hut, thieves will not be able to get inside: the brother and sister will talk to each other, and the thieves will think that it is the owners who are making noise. According to legend, it is on this night that the fern blooms once a year. In the days closest to the holiday, our ancestors prepared brooms for the bathhouse, thorny plants (nettle, rosehip, thistle) to protect the house from the evil eye, and all medicinal herbs. When collecting plants they said, for example, this: “Mother Earth, bless me with the grass, and the grass is my mother!”.

In some regions of Central Russia, Midsummer's Day was not known, but Yarilin's Day was celebrated at the same time. Yarila was called a holiday character like. It could be a scarecrow that was “buried”, or a mummer who entertained the people with obscene jokes.

Ethnographers believe that East Slavic Kupala rituals are best preserved among Belarusians and Ukrainians, while Russians - to a lesser extent. But if you want to feel the atmosphere of the ancient holiday of youth, love and blossom, go to nature this night. You will wash yourself in the dew, pick medicinal herbs and berries, compete in jumping over the fire and watch the dawn: they say that on Kupala morning “the sun is playing.”

Custom celebrate the summer solstice , Kupala Day, has been preserved since ancient times. Kupala Night is known today more than the winter solstice, spring or autumn equinox.

By Kupala, the Orthodox understand the saint - Ivan the Baptist; some call this holiday “Ivanov Kupala”, “Feast of Ivan Kupala” or simply “Kupala Night”. In the understanding of the common man, you just need to swim more on such a night. This is all that remains in the ancestral memory.

Confusion also occurs with names - Ivan, John the Baptist, John the Baptist - this is according to modern Orthodoxy, which has Catholic roots. In Old Believer communities, the holiday of Kupalo is not called Ivan at all. And if we take the Rodnoverie customs - those clans that honor the times and knowledge of pre-Christian Rus', there the holiday is also called simply - “ Kupala holiday».

According to the winter solstice, the Orthodox have doubts about the dates that are proposed by the Rodnoverie communities of the Slavs, just like for the Kupala night. Some Christian churches celebrate this day on July 7th, and some people celebrate it on June 24th. Neither date coincides with the solstice, which is celebrated in the northern tradition - from June 21 to 22, at early dawn.

From year to year, for the next 7 years, the date of such a holiday will be the same, only the hours of the event will change. Astronomical time is important for those who are looking for Fern flower, is going to seriously turn to God Kupala.

When saying “Kupalo Day”, they do not mean the time of day, but the day as such - the date. This is also due to the fact that such a day is the longest of the year, so everyone is happy to celebrate it. If they say “Kupalo night,” they mean the night time itself, which is the shortest of the year. In this dark time, the Summer Sun is just coming, emerging, gaining its strength.

How to determine the date of Kupala Night?

What is the shortest night of the year - that will be the magical Kupala night. This is the night before the longest day, the astronomical date of the summer solstice. IN 2018 Kupala Night - from 21 to 22 June, and the new day June 22 is already the first day under the rule of Kupala - the God of the summer Sun. The mass public festival is held for three days; nowadays it can be timed to coincide with the weekend.

The night before Ivan Kupala holiday

Our ancestors considered the night before Kupala night to be “terrible.” This is reflected in Gogol’s work “The Night on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”. It is no coincidence that the day before was sometimes called Witch's day. As V. Dahl, a collector of folk proverbs, claimed, on this day all the witches flocked to the Sabbath on Bald Mountain and committed many pranks and atrocities. According to other myths, it is on this night that the Skipper-Snake, the messenger of Chaos, penetrates Reality. Girls remember Kupala songs, boys are full of expectations... Someone rejoices at the wonderful Slavic holiday - the Magic Kupala Night, and someone knows that the dark navya essence of the Skipper-Snake rises from the incomprehensible depths of the subtle world and invisibly spreads its wings over our world in its entirety dark power. On the day before the bright Slavic holiday Kupala, on the day of the heyday of the Sun, the summer solstice, the summer solstice, the Russian dark army, the monstrous creation of Navi, rises on Earth, led by the Skipper-Snake, greedy for human souls.

It’s not dust that’s being sprayed into the field,

It is not fogs that rise from the sea,

That's from the eastern land, from the high mountains

A herd of animals ran out,

That the herd of animals is a snake.

The fierce Skipper-Beast was running ahead!

(“Vedas of Perun”)

It’s strange that snakes come to life at this time. It was believed that “snake weddings” were held in places that were popularly called “cursed snake hills.” Tales are still told about the fact that if a girl accidentally looks at a snake wedding, she herself will become the bride of Skipper-snake. Malice, envy, meanness - all this is the power of the Skipper-Snake. As a creature from another world, having a different form of existence, in reality he feeds on these human feelings, greedily eating the souls of those people who allowed this to happen in themselves.

