Mysterious and mystical, the day of Ivan Kupala is rooted in ancient times. Very few people today know about him. Researchers believe that the mid-summer festival, characteristic of most pagan beliefs in Europe (similar to Ivan Kupala Day), is one of the oldest religious cults on Earth.
The basis of this cult is the eternal confrontation and attraction of two opposing principles, not able to unite into one whole, but also not existing without each other. So, heaven and earth, fire and water, man and woman, are indivisible and incompatible. This love, this attraction of opposites, is the basis of the ancient holiday.The ancients revered Kupala - a good and generous god who patronized the fertility of the earth and childbirth, giving refreshing rains, bringing love turmoil to the most chaste hearts.
Initially, this day, like many other holidays of the ancient Slavs, had cosmic significance. Kupala night was celebrated on June 25, during the summer solstice. This night was the shortest of the year and was considered special.
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Unfortunately, information about possible specific dishes of this holiday was not preserved. But one can confidently assume that according to the Slavic hospitable tradition, the treat was plentiful and generous. And on that day they began to drink antimony - a ritual Slavic drink that was prepared from honey and herbs, and then insisted for several months in sheep’s wineskins buried in the ground.
With the advent of Christianity in Russia, like many other pagan traditions, this holiday was banned, but not forgotten. For many centuries, young people gathered in the glades of nearby ponds, sang songs and burned bonfires, praising the good god Kupala and asking him for a crop and offspring., , . , , . – . , – . 7 . , .
The night on the eve of Ivan Kupala, as in antiquity, is considered magical. It is at this time that miracles happen. Like many centuries ago, today's youth celebrates the day of Ivan Kupala, greeting the warm summer with cheerful songs about love, wealth and a rich harvest, and lovers, wanting to preserve their feelings forever, jump over bonfire, as did their distant ancestors.