On the night of June 23–24, Romania's fields fill with small yellow flowers — sânziene (Drăgaica). According to tradition, this is the night when the «gateways between worlds» open: herbs acquire healing power, fairies dance in circles and girls put their luck in love to the test.
Who the Sânziene are
both flowers and fairies: beings of the solstice night, kindly sisters of the Iele — but gentler. They appear only on this night, dancing in a circle in the fields; where they have danced, the crop «grows richer». Anyone who sees them dancing and is not «pure» (harbouring ill thoughts or not having fasted) risks being «taken» — falling ill with the «affliction of the Sânziene».
The night's rituals
- The sânziene wreath: girls weave wreaths and throw them onto houses — if a wreath stays there, marriage will follow that year;
- Flowers under the pillow — you dream of the person you will love;
- Drinking dew — in the morning, for health and beauty;
- Gathering medicinal herbs — basil, St John's wort, lavender and cununiță — «only on the night of Sânziene do they have their full power»;
- A prayer of thanksgiving for summer, at dawn.
Drăgaica — the southern version
In Oltenia and Muntenia, the celebration is called Drăgaica: a «chosen» girl dances wearing the wreath, surrounded by a procession, so that the crops will be protected from hail. What they like: circle dancing, singing and good-natured jokes. What they dislike: malicious speech, ill thoughts and a woman «filled with envy».
The Sânziene and the Church's Sânzii
The Church placed the Nativity of St John the Baptist (June 24) over the solstice: light that wanes and grows — «He must increase, I must decrease». Christians of old saw no contradiction: sânziene picked in the morning after the service were placed beside the icon and kept throughout the year for tea against «fright».
Frequently asked questions
What happens to sânziene flowers after the celebration? They are dried in the shade, rocked in a sheaf and kept for teas (calming and digestive) — and «for the home», as a shield. In tradition, the sheaf of sânziene beside the icon «keeps evil outside for a year».
Can the Sânziene also be dangerous? Only to those who disrupt their dance or seek them «with ill thoughts». Like any force of nature in tradition: honoured, it is beneficial; mocked, it is dangerous.
