Ivan Kupala
(The day of St. John the Baptist)
The 7th of JULY - a day of birth of St. John the Baptist. It begun with the solemn matutinal prayers in the church, then the holiday of St. John the Baptist left the church railing and went to the street and was broadly poured for the city or village on neighboring meadows and woods, on coasts of rivers and lakes: people made funs and managed multiple rituals.
The holiday of Saint Ioann gathered church rites with folk celebrations which was accompanied "Ivan Kupala". St. John the Baptist was the prophet and preacher , hi has predicted coming of the messiah - Jesus Christ and become to sermonize his future teaching. A rite of christening (ablutions people) by a sinking them into the river or lake became a sign of believing in Jesus Christ. In the memory on this appeared a custom of bathing in the day of St. John the Baptist. People thought that in these light and sultry days of summer a sun was bathed in rivers and lakes, and the water gained wonder-working characteristics, which cleaned a body from evil.
In these days a sun took especial power, and at days of St. John the Baptist (Ivan Kupala) it was (ancient Yarilo) feted with particular rites. From the evening of the day of Saint Agrafena on the 6th of July (23th of June) in the night under the Ivan Kupala's day girls and lads danced in a round , burned campfires and jumped through the fire, to clean from evil. Wood were filled with the merry homon of youth: girls collected advisable herbs, and some went to find their happiness in the sun rising - an amorous herb ivan-da-ìàrya. And the bravest lads midnight, went into the deep forest in the quest the flower of fern to find a bonanza with its help afterwards.
Days of St. John the Baptist (Ivan Kupala) were the especial period - the top of summer peasant's holidays, which begun with a great holiday of Trinity. But the summer triumphs ended with the Day of Saint Peter.
