V.V. Neverovich
In writing notes on the holidays, beliefs, and customs of the Belarusian peasants who inhabit most of the Smolensk province (1) (*), I have tried to arrange the holidays, as much as possible, according to the order of their time in the annual cycle. I have no doubt that, in addition to those I have described, there are many more beliefs and customs that I have not noticed, and that my article contains errors and shortcomings, inevitable in any human endeavor. I confess at the same time that I did not delve into the investigation of the beginning and origin of beliefs and customs and do not have sufficient materials to do so; however, I have mentioned in the notes everything that I had at hand that could serve to explain the notes: - The peasants themselves do not know how and cannot explain why and for what purpose they do this or that and cannot even give an account to themselves of why exactly they do this and not otherwise and certainly at the appointed time.
Mr. Solovyov, in his agricultural statistics for the Smolensk province, describes the Byelorussian peasants thus: their genius perishes under the weight of superstition, which they use to explain all phenomena of the physical and moral world. The creation of the world is presented dramatically, as a struggle between a Good Supreme Being and an evil one. A whole legend is told about this in Byelorussia. Its essence is that the Good Being everywhere and in everything desired to do only good; but everywhere and in everything the evil principle hindered it. The Good Being wanted to create only black soil, but the evil one mixed in clay and sand. The good being intended a level surface for the earth, but the evil one, wherever possible, furrowed it with enemies and piled up mountains. The creation of water and fire is also attributed to the evil principle; the concept of the creation of man, his primordial blissful state and fall into sin, is a mixture of sacred history and fiction. Only one digression is noteworthy: that the first-created man had a hard skin like a shell, which he lost through the tricks of the evil being. The Belarusian peasant also has his own unique concepts of physical phenomena. Thunder—God rolls across the sky. Frost and wind—animated beings. Rain is the tears of the celestials, or of the sins of people, or of the misfortunes of man.
Fire is held in special esteem among them; when building a new home, the fire is invariably transferred from the old hearth; without this, the former abundance cannot be expected. If, due to the distance of the new home, it is impossible to transfer the old fire there, then they at least take the accessories of the hearth: a poker, a fork, and so on. At weddings, when the newlyweds are brought home from the wedding, they must enter the house through a fire lit by the entrance gates.
To these general observations, Mrs. Solovyova should add that Belarusian peasants will never give fire to anyone on any holiday. Being prone to superstition, they believe that when setting out on a journey and meeting someone crossing the road, misfortune will befall them. If they meet a man walking with full buckets of water, they believe they will have good luck in business, but if they meet empty ones, the opposite is true. Meeting a priest also portends ill fortune, and therefore they throw some object after him, thinking that this will free them from trouble. If a hare or a fox crosses the road, then misfortune is expected from this, but if a wolf or a Jew is encountered, then, on the contrary, happiness should be expected. (1)
If a raven crows in a yard or a hut, it is believed that someone in that house will surely die soon, and if an owl crows outside a village, it is said to be teasing a woman who is soon to give birth to an illegitimate child. A magpie croaking in the yard, a dropped spoon during dinner, or an excessive amount of rain are signs of the imminent arrival of guests. If someone spills salt at the table, this is considered a bad sign; sharing salt with one another is a sign of a quarrel.
The crowing of a rooster in spring, in their opinion, foretells warm weather; the crowing of a rooster at other times of the year foretells a general change in the weather. If a crow caws facing north, they expect cold, and to the south (at midday, as they say), warmth. In spring, they say, spend the night after crossing a river, and in autumn without crossing it. Autumn, according to popular belief, rides a piebald mare at night. In spring, when starting to drink berezovik (birch tree sap) for the first time, for which a cut is made near the root, they say: new innovation, mosquito food, hare’s run, bear strength; It is also noted that if the birch mushroom freezes, there will be a harvest of grain during its flowering period. According to popular belief, the earth does not dissolve, that is, does not completely thaw, until the first clap of thunder; if in this case thunder is heard from a depression, then a good grain harvest is expected. Girls, hearing the first thunder, run to the river, wash themselves, and wipe themselves with something red, in order to be rich and beautiful. If thunder occurs in the fall, then they count on a harvest next year. A good nut harvest promises a bountiful grain harvest next year, but a good nut harvest and good grain never go together. When a hen wags its tail in summer, rain is expected, and snow in winter; if a duck or goose flaps its wings and dives while swimming, it is a sign of rain; if smoke trails along the ground, there will be bad weather; if a torch illuminating a hut suddenly flares up and, as the common people say, makes a noise, there will be pulga, i.e., a strong wind; and when the burnt part of the same torch, without falling off, begins to curl up, they say there will be frost. When they find a calf that has just calved in the barn, they look at how it lies and if its head is facing the sunrise, they are convinced that it will grow up, and if it is facing the west, then the opposite. They take care of the deuces (two nuts fused together) so that money does not run out.
They will not burn old broken wheels in the oven, so that the sheep do not spin; (4) and when they sweep the oven with a broom, they will not extinguish the burning broom with their foot, believing that if someone extinguishes such a broom with their foot, a hawk will tear apart his chickens. When the cattle calve, they cook buckwheat porridge. When selling cattle to each other, the seller gives the buyer a rein (rope) and never with his bare hands, but with the hem of a sheepskin coat, but so that the rein lies on the side where the wool is. (6) Having brought the purchased cattle into the yard, they say: a shaggy beast in a rich yard; and they pour water on the cattle. (6) The peasants will not eat without washing their hands and they keep a strict watch on each other; if someone has not washed their hands, they say: “Wash your hands, or you will be too much for the table.” (7) When planting radish seeds, they take hold of a thick, unrotten stake and remain confident that the seeds planted under such conditions will produce a delicacy for the radish; and when planting cabbage, they place a pot on the ground with the opening down, cover it with a rag and place a pebble on it, saying: “Let the cabbage be as strong as a stone and as big as a pot.” Common folk still retain a certain reverent veneration for the swallow and consider it a grave sin to kill one. According to popular belief, the swallow does not fly away for the winter to a warmer climate, where all migratory birds winter overseas, but, clinging to one another by their legs, winters on the bottoms of rivers, lakes, springs, and even at the bottom of the sea. It is noted, however, that if a swallow flies over a cow, the cow will bleed instead of milk during milking, and therefore, to prevent this, the cow is milked through the wedding ring. (8) A commoner never throws away his nails when he cuts them; he says that nails are needed after death, when we ascend to heaven, and therefore when he cuts his nails he throws them into his bosom.
Belarusian peasants believe in dreams and interpret them in various ways. They also believe in the existence of witches, sorcerers, and other evil people who, supposedly having surrendered themselves to Satan, corrupt people, bring illness upon them, send foolishness or complete self-forgetfulness, and cast a kind of fog into the eyes. A miller, in their opinion, must certainly be in contact with a water grandfather. Anyone who goes into the woods must be careful that the woodsmen do not lead him into a forest gorge or a swamp. Only by the power of the spirits can a beekeeper keep the bees under control and be successful in his business. But when the brownie dislikes the master, his life is hard. The brownie gives him no peace; he crushes him at night, rides horses, and frightens the cattle. The dragon is considered the possessor of wealth, and if any of the pretty women pleases him, he brings her money, finery, and so on. Peasants are especially afraid of sorcerers during weddings, lest they spoil the young couple.
Sorcerers and witches hide, they say, and can only be recognized by their dark, serpentine gaze. According to the common people, a witch can never be young; It is usually old and ugly - the people are convinced that a sorcerer or a witch, having enmity against a neighbor or simply envying his well-being, upsets him in this way: when the harvest ripens, then the sorcerer or witch makes a so-called half in the field of his imaginary enemy, which consists in the following: having tied several ears of rye, they break them so that they are inclined on their stalks, with the addition of a special kind of spell, depending on their intention, either for the death of cattle, or for the pestilence of a family, or in general for the harm of their enemy. The peasants will not reap or touch the zalom, but to ward off this evil they call upon another sorcerer who can destroy the evil through opposing spells; prayers are sometimes held at such places. The peasants say that if anyone reaps or simply pulls out the zalom before this, their hands will certainly ache, and whoever eats bread from such a field will certainly die. Sorcerers and witches, people say, also induce drunkenness and inappropriate and excessive love—they cast spells of love—and spoil cattle by podkidy; in this case, the witch casts a spell on a piece of meat or an egg and throws one or the other into the manure.
On fast days, the common people consider eating fast food a grave sin, and if a sick person were suffering from some ailment that required fast food for strengthening and healing, the villager would never consume it. When sick, the common people do not use any pharmaceutical medicines, and it is impossible to convince them of the benefits and necessity of taking a certain medicine.
For illnesses they consider the work of evil spirits—a curse—they do not call on doctors, but consult with grandfathers and grandmothers, who are held in high esteem and who often deceive them. Peasants turn to them, as one priest in Krasninsky district put it, from the first cry of a baby until the approach of death. Only healers—grandfathers and grandmothers—can reverse all the harmful effects of sorcerers and witches. Whether a mad dog bites a person, a snake stings, or a bruise bleeds, healers can heal them through incantations and whispers. Children’s illnesses, local inflammations—in short, all ailments—are treated by grandfathers and grandmothers. In matters of domestic life, grandfathers play an important role. If a horse is lost, they turn to him; he will point out the means to find it. In family quarrels, he acts as a mediator and conciliator. At holidays, weddings, and christenings, he is the first person, and his approval increases future well-being.
When discussing illnesses, it’s impossible not to mention home remedies, which not only grandfathers and grandmothers but also common folk resort to. For colds, for example, they bathe in a bathhouse with raw honey, salt, and grated radish, while the wealthy use plain wine with capsicum or oil with ammonia or camphor. They drink lungwort, raspberries, and strawberries to induce perspiration.
Smolensk costume. Photograph from the Shabelsky collection.
For dropsy, mugwort is drunk, and women also use it for irregular periods. In this same condition, petroleum and turpentine are also used, and externally, ant baths. For chest pain, strong vodka is taken drop by drop, increasing the doses, as well as trifolium. For coughs, onions boiled in vinegar with honey or cranberries, also boiled with honey, are eaten, and pork fat on blue paper is applied to the chest or slightly soaked leaf tobacco is placed under the soles of shoes. For scrofula, boiled viburnum and a decoction of viburnum shoots are given. For scabies, a mixture of buckthorn bark with cannabinoid juice is applied externally. Erysipelas is treated with honey on red cloth or blue paper and a rag smeared with frog spawn. For fevers, a strong decoction of wormwood, coltsfoot, and mugwort is drunk. For constipation, drink sabur in vodka or a decoction of bird cherry bark. Wounds are covered with birch bark or packed with cobwebs, powdered with crushed charcoal, and plantain leaves are also applied.
To stop bleeding from the head, place the crumb of black bread on the wounds. Abscesses are ripened with hare meat soaked in warm water, or baked onions. Stomach ailments are treated by placing pots on the stomach.
Utin—back pain, or spinal pain, as they call it—is treated by cutting, that is, they place the patient on a threshold or something else and wave them over him, making an example of cutting off the disease. According to the people, fever, ague, and cholera travel the world, infecting people; they call the chosen victim by name during sleep, and if someone responds to this call upon awakening, they will certainly fall ill.
Peasants have lucky and unlucky days, hard and easy ones. (9) On Monday they do not begin any work that requires prolonged labor, such as reaping, winnowing, mowing, etc. Monday is considered a hard day to set out, and old men and women, excluding, however, holidays that fall on this day, fast on Monday, which is called ponedlkovati. It is considered a sin to work on Friday. There is a legend that one girl, by order of her mistress, was working on this day; then Friday came to her and, as punishment, ordered her to spin forty strands of yarn and use forty spindles. The girl, frightened and not knowing what to do, turned to the old woman for advice; The old woman advised her to spin a thread onto each spindle. No sooner said than done, and when Friday came to work, she said to the girl: *“I figured it out.” On Friday, peasants do not plow or harrow their fields, so as not to get a backache. In general, Friday is especially respected by peasants; on this day, a fast is strictly observed.
There are 12 special Fridays. The most revered are: the 1st, during the first week of Lent; and the 2nd, during Holy Week. According to the peasants, whoever fasts on the first Friday will be delivered from an evil death, and on the second Friday he will be saved from the enemy. The remaining ten Fridays are as follows: the 3rd, before the Annunciation of the Lord, whoever fasts on this Friday will be saved from murder; the 4th, before the Ascension of Christ, whoever fasts on that Friday is saved from drowning; 5th before the Day of the Holy Spirit - fasting on this Friday preserves a person from the terrible sword; 6th before the Nativity of John the Baptist - fasting on this Friday averts every shortcoming from a person; 7th before Elijah the Prophet - whoever fasts on this Friday will be preserved and delivered from the thunderclap; 8th before the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos - fasting on this day preserves a person from the temptation of the devil; 9th before Cosmas and Damian; 10th before the day of St. Michael the Archangel; 11th before the Nativity of Jesus Christ, and 1-2 before the Epiphany of the Lord. Whoever fasts on the 9th Friday will be preserved from the fall; on the 10th he will be inscribed on the Throne of the Most Holy Theotokos; on the 11th he will see the Most Holy Theotokos at his death; on the 12th his name will be written in the Book of Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, people honor the memory of Friday, October 28 (the day of St. Paraskeva—Friday) and say that this Friday differs from others in that it occurs on different days. That Friday is called an unlucky day is indicated by the following song:
My mother gave birth to me
It’s an unlucky day, Friday;
My mother didn’t tell me to
Be white and red
And to hang out with the guys.
I didn’t listen to my mother,
I didn’t listen to my dear;
I was white and blushing
I was hanging out with the guys,—(10)
At the beginning of each work, the peasants strictly observe the new moon, the full moon, and the waning moon; during the waning moon, they do not begin sowing grain. They explain the spots on the moon this way: there were three brothers; they were going to harvest hay and had a quarrel; one of them grabbed the other with a pitchfork and lifted him up, and now they are holding him in that position; that is why there are spots on the moon!
The common people are convinced that their ancestors knew the time of their death and naively relate that “in ancient times, God walked and saw a peasant lazily working in the garden, tying stakes with straw. After examining the work, God said to the peasant: ‘Why are you making it so flimsy?’ The peasant replied: ‘It will be in my lifetime,’ and so indicated the time of death.”
The people divide the year into two equal parts: the first half of the year begins on January 1st, and the second on July 1st. For them, January 1st corresponds to July 1st, January 2nd to July 2nd, etc. Noting what the weather was like on what day in the first half of the year, they then judge the weather on the days of the second half of the year, corresponding to the days of the first half, so for example January 18th, the day of St. Athanasius, or, in the words of the peasants, Panasius, corresponds to July 18th; If there was snow on January 18, then on July 18 there will be rain or bad weather, preventing hay harvesting, etc. Rarely does a peasant know what date a particular holiday falls on; they conduct all their calculations and observations based on the number of weeks and days from the holiday known to them.
During a christening, or as the common people say khrezbin, porridge is always cooked. (11) On the day of the christening, during dinner, the children approach the house of the woman giving birth with a rooster, if the newborn is a boy, and with a hen, if the baby is a girl, and scratch under the window until they receive a piece of pie and porridge. If the newborn is a girl, then after dinner the godmother runs out of the hut and takes up either a bucket, or a yoke, or something else that is part of women’s work; If the newborn baby is a boy, then the godfather runs out of the hut in the same order and grabs an axe, etc. Before breastfeeding, the lips of a newborn boy will be smeared with beetroot juice, and those of a girl with carrot juice.
Funerals are called khauturs. (12) The relatives wash the deceased, dress him in a white shirt, and place him in a coffin made of simple boards. Families try to bury them close together so that it will be easier for the deceased to come together in the next world. The relatives lament over the deceased with various invocations, which are called prichityvan’e and golosba. In this lamentation, they praise the virtues of the deceased, remember his good deeds, and mourn for the fate of the family.
A wooden cross is placed over the grave. It is noted that if the deceased’s body is soft and all joints can move freely, then another deceased person should soon be expected in that family; the same thought applies when the deceased lies with his eyes open. But after someone’s death, relatives place bread, salt, and water on the windowsills, on the assumption that the soul remains on earth for nine days and flies in every night to eat and drink. On the day of Khavtur, they cook kutya, bake pies, and, without fail, flatbreads (sochni) and pancakes. Kutia, flatbread, and pancakes are accessories for funerals and memorial services. Parents and relatives in general, except for the days mentioned below, are commemorated daily in prayer in the morning and before dinner, but never in the evening, saying that commemoration in the evening is “not good for parents.” Among the days commemorated is the so-called Parental Saturday (Dmitry’s Saturday). (12) This Saturday is preceded by two more Saturdays in a row, also known as Parental Saturdays, but the above-mentioned one (Dmitry’s Saturday, October 19) is considered the oldest. The commemoration on this Saturday is performed in the same order as will be described below in the description of the commemoration on Radunitsa. - Moreover, it is noted that if it snows on St. Demetrius Saturday, then on the day of Christ’s Resurrection there will also be snow. - In addition, parents and relatives are commemorated on those days when one of them died; on such days, in addition to the usual commemorated dishes: kutya, flatbreads and pancakes, they bake, boil and fry everything that the deceased, for whom the commemoration is performed, loved. —When all the food is ready, first of all they put a flatbread on a loaf of bread, with the conviction that the deceased will eat this flatbread; then they place the rest of the food on the table, covered with a clean tablecloth; they light wax candles and a lampada before the icons, burn incense, the eldest of the family reads a prayer, and, having performed the commemoration, they sit down to dine. For the commemoration, wealthy peasants invite beggars, who, standing in the street, sing:
He who remembers his family,
He is happy with God;
Father’s prayers are taken from the bottom of the sea,
I get rid of the burning torment.
He gave us the royal name. (14)
Or with your own handicraft half-assem.
At the end of this song, the farmer comes out to the poor, calls the deceased, and the poor, having been treated as best they can, sing the eternal memory.
