Kupala June 21

The celebration relates to the summer solstice when the nights are shortest and includes a number of rituals slavs. This involves gathering herbs, lighting a bonfire and swimming in the river.

Many of the rites associated with this holiday are related to the role of water in fertility and ritual purification. This is due to the ancient Kupala rites. On the day, young people jump over the flames of bonfires in a ritual test of bravery and faith. The failure of a loving couple to complete the jump, while holding hands, is a sign of their destined separation.

Girls may float flower crowns (often lit with candles) on rivers and attempt to predict the fortunes of their romantic relationship from the flow patterns of the flowers on the river. Men may attempt to capture the crowns, hoping to capture the interest of the woman who floated them.

There is an ancient belief that the night before is the only time of year when ferns bloom. Prosperity, luck, insight, and power befall whoever finds a fern flower. Therefore, on this night, villagers scour the forests in search of magical herbs, and especially the elusive fern flower.

Traditionally, unmarried women, signified by the garlands in their hair, are the first to enter the forest. They are followed by young men. Therefore, the quest to find herbs and the fern flower can lead to the blossoming of relationships between couples within the forest.

In Gogol's story The Eve of Ivan Kupala (also known as St. John's Eve), a young man finds the fern fantastical, but is cursed by it. Gogol's tale was adapted by Yuri Ilyenko into a film of the same name and may have inspired Modest Mussorgsky to compose his symphonic poem Night on Bald Mountain.