Jani 2008- Kugures, outside Saldus, Latvia

Another Jani come and gone again. This was a good one. Despite less than ideal weather conditions, a good time was had by all. The less than ideal weather consisted of rain and high winds- but actually, it really wasn't that bad. I remember being much colder last year at Jani (was I better dressed this year? Quite possible...), and the rain only stopped our singing and dancing momentarily this year.

This was an emotional Jani for me. I cry easily as it is. But this year, Jani got me. Mind you, Jani is not generally a holiday to cry over. Ok, even last year, I remember feeling quite sad that this day/night which comes so close to the beginning of summer holidays actually marks the beginning of the end of the nice weather in Latvia. But, if you don't focus on that aspect, it really is a happy, joyful, sometimes even raunchy holiday. It is fun.

This year I was in tears. The reason is simple really. This may be my last sort of "real" Jani for a while. But it wasn't just that. The thing is that for as much of the time as I feel so out of place in this country, and so do not like the way things happen around me, it is during traditional cultural events like this, that I feel home. It's when I participate in an activity like Jani, which for so many years I did outside of Latvia, in Latvia amongst family and friends who love and honor the traditions of the event (and don't necessarily just see it as a reason to get drunk), that I have a momentary feeling of "this is it".

I guess maybe, it might follow something like this- in the States when I ever participated in a Jani celebration, it mostly consisted of some short, just for show re-creating of a few folklore traditions, followed by heavy drinking. But here in Latvia, at least, having celebrated for two years at Kugures, the whole thing feels very real, and now, and like a natural part of life- not a weird recreation of the past. Joel and I went up to Kugs the day before Ligo night, and although a lot had already been done in the week before, we did some more bits and pieces to get the place ready. This is a big part of Jani. You have to ready the house- it's not just about building a bonfire (although that IS important), but you have to clean the house, get it ready for guests and for new energy. This means cleaning, it means decorating, it means being with friends and family and doing some real work. (Like I said, a lot (most of the big stuff) had already been done at Kugs, but I did help make a long oak branch wreath which was used to decorate the "puudele.") It means going out into the fields and picking handfuls of wild flowers to make a wreath for your own head, and if you're lucky enough to be attached to a man, to make an oak leaf wreath for him.

Once the place, and the people are ready, Jani is about community. It's about coming together to sing and dance and share in the wealth of the summer foods. It's about spreading the good energy to each other, and all around the place where you're celebrating. So you sing a lot. You sing about each other, endlessly thanking the Jani "mother and father" (the heads of the household), and wishing them and everyone, health, wealth and happiness. You sing for the house and the crops and the animals. And you sing for the sun- more important here than anywhere. :) And then you dance. And then you sing some more. And yeah, somewhere along the line if you have time you drink a beer, or two.

Jani is real here, in a way that it never was for me in Garezers. Because here, what comes before and happens during and even after is all related to Jani! Wearing your folk costume makes sense because it's cold out and it'll keep you warm, and you do want to put on something festive for the event (I wish I had a folk costume to don...I would have happily...). Singing to the sun, bargaining for her to stay with us just a bit longer, makes SO much sense, because actually, whether you believe it will make a difference or not, you REALLY, REALLY want the sun to stick around- to somehow get inside of you and stay there for when January hits. Singing songs and dancing with friends is great- it's FUN! And to get to sing songs, that really, anyone can join if only for the chorus (Ligo!), is fun too. And in a way, it's more fun than just turning up the latest top 40 song chart, and stumbling around pissed. At least, it is for me.

I don't know- I don't think I knew that other Jani celebrations felt fake to me, until I got to a Jani celebration like this one. (And don't get me wrong, you'll find plenty of people in Latvia "celebrating" Jani by just drinking at a bar as well.) I guess it makes sense that you can't feel a difference until there is a distinction to make. Well, it's made in my head. And like I said, it moved me. I guess, more than anything, I have to admit, that I still feel a great sense of connection to my cultural roots. I am Latvian at heart in my sense of connection to song, dance, nature and community. The last couple days' festivities were great. And I'm really glad I got to spend my last "real" Jani for a while the way I did.

So, here is the picture and video re-cap, in some kind of order, bear with me. :)

"Jana berni" (The "children" of the midsummer's eve celebration- it's what anyone who celebrates is called that night!)

Hard at work preparing a feast that lasts throughout the night!

Ladies making wreathes...

More work at the food table- a picture possibly taken before the previous one!

Jem having a break (as the pseudo Jana tevs, he'd been working hard for weeks! It was a well deserved break!)

Mook trying to get it all done in time! She makes her wreath...

Some "Jana berni" dressed and ready to go!

The food table looking pretty good... :)

Ah, the older generation can finally sit back and watch the young'uns do the work. :) They did it all in their time, and they deserve to enjoy this now!

Jem and one of two actual Janis's that we had at our celebration prepare a torch...

A very cute picture of some little Jana berni sharing a secret...

In this video the Janu Mother is presented with a wreath.



In this video we're dancing round the old oak tree!




Time warp- in this next picture it's 10:30pm! We're all in the midst of the sunset songs. This year's Jani festivities were filmed by Latvian TV. You can see the guy with the camera off to the left.

And time warp back to earlier. You're supposed to sing about the animals- wishing them good health and work for another year. Some Latvian homesteads no longer have animals though, so we sing a good song for the tractors to keep working....

Video of singing to the tractors...



When Jana berni arrive at the homestead, they have to announce their arrival with songs. This group of teenagers arrived singing and bearing gifts of food. They fit right in!

A view of the house, the large oak out front from the drive way.

Joel's favorite picture of us from Jani.

Videos of different events involving fire. :)






And time warp again- the men have built and lit the fire (not all that easy in the high winds!). Now they stand proud. :)

It looks so much darker in the picture because of the firelight than it really was. But here we are sitting around the fire singing.

Here is the puudele. It took a few tries to get it standing, and lit- but, all worth the wait. And yeah, that wreath wrapped around the pole is the one I helped make.

Joel holding the torch getting ready to light the wheel.

The view from the top of the hill at nearly 11pm. :) Yup, 11!

I was proud of myself that this year I actually stayed up to see the sunrise- which happened around 4:20am. But, the sky was as light as the above picture already at 3am. It was hard to believe the sun hadn't already risen! :) Joel and I headed to bed with birds chirping all around, and having to shut our eyes against the bright morning light. Of course, having been awake for as long as we had been, it wasn't too hard to get to sleep.