Other evidence of folk observations - these days, when the Skipper-Snake is approaching with his army, hordes of mice are often seen, clouds of crows fly in. Memory preserves observations of ghosts, heavenly signs of death and troubles. It was believed that if you bow your ear to the ground on this day, you can hear Mother Earth moaning.

The day before Kupala night

But the most magical Kupala night of the year begins with the most magical day! The miracles of northern magic are still happening, because Nature still lives and gives us its power.

These days, in our North, people began cleansing in the morning before the arrival of Kupalo. This is an important part of any Slavic holiday, and this one especially. First of all, the wells were cleaned; it was believed that the water would be especially “healthy” if cleaned on this particular day.

During the day – prepared medicinal herbs and brooms. Slavic girls-women went into the forest after lunch, preparing young birch brooms with songs. A broom collected on this day is magical. Not only does it give you special strength when you steam it in a bathhouse, but you can also use it on a calving cow - and both the calf and the owners will have enough milk. You can tell fortunes. You throw it on the roof of the bathhouse: if the broom falls with its tip towards the thrower, life will be red and cheerful!

We prepared magical herbs for the whole year! Be sure to prepare herbs for the evening bath on this day. We collected special brooms "radiant herbs"-thyme and thyme, fern, fireweed, buttercup, mint, St. John's wort, coltsfoot, celandine, chamomile and wormwood. Many say that for this Slavic holiday, radiant herbs come into force, and fierce herbs still gather strength in their roots. “Radiant” herbs are certainly healing, pure herbs.

"Fierce" herbs- those that contain poison, medicine, and witchcraft. Most “fierce” herbs are not always dangerous, but only at certain moments. So on this day, the poison of the “fierce herbs” remained in the roots - “column”, “ash”, “vekh”, “hemlock”, “datura” and “henbane”.

While the girls were playing with flowers and herbs for fortune telling, adult women were collecting Bogorodsk herb thyme for the household. It lies until the holiday of Yarilo, and on this day they burn this Kupala grass on an iron plate and make a round. And on the new Kupalo, new grass is collected.

More it is important on this day - to whisper conspiracies, to teach knowledge.

The great day has a sacred meaning - it is the peak of summer, the day opposite the winter Solstice. The day when the planets and the Sun rise in a way they have never done before throughout the year. This is day and night, when the boundaries between worlds, between the real and the magical, are erased, everything around - Nature, people, Gods - are united in a great song glorifying this land.

Just like before Kolyada, in this time is anyone's guess and guess make and receive wishes fulfilled.

Nauz, this well-known method of white magic of the Slavs, protects, heals, consolidates what is planned, bewitches, helps overcome obstacles, stops evil spirits, establishes a magical connection at a distance and maintains spiritual strength. That's how many beneficial properties nauz have in general, and nauz with Kupala grass in particular! A knot tied with grass collected on this day has magical powers! The power of summer witchcraft and the magic of the ancient Slavs rages in it all year round!

Girls used to love to tell fortunes about rich women. Bogatynki, bagavochki, puffs - that’s what these dandelion flowers were called. Should I have picked the flowers that had not yet bloomed and put them in Churam’s corner for the night, then see what happened to them? It will bloom, it will not wither - that dear person will live and prosper. Telling fortunes for the groom is the sweetest thing! Cover the flower under your pillow and wait until morning, you’ll find out everything. If the flower blooms, you will get married this year!

The safest thing to do is to collect twelve different flowers, put them under the pillow - that’s what the betrothed-mummer will see in a dream:

Eleven flowers

The twelfth is the ear,

With whom would you see in a dream,

With that, we would be married forever.

And you can also worry in advance, curl a wreath on a birch tree or from rye ears in the field, and on the eve of the Solstice run to see whose braid will come unraveled? If it unravels, you’ll get married this year!

And in the evening, they washed themselves with the evening dew in order to receive strength and health from Mother Cheese Earth, the strength that is so necessary to preserve their spiritual purity in the midst of the Skipper-Snake invasion. We rode in the rye and dew for health, without clothes.

This is how preparations for the Slavic holiday Kupalo were carried out, carefully and slowly. And this day needs to end with another Slavic holiday!

Put on your best jewelry and go smile at the guys and look for a fern flower with the cutest of them! Ancient Slavic begins holiday of Kupala night!

On Kupala night

The fire of the Kupala bonfire, the wind that picks up maiden wreaths, clean water, the gift of the earth - the color of ferns - all the elements were called upon by the Slavs so that the best, brightest feelings would lift everyone up on this short night.

On this night, according to the beliefs of the Slavs, noted by A. Afanasyev, a symbolic wedding took place between Fire and Water on earth. The best rituals Kupala holiday associated with fortune telling by the water and the Kupala bonfire. Even ordinary people, during the shortest night, burned fires on the banks of rivers, bathed in the night dew and morning river water, danced around a tree and immersed it in water, looked for healing and magical herbs, for example, a fern flower (like Gogol’s story), and protected themselves from evil, from aliens from the world of spirits.

