Kupala Night
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Kupala Night is one of the major folk holidays in some Slavic countries. It coincides with the Christian feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist and the East Slavic feast of Saint John's Eve. In
Ivan Kupala. Fortunetelling on the wreaths, by Simon Kozhin, 2009
Night on the eve of Ivan Kupala by Polish painter Henryk Siemiradzki, 1880s, Lviv National Art Gallery
A fragment of a Russian icon symbolizing summer (from left to right): • George the Victorious, on whose day the summer season begins • John the Baptist, on whose day the summer solstice is celebrated • Demetrius of Thessaloniki, on whose day the summer season ends
Ivan Kupała, fern flower. (Ukraine stamp), 1997
Leshy
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Leshy is a tutelary deity of the forest in pagan Slavic mythology. As Leshy rules over the forest and hunting, he may be related to the Slavic god Porewit.
Kupala Night
…believed that on the Kupala Night all evil spirits awaken to life and harm people; that one should beware of "the mischief of demons – domovoy, vodyanoy, leshy, rusalky". In order to prevent witches from "taking away" milk from cows, Russians pounded consecrated willow in pastures, and in Ukraine the owner…
An illustration by Ivan Bilibin, 1906
Drawing by Ivan Yizhakevych, Niva magazine, 1904
Leshy statue in Bolków, southwest Poland