A Trndez celebration at the Temple of Garni
Trndez is Armenia’s native holiday
for lovers, which, maybe not coincidentally, falls upon the day before Valentine’s
day. It is interesting that it falls around the same time of the year; perhaps
it’s the associations of late winter which bring to mind thoughts of love and
fertility across different cultures of the northern hemisphere. It could also
be a result of ancient Armenia’s contact with Rome or Greece or other
civilizations, or who knows, maybe there’s something even more profound to it.
During the holiday a large bonfire is lit, and there’s singing and line dancing
around the fire, before newlyweds and young women take turns jumping over the
bonfire. Traditionally it was the day where couples in arranged marriages first
got to meet one another, but of course that’s no longer practiced. The bonfire
is symbolic of the growing power of the sun as the days begin to lengthen, and
has the added symbolic benefit of energetic purification. You can also make a
wish while jumping, and maybe have it granted.
It’s
a holiday which dates back to pagan times (for reference, Armenia’s official
conversion to Christianity is said to have been 301 AD, so the holiday is even
older than that; much older than St. Valentine’s Day.) Sources differ on which
God the holiday was dedicated to; the God Tir, whose domains are knowledge,
writing and death, is often said to have been the source of the holiday (he may
lend his name to the holiday), but the God Mihr was associated with fire, so
the ceremony in which newlyweds jump over a bonfire may have had to do with
Mihr. Vahagn, a God of Lightning and Storms who wrestles dragons in his free
time, has fire associations too (a surviving ode to Vahagn says that he had a
flaming beard and his eyes were like suns), and it’s said that young women who
jump over the bonfire will have strong and intelligent children like Vahagn.
Maybe all three Gods were honored on this day. It’s really hard to say when the
sparse historical records of Armenia’s old religion no longer survive.
At the pagan temple of Garni in
Armenia’s central Kotayk province, as well as other ancient sites, Trndez is
celebrated the traditional way by Armenia’s neopagans. The main neopagan sect,
the Arordineri Ukht (Order of the Children of Ari), will be celebrating Trndez this
year at Karmir Blur (Red Hill), an area near the capital of Yerevan on the site
of an ancient Urartian settlement known as Teishbani, after the God Theispas of
the Urartian pantheon. As they explain on their official Facebook page (and I’m
doing a rough English translation using what I know of Armenian, my
dictionaries and Google translate):
“Trndez, in essence, symbolizes the
waning of winter and the arrival of spring. The origin of this holiday in
folklore is related to Vahagn, the God of Fire. Tired of the frigid winter,
Armenians burn bonfires to encourage the sun and accelerate the coming of
spring. Born of the divine fire of the sun, Vahagn kills the dragon that guards
and blocks the water source, freeing the flow of the water and causing the soil
to blossom. Hence fire defeats the winter.
The main symbol of Trndez is the
bonfire over which newlyweds jump holding hands. It is also a holiday for
blessing the family, especially families with a newborn. It is widely believed
that if a couple can hold hands while jumping over the fire, their love will be
eternal. In ancient times, the fire was built by burning wheat.”
From what I’ve read of the ancient
folklore, winter was said to have been caused by dragons (“Vishap” in
Armenian), who every year are defeated by Vahagn, causing the coming of spring
and summer. Trndez is the turning point in this ongoing yearly struggle. It’s a
story to explain the coming of snow melt from the mountains as the weather
warms up in late winter and early spring; a greedy dragon hoards the water all
winter until Vahagn defeats them, enabling the water to flow from the mountains
and into the rivers. Therefore, according to modern neopagans, the holiday
belongs to Vahagn, rather than Tir or Mihr. The Order of the Children of Ari
have shown preferential treatment toward Vahagn in other affairs before, such
as reconsecrating the Temple of Garni to Vahagn instead of Mihr, as was
originally intended, so take that as you will. They're reconstructing the old pagan beliefs, not completely replicating them, since that's impossible at this point.
Don't they look like they're having fun?
At
any rate, the holiday was long ago appropriated by Christians, in order to ease
the transition from paganism to Christianity no doubt. The Christian version
has to do with Candlemas and is a celebration of forty days after Jesus’ birth,
and the fire symbolizes God’s light and warmth. It’s a flimsy association,
really, much like the justification for the Christianization of Armenia’s
summer holiday Vardavar, which I’ll probably blog about in July. It’s obvious
it was just tacked on later as an excuse to let people keep doing it after the
conversion. As priest Ter Adam Makaryan explains in an article from ArmeniaNow
(a sadly defunct news website):
“This is considered to be a Christian
feast for newly-weds and families. The tradition of making a bonfire resembles
the Lord’s light and warmth, and it must not be confused with pagan rituals,
when fire was idolized and worshipped. According to Grigor Tatevatsi’s
interpretation, jumping over the fire we show its being ignoble and low,” says
priest Ter Adam Makaryan. Priest Ter Markos Mangasaryan explains that jumping
over the fire symbolizes joy and happiness for newly-wed youths and families,
and it has nothing in common with people’s superstition of getting rid of
threats and misfortunes and making wishes, because the true religious belief
contradicts the superstitions.”
