Sânziene - "Midsummer's Day"

Midsummer’s Day, known as “Sânziene” in Romanian culture, is celebrated on the 24^th June, the day when Christians commemorate the birth of St. John, the Baptist.  The name relates to the good fairies, on one hand and to the yellow flowers which bloom around the date of 24^th June- ladies’ bedstraw – on the other hand.

It is said that on Midsummer’s Eve the skies open and the living can communicate with the dead. There are bad spirits but also good spirits – the fairies. Thus, the fairies walk on Earth, singing and dancing, blessing the fields, the women to bear children, they cure the sick ones and protect the crops from bad weather.

On Midsummer’s Eve, young girls and boys pick ladies’ bedstraw in the fields; the girls make wreaths whereas the boys make cross-shaped braids. They throw the wreaths over their houses – if the wreath stays on the roof then a wedding is near. The old people throw the wreaths in order to find out the time of their passing away; it is believed that if the wreath falls down from the roof, death is near. In the same night, girls put these yellow flowers under their pillow to dream of their husband-to-be.

In order to chase away the evil spirits, people hung cross-shaped braids onto their gates, decorating them with roses.

The 24^th June is a day when people have to stop working in order not to upset the good fairies as they can do harm if they are not properly celebrated, bringing bad weather and leaving the fields empty and infertile.