Girls and boys, of course, did not sleep all night. They gathered around the area in one place, lit a fire by the river, and prepared porridge and scrambled eggs from the food they brought.

Pranks on the Slavic holiday Solstice were a legal matter. For example, boys and girls doused each other with water, ran through the forest, and played pranks on the street with their neighbors. The youth kept quiet and played pranks. They covered the chimneys with glass or tubs, secured doors from the outside, carried woodpiles, laid firewood on the road, or rolled out carts.

No one sleeps on this magical night of the Slavic holiday of Solstice. The young people are running around until the morning, it’s light, the cuckoo is already crowing, everything is numb!

Two powerful elements converge this night to give birth to the miracle of Love. Fire will cleanse, water will wash, if you do everything right. It’s joyful and fun to celebrate the Sun with Kupala lights! Having collected nettles, rose hips, and all sorts of burning plants, they covered the prepared piles of dry twigs and brushwood. Having waited until the sun disappeared behind the edge of the sky and the evening dawn began to fade, they kindled a living fire, made by hand, to the glory of the Solstice. A round hole was cut in a dry birch board and a log was driven into the hole. The fire was wiped out by friction.

It's just the old people's business. The rest, while the old people kindle a living fire, stand silently and motionless around, waiting for the miraculous appearance of Semargl, the God of Fire. Nearby stands a teenage girl, firstborn by her mother, all covered in flowers with a splinter in her tense, raised hands.

Quiet, despite the crowd of people. People stand silently. In the already dark silence, only the rustling of dry wood, the whispering of quiet incantations and the sighs of old women can be heard.

Now it started smoking, now it blazed. The girl carefully brings a torch to the fire. The God King has appeared! Descended to earth! The great gift of the life-giving God caught fire! The old people are brought water with which they douse themselves. Screams, joy, fun.

All the young people gathered in front of the fires - wreaths and grass belts on the girls, guys with flowers on their heads. Cheerful glances, laughter, whispers. For purification, old shirts, especially the shirts of sick people, were burned at the stake.

And if you jump over the Kupala bonfire without opening your arms, you’ll definitely be having a wedding party in the fall!

And, of course, the pinnacle of the holiday is the bathing of the fire wheel!

Of course, you can’t do without looking for a fern flower either! It doesn’t matter that the magic lights in the forest are lit by fireflies, who are also somehow excitingly awake that night.

The fun doesn't stop until the morning. And at dawn, when the forest is completely free of unclean spirits, they disperse through the copses and ravines. Children conceived on Kupala night will be healthy, beautiful and have the gift of witchcraft. And this Slavic holiday of the Solstice ends quietly, overshadowing the lovers with scarlet flowers and ripe ears.

The morning after Kupala night

And in the morning dew, they collected medicinal herbs for the whole year. They believed that all herbs would tell with a voice what disease they were curing, and in order to pick them, you need to draw a circle around yourself with a “Kolyadovsky cinder” (a candle preserved from the evening of the Kolyada holiday). The one who performed this custom will become famous as a healer, as he will gain extensive knowledge about the properties of medicinal plants.

Read more about the Slavic God Kupala (Kupala).

The holiday of Ivan Kupala is shrouded in magical legends and amazing rituals. On this day, our ancestors looked for fern flowers, lit fires and jumped over them, wove wreaths from wildflowers and collected medicinal herbs.

Ivan Kupala Day is a favorite holiday among the people. Initially it was celebrated on June 24th. But due to the transition to the Gregorian calendar, the date shifted to July 7. In the folk calendar it is the opposite of the Nativity of Christ.

Many people mistakenly believe that Kupala is some kind of pagan deity who is honored on this day. However, this is a mistake. In fact, people call Ivan Kupala John the Baptist. The word “Kupala” means something like immersion in water, bathing, ablution.

The history of the holiday is very old, pagan. But after the advent of Christianity, many pagan traditions were lost. However, the holiday survived, connecting with Midsummer's Day.

When is it celebrated in 2019?

Ivan Kupala in 2019 is celebrated on July 7th. This date repeats from year to year. It is this date, as well as the evening and night before - July 6 - that are festive.

Customs, traditions, rituals

There are a wide variety of customs and traditions for the holiday of Ivan Kupala. They are all associated with fire, water and herbs. Most customs and rituals must be performed the night before the holiday - from July 6 to July 7.

Cleansing fire

They lit it late in the evening and kept it burning until the morning. It is necessary to light a fire only with “live” fire, that is, produced by friction.

To light a fire, young people brought a large amount of brushwood. A pyramid was made from it, and a pole rose in its center. For example, they put on this pole:

• tar barrel;
• cow or horse skull.

