The night of June 21, summer equinox, is St. John's Eve. The feast day of love. Shakespeare wrote about it in "Midsummer Night's Dream". In pre-Christian days, there was an ancient ritual with a combination of the cult of water and fire. The water cult (whose patron is St. John the Baptist) has survived in the custom of placing candle-lit wreaths on the water. This custom still takes place all over the world.

Ancient tradition states, fire protected one against misfortune, and fields enveloped by smoke were thought to be safe from hail. So bonfires were lit, over which young lads leaped and around which maidens danced and sang. The great Polish poet, Jan Kochanowski wrote "The Song of St. John's Eve".

Today, in Poland, the ancient folk rituals, festivities, bonfires and wreaths are reflected in a modern celebration, of St. John's Eve, known as "Wreaths on the Vistula". The sky is illuminated by high-powered floodlights and cascades of colorful fireworks. But with the approaching dusk, the dark waters of the Visula begin to flicker with the light of tiny candles on ingeniously fashioned wreaths which slowly float downstream reminding all present of a nation steeped in a rich and beautiful tradition.

Thanks again go to the book "Polish Customs" for supplying me with information. This book was written on 1972, so I checked with my friend, John Mlynarczyks, a Falcon member who lives in Warsaw. I asked him "Do they still celebrate St. John's Eve, in Poland".

He tells me that the feast day is still celebrated, with wreaths of flowers and sometimes with lighted candles. "I don't know if you would call it a big feast day but like all feast days...they are still celebrated here (Poland)".

John also told me that he could remember as a very young child in the USA that he was not allowed to go swimming until after St. John blessed the water on June 21. I told him that my Mom always told me that I had the best birthday date because June 21 was the longest day of the year. So I had more time to celebrate.

Have a wonderful day.

Czolem,
Dodie Piersielak,
Cultural Commissioner