Summer Holidays 1

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Jāņi (pronounced [jaːɲi])

is a Latvian festival held in the night from 23 June to 24 June to celebrate the summer solstice (Midsummer), the shortest night and longest day of the year. The day of Līgo ([liːɡu͡o]) (23 June) and the day of Jāņi (pronounced [jaːɲi]) (24 June) are public holidays, and people usually spend them in the countryside. The festival's eve Jāņu vakars ([jaːɲu vakars]) is held in the evening of 23 June and goes on all through the night Jāņu nakts ([jaːɲu nakts]), where people Līgo (sway) into the following day.

Jāņi is an ancient festival originally celebrated in honour a Latvian pagan deity Jānis, referred to as a "Son of God" in some ancient Latvian folksongs. Jānis is also traditionally the most common of Latvian male given names, corresponding to English name John, and everybody of the name Jānis holds a special honor on this day (Jāņi is a plural form of Jānis) and wears an oak wreath. Besides John, the name of Jānis is also etymologically linked with other names of various nations, such as Aeneas, Dionysus, Jonash, Jan, Jean, Johan, João, Ian, Ivan, Huan, and Han.

The festival's current date has shifted a few days from 21 June/22 June when the summer solstice actually takes place due to its somewhat incongruous association with Saint John the Baptist's feast day, which falls on 24 June. Still, traditions of Jāņi contain no reference to Christianity or any Christian symbolism.

Jāņi is thought to be the time when the forces of nature are at their most powerful, and the boundaries between the physical and spiritual worlds are thinnest. In the past, evil witches were believed to be riding around, so people decorated their houses and lands with rowan branches and thorns in order to protect themselves from evil. In modern days other traditional decorations are more popular, including birch or sometimes oak branches and flowers as well as leaves, especially ferns. Women wear wreaths made from flowers; in rural areas livestock is also decorated.

Jāņi also is thought to be the perfect time to gather herbs, because it is believed that they then have magical powers on this day.

• resource wikipedia •

Labor Day

is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 3 in 2012) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers. Labor Day has come to be celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable to wear white or seersucker. -In U.S. sports, Labor Day marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons. NCAA teams usually play their first games the week before Labor Day, with the NFL traditionally playing their first game the Thursday following Labor Day.

Lughnasadh

(pronounced loo-nə-sə; Irish: Lúnasa; Scottish Gaelic: Lùnastal; Manx: Luanistyn) is a traditional Gaelic holiday celebrated on 1 August in the northern hemisphere and 1 February in the southern. It originated as a harvest festival, corresponding to the Welsh Calan Awst and the English Lammas.

In Gaelic Ireland, Lughnasadh was also a favored time for handfastings — trial marriages that would generally last a year and a day, with the option of ending the contract before the new year, or formalizing it as a lasting marriage.

• see modern customs

Midsummer day

simply refers to the period of time centered upon the summer solstice, but more often refers to specific European celebrations that accompany the actual solstice, or that take place on a day between June 21 & June 24, & the preceding evening. The exact dates vary between different cultures. Midsummer is especially important in the cultures of Scandinavia, Estonia & Latvia where it is the most celebrated holiday apart from Christmas.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist

is one of the oldest festivals of the Christian church, being listed by the Council of Agde in 506 as one of that region's principal festivals, where it was a day of rest and, like Christmas, was celebrated with three Masses: a vigil, at dawn, and at midday.

The Nativity of St John the Baptist on June 24 comes three months after the celebration on March 25 of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel told Our Lady that her cousin Elizabeth was in her sixth month of pregnancy, and six months before the Christmas celebration of the birth of Jesus. The purpose of these festivals is not to celebrate the exact dates of these events, but simply to commemorate them in an interlinking way.

The First Day of Summer (sumardagurinn fyrsti)

is an annual public holiday in Iceland held on the first Thursday after 18 April. In former times, the Icelanders used the Old Norse calendar which divided the year into only two seasons, winter and summer. Although the climate in late April cannot be considered to be summer-like, after the long winter, Icelanders still celebrate this first day of "summer" with parades, sporting events and organized entertainment, held in various places around Iceland.

Saint Jonas' Festival

(aka: Rasos (Dew Holiday), Joninės, Kupolė, Midsummer Day or St. John's Day)

is a midsummer folk festival celebrated on June 24 all around Lithuania. 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 morning dew, young girls float flower wreaths on the water of river or lake. These are customs brought from pagan culture and beliefs. The latter Christian tradition is based on the reverence of Saint John the Baptist. Lithuanians with the names Jonas, Jonė, Janina receive many greetings from their family, relatives and friends.

See Also:

► Summer Holidays

► Summer Traditions Subcategories

► Summer Traditions

► Summer

Resources, References & External links

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