In our time there are many holidays with ancient history and traditions. Ivan Kupala's day is one of such holidays, its history is very old and interesting.
In another way, this holiday is called "Kupala night". This is a national Slavic holiday, during which the summer solstice is celebrated. Traditionally, the holiday of Ivan Kupala was celebrated on June 24 by the Slavs. In the old style, it was on June 24, the summer solstice, a new style of this holiday falls on July 7. What's interesting, July 7, and celebrate the Christian holiday of John the Baptist.
The history of the birth of the feast of Ivan Kupala is rooted in pagan times, people celebrated the holiday of the sun and mowing. An interesting fact is that before the appearance of Christianity in Russia, this holiday was simply called "the day of Kupala", the name of Ivan was not there. It appeared exactly when the holiday coincided with the birth of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a follower of Jesus Christ, who foretold his appearance. He even baptized Christ himself in the Jordan. John the Baptist is very revered in Christianity, perhaps, he is the most famous saint after the Virgin.
How did they celebrate Kupala Day in Russia?
On the Day of Ivan Kupala, there are many traditions and rituals, some of them have survived to this day. Our ancestors celebrated this holiday as follows: in the morning the girls gathered flowers and herbs, wreathed wreaths and stored amulets for all the villagers. Young people cut down a tree and put it in the place of festivities, the girls decorated this tree with flowers, a picture of the god Jarilo (a doll made of straw, and sometimes of clay) was placed under the tree. Before the doll had festive dishes. Burned two fires - one, near which led dances, and the second - funeral, to burn Yarila. The girls drove round the birch, and the young people tried to steal it. When this happened, the first fire was burnt and round dances took place around it. All participants of the holiday had fun as best they could, - they made riddles, changed clothes, played games. When the fire burned out, they began to choose the strikers. Usually, many couples were formed, who later married. In the morning these pairs nudged in the river. The priests at this time collected dew, which was considered curative. In the morning the holiday ended.
Of course, not all these customs have been preserved, they reached us in a simplified version. Nevertheless, the holiday of Ivan Kupala is still rich in tradition. The most common tradition is to douse everyone in a row with water, if people are in nature, they can dance round the campfire and jump through it. Of course, now no one will choose a couple for one night and burn the doll Yarila.
The Christian church did not really appreciate the rites and traditions of the Slavs for the honor of the day of Ivan Kupala. It is known that many patriarchs forbade the celebration of this day. In the Middle Ages, the feast was also forbidden by the church. Now the Russian Orthodox Church also does not approve of this holiday, considering it pagan. In fact, so it is, many of the traditions of this holiday are pagan.