MY day, throughout Latvia Ligo Diena, celebration of the Summer
Celebrated throughout Latvia, Ligo Diena.
The annual celebration of the Summer Solstice which marks the longest day of the year .
Possible place for your ads! Serious advertiser welcome! Send us an email, to agree!It is an ancient practice which dates back to pre-Christian times and has many rituals that are closely associated with nature and the hope for a good harvest in the autumn.
Ligo Diena, it is a time to be with friends.
Family and loved ones and is usually celebrated with a big meal during the day before heading out to one of the many public parties.
Which involve traditional dances and more eating, drinking and singing.
Bonfires are also lit which is a ritual that links back to the old tradition of cleansing and warding off evil spirits.
The day is a national holiday in Latvia, which is known as Janis.
Ja-n,i is an ancient festival originally celebrated in honour a Latvian pagan deity Ja-nis (also spelt Yahnis).
Referred to as a “Son of God” in some ancient Latvian folksongs.
Janis is also traditionally the most common of Latvian male given names, corresponding to English name John, and everybody of the name Ja-nis holds a special status on this day (Ja-n,i is a plural form of Ja-nis).
Besides John, the name of Ja-nis is also etymologically linked with other names of various nations, such as Aeneas, Dionysus, Jesus, Joshua, Jonash, Jan, Jean, Johan,…
Ja-n,i also is thought to be the perfect time to gather herbs, because it is believed that they then have magical powers.
Other practices of magic in Ja-n,i vary from fortune-telling to ensuring productivity of crops, as well as livestock fertility.
A well-known part of this celebration is searching for the mythical fern flower, though some suggest that the fern flower is a symbol of secret knowledge; today it is almost always synonymous with having sexual relationships.
Despite common belief, no remarkable increase in birthrates is observed nine months later 🙂
All the best!
