It is an irrefutable fact that Russian people love folk holidays. Moreover, they try not to miss a single celebration. Nobody celebrates the way Russians celebrate. The customs of the ancient Slavs, who revere nature and everything connected with it, are most preserved precisely in the rituals and customs of the peoples of Russia.

Not otherwise, as the Russians, in order to avoid confusion and for timely preparation, divided all the festivities into folk winter holidays, spring-summer and autumn.

The national holidays of Russia, the most beloved and famous, are, without any doubt, snowy and frosty, early spring, showing the way for spring and sunny days, luminous celebration, spring-summer Trinity and sunny rainbow. All of them, except for Easter, are interconnected with the natural world, with its revival, blossoming, planting and harvesting a generous harvest. On holidays, people are especially vividly inherent in a kind of worldview, a sense of the fullness of life. Without exception, all folk holidays in Russia are filled with traditions, rituals, and ceremonies.

New Year and Christmas holidays

Since ancient times, all the inhabitants of the planet Earth have considered the New Year and Christmas holidays family and try to celebrate them at home. Russians manage to combine the old traditions of a family holiday with street festivities.

It has long been known to everyone that the New Year in Russia begins to be celebrated as early as mid-December. And this holiday starts at merry Christmas fairs, incendiary corporate parties, in children's institutions.

Since mid-December, all the cities of Russia are overflowing with multicolored brilliant light of festive illumination and look like fairy kingdoms. The residences of Santa Claus and Snegurochka are open for kids on ice rinks. Huge elegant Christmas trees are installed literally in all the central squares of the cities. Colorful fairy-tale kiosk houses have been opened, in which everything from Christmas tree decorations, garlands, souvenirs to all kinds of sweets, English Christmas prediction pies, gingerbread goats and little men, hot tea, coffee and mulled wine.

Maslenitsa week

According to Russian tradition, the whole country walks and has fun during the Pancake Week. And how beautifully and unusually they see off Winter and meet spring! The festival takes place in the central squares in front of the buildings of the regional and district administrations. The squares are lined with long, brightly decorated, shopping arcades. People greet the Beauty - Spring with folk songs, incendiary dances, and peculiar games and say goodbye to the winter cold. Samovars with aromatic tea are puffing on the tables, pyramids of traditional fragrant pancakes with honey, jam, red caviar, cottage cheese, eggs and a lot of various national delicacies are stacked. Near the tables, typical Russian folk beauties in magnificent Slavic costumes, painted shawls with bundles of appetizing and ruddy bagels instead of necklaces, smiling affably, offer to taste the treats.

Celebrating Easter

And how in advance and massively in Russia they are preparing for the celebration of Easter - the most beloved national holiday. All big cities and small villages of the country have been preparing for Easter since Maundy Thursday. On this day, many rituals are sacredly performed: cleansing houses, courtyards, streets from all dirt and nasty things that have accumulated over the fall and winter. On “Maundy Thursday” they try to bathe in the bath, in the bath, under the shower until sunrise. To avoid diseases, all sheds, utility rooms, cellars, pets are fumigated with smoking juniper.
A day or two before Easter, Easter cakes are baked and eggs are decorated with a wide variety of colors and patterns, but the compositional and predominant color is red.
On Easter day, all acquaintances and strangers, oncoming and transversal kiss three times ("christening") and exchange little Easter and unusually beautiful eggs.

It's always warm and sunny on Easter. Russians en masse with their families and friends strive to go out into the fresh air with barbecue and delicious liqueurs.
49 days after Easter, the most picturesque and colorful folk festivals begin.

Trinity

The most picturesque and colorful folk festivals take place on Trinity. 49 days after Easter, Russian women are happy to see off spring and greet summer! The people attributed the Trinity to exclusively girls' (women's, "female") holidays. An unusually beautiful celebration! All houses are buried in green decorations from birch, oak, maple branches, field grass and flowers. After the morning festive visit to the temples, everyone rushed to the folk feast with songs, round dances, performances, games, dances. For this day, the girls specially sewed magnificent outfits. On Saturday Trinity festivities, they dressed in red shirts or sundresses, and on Sundays - in old white. A beautiful and obligatory attribute of a dress is a wreath of spring greenery. Celebratory dinners were prepared in full. A sweet loaf decorated with flowers was sure to be baked.

Crackers from half-eaten loaf, herbs, flowers and herbs collected and dried that day were stored for a whole year. After all, the ancient Slavs firmly believed that plants symbolizing life have special magical properties.