In the celebration of holidays by peasants, one cannot help but notice traces of pagan festivities, which previously had a religious purpose and have survived in external rituals to this day through the coincidence of pagan holidays with Christian holidays, such as, for example, Trinity week, etc. While celebrating one thing, the common people do not forget the other, and although they have forgotten in whose honor and for what purpose a certain rite was performed and celebrated, they have remained faithful to the covenant of antiquity and continue to preserve the external rites that accompanied pagan celebrations unconsciously, out of sheer habit, giving the only answer to anyone’s questions about the reason and purpose of a rite or custom: “We did not establish it, but our grandfathers and fathers did it that way.”
On New Year’s Day (January 1), as well as on Christmas (December 25), and on Epiphany Day (January 6), peasants ride to church on young, well-bred horses. On New Year’s, they cook kutia; the frosts from Christmas to New Year’s are called Vasiliev’s frosts, and January 1 itself is better known by the name Vasillya (St. Basil).
Before Epiphany, kutia is also eaten last. On this day, until the blessing of water, which they try to have from three churches, no one eats anything. Since kutia is also cooked on Christmas and New Year’s Day, a spoonful of kutia is set aside from these two days and preserved in a special pot until this day. On this same day, the two saved spoonfuls of kutia are mixed with a spoonful of newly cooked kutia. After praying to God before the icons, near which candles and a lamp are lit, the eldest of the family sprinkles the hut and all the outbuildings, as well as the doors, windows, walls, and so on, with water blessed in the church. outside and inside the houses draw small crosses with chalk or charcoal. - Mixed kutia, as mentioned above, is combined with various types of grain bread and three crumbled flatbreads or pancakes, two of which are left over from the same days as the kutia, and is given to the cattle on the day after Epiphany. - When the sky is starless on the night before this day, then do not expect a mushroom harvest; the same sign applies to the night before the New Year.
On the day of the Epiphany of the Lord (January 6), when setting out for the Jordan, they note: if it is cloudy when the service is held on the river, there will be a harvest, but if the sun is shining, then the opposite will happen. The water blessed on this day, which they try to obtain from three Jordans, is called Epiphany water; it is mixed with water taken the day before, stored throughout the year, and used to sprinkle beehives when gathering swarms and to heal oneself from illnesses.
The next day, January 7th, when the church celebrates the Synaxis of John the Baptist, is called Ivan the Baptist. When there is a snowstorm and blizzard on January 18th, the feast day of St. Athanasius, the peasants note that the spring will be long, that much fodder will be needed, so much will be consumed and even the punks will be ruined.
On February 2, the day of the Presentation of the Lord, people say that winter meets summer and the sun begins to warm like summer. On this day, they do not begin any work; moreover, noting the day on which this holiday fell, they do not scurry about throughout the year, so as not to encounter wolves. Wolves and wolves, according to the peasants’ unaccountable understanding, are somehow connected. In short, they try throughout the entire year to avoid starting any work on the day of the Presentation of the Lord. A snowstorm occurring on this day, according to the people, foretells a long spring, so that the shortage of feed for livestock will be very noticeable.
On February 11th, our church commemorates St. Blaise, whom the people call Vlastya. Those who honor this day, they say, will never have sick cattle; women do not work on this day. The people consider St. Blaise to be the patron saint of cattle. (15)
On March 1, St. Eudocia notes that if on this day it is warm and thaws, so that a rooster can drink under the roof, then this promises a good spring. If on this day the pochepka (rope on a bucket) freezes, then it is assumed that the number of days from March 1 to the Annunciation is the same number of days after the Annunciation that one should feed the pigs, and if it does not freeze, then the pigs can be fed only until the Annunciation.
The Feast of the Forty Martyrs, March 9th, is called Magpies. If on this day an ox can drink its fill under the corner of a building, it means there will be a good spring. On this day, according to popular belief, the herald of spring, the lark, flies out of a warmer clime, and therefore, then they bake dough birds called larks and babkas, round, apple-like ones. The lark is considered the first bird of spring; after the lark, according to popular belief, come the rooks, which happens 12 days before the opening of the water, then the ducks and cranes, and finally the cuckoo, which is called zezyulya. (16) The cuckoo, as people say, begins to call 12 days before the feast of St. George (April 23), and if it calls when the trees have not yet blossomed, it foretells a poor harvest in a difficult year for the people in terms of diseases and cattle losses. There is also a belief that if someone has money on him when he first hears the cuckoo in the spring and throughout the year it will not run out; otherwise, he will suffer a shortage of money for the whole year; and therefore, to avoid shortages, there is a custom of tying a groat or a five-kopeck coin in the bosom of a shirt and thus always having money on oneself. Hence the peasant proverb: “I have no money, so I’m only saving it for the cuckoo.” The black grouse, according to popular belief, is also a harbinger of spring; peasants say that it chatters: “I’ll take off my sheepskin coat and put on a robe.” After forty martyrs, they say, there must be another forty frosts.
On March 17, the day of the feast of St. Alexis, according to popular belief, the pike breaks through the ice with its tail, which signifies the approach of spring in all its splendor.
On March 25, the day of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, people note the weather, expecting it to be the same on the first day of the bright holiday. According to popular belief, birds do not build nests on the Feast of the Annunciation. It is believed that if they do not stop riding in sleighs a week before this holiday, they will ride in sleighs for another week after the Annunciation. On this day, they try not to see spindles, and they believe that if they do not see spindles, they will not see snakes.
From this day, according to peasants, spring begins; then they bring out all their food and call for spring. The custom of calling and inviting spring undoubtedly existed with solemnity and religious significance in former times, as evidenced by the following song, which begins with an appeal to God. This song also indicates that in addition to welcoming spring, there was a custom of seeing off winter. The song says:
God bless!
Call for spring.
Seeing off winter!
Let’s wait!
Fly out, blue tick,
Bring out the golden keys,
Lock up the cold winter,
Отомкни цеплое лѣцечко.
At present, the invocation of spring is not connected with any rituals and consists only of singing songs that constitute a special division from other songs, in dances and games, such as the game of burners, etc. (17) Spring songs are sung from the feast of the Annunciation until the Apostles’ Fast. The basis of spring songs is love; They express either the boredom of a lonely life, or complaints about a foreign country, about one’s father-in-law and mother-in-law, or separation from home, father and mother, or a meeting with a loved one, or a desire to remain free for some time, or grief and tears from future worries, or a grumbling at one’s father and mother for not letting one go for a walk with friends, etc. Spring songs differ from others in their special melody. Here are several spring songs:
1st. Don’t cuckoo, zezyulya
In the green oak grove;
Don’t give it to the ashes
Young widower.
Young widow
I tore the fern,
Yes, I sent you a kiss,
Sentencing;
You are my kiss
Like grandpa is cold;
It’s not for me to sleep here
And not to my dear one;
Sleep here
To the fierce father-in-law.
2nd. There was wheat in the field
She waved her ear of corn,
She screamed with her voice:
Dzevki, young wives,
Or to the reaper,
Or cattle wasteland.
I can’t stand
Kolosa dzerzhatse.
Wheat ear
Мнѣ коѣно ломиць.
The sister asked her brother.
Either get married yourself,
Or give me back.
I can’t walk
I have a brown braid;
Light brown kerchief,
Like a heavy bag
My shoulders were broken.
3rd. Red, red
Shchir u gorodze, - (18)
Blush for him
Dad has a daughter.
She walks around the yard
It makes the yard look better, etc.
The people consider the 8th of April, St. Rufus, and the 15th of April, St. Puda, to be the last hours of winter; but in their opinion, Rufus will destroy the snow, and St. Puda will be so frightened by the snow that there will be none left even in the ditches.
On April 17, the Church celebrates the memory of St. Zosimus. People consider him the patron saint of bees. Farmers’ methods of caring for bees are common, based on hereditary skills, and removing the honeycombs does not kill the bees. The bees are housed in sunbeds. Swarming begins in June and continues for a month and a half.
Most bee mortality is due to queenlessness. Diseases also occur, such as diarrhea from harmful mildew on buckwheat, and then beekeepers give them various medications, mixing them with honey. The honey is removed, or, as the Belarusian expression goes, “climbed,” in August around the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Three-quarters of the combs are removed from the hive, leaving the remaining 1/4 for food. Around mid-October or early November, some transfer the bees to cellars or special amshankas, where they remain until mid-March, and sometimes until early April. In March, the bees’ honey supply becomes scarce. They begin to be given a reserve supply; with good beekeeping, 1 pound per hive. For this purpose, fresh honey is specially stored in the combs. (19)
April 23, the day of St. George the Victorious, is especially noteworthy for the distribution of farm work. If the sheep have not been sheared before this day, they are sheared after St. Nicholas Day (May 9); no fences are erected in the fields before April 23. Peasants say that cattle have three freedoms in the field, that is, they can eat whenever and wherever they want, and that St. George’s dew feeds cattle better than any oats. Therefore, on this day they are sure to drive the cattle out into the fields, even if there is no grass yet, and first of all they are released into fields sown with winter grain. On this day, cattle are driven out of the yard with willow branches blessed during Palm Sunday of Great Lent and left in the field so that the grain will grow better. In the field, they walk around the cattle three times with an icon, bread, and three eggs so that God will protect the cattle and so that the cattle will be well-fed and round like eggs. On this day, the shepherds say: “Deaf, deaf, do you hear? I do not hear.”
If only God would grant that the wolf would not hear our cattle. Lame, lame, you will not reach us; I will not reach you. - If only God would grant that the wolf would not reach our cattle. Blind, blind, you cannot see; I do not see. - If only God would grant that the wolf would not see our cattle! The people consider St. George to be the leader and master of wolves, and if the wolves multiply, as often happens in severe winters, they say that St. George has released them. On the same day, choosing the time between matins and noon, they sow seedlings, with the conviction that the seedlings sown at this time should be good, April 23 - St. George’s Day is considered older than the autumn day - November 26.
Before I begin to describe the celebration of the bright holiday and the days that follow, I will say a few words about the weeks preceding this holiday.
A solid week is called all-fast; all the days of this week the peasants eat fast food and, in their opinion, it should snow during this week, because the all-fast goes visiting.
The week preceding Maslenitsa is called motley. On Monday of Cheese and Butter Week, the women gather to drag a block, i.e., a small stick with a light red sash tied to it. Meeting a single guy, they jokingly tie the block to his leg, as punishment for his failure to marry in myaoed; the guy must pay a ransom; the same is repeated with the girls. During Maslenitsa Week, they bake pies, flatbreads, and pancakes; the flatbreads and pancakes are eaten with cheese diluted with milk; the more prosperous add sour cream instead of milk. The celebration of this week consists of visiting each other for parties, dressing up, and for this purpose, instead of masks, they mark their faces with charcoal and soot, put on fur coats inside out, and dance and sing to the sounds of violins and bagpipes. In addition, this week there are sledding trips from mountains, either naturally formed or purposely constructed from snow.
Belarusian peasants of the Smolensk province
From Thursday to Sunday inclusive, the days are called forgiven (farewell); on these days people go to ask each other for forgiveness for offenses and sins, saying: “Forgive me for what I have sinned against you.” - On Saturday, before dinner, they remember their parents, and this day is called Parental Saturday. - On Lent, that is, on the Sunday before Great Lent, as well as in general on all Lent days, they note: if a torch, usually illuminating the hut instead of a candle, soon goes out, then the one sitting near the torch must die before others sitting further away. (20)
On the first Monday of Great Lent, nothing is cooked and a strict fast is observed. Wednesday of the Week of the Veneration of the Cross is called Wednesday of Lent and it is said that at midnight on this day the fast is broken, and it is also claimed that if you listen closely, you can hear a loud knocking and cracking at midnight, signifying the breaking of Great Lent. On this day, crosses are baked from unleavened dough.
The 6th Sunday of Great Lent is called Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday of Holy Week, willow branches are brought to church for blessing. The willow branches blessed on this day are kept behind icons throughout the year, and part of it is used to drive cattle into the fields on St. George’s Day. Returning from church with the blessed willow branches, they lightly whip each other with them, saying:
Willow cross,
Cut to tears;
I’m not cutting,
Willow cut,
Be healthy. (21)
The frosts that occur during Palm Sunday are called verbichi. These verbichi, according to popular belief, are necessary at that time because otherwise there will be frosts later that will interfere with and damage the sowing and germination of spring grain.
On Lazarus Saturday, which occurs during the sixth week of Great Lent, pies, flatbreads, and pancakes are baked. The eldest member of the family lights candles and a lampada before the icons, burns incense, and says a prayer; the others follow his example. After praying and remembering deceased relatives, they dine.
Thursday of Holy Week is called Clean Thursday. On the eve of this day, a piece of bread and a pinch of salt are taken out into the yard and it is noted that if this bread freezes during the night, then the spring grain will suffer from frost. The taken out bread is eaten after washing in the bathhouse, so as to be healthy; they wash in the bathhouse then before sunrise and they say that at that time even the raven bathes its children. (22) Others, going to the bathhouse, which is called laznea, take with them a small, non-sandy pebble and stand on it with their right foot during the dousing; This stone is sometimes preserved for the coming year. - When leaving the bathhouse, they leave a bucket of water and a broom for the owner on the shelf (the place where they steam). During the wash, they say as they ascend the shelf: “The baptized one, on the shelf, the unbaptized one, off the shelf.” - When leaving the bathhouse, they cross themselves and say: “Tsebe, bathhouse, for standing, and to our health.”
The meaning of these words is clear; wishing themselves health after washing, they do not forget to wish at the same time for the bathhouse to exist for a long time. As for the words: baptized on the shelf, unbaptized from the shelf, these words apparently refer directly to them; leaving water and a broom in the bathhouse for the “master” refers to the brownie, whom they call by this name. This custom and sayings also apply to other days on which they wash in the bathhouse. (25) On Maundy Thursday they will not give anything to anyone, especially fire, believing that the asker has come with prikhomotni, i.e., with evil intent. If there is wind on Maundy Thursday, then they expect wind until Ascension Day; if there is good weather, then they expect good weather, and so on; the candle they carry in church during the reading of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Passion candle and is kept for various uses: it is lit during severe thunderstorms, used to fumigate sick people and livestock, and also bees to protect them from attacks by strangers. They say that on this day Jesus Christ will descend to earth, and therefore on this day they bake bread, calling it a stool, and imagine that they are placing it in honor of the God-man descending to earth. On this same day, they begin to dye eggs, and one of the dyed eggs is kept all year in the god’s little shrine (the place where the icons are kept), and with it they go out to sow the grain. Since Maundy Thursday is considered a memorial day, they bake pancakes and flatbreads and commemorate their parents. (24)
On Good Friday, nothing is cooked and people spend their time washing and cleaning huts. Sewing is considered a sin. On Holy Saturday, nothing is cooked in the morning, and in the evening, flatbreads are baked; they are eaten with the saying: “Whoever eats this on this day is cursed, and whoever does not eat it is cursed.” The custom of baking flatbreads on this day—a commemoration dish—is not observed everywhere, and it is difficult to understand why they are baked in the evening, while the commemoration of parents in evening prayers, in the opinion of the peasants themselves, should not occur.
The bright holiday is called VelikoDny and is celebrated with special solemnity. Preparations for this holiday begin as early as Maundy Thursday. The peasant goes to the tavern for wine and to the market for meat; the women bake paskhas, roast lambs and piglets, and color the eggs either with red sandalwood or, mostly, with onion skins. On the eve of the holiday, in the evening, they go to church, taking paskhas with them, and some also take cottage cheese, lard, etc.; all through the early night until matins they crowd into the huts nearest the church; At the end of Matins, following Christian custom, they exchange the Easter greeting with the priest and with each other in the church, giving each other eggs, and then, until Lent, they disperse to neighboring huts or sit on the porch and at graves. During Lent, drowsiness overcomes the worshipers, and it happens that, holding a penny candle in their hand, they set fire to each other. A penny candle burns over the paskha and other things brought for blessing, and when the priest reads the prayer, a piece of each paskha and everything blessed is cut off for the benefit of the clergy; Anyone who does not wish to have the Easter bread and other things cut off pays two groats, five kopecks, seven kopecks, and three kopecks for the blessing. On this day, infants are given Holy Communion. Upon returning home, they first break their fast with the blessed food, and then have breakfast or lunch. On the estate where the landowner lives, the peasants congratulate and kiss the gentlemen, ladies, young ladies, and children on the lips three times and give them eggs, either dyed or white.
Each of those congratulating is offered a glass of wine and a piece of pie or paskha. This is not done everywhere, but in many homes. Those who for some reason remain at home all night before the bright holiday do not sleep; those who doze off and subsequently oversleep at matins are doused with water, trying to catch them drowsy. Dyed eggs are used by boys for a special game - “beatki” - in which they beat one egg against another and the broken one goes to the one whose egg remains intact; in addition, eggs are used for a game known as “swinging” an egg from an oak tree, specially prepared for this purpose.
During Holy Week, parish priests go around the villages with icons; the icons are carried by bogonosy—men, women, and girls, mostly on a promise given for the healing of an illness or the avoidance of some other grief. The village to which visitors approach from the west greets them; on estates with a manor house, the icons are carried directly to the manor house; but the end of the prayer service there goes to the peasants’ huts; In every hut a prayer service is held, and after the service the icons are placed in the front corner, and the priest, deacons, and theologians sit at the set table to partake of the host’s bread and salt. After sitting at the table and thanking the host and hostess for the treat, they rise, raise the icons, singing: “Christ is Risen!” and leave the hut, accompanied by a blessing and gratitude. On Holy Week, prayer services are held over winter bread, and after the prayer service with the blessing of water, the sprouts of grain are sprinkled with Holy Water. After this, the young people roll around the rye and say: “God grant that the sheaves swing like this.”
People believe that those who die during the entire Bright Week will certainly reach paradise, no matter what their earthly life was like. Just as the gates of the Holy Church remain open, so, people say, the gates of paradise are open at this time for all—the righteous and the wicked.
From Easter to Ascension, people say, Jesus Christ walks the earth in the form of a beggar, and therefore at this time they consider it impossible to refuse someone asking for alms.
During Holy Week, the volochebniki, having gathered in a crowd, go through the villages and, having chosen someone’s hut, sing songs under the windows and receive in return a pie, bread, lard, eggs, etc. This collection is divided among themselves into equal parts; the man who carries a sack for collecting the pies and bread and a spicak for the lard is called a mekhonosha. This is what the volochobniki sing:
Dragoons,
People are kind;
They walked and wandered
To the NN yard.
