What’s the origin of the San Juan competition and the way is it celebrated in Venezuela?

• The celebration in honor of the saint is a convention in a number of states of the nation comparable to Aragua, Miranda, Vargas and Carabobo.

Each June 24, the Pageant of San Juan is widely known with drums, dances and processions in honor of San Juan Bautista. This conventional celebration was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Academic, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO).

Today is a convention in a number of nations comparable to Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. In every area the competition has totally different traits, whereas in European nations it’s customary to have bonfires, in Latin America events with dances are held.

In Venezuela, the festivities of San Juan Bautista are well-known all through the nationwide territory, particularly in states with African affect comparable to Aragua, Miranda, Vargas and a part of Carabobo. Non secular and cultural occasions are held throughout midnight, daybreak and the night time of the celebration.

The origin of this celebration

Nationwide Geographic factors out that the well-known San Juan night time, by which some nations make bonfires on the seashore as a ritual of purification and making needs, comes from the Christianization of the pagan competition celebrated in honor of the Solar on the summer season solstice.

Regardless of the title of this vacation, the date has a pagan origin lengthy earlier than the Christian faith. Ancestral traditions consisted of creating bonfires on the night time of the summer season solstice (June 21), to ship energy to the solar because it strikes in the direction of the shorter days.

As a result of within the northern hemisphere the hours of daylight start to lower from that day on, it was widespread to gentle bonfires and light-weight lamps with the thought that they’d give extra energy to the Solar.

In accordance with the portal, the explanation why it’s at present celebrated on June 24 is as a result of Christianity tailored the pagan custom to its calendar, to take it to the beginning of Saint John the Baptist, the Jewish preacher who baptized Jesus of Nazareth.

Who was Saint John the Baptist?

John the Baptist was a Jewish itinerant preacher born on the finish of the first century BC. C. He’s revered in varied religions comparable to Christianity, Islam, Druze and the Baha’i religion, and regarded a prophet and saint in varied branches of Christianity.

Baptist is seen in Christianity as a precursor of Jesus and performs an essential position within the New Testomony, for the reason that 4 evangelists converse of him because the one who pronounces the arrival of the Messiah.

The Gospel of Saint Luke begins its message with a miraculous beginning: Elizabeth, an previous and barren lady, noticed her needs for offspring fulfilled when the angel Gabriel introduced to Zechariah, her husband, that Elizabeth would have a son. Because of this, Saint John the Baptist is the one saint celebrated in his nativity, since his beginning was a miracle.

Within the Bible, John the Baptist seems as the person who baptized Jesus and who was his relative (cousin). Like Christ, John died for his beliefs, in his case beheaded.

How is it celebrated in Venezuela?

The celebration begins on the night of June 23, when adorned altars of the saint, in addition to different decorations, are seen within the streets of a number of states of the nation. The night time passes to the rhythm of the drum that believers accompany with alcoholic drinks.

On the morning of June 24, the statuette of Saint John is taken out of the home the place it’s stored and the individual designated as its guardian carries it on his head or in his arms to the church, accompanied by the procession of devotees, the place A mass is widely known in honor of the saint.

As soon as the mass is over, the well-known beating of the drums continues as they journey all through the city. Every now and then the procession stops and pays homage to San Juan till it reaches the identical home from which they took the saint. They proceed celebrating there with fireworks, alcoholic drinks, drums and dances.

After the picture is launched into the chapel, the doorways are closed and the bells ring as a farewell to the saint. In some entities, the trustworthy gathered on the outskirts obtain sweets and sweet.

This custom is of nice significance in Venezuela and has been maintained regardless of the difficulties. In 2020, the trustworthy They defied quarantine measures imposed by covid-19 to adjust to the celebration, which has not been stopped.

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