Christmas- one of the favorite holidays of the Russian people. Winter Christmastide began with it (a two-week period from Christmas to Epiphany, in the middle of which the New Year was celebrated). Christmas coincided in time with the winter solstice, when daylight hours began to gradually increase (69, p. 80).

From the morning of Christmas day in Orthodox Russia, it was customary to sing carols (from the word "kolyada"). The exact meaning and origin of the word "kolyada" has not yet been established. There is speculation that it has something in common with the Roman word for "calendar", which means the beginning of each month (hence the word "calendar"). Another hypothesis boils down to the fact that the word "kolyada" comes from the word "kolo" - a circle, a brace and means the end of the solar circle, its "turn" for the summer ("The sun is for the summer, winter is for the frost," says the Russian proverb ).

Children and young people, less often adults, were caroling. The owners presented the mummers, invited them into the house, treated them.

Christmas Day was widely celebrated with the glorification of Christ. With congratulations and wishes for well-being, children, teenagers, youth, and sometimes married men and women went around the peasant households. A star was carried at the head of a small procession.

P. Trankovsky. Travel with a star

Christmastide were celebrated from December 25 (January 7) to January 6 (January 19). The first six days were called "holy evenings", the second six - "terrible evenings." For the ancient Slavs, during this period there were holidays associated with the cult of nature, its rebirth, the turn of the sun to spring and an increase in the length of daylight hours. This explains many of the conditionally symbolic actions that have come down to us since pagan times. Religious and magical rituals aimed at caring for the future harvest, incantations about the offspring of cattle symbolized the beginning of preparation for spring, for a new cycle of agricultural work.

Again, children and young people went home with congratulations and carols. Each participant in the ceremony had his own favorite carol, which he sang to the owner of the house and members of his family.

For two weeks, the entire population gathered for festive parties - the so-called gatherings and games, at which they sang round dance and dance songs, ditties, arranged all kinds of games, played scenes; mummers also came here.

Dressing up was one of the favorite pastimes of young people. Once the dressing had a magical meaning, but over time it turned into entertainment.

Winter Christmas ends with a Christian holiday - Baptism, on the eve of which the Epiphany Christmas Eve is celebrated, the last day of Christmas festivities. Baptism is one of the twelve major (twelve) Christian holidays. It is based on the Gospel story of the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.

On the eve of Epiphany, the girls wondered. At the same time, so-called sub-dish songs were often sounded, under which objects belonging to one or another participant in fortune-telling were taken out of a vessel with water. The words of the song, performed at the same time, were supposed to predict certain events in the girl's life.

In Russia, the celebration of Epiphany was accompanied by rituals associated with belief in the life-giving power of water. The main event of the holiday is the blessing of water - the rite of the great blessing of water. It was held not only in Orthodox churches, but also in ice holes. An ice-hole was made in the ice in the form of a cross, which is traditionally called Jordan. A procession of the cross, led by a priest, is sent to her after the church service. Consecration of water, a solemn procession of the cross near Jordan, filling vessels with holy water are the components of this ritual.

According to custom, for Epiphany, the people held bridesmaids: smart girls stood near the Jordan River and the guys with their mothers looked after their brides

On this day, the Russian people closely followed the weather. It was noticed that if it snows while walking on the water, then the next year will be grain-growing.

One of the favorite holidays of the Russian people was Maslenitsa- an ancient Slavic holiday, marking the farewell to winter and the welcome of spring, in which the features of agrarian and family-clan cults are strongly expressed. Shrovetide is characterized by many conditionally symbolic actions associated with the expectation of a future harvest and offspring of livestock.

A number of ritual moments show that Shrovetide festivities were associated with appeals to the sun, "going into the summer." The whole structure of the holiday, its plot and attributes were designed to help the sun gain the upper hand over winter - the season of cold, darkness and temporary death of nature. Hence the special significance of solar signs during the holiday: the image of the sun in the form of a rolling burning wheel, pancakes, horseback riding in a circle. All ritual actions are aimed at helping the sun in its struggle with the cold and winter: primitive people did not seem to believe that the sun would certainly make its circle, he needed help. "Help" of a person was expressed in sevenfold magic - the image of a Circle or circular movement.

Shrovetide is the most cheerful, riotous holiday, anticipated by everyone with great impatience. Shrovetide was called honest, wide, cheerful. They also praised her as the lady Maslenitsa, Madame Maslenitsa.

