People in the western Carpathian Mountains celebrate the Sânziene holiday annually, on June 24. This is similar to the Swedish Midsummer holiday, and is believed to be a pagan celebration of the summer solstice in June. According to the official position of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the customs actually relate to the celebration of Saint John the Baptist's Nativity, which also happens on June 24. Also my mother-in-law's birthday happens to fall on this day as well :)..
The night of Sânziene is a magical night, a moment of peace, of balance, in which the gates of heaven open and the world beyond comes in contact with the earthly world. It is said that especially on this night (June 23-24, the night before the day of St. John the Baptist) the lucky ones can meet the Sânzâienele.
According to local folklore these flowers are called Sanziene and if you receive them on June 24, they make your life more beautiful and full of LOVE.
It is said that the heavens open on Sanziene night and everything is possible, so, if you have a dream and you want to make it real, send to the one you love the bouquet on Sanziene Night and see your dreams come true.
The Bedstraws' night also know in Romania as "Noaptea de Sanziene" is also an important Love holiday.
Sanziana is a traditional Romanian female name and also the Romanian word for the bedstraw or cleaver flower. But there is far more to Sanziana than just the floral connotations. In Romanian folklore Sânziene are suppose to be sweet gentle fairies. It is also a huge Romanian summer festival that usually occurs on June 24. On this day, the most beautiful maidens of the villages dress in white and go on hunts to collect all the newly bloomed bedstraw or cleaver flowers. During the day, no male is allowed to see them. The girls make wreaths from the bedstraw and at night they return to their villages. It is believed that during their daily sojourn they have been transformed into sanziene fairies. A huge bonfire is created and all the girls get together and form a dance around the fire while throwing all the remains of the previous harvest into the bonfire. No one is allowed to speak to these girls during the ceremony as it is believed that they are possessed by the sanziene and by speaking to them it will anger the spirits. The girls usually keep the wreaths for the following Sanziene. The wreaths are believed to make their land more fertile and it is also believed that by placing the wreath under their pillow, the maidens will dream of their future spouses. The Sânziana form has been long used as a female given name. It is believed that the etymology of the name comes from the Romanian elements sfânt meaning “saint” or “holy” and zână meaning “fairies.” It was first notably used as a name by the 19th century Romanian author Vasile Alecsandri when he used it for one of his title characters in the comedy Sânziana şi Pepelea. It was later adapted into an opera. The name is currently borne by Romanian pop singer Sanziana Niculae.
Sanziene habits. Sanziene traditions
The feast of the Sânziens takes place three days after the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, a crossroads located in the middle of the year and inscribed under the sign of fire, of the Sun. In his honor, huge fires are lit on the tops of the hills. Heated with wormwood belts, people spin around the fire, then throw these belts into the fire to burn with all possible future troubles. At the end, hot wheels roll down the valley, also symbols of the Sun, which go with the summer towards autumn and which have the role of driving away the evil spirits. Sometimes small boats with candles are allowed to float on the water. Jumping over the purifying fire is practiced. It is believed that whoever passes through the fire or jumps on it tonight will be purified and the whole next year will be protected from evil spirits,of diseases and will be happy. These traditions, which still exist in the countries of Central and Northern Europe, date back centuries, long before Christianity.
After midnight and the fires are extinguished, people quietly head to their homes, leaving the place of spirits who, according to popular belief, tonight as on all important nights of the year, roam hai-hui around the world. Therefore, on this occasion, practices are also performed to commemorate the dead, called Moşii de Sânzâiene: graves are cleaned, flowers are placed, candles are lit and alms are given at the cemetery.
On this day, the flowers of sânzâiene, woven in wreaths, are hung, until the following year, on the windows, at the gates, on the eaves of the houses, with the belief that they will protect people, animals and the harvest from evil, evil forces and will bring good luck. wealth. These wreaths are also used to predict the future, depending on how they fall after being thrown on the house.
The Sânziana flower (Gallium verum or Gallium mollugo - after the yellow or white color) is a field flower with small inflorescences, full of pollen, beautifully smelling, which blooms near the summer solstice, during the ripening of cereals. It has many uses in medicine and cosmetics, which is why folk mythology has given it mystical properties, being used in magical practices performed on the night before St. John the Baptist. If a young girl puts her under the pillow that night, she will surely dream of cursing. If they put the flower in their hair or in their breasts, both girls and women become more attractive and loving. If they are washed at dawn with dew falling on Sânzâiene or bathed in running water, they become more beautiful.
In folk medicine, Sânziana has many uses, but in order to have the desired efficiency it must be harvested according to a certain ritual: the flowers are harvested at dawn by St. John the Baptist, while the stem and seeds, of course, in autumn. If properly harvested, their properties are miraculous. Thus, they strengthen weak and lymphatic children, if they put themselves in their bath water; cures colds; put in alcohol heals wounds and bruises; dew falling on the flowers on the night of St. John the Baptist is a safe cure for eye and skin diseases.
At the same time, the Sânziană flower is an agrarian calendar landmark. If it blooms before St. John the Baptist, it means that the vegetation of the plants is too advanced. Three days after the Summer Solstice, the day is already beginning to fall. The whole vegetation gradually loses its sap and aromas. Therefore, the last day of harvesting the healing plants is the day of Sânzâiene, being considered the best day of the year for this, the flowers enhancing their strengths and smells before their decline begins. Many of the flowers and herbs that are harvested on this day are taken to church, in the belief that they will be sanctified and thereby cleansed from the negative influences of Pentecost, the evil fairies of the forests.
For the peasants this day is very important for the weather forecast. It is believed in popular belief that if it rains on St. John the Baptist or after Sanziene, it is ominous, because the next 40 days will rain incessantly.
