Jāņi Wreath
The midsummer wreath of Jāņi: for women and girls, plaited from flowers, grasses, herbs and leaves, a braid of twenty-seven plants being held to ward off disasters, disease and enemies, while men and boys wore rings of oak leaves as tokens of strength. Worn through Līgo night on 23 June with singing, cheese, beer and bonfire jumping, the wreath is kept afterwards — hung in the house, given to the cattle or laid under the pillow — for protection and healing through the year. The customs, described since the seventeenth century, make the wreath the visible emblem of the great festival of the Lat