Ivana Kupala 2015

A good Kupala night.

A thing I have come to value about this festival is that it makes no claim about anyone. It does not commemorate a person, mark a victory, or require anybody to hold an opinion.

It marks the shortest night of the year, which happens regardless of what anyone thinks, and it responds to that with fire and water, which is what human beings have generally done about the solstice everywhere.

In a calendar increasingly full of days that ask something of you, there is a real value in one that asks nothing except that you go outside.

Fire, water, wreaths on the river. Enjoy the short night.