What
a show of mental gymnastics. It’s like trying to shove a square peg into a
round hole, making Trndez a Christian holiday. If it is such a Christian
holiday, it’s curious that the Armenian Apostolic Church is the only Christian
denomination that celebrates the forty-day anniversary of Jesus’ birth by
jumping over bonfires. I would think that the bonfire was likely just as
symbolic in pagan times as it is now, just to different deities, native deities
rather than a deity imported from far-off Israel. Our distant ancestors were
still capable of logic. I can’t base that argument on anything, of course,
since the church conveniently destroyed nearly all records of Armenia’s pagan
religion (the writings of early Christian Armenian historian Agathangelos
proudly chronicles this in detail), and therefore has controlled the narrative
on Armenian history for nearly 2,000 years. The modern neopagans aren’t
worshiping the flame itself either, to them it symbolically represents Vahagn
(himself a symbol), and the coming of spring. But that’s how Christian priests
defend the continued celebration of the rather obviously pagan Trndez,
positioning themselves as more “rational” than paganism because they’re not
worshiping the actual fire, referring to any belief not directly associated
with their religion as superstition. I’m not going to argue over which religion
is more rational and which is simply superstition, but, at least you can prove
the fire exists and that spring is real.
The story of Trndez’s hijacking is par
the course for most holidays around the world at this point. At least it’s still
closer to its original roots than Valentine’s Day is now. St. Valentine’s Day
was likely placed on February 14th to be a Christian replacement for
the Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia. Although, in the United States at
least, it has now been hijacked by capitalism just like Christmas, and is now a
holiday dedicated to parting with your money in order to prove your love for
someone, with almost no religious or spiritual context. Its original meaning
has been hollowed, obscured and exploited by the big corporations. It’s been
doubly hijacked. I’d rather celebrate Trndez than Valentine’s Day. At least
even the Christian version of Trndez still means something. It hasn’t devolved into
a giant cash grab as of yet.
In
addition to the traditional Trndez celebrations at Karmir Blur and Garni, most
of the functioning churches in Armenia have their own version of the ceremony
taking place outside the church walls. I’ve sadly never had the honor of properly
celebrating and participating in Trndez myself; I’ve never been in Armenia at
this particular time of the year, and it isn’t widely celebrated in the
Armenian diaspora. But, I hope to one day convince my wife to hop over a
bonfire with me, if she can be talked into it. Just don’t wear too long a
skirt.
A Hymn to Trndez
Update 2/13/21
It is Trndez once again. This image was shared on Facebook this year by the Arordineri Ukht and I figured I would add it to the blog. I like to keep these educational blog entries updated. It is a very Vahagn-centric hymn about Trndez. The text of the hymn is as follows:
Ով, Աստվածային երկունքից ծնված
Ու արեգակի հրով բռնկված
Դու, Վահագնակեզ կանթեղների պես,
խարույկների ծես - Հայոց Տռնդեզ:
Ջորության կրակ, Հավատքի ճրագ
Դու, հրե վարսագ, դու գարնան կոչնակ,
Մեր Արիական ոգու հրե դեզ,
Ով, Վահագնածին - Հայոց Տռնդեզ:
Ի բոցույն օծված խարույկների պար,
եվ լույսով շիկնած ձոներգ աստղաշար
Դու, մեր սուրբ կնունք եւ ոգու հրկեզ,
Ով, Վահագնականչ - Հայոց Տռնդեզ:
And a rough English translation:
Who was born of the Divine heavens
And ignited by the fire of the sun?
You, Vahagn, like a torch,
The ritual of bonfire - Armenian Trndez.
The thirsty fire, the leap of faith
You, with fiery hair, are the herald of spring,
The fiery leap of our ancestral spirit,
Who, Vahagn - Armenian Trndez.
A dance of fiery anointed bonfires,
and a star-lit hymn
You, our holy baptism and fiery spirit,
Who, Vahagn - Armenian Trndez.
It was a bit hard to translate with my mid-level Armenian language skills, but that is the gist of it. Feel free to correct me.
References
A video detailing the modern Christian celebration of Trndez
by CivilNet
The Christian version of Trndez
The Facebook page of the order of the Children of Ari
An article about the God Vahagn
The
origins of Valentine’s Day
Agathangelos
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