Ivan Kupalo

[nataliek]

>===== Original Message From Slavic & East European Languages and Literature
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>Could someone help me with some of the imagry of this
>slavic holiday?
>
>I know that Kupalo was a god (or goddess) of
>vegitation who was worshiped on Midsummer's Eve and
>from what I can tell the "Ivan" must have added when
>the Orthodox Church tried to convert the celebration
>to one in honor of John the Babtist and the dvoeverie
>kicked in.

We can't know for sure because of lack of records, but what you say is
essentially correct.  The birth of John the Baptist falls very near the summer
solstice (June 24) and so, as far as we can tell, with the introduction of
Christianity, the Kupala holiday and the day of John the Baptist were merged.

>
>Or was the doll that is ritually dismembered and
>burned for the fest called "Ivan Kupalo" before that?
>Was he some sort of god-everyman perhaps - a Christ
>figure of sorts symbolizing salvation by bringing a
>good harvest?  Or, if the doll was not Ivan before
>that, were they actually symbolically killing a god on
>the fire?

Again, hard to tell.  Actually, in a number of places, the effigy is called
Marena/Maryna.  Or there can been 2 effigies, one male called Kupalo and one
female called Marena.  The effigies are sacrificed in various ways.  Perhaps
the most common is to through the Marena one into the water (nearby lake or
river) and to burn the Kupalo one.  But folklore is characterized by variation
and there is certainly plenty of it here.

See my article in the summer 2004 issue of SEEJ for a description of some
contemporary celebrations as well as background info.

Natalie Kononenko
Kule Chair of Ukrainian Ethnography
University of Alberta
Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies
441C Arts Building
Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2E6
http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/uvp/
Phone: 780-492-6810

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