Qi doma zhъ yen,
No, it doesn’t seem so:
The marten’s fur coat
Yawns.
Наздѣваецъ енъ на носки
Goat boots.
We glorify you,
In our song we glorify;
Like a garden cherry,
Like a pine berry.
Netomi there are many of us
Give us a gift soon.
A gift to us
Neither small nor great;
To every singer
By the red egg
To the boss
At least a couple.
Мѣхоношина
It’s a bitter fate,
The pie is finished for him,
Yes, a couple of eggs.
Others sing this song like this:
Dragoons,
Good people,
Christ is Risen
The Lord Himself.
The oxen were dragged,
Peed;
Christ is Risen
I am the son of God (*)
Every pѣvcu
One egg at a time
To the boss
Let’s have a couple.
The Bitter Fate of the Buffoon:
A glass of hot water,
Pie on a plate.
На насум мѣхоношу
Pie for a kopeck
And to our buffoon
Решето гороху.
If the owner does not come out for a long time and does not bring anything, then the volochebniks continue to sing:
If you don’t get forty eggs
We will drive all these sheep;
If you don’t get the end of the pie
We take the cow by the horns.
Having received the offering from the owner of the house, the voločebniki loudly sing the final verses:
Sing, sing,
Raise your voices.
Congratulations to the owner.
Throughout the entire Bright Week, people do no work and spend their time singing and dancing in circles. Thus Bright Week passes, and then comes Krasnaya Gorka—the time for weddings.
Sunday on the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is called the Women’s Day. On this day, women go to the fields with scrambled eggs and eat them there, saying, “May God grant that our flax will grow in abundance.”
Tuesday of Thomas Week is called Radunitsa (26). On this day, before lunch, people wash in the bathhouse and do all kinds of work; after lunch, they consider it a sin to work and go to the graves to remember their parents. The cemeteries are then full of people; memorial services are held at the graves, and then, having chosen one of the graves, they cover it with a tablecloth, roll eggs there, and put out pie, dragon cake, and vodka, which constitute an indispensable ritual accessory for all important occasions and holidays of the common people from the cradle to the grave. The crust of a pie or bread is brought home from the graves and fed to the cattle. When beginning the meal, they greet the deceased with the words: “Honest parents! Come and eat bread and salt with us!” and they believe that the souls of the deceased rise from their graves during the commemoration and share the commemorated food with them. If possible, they invite acquaintances, but primarily beggars, to share the food brought and commemorate the deceased. The invitation itself indicates the commemoration: “Come and commemorate our parents.” Unfortunately, it must be noted that this important rite almost always ends in an indecent manner. (27)
With farewell Tuesday - Radunitsa, the great holidays end and the life of the villagers returns to its working, everyday routine.
The feast of the middle of Easter, on Wednesday in the fourth week after Easter, is called Pereplavnaya Sredoy. On this day, water is blessed and no work is done.
May 9, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is called spring Nicholas; on this day, hayfields located between fields where cattle had previously grazed are ordered.
On May 10, on the day of St. Apostle Simon and the Zealot, they say: “Sow the wheat and it will become like gold.”
On May 11th, the day commemorating the restoration of Constantinople, or, as the password is pronounced, “Solograd,” people do not work, fearing that hail will destroy the fields. The origin of this belief, of course, must be sought in the meaning of this holiday, which is not understood by the people, and the closeness of the words “Constantinople” and “city.”
On Wednesday of the sixth week after Easter, our church concludes the bright feast, and on Thursday it celebrates the Holy Ascension, which is called here Usheshchye. The day before the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, peasants, especially peasant women, visit the provincial city of Smolensk. Departing from their homes, they say: “idziem k usheshchyu”, which in their language means: to the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. The crowd is so great that many do not even have shelter, and since few have acquaintances in the city with whom they could stay, some of those who have come, after long searches and requests for shelter, not finding it, remain in the open air, somewhere in the corner of the street or square. The main purpose of the journey is prayer, and then trade, since on Ascension Day there is a fair in Smolensk, which the Belarusian peasants call Kirmash; For sale, they bring a handful of flax, a skein of thread, ten yards of linen, a bunch of goose feathers, a bunch of bristles, ten eggs, and other insignificant and small items: for some red ribbon, city dwellers exchange ten eggs with peasant women, and for a bunch of red ribbons that peasant girls braid into their hair, even more valuable items are given away. On the very day of the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, after the procession with the cross and the liturgy, which is celebrated in the Smolensk Ascension Convent, the people disperse. It is unknown when exactly and as a result of what the custom of going to the Ascension of the Lord feast was introduced and why it is predominantly peasant women who go, who come not only from the districts closest to Smolensk, but even from distant and other neighboring provinces. (28)
On Ascension Day, according to popular belief, treasures emerge from the earth to dry out, but no one sees them and can take them. On this same day, they bake pancakes as thin as possible from wheat flour, milk, and eggs and call them God’s anuchi. (29)
On Thursday, the 7th week after Easter, called the Sunday of the Holy Fathers, Semik is celebrated. On this day, both relatives and all those who died suddenly are remembered, and people go to Smolensk, where a memorial service for the departed is held in the Church of Our Lady of Tikhvin. After dinner, near Smolensk, on the former Kiev highway, about three miles from the city, there is a public festival called the Gorka; swings are set up there, of course, near a tavern, and a reveling crowd fills the place with cheerful songs and dances. (30)
Rusal or Semitskaya week, coinciding with the 8th week of Pentecost after Easter, is better known here under the name of Spiritual week. The first day of this week is called Spiritual, and the second Trinity. The proverb “don’t take off your sheepskin coat until the Holy Spirit” refers to the day of the Holy Spirit, and in general to this time, expressing the people’s mistrust of the spring sun and warmth. Frosts and cold weather that sometimes occur in May and June, of course, gave rise to this proverb. (31) On the Saturday preceding Spiritual Day, churches and houses are decorated inside and out with “May” - cut young birches, maples and lindens; icons, tables, windows, and everything convenient are decorated with flowers, and the floors are covered with grass, aero, or, as the common people say, Yaver. (32) If “May” does not dry for a long time (in three days), then wet hayfields are expected. - On this same Saturday, which is called Spiritual Saturday, after washing in the bathhouse, they sow hemp. It should be noted that when sowing hemp, they do not say “God help”; but having sown hemp, they try to harrow the ground by the end of the day, so that then nothing more needs to be done. The celebration of Rusalnaya Week and Semik is directly connected with the belief that the souls of the dead rise in the spring to enjoy new life. The name Rusalnaya Week comes from the mermaids, to whom this week is dedicated and whom popular fantasy depicts as the mistresses of the waters, naked, beautiful, and with flowing blond hair. Rusalkas, according to popular belief, are the souls of the dead: drowned women and children who come into the world without life or who die unbaptized. Rusalkas live in the waters until the Day of the Holy Spirit; At the same time, they emerge from their homes, splash around on the surface of the water at midnight under the moon, or swing from trees in the forests and run across the fields, luring passersby to then tickle them to death. On Holy Spirit Day and Trinity Sunday, ordinary people do not bathe, fearing that the Rusalki will tickle them. During Rusalka Week, they sing, among other songs, the following song, which speaks of the Rusalki:
On a crooked birch tree
Русалка сидзѣла;
She asked for rubacenki.
Дзѣвки, молухи
Stoitse,
Rubatsenku ditse;
Wow, I’m skinny,
Да бѣлу бѣленьку. (33)
In addition to decorating huts with aeronautics and flowers, it is also customary for girls to adorn themselves with wreaths on Whitsunday and Trinity Sunday. The symbolic meaning of weaving these wreaths lies primarily in the girls’ fortune-telling about suitors and their own fate. The wreath’s power lies in the healing and magical herbs from which it is woven. The wreaths are thrown into the water, and the girl whose wreath floats to shore first will be the first to marry. If, however, a wreath not thrown into the water quickly withers, the girl to whom it belongs will die that year. Among the healing herbs are betony, wormwood, lovage (dawn), aer, etc., and from the trees bird cherry and birch; when going to church on the Day of the Holy Spirit, they take with them healing herbs and flowers of bird cherry and birch, having blessed them, they are treated from illnesses. (34)
On the Day of the Holy Spirit, girls, having adorned themselves with wreaths, go into the forest after dinner to curl wreaths. They come from the yard singing and dancing, and carrying various kinds of food, including, without fail, scrambled eggs, which constitute, one might say, a ritual dish. The songs that are sung on the way to the place where the wreaths are curled are as follows:
1.) Let’s get together
Into the meadows, little puddles,
Curl the wreaths.
We will curl wreaths,
Let’s curl the green ones,
For good years,
On the thick rye,
On the spiked barley,
On the oats,
For black buckwheat
On white cabbage.
9.) Ah! Yes at Kustse, at Kustse, (33)
Green cabbage, (36 )
There was a barrel
Completely guilty.
From that barrel
The son-in-law’s treasure was in the air,
I tortured my son-in-law for the truth.
Хто цебѣ, зяця.
Of the three sweetest:
Qi tsescha, qi zhonka,
Qi is the mother’s womb.
Цеща мнѣ мила
For my arrival;
А жена мнѣ мила
For my advice;
Mother is dear to me.
Што мене, молца, родзила.
Having arrived at the place where they have gathered for curling the wreath, they stop opposite the birch tree and sing:
Don’t rejoice, maple,
Yes, ash tree;
Not to you
Дзѣвки красныя.
Не цебѣ несуць
Яѣшний смашныя,
A bitter burner,
The violin is ringing.
Oh my, oh my,
Ay Lyuli, Lyuli Lyuli!
You rejoice, white birch,
Къ цебѣ идуць
Dzѣvki red,
Цебѣ несуць
Яѣшний смашныя,
A bitter burner,
The violin is ringing.
And the Lyuli, etc.
Spirit and Trinity
Дзѣвкамъ боница
And Saint Elijah
Dzevkam analysis.
Ai lyuli, etc.
Having finished the song, they dance and sing:
Trample the grass,
Break the grass;
The grass has started to grow
- God is stingy:
Oh God! Oh God!
My jaws have been worn down,
Duzha, duzha they galloped.
Here is God’s answer:
Цебѣ трава
It’s time to go;
To the red little stars
One time, one season.
After this, they begin to wave their aprons and shake the birch tree so that its branches can be caught and tied to other, nearby trees to form a wreath. Having tied the wreath in this way, they pass through it in pairs three times back and forth, which is called kumitsya. (37) While passing through the wreath, they sing:
Gossips,
My dears,
Kumitses,
Nebranites,
And having broken the tide
Хоць дзериць.
Having finished the song, they begin to eat the food they brought and drink vodka. After eating, they sing:
Curled wreaths,
The green ones curled;
For good years to come,
On the thick rye,
On the spiked barley,
On the oats,
For black buckwheat,
On white cabbage.
The wreath remains curled all week, during which time no one should approach it, fearing that the Rusalki, swinging on the curled wreath, will tickle anyone who comes near. * If someone absolutely must go in the direction where the wreath is, then they choose another route, so as not to even see the place where the wreath is; in addition, they say that during the Holy Spirit Week, women and children especially go naked into the forest, and if you accidentally meet them, you must certainly throw away your scarf or something else, even tear off the sleeve of your dress, if you do not have anything else with you at that time; Otherwise, inevitable death threatens. They also say that one man, having found naked children in the forest, wanted to kill them, but he barely had time to raise his hand before he was crushed and died on the spot. A week later, precisely on the first Sunday after the Day of the Holy Spirit, the Rusalki leave the wreath; the time of their pleasures is over, and the girls go to unfurl the wreath and unwind. They unwind with a song, passing through the wreath three times. The song says:
Gossips,
My dears,
We became friends,
They didn’t scold;
And having broken the yoke
Хоць дзерицысь.
Then they begin to unfold the wreath and sing:
Developed wreaths
Developed green,
For good years to come,
On the thick rye,
On the spiked barley,
For oats, fresh.
For black buckwheat
On white cabbage.
This concludes the spring holidays. The Petrovka or St. Peter’s Fast begins. From the Petrovka Fast until July 20th, spring songs give way to St. Peter’s songs, the melodies of which no longer contain the revelry that most spring songs contain, but express despondency, farewell, farewell, grumbling about the foreign land, the mother-in-law and father-in-law, and the boredom of life with a jealous husband.
i.) The sun set behind the forest,
The daughter paid a favor to the womb,
I’ll see my daughter off,
I’ll see my robin off,
Through three pure zeros,
Through three fast rivers,
Through three forests of stone.
And then I’ll take a look
Why did the child stop?
Why did the robin stop?
The grass entangled her,
Qi is green Murova.
It was not the grass that confused me,
Murova is not green,
Confused me
A foreign land.
On the other side
One must live and be able to:
Give it to everyone,
For both old and young,
And to her jealous husband.
2.) I would betray my father-in-law
For two shelegs;
I would buy a father
For three roads.
I would tell my father
Everything is as it should be,
This is our advice I
With my dear no”
Etc.
In the Petrovka songs, love and the anticipation of a loved one, as well as complaints against one’s father and mother for not allowing them to go out with their girlfriends, also play a role. Moreover, since matchmaking and weddings begin again on July 20th, the Petrovka songs express the girls’ desire to have fun and enjoy their maiden freedom before marriage. This is indicated by both the above-mentioned spring song, “Don’t Rejoice, Maple, or Ash Tree,” which says: “The Spirit and the Trinity are the girls’ gathering, and St. Elijah is the girls’ selection,” and the following Petrovka song:
1.) The cuckoo is cuckooing
With his loud voice;
Walk, walk Dunyushka
While freedom is given.
While freedom is given
The head is not covered;
Cover the head
The whole party is over.
Сидзѣла Дунюшка
Late in the evening alone;
Burnt at Dunyushka’s
Яра воса света»
Dunyushka waited and waited
To your dear friend;
Knock, grumble Vanyushka
At the new gate:
Are you sleeping or not sleeping, Dunyushka?
I can’t sleep
I’m lying here out of grief.
Past my ceremony,
Past the green garden:
The pump was running,
A well-trodden path.
There ishov, proishov
Good fellow;
The gusli is playing,
Singing songs.
His son was taken away, his mother was taken away
From the highest ceremony
Red dzѣvica.
Sir, sir father,
Madam Mother,
Пусци на улица погуцъ
Guselek listen,
Песенокъ перенять.
Dzitsya, my little daughter,
Тые цебѣ гусельки
Out of my mind, out of my mind;
Тые цебѣ пѣсенки
Your youth will grow old.
Sir, sir father,
Madam Mother:
Don’t drive the gusli crazy, I’ll drive them out of their minds,
Не пѣсенки состарѣюць.
And when I grow old I am young
Foreign land;
And drive me crazy, crazy
Fractional coins.
On June 16, St. Tikhon’s Day, they finish sowing the grain and begin hauling manure to the fallow land. The earth loves manure like a horse loves oats; it’s not the field that feeds the people, but the field, the peasants say.
June 24th is the Nativity of John the Baptist. This day is popularly known as Ivan Kupala. (38) Nowadays, it is difficult to find Kupala celebrated with all the rituals that were previously observed. People have ceased to consider this day a holiday.
The night before St. John’s Day is still considered mysterious and terrifying, and people believe that deep in the night before St. John’s Day, fern blossoms into a fiery red flower, and that this flower, in former times, gave the brave the ability to discover treasures. Many stories circulate among the people about how the fern flower is obtained, despite all the horrors and obstacles that this undertaking entails, and about how the brave ones succeeded in their undertaking. To this day, the popular belief persists that treasures exist, and that they can be cursed or not. Anyone who finds an uncursed treasure can use it without any problem; however, according to popular belief, a candle burns over an cursed treasure, a shot is heard from time to time, and smoke is seen, so that its location is known, but it is impossible to take possession of it, because the person who buried the treasure has cursed it, i.e., determined the conditions that must be met in order for the treasure to be retrieved. Tradition has been passed down to the people that a curse is usually cast on either the father or mother of the person digging up the treasure, and therefore the feeling of love and respect for parents, in which one must give justice to the common people, and the subsequent fear of losing one’s father and mother, stop those who are ready to decide to try to look for treasures, or these curses, although easy to carry out, are at the same time such that no one would think of them, and meanwhile, one only has to carry them out and the treasure is given.
Without knowing the hiding place of a treasure, you’ll never find it, and the more you dig, the deeper it will go. Folklore depicts treasures in various forms: an old man, a horse, a dog, a ball of yarn, and so on, so that sometimes all it takes is a little guesswork—a nudge from the old man or a hit from the horse—and the treasure will scatter. On the evening before Ivan Kupala Day, a Passion Candle is placed on the gates of the barnyard and an icon is erected to protect the livestock from evil spirits and witches.
If the candle is found untouched after a day, then all will be well, but if it is bitten, then they think that a witch has come and expect an illness to affect the cattle. (39) On June 29, on the day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, the people celebrate only St. Peter; the Apostle Paul is celebrated the next day, June 30. On this last day, the women take cheese and boiled eggs with them, go to the sown flax and, beginning to eat, say: “God grant that the flax will grow into flax.” (40)
July 1st and November 1st, Saints Cosmas and Damian. On this holiday, blacksmiths do not forge and women do not sew. The names of these saints are invoked in wedding songs with the request to “forge a strong, lasting, and forever inseparable marriage.” This song is called Kuzma and is sung only by those entering their first marriage. (41)
July 8, the Day of Our Lady of Kazan, is the day when they begin to mow the hay, and then to reap the rye. Before the harvest, there is a custom of reaping the rye. This custom is carried out in the following manner: when setting out to reap, women take boiled eggs, bread, salt, and lard with them; after treading several sheaves, they separate the first sheaf by itself and begin to eat the food they have brought; while reaping the first sheaf, they say: “Set my sheaf, for a thousand kopecks.” The first sheaf is brought into the house, placed under the icons, and during threshing, it is the first one to sit on the barn. When going out every day to reap the rye, they say: “The rye, the spear, run around in a circle, help me to reap and come to me at midnight with my crust” (42). When there is little left to reap, they bury a piece of bread with salt in the ground in an unharvested place, wrapping it in a clean cloth; they surround this place and thus finish reaping it. After the harvest, they gather in the same field where they finished reaping, weave a wreath of rye, and, having decorated one of the reapers with it, roll around the field with the saying: “Field, field, give me back my snare, for I have reaped this, but dropped the snare.” Then they go home singing. If any of the neighbors have not yet managed to finish reaping their rye, then they sing to the latecomer:
Plow the young reapers,
Their sickles are golden;
Our field soon thundered,
And NN dozed off while standing, etc.
