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Litha, also known as Midsummer, is a pagan festival celebrated during the summer solstice, typically around June 21st in the Northern Hemisphere. The term "Litha" is believed to derive from an old Anglo-Saxon word meaning "summer." [1]
While midsummer day is celebrated throughout Europe, many Lithuanians have a particularly lively agenda on this day. The traditions include singing songs and dancing until the sun sets, telling tales, searching to find the magic fern blossom at midnight, jumping over bonfires, greeting the rising midsummer sun and washing the face with a ...
Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of European origin.
The Midsummer maypole tradition dates from the Middle Ages, while the summer solstice celebration can be traced to Norse pagan times, when the culture revolved around the mystical natural world.
In France, the "Fête de la Saint-Jean" (feast of St John), traditionally celebrated with bonfires (le feu de la Saint-Jean) that are reminiscent of Midsummer's pagan rituals, is a Catholic festivity in celebration of Saint John the Baptist. It takes place on June 24, (St John's day). Nowadays it is seldom celebrated.
On May 1, countless people around the world celebrate the spring holiday, one that marks roughly the halfway point between the Northern Hemisphere’s Spring equinox and the summer solstice in June.
The celebrations were supported by the Catholic Church and were primarily religious around that time. The lighting of bonfires, a traditional custom on the Nativity of Saint John which ultimately reached back to pre-Christian Midsummer celebrations were still lit at night. [14] In addition, the first Saint-Jean-Baptiste parades were organized.
On jaaniõhtu (the night of jaanilaupäev, which is the night before jaanipäev) Estonians will gather with their families and friends or at larger (often public) events to celebrate this important day with singing and dancing, drinking and eating, and lighting the bonfires, as has been the tradition for centuries.