2022
Day of Ivan Kupala July 6, 2019 - July 7, 2019
Dear friends. I will be glad to tell you about some traditions that are celebrated in Ukraine.
The ancient summer national holiday of Ivan Kupala is widely celebrated not only in Ukraine, but also in other Slavic countries. It has very ancient pagan roots. The festival in honor of the Sun has long been celebrated on the Day of the Summer Solstice.
According to ancient traditions, Ivan Kupala is the festival of the sun, and the most important role in mystical rites belongs to the power of fire. Our ancestors believed that the fire is the sun-embryo in the womb. Therefore, in the Kupala night taken to jump over the fire. First, older guys jumped over the fire, then - in pairs, a guy with a girl.
There are signs associated with this:
if a guy jumped higher - there will be a good harvest from his family,
enters the flame - expect trouble,
a young man and a girl will successfully jump over a fire - they will certainly marry.
When the fun subsides, people light candles from the hearth on pre-prepared wreath baskets and go to the river to put them on the water and thus honor their ancestors.
On the evening of July 6, unmarried girls guess at the bridegroom: they weave wreaths, throw them into the water, and the guys then take them out. Whose wreath a young guy will get - the girl will be forced to kiss him and be paired up all evening. The holiday continues throughout the night, and the most interesting thing is that such newly-weds and later married. Our ancestors Ivan Kupala called the god of fertility, so the holiday had a sexual nature.
Everyone who wants to go to the forest to look for a fern flower, as a rule, in pairs - and they find a lot of love. It is believed that the plant has magical powers, healing and healing properties.
Ivanov's day is filled with rites associated with water, fire and herbs: fires, wreaths, bathing. In many Ukrainian villages, it still has not lost its sacral meaning. And city dwellers can join the Kupala traditions in ethnographic complexes, skanens and on theatrical folk festivals.
You can see everything with your own eyes. Come visit us. For example, in Kiev you can visit the National Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine Pirogovo or the park "Feofaniya" on July 6-7 of this year.