This song is offensive to latecomers, and out of frustration, they thunder abusive songs in response to the mocking crowd. (43)
July 12, Martyr Proclus. From this day on, heavy dews set in, which cause the hay to rot; therefore, until this day, they hasten to dry the hay in ridges.
Peasants consider July 20th, the day dedicated to the memory of the Holy Prophet Elijah, a great holiday and do not work on this day to avoid fires caused by thunderstorms. Since severe thunderstorms often occur at night in July, such nights are called “rowan nights.” Beekeepers consider swarms that emerge after Elijah’s day to be unfavorable for the winter: the grass has already been mown, the linden and buckwheat, where the harvest is most abundant, have faded, and the young swarm does not have the opportunity to stock up on enough honey for the winter. Therefore, if a foreign swarm flies into the apiary after Elijah’s day, it is driven away. Since July 20th, peasants say that summer only lasts until lunch, and after lunch it’s winter.
On July 24, the day of St. Boris and Gleb, people stop bathing. August 1 is the day of the Holy Martyrs Maccabees, called the First Savior. On this day, seed rye is brought to church for blessing with Holy Water. On the eve of this day, they boil as many eggs as there are men in the yard; at dinner, everyone breaks an egg, and whoever has the fullest egg must sow the rye so that the harvest will be “full.” It should be noted that peasants will never sow the same field with both old and new seeds, and they are even dissatisfied with neighbors who become old again when they sow with new seeds. They believe that old or new seed, depending on which was sown first, will inevitably perish, and therefore if someone begins to sow new seeds, they should not allow a patch of land to be covered with old rye. On this same day, beekeepers examine the bees or, as the peasants say, dip knives in honey.
August 6th; the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, called the middle Savior. On this day, apples are blessed, and therefore many abstain from eating apples until this holiday, considering it a sin to eat them before this day.
If anyone eats apples before the Savior’s Day, they say, they will not be given an apple from the Garden of Eden in the next world. Apples that ripen by this day are called Savior’s apples. After the Savior’s Day, they say: “He went through the Savior’s Day, holding his mittens in reserve,” thus signifying the approach of the cold autumn season.
August 15, the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, is called the Greater Most Pure, and the Nativity of the Theotokos, September 8, is called the Lesser Most Pure.
August 16th is the day of the Icon Not Made by Hands, called the third Savior. On August 18th, the day of St. Florus and St. Laurus, a prayer service is held to these saints, considering them the patrons of horses, and on this day no one should work with horses; they also bake flat cakes, much smaller than a saucer of tea, and call them hooves.
August 29, the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist, is called Ivan the Faster. On this day, people do not eat anything round, imagining that it is the severed head of the Forerunner.
On September 1st, the day of St. Simeon, they say: “On Semyon’s day, plow before lunch, and after lunch, drive the plowman from the field,” meaning the time when plowing work ends.
From this day begins the Indian summer, that is, the beginning of women’s rural work, such as: cleaning the gardens, drying the lion, etc.; Indian summer ends on September 5th. Who does not know the well-known Jewish ritual, when in early September, I don’t remember which date, they spend the whole night in schools. People say that on this terrible night a whirlwind flies through the schools, from which the devil jumps out and carries off a Jew, man or woman.
On September 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross, birds fly away to warmer climates and reptiles crawl out of the ground. By “warm climate,” peasants understand some mythical land, somewhere by the sea, where migratory birds fly away for the winter and reptiles hide.
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, peasants avoid the forest and don’t let their children go there, fearing the bites of snakes, which emerge from the ground on this day, migrating to warmer climates. They also don’t dig the earth for fear that a snake will crawl out and sting. Incidentally, it’s worth noting that people count the keys to summer from the blue jackdaw, as is said in the song that calls for spring, and that the jackdaw, flying off to a warmer climate, locks up summer and carries away the keys with it.
When there is a lot of snow before the autumn feast of St. George, November 26, then they expect that by the spring feast of the same saint, April 23, there will be grass.
December 4th, Holy Great Martyr Barbara. The saying “Barbara tore away half the night” refers to this day, meaning that around this time the day begins to lengthen and the night to shorten.
On December 6th, people say, is St. Nicholas (Nicholas the Wonderworker), and uchora (yesterday) was the feast day of his father, Savka. The feast day of December 6th is considered older than the feast day in memory of the same Saint on May 9th. The proverb applies to December 6th and November 26th: “St. George will pave, but St. Nicholas will nail.” This proverb refers to the severe frosts that occur at that time. The proximity in time of the feasts of St. Barbara, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and St. Savva gave rise to the belief among the people that St. Nicholas himself walks a third of the earth. Before St. Nicholas’s Day, and most often on the day of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, Nikolshchina is served; Then they bring their icons from the church into their homes, serve prayers to the Most Holy Theotokos, the Savior, Vlast (St. Blaise), Nicholas the Wonderworker, bless the water, and at the same time serve memorial services for deceased relatives. Nikolshchina is also called the festival of light or, according to the Belarusian expression, sv’cha. The host of this festival donates an arbitrary amount of wax to the church, from which a candle is made. He invites relatives and friends, who also bring wax with them and stick it to the host’s candle. When the candle reaches a pood or more, then with the blessing of the priest, it is given to the church. In the evening they get drunk and sing:
The bush has grown
Everything is silver
The hops have sprouted
Green, spring, etc.
or: I was at the feast,
Xia Senna came from the feast;
Мой миленькій печалицца,
My cutie is at the feet of the rocker”
Don’t beat your drunk wife,
A drunken, foolish wife;
Beat your stubborn wife
White birch!
They also sing Luchinushka and other songs. December 9th is the Conception of St. Anne. They say that from this day on, wolves begin to run in packs. December 24th—the last day of the fast established before the feast of the Nativity of Christ—is called kolyada. On this day, lunch and dinner are eaten together, but not before the rising of the first star. Kutia is the name for wheat porridge. When the kutia is ready, the pot in which it was cooked is taken out of the oven, and it is placed in the same pot or another bowl, awaiting the rising of the first star, and vecher is served on kut—in the front corner of the hut, under the icons, on a table covered with a clean tablecloth. Since this day is also the day of remembrance of deceased relatives, in addition to kutia, flatbreads and pancakes are baked. Kutia is associated with the memory of the birth and death of the Redeemer; The white tablecloth points to the grave shroud with which His Most Pure Body was wrapped, and the flatbreads and pancakes evoke memories of relatives who have departed to the next world. The entire family stands before the table, and the father lights candles, an oil lamp, and incense before the icons.
Everyone prays. After the prayer recited by the father of the family, everyone quietly reads a prayer for the departed. Then they sit down to have dinner. Kutia is eaten after other dishes. After dinner, the women place their spoons in a bowl containing a small amount of kuttia and place the bowl on the table. This is done to divine one’s fate. If the spoons are found the next day in the same place they were yesterday, this is a good sign; if one of them turns over, this foretells a quick death for the owner of the spoon. (44) Fortune-telling continues throughout the Christmastide or Holy Evenings ending on Epiphany Eve. (43) On these evenings, no work is done and it is believed that God himself walks the earth at that time and observes who works and who does not work; to those who do not work, he sends happiness, health, wealth, etc. - During Christmastide, they do not look at the seedlings so that when planted in the garden, the cabbage does not degenerate into grass unfit for food.
Belarusian peasants in a hut
On the night before December 21st, they note that if there are no stars in the sky, then one cannot expect a mushroom harvest that year. On the eve and on the day itself of the Nativity of Christ (December 25th), they praise—congratulate each other and carol. Christmas caroling is similar to the caroling of the Volochebniki during Bright Week; in the same way, in carols they glorify the master of the house, his wife, and children under the windows. (46) On the day of the Nativity of Christ, after praying to God in the church where they go on young, unbroken horses, they first begin to eat dried meat left over from the fasts before the Philippian Fast and specially dried, and then sausages and intestines stuffed with buckwheat porridge or pork fat. By this time, pigs are usually slaughtered. (47)
With the onset of Christmastide, young people gather daily for merrymaking and spend time dancing, playing games, dressing up, and drinking, often until midnight. Music is played at the merrymaking; the peasants’ favorite instruments are the violin and bagpipes. Christmastide time is considered a time for the wandering of the unclean spirit. (43) During the first three days of the holiday, no work is done; on the days following those of Christmastide, the most necessary work is done, but by no means in the evenings.
During Christmastide, they observe: if the path (path) is black, then there will be a good buckwheat harvest; if the Nativity of Christ is clear, then there will be a poor year, and if it is cloudy and snowy, then there will be a good harvest; if there is frost and cold before the feast of the Nativity of Christ, then before the feast of the Resurrection of Christ it will be warm and calm. Frosts before Christmas are called Christmas frosts.
The second day of the Nativity of Christ is called molodeny; on this day, porridge is cooked and ladki are baked from dough; on this day, a woman who has a baby at birth must visit the grandmother who delivered the child and bring her half a bottle of vodka and roast meat. If the baby dies before molodeny, then the mother of the deceased must bring the vodka and meat to the grandmother.
After this brief overview of holidays and beliefs, it remains to mention wedding ceremonies among the common people. Formerly, marriages among the common people were concluded by the parents of the bride and groom without their consent, and their mutual disposition was not consulted. If a father had several daughters, the hand of the eldest was necessarily asked; to woo the youngest meant dishonoring the family. Nowadays, the bride and groom usually know each other, and their desire or unwillingness to marry is sometimes respected by parents or older relatives, who are the main actors in wedding ceremonies, especially matchmaking; They are entrusted with the inspection of the groom and the bride, the final declaration of consent to the marriage, and the condition of the dowry.
The ceremonial matchmaking is usually preceded by a preliminary agreement—a “podbarishek.” The groom’s father, or his brother, or another relative authorized by the father, visits the bride’s parents, engages in a conversation about various matters, and finally explains the reason for their visit. If the bride’s parents agree, the matchmakers, having examined the bride, depart, but stipulate that they also examine the groom, whose examination is strikingly similar to that of the bride. After examining the groom, a day is set for the final agreement—the “podbarishek.” During the “podbarishek,” vodka sent by the groom appears on the scene in the house of the bride’s parents. Then negotiations about the dowry and gifts take place, both parties shake hands, pray to God, and express their final consent to the marriage. The bride, through the matchmaker on the groom’s side, gives the groom a towel, and the groom, through the same matchmaker and then, gives her money; moreover, the bride brings a gift of several yards of linen to the groom’s father. During the gift-giving, the relatives and neighbors invited to the evening sing:
Ay sannya is with us
Zaruchevka God is far:
Заручили дзѣвку
Proceed Monday.
Ay sannya is with us
Gifts and gifts came,
For two yards,
God gave it to us!
When the matchmakers and relatives of the bride wash down the gifts and consent to the marriage with vodka, the singers begin:
I’ll walk down the street
Two courtyards passing by, -
And in the third yard
I’ll do it by ear.
I stand by ear,
What do people say, -
Qi don’t judge father.
Dear Father
Propoets, propoets
Her dear father;
Drank away your chadynko
На горѣлкѣ горкой
With licorice honey
I’ll go out, I’ll go out
And I’ll stand on ganochki;
I’ll see there,
I’ll look at the colors.
Разцвѣтайце красочки
I’m already nervous about you.
Въ вѣки неввиваць,
It doesn’t fit on the head. (49)
Following this agreement, they negotiate with the priest who will perform the wedding and give him a hen or a rooster (80). Then, on the day set for the last agreement (barysh), they prepare for the reception of the groom in the house of the bride’s parents, and the groom prepares for his departure for the bride’s house in the house of his parents. At the wedding, they appoint not only the wedding day, but also the number of guests from the groom’s side. Usually, there are: from the groom’s side - a best man, a bridesmaid, a groomsman (best man), and matchmakers. The bride has the same, with the only difference that instead of a groomsman, there is a bridesmaid. On the eve of the wedding day, weddings, both in the house of the bride and in the house of the groom, who are getting married for the first time, open with the song: Kuzma. (51)
This song cannot be sung by widowers and widows; those singing Kuzma stand on the pol (a raised place near the stove where they sleep), and a pie is placed on a pole in front of them. The bride and her relatives begin to weep; the wedding begins and the singers begin to sing:
The sacred house,
The owner was baptized;
Ци есть у эту хацѣ
Father and mother?
Blessing
ІІѣсню запѣць,
Let’s play the wedding!
I’m at your house
How is a swan on the Don?
Lebedz Okunetsa
Get out of here,
And I’ll stay here
Let’s start the conversation.
Flowers, dzyatski,
Гоци пріѣзжіѳ,
Сусѣди приложные
Blessings!
Guys,
Golden heels
Blessings!
Дзѣвицы, пѣвицы,
Masceritsa cakes,
Potato pests
And you bless!
Mother Most Pure
People’s people
Y long ago
She blessed me.
Near the yard,
Dvora N (name of the bride’s father.)
The little pumps ran,
Beaten paths.
А по перей сцежинькѣ
The Lord God Himself;
По другией же сцежинькѣ
The Most Pure Mother walked
А по трецей сцежинькѣ
Shev Kuzma Dzemyan!
Oh yes my heart
And three times rejoiced;
And for the first time
Yano was happy
Like my little one
It was still being born.
У другиеій же разъ
Yano was happy
Like my little one
I was baptized with the Cross;
А у трецій разъ
Yano was happy
Like my little one
Dressed up for my husband
And then she got married.
Saint Kuzma Dzemyan!
Bring us a wedding,
A strong wedding,
Long-lasting,
Inseparable forever!
After this song, they begin others. Then the groom prepares to leave for the bride. Before leaving, everyone sits down at the table, and the matchmakers begin to sing:
1.) Stop, don’t stop, little willow,
Don’t stand still, develop;
Not shoji father,
Не сѣди, можессайся.
Get ready for the wedding
Svadzebku N (groom’s name)
Oh yes my wedding
It has been equipped for a long time;
Nine bread ovens
It’s been baked for a long time;
Dzesyatuyu stove
Baked overbaked. (52)
Dzevyats’ brews of beer
It was cooked a long time ago;
А дзесятый варъ
There are burners.
Instead of this song, others sing:
2.) Не сѣди бебря въ березѣ,
Pegs with water,
What a wave.
Dragging a trouser
Pa berezhechek.
Namoetsi bridge
Viburnum.
Nesedzi father at the conversation.
Get ready for the wedding;
My wedding is all set.
And it has been prepared for a long time,
And the horses are already harnessed.
3.) Oh yes, well done, well done,
Walk around the table;
Walk around the table
In his hands is a dzerzhinsky cap,
The hands are holding a cap
Idzets father ask:
Without giving me any credit, father
Without adding too much here;
My daughter is formidable
Don’t let me into the yard late;
It’s late for the Neputts to come to the yard
He won’t give me his daughter soon.
4.) Полно цебѣ молдзецъ
Tutytka besedovac;
Your violins
We played out a long time ago
Young Svashechki
They’ve been singing together for a long time.
Black horses
They laughed while standing,
Clamps and harnesses
Their mustaches were all torn.
If only I were healthy, my father,
I’ll be with you
The horses are variable,
And the harnesses, the clamps
Everyone will be belted
5.) Don’t graze the horse,
Horse in the meadows;
Не кладзи сѣдла
Saddles under the bush.
Don’t hang up the bridle,
Узды на куцѣ
Поспеѣшай ты къ цещѣ
Have supper quickly;
Для цебѣ вечеря
More expensive than lunch.
Then they rise from the table and pray; the father and mother bless the groom with an icon, bread, and salt, and after the blessing, the groom leaves the hut with the train. During the exit, the matchmakers sing:
6.) You will travel, my child.
You will go to the suglyadzi;
Don’t look, my child,
Neither gold nor silver,
Погледзи на N (name of the bride)
On the face of the girl is a belesh,
Stand at the station;
People should praise themselves for their work,
God knows about the custom.
7.) N (groom’s name) walks along the haystacks
Budzitsa to your father;
Get up, father, get up
Go to the blacksmith.
Don’t forge, don’t forge, father
Golden knife;
Why don’t you, father?
Raven horse.
To the golden knife,
На столѣ лець;
To the black horse
Run along the road.
Цеща послиць
Get ready Budzec,
А невеѣста послиць
Снаряцца будецъ
They don’t stop talking on the road. Road songs next:
8.) Don’t shoot N (groom’s name)
Sokolika u pole;
Стрѣльни, Стрѣльни N (name of the bride)
In the yard.
In the father-in-law’s yard
There are three guardhouses;
The first guardhouse
At the gates of the stands;
Another guardhouse
In the middle of the yard;
And the third gatehouse
Stand on the ganochki.
And she herself is already a little girl
Ždziec na nerekhodţ;
Dzerzhitsь белъ-сахрь,
Bel sahor on a plate.
Дзержиць зрѣлы ucozki
Dzerzhitsya on a plate.
Akh da sokotsisya
Bel-sahor with raspberries;
Soydzis, soydzis N (groom’s name)
Сойдися ты съ N (name of the bride)
9.) Field, open field
Yes qi maesh konika;
I miss, I miss my horse,
The horse is evil like an eagle.
There is no shame in passing
To the king and queen.
Our little king,
Our princess!
Meanwhile, in the house of the bride’s parents, preparations are underway for the wedding and the groom’s reception. The bride is crying, (33) and the matchmakers are singing songs to her:
10.) It’s not too hot
Luchinushka;
Don’t mind crying
Дзѣвушка.
She didn’t take pity on anyone,
Neither my dear father,
Not my own mother.
If I want, I’ll pity you.
And I will weave a weave,
I have a blonde braid,
I’ll weave, I’ll hang
Upleat for a bite,
And a wreath on the tynok.
Куды бацюшкѣ
У клѣць ходзиць,
А судярѣ машукѣ
The trail lies.
