Ivana Kupala 2017

A good Kupala night.

Something I have noticed over the years: the observances that have survived best here are the ones nobody ever tried to enforce.

Kupala was discouraged for long stretches of the twentieth century, treated as superstition, and it survived without any institution defending it. It survived because it is enjoyable, because it happens outdoors on the shortest night of the year, and because young people have always found reasons to be near a river with a fire after dark.

That is a more robust preservation mechanism than any ministry of culture. A tradition that people want to do does not need protecting. It only needs not to be actively stopped.

Fire, water, wreaths. Enjoy the shortest night.