SAINT JEAN. This Saturday, June 24, 2023, large bonfires will be lit in towns and villages for the Saint-Jean feast. What is its origin and what are we celebrating? How is the date set?
[Updated June 23, 2023 at 5:37 p.m.] Popular in France and especially in Catalan lands, Saint-Jean represents the celebration of the summer solstice, in other words, the arrival of the summer season. It draws its source from the cult of the sun celebrated since Antiquity: in Syria but also in Phoenicia, a region corresponding generally to present-day Lebanon, where a great festival was held each year to honor Tammuz, God of abundance, plants and livestock. It began the evening before, as is the case then in the traditional Saint-Jean.
The Catholic Church took over this practice by Christianizing it. And by copying its course on that operated by the Celts and the Germanic ones for the blessing of their harvests. The first Slavic peoples thus had the custom of celebrating Ivan Kupalo, god of the sun and reincarnation, but also of “purification by water of fertility and love”. Peoples of the east and of Russia celebrated it with crowns of flowers on their heads, singing and dancing around large fires on which they threw herbs. “Purifying” nocturnal swims in the rivers coupled with acts of love and carnal pleasure on the same night completed the festivities.
The break with tradition is at the time of the Christianization of Russia: Saints then replace the pagan gods and nocturnal swimming is banned. As for Catholic France in the 5th century, it replaced the celebration of “Koupalo” with that of Saint-Jean-Baptiste. A decision that we understand better when we learn that “Kupalo” means “bathing” in the Slavic language when “Ivan” means “Jean”. Today, we celebrate Saint-Jean internationally, always around the date of the summer solstice. In France, Saint-Jean is celebrated in various ways depending on the region, although it is more popular in the countryside. The bonfires lit at nightfall are a constant.
Summer party for some, Saint-Jean-Baptiste party for others, if Saint-Jean has different names, whatever happens, only one image comes to mind: that of giant bonfires around which reigns a good-natured atmosphere. In the heat of the fire, we dance, we sing, we discuss… And sometimes, we even taste toasted marshmallows. Saint John’s Day always takes place on June 24, the religious day of the birth of Saint John the Baptist. But concretely, it honors above all the arrival of the beautiful days. If it is celebrated at the same time as Father’s Day or Music Day, it is therefore actually the summer solstice (and not the winter) that its festivities are linked. Or more precisely the one in the northern hemisphere, around June 21st.
The great bonfires of Saint John contain the DNA of this celebration. Lit at nightfall, visible from afar, the blazing pyre can take on impressive proportions. The inhabitants gather around to celebrate the summer with a lot of music and dances until the early morning. Are fires for burning demons, for good luck? Without going that far, symbols of purification, they materialize the light brought by summer. The tradition also wants the local young people to jump over the flames (when they start to burn well).
In the Christian religion, Saint John the Baptist is a cousin of Jesus. His role was not the least since, as a kind of messenger, he announced according to belief the arrival of the Kingdom of God on an area by baptizing the pilgrims with the water of the Jordan. Saint John the Baptist had, according to the Bible, met a tragic end: he was beheaded around 28-29 AD by order of Herod, king of Palestine. When pagan and Christian traditions merged, St. John’s Day was set for June 24, the day the Saint was born and 6 months before Christmas Eve. Later exported to America, in 1977 it even became a national holiday for the people of Quebec.
“I who loved him so much, I found him the most beautiful in Saint-Jeaaaaan…” A French song from 1942, “Mon amant de Saint-Jean” was a great success. Its words, by Léon Agel, with music by Emile Carrara, relate the exalted and short-lived love of a young girl bewitched by a seducer. Set to a musette waltz rhythm, the song also bewitches those who listen to it and its tune often takes a while to dissipate from the mind. First performed by Lucienne Delyle, the song was her first big hit.
Here are the lyrics to the song:
1 – I don’t know why I was going to dance At Saint-Jean at the musette, But all it took was one kiss For me to be a prisoner to my heart How not to lose my head, Held tight by daring arms Because we always believe In the gentle words of love When they are said with the eyes I who loved him so much, I found him the most beautiful in Saint-Jean, I remained intoxicated, Without will, Under his kisses.2 – Without thinking any more, I gave him The best of my To be a smooth talker every time he lied, I knew it, but I loved him. How not to lose my head, Hugged by daring arms Because we always believe In the sweet words of love When they are said with the eyes Me who l I loved so much, I found him the most beautiful in Saint-Jean, I remained intoxicated, Without will, Beneath his kisses.3 – But alas in Saint-Jean as elsewhere An oath is only a decoy happiness, And to want to keep his heart. How not to lose his head, Tightened by daring arms Because we always believe In the sweet words of love When they are said with the eyes Me who loved him so much, My beautiful love, my lover de Saint-Jean, He no longer loves me, It’s in the past, Let’s not talk about it anymore (twice)
Midsummer’s Day falls on Saturday, June 24, 2023. The next Midsummer’s Day will always take place on June 24, but on various days of the week (see our calendar below). The celebration of Saint John takes place publicly in the villages, especially in Catalan lands, and according to the directives of the mayors.
A fixed holiday in our Gregorian calendar, Midsummer’s Day always takes place on the same date, June 24. However, it changes days of the week depending on the year. In 2023, it falls on a Saturday. Regional public holiday in Canada (in Quebec, Yukon and Newfoundland and Labrador), St. John’s Day is not in France, unlike other religious dates on a day such as Easter Monday , Ascension Thursday or Whit Monday.
