Klaipėdos universitetas

A number of different Midsummer celebration models can be distinguished in Lithuania Minor: the most archaic (14th to 19th century), 20th century, and the modern St John’s Day celebration models. The most archaic celebrations were rich in vestiges of the Baltic world-view and mythology: nature, fire and water were worshipped, and people cast spells to protect themselves from evil forces and ensure a good harvest and a happy life. The 20th-century ritualistic St John’s Day tradition of Prussian Lithuanians lost its existential importance as rituals became customs with new forms and symbolic meanings. The most important features of the celebration are the burning of witches in St John’s fire, and general merriment for youth. In the modern celebration model, there is an attempt to combine ethnic traditions with the needs of the consumer society. Fireworks replace ritual Midsummer fires, as bonfires lose their mythological significance. Although the institutionally organised Midsummer celebrations follow a more or less Lithuania-wide scenario; the centralised organisation of cultural events may be beneficial in fostering local forms of the Lithuanian celebratory tradition by highlighting typical elements of St John’s Day in the region of Lithuania Minor.

The article shows what information the press between 1905 and 1940 provided Lithuanian readers about Shrovetide celebratory traditions around the world. The information collected, consisting of seven articles, thirty photographs and drawings, is fragmentary but fairly informative, providing a good and concise understanding of this cultural phenomenon in a popular manner. By surveying and interpreting the available data, it tries to answer several questions: what significance these publications might have had on Shrovetide celebratory traditions and methods of celebration in early 20th-century Lithuania; how this information correlates with current academic research and known empirical data; what Lithuanian Shrovetide had in common with the winter-spring carnival celebrated around the world.