Look at the wreath
Take a deep breath,
Take a look at the feast
Bitter roar.
Remember my youth
And more than once with tears I will say:
That’s my little daughter’s
The lash is swinging;
That’s my little daughter
I wore it in the morning,
I painted the courtyard
She made the family laugh.
11.) Where did the cherry go?
Through the fence into the street;
It wasn’t me who sneered,
They threw a cherry
Буйные вѣтре
Scattered rains!
Where did the young woman think?
From your old lady?
It wasn’t me who came up with this idea,
My father thought,
People made a wish,
Good neighbors. ( 54 )
On the damp earth.
She went young
At the table
Tselyuchi skatserzi
Усе бѣлевыя!
Dropping tears
Combustible,
Tears from the concert
No, don’t be a kitten;
Dzevushka from father
No, I don’t want to.
Tears with Skazerzi
They showed off in a trickle;
Zevushka from father
It seems he wanted it!
- The little girl was walking from the field
Ненес красочки у приполѣ;
Curled a wreath
On a wide table,
On a wide table
On the White Skazzertsia
Svyatshi vе£чичъ
Pocacil node;
Come on, my little wreath,
Katsi pod parog.
Roll straight to your father,
Right under the feet.
Give it to me, father,
Give me the wreath;
I won’t give it to you, my daughter,
I won’t serve you the wreath.
I can’t see through the tears
I won’t move my hands for pity.
The continuation of this song is addressed to the mother with the same expressions.
14.) The little star began to strain,
Why did the winter winter attack early?
The tree withered under the snow.
Зачувъ, завидзѣвъ дзеѣвочку
Good fellow;
Don’t bother, little girl
I visited the market.
There’s a little wreath there
I made the deal myself:
You tilt your head,
And you cannot destroy him.
Girlfriends will come
The wreath cannot be removed;
Вѣтрикъ повеецъ
Вѣнка несвѣецъ.
Sunny risen
The wreath is not wilted;
It’s raining
But the wreath can’t be washed.
15.) Siviya vobloki
We went through the clouds;
Young girl
She got stuck in her thoughts.
Think a thought,
Думушка крѣпку.
How to approach her bitter
У чуіе людзи;
As a father-in-law’s father,
And mother-in-law is my mother
“Stats call” -
If I’m young, I’ll fall;
I’ll fall like a swallow,
I will fall to the ground.
And a fierce father-in-law
I will call you father;
And the fierce mother-in-law
I will call you mother. (55)
16.) There’s snow in the yard
Sypkom syplets;
Но двору дзѣвочка
Dybkoy dybletsya.
Oh my God!
Видно воина ѣздиць,
Protect my father
Shield gate.
You’re welcome, father
There is water in the yard under the shield.
You’re a fool, you’re a silly girl,
You will break her shield,
Let the horses fly away
Go to the ford yourself.
And less old
Then let’s fight;
А цебѣ многоу
The captivity is full. (36)
17.) Early in the morning
But they didn’t blow into a trumpet;
Early in the morning
The little star was crying,
On the blond hair.
My kerchief is light,
My blond braid:
I wash my scarf in the evening
The Dzevushki pleli.
Weaved, weaved a scarf
They used gold;
They wove with gold,
Weaved with silver?
God is the judge, N (groom’s name)
God is the judge of the unmerciful;
Send your little match to me,
Gloomy, unmerciful;
Became my scarf
Rip and throw;
To run and to throw
Unravel in two,
She unbraided her scarf
But white shoulders;
Shed my tears
And on rosy cheeks
Since weddings are mostly arranged through the exchange of girls from one village with another, and therefore at the same time there are two grooms and two brides, a preliminary condition is made that the carriages of the grooms go to the brides by different roads, but by no means by one, in order to avoid a meeting, which, in the opinion of the people, in such cases foretells misfortune.
The groom’s train, on its way through the villages, is thrown a hare, i.e., six; the train must not dare to cross, but must buy the right to cross with money or vodka. This obstacle and ransom are repeated when the groom and bride are going to church. (57)
When the groom and his train approach the village where the bride lives, the matchmakers sing:
18.) N (the bride’s name) sent out her mother,
Come out, mother, listen;
The road is wide,
Qi creaking sleigh—malivanochka.
Ци зѣняць подковы
Golden,
Ци поюць свашечки
Young.
The brides enter the village and the courtyard singing
19.) Letsel falcon
Through three pine forests,
Through four;
At the fourth forest
He sat on the maple tree.
Kolo evo little birds
Everyone has flown:
Shtozh tsebe sokole
Did you like it here?
Qi Christmas tree, qi pine,
Ци бѣая береза?
Tuta suited me
Gray zezyulya
Ѣхавъ, ѣхавъ N (groom’s name)
Through three villages,
In four;
At the fourth village
He stood in the yard
Kolo evo svashechki
She kept jumping,
Yes, they asked;
Што цебѣ N
Did it please you here?
Qi honey, qi beer,
Ци горкая горѣлка?
Tuta suited me
Young N (bride’s name.)
20.) Across the blue sea
The blue wave is beating;
Across the open field
The Horde is strong and strong.
А у то орзѣ
Well done at the front;
Прибываецца енъ
To the test yard.
Father-in-law, my father,
Come out to us quickly;
Bring out the goods,
The goods are expensive,
Dear, spiteful.
En vyshev
And I took out
Raven horse;
Raven horse
From under the saddle.
Zyatsinka, zitsyatsinka,
What is this product?
Tstevonka, my father,
Not this product!
Across the blue sea
The blue wave is beating;
Across the open field
The Horde is strong and strong.
А у то орзѣ
Well done at the front;
Прибаваецца енъ
To my mother-in-law’s yard.
Tseshinka, mother,
Come to us quickly:
Bring out the goods,
The goods are expensive,
Dear, spiteful.
Yana went out
And she brought it out
They take the cow by the horns.
Zyatzinka, zyatzinka
What is this product?
Tseshinka, mother.
Not this product!
Across the blue sea
The blue wave is beating;
Across the open field
The Horde is strong and strong.
А у то орзѣ
Well done ahead;
Прибываецца енъ
To the Shuryakov yard
Shurenka, my little brother
Come out to us quickly;
Bring out the goods,
The goods are expensive,
Dear, spiteful.
En vyshev
And I took out
Young N (bride’s name)
For the white handle.
Zyachenko, my brother,
Is this a product?
Shurenka, my little brother,
Wow, this is some merchandise! (38)
21.) Oh matchmaker, matchmaker,
Let us into the hut;
And on your son-in-law
All the cloth will soften.
And to the stumps of the leg
Кремѣпко по прилепнуць;
A kъ уздынькѣ рученька
Вобеѣ по праморознуць.
Hey matchmaker, matchmaker
Let us into the hut.
Already under the horse winds
They began to fall;
The horse has already become
And the trembling begins.
While the matchmakers are singing, the best man, who must be a real talker, goes to the hut of the bride’s father to ask permission to warm up and spend the night. “Neidze,” they answer, “we have guests.” The best man leaves the hut and returns a few minutes later with the same request. The same refusal. The best man comes for the third time, exhausts all his eloquence, explaining about his journey with goods to various cities, distant countries, where he searched for foxes, martens, and beautiful maidens, but did not find them; he persistently persuades him to take pity on him, assures him that he will pay for the night’s lodging and finally achieves his goal. (39) At this time, the matchmakers from the bride’s side sing:
- Druzhko u izba lѣzetsь
Look at the stove;
Qi gusta
Cabbage.
Qi is a large pot of porridge,
Our qi are coming.
Meanwhile, the groom and his matchmakers stand in the courtyard and his matchmakers sing:
23.) It is not visible,
Tsemney is at the matchmaker’s yard;
The boyars embraced the gates
It’s not as if they embraced, but rather they clasped.
Trading N (bride) is young.
Bargain, father, bargain,
До горой цен дзержися,
Ask for the city of Stalen.
Stalin’s city is not worth the price
and I, the father, am no longer a servant
And I am the servant N (the groom’s name.)
After this, the best man comes out of the hut for the groom and his companions; he leads them into the hut, where the bride is seated at the table in the place of honor, “na kuti”, under the icons; she is surrounded by her companions and her relatives. Musicians are playing. The table is set and on it are placed: cabbage soup, noodles, pies, fried chicken, dough (made from wheat flour, seasoned with finely chopped pieces of pork fat or mutton), etc. The best man begins to call upon those sitting at the table to let the groom and his companions sit down and offer vodka. Those who have drunk leave, and those who have not taken their places. The best man must give everyone something to drink and only then does he give up his place at the table to the groom and his companions. Those who were sitting at the table but gave up their place go, if possible, to another hut. When the groom and his companions have sat down, the best man begins to cough and asks for some water to wet his throat. The girls, if they had gone to the other hut, begin to appear from there and offer him water one after another. None of them agrees: sometimes the water is bitter, sometimes salty, sometimes sour, sometimes unclean; finally, the bride offers him water mixed with ash, sand, coals, etc.
He praises it, saying he’s never tasted such delicious water, and lets the groom and others try it. The best man, groom, and his companions give money to the girls who brought it, and in return, they receive gifts from the bride. These gifts are given according to the agreement reached during the period of profits; the groom, in addition to giving the bride money, gives her relatives gingerbread and soap to the outside guests at the wedding; the bride gives the groom, best man, and groomsman a towel each, and the matchmakers a few yards of linen. While the gifts are being distributed, the matchmakers chant:
24.) Thank you N (bride’s name)
For your gifts;
She spun finely,
I wove often.
Бѣленко бѣлила
And she gave us svashechek.
The best man puts the towel he was given over his shoulder. Then the bride sits next to the groom, silently and with her head bowed. When seating the bride, they try to ensure that she sits as close to the groom as possible and so that nothing can pass between them. Common people believe that if anyone deliberately pulls a hand or anything else between the groom and the bride, there will be discord. The groom and bride do not eat at the common table. The matchmakers continue to sing. Here is one of the songs that is sung when the groom and bride with their companions sit down at the table.
25.) The pear was rolling
From the top;
Просилася дзѣвочка
From my girlfriends:
Pustitsa I am young,
Puscice from the table,
Take a look around Puście
Father’s farmstead.
The cone rolled around.
Katsilasya with the Christmas tree;
Don’t cheat me when I’m young,
On the thrower - wives!
After dinner they get up from the table; they thank their father and mother, and the matchmakers sing:
- Thank you, my dear mother
Salt for your bread
I won’t come back to me anymore
at your table already
I’ll be a guest
I will say thank you!
Then the father and mother leave the hut and go into the yard; the best men bring out their carriages. In the yard, they begin to bring the bride and groom together. The latter tries to step on the groom’s foot as if by accident, believing that this will give her power over him. When the bride and groom are brought together, they chant:
27.) Curled hops with oats
The son-in-law recognized his father-in-law, etc.
and when they are brought together, without entering the hut the matchmakers clap their hands, dance and sing:
28.) Fools,
Men;
We missed the fish;
Белокрылочку.
Let’s go to town
We visited the market;
We bought some stumps
For three rubles.
We made a mesh
Hemp mesh,
They threw it into the river,
They missed the little fish, the whitefly
And smart men
Let’s go to town
We bought silk
And from that silk
They made a mesh,
Mesh of a yellowish color;
Dropped off at the river
caught a fish,
Белокрылочку.
They thought it was a fish,
What a whitefly;
Ажну вышла дзѣвочка,
The dark-browed one came out.
After the vows are over, the groom and bride, holding hands, return to the hut singing:
29.) The little bluebird has flown out
3ъ dark forest;
And having bred the dove
Place with yourself.
Nutka, my dear,
Let’s hum the chain;
Move away, my dear,
Незнаю цебѣ.
And when will I find out?
Then I’ll sing,
The young fellow left
3b great role;
And take the young man out
Be smart with yourself”
Nutka, pullet
Let’s talk about it.
Step away (groom’s name)
I don’t know Tsebe,*
And when will I find out?
Let’s talk then.
Having finished this song, they sit down again and the matchmakers begin to sing the following song:
30.) Cichonky Danube
Run along the sand;
NN (bride, groom)
Lead by the hand,
Poydzem N (name of the bride.)
Looking at the Danube;
I won’t go N (groom’s name)
Danube’s View
I’m afraid of Father.
Don’t be afraid, father
Fear me; і
Father’s thunderstorm
Like morning dew
And my thunderstorms
Like a severe frost;
Don’t be so afraid of me,
What is my whip;
My whip
Beat and scold,
Cry a little
Afterwards, the father and mother send the bride and groom, accompanied by relatives and friends, to dine in the cellar. They rejoice all night, drink, and dance; musicians play violins and bagpipes, and matchmakers sing incessantly. The next day they prepare for the wedding.
A brother, or if there is no brother, then one of the relatives, unbraids the bride’s hair and holds a knife in his hand, threatening to cut it off. The best man from the groom’s side intervenes and threatens with a stick; after a long argument, the best man manages to appease the one who unbraided the hair with money. (60) When the young woman is almost ready to leave for the altar, the gifts begin. Everyone gives something to the bride. The best man proclaims:
Darica of the young prince and princess.
Who will give
He will be the father of seven cows;
Who wouldn’t give
So don’t be afraid to milk it!
The matchmakers sing at every gift:
31.) Rastupise boyars
Mother is leaving with gifts;
Tsess, tsess N (name of the bride)
What should I give to you?
Ци бѣлой наметкой,
Qi is a glorious Chinese woman.
This song is modified in the word mother, depending on which of the givers it is intended for. Just before leaving for the wedding, everyone sits down and, after sitting for a few minutes, stands up, prays, and the father and mother bless the bride and groom. The father holds the icon in his hand, and the mother bread and salt. The bride and groom bow to the ground three times to the father and mother and kiss the icon. When the bride bows to her parents, the matchmakers sing:
32.) Bless mother
Other people have idzits;
Bless me with my share,
I’ll be happy.
This song is also repeated, using the name of the father and other relatives blessing the bride. After this, the bride’s sister or another relative takes the loaf of bread and the icon with which the bride was blessed; she takes them with her to the church, and from there to the groom’s house.
The bride is crying; leaving the hut, and the matchmakers are singing:
33.) It’s a pity, it’s a pity for me
My mother;
Ostanetsa u tsebe
Only rue-myatushka.
You get up, mother,
Getting up early:
Water the rue
Water it occasionally
Early, late
As well as with dawns;
Will you water it?
With my tears.
Tomorrow you will get up
You won’t find me;
You will cry bitterly,
But you won’t return me
And now the bride is already sitting in the sleigh or cart; the gates open; the train doesn’t even have time to move when the matchmakers are tightening:
34.) There was a birch tree at the gate,
She blocked the gates with branches;
There N (the bride’s name)
And she broke the top of that birch tree.
Stop, my little birch tree,
Stop chain without top;
Live my father
Chain without me.
Without a light-brown headscarf,
Without my braid.
As soon as the train starts moving, the groom’s best man stops it and returns to the hut for some beef; there, meanwhile, he makes sliviny, i.e., mixes the vodka he brought with him with the bride’s parents’ vodka for the bride’s relatives to enjoy. The best man says to the bride’s parents: “We’ve given away our daughter, now give us a virgin too.” After this, he is given a baked loaf, and the bride’s relatives prepare the evening matchmakers, who bring the bed to the groom’s house. The evening matchmakers, having arrived there with the bed, sing:
35.) Matzah sent us,
Don’t drink, don’t party:
And the white bed of slats,
on a wooden bed
The rest of the agreed dowry is given after the wedding. (61)
Meanwhile, having finished the plums and treated the bride’s relatives, Druzhko goes to the train and everyone goes to church in the following order:
The groom’s train: the best man and the bridesmaid, the groom and the groomsman, they have a coachman (coachman), matchmakers; then the bride’s train: the best man and the bridesmaid, the bride and the bridegroom, they have a coachman, and matchmakers.
After the wedding, the newlyweds sit down together and go to the groom’s parents’ house, the entire train following them. They barely have time to leave the church before the matchmakers begin to sing:
36.) Rad radekhonek
Our N (name of the young man)
Having visited the church,
Waiting for the crown.
Having waited for the crown,
Gold rings having changed;
Having exchanged gold rings,
N (the young one) holding the hand.
As they continue along the road, the svashki shout songs and when they are close to home, they sing:
37.) We didn’t sleep at all last night,
Yes, we waited for a good servant;
Good servant N (name of the groom.)
Good servant N (name of the bride.)
They stop at the gate of the house and call the mother-in-law:
38.) Open the gates,
Раздвижайце раздевайце развереи ( 62 )
ѣдзець княгиня болгаая.
Come out, hunchbacked mother-in-law
Стрѣкаць невѣстку болугаю;
Come out, big-nosed mother-in-law
Стрѣкаць невѣстку шлатый.
Then, through the blazing fire, where the young woman throws money, they ride into the courtyard singing:
39.) Having risen, having risen
Our N (name of the young man)
Yes, to my father’s yard.
And N (the young woman’s name) was brought
Place with yourself.
Become my N
Come with me;
Serve the father,
Бацыушкѣ мойму;
Serve him faithfully.
Return for me. (63)
Meanwhile, the mother-in-law appears and greets the newlyweds, wearing an inside-out fur coat, with a sieve on her head and a bucket of home brew in her hand. The home brew is served to the newlyweds and the travelers, who, raising a mug of home brew to their lips, pour it out for themselves. The sieve contains oats mixed with hops. The mother-in-law sprinkles this mixture over the newlyweds. Meanwhile, the best man chases after the mother-in-law with a whip in his hands, saying, “Why have you polluted the newlyweds?” while the father-in-law stands there with bread and salt. (64)
The young people bow to them three times and enter the hut, where they sit at the table, and the matchmakers shout:
40.) King, king!
King’s son!
По поло ѣздиць
Cornflower will be made whole;
А у вороты ѣздиць
Boasting about a black horse.
Enter the hut
He seems to be a young prince;
And for being so sad
Praise the princess. (65)
They sit down at the table and dine. The newlyweds sit side by side and eat nothing; the spoons lie before them and do not move. The young woman sits with her head bowed on the table the whole time. Meanwhile, the boyfriend takes a spoonful of porridge, tries it, praises it, and offers it to the young woman; without saying a word, she snatches the spoonful of porridge from his hands and throws it on the stove or behind the stove. (66) During dinner, the violinist and the voda player play, and the matchmakers sing:
11.) Ay jester, decoy
N (name of the young man)
Make a joke, entice.
