Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (Ivanjdan)
7 July 2026 — Every wreath brings a good summer and good health! Happy Ivanjdan!
Ivanjdan marks the birth of Saint John the Baptist, which the Gospel of Luke places six months before the birth of Christ. Orthodox churches that keep the Julian calendar, such as the Serbian Orthodox Church, observe 24 June in that calendar. This falls on 7 July in the Gregorian calendar, which is why Ivanjdan is celebrated on 7 July in Serbia. In Bulgaria the related feast, Enyovden, is held on 24 June in the revised calendar. The day sits in high summer, shortly after the summer solstice, when the days are longest. Folk tradition links it with gathering herbs, believed to be at their strongest at this time of year. People weave wreaths from ivanjsko cveće, a yellow summer flower known in Bulgaria as enyovche (lady's bedstraw, Galium verum), and hang them on doors and gates for health and good luck. In some families Ivanjdan is also the slava, the household's patron-saint day.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure of a young girl made of bright dots and fine lines, like a constellation drifting across the sky
Sources
Positions in Astronativa are astronomically exact. The interpretation is for inspiration. · Glossary · Terms · Privacy · Thank you