(late post but I am currently on vacation so it is what it is 😁) Festa të Korrave! Festa e Zjarrit! Festa e Blegtorisë! #SummerSoltice! #Litha! #Midsmmer! • Similar to most European Summer Soltice traditions, “Festa të Korrave,” or “The Harvest Festival” in Albanian, focuses on the Sun and celebrating the cycles of life with #bonfires, games and community revelry. • This holiday is referred to by many names across the Balkans, “Festa e Zjarrit” (The Feast of Fire), “Festa e Blegtorisë” (The feast of Cattle), as well as “Festa e Shën Gjonit” (The Feast of Saint John, after Christian missionaries proselytized the #Balkans and attempted to incorporate Pagan celebrations into their own), but are celebrated similarly. The name #FestatëKorrave comes from the Albanian word for #harvest, which is also where the word for July ( #Korrik ) comes from. This festival occurs on the 23rd or 24th of July. • It is celebrated by lighting “dordoleca” or scarecrows as well as bon fires at night, while feasting, singing and dancing. Each household competes over who can create the largest bonfire, while also seeing who can jump over the flames. Children create braided hoops and rings with sticks and light these on fire as well. Rolling these symbolic suns down hills and chasing them, the children would symbolically represent the cycle of the sun, in the longest day of the year. • With fire and harvest, comes ash and fertility. The first shearing of the flock is performed during this time, with the ashes of the previous evening’s bonfires sprinkled on the cattle’s backs as well as the harvest grounds. This symbolizes the warmth and fecundity provided by the sun that will aid in yielding a fruitful harvest as well as healthy cattle. • It is interesting to see how ancient cultural practices, specifically pagan/ pre-Abrahamic ones, cross cultures and unite people more than divide them. At the end of the day, we are just people appreciating and giving thanks to nature, while living on a giant ball of water and dirt, floating in the universe… amazing. • #thebalkanwitch #witch #shtriga #yshtese #balkan #balkanwitchcraft #magick #magji #magjik #albanian #albanianwitch https://www.instagram.com/p/CQtju1-n-hY/?utm_medium=tumblr
