Tomorrow is the summer solstice: how it is celebrated in different countries

Previously, the summer solstice carried a lot of pagan traditions. The Church, as in other similar cases, turned the solstice into the holiday of the Nativity of John the Baptist. Moreover, in meaning, this coincided with the Gospel saying of the Baptist about Christ: "He must increase, but I must decrease." After all, the summer solstice is the line after which the length of the day begins to decrease.

Pagan customs associated with the summer solstice "went" to the holiday of Ivan Kupala on July 7. But not everywhere - in countries where pagan traditions based on the solar cult (that is, the worship of the sun) are strong, the summer solstice remained a reason for the holiday. There is a natural reason why this happened primarily in Scandinavian countries - after all, there, the scarce sunlight and heat play a special role.

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At the same time, the holiday itself is not tied exactly to the astronomical summer solstice. For example, in Finland, where the summer solstice holiday is a national holiday, and in Sweden, it is celebrated (apparently to "save" the weekend) on the first Saturday after June 19.

In Finland, it is called Juhannus (Midsummer Day), and in Sweden - Midsummer, that is, the holiday of midsummer. At the everyday level, it is associated with the same thing as the holiday of Ivan Kupala in our country - lighting fires and bathing in river water.

In the countries of Southern Europe, where there is plenty of sun, for example, in Portugal, the holiday is celebrated as the Christian Day of St. John (Festa de São João). But, nevertheless, pagan fires are lit on this day and they are believed in their cleansing power.

Photo: Festa de São João in Portugal Twitter