Celebrated to this day, the summer solstice was a special festival for Lithuania’s ancestors – when plants, water, and fire were believed to acquire magical, healing powers capable of cleansing both body and soul. This moment, when the sun reaches its peak in the sky, was honoured with rituals of purification, divination, and deep connection to nature.
To explore the ancient traditions behind Lithuania’s Rasos celebration, LRT.lt spoke with Nijolė Balčiūnienė, an ethnologist and organiser of the solstice festival in Verkiai Park, Vilnius. For nearly sixty years, Balčiūnienė has worked to preserve and share the spiritual customs of her ancestors.
Rasos vs. Joninės
Many Lithuanians mistake Rasos (summer solstice) with Joninės, believing the two are the same. However, Joninės, marked on June 24, actually refer to the Christian feast of St. John the Baptist, as well as the name day for those called Jonas or Janina, Balčiūnienė explains.
Rasos – also known as Kupolinės – predates Christianity in Lithuania and is rooted in Baltic paganism. During the Soviet era, the name Joninės was officially promoted to suppress Lithuania’s pre-Christian identity. But today, the ancient traditions of Rasos are once again being revived and celebrated.
A time when nature is at full power
Beginning around June 21, when the daylight hours are longest, Rasos celebrates the moment when the natural world is most alive.
“During this time, plants are in full bloom, at their peak strength, entering their ripening phase. That’s why our ancestors believed they held special healing powers and would gather them before the shortest night,” Balčiūnienė explained, sharing examples of plant-based divination.
One ritual involves girls gathering a bouquet of nine herbs, either from nine different meadows or by taking nine silent steps between picks in a single field. The resulting bouquet – known as kupolė – was taken to a wise woman, a shaman of sorts, who would interpret each plant’s significance. Today, only a few such women remain, though some still attend the Rasos celebration in Verkiai Park to offer insights to local women and visitors.
The celebration has also been referred to as the Festival of Wreaths in some sources, Balčiūnienė pointed out, since the wreath – circular and unbroken – symbolises maturity, eternity, ancestral connection, and, in some regions, the link between different worlds.
A common practice involved a girl throwing her wreath onto a forked pole to predict how many years remained until marriage – each miss added a year.
Another tradition in Lithuania Minor, the coastal region of Lithuania, involved a girl throwing her wreath through a window, then retrieving it through the door and placing it under her pillow. It was believed that the man she dreamed of that night would become her husband.
Still, wreath-floating in lakes remains one of the best-known Rasos customs. The interaction of plant, water, and if a candle is lit, fire, is seen as symbolic. If a boy’s and girl’s wreaths float together, they are likely to become a couple.
Night-time bathing and the power of dew
“Water plays a central role in Rasos celebrations,” Balčiūnienė noted, with many rituals taking place by or in water.
The tradition of night bathing before sunrise persists today. In the past, entire villages would bathe. The sick hoped to be healed, the healthy sought to strengthen themselves, others bathed for youth or wisdom. Even animals were bathed,
Dew or rasa, as it is called in Lithuanian – the festival’s namesake, was equally important. It revives plants in the heat and gains special powers during the shortest night of the year.
Elders believed that the more abundant the dew on the morning of the celebration, the better the year’s harvest. On the morning of Rasos, men would straddle a branch and circle crop fields, brushing off dew to protect the harvest.
Girls washed their faces with dew to become radiant and youthful; others would roll in dew to treat ailments.
Yet dew-related superstitions also existed. Some women would collect dew from neighbours’ fields, and give it to their own cows, supposedly stealing the neighbour’s milk. To prevent this, women would rush to collect dew themselves and feed it to their animals, Balčiūnienė explained.
To protect their livestock, people would decorate barns with rowan branches. Evil-doers were believed to be forced to count the rowan leaves before entering, and by the time they finished, it would be midday, rendering their spell ineffective. Rowan was considered protective against malevolent intent, curses, and evil spirits – even the devil fears rowan.
Elders also believed nettles, wormwood, and thistles offered protection. Those who wished to rid their gardens of thistles would uproot one and replant it upside-down during the shortest night to ward off the rest.
Cleansing fire for body and soul
Why the bonfires? Fire was highly significant for our ancestors. In pre-Christian Lithuania, fire was lit by priests and sages, then carried home and preserved in hearths to guard against illness, lightning, and misfortune. Unsurprisingly, many Rasos customs are linked to fire.
Fires were lit on tall poles (stebulės) with wheels on top. Wheels or barrels were set ablaze and rolled down hills or mounds, symbolically strengthening the sun, which after reaching its highest point would begin its descent toward winter.
Festival bonfires were accompanied by singing and dancing. After bathing or wreath-floating, people would return and jump over the fires.
“Rasos bonfires purified both body and soul, so everyone – young and old, healthy and ailing – took part. Those who wanted healing or strength for summer work would jump over the flames. Once the fires died down, livestock was led through the embers for their well-being. Ashes from the fires were scattered on fields to ensure good crops and reduce weeds,” said Balčiūnienė.
To this day, couples jump over fires hand-in-hand to strengthen their bond. Balčiūnienė recalled many pairs who took part in the ritual and later built lasting families.
The festival’s great mystery – the fern flower
According to Balčiūnienė the celebration cannot end before greeting the rising sun.
“Before that, you must find the fern flower. Everyone searches, though few know what they’ll find – it’s not easy. Ancient sources say you must circle yourself with a rowan staff for protection before setting out. Courage is required. There may be fear or intimidation, but only the brave succeed.”
It was believed that finding the mythical fern flower – a blossom said to appear only on the shortest night of the year, deep in the forest – granted the ability to understand animals, see the future, and gain the gift of prophecy. However, one must never reveal having found it, they should keep it a secret. As a result, some might tell you it isn’t real.
Not Balčiūnienė though. “I believe the fern flower represents inner harmony, connection with the world, ancestors, and ancient deities. It can be found in the heart. Once the search ends, people gather on high hills or mounds to welcome the sunrise with song and togetherness. It is a beautiful moment that brings joy, peace, and fulfilment,” she said.
Balčiūnienė has marked Rasos according to ancient traditions for nearly six decades, ever since the festival began to be revived during Soviet times by guardians of pre-Christian customs.
“If I skipped these rituals each year, I would feel I had failed to restore harmony and the connection with our ancestors. That is why this celebration is so dear to me, and why for the past quarter-century I have ensured the old traditions are honoured in Verkiai Park—not with beer and barbecue, but with the songs, dances, and customs of our forebears.
Rasos is arguably our most meaningful and beautiful celebration. It helps restore the harmony between people and their ancestors,” Balčiūnienė concluded.
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