N (name of the young woman)
Perenzi N
On my side;
On my side
Not like you.
They take you to the mountain
On the oxen water;
And we have lunch at the cauldrons,
Усѣ у насъ варяць.
With clean rain
Wash the spoons;
Вѣтрикомь цеплымъ
Sweep the huts.
Идзѣ жъ тебе N (name of the young man)
The waters are standing;
Where are your N
Are your coots hanging?
Silly girl,
Silly girl;
On my side
Everything is as it is with you.
They carry it up the mountain
Water on the shoulders;
And dinner in pots
Усѣ у насъ варяць.
At the end of dinner, when it is time to go out, they sing:
42.) Ци слепы другки,
Ци не видзѣцѣ:
Young young man
He pokes me in the side,
He’s poking me in the side
У клѣць гукаець.
Then they leave the table. The best man and matchmakers escort the newlyweds to the cage instead of the bedroom, where a bed has already been prepared for those who arrived early in the evening.
One of the matchmakers, the eldest, undresses the young one and puts her to bed. The musicians continue to play either in the entryway or in the hut, and the vespers dance and sing:
43.) All our relatives
Walk in freedom;
Only N (name of the young woman)
Sidzitsa in captivity,
У щекровиной каморѣ.
After the newlyweds leave the cage, the musicians, matchmakers, and vespers go to the cage; there they play, sing, and dance, and then the best man and matchmakers go to the house of the young woman’s parents with the signs of her chastity. The newlywed also goes there to thank his father-in-law and mother-in-law and invites them to his place the next day. (67) The festivities begin, drinking, dancing, and the singing continues. At this point, the vespers remove the young woman’s wreath and tie a nametka or scarf, singing:
44.) Uchora is with us
There was frost;
And sannya is with us
Frost fell.
He didn’t fall to the ground
Yes to N (name of the young man.)
The rest of the songs at this time are mostly obscene, originating from drunken women. When the young woman is found to be immoral, they chase away the evening guests and shout:
45.) Ah, mother, mother,
All clear relatives;
It’s time for her mother,
With a pole from the yard.
And finally, they add abusive, immodest expressions, which, as they say, make one’s ears wilt. Sometimes, however, at the request of the young man or out of special respect for the bride’s father and mother, they want to conceal the bride’s immorality, but the drunken matchmakers, if not with songs, then with sayings and body movements, reveal the truth. This concludes the first day of marriage.
The next day, while the young people are still asleep, the matchmakers sing:
46.) What is this with us?
Kolo dumplings knock;
Невѣстку мескорь
It’s time to get going!
Get up, get up,
You are my little daughter;
Even the chickens have risen
The white dawn rose.
I’m your chickens
Yes, I wasn’t breathing;
I am your dawn
Yes, I didn’t look,
До бѣла го светѣту
I was lying there.
My son is standing at the gate
Yes, look at everything.
Соньочка жена на цебѣ женила
Жала перемѣны себѣ.
The mother-in-law took the Vedzertsy
I went with them to get water;
Don’t try the route
You’ll bring it yourself.
My little wife
Not your slave.
After this, the young woman leaves the cage, greeted by a song:
47.) The peacock flew
On a steep mountain;
Dropped feathers
On the green grass.
I don’t feel sorry for that spider
And her feathers;
I feel sorry for my father,
What’s farther from me
My dear father
Провѣдай мене;
How young I am
On the other side.
Then the young woman takes buckets and, accompanied by matchmakers and relatives, goes to the nearest spring to fetch water. Musicians follow and songs begin to sing:
48.) It’s early in the Mondays
The blue sea was walking;
Да бѣляя рыбка
У воздѣ играла.
Young with the Vedzerians
The occasion followed;
The occasion went well
And I took some vodka.
I took Vodzitsa there
And to your side
I looked at everything.
You don’t eat, father,
It’s bad luck for the ransom;
Qi ne vyubit yen
I’m young
From a foreign land,
With my mother-in-law’s closets.
49.) Let’s go young,
Let’s go for water;
Beaten young
Buckets on ice.
Her mother scolded her,
Why did she beat the Vedzerians?
Who is the daughter like?
You were so engrossed in your gaze;
Qi on the raven horse
Tsi na N molodago (the name of the young husband)
My N is a cooper;
En обружпки стесовыя
Stuff;
En buds of silk
Soviet (68)
The young woman returns, pours water into a mug and offers it to the guests to drink; for this, the guests give her money; then she begins to bake pancakes, or, more correctly, she makes just an example: she throws ashes, oats, and chaff onto a hot frying pan and places the whole mixture on the table. Everyone praises her and gives her more gifts.
It’s time for dinner, and the newlyweds’ invited father-in-law and mother-in-law arrive, bringing with them vodka, pie, lamb—in short, everything they can afford. The mother-in-law sets the table with her tablecloth, and the matchmakers sing:
50.) Snimajce skacerci hempovaya
Tsescha zascelits us silk.
When they sit down at the table, the matchmakers sing, if it is permissible to say so, the following song:
51.) My mother
I am not your chain;
My mother,
My sovereign;
Take me
Back to yourself.
My daughter, my daughter,
Dzitsya is expensive;
I’d be glad to take it
But it’s not my will.
Qi will be like this
How was the morning?
I was at school
Like a rose blossoming;
And Xiannya became
The rue withered.
I was at school
Red Dzivica,
And Xiannya became
Mododzitsey!
On the third day of the wedding, the newlyweds go to dinner at their father-in-law’s and mother-in-law’s. They stay the night with them and, upon returning to their home, resume their ordinary life.
A young woman not only takes her husband’s nickname, but is also called by his patronymic; for example, the wife of ІІrokop (Prokofiy) Marya Vasilyeva is called Marya Prokopova or simply Prokopikha; the wife of Samusya (Samuel) is called Samusikha, Zmitrok (Dmitry) is called Zmitrochikha, Timokha (Timofey) is called Timoshchikha; Mikipora (Nikifor) is called Mikiporikha, etc.
If a landowner lives on the estate, the newlyweds come to him and bring: the young man—gingerbread or a plate of honey, and the young woman—a towel or a napkin. The landowner treats them to vodka and gives them money.
With this I conclude my notes; but in conclusion I consider it worthwhile to say a few words about the clothing of the peasants of the Byelorussian districts of Smolensk province. White and red have long been, and still are, the predominant colors in their ordinary everyday attire. A white shirt, white undyed, home-made cloth, a zipun (caftan), a white felt cap, and bast shoes—this is the usual attire of a peasant. Women also wear a white cloth zipun, cut differently from the men’s, a cloth skirt, either white or dyed with madder, and a white headband made of household linen, called a nametka. On holidays, only an old man or a poor man can be seen in a white caftan, cap, and bast shoes.
Young people, of course, with sufficient or even semi-sufficient means, but wishing to follow the richer ones, no longer want a white zipun, a white cap, and bast shoes. “No,” they say, “it’s not fashionable to have a daisy or a walnut coat, or at least one of your own home-made cloth, but dyed black; instead of a white linen shirt—a red calico one; instead of a cap—a cap; and instead of bast shoes—boots. The word “bast shoe” has become a swear word. The same exact change in clothing on holidays is also seen among women. Instead of a skirt made of homespun cloth, they wear sarafans of half-black or cotton, and the cotton should not be Russian, but Parisian, as they call the best cotton; with the sarafan they wear silk sashes; instead of homespun linings, they wear scarves, also Parisian, or calico linings with tinsel and red terry (wool fringe); instead of linen aprons, they wear paper colored ones, muslin ones with flowers embroidered with pink wool, and calico ones. However, paper ones are already being abandoned; girls release their braids from under their headscarves, decorating them with ribbons, which is called a ukosnik.
NOTES
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Districts of Smolensk, Roslavl, Dorogobuzh, Elninsk, Dukhovishchinsk, Porchsk, and Krasninsk.
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Agricultural statistics of the Moldavian province, city of Ya. Solovyov, pp. 147, 148
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Our most ancient chronicler Nestor repeatedly points to the existence in his time of living traces of paganism: “For do we not live like pagans, if we believe in the ways of the dead? For if someone catches a monk, then he returns either as a single person or as a pig,” then “is it not pagan?” (modern 1849, no. 4, section 3, p. 81.) — The Spiritual Canon of Vladimir Monomakh, who died on May 19, 1125, also forbids following the superstitious opinion that meeting a monk or a priest on the road is unlucky. (History of the State Russian Karam, Vol. 4, 4th issue, 251st edition, 1820)—The origin of this superstitious opinion dates back to the era of the introduction of Christianity into Russia. Mr. Solovyov points this out in the history of Russia, Vol. 1, p. 262nd edition. - 1854 - The struggle and hostility of the ancient pagan society against the influence of the new religion and its ministers were expressed, says Mr. Solovyov, in superstitious signs, now meaningless, but having a meaning in the first centuries of Christianity in Rus’: thus, the appearance of a minister of the new religion was considered by an inveterate pagan to be hostile and ominous for himself, because this appearance served as a sign of the end of moral disorder, of the subordination of his gross arbitrariness to moral and religious law. The inveterate pagan fled when he saw from afar a church minister—an enemy of his former pagan way of life, an enemy of his former gods, an enemy of his household spirit protectors. Lacking the power to act positively against the new religion, paganism acted negatively, distancing itself from its ministers. This distancing, of course, was encouraged by elders jealous of their authority, which they were forced to renounce in favor of the elders of the church, the presbyters and bishops.
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The wheel among pagan peoples was an image of the sun (history of Russia by Solovyov, 1854 edition, v. 4, p. 85)—The Slavs in paganism worshiped the sun (ibid., p. 68).
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Professor F. I. Buslaev in a letter to the author of the History of Russia, Mr. Solovyov (vol. 2 of the History of the Russian Sol. ed. 1852) among other things mentions the Lusatian custom, according to which the seller of cattle must tie the rope on which he led the cattle to the market around the neck, supposedly so that the purchased cattle would not be timid with the new owner.
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The custom of pouring water on oneself probably originates from the pagan worship and deification of water, which, according to the pagans, healed illnesses. In the life of Prince Constantine of Murom, it is said of Russian pagans: “washing themselves (in wells) because of their eye infirmities.” It is also said there that our pagans made sacrifices to lakes and rivers (see also the source: Russian State Karamz ed. 1820, vol. 4, list 244).
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“The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying that your disciples are transgressing the tradition of the elder; They never wash their hands when they eat bread.” Ev. Matthew ch. XV century 4, 2.
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According to folk legends, wreaths have a beneficial effect on livestock. Thus, in Rus’, on Kupala Day, cows were milked through wreaths of enchanting herbs so that the mermaids would not take the milk from the cows that year. On this and on wreaths in general, see the letter of Professor Buslaev in 2 volumes of the East Russian Solovyov edition of 1852. Pagan people believed in the transmigration of souls and werewolves and thought that the souls of evil people turn into terrible, ugly creatures. If the soul after death can take on various forms, then by the power of magic it can take one or another form, but this is the first body to keep dead and fly as an eagle and a hawk and a raven and a woodpecker, prowl as a fierce beast and a boar, a wild wolf, fly as a snake, prowl as a lynx and a bear. (Kalaidovich Ioan. Ex. Bulgarian. p. 211 and the source of Russian Solovyov vol. 4 p. 69 and note 404 of the 1854 edition), and also note 59 of this article.
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His Grace. Gervasiy, Bishop of Pereyaslavl and Borispol, in the district charter issued on January 45, 1758, in the Holy Ascension Pereyaslavl Cathedral, imposes upon the Clergy the duty of §27 of the charter, “to diligently oversee in their parishes. Priests should not be sorcerers, wizards, fortune tellers, and old women’s whisperers, which are teachings and crafts that originated from the school of hell, like those who pour wax or tin for some kind of foreknowledge. - white whisperers, whisper from lessons, from flocks, from the bite of reptiles, blood They pray, put names on prosphora, fern on plates, write out on pieces of paper, and pour out those notes and drink that water, or wear those notes around their necks; who is kind at the meeting, and what a favorable day it is to set out on a journey, or what to begin, and if someone crosses the road with an empty bucket, or what kind of cattle runs across, it will somehow foretell misfortune. During the reading of the Passionate Evocations, they impose bonds and thereby perform sorcery, interpret dreams, and introduce countless other superstitions into the world that bring human destruction, while the poor simple people fall into the depths of hell and perish. We must strive in every way to eradicate this evil and soul-destroying harm.
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Friday was formerly a day dedicated to the memory of the dead (Ist. Ross. Solovyov, Vol. 4, Issue 99, 1854, and Ethnographic Collection, Vol. 4, 245) Besides the knowledge that Friday has religious significance, we also know that it was a gathering day for trade. “Farmers and merchants gathered in towns and villages to sell their produce and conduct trade transactions.” Trials, reprisals, and executions also took place on Fridays. The latter, since they coincided with trade days, were even called trade days; and the connection between trade and civil transactions with celebrations is preserved in the origin of the words “torg” and “stoletstvo” from the same root. (Kavelin. Modern 4848, No. XII, Section 5, p. 455.)
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“They pray to the family and the women in labor…” - “the lawless meal is changed to the family and the women in labor,” we read in ancient Christian teachings (Eastern description. Rum. Music. No. (XXXXI), and also “and the women cook porridge on the table for the women in labor” (ibid. No. CCCLXXIV). The Khorutans believe that every person, as soon as he is born, receives his star in heaven, and his mother in labor on earth. - From this, it seems, one can deduce the assumption that the porridge that is cooked during christenings and childbirth in general is a sacrificial food for the mother in labor, the patron deity to a person during his earthly life. Clear evidence that the family tree and the mother in labor were once revered as deities is found in the following passages of a 16th-century manuscript collection in the Trinity Lavra: “They serve God and do his will, not the family tree or the mother in labor, but a vain idol—” and you sing a demonic song to the family tree and the mother in labor.” Belief in the family tree and the mother in labor was called genealogy among us, as evidenced by Domostroy, p. 45. (See the letter of Professor Buslaev in the 2nd volume of the Russian Solovyov Hist., 1852 edition.)
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Feast of Remembrance of the Dead in Lithuanian Chavturv. (Ist. Ross. Solovyov, ed. 1854, vol. 4, pr. 95.).
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Karamzin believes that our ancestral Saturdays are reminiscent of the custom of the pagan Slavs to celebrate a holiday in honor of the dead. In Saxony, Lausitz, Bohemia, Silesia, and Poland, people went with torches to the cemetery at dawn on March 4th and made sacrifices to the deceased. In Bohemia they sing then:
Giz nesem smrt ze wsy,
Nove leto do wsy
Witey leto lizezne
Obiljcko zelene
That is, we are already carrying death from the village, and a new summer is in full swing, Hello, dear spring and greenery. - (Historical State Russian Password, vol. 1, p. 101, pr. 252, 1820 edition). Common people have the custom of going to the graves twice a year to remember their parents: in the spring on Radunitsa, which happens on the Second of Thomas Week, and in the fall on Parental Saturday. Judging by the time at which the pagan holiday in honor of the dead was celebrated among the Slavs and by the content of the Bohemian song, it turns out that this holiday most closely resembles Radunitsa. Radunitsa is a holiday of light, the sun for the dead, and then the souls of the dead, according to popular belief, rise from the graves to enjoy a new life after a gloomy winter; winter was considered a night, darkness for the souls of the deceased. On Radunitsa they greet the dead; And so, wasn’t there a special holiday among the pagan Slavs in honor of the dead before the onset of winter, as a farewell to the dying nature, for the subsequent long separation of the living from the dead, and for the wish for a meeting and resurrection to new life with the coming of spring? Let us note here that after Parental Saturday, the common people no longer go to graves until the onset of spring. - Here I allow myself to note that the Lithuanians brought sacrifices to their gods in October and for this they had three days in this month; Then they treated each other to dishes offered to the gods, and if they had prisoners, they chose one of them, the youngest and most beautiful, and burned him to atone for their sins. (History of the Malaya Rossiya Baltysh-Kamensky, paragraph 1, issue 37, 1842 edition) This is what Mr. Kavelin says about the worship of the deceased and the holidays in honor of the dead: “The worship of deceased ancestors is a primitive form of deification of persons. Its sources are the belief in personal immortality, the reason is the enormous importance of the heads of households in the original way of life. “The closer it approached the natural, the more it was concentrated in family unions, the greater was the power and role of the founders. Consequently, their deification after death was quite natural; after them, the family, the clan remained without a head, without structure. They were worshiped, they were invoked in all important circumstances, they were consulted at decisive moments of life (modern 1848, No. X, issue 111, p. 93).” “It is difficult to determine exactly when the holidays in honor of the dead were celebrated during pagan times. The dates of today’s general commemorations of the dead—Parents’ Saturday, Radunitsa, St. Demetrius’ Saturday, etc.—do not answer this question. They are partly mandated by the church, and partly determined by important historical events, such as the October commemoration or St. Demetrius’ Saturday. Pagan commemorations, according to all beliefs, were always related to the seasons, because the worship of the dead was closely linked to the worship of hostile gods, personifications of death and the sleep of nature. (ibid. p. 129.) “The deification of the dead has, of course, disappeared, but they are spoken to, they are called upon, they are treated to food, as if they lived under the same conditions as we do (ibid. p. 130).”
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The common people call money by the royal name.
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Karamzin believes that the Russian people recognize St. Blaise as the patron of flocks because his name is similar to the pagan god Volos, whom the Slavs in paganism considered the patron of cattle, their main wealth. (Eastern State Russian ed. 1820, Vol. 1, p. 89, etc. 203.) - Mr. Kavelin says: “In the history of folk customs, examples of the organic fusion of old native concepts with new ones that later emerged into folk life are constantly encountered. These examples are especially frequent in the sphere of religious beliefs. Here new objects of adoration, however different they may be from the previous ones, immediately take their place; they are given the same honors, the attitude toward them remains the same as toward the former: in the popular understanding, the latter have remained somewhat unchanged and continue to live in the new. And so the first result is the complete absorption of the new element by the old, its complete transformation according to the models and ideas existing and ready-made in popular concepts. With the name of St. Blaise, we replaced Volos “Veles,” the cattle god of the modern. 1848, No. IX, Section III, p. 40)
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In Little Russia, the warm land where birds fly for the winter is called Viriya. In the teaching of Vladimir Monomakh it is said, “The birds of the air come from Irya…to fill the forests and fields: for all this God has given to man for his pleasure, for food, for joy.”
