Living Cultural Heritage
St. John’s Ride
St. John’s Ride is a harvest custom that takes place on a Sunday around St. John’s Day. This custom is named after John the Baptist, whose feast day is June 24th.
The night before June 24th is said to have special powers. Herbs and flowers picked before sunrise are said to have great healing properties and promise good luck and rich harvest.
In the middle of the 19th century, St. John’s Ride was still celebrated in several villages in Lower Lusatia.
Today it is only practiced in Casel (Lower Sorbian Kózle) near Drebkau (Lower Sorbian Drjowk) and is organized by the Casel Traditional Association. Focus is on the figure of “Johann” or “Jan” in Lower Sorbian, a masked figure that is supposed to embody the spirit of growth. First, the girls from Casel collect thousands of cornflowers and weave a twine out of them. They then wrap the upper body, upper arms, and thighs of the boy who embodies “Johann” in this cornflower twine and sew it onto his clothes. His lower arms and legs are then wrapped in field vetch.
A crown, in the shape of a cone made of rushes decorated with water lilies and summer flowers, is made for the head. Once John is fully “dressed”, he rides with his companions on horseback from the inn to the festival grounds, led by a brass band.
Girls in their costumes walk in front of the riders. They wear a second crown, which John is given in the evening during the honorary dance.
Once at the festival grounds, John rides past the spectators at a gallop, initially several times with his companions.
Little by little, his companions get tired and give up. Finally, John rides all alone. Now the spectators try to get John off the horse and grab his crown, the most valuable part of his “suit”, and some of the cornflowers.
The collected pieces of John’s suit, once dried, were hung above living room door. This is supposed to bring luck and health for the following year.
