In traditional Romanian culture, Sânzienele is a holiday that takes place on June 24th. Also on this date, Orthodox Christian believers celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist. It is believed that the feast of Sânziene is a pagan celebration of the summer solstice in June, which celebrates the sun, nature and love/fertility. Sânziana is the Romanian name of a fairy who plays an important role in local folklore. Additional significance has been added to this day (of June 24th) as a result of the initiative of the online community La Blouse Roumaine, which dedicated this day to the promotion of the Romanian language. The Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse (or ia) is marked by Romanian communities around the world. Women especially wear these embroided blouses. The initiative appeared in 2013.
It seems that the feast of Sânziene has its origins in an ancient solar cult and is also called “Summer’s Head” or “The Silencing of the Cuckoo Bird”. The cuckoo begins to sing around March 21st (from the spring equinox) and does so to the summer solstice (around June 21-22) or even on Sânziene (June 24th). The cuckoo was the best-known landmark for the passage of time over the year: the cuckoo has always had the function of a calendar clock (hence, cuckoo clocks).
The term sânziană is the name of a plant (Eng.: Lady’s bedstraw). The plant is known as a medicinal plant, used in folk medicine, along with other plants harvested at this time of year. The flowers of this plant are yellow and bloom around June 24th. They have important divinatory and apotropaic attributes, as the vegetal equivalents of fairies bearing the same name. It is a herbaceous plant, a phytomorphic substitute for the virgin fairy who gives these flowers a scent and a cure. The plant grows in meadows and orchards, on roadsides, in forests and near fences. Its flowers are pleasantly scented. The plant is used in folk medicine, in customs and magical acts. The sânziană was used for many diseases, with the condition of being harvested in the morning, at dawn. Also during this period, other medicinal plants were harvested, such as: wild garlic, chicory, thyme, hawthorn, hellebore. Medicinal plants were taken to the church to be blessed. This is the period of maturity for many kinds of medicinal plants and weeds. It was believed that the best time for their harvest was the feast of Sânziene. To cure diseases, people made use of a complex of prejudices and magical-religious beliefs, which were supplemented with medicines prepared from medicinal plants.
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