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Karamzin says: “the heartfelt pleasure produced by music makes people express it with various body movements: a dance is born…….. which they (the Slavs) celebrated sacred rites of paganism and all sorts of pleasant occasions…………..Folk games and amusements/But now uniform in the Slavic lands: wrestling, fistfights, running in the races, have also remained a monument to their ancient amusements” (History of the State Russian Vol. 1 p. 70 1820 edition) - The game of burner best of all resembles the abduction (kidnapping) of girls from the water. (History of Russian Solovyov, Vol. 1, Issue 89, 1854 edition) And that the abduction of girls in Rus’ took place is evidenced by the words of Nestor about the Drevlyans: “there was no marriage among them, but they abducted girls from the water.” (Letter of Professor Buslaev in the 2nd volume of the History of Russian Solovyov, 1852 edition)
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Shchir is a plant; a city is a vegetable garden.
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“The people believe that in ancient times bees were known only to some dancers who danced on our steppe graves at the rising of the sun, moon, and stars: Saint Zosima, by God’s command, served as their beekeeper and then taught all the people how to deal with bees.” (In the Russian Conversation of 1857, No. 2, article Black Council. Kulish, p. 12.)
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“Maslyanitsa, the spring holiday of the Sun, is also a week of remembrance, which is directly indicated by the use of pancakes, a memorial dish” - “In the old days, the first pancake was given to the poor in memory of the dead” - “Proof that Maslyanitsa was a holiday in honor of the dead, in addition to the use of pancakes, is also the connection of Semik with Maslyanitsa, a connection preserved among the people. Semik is considered a friend of Maslyanitsa; in popular prints he accepts it and glorifies it. (Historical Russian Solovyov ed. 1834 vol. 1 p. 69, notes 94, 103.). See also this article. etc. to 50. - Moreover, Maslenitsa was, it seems, also a holiday of evil hostile spirits, and in all the rites and beliefs related to it, traces of service to evil spirits are visible. These traces should also include the night skating and festivities that are customary on Maslenitsa; here also belong dressing up and masks; that bacchanalia took place on Maslenitsa during pagan times, this is indicated by many facts, including the custom according to which girls wear povoiniks and chichki on their heads; - finally, Maslenitsa is the passing away and celebration of spring - so in the Yaroslavl province they sing Kolyada at this time; The meeting of Maslenitsa is celebrated with spring rites, and the farewell or funeral resembles a celebration in honor of hostile forces (Kavelin. Sovremen-. 1848 No. X sec. III p. 115.) Considering all this with the rules of the Orthodox Church, it can be said that only the commemoration of the dead on Cheese Week and asking each other for forgiveness before repentance are in accordance with the principles of the Church; all the same, the amusements that have passed to Russia, as the Author of Letters on Divine Services of the Eastern Catholic Church said. churches (1858 edition, letter III, pp. 115, 114) from the West, there are remnants of paganism.—The Orthodox Church dedicated Cheesefare Week to the memory of the Last Judgment; during this week, the Gospel about the Last Judgment is read and this week is considered a kind of pre-purification before the beginning of Lent; Moreover, on Wednesday and Saturday of Cheesefare Week, the Lenten service with prostrations begins (ibid. pp. 89, 90, 104, 106). “The men will dress in women’s clothing and the women in men’s: or in garb, as in the Latin countries they are wickedly accustomed to do, disguising themselves in various ways, and thereby often mocking the very rite of the Church. Therefore, those who do this in their right mind, He deposes the priests, and excommunicates the people” (St. Matthew). See the excerpt from the Nomocanon placed in the Trebnik.
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“Assuring the general resurrection before Thy passion, Thou didst raise Lazarus from the dead, O Christ our God; therefore we also, like youths, bearing the signs of victory, cry out to Thee, the Conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” In memory of this joyful coming of the Lord, we too, taking in our hands the blessed willows, go out as if to meet the meek king, coming to his voluntary passion, crying out: “Today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us, and all, taking up Thy cross, we say: Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” And St. The Church, as a good mother, guiding us to this spiritual triumph through deep contemplation, explains to us what these branches mean and how we should greet Christ with them: “Let us, the faithful, clap our hands in unison, bringing to Christ, like the youths, branches of virtue; let us also spread on his path the garments of God-loving deeds, and mystically receive Him” (Letters on the Theological Eastern Catholic Church, 1858 edition, Letters IV, p. 143.)
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Our most ancient chronicler Nestor describes the Slavic baths thus: “He (St. Apostle Andrew) came to Slovets and saw the people there, what their custom was and how they washed themselves, they were amazed and wondered…. He said (in Rome), I saw (among the Slavs) ancient baths. “And they will burn the stone red, and their necks will spread out and they will pour themselves with kvass (lye) and they will take the young rods on themselves, they will fight themselves, tolma, until they can barely get off alive, and they will pour cold water on themselves and thus they will come to life. And they will do this all day long, not being tortured by anyone, but torturing themselves; and this is to perform a prayer and not torture.” (History of the Russian State. Karamz. Vol. 1, Issue 66, 1820 edition)
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With belief in the afterlife, it is natural to come to the opinion that the soul of the deceased ancestor watches over the well-being of the clan even after death; hence the origin of patron spirits for the entire clan and for each relative. That the name of the clan was understood to mean the soul of the deceased ancestor is proved by: firstly, the connection of the clan with the vampire (dead person); and secondly, the knowledge that the name of the clan was later understood to mean a spirit, a ghost, which was used to frighten children; the character of a ghost is usually assumed by the ears of the dead and the deities closely associated with them. - In the meaning of the patron deity of the clan, there is Shchur, grandfather, great-grandfather, which is clear from the common ancestor - Shchur suggests the form chur, by which name the deity protecting the clan, house is actually known. This deity is now unconsciously invoked in danger, especially when the common man thinks that he is succumbing to the malice of spirits: “Chur me! chur me!” he then says. It can be assumed that chur and clan are one and the same; one can also think that with the decline of the clan way of life and the strengthening of Christianity at the expense of paganism, Chur or clan passed into the domovoy (Historical Russian Solovyov ed. 1854 p. 68 vol. 1) - Here; it is necessary to note the opinion of professor F. I. Buslaev, which completely applies to the Smolensk hibernation, namely: “the common people do not like to use the word house in the meaning of housing; “In other regions, a peasant won’t say: ‘I’m going home’ or ‘I’ve gone home’, but will say: ‘I’m going to the yard’, ‘I’m going to the yard’. This oddity is explained by the fact that some regional adverbs combine the concept of death with the expression ‘going home’. Therefore, ‘house’, ‘domishche’, ‘domina’ are used to denote a coffin. From this it is clear that the word ‘domovoi’ combines the ideas of a domestic penate and an inhabitant of the afterlife.” (Letter from Priest Buslaev, in 2 volumes of the Hist. Ross. Solovyov ed. 1852)
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On Maundy Thursday, according to the Stoglav, in the old days they called out to the dead (see such a source: Russian Solovyov, 1854 edition, vol. 1, p. 69). - In the spring, according to popular belief, the souls of the departed, awakening from the darkness of night-winter, rise to new life and the living greet the departed. The calling out and calling out to the dead undoubtedly has the meaning of a memorial conversation; hence, most likely, comes the custom of remembering on Maundy Thursday.
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Karamzin believes that the pouring of water on people who overslept at Easter matins, supposedly to wash them away from sin, comes from pagan superstition and the worship of water (source: State Russian Publishing House, 1820, Vol. 1, p. 92). We also find a curious account of this pouring of water in the manuscript (18th century) life of Prince Vladimir. “Some of them… often brought the drowning of people for their obscenity. Now, in some parts of the world, fools do it around the time of the famous holiday of Christ’s Resurrection: young men of both sexes climb up and take a person, throw water down, and play with the gods, that is, demons, who throw a tree or a stone into the water, and in other parts they throw it into the water, or just pour water on it, which, however, also makes a demonic offering.” (Mayak 1843, Vol. XI, Book XXI, Chapter III)
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Cf. Lithuanian Rauda—funeral song. See also note 13 of this article.
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That the commemorations ended with a feast and drunkenness is indicated by the circular letter to the right clergy of His Grace Gervasius, Bishop of Pereyaslav and Borispol, given in the Holy Ascension Pereyaslav See on January 45, 1758. § 24 of this letter states: “Commemoration for the departed is to be held in homes with all quietness, without resorting to excessive drunkenness. Also, on the Bright Feast of the Resurrection of Christ, on Monday, that is, on the day of farewell, do not feast under the churches on the graves of the deceased, except for church commemoration” (Mayaki 1843, Vol. XI, Book XXII, Chapter III.)
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This information is taken from the article by Mr. Nikiforov: “On the peculiarities of the Ascension of the Lord holiday in the city of Smolensk”, published in the Smolensk province journal of 1853, No. 26 and 27.
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These pancakes remind us of how King David once made a joyful transfer of the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem and “offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and divided among all the people a loaf of bread, a portion of baked meat, and a pan of flour.” (Book of 2 Kings, VI, 19.)
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Karamzin in the Hist. of the State Russian Federation, Vol. I, p. 93, 1820 edition) says: “celebrating Semik and the popular custom of curling wreaths in groves on this day are also a remnant of an ancient superstition, the rites of which were observed in Bohemia even after the introduction of Christianity, so that Duke Bryachislav in 1095 decided to set fire to all the supposedly holy oak groves of his people.” From the History of Russia by Solovyov, Vol. 1, p. 70, note 105, ed. 1854 it is evident that Semik was the main holiday of the Rusalki, that at this time, at the end of spring, they were sent off, and that finally, in Semik they commemorated the poor. See also note 20 of this article. 31) It may be that the reason for this proverb was the untimely frost, as noted in the so-called “Chernigov Chronicle,” which says that in 1649 “snow on Ascension Day fell with frost, and in the field, from the greatness of the snow and winter, the sheep froze.”
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Just as the Jews, after gathering their fruits, celebrated the setting up of tabernacles, and this was a symbol of the resurrection from the dead, when, after the destruction of our physical canopies, we taste the fruits of our labors in the canopy of heaven, so on the day of Pentecost, the popular custom, without spiritual inspiration, with tree branches, turns all the churches and their vestibules and houses into green canopies of the fleeting earthly journey and scatters flowers on the graves” (Letter to the Theological Eastern Catholic Church, 1858, Letter I, Book IV, p. 345.)
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Karamzin (historical text of the State Russian vol., 1st edition, 1820, p. 91) says, “in the superstitious legends of the Russian people we also discover some traces of ancient Slavic worship: even today, ordinary people talk about Rusalkas or Nymphs of oak groves, where they run with their hair loose, especially before Trinity Day.” That the Sunday of the Holy Spirit and Trinity has been called Rusal Sunday since ancient times is clearly indicated by the following passage from the Kiev Chronicle for the year 1171: “Volodymyr (the Grand Prince) did not like the seat of Andrei in Kiev, and sent orders to him to leave Kiev, and to Romanov Rostislavich (of Smolensk) to go to Kyiv… Volodymyr (of Dorogobuzh) was seriously ill, from which May died on Monday, the 10th Sunday of Rusal Sunday.” See also the same Kiev Chronicle for the years 1174, 1177, and 1195, and note. 10 v III vol. East. State Ross. Karamz. ed. 1820, where it is explained that in 1171 Trinity Day was May 16th.
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The Slavs in Russia prayed to trees (history of the State Russian Karamzinsky archive, vol. 1, p. 93, 1820 edition). Among the Drawski Wends, the birch tree is highly revered and is called the “venechnoye” (birch tree); it is used there on Ivan Kupala Day. In addition to trees, herbs and flowers were also objects of adoration on Ivan Kupala Day during pagan times. They were sacrificed, their power was healing, protected against unclean spirits, misfortune and illness, had miraculous powers - wreaths were woven from herbs: gods and people were decorated with herbs and flowers (Kavelin. Sovremen. 1848, No. X, section 3, p. 125 (That the ritual tree during Rusal Week is precisely the birch, this is evident from the Great Russian folk customs on Semik and Trinity; if you go and another tree, especially maple linden, then this is done either for greater luxury, especially when decorating churches, or due to a shortage of birch (Maksimovich. Rus. conversation 1856, No. 5, and p. 89.) It should be noted that maple and oak are considered the favorite trees of the Rusalki. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, book X, section 3, p. 127.)
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In the bush.
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Cabbage.
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In the Central Russian region, the birch is called a godmother. (Maksimovich. Russian conversation, 1856, no. 3, p. 91.)
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We read about the celebration of Kupala Night in the old days in the Stoglav (question 24) “Rusalia on St. John’s Day. On the eve of the Nativity of Christ and the baptism of Christ, men, women and girls gather for a night of splashing and disorderly conversation. and for dancing and jumping and for abominable deeds and, sometimes, for a youth to be defiled and for virgins to be laid out, and when the night passes by, then they go to the river with great shouting, like demons, they wash themselves with water, and when the bells begin to ring for matins, then they go to their houses and fall like dead from great cackling.” We find the same thing in the letter of Pamphilus, abbot of the Elizarovsky monastery, to the Pskovians in 1505: “for when the feast comes on the holy night, almost the whole city will be in an uproar and the villages will go wild: with tambourines and sapele and the humming of strings, splashing and dancing: women and maidens and nodding of their heads, and an unpleasant cry from their lips, all foul songs, and the wobbling of their backs, and the jumping and trampling of their feet; this is a great fall for men and children; “the whispering of women and girls, their fornication and the defilement of married women and the corruption of virgins.” In the article by Mr. Kavelin (council of 1848, No. X, section 3, pp. 121-127), it is said, among other things, that “the church’s celebration of the memory of John the Baptist coincided with an ancient pagan celebration, the traces of which have survived to this day.
Which deity was celebrated at this time is unknown. Folk rituals and songs for this day mention Kupala. The time of celebration itself is called Sobotnaya and Sobutnaya in many places, which is reminiscent of Christmastide, which was sometimes called Subbotki and Sabbath. This naturally raises the question: was Kupala established in honor of hostile gods? The idea that Ivanovskaya Eve was dedicated to evil spirits apparently asserts some similarity between this night and Christmastide. For example, in ancient times, bacchanalia also took place on this night. The Polish botanist Martin says that on St. John’s Day no one was in church because everyone was celebrating the Feast of the Demons, with all sorts of disorder… singing satanic songs and jumping around. But any notion that the night before Kupala was dedicated to evil spirits is undermined by the fact that the rites of that night did not include disguises. The main objects of worship on this day were fire, water, and plants. All the evidence, continues Mr. Kavelin, leads one to believe that the Kupala holiday celebrated summer and the life-giving forces of nature; June is the apogee of summer. “But this highest point of revelation of the forces of nature occurs precisely at the time when the sun passes into the sign of Cancer, turning towards winter. Hence the mystery of Ivan Kupala Night, beliefs about the conspiracy of hostile forces, the Sabbath, witches, the ferocity of mermaids, wood-goblins, house spirits, etc. This is a premonition of the decline of summer. But it is still in full bloom. Hostile forces have no power over it” (See this article, para. 34). Kupalo was considered the god of the fruits of the earth. (Historical State Russian Karamz. ed. 1820, vol. 1, p. 90.)
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Cf. note 8 of this article. Without a doubt, the Christian religion instilled in the people the new idea of warding off the harmful actions of witches, but it did not eradicate the superstition passed down through tradition, which at first glance makes one think that the holiday of Kupala was established in honor of hostile gods. Thus, in Little Russia, Ivanovskaya Eve is considered a terrible night. There, it is believed that at this time, huts and cattle pens are visited by witches and werewolves. Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. X, Section 3, pp. 121, 122; see also note 8 of this article.
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I don’t know what to attribute this rite to, nor the sacrificial object itself—cheese and eggs—taken to the fields for propitiation and a request for a good flax harvest. It is known, however, that an ancient pagan festival coincided with the Church’s celebration of the Holy Apostles, Peter, and Paul; but which deity was celebrated then is unknown. Folk rituals and songs for this day mention Kupala and Kolyada. On this day, swings were set up, with the same rituals as on Kupala; people swung, danced, and jumped on boards. Swings, however, were forbidden by the clergy. (Kavelin; modern 1848, No. X, section 3, pp. 121-125; cf. note 38 of this article.)
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A Ukrainian peasant says that God himself gave Adam a plow and Eve a sledge when he sent them out of paradise; that Kuzma Demyan, God’s blacksmith, was forging a plow when the great serpent, who was destroying the human race, was about to attack him… and the serpent had already licked the door to his forge with his tongue. Then God’s blacksmith grabbed the serpent’s tongue with tongs, harnessed him to the plow, and plowed the earth from sea to sea, and those furrows lie on both sides of the Dnieper like serpentine ramparts. (Russian conversation 1856, No. 3, p. 74, art. Maksimovich.) And so St. Kuzma-Demyan is God’s blacksmith; but why is his name called upon to forge a wedding? I cannot decide, but I allow myself to think the following: In the Hypatian copy of the chronicle it is said: about Svarog - “and it came to pass after the flood and after the division of the nations, that the first Mestrom of the tribe of Ham began to reign, after him Jeremiah, after him Theostus, who was also called Svarog by the Egyptians; while this Theostus was reigning in Egypt, during his reign, pincers fell from heaven to begin to forge weapons.” The Slavic Svarog is explained here by identifying it with the ancient Theost or Ephas, Vulcan, the Egyptian Phthas; Ephas is the God of lightning, the forger of heavenly, divine weapons. During his reign, “pinions fell from heaven and began to forge weapons”; but the God of lightning, the God of weapons, is Perun, who among the pagan Slavs also bore the name Svarog. Svarog-Perun in the popular imagination was represented as a warrior deity whose weapons were directed against evil spirits. (Ist. Ross. Solovyov, ed. 1854, vol. 1, p. 65, etc. 74.) And now the common people, mainly during wedding parties, are afraid of the influence and action of evil spirits, through sorcerers and witches, acquaintances, according to popular opinion, with evil in spirit. Perhaps the name of Svarog-Perun, as the supreme deity, the forger of heavenly weapons, the persecutor of evil spirits, was invoked in pagan wedding rites, and since, in addition, perhaps in honor of Svarog-Perun, some special celebration and solemnity was celebrated among the Slavs around the time when our church celebrates the memory of St. Kuzma and Damian and when (in July) there are usually strong thunderstorms, during which common people even now close their windows, overturn vessels, assuring that evil spirits, driven by lightning, try to hide in some opening, then probably, having accepted the Christian faith and celebrating Along with the church commemorating St. Kuzma and Damian, the people did not forget the former celebration and confused the names of St. Kuzma and Damian with the name of Svarog-Perun, just as they had confused them with the name of St. Blaise-Volos, the god of cattle, and began to invoke the names of the holy saints instead of the name of Svarog-Perun, the forger of heavenly weapons, the persecutor of evil spirits. It should be noted that St. Kuzma and Damian are considered one and the same; the song says: “Saint Kuzma-Demian forge us a wedding” or “Along the three paths runs Kuzma-Demian.”
