#sanziene

Inspired by the Romanian celebration of summer solstice, Sanziene.

I'm probably going to redo this in watercolor when I have the time and energy, but I wanted to get it out while it was still the 24th... on a timezone near me :|

So, I've been meaning to draw Colette in traditional Romanian dress for a while and then the Dracula episode came out and sealed the deal. My headcanon is that Colette picks up items of dress from every region they visit (she has plenty of room in the van to stash all of them, now).

The 24th of June is Sânziene, the day the fairies wonder the Earth and cause all sort of chaos (they can help you find your love, or they can whisk you away). Those yellow flowers are also called sânziene and they bloom around this time (wikipedia informs me they're called lady's bedstraw in english).

The skirts are very simplified and I used one of my own shirts as inspiration for the ie, so it's a tad anachronistic.

The iele appear sometimes with bodies, at other times only as immaterial spirits. They are young and beautiful, voluptuous immortals, their frenzy causing delirium in onlookers, and with bad tempers, but not being necessarily evil. They come in groups of three or seven. This version is mostly found in Oltenia, were three Iele are considered the daughters of Alexander the Great, called Catrina, Zalina and Marina.

The iele are also believed to be agents of revenge for God or of the Devil, having the right to avenge in the name of their employers. When they are called upon to act, they hound their victims into the center of their dance, until they die in a furor of madness or torment. In this hypostasis, the Iele are similar to the Ancient Greek Erinyes and the Roman Furies.

Random Lore Fragment of the Day no. 6 (RLFOTD #6)

Sânziană is the Romanian name for gentle fairies who play an important part in local folklore, also used to designate the Galium verum or Cruciata laevipes flowers. Under the plural form Sânziene, the word designates an annual festival in the fairies' honor. Etymologically, the name comes from the Latin Sancta Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and moon, also celebrated in Roman Dacia (ancient Romania). Diana was known to be the virgin goddess and looked after virgins and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, Diana, Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry.

People in the western Carpathian Mountains celebrate the Sânziene holiday annually, on June 24. This is similar to the Swedish Midsummer holiday, and is believed to be a pagan celebration of the summer solstice in June.