All women of the village were obliged to come to the Kupala bonfire. And whoever didn’t come was called a witch. Also, all the girls jumped over the fire, thereby they:

1. cleansed from damage, spells, illnesses;
2. defended themselves from attacks by mermaids while swimming.

If the girl did not agree to jump, then she was again called a witch. And in order to cleanse such a girl from filth, they doused her with water and whipped her with nettles.

They always danced around the fire. The children played with burners. The youth staged noisy, fun games. In many regions there was a custom - a guy and a girl took hands and jumped over the fire.

If their hands remain clenched during the jump, then this is an indication of impending marriage. The sparks that fly after the young were also considered a good sign.

In addition to bonfires, there was a tradition of setting fire to tar barrels or wheels and rolling them down the mountains or carrying them on poles. This symbolized the solstice - that is, the change in the annual movement of the sun.

Wreath

The Kupala wreath was woven in advance from wild flowers and herbs. According to custom, each plant in the wreath adds additional properties to it. Typically used:

• fern;
• periwinkle;
• oak branches;
• birch branches;
• geranium;
• basil;
• blackberries.

The symbol of the wreath is associated with its ring-shaped shape, which echoes other similar objects: a hoop, a ring. People often filtered milk through the wreath, poured water for washing, drank, and even crawled through.

During the celebration of Ivan Kupala, the wreath was often burned or thrown onto the roof of the house. In other regions, the dried wreath was preserved and then used for healing, as well as to protect fields from hail.

There was a curious custom. At the dawn of Midsummer, the peasant women chose the most beautiful girl among themselves. She was completely undressed and then decorated from head to toe with flower garlands.

They called that girl “Dzevko-Kupalo.” She had to distribute the wreaths prepared ahead of time to the rest of the girls. The distribution took place with eyes closed.

Other girls danced around the chosen one in a round dance. Each of them received a wreath. It was possible to determine fate by it. If you received a fresh and beautiful wreath, it meant happiness and wealth. And if faded, it means trouble and poverty.

Bathing

An indispensable tradition of Midsummer's Day was universal bathing. Starting from this time, it was possible to swim in open bodies of water without fear, since various evil spirits left lakes and rivers: mermaids, etc. Swimming was allowed until Ilya's day.

In the northern regions, baths were heated and steamed there. And after the bathhouse they drank freshly brewed herbs collected on this magical day.

They often took water, considering it miraculous. By analogy with Epiphany water.

Kupala tree

Another attribute of the Kupala holiday is a tree. Different tree species were used in different regions, but young trees were always used:

• maple;
• birch;
• willow;
• apple tree

Local girls decorated the tree with ribbons, veins, fruits, and wildflowers. After which they were taken outside the village and stuck into the ground in a clearing.

They sang and danced around the Kupala tree and danced in circles.

A little later the boys joined in the fun. They pretended to want to steal or set fire to the tree. But the girls did not allow this.

As a result, everyone headed together to the river, where they drowned the tree, or to the fire to burn it. They threw the burnt trunk into the river and ran away to hide from the witch (who supposedly could have pursued them).

Magic herbs

The holiday of Ivan Kupala is inextricably linked with beliefs about herbs. Our ancestors believed that lush summer greenery protected from damage and the evil eye, witches and sorcerers, fires and hurricanes.

Greenery was a symbol of fertility and fertility. Contact with fresh leaves and herbs, according to legend, contributed to the fertility of livestock and a rich harvest in the fields and gardens.

On this day, it was customary to collect all kinds of medicinal herbs, as they received special power from the Sun and the earth. It was customary to collect some herbs during the day, others at night, and others in the morning dew.

While collecting herbs, a special prayer or spell was required. In some regions, herbs collected by children and old people were called the most healing. That is, those who do not have romantic contacts and who do not have periods. Such people were considered the purest.

Fern flower

There is a belief that once a year, on the night of Ivan Kupala, a fern blooms. In reality, this plant does not bloom, it reproduces by spores.

But let's return to belief. Closer to midnight, a flower bud appears behind a fern bush, moving and swaying as it pleases. This is because evil spirits are doing their best to hide the flower from people.

Every minute the magic flower increases in size, grows higher and higher. As if at midnight, a cracking sound is heard and the flower opens, illuminating everything around with a bright light.

Picking this flower is not at all easy.

• In advance, you need to spread a magic tablecloth near the bush, draw a circle around yourself with a knife and read a special spell.
• Evil spirits will distract a person from the fern. She either makes noise in the wind or seems to hear the voices of relatives calling to her.
• Evil spirits are looking for this flower, using it to decorate hell. They can tear off the head of a person who dares to appropriate a magic flower, sending him to hell for eternal torment.
• After the daredevil picks a fern flower, he must hide it in his bosom and then run away without looking back.

