The Sanziene

The Sanziene is the Romanian folklore name for gentle fairs, and at the same time, the
word Sanziana represents the name of a flower and also a girls name.
Snziene rituals have been known for ages in our country. It is said that beautiful girls in
white traditional dresses pick Sanziene flowers all day long on the eve of this
celebration and make floral crowns. After the nightfall, the girls wearing the floral
crowns meet with their lovers and dance in the midnight around the bonfire. According
to the folk tradition, then they throw the floral crowns over the houses and wherever
they fall, it means that someone will die in that house. However, if the crown made of
flowers stays on the roof of the house, then good harvest and wealth will be bestowed
upon the owners.
Another folk belief is that during the Snziene Eve night, the heavens open up, which
makes it the strongest night for magic spells, especially for the love spells. Also it is said
that the plants harvested during this night will have tremendous magical powers. The
tradition says that the Sanziene fairies dont like to be heard and seen by men in the
Eve night, especially when they dance in the air, blessing the bodies and bestowing
health for people. So, whoever (man) sees or hears them will be cursed and the fairies
will take their hearing and speaking or worse.
On the Sanziene night, in some areas of the country, people light a big wheel of hay
from the ceremonial bonfire and push it down a hill, as a symbol for the setting sun,
from the solstice to come and until the midwinter solstice when the days will be getting
shorter.
On the same night, when the heavens are said to be opening, strange events, positive
or negative may happen, and it is believed that in forests many weird things happen in
the midsummer night.
All these folk traditions related to the Sanzine night fascinated not only the common
people but Romanian writers and poets.
One of the best known novels based on the Sanzine night fairy tales is The forbidden
forrest written by Mircea Eliade (historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and
professor at the University of Chicago,1907 -1986), where he describes the events
which happen in the Baneasa forest in the north of Bucharest during that night.
A Romanian novel with symbolical references to these beautiful and fascinating women
is Camil Petrescus Jocul ielelor (The Ieles play). In the Romanian mythology the iele
are supernatural women who usually dance in the forests and other hidden places
during the night and having in many respects similar features with Sanzienele,
including their effect over men.
The Sanziene night celebration is similar to the Nordic midsummer holiday tradition of
the pagan celebration of the summer solstice in June, but in Romania June 24 is a

double celebration, on one hand the folk tradition of Sanziene and on the other, the
Orthodox Church celebration of Saint John, who baptized Christ.