Summer solstice, the Ukrainian way
As a rainy evening seeped through woodlands in one of Kyiv’s wilder parks, a group of 16 people frollicked despite the prospects of a heavy downpour. Journalist Svyatoslav Voytko, 25 years old, served as priest for the wreath-clad worshippers.
Wearing traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts, they picked a green patch right on the Dnipro River bank.
All four of nature’s elements – water, air, earth and fire – were place to begin the celebration of the summer solstice on June 21.
This special holiday of the longest day of the year has had spiritual significance for thousands of years.
Celebrating with bonfires, the Celts praised the energy of the sun. Christians adopted the date as the feast of St. John the Baptist to convert the pagans.
Dressed in traditional Ukrainian clothes, ‘natives’ share a meal after thanking the nature for it.
In Asia, the end-of-June festival honors the Chinese Goddess of Light.
The group in Druzhby Narodiv Park – made up of mostly middle-aged revelers – was getting ready to honor the ancient god of sun and fertility, Dazhbog.
Before Eastern Slavic nations were baptized in the 10th century, this god was one of the key worship figures among pagans.
He said his followers are members of the Native Ukrainian National Faith, founded in the ’60s by Ukrainian-Canadian immigrant Lev Sylenko.
Their faith is all about patriotism and nationalism, adding fuel to the fire.
“It is natural for Japanese to follow Shintoism, and Judaism is practiced by one nation only, so why should Ukrainians not have a native faith?” he said, calling the people to prayer.
Forming a circle around the bonfire, they pressed their hands against their hearts and prayed to Dazhbog, calling him “the consciousness of the world.”
Then the young and old touched the ground, followed by a commemoration of Ukrainian princes, Cossack hetmans and anti-communist leaders who fought for the country’s independence.
The congregation, which Voytko said has some 1,000 followers in Kyiv, opposes Christianity.
Explaining the differences between the two, the priest-journalist said that Dazhbog, unlike Jesus, allows the killing of enemies if they threaten Ukraine in any way.
“Christians kill their enemies too, in spite of the 10 Commandments.
The ‘native’ faith, however, is honest about it,” Voytko said, continuing the ritual by sanctifying the fire with prayers.
A man is walking through a burning arch, made of oak, which is supposed to increase male power.
Despite this heavy description, the followers seemed to dwell on simplicity, earthliness and kindness toward each other. As the fire got stronger, people started to jump over it to cleanse the spirit and secure good luck.
This romanticized ritual is very popular among Christians as well.
They, however, repeat it on the night of July 6 – following the old Julian calendar – called Ivana Kupala.
The event is a tribute to Kupala, the pagan god of fruits of the earth, and Ivan (John) the Baptist, the Christian saint.
The Dazhbog people, however, live by the Gregorian dates and share the holiday schedule with many other pagans around the world.
After the kissing flames ritual, Voytko lit up a straw wheel and pushed it into the river to purify it while the revelers took off their flower wreaths and floated them on the water.
For unmarried women, this ceremony is especially important.
The belief is that their beloved ones would come from the side of the river that the wreaths float to.
Svyatoslav Voytko (L) blesses a bush celebrating the summer solstice on June 21.
“I caught my wife’s wreath last year,” said Voytko, looking fondly at a young woman with dark curly hair called Nadiya.
A former chemistry student and now a young scientist, she said she used to be a Christian and had another name – Kateryna. “My husband did not force me to convert, I chose to myself.
I like it because there are no lies, which you find in Christianity,” she said. Many of her fellow followers also took new names, some of which signify forces of nature.
Preparing to jump into the river, Nadiya said that it was the best time to get pregnant, because “the child will be born strong, having absorbed all the powers of this mystical day.”
A burning straw wheel gets pushed into a river to sanctify the water.
Her friends laughed at the supposition that their ancestors would have definitely had an orgy by now.
After a swim, some left for the night, which lasted only seven and a half hours, but the diehards stayed to greet the sun.
It came up at 4:40 a.m. that day. In the morning mist, the “natives” finished their celebrations by burning the straw dummies of Kupalo and Marena, the male and female gods of fertility and family.
Then it was time to rest and laze in the sun, which shines less and less with each coming day until Dec. 22, the winter solstice.
Kateryna PANOVA
7 July 2011 KyivPost