Ivan-da-Marya

Ivan da Marya is considered another magical flower of the holiday. Where does it get such an amazing name? It's all about a curious legend.

The guy fell deeply in love with the girl, and she reciprocated. The young people got married. But they did not know that they were actually brother and sister to each other.

When the truth came out, they should have separated.

Not wanting to leave each other, the young turned into a flower, two parts of which are painted in different colors: yellow and purple. Since then, Ivan da Marya has been considered a symbol of fidelity.

This flower was often plucked on the holiday of Ivan Kupala. It was believed that it received magical properties. Allows you to gallop away from any pursuit, even on an old nag.

And if you drink the squeezed juice from the flower, you can restore lost hearing or intelligence.

Kupala songs

Most songs on Midsummer's Day are related to love or family themes. A lot of humorous poems and jokes about the relationships between guys and girls.

The songs are distinguished by special beginnings or endings, for example, the repetition of the word Kupala or Kupalalyo.

Songs often repeat the motif about brother and sister – Ivan and Marya. I have already talked about them in the previous section.

Fortune telling

On the night of Ivan Kupala, fortune telling is widespread. Especially young people - on love and marriage. But they also guessed for luck and wealth. Below are a few fortune telling, but there are a great many of them.

For marriage

Here is one of the most popular fortune telling for marriage.

1. The girls collected wild flowers in advance and wove wreaths from them.
2. On the night before Midsummer they met on the shore of a lake or river.
3. The girls attached one candle to the wreaths.
4. The candle was lit and the wreath was released into the water.
5. Whose candle goes out first or whose wreath sinks first, whichever girl gets married first.
6. If the wreath floats to the shore, then marriage is still far away.

Ivan Kupala - the day of the summer solstice, after which the day begins to shorten - is an ancient folk holiday of pagan origin, so called by the Eastern and Western Slavs. Ivan Kupala (also Midsummer Day) has an ancient tradition of celebration under a similar national name almost throughout Europe - in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain.

For the pagan Slavs, the sun had divine power over all living things, and the summer solstice meant the highest flowering of all the forces of nature, which is embodied in abundance with the ripening of the harvest.

Initially, before the spread of Christianity, the holiday was associated with the summer solstice (June 20-22). With the adoption of Christianity, the ritual part of the holiday was timed to coincide with the birthday of John the Baptist - June 24th, is now celebrated July 7.

At the beginning of the new millennium, the holiday began to be revived in Russia. And now, strictly speaking, the holiday of Ivan Kupala is a bizarre mixture of Christian and Pagan traditions - the Holiday of Fire, Water, Love (see videos in the section “Celebration of Ivan Kupala in our time”).

origin of name

The pre-Christian name of the holiday is unknown.

The name “Ivan Kupala” is of folk Christian origin; it is a Slavic version of the name John the Baptist (bather, immerser). In addition, the name of the holiday is linked to ritual bathing in rivers during this holiday.

The name of John the Baptist was similarly translated in Germany: German Johannes der Taufer, and in Finland: Finnish Johannes Kastaja“he who immerses (in water, font), sanctifying.”

Kupala is not a deity

In pre-Christian times, there was no pagan deity “Kupala”; it appeared as a result of a misunderstanding: the chronicler, knowing about the “demonic games” on Ivan Kupala, mistook the name of the holiday for the name of a pagan god and mentioned it in the Gustyn Chronicle (and this, excuse me, is already the 17th century! ) deity "Kupala".

Then this misunderstanding was repeated by copyists, then by early researchers of Slavic mythology, and then by popular science and all sorts of neo-pagan publications.

As a “deity”, Kupala could appear in folk ideas only as a folklore personification of the holiday, reflected, for example, in songs.

Feast of Ivan Kupala and church

The Russian Orthodox Church disapproves of this holiday and unequivocally condemns pagan (“demonic”) games on this day and this night. But sensible clergy understand that pagan traditions cannot be destroyed with one word, and it was not customary in the Orthodox Christian experience to mow everything down. Indeed, in the Slavic world, despite the centuries-old history of Christianity, among all nationalities without exception, Kupala festivals have still not lost their original meaning.

But throughout the entire period of Christianity in Rus', the church tried to fill some folk traditions with new semantic content, and they themselves gradually came into line with Christian norms. But the church is trying to get rid of the pagan tradition among the people associated with unbridled morals, fortune telling and worship of the elements of nature.

Gradually, the folk faith associated with the Kupala festivities passed into the circle of common superstitions, rituals into customs, in most cases serving as fun for rural youth.

Rituals of the holiday

Midsummer's Day is filled with rituals associated with water , fire And herbs . The main part of Kupala rituals takes place at night, hence the name “Night of Ivan Kupala”. According to the modern calendar - from 6 to 7 July.

