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Friday, June 24, 2011

Sânziene - A Romanian Midsummer Festival

Sânziană is the Romanian name for gentle fairies who play an important part in local folklore, also used to designate the Galium verum or Cruciata laevipes flowers. Under the plural form Sânziene, the word designates an annual festival in the fairies' honor. Etymologically, the name stands for sân (common abbreviation of sfânt - "saint", "holy") and zână (a word used for fairies in general).


People in the western Carpathian Mountains and other parts of Romania celebrate the Sânziene holiday annually, on June 24. This is similar to the Swedish Midsummer holiday, and is believed to be a pagan celebration of the summer solstice in June....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar, and can be found in its entirety here: Sânziene - A Romanian Midsummer Festival

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do not know how others will interpret my post, but I am of Romanian origin. This year on the night of june 23 (Sanziene's eve) I tried (a bit skeptical, I admit!)some of the traditions of SANZIENE'S NIGHT. To my absolute delight, I have received the answer I was looking for, and felt the presence of these wonderful, lovely beings of light! Believing in them is a matter of personal choice, but after june 23-24 I strongly believe that the Sanzienes are not just an "old superstition". They are REAL, indeed!!

Anonymous said...

Im sorry but the Sânziene has nothing to do with GYPSIES!
its actually quite offensive to say that about romanians because they are very proud of their dacian ancestors where this holiday comes from. gypsies were a migratory people from India brought by tatars during Ottoman Wars a few centuries ago, they are a minority with their own separate customs
Sânziana originates from romanians' Dacian ancestors, and Thracians who were related to dacians and getae...its a magical holiday yes but gypsies have nothing to do with it! I am romanian by the way

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