The Pagan Heart
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November-December 2005 Issue
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Kupoliu Svente - the Lithuanian Midsummer
By Katya.
This article is about Kupoliu Svente (Kupoliu's Holy Day) - the Lithuanian Midsummer Solstice. Some call it Svente of Rasa - the Holy Days of Dew - but I have always thought of it as Kupoliu Svente. We celebrate Kupoliu, the god of love, fertility, and the harvest by celebrating what he has given us. It is a sweet smelling time of year. The flowers are in full bloom, the wind soft and cooling, and life is in full stride. On this magical night the trees and flowers come alive, the fairies play, and often young lovers disappear to celebrate more privately. Rather than write down what the festival is about and what rites are carried out, I wish to share my last Kupoliu Svente with you. I was home last year in Lithuania. I took Josh with me to meet my extended family and we stayed for almost six months. I was lucky to be home during the solstice - I have not celebrated Kupoliu Svente as an adult, although I have participated in Midsummer festivals here in the States. But what is done here is not the same - there is a feeling of newness and rediscovery to the events I have been to. At home we celebrate as our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents did and so on back through time. It is very different. There is no researching of custom, trialing of new ideas, forgetting of "how to do this". Nothing is planned, yet everything is arranged by a very old schedule. We all know who will bring the kupole (the three-branched tree to be set up in the center of the celebrations). It is the priest of all people and he then officiates over much of the festival as the priest before him did. We know that the rye fields will be blessed at dawn starting with my uncle's as people go from door to door and gradually the entire village will end up at Fredas' where the feasting will start. Petras will bring the best beer as his father once did and Olivija will "surprise" us with her fresh Egg Bread woven into thick plaits. Even though I have been gone so long I remembered it all as the day unfolded and found myself naturally slipping into the group and doing my share. Kupoliu Svente is as familiar to me as Christmas once was. The difference this year was that now I am an adult - and unmarried at that. And I am Pagan unlike everyone else who are Catholic. Of course, comfortable in their faith they happily participate in the continued traditions of Kupoliu Svente including crafting the corn dolly of Kupoliu to burn in the bon-fire. This year I did not follow my mother and Oma about or race off with the other children to gather flowers and weave garlands as I did the last time I celebrated. Instead, I found myself a part of the unmarried group. As did Josh since we are not married, although we've been together for so long that many think we are. Now, at home everyone is married by their mid twenties I think - so Josh and I are considered "old" for single folk by everyone, and this made us the subjects of many jests. But even so, we were sent off to enjoy the celebrations with the other unmarried people. And despite my advanced age, I felt very young and girlish dressed in traditional skirts and embroidered blouse wearing an enormous wreath of flowers and herbs. Josh spent the day looking slightly dazed and blushing furiously every time one of the other men spoke to him - from the gestures I caught I am certain the conversation, limited as it may have been, revolved around Kupoliu Svente's more fertile aspects. There is something amusing to me in seeing my very Christian cousins celebrating such a Pagan festival with such gusto. Our day consisted of eating and drinking, dancing and singing, and other fun activities. We ate so much food I'm still surprised we managed to join in the dancing and fire-jumping afterwards. Dancing in circles about a blazing fire is a giddy experience in many ways - the laughter, the feeling of freedom - it is like drinking champagne in spring. Luckily Josh has little grasp of the language otherwise he would have been even more embarrassed. He is often a little modest, and the Kupoliu Svente is not a day for modesty. The songs are all about love and passion. The dances are about the cycle of life and the rushing blood that awakens lust. It is about celebrating fertility in the old way in the tall grass of the unmown fields - and yes, indeed we did! There was wreath tossing at the kupole by the unmarried women to determine when they will marry - something I have no interest in. My refusal to play of course brought on further jesting as to Josh's "lack" and the offer to find me a more hearty man. All in Lithuanian naturally. Poor Josh! Somehow he understood the context - and the friendly nature of it all - and surprised me by challenging the ones who joked to a wrestling match. He won against them all. He was on his university team. Having proven his manhood he became the darling of the evening and I had to fight off the other women all night. Not so poor Josh it seems. With the evening came the supper - more food - with a lot of beer, cheese, and rye breads. A corn dolly who represents Kupoliu was made by the older women earlier that day - he watched over us during this feast and was toasted and sung to. We have dainas which are traditional songs for pretty much every occasion. Afterwards we burned him in the bonfire along with many herbs and offerings. We stayed awake all night and greeted Saule when she rose in the dawn with more dainas and more feasting. That wore Josh and I out and we headed off to bed as the unmarried women raced each other through the fields bare foot - another fertility and marriage ritual. A few hours later Oma woke us so we could attend Midsummer mass at the church with the rest of the village. I had come home to the comforting blend of Pagan and Christian that is my people.
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Primary Article - November-December 2005: Saulegriza, the Lithuanian Solstice
Secondary Article - Midsumarsblot - the Asatru Summer Solstice Blot
Secondary Article - Ta Kat' Agrous Dionysia - The Rural Dionysia
Secondary Article - History's Eye: A Number of Winter Festivals
~ The Festival of Sokar & The Rebirth Celebration of Nehebkau
~ Yuletide
~ Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
~ Haloa & Lenaea
~ Victory Feast of Horus
Secondary Article - Celtic Path - The Winter Solstice
Secondary Article - Holy Day: Yuletide in the Home of an Irish Saxon
Return to the Index of articles for Seasonal Festivals