According to peasant beliefs, you cannot sleep during the Kupala night - the shortest - because... all evil spirits come to life and become especially active: witches, werewolves, mermaids, sorcerers, brownies, water creatures, goblins.

Water

Mass bathing on Ivan Kupala is a mandatory custom: on this day all evil spirits came out of the rivers, so until Ilyin’s day one could swim without fear. In addition, Midsummer water was endowed with life-giving and magical properties.

According to popular beliefs, on this day one can be “friends” with fire, and their union is considered a natural force. And bonfires along the banks of rivers are a symbol of such a connection. In addition, on the night of Ivan Kupala, fortune telling was done using wreaths lowered into the river: if the wreath floated, it promised happiness and a long life or marriage.

Fire

One of the main symbols of the holiday were cleansing bonfires. People danced around them and jumped over them: whoever jumps more successfully and higher will be happier. It was believed that the Kupala bonfire had magical powers capable of driving away all evil spirits, especially witches, who were especially dangerous on Kupala night and could steal milk from cows or spoil grain in the fields.

In the old days, in some places, livestock was driven away between Kupala bonfires to protect them from pestilence; in them, mothers burned the shirts taken from sick children, so that diseases would burn along with this linen.

In addition to bonfires, on Kupala night wheels and tar barrels were set on fire, which were then rolled down the mountains or carried on poles. Young people and children, jumping over the fires, organized noisy fun games and races, playing burners.

Herbs

Numerous customs of Ivan Kupala are associated with the plant world.

Herbs and flowers collected before dawn were placed under Midsummer's dew, dried and preserved, because... Such herbs were considered more healing. They fumigated the sick with them, fought with evil spirits, and threw them into a flooded oven during a thunderstorm to protect the house from a lightning strike. In addition, they were used to kindle love or, conversely, to “dry it out.”

One of the main symbols of Midsummer's Day was the Ivan da Marya flower, which symbolized the magical union of fire and water. Folk tales connect the origin of this flower with twins - brother and sister - who entered into a forbidden love relationship and because of this turned into a flower. This legend goes back to the ancient myth of twin incest and finds numerous parallels in Indo-European mythologies.

But the main hero of the plant world on this day was the fern. According to legend, with a fern flower that appears for just a few moments at midnight on Midsummer's Day, you can see all the treasures, no matter how deep in the ground they are.

Folk beliefs and customs

* - On Kupala night, witches become more dangerous, and therefore nettles should be placed on the threshold and on windowsills to protect yourself from their attacks. It is necessary to lock the horses so that the witches do not steal them and ride them to Bald Mountain: the horse will not return from there alive.

* - On Midsummer night, trees move from place to place and talk to each other through the rustling of leaves; Animals and even herbs talk to each other, which are filled with special, miraculous power that night.

* - If you pick an Ivan da Marya flower that night and put it in the corners of the hut, the thief will not approach the house: brother and sister (yellow and purple flowers of the plant) will talk to each other, and the thief will think that the owner and mistress are talking.

* - At midnight you need to pick flowers without looking and put them under your pillow, and in the morning check if you have collected twelve different herbs. If you have enough, you will get married this year. They place a triputnik (plantain) under the head, saying: “Triputnik-fellow traveler, you live along the road, you see young and old, say my betrothed!”

* - On Midsummer night, oil is collected in a vessel on ant heaps, which is considered a healing agent against various ailments.

* - If you climb over the fences of twelve vegetable gardens on Midsummer Day, any wish will come true.

* - On the night before Ivan Kupala, girls lower wreaths with lit splinters or candles onto the river waves, making wreaths from Ivan da Marya, burdock, Bogorodskaya grass and bear's ear. If the wreath sinks immediately, it means that the betrothed has fallen out of love and cannot marry him. The one whose wreath floats the longest will be the happiest, and the one whose wreath burns the longest will live a long, long life.

* - On Midsummer night they jumped over the fire as a guarantee of health and good luck; whoever jumped over gained good health and good luck for the current year. If a girl and a guy jumped over the fire without opening their hands, it was believed that they would soon get married and their marriage would be happy. The ashes from the fire were credited with a special power, bringing light and warmth, cleansing from all evil.

Kupala bonfire, fire

The Kupala bonfire (kupala) - a ritual fire, an indispensable component of the Kupala ritual, was the center of youth festivities on Midsummer night. Bonfires were lit on the eve of the holiday, on the night of Ivan Kupala. They were laid out on the edge of the village, outside the settlement: on pastures, road intersections, near reservoirs, on hills near fields.

In some places, young people carried a pole with a burning torch at the top around the village, and then went outside the settlement with it.

Each settlement organized its own fire, and sometimes several small fires. The most respected elders in the community were invited to light the fire, and they used “living fire” obtained by friction. In a number of places, the old man could be replaced by a guy who differed from his peers in dexterity and daring.