The tradition of the solstice bath (June 21) or St. John the Baptist's Day (June 24) is also part of the series of customs related to this day. This is done in running water and is considered to wash away all the misfortunes and upsets of the past year, as well as to help fulfill all desires in the coming year. There is also the custom of bathing ritual to maintain health. For this, specific places are chosen, wild waters. It is also said that if at midnight you drink the dew that falls on the Sânziana flower, it purifies and is lucky, and if you take a bath on this day in which you poured the decoction made of nine specific plants - mandatory and Sânziana, all year round you will be healthy and you will be fine.
SANZIENE 2020: The list of popular beliefs related to this holiday is very rich:
- Tonight, as on Christmas night, the animals are said to be talking. Whoever stalks them can understand their speech and find out many mysteries.
- Also on this night it is said that the white fern flower magically rises, which brings good luck to the one who will gather it, bravely facing the spirits that guard it; he will be able to read people's thoughts and discover hidden treasures.
- Tonight the house is surrounded by burning torches, as well as cereal fields, hay-fields, stables, so that next year it will be richer. At the same time, loud noises are made at night to drive away evil spirits.
- If a girl throws a bouquet of Sânziene flowers through the open door or window, then she will find her bear this year. Sometimes the bouquet is placed under the pillow, because it is said that tonight's dreams come true.
- The summer solstice period is also an occasion for organizing fairs, fairs and fairs, for meeting young people for marriage (Girls' Fairs).
- One of the plants particularly used in folk medicine is verbena. In order to be effective, the verbena is harvested only on the nights of Sânziene, the Ascension and St. Peter and Paul. This plant has been given a special importance and respect, since antiquity: the Romans decorated their temples with it. It was considered to be under the influence of the planet Venus, so it was used in rituals for love. If it was put in the field, then it would bring prosperity and a rich harvest. If he put himself in his shoes, he would get tired right away. It is said that you are not allowed to take it out of the ground with an iron object, but only with a silver one. But before removing it, wax and honey are poured on the ground. After it is taken out (on the night of the mentioned holidays) it must be lightly laid on the ground and guarded until dawn.It is also said in folk medicine that if you pick this plant before sunset, you will not have any headaches the following year.
- At the summer solstice, maple branches hang from doors and windows, because there is a firm belief that in this way all evil forces will be removed. The maple leaves picked on this day and put to dry heal any wound and remove the headache.
- If clothes, carpets and bedding are exposed to the sun on June 24, they will not be eaten by moths.
- If you see a red ant on this day, it is very auspicious. And if you find an ant in your wallet, it is an undoubted sign that you will have a very rich year.
- In some areas it is customary to eat dough cakes with shock flowers on this day, so you will be healthy the whole next year. Shock rods are hung on windows and doors to protect the house from any trouble and disease and to ensure their well-being throughout the year. From ancient times the shock has been planted near people's homes because it is believed that a good spirit or fairy lives in it to protect people from misfortune. It is considered a sacrilege to cut a shock, the tree about which the peasants say that "in front of him you have to take off your hat".
- It is said that if you pick and eat the petals of the wheat flower, called blueberry, at midnight by St. John the Baptist, you will be lucky all year round.
Sanziene 2020. Sanziene, fairies that bear rich fruit - Sanziene traditions. Sanziene superstitions.
On June 24, the day when the birth of Saint John the Baptist is commemorated, the Sanzienele are celebrated.
"Sanzienele is a solar holiday. In the popular calendar, the day of June 24 is also known as "Summer Head" because the sun is now reaching its peak ", said Janeta Ciocan, museographer at the Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art Baia Mare.
"According to tradition, the Sanzians float in the air or walk on the ground on the night of June 23 to 24, sing and dance, distribute fruit to the hold, fill married women with fertility, multiply animals and birds, fill flowers with scent and cure, heal the sick and defend hail sowings ", adds Janeta Ciocan.
Sanziene habits. Sanziene traditions
The customs practiced by the Romanians, by Sanziene , are lost in the mists of time. In principle, the feast of Sanziene, which is held on June 24, the birthday of John the Baptist, is related to the cult of the harvest and is a mixture of Christianity, paganism and witchcraft.
" Sânziene Day is especially awaited by girls and boys who want to get married. The girls go to pick sânziene and make wreaths out of flowers and throw them on the house. If that wreath stays on the house then the girl gets married that year. They are allowed three tries and each throw means one year. If she throws twice, then she will get married in two years, respectively three, if she throws three times ", says Janeta Ciocan.
The boys do the same, except that they do not make wreaths but crosses that they throw on the house to find out when they are forced to get married. "The women carried Sânziene flowers in the hemp fields so that the thread would be soft and yellowish in color. As for the elders, they threw the wreaths on the house and if they fell, then death was near ", says the museographer.
Unique customs in Maramureş
In the Vişeului Area, in Maramureş, on the eve of the holiday, the lads of the village "tied the fire", that is, they made long ropes that they carried on the edge of the running water where they lit them and where they jumped over them to purify themselves and get rid of evil. On the eve of the feast of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, the householders put Sanziene flowers on the corner of the house from the east but also at the gates. If they find animal hair in the crowns the next day, it is a sign that they will have a healthy and fruitful year for the animals.
Sanzi are considered good fairies. What are the Sanzians?
The name Sanziene designates on the one hand the good fairies, but also the yellow flowers that bloom around the 24th of June. Sanzienas are plants with golden-yellow flowers and a pleasant smell. They grow in orchards, pastures, forest edges and meadows. They are considered to be medicinal plants. In ancient times, they were easily sold on June 24.
Sanzienas, like fairies, can be bad if people work on June 24th. Tradition says that if they are not honest, they raise storms and leave the field without fruit and the flowers without medicine.
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