Kupala is the high summer festival in a calendar that follows the turning of the seasons and the order of the farming year. The most intense periods of ritual activity are around midwinter, the darkest phase of the year, and in spring, when the light returns and the land comes back to life. They are dominated by Christmas and Easter, but like Kupala, they have other currents running through them too.

Winter

A Christmas message from Vladyslava Bondar in Poltava oblast (region), central Ukraine, December 2024.




Spring to Summer

First comes Easter, then the period around Trinity Sunday, which falls in June. Rusalnyi Week, when rusalka water spirits are said to come out onto the land,  begins the day after Trinity Sunday.



Spring in Poltava oblast, central Ukraine
. Photo: Vladyslava Bondar