Midsummer Night Magic CD

Ivan Kupala Day - The Summer Solstice - is also known as: Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia. Ivan Kupala Day is celebrated in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine currently on 7 July in the Gregorian or New Style calendar (24 June in the Julian or Old Style calendar). Some early mythology scholars claimed that the holiday was originally Kupala a pagan fertility rite later accepted into the Orthodox Christian Calendar. There are analogues for celebrating the legacy of St. John around the time of the summer solstice elsewhere.

Midsummer may simply refer 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 the 24th of June and the preceding evening. European midsummer-related holidays, traditions, and celebrations are pre-Christian in origin.They are particularly important in Northern Europe - Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden - but are found also in Ireland, parts of Britain (Cornwall especially), France, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, the Ukraine, other parts of Europe, and elsewhere - such as Canada, the United States, Puerto Rico, and also in the Southern Hemisphere (Brazil), and even in Australia where author reached this celebration at 1996.

Neo-pagans believe that it was a sacred holy day honoring the two most important elements: Fire and Water. The tradition is to burn fires at the end of the day and bathe in open waters at sunset, singing and dancing around 'pal' till midnight. At midnight, under the pretext of searching for "the flower of the Fern," unmarried men and women run into the forest. Ladies with a crown of flowers on their head, a symbol of their unmarried state, go first, singing. Next they are followed by single men. If you find the "flower of the Fern" the wishes of life may be fulfilled. However, nobody found it so far, but they lived happily together. The lucky man would return with a flower ring on his head, with the now engaged lady.

Given on disk Kupalo.mpg video file contains theatrical fragment of authentic Ukrainian Kupala traditions.
You can watch it on Your computer through regular Windows Media player. Just put a disk on CD-ROM device of Your computer. Additional installation is not required. In a few seconds program starts independently. For full screen view press Alt+Enter. If autorun option of Your computer is turned off - through Windows Explorer
press a mouse on Kupalo.mpg file. Same is for Apple computer users.