Sanzaienele

The feast of Sânziene

Monica Pascalau, lecturer of Ayurveda AMN-Romania

 

Popular tradition

In the Romanian folk tradition, the well-known night of Sânziene, that it is a magical night that manifests itself as a magical, enchanting moment of amazingly peaceful balance.

It is said that on this night the gates of heaven open wide and the mystical, beneficial entities from the etheric world come on this night in aa complex and amazing contact with the earthly world. On this night, which is celebrated between 23 and 24 June, this being the night preceding the day of St. John the Baptist, it is said in folklore that lucky human beings, both men and women, can meet ina magical way, sanzienele.

In popular tradition, sanzienele they are also called saints, beauties, maids or sanesias, and in folklore these entities are said to be extraordinarily beautiful, formidable beings, they are diaphanous, luminous creatures made of air, they are white, breathtakingly beautiful, they are all beneficent and are endowed with certain beneficial qualities.

Fairies

Also in folklore it is said that certain light wind gusts that manifest during the day, at night turn into fairies, in iele, who have golden hair, have white dresses that look like they are made of steam and they dance playfully in dizzying horeas through gardens where there are no people and then move from onefrom place to place, singing through the air with melodious voices that are unheard of harmoniously.

About iele they are said to be semi-transparent air entities, they are pure, they are noble, they are difficult to perceive by obtuse, vile, vicious human beings, and their nature is unstable, charming, fluid and prone to movements that are in the form of spiraling whirlpools.

Benevolent nature

Also in folklore it is mentioned that sanzienele or cute are benevolent, they are benevolent for human beings who have an eminently beneficial inner orientation. Sânzienele, when invoked and when certain pleasant offerings are made to them, give extraordinary fertility to agricultural crops.

It is also said that Sânzienele helps birds, helps animals, makes a strong smell and gives amazing healing abilities to flowers. When invoked with some prior offerings, they intervene in ain a paranormal way, they cure diseases and remove or make people's suffering disappear. They are also said to protect fields from the elements. Precisely because they are fromanother world, and that they are extraordinarily beautiful, charming, in folklore it is said that "He who sees them does not believe them, and he who hears them, because he is stupid, does not answer them."

Within the Romanian folk tradition, Sânzienele are also known as ielele and frequently they are described as being wonderful, somewhat fairy-like maidens who are endowed with amazing powers of beneficial fascination as well as amazing magical powers. They are said to have the same supernatural powers as nymphs, as naiads, as dyads, or as mermaids, or in other words, undines.

Popular beliefs

Ielele They live mostly in the open, but also in mountains, caves, high up on clifftops or on the banks of rivers. They sometimes live in puddles or occur at crossroads. They are sometimes described as bathingin the crystal clear water of the springs.

It is said that these creatures appear especially at night, by moonlight, and they spin merrily in horeas in secluded places such as wild meadows, ponds, less frequented crossroads, deserted glasshouses or dance in groups in the open air. There are accounts of them being seen dancing naked, bare-breasted, harmonious, with long hair unfurled, but less often they are described as wearing a shawl garment or wrapped in transparent veils and wearing bells that make a crystalline sound at their feet. Their specific dance is the hora. It is amazing that this dance is also a folk dance.

An esoteric way to prepare for this night of the breasts, to be able to perceive these subtle beneficial entities that are Sânzienele, is to sublingually administer ½ teaspoon of the dried powder of the sandiary flowers. We moisten it with a little plain or mineral water, place it sublingually and keep it sublingually for 15-20 minutes. Then, we can swallow the powder of the sandiary flowers with water.