Already on Saturday, on the eve of the holiday, they began to celebrate “ small oiler". On this day, children with special passion rode down the mountains. There was a sign: whoever rides further, the one in the family will have longer flax. On the last Sunday before Shrovetide, it was customary to pay visits to relatives, friends, neighbors and invite everyone to visit Shrovetide.

Shrovetide week was literally full of festive affairs. Ritual and theatrical performances, traditional games and fun filled all the days to overflowing. In many regions of Russia, it was customary to make an effigy of Shrovetide from straw, dress it up in a woman's dress and carry it around the streets. Then the scarecrow was placed somewhere in a conspicuous place: here, basically, Maslenitsa entertainments took place.

At Shrovetide, an atmosphere of general joy and fun reigned. Each day of the holiday had its own name, each had certain actions, rules of conduct, customs, etc.

The first day - Monday - was called "Shrovetide meeting". The second day of the holiday - Tuesday - was called "flirting". The third day of Shrovetide - Wednesday - was called "gourmet". "Broad" Thursday is the culmination of the holiday, its "revelry", "turning point". Friday - "mother-in-law's evening": the holiday is still in full swing, but it is already beginning to move towards its end. Saturday - “sister-in-law's gatherings”. On this day, the young daughter-in-law invited her relatives to her place. The last day of Shrovetide - Sunday - is called "farewell", "tselovnik", "forgiveness Sunday" (69, pp. 80-90).

Spring Holidays. The arrival of spring in the popular mind was associated with the awakening of nature after winter sleep and, in general, with the revival of life. On March 22, on the day of the vernal equinox and the beginning of the astronomical spring, Russia celebrated Magpies... There was a belief that it was on this day that forty birds, forty birdies returned to their homeland and forty began to build a nest. For this day, the hostesses baked spring birds - larks from the dough. Throwing them up, the children sang calls - short inviting songs, called (“hooted”) spring (69, p. 90).

The arrival of spring, the arrival of birds, the appearance of the first greenery and flowers have always caused joy and creativity among the people. After the winter trials, there was hope for a good spring and summer, for a rich harvest. And therefore the people have always celebrated the arrival of spring with bright, beautiful rituals and holidays.

Finally, spring came, long-awaited. She was greeted with songs, round dances.

On April 7, the people celebrated a Christian holiday Annunciation. On this day, every Orthodox believer considered it a sin to do something. The Russian people had a belief that this custom was somehow violated by the cuckoo, having tried to build a nest for itself, and was punished for this: now she can never have her own nest and is forced to throw her eggs into others.

The Annunciation - a Christian holiday - is one of the twelve. It is based on the Gospel tradition about how the Archangel Gabriel brought the Virgin Mary the good news about the forthcoming birth of her divine baby Jesus Christ.

The Christian religion emphasizes that this day marked the beginning of the mysterious communication of God and man. Hence the special significance of the holiday for believers.

The Feast of the Annunciation coincides in time with the beginning of spring sowing. Many of his rituals are associated with an appeal to the Mother of God with prayers for a good bountiful harvest, warm summer, etc.

The main Christian spring holiday is Easter- "holiday of holidays". It is celebrated by the Christian church in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross.

Easter belongs to the so-called mobile holidays. The date of its celebration is constantly changing and depends on the lunar calendar. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. To determine the day of the celebration of Easter, special tables are drawn up - Easter. Easter has its roots in the distant past. Initially, it was a spring holiday for pastoralists, and then for agricultural tribes.

Easter is preceded by a seven-week Great Lent. His last week is called Passion and is dedicated to remembering the passions (sufferings) of Christ. In the old days, all over Russia there was preparation for the Easter: they cleaned, washed, cleaned their homes, baked cakes, painted eggs, preparing for a big celebration.

Thursday in Holy Week is called Maundy Thursday... On this day, church services are dedicated to the memories of the Last Supper. The night of Great Saturday was usually a magnificent sight wherever there were Orthodox churches: the procession began to the sound of the evangelism (a special kind of bell ringing). In Moscow, a solemn service on Easter night was held in the Assumption Cathedral in the presence of the Tsar.

On Easter "the sun is playing." Its pure beneficial rays bring us purification and joy. That is why in the old days the whole village went out at noon to watch the "sun play", asking him for a good harvest, for good health.

The Russian people have always respected their ancestors, deified them. One of these days of commemoration of people who passed away was Radunitsa... Easter week passed, and the following Tuesday was celebrated as Kulichi's memorial day; they took the painted eggs with them to the cemetery.

