La Noche de San Juan
es una festividad de origen pagano, no muy antiguo que suele ir ligada a encender hogueras o fuegos, ligada con las celebraciones en la que se festejaba la llegada del solsticio de verano, pese a que éste es el 21 de junio, en el hemisferio norte, cuyo rito principal consiste en encender una hoguera. La finalidad de este rito era "dar más fuerza al sol", que a partir de esos días, iba haciéndose más "débil" —los días se van haciendo más cortos hasta el solsticio de invierno—. Simbólicamente el fuego también tiene una función "purificadora" en las personas que lo contemplaban.
Se celebra en muchos puntos de Europa, aunque está especialmente arraigada en España, Portugal (Fogueiras de São João), Noruega(Jonsok), Dinamarca (Sankthans), Suecia (Midsommar), Finlandia (Juhannus), Estonia(Jaanipäev) y Reino Unido (Midsummer). En Sudamérica, Brasil tiene Festas Juninas, en Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Perú y Venezuela la noche de San Juan. La noche de San Juan está, así mismo, relacionada con antiquísimas tradiciones y leyendas españolas como la ...
Leyenda de la Encantada.
En muchos lugares no cabe duda de que las celebraciones actuales tienen una conexión directa con las celebraciones de la antigüedad ligadas al solsticio de verano, influidas por ritos pre-cristianos o simplemente vinculados a los ciclos de la naturaleza. Sin embargo, en otros lugares (por ejemplo España y Portugal) la existencia de una vinculación entre las celebraciones del solsticio de verano (en el hemisferio norte) que tiene lugar el 20-21 de junio y las celebraciones del día de San Juan (el 24 de junio) varían en función de las fechas, la discontinuidad en la celebración, las tradiciones y costumbres, etc. Pese a ello, se observan elementos comunes como es la realización de hogueras en las calles y plazas de las poblaciones donde se reúnen familiares y amigos.
La vinculación de los ritos ligados al solsticio de verano con otra celebración popular y bastante extendida del mes de junio, las «verbenas de San Pedro» (el 29 de junio), resulta aún menos clara.
En aquellos lugares donde la celebración se liga a la festividad de San Juan (24 de junio) y no a la efeméride astronómica del solsticio de verano (21-22 de junio) existe una disputa sobre cuál es la auténtica "noche de San Juan". Si bien cabe entender que a partir de las 0:00 horas ya se trata del 'día de San Juan' y, por tanto (al ser de noche en las zonas lejanas al círculo polar ártico) esas primeras horas puedan considerarse 'noche de San Juan', lo habitual es entender que la noche de un determinado día no se refiere a las primeras horas del mismo sino a las últimas, una vez que ya se ha puesto el Sol. Esta diferente interpretación da lugar a que en algunos lugares (ej. Almería o Barcelona) las celebraciones tengan lugar la noche del 23 al 24 de junio, en otras tengan lugar la noche del 24 al 25 (ej. Hogueras de Alicante). Por otro lado, no es extraño que en algunos lugares la celebración se extienda a las dos noches en función del espíritu festivo de cada sitio.
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| English Version |
The evening of June 23, St John's Eve, is the eve of celebration before the Feast Day of St John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:36, 56–57) states that John was born about six months before Jesus, therefore the feast of John the Baptist was fixed on June 24, six months before Christmas. This feast day is one of the very few saints' days to mark the supposed anniversary of the birth, rather than the death, of the saint commemorated.
The Feast of St John coincides with the June solstice also referred to as Midsummer. The Christian holy day is fixed at June 24, but, in some countries, festivities are celebrated the night before, on St John's Eve. The feast is celebrated in various countries.
Symbolic elements
Fire
Fire is the most fundamental element associated with the Saint John's Eve celebration, as sin giving of thanks for bountiful harvests. In many countries, such as Croatia, bonfires are lit on the evening of June 23 for people to jump over.
In Denmark, the celebration is called sankthans or sankthansaften ("St. John's Eve"). It is the day where the medieval wise men and women would gather special herbs that they needed for the rest of the year to cure people.The Danes often meet with family and friends to have dinner together. If the weather is good, they then proceed to a local bonfire venue. Here the bonfire with the witch on top is lit around 10 pm. Beforehand, a bonfire speech is often made, at large events normally by a well-known person. According to popular belief, St John’s Eve was charged with a special power where evil forces were also at work. People believed that the witches flew past on their broomsticks on their way to the Brocken. To keep the evil forces away, the bonfires were usually lit on high ground. Placing a witch – made of old clothes stuffed with hay – on the bonfire is a tradition which did not become common until the 20th century.
Water
Water is believed to have miraculous, purifying effects. Tradition holds it that the medicinal plants are most effective when dipped in water collected from seven different springs.
Medicinal plants
Traditionally, women collect several species of plants on St. John's eve. These vary from area to area, but mostly include fennel, rue, rosemary, lemon verbena, mallows, laburnum, foxgloves and elder flowers. On the Feast of St. John, it is customary to gather the perennial herb "St. John's Wort". It's long been seen as a means to keep evil away, and since medieval times, the herb has been hung over doors, windows and icons to keep witches and evil spirit away. It is also used medicinally, and was used thus by the Knights Hospitallers. In some areas, they are dipped in a vessel with water and left outside exposed to the dew of night until the following morning when people use the resulting flower water to wash their faces.
Bracken (Pteris aquilina) is sometimes called brake or female fern. The minute spores of this fern were reputed to confer invisibility on their possessor if gathered at the only time when they were said to be visible, i.e., on St. John’s Eve at the precise moment at which the saint was born.
see moreSt Jojn's Eve
Medicinal plants
Traditionally, women collect several species of plants on St. John's eve. These vary from area to area, but mostly include fennel, rue, rosemary, lemon verbena, mallows, laburnum, foxgloves and elder flowers. On the Feast of St. John, it is customary to gather the perennial herb "St. John's Wort". It's long been seen as a means to keep evil away, and since medieval times, the herb has been hung over doors, windows and icons to keep witches and evil spirit away. It is also used medicinally, and was used thus by the Knights Hospitallers. In some areas, they are dipped in a vessel with water and left outside exposed to the dew of night until the following morning when people use the resulting flower water to wash their faces.
Bracken (Pteris aquilina) is sometimes called brake or female fern. The minute spores of this fern were reputed to confer invisibility on their possessor if gathered at the only time when they were said to be visible, i.e., on St. John’s Eve at the precise moment at which the saint was born.
see moreSt Jojn's Eve
