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Sânziană is theRomanian name for gentlefairies who play an important part inlocal folklore, also used to designate theGalium verum orCruciata laevipes flowers.[citation needed] Under the plural formSânziene, the word designates an annualfestival in the fairies' honor. Etymologically, the name comes from theLatinSanctaDiana, theRoman goddess of thehunt andmoon, also celebrated inRoman Dacia (ancient Romania).[citation needed] Diana was known to be the virgin goddess and looked after virgins and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, Diana,Minerva andVesta, who swore never to marry.[1]
People in the westernCarpathian Mountains celebrate theSânziene holiday annually, on June 24. This is similar to theSwedishMidsummer holiday, and is believed to be apagan celebration of thesummer solstice in June. According to the official position of theRomanian Orthodox Church, the customs actually relate to the celebration ofSaint John the Baptist'sNativity, which also happens on June 24.
The folk practices ofSânziene imply that the most beautiful maidens in the village dress in white and spend all day searching for and picking flowers, of which one MUST beGalium verum (Lady's bedstraw or Yellow bedstraw) which in Romanian is also named "Sânziànă". Using the flowers they picked during the day, the girls braid floral crowns which they wear upon returning to the village at nightfall. There they meet with their beloved and they dance around a bonfire. The crowns are thrown over the houses, and whenever the crown falls, it is said that someone will die in that house; if the crown stays on the roof of the house, then good harvest and wealth will be bestowed upon the owners. As with other bonfire celebrations, jumping over the embers after the bonfire is not raging anymore is done to purify the person and also to bring health.
Another folk belief is that during theSânziene Eve night, the heavens open up, making it the strongest night for magic spells, especially for the love spells. Also it is said that the plants harvested during this night will have tremendous magical powers.
It is not a good thing though to be a male and walk at night during Sanziene Eve night, as that is the time when the fairies dance in the air, blessing the crops and bestowing health on people - they do not like to be seen by males, and whoever sees them will be maimed, or the fairies will take their hearing/speech or make them mad.
In some areas of the Carpathians, the villagers then light a big wheel ofhay from the ceremonial bonfire and push it down a hill. This has been interpreted as a symbol for the setting sun (from the solstice to come and until themidwinter solstice, the days will be getting shorter).
The consequences of heavens opening onSânziene are connected by some toparanormal events reported during that period of each year. According to popular beliefs, strange things, both positive and negative, may happen to a person wandering alone onSânziene night. Strange ethereal activities are believed to happen especially in places such as theBăneasa forest (near the capital ofBucharest) or the Baciu forest (near the city ofCluj-Napoca).
Mircea Eliade's novel,Noaptea de Sânziene (translated asThe Forbidden Forest), includes references to the folk belief about skies opening at night, as well as to paranormal events happening in theBăneasa Forest.
In the formSânziana ("the sânziană"), the word has also come to be used as a female name. It is notably used as such inVasile Alecsandri's comedySânziana şi Pepelea (later anopera byGeorge Stephănescu).
The fairy Sânziene, "the fairy of the summer solstice", is described in acolinda (Romanian folk song) as the "sister of the Sun".[2]
Moldovan bandZdob şi Zdub recorded a song called Sânziene, which tells the story of a search for one's soulmate throughout a midsummer night festival.