For the Kupala bonfire, old rubbish was taken and brought from houses: unnecessary harrows, brooms, wheel rims, etc. The center of the fire was a tree with its branches cut off and the top of its head cut off, or a pole fixed in the ground. Then, like a New Year tree, wreaths, old brooms, flowers, old bast shoes were hung on it, and candles were attached to the top.

Celebrations took place around the fires, which were sure to attract young people and young couples who had gotten married last winter. Here they usually installed a swing, had a common meal, danced in circles, sang songs and danced.

One of the important ritual actions of the games around the fire was jumping over the Kupala fire.

In a number of places there was a custom of throwing burning wheels, wheel rims, and tar barrels down from hills and heights.

Celebration of Ivan Kupala in our time

The holiday of Ivan Kupala is a holiday of Fire, Water, Love

(song “Ederlezi” from the film “Time of the Gypsies” by Emir Kusturica, music by Goran Bregovic, translated by Valeria). Duration 4:06

Slavic holiday in Saratov

The Koloslav Community held the Slavic holiday of Ivan Kupala on June 26, 2010 in Saratov. The song “How short the night is...” is performed by the Kolokhod group. Duration 3:05

The ancient pagan holiday of Ivan Kupala, dedicated to the summer solstice, is one of the main dates in the Slavic calendar, celebrated on July 7th.

Tonight, Russians celebrated the summer holiday of Ivan Kupala. It was believed that on this special magical night it was impossible to sleep, because on this night various evil spirits woke up - witches, mermen, mermaids, werewolves. This bright mystical holiday is rich in interesting traditions and colorful rituals.

The holiday begins to be celebrated on the night of July 7, which is popularly considered special - only on this night can one find the mystical fern flower, which will bring happiness and wealth to a person.

How the holiday came about

The vibrant folk holiday of Ivan Kupala takes its origins from paganism, although its origins have not been precisely established. Ivan Kupala supposedly originated from pagan rituals of cleansing, washing, which took place in rivers and lakes on the day of the summer solstice.

Among the ancient Slavs, Ivan Kupala was a holiday of the Sun, the ripeness of summer and green mowing. Therefore, it was associated with the summer solstice, which according to the old style fell on June 20-22.

Traditions of the holiday of Ivan Kupala

It is not customary to sleep on the night of Ivan Kupala. It is believed that by organizing noisy celebrations and dances, as well as cheerfully singing songs, young people scare away evil forces from their homes.

It was believed that there was no need to swim, since the merman could be pulled into the water.

Traditionally, on this holiday, large bonfires were lit, around which festivities took place, a common meal was held, round dances were performed, songs were sung and danced. At the same time, festivities around the “cleansing” fire begin in the evening.

After midnight and before dawn on July 7, the water in reservoirs acquires powerful healing powers. Therefore, before sunrise, take a swim in a lake or river. It also adds health and cures all ailments.

Jumping over the fire

Jumping over the fire on Ivan Kupala was one of the most important rituals for the holiday - to attract good luck, success and health. Whoever jumps the highest will be the luckiest, healthiest and most beautiful.

To cleanse your body and soul from illnesses and evil thoughts, you need to jump over the Kupala fire three times. For the ritual to work, collect branches of male (beech, oak, maple) and female trees (rowan, alder and pine) and lay them out in the shape of a pyramid and set them on fire. Before jumping, ask the fire to take away illnesses and adversities.

Lovers can find out the future of their relationship with the help of a fire. Hand in hand, the couple must jump over the Kupala fire. If lovers do not let go of their hands while jumping, they will live together for the rest of their lives; if they open their palms, there will be quarrels.

And women who have not had children for a long time jump in order to recover from infertility.

The Slavs believed that the Kupala fire destroys all evil - illness, misfortune, poverty. That is why old clothes were burned on it. There was a custom of throwing the shirt of a sick child into the Kupala fire. It was believed that his illness burned away along with her. Livestock was often driven through the Kupala fire to protect it from pestilence.

Whoever jumps the highest will be the luckiest, healthiest and most beautiful. Photo: vottak.net

Wreaths for Ivan Kupala

On Ivan Kupala, women and men who want to find a partner weave a Kupala wreath. Chamomile, St. John's wort, wormwood, nettle and other medicinal herbs must be woven into it. After Kupala, such a wreath serves as a talisman all year round. They hang it above the door so that not a single unkind glance can penetrate through it. If one of the household members gets sick, the housewife plucks a little grass from the wreath and throws it into a decoction or tea. Often, by the next Kupala holiday, all that remains of the wreath is the rim, which is burned in the Kupala bonfire.

On this night, unmarried girls also wove wreaths from herbs and flowers and threw them into the water: if the wreath sank, they won’t invite her to marry in the next year, the guy will stop loving her, even if he hasn’t sailed from the shore, the betrothed is somewhere very close, and if he has sailed far away - then a guy from afar will woo.

