St John's Eve

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John’s day is officially celebrated on 23 June at night. This day commemorates St John’s birth. But why the 24th if we don’t exactly know what day he was born? This holiday is celebrated on June 24 because it is exactly 6 months before Christmas Eve.

What is the origin of this holiday?

Before, people believe that the sun was in love with earth and that it couldn’t bare to be apart from it. This is one of the main reasons that we celebrate this holiday on the 24 June, the last day of spring. We could also explain the origin of this holiday with the superstition that this day was the ideal day to get rid of bad spirits and attract good ones. This is why fire is used during this famous celebration.

With the arrival of Christianism, St. John’s day is celebrated differently. It is said that Zechariah ordered a bomb fire to be lit to announce the birth of his child, this happened to be the same day as the summer solstice. To commemorate this date, Christians lit a bomb fire and practiced rituals around it.

The main theme of St John’s day is fire. Countries all over the world celebrate this holiday differently but they mainly use fire. From fireworks to bomb fires, St John’s day is definitely “a hot holiday”.

 Do you celebrate it where you live? Did you find the origin of this holiday interesting? Leave a comment about you think about this topic.

                                                                                                                 (By Haydn Cannon)