In olden times the Carnival festive season concluded on Ash Wednesday. Lent started, a period of fasting and abstinence. No room for pleasure or enjoyment. At the end of a long 40-day journey, Easter arrived, and with it springtime, a new season for celebration.

The next halt in the traditional calendar occurs around the summer solstice. Saint John’s festival hides away pre-Christian customs and ritual observances. This, though, will be the topic of consideration of the third volume of the Urte-sasoiak collection.