Midsummer is the period of time centered upon russian bride traditions summer solstice, and more specifically the northern European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice or take place on a day between June 19 and June 25 and the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different cultures.
These are commemorated by many Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, and Anglican Communion. People prepare for a Saint John’s Day procession and church service in the comune of Esino Lario, Italy. Saint John’s Day, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, was established by the undivided Christian Church in the 4th century AD, in honour of the birth of the Saint John the Baptist, which the Gospel of Luke records as being sixth months before Jesus. By the sixth century, this solar cycle was completed by balancing Christ’s conception and birth against the conception and birth of his count, John the Baptist. Such a relationship between Christ and his cousin was amply justified by the imagery of scripture. In Florence, medieval midsummer celebrations were “an occasion for dramatic representations of the Baptist’s life and death” and “the feast day was marked by processions, banquets, and plays, culminating in a fireworks show that the entire city attended.
The 13th-century monk of Winchcomb, Gloucestershire, who compiled a book of sermons for Christian feast days, recorded how St. Let us speak of the revels which are accustomed to be made on St. John’s Eve, of which there are three kinds. John’s Eve in certain regions the boys collect bones and certain other rubbish, and burn them, and therefrom a smoke is produced on the air. They also make brands and go about the fields with the brands. Thirdly, the wheel which they roll. Saint John’s Fires, explained the monk of Winchcombe, were to drive away dragons, which were abroad on St.
John’s Eve, poisoning springs and wells. On St John’s Day 1333 Petrarch watched women at Cologne rinsing their hands and arms in the Rhine “so that the threatening calamities of the coming year might be washed away by bathing in the river. God for his benefits bestowed on them. These fires are commonly called Saint John’s Fires in various languages. Historian Ronald Hutton states that the “lighting of festive fires upon St. John’s Eve is first recorded as a popular custom by Jean Belethus, a theologian at the University of Paris, in the early twelfth century”. This section needs additional citations for verification.
In Austria the midsummer solstice is celebrated each year with a spectacular procession of ships down the Danube River as it flows through the wine-growing Wachau Valley just north of Vienna. Up to 30 ships sail down the river in line as fireworks erupt from the banks and hill tops while bonfires blaze and the vineyards are lit up. John’s Day, brought to Brazil during colonial times, has become a popular event that is celebrated during a period that starts one week before St. São João, takes place during midwinter in most of the country. The quadrilha features couple formations around a mock wedding whose bride and groom are the central attraction of the dancing. On Midsummer day Bulgarians celebrate the so-called Enyovden.
On the same day the Eastern Orthodox church celebrates the day of John the Baptist and the rites and traditions of both holidays are often mixed. John’s Day is observed on the Monday nearest June 24 and commemorates John Cabot’s discovery of Newfoundland in 1497. In Quebec, the celebration of June 24 was brought to New France by the first French colonists. It was an official holiday until 1770, and in accordance with the Danish tradition of celebrating a holiday on the evening before the actual day, it takes place on the evening of 23 June. In Scandinavia, young people visited holy springs as “a reminder of how John the Baptist baptised Christ in the River Jordan.
On Saint John’s Eve and Saint John’s Day, churches arrange Saint John’s worship services and family reunions also occur, which are an occasion for drinking and eating. Lange-Müller that is sung at every bonfire on this evening. Christianity in Estonia, although the day was given its name by the crusaders. The day is still known by its many names as: leedopäev, suvine pööripäiv, suvepööripäev, püäripääv, päevakäänak, päiväkäänäk, päiväkäändjäne, päevapesa, pesapäev and suured päevad. Understandably, some of the rituals of Jaanipäev have very strong folkloric roots. The best-known Jaanik, or midsummer, ritual is the lighting of the bonfire and jumping over it.