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Haste, haste, the same as haste, success, which among peasants is sometimes also expressed by the word spor. However, here we see the personification of someone, which is proven by the word: оббеѣ’и—a place where they reap. Краснояшка—a loaf of bread, a loaf is also called—луста.
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The beginning and end of the harvest, says Mr. Kavelin (Modern 1848, No. X, Section 3, p. 118), are accompanied by rituals reminiscent of paganism. The deity of fertility (if there was one) is personified by a sheaf, which is dressed in women’s clothing, and around it the harvest is celebrated, with songs, dances, and various rituals, obviously ancient, remnants of paganism.
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Christmastide fortune-telling is closely connected with pagan beliefs in the spirits of darkness… at night, with various mysterious rites… All fortune-telling is an inquiry into the unknown, which is revealed figuratively, in allegories, and is connected with the wearing of masks, and consequently with the worship of the deity of darkness and death. Fortune-telling also includes the summoning of unclean spirits. (Kavelin. Sovremen. 1848, No. X, Sec. 3, pp. 114, 115.)
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The name of Christmastide given to two holidays a year, winter and summer (Spiritual Day), shows their special importance during pagan times, and perhaps also their similarity to each other; ……. Christmastide during pagan times was a worship of dark spirits, hostile forces. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. X, Sec. 3, p. 112.)
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Karamzin says: “On December 24, Russian pagans glorified Kolyada, the god of celebrations and peace. Even in our time, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, the children of farmers gather to sing carols under the windows of rich peasants, glorify the master in songs, repeat the name of Kolyada and ask for money.” (History of the State Russian, vol. 1, p. 91, 1820 edition). Professor F. I. Buslaev (see his letter in vol. 2 of the History of the Russian Solovyov, 1852 edition) finds that the custom of praising and collecting alms is more in keeping with later customs; The essential rituals of Kolyada were directly related to the time of celebration, i.e., to the end of December, when the sun begins to gain strength, and that Kolyada preserves the most ancient traces of Slavic mythical traditions. - In the article of Mr. Kavelin (modern 1848, No. X, section 3, pp. 109 and 110) there is the following explanation: Kolyada was a pagan deity …….. the givers, in persons, represented Kolyada, brought with them earthly fruits, and for this very reason were received with special favor. - A curious piece of information about Kolyada is also included in the 18th century manuscript Life of Prince Vladimir; It says there: “The carol, which was celebrated on December 24 as a great feast by the Nativity of Christ and Holy Baptism, was enlightened and abandoned by the fools, but some fools still perform the carol. Starting from the very Nativity of Christ, they sing songs throughout the holidays. In which they also remember the Nativity of Christ, but the greater carol is also praised by the devil at their gatherings, and other bands also make speeches, which cannot be expressed in writing.” (Mayak 1843, Vol. XI, Book XXI, Chapter III). The same instruction not to mention the name of the carols, but to glorify Christ, is found in the circular letter to the clergy of His Grace Gervasius, Bishop of Pereyaslav and Borispol, given in the Holy Ascension Pereyaslav See on January 45, 1758; there, in § 26, it is said: “all parish priests should carefully strive to eradicate all superstitions among the people, due to the ancient pagan custom and polytheism that arose. There would be no carols on the day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ our Savior; and the churchmen themselves, walking with festive praise, were not called “kolyada”, but “praise of Christ.”
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In pagan times, a pig was offered as a propitiatory sacrifice to evil spirits. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. X, Section 3, p. III.) A Belarusian peasant calls a boar a pig.
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The worship of hostile gods, personifications of death, sleep, winter, and night, took place during Christmastide. Primitive man did not invoke hostile gods; he sought to appease them, soften their wrath, and therefore expressed submission to them, made sacrifices, and held festivals in their honor. These festivals usually took place at night: their necessary accessories were masks, for at festivals dedicated to the spirits of darkness, primitive pagans represented hostile forces in their faces, which themselves were nothing more than personified modifications, a supernatural, abnormal appearance of all living things. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. X, Part III, p. 110.) Fortune telling, dressing up, Christmas games, and nighttime festivities were essential features of Christmastide; they clearly contain traces of the worship of unclean spirits and bacchanalia. Dressing up and wearing masks were, as stated above, features of all pagan holidays in honor of evil spirits, for they themselves were nothing other than the personification of death, a transformation of living beings (ibid., p. 112). Death, according to pagan concepts, is also existence in another form. Dancers hardly belonged to the masks of the pagans; but they fit perfectly into the general tone of the masks: it is known that dancers, buffoons, like actors, according to previous concepts, entertained the devil. (Ibid. p. 115.) The words of Patriarch John about Christmas amusements at the end of the 17th century testify that they were nothing other than a remnant of pagan bacchanalia (ibid. p. 114. (The Stoglav, question 24, also speaks of this celebration. (See note 38 of this article.)
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Predatory raids for the acquisition of brides had to be replaced very early by the purchase of the latter. This second form of marriage was in itself an important step forward in the development of citizenship. It was the beginning of peaceful relations between disparate, alien families and clans—the beginning of contracts, conditions, and, consequently, of extra-familial, extra-clan community life. Bride purchases were initially carried out with all the formalities of an ordinary purchase and sale. The buyers were the groom’s relatives or the groom himself, the sellers were the bride’s parents or relatives. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. XII, Section 3, Page 110) The groom is always called a merchant, the bride a commodity. The inspection of the bride, i.e., her showing, is in the full sense an inspection of goods……. The shaking of hands after the inspection and negotiations about the dowry is called betrothal.
This is a formal contract; and the drinking of profits usually takes place with us when selling a horse (see about this there on pp. 111 and 112.) The purchase of brides, testifying to friendly or at least peaceful relations between families and clans, with their greater rapprochement, with the establishment of more permanent relations between them, had to little by little pass into a marriage contract……………in buying and selling, the bride is the buyer, there is the seller; the first demands the goods, examines them, asks the price; the second sells them. The relationship between merchant and seller, equal when it comes to a thing, is quite unequal when the object of bargaining is a woman, the future wife of the buyer. The groom’s family chooses, the bride’s family plays a passive role; the former sets its demands and conditions; the latter has no right to make similar demands; it either agrees to what is offered or rejects it, but ignores the groom and makes no choice. This form of marriage is so ugly, so unnatural, that it inevitably degenerates into mutual contracts. In the latter, two families agree to the marriage; each chooses and sets its own conditions. Here there is no buyer, no seller, although the previous forms of purchase and sale were retained according to the legend.
In fact, this is an agreement between two families regarding the marital union of their members (ibid., p. 116). Hence, alongside the inspection of the bride, there appears an inspection of the groom… clearly proving that the right to choose the groom belongs to the bride’s parents just as much as the choice of the bride belongs to the groom’s parents (ibid., p. 117). Wedding ceremonies at every step remind us of the peculiarity, or, if one can put it this way, of the restrained hostility, temporarily violated alienation of clans. Everywhere we see a ransom, a payment, for every action… The clans do not bear the costs of the festival: those participating in it bring their share, or they fall at the expense of the groom, who pays, for example. for the entertainment at the behest… Gifts are the most positive proof of the rapprochement of affection and friendship, everyone gives each other at a wedding; but these gifts are mutual, or they are thanks for the entertainment; finally, they are determined by a series, a condition, which shows that they were not an expression of worldly affection, but were done with an ulterior motive, with calculation, with a specific purpose. (ibid. pp. 126 and 127) That the girls played a secondary role in the transactions of the two clans and that she did not participate in the bargaining is shown: firstly, by a song in which it is said that after making a profit she overheard what her neighbors were saying and learned that her father was called a “drunkard” who had drunk away his daughter; and secondly, that she was brought out for inspection as a commodity intended for sale. - On the abduction, kidnapping, and sale of brides, see the Hist. Ross. Solovyov ed. 1854, v. 1, pp. 57-62. note 65 and the letter of Professor Buslaev in v. 2 of the same hist. ed. 1852.
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The hen and the rooster played a very important role in ancient weddings and were an indispensable part of pagan wedding celebrations. (Kavelin. Sovremen. 1848, No. XII, section 3, p. 122.) Here are ancient testimonies: a) in the word of a lover of Christ: “and thus they lay offerings for them (the gods) and break cows for them and slaughter chickens for them.” b) in an ancient description of wedding rites, set out in Mr. Buslaev’s article on epic poetry, published in the Russian Zap, 1854 “they will bring them (the bride and groom) a roast chicken, and the groom will take it by the leg, and the bride by the other, and they will begin to pull it in different ways, and they will say nasty things.”
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See note 41 of this article.
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Perepech is made from dough.
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The ritual lament of the bride, as it exists today, was once, in the times of disunity among communities, scattered over vast territories, without any mutual relations, a real lament. When going to a foreign, unfamiliar home for a long time, most likely forever, a girl naturally could not leave her own home without tears and easily join a stranger, where life did not bode well for her, judging by the relations between the clans at that time. (Cf. Kavelin’s article in the modern 1848 No. XII, Section 3, p. 99.)
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Wedding ceremonies retain memories of a time when the protagonists at weddings were not the bride and groom, but their clans. After the matchmaking, the entire clan to which the bride belonged held a council on whether to give her away or not. (Kavelin. Sovremen. 1848, No. XII, Sec. 3, p. 125.) Prokopiy writes that the Slavs had a custom of consulting together about all matters. (Ist. Rossiyskaya Soloviev, Vol. 1, No. 56.)
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The songs provide further evidence that the original communities, in time immemorial, lived hostilely, scattered, without any mutual relations, and were lost over vast spaces due to the sparse population. After this, the girl’s cry upon separation from her clan, before leaving for a foreign, unfamiliar clan, to strangers, aliens to her, almost enemies, becomes understandable. The names “fierce mother-in-law,” “fierce father-in-law,” which have become proverbs, meanwhile have their true meaning in relation to clans of the past; the groom’s relatives after the hanged woman. As a result of disunity and disunity, hostility concealed only by wedding ceremonies, they long ceased to regard the bride as a stranger, and she, in turn, also hated them. This is indicated, in addition to the names “fierce father-in-law,” “fierce mother-in-law,” by the songs of St. Peter I cited, which express the desire of the girl to sell her father-in-law for a trifling price, if only to return to her father, whom she is ready to buy for three times the price and tell him her grief in a foreign land and with strangers. The hostile attitude of the husband’s relatives towards his wife, as Mr. Kavelin says, is proved precisely by the fact that strangers were almost enemies, but only their own friends… And now, when setting a dog on someone, they say: stranger! stranger! (Modern No. XII, Sec. 3, p. 100). Then the situation of the girl, who was going to a foreign family, by decision of her elders, and her reluctance to give the titles of father and mother to people who were strangers to her, is understandable; not sincerely, but out of necessity, as an irresponsible person, she humbly decides on this and directly expresses this necessity with the words: “I will fall to the ground like a swallow and then I will call my father-in-law father, and my mother-in-law mother.”
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In ancient times, there were no marriages proper; brides were kidnapped, carried off by force, or obtained by invading other clans. These predatory attacks sometimes ended in the subjugation or destruction of the bride’s clan and tribe (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. XII, Section 3, p. 106). Only later were these practices replaced by purchase. (ibid., p. 110.)
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Predatory raids to abduct girls did not always result in the subjugation of the clan. They could be unsuccessful, and the war sometimes ended with an amicable deal for the bride. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. XII, Section 3, p. 107.) The purchase of an outpost is an amicable bargain between the groom and his trainees and between a foreign village. (Letter by Professor Buslaev in 2 volumes of the Russian Solovyov Hist., 1852 edition.)
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Cf. this article notes 56 and 49. The word Horde among the common people means a multitude of people.
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Pagan wedding rites were performed by a priest, whose actions were subsequently taken over by the best man. And to this day he is chosen from among the healers and sorcerers to protect the young from misfortune and corruption, as well as to perform mysterious rites……. Linguistic proof of the priestly service of the best man is offered to us by the Polish language, in which zherna or zherzhets, i.e., priest, has the meaning of best man. (Letter of Professor Buslaev in 2 volumes of the Russian Soloviev History. 1852 edition.) One cannot help but pay attention to the request and words of the best man. He presents himself as having come from afar, with various goods, having arrived in an unfamiliar land, knowing no one there, not even the owner of the house from whom he asks for refuge. Here it is necessary to cite the words of Mr. Kavelin: “Here is the proof, and the most obvious, of how the original communities, in time immemorial, lived separately, without any mutual relations, and how they were lost over a vast space, due to the small number of inhabitants.” (Modern 1848, No. XIX, section 3, p. 98.) Here we see that the clans, in ancient times, lived locked up and were reluctant to let anyone into their home. Only after asking three times and persistently convincing did they let them in, and from this, as Mr. Kavelin notes (Ibid. p. 103), it is difficult to derive closeness, friendship with strangers, and trust in them.
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The ransom of the braid indicates the sale of brides in former times. (Kavelin Sovremenny, 1848, No. XII, Sec. 3, p. 112)
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Bride kidnapping, which preceded all ancient forms of marriage among us, explains, among other features of our most ancient marital relations, the absence of a dowry. The earliest historical monuments do not say a word about it… Bride kidnapping excludes a dowry (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. XII, section 3, p. 109.) When marriage became a mutual condition of equal, contracting families, a dowry had to appear. While brides were sold, their relatives received payment for the dowry; when marriage became a contract, a condition, a deal between two families, cementing and strengthening their union and agreement, and consequently a complete break between the newlywed and her family could not take place as before, her relatives, quite naturally, tried, as far as possible, to provide for the household and well-being of the young couple (ibid., p. 121).
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Pillars, pillars.
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Various beliefs are associated with crossing over fire, which show that it was once a religious rite, to which miraculous powers were later attributed. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. XII, Section 3, p. 125.)
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The mutual hostility of clans is expressed in almost all wedding ceremonies by the fact that the parents of the newlyweds bless and greet the newlyweds dressed in a fur coat turned inside out or standing on a fur coat turned inside out. (Kavelin Sovremen. 1848, No. XII, Sec. 3, p. 102.) The hostility of clans is also indicated by the fact that the best man chases the mother-in-law with a whip (cf. Deputy Kavelin there, p. 103.) Judging by this, sprinkling oats and hops was neither a good omen nor a desire for wealth. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. IX, Section 3, p. 32.)
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The word prince or konyaz’ comes from the root kon, predel, granitsa, vertex, nachalo; the root kon is the Sanskrit daran - to give birth, and knyaz’ in Sanskrit ‘to have oneself’, corresponding: darunaki, janatri, whence the Latin denitor (see the study by V. Buslaev on the influence of Christianity on the Slavic language, p. 164). Hence the ancient name of newlyweds, prince and princess, because upon entering into marriage they become masters of the household, the heads of the individual descended from their clan. That the elders of the clans were called princes among us before the arrival of the Vorags is clearly evidenced by the chronicler, for example. “these were the princes in their family… after these brothers their family began to hold the princeship in the fields” or “our princes are good, who have spread the village land.” (source: Russian Solovyov, 1854 edition, vol. I, p. 52).
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Porridge, among other accessories of pagan wedding celebrations, was a sacrificial item at weddings; this is indicated by an old description of wedding rites, set out in an article by Mr. Buslaev on epic poetry, published in the Russian West in 1854; it says there, “and they (the bride and groom) are also brought porridge on the spot, and they scoop up the porridge and throw it for themselves.”
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Having become the subject of friendly relations and ties between families and clans, marriages began to be accompanied by feasts, merriment, and agreement to reconcile enemies. (Kavelin. Modern 1848, No. XII, Section 3, p. 125.)
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I don’t think that the ritual of forcing a young woman to fetch water consisted only, as some believe, of an instruction to carry water. Fetching water is a common job for girls. According to Little Russian poetry, a daughter grows up to help her mother, primarily carrying water: “They brought themselves a daughter for their own use, and brought cold water from the well.” A mother who is losing her daughter sings: “May your mother be like a blue bush, because there will be no one to bring water.” But I allow myself to admit the assumption that this ritual contains remnants of pagan beliefs. In pagan wedding ceremonies, water had a religious significance; its use in pagan marriages is indicated by the canons of John the Metropolitan, which speaks of the pagan rite of splashing, used at the weddings of ordinary people. (Russian: 1, 101.) Maidens were abducted by the water; the chronicler Nestor testifies to this; Metropolitan Kirill says: “Within the Novgorod region, brides go to the water, and now we do not allow this to happen, or we command that it be cursed.” (Vostokova op. Rumyantsev. Muz. p. 321). — Consequently, in the ongoing ritual of going solemnly for water on the second day of the wedding, there is probably a ritual necessity that has been passed down according to tradition, expressing the long-forgotten worship of water.
Neverovich V. V. On the holidays, beliefs and customs of the peasants of the Belarusian tribe inhabiting the Smolensk province // Memorial book of the Smolensk province for 1859. Smolensk, 1860.