According to popular belief, the souls of our ancestors in these days of spring rise above the earth and invisibly touch the treats that we bring in order to delight them Memories of relatives, loved ones, joy for their kind, care so that the souls of your ancestors do not despise your family, and Radunitsa symbolizes - spring commemoration. The very word "to please" contains the meaning of trouble, efforts from the bottom of my heart. To be happy is also to bother, to take care. The people believed that by arranging a spring commemoration, we please the souls of our ancestors, and we care, we take care of them.

The height of the spring holiday festivities falls on Red hill... The red hill starts from Fomin Sunday. This is one of the folk holidays of the Red Spring; on this day, our ancestors greeted spring, walked with songs through the streets, danced in circles, played, sang vesnianki. On Krasnaya Gorka, married couples were crowned, weddings were played.

The name of the holiday is associated with the fact that the sun begins to shine brighter, painting the hills that have thawed from the snow in a reddish color. Mountains and hills have always been revered by the ancient Slavs, endowed with magical properties: mountains, according to legend, the cradle of humanity, the abode of the gods. The dead have long been buried in the mountains. Hence the custom after mass on this day to go to the cemetery: to commemorate the dead, to put in order and decorate the graves with flowers.

The holidays began with sunrise, when young people went out on a sunlit hill or hillock. Under the leadership of a round dance, holding a round bread in one hand and a red egg in the other, they held round dances and greeted spring. Brides and grooms walked in festive outfits, looking closely at each other.

Summer Holidays. The sun was shining brighter, the land was covered with lush green vegetation, and on Thursday, the seventh week after Easter, a holiday was celebrated in Russia Semik(hence its name). The Semytsk rituals originate in the pagan beliefs of the ancient Slavs, who revered nature and the spirits of vegetation. The custom has survived to this day to decorate the dwelling with fresh greens and fragrant herbs, branches and young birch trees, etc.

Semik marked the end of spring and the beginning of summer. The ritual of the holiday is based on the cult of vegetation. Another name of Semik has survived - Green Christmastide. They coped in groves, forests, on the banks of rivers, where young people sang, danced, weaved wreaths, curled birches, etc. until late at night.

A cheerful crowd often went to the river to throw wreaths: the girl whose wreath is the first to sail to the shore will be the first to marry, but if the wreath twists in one place, its owner is destined to sit "in girls" for another year.

On the Sunday after Semik in Russia, it was widely celebrated Trinity or Pentecost. All Slavs have Saturday on the eve of Trinity - the traditional day of remembrance of the dead (in the Orthodox calendar it is called "parental Saturday"): on this day it is customary to visit the cemetery, order prayers, and burn memorial fires. Sometimes young men and women lead round dances around the "Shabbat fires". In these games, the ritual of purification by fire, widespread in antiquity, is guessed, closely associated with the cults of the land and ancestors. So, in the old rituals, the memory of the departed and the joyful meeting of spring shoots, a festive hymn to the nurse-earth and everything that lives and grows on it are combined.

Trinity is celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter, hence its second name.

The Christian meaning of the holiday of the Trinity is based on the biblical legend about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on the 50th day after the Resurrection of Christ, after which they began to understand all languages. In the Christian religion, this is interpreted as the desire of Christ to carry his teaching to all the peoples of the earth in all languages.

On the feast of the Trinity, it is customary to decorate temples and dwellings with branches and flowers and to stand at the service with flowers themselves.

In Russia, Trinity has absorbed the customs and rituals that are characteristic of the Semik holiday. Since ancient times, the Trinity has been accompanied by wreath-curling, fortune-telling, boating, etc.

Ivan Kupala- the next big summer folk holiday. The Kupala week, celebrated among the ancient Slavs, coincided with the day of the summer solstice. The holiday was dedicated to the sun and was associated with the most ancient cults of the Slavs - the cult of fire and water. On this day, according to tradition, they made fires, swam in warmer rivers, doused each other

Healing plants are collected on Ivan Kupala, which, according to legend, are full of special healing powers. The meaning of the word "Kupala" is interpreted in different ways. Some researchers consider it to be derived from the word "kupny" (aggregate, joint, connected). Others explain its origin from the word "kupa". In some regions of Russia, the hearth, as a place in which a fire is kindled, is called a "bathing suit".

Of the summer holidays, the day of Ivan Kupala is the most cheerful and cheerful, the entire population took part in it, and the tradition required everyone to be actively involved in all rituals, and the obligatory observance of customs.

The main feature of the Kupala night is the cleansing fires. Having obtained "living fire" from the wood by friction, bonfires, undoubtedly of symbolic significance, were lit while singing special Kupala songs. They threw birch bark into the fire so that it burned more cheerfully and brighter Boys and girls in festive outfits usually gathered around bonfires, where they danced in circles, and, holding hands, jumped in pairs over these bonfires, thinking that this would save them from all evils, diseases, grief ... Judging by a successful or awkward jump, they predicted future happiness or misfortune, early or late marriage. Young people, adolescents, children, jumping over the fires, arranged noisy fun games. Be sure to play burners.

Herbs and flowers collected on Midsummer's Day are dried and cherished, considering them very healing in comparison with those collected at other times. They fumigate the sick, fight against evil spirits, they are thrown into a flooded furnace during a thunderstorm to protect the house from a lightning strike, and they are also used to "kindle" love or to "dry out".

On the day of Ivan Kupala, girls curl wreaths of herbs, in the evening let them float, watching how and where they will swim. Mature women, being present, help to interpret certain positions of the wreath, thereby pushing the girls to make one or another decision.

The main symbol of the holiday was the fern flower. According to legend, this fiery flower appears only on the night of Ivan Kupala. Anyone who can find a fern flower and pick it will become the ruler of the forest, rule the paths in the forest, own treasures underground, the most beautiful girls will love him, etc.

The next big summer holiday is Ilyin's day, celebrated on July 20, Art. (August 2, New Style) in honor of Elijah the Prophet, one of the most revered Christian saints. Ilyin's day served as a reference point for seasonal agricultural work, the end of haymaking and the beginning of the harvest are associated with it. It was these household moments that made Ilyin's day a significant celebration for the peasants. On the national calendar, up to the beginning of the 20th century, this day was symbolized by the image of a wheel. A wheel with six spokes as a guard against thunderstorms was widespread among both Russians and Belarusians and Ukrainians.

On Ilyin's day, ceremonies were performed to preserve and protect both the harvest and the person himself.

With Ilya's day, according to the popular expression, summer "red" days ended and the turn to autumn began, "Prophet Ilya finishes summer - his life begins to heal." The first morning cold appears, the nights lengthen: "Before Ilya, at least take off your clothes - after Ilya, put on a zipun," says the proverb.

Many agricultural councils and signs related to the harvesting of grain, the upcoming winter sowing, the ripening of vegetables are associated with Ilya's day ("On Ilya, cover the cabbage with a pot so that it is white").

Most of the Ilyin agricultural customs and rituals relate to the harvest. One of the most ancient agricultural rituals - "curling a beard", which was widespread in the past both in Russia and in many European countries, was most often associated with Ilya. The initial meaning of this rite is to ensure the harvest for the next year: "Here, Ilya, beard, freak rye, oats, barley and wheat."

The variety of traditions and customs of Ilyin's Day, which is a kind of symbol of a responsible period of agricultural activity, is reflected in folklore, first of all, in proverbs and sayings, apt words, omens, etc. They embodied in a peculiar form the results of centuries of experience and the practical wisdom of a peasant related to this period of the year.

In August, the Russian people celebrate three Spasa- a holiday dedicated to the All-Merciful Savior (Savior): August 1 (I4) - Savior on honey (Savior on the water), August 6 (19) - Savior on apple (Savior on the mountain), August 16 (29) - Savior on a nut (Savior on canvas) ). Such a saying is widely known. "The first Savior - to stand on the water, the second Savior - there are apples, the third Savior - to sell canvases."

The first Savior is called honey because, starting from that day, according to popular belief, bees already stop taking honey from flowers. On this day, Russian people went to visit each other, tried the first new honey. From August 6, throughout Russia, they began to pick and eat apples and fruits, which were consecrated in churches that day. Until that day, it was impossible to eat apples. The days following the Apple Savior are called “gourmets”. “On the second Savior, the beggar will eat an apple,” says the people. The custom of sharing apples and other fruits with all the poor was carefully observed. From that time on, they began to complete the harvest of garden and horticultural crops. Summer was coming to an end (69, pp. 90-94).

Autumn holidays. Seeing off the summer began with Semyonov's day- from September 1 (14). The custom to greet autumn was widespread in Russia. It coincided in time with Babi's summer. In mid-September were celebrated Autumn. Early in the morning, women went to