Many traditions on Ivan Kupala are associated with water. Photo: imperia-lna.ru

How to tell fortunes on Ivan Kupala

For love. Before going to bed, you need to collect a few plantain leaves and put it under your pillow. When going to bed, you should say: “Triputnik-fellow traveler, you live along the road, you see young and old, say my betrothed!” On this night, the girl should dream about her betrothed.

For the groom. Pluck as many branches of fern as you guess for the number of people. Fortune telling at midnight from July 6 to 7. For each branch, think of the name of the guy you want as your betrothed. Mark them with colored threads to avoid confusion. Dip into the water near the shore of the pond and press the branches to the bottom with your hand. Release quickly. Whichever branch comes up first - the guy planned for it will become your destiny.

For the future. To do this, you need to break a church candle into several pieces and melt the wax. Once it melts, pour it into a container of water. What figure he will take is what he expects in the near future. For example, a ring or candle - for a wedding, a wallet - for money, a star - for luck, a heart - for love, a flag - for the visit of an important guest, flowers - for a new admirer, stripes - for travel, waves - for the fulfillment of desires.

The girls wondered about Ivan Kupala. Photo: vseodetyah.com

Water on Ivan Kupala

Many traditions on Ivan Kupala are associated with water. On July 7, Christians also celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus in the Jordan. Therefore, it is believed that from this day on, swimming in open waters becomes safe - all evil spirits are expelled from rivers and lakes.

Kupala’s protection over those who like to swim and frolic in the water lasts until Ilyin’s Day, which is celebrated on August 2. In addition to healing bathing, morning dew can heal the body and soul, and it will make young girls even more beautiful. After washing in the morning, in the evening the girls throw wreaths on the water, telling fortunes about love.

Signs on Ivan Kupala

Our ancestors, as on any other holiday, carefully monitored the weather on this day. If it rains on Midsummer, the whole summer will be hot and the weather will be dry.

But if at night the sky is generously dotted with stars, and in the morning nature gives abundant dew, then there will be a good harvest of cucumbers, mushrooms, and indeed all vegetables.

On this day, they tried to avoid meeting snakes, because if you see one on this holiday, then trouble cannot be avoided and heavy losses are expected soon.

After collecting the herbs, all the women carefully counted them. If there are twelve types of plants, then the family will definitely have a wedding in the coming year.

Many believed that horses were especially dangerous, and could be used by evil spirits for their own purposes. In this case, they will not get out alive. Therefore, they tried to lock them up securely.

Fortune telling, beliefs and signs

The most common thing on Ivan Kupala remains fortune telling using wreaths. Wreaths were woven from various herbs - burdock, bear's ear, Bogorodskaya grass (thyme, thyme) or Ivana da Marya, into which lit small splinters or candles were inserted. Then they launched them into the water and watched them carefully.

If the wreath began to quickly float away from the shore, it meant a happy and long life or a good marriage, and if the wreath sank, it meant that the girl would not get married this year or her betrothed would stop loving her.

The happiest person could be the person whose wreath floated the farthest, and who lived the longest - whose candle or splinter in the wreath burned out the longest.

On this night, people used nettles to protect themselves from the attacks of various evil spirits - for this purpose, the plant was laid out on the threshold of the house and on the windowsills.

On Kupala Night, people always locked up their horses, which were especially vulnerable that night, as witches hunted them to go to Bald Mountain, from which horses did not return alive.

On the night of Ivan Kupala, people looked for anthills and collected ant oil, which, according to legend, was endowed with great healing properties on this night.

The Ivan da Marya flower, picked on the night of Ivan Kupala, had to be placed in all corners of the house - people believed that this protected it from the attacks of thieves.

According to one legend, the Ivan da Marya flower is a brother and sister who fell in love with each other and were punished for it and turned into a flower. Brother and sister will talk, and this will scare away the thieves.

It is believed that on the night of Ivan Kupala, trees can move from one place to another, talk to each other through the rustling of leaves. This also applied to grass and flowers. Even animals, according to legend, talk to each other on this night.

According to one of the signs, at midnight you need to pick flowers without looking and put them under your pillow, and in the morning check whether you have collected twelve different herbs or not. If there is enough, the girl will get married this year.

They place a triputnik (plantain) under the head, saying: “Triputnik-fellow traveler, you live along the road, you see young and old, say my betrothed!”

On Midsummer's Day, before sunrise, you need to carry a bear's head through your herd and bury it in the middle of the yard, then there will be no death among the livestock.

And if you climb over twelve vegetable gardens on Midsummer Day, any wish will come true.

Heavy dew on Ivan Kupala means a harvest of cucumbers, if there are a lot of starry mushrooms on Midsummer night.

The material was prepared based on open sources