<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/2607e9f9-1c78-4638-8a3f-b0fa1674569e/1C4BBE7F-FE2A-4E66-BC5A-78BFD66F86AB/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\U\Kupalofestival.htm" href="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\U\Kupalofestival.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">www.encyclopediaofukraine.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\U\Kupalofestival.htm"><STRONG>Kupalo festival </STRONG>(also Kupailo, Ivan Kupalo). A <A href="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\S\L\Slavic.htm">Slavic</A> celebration of ancient <A href="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\P\A\Pagan.htm">pagan</A> origin marking the end of the summer solstice and the beginning of the harvest (midsummer).</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\U\Kupalofestival.htm">Kupalo was believed to be the god of love and of the harvest and the personification of the earth's fertility. According to popular belief, ‘Kupalo eve’ (‘Ivan's eve’) was the only time of the year when the earth revealed its secrets and made ferns bloom to mark places where its treasures were buried, and the only time when trees spoke and even moved and when <A href="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\W\I\Witches.htm">witches</A> gathered. It was also the only time of the year when free love received popular sanction.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\U\Kupalofestival.htm">On the eve unmarried young men and women gathered outside the village in the forest or near a stream or pond. There they built ‘Kupalo fires’</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\K\U\Kupalofestival.htm">around which they performed ritual <A href="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\D\A\Dances.htm">dances</A> (see <I>Khorovod</I>) and sang <A href="http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\R\I\Ritualsongs.htm">ritual songs</A>, often erotic. They leaped over the fires, bathed in the water (an act of purification), and played physical games with obviously sexual connotat</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/1C4BBE7F-FE2A-4E66-BC5A-78BFD66F86AB/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

New from the makers of Clipmarks:  Amplify.com - Don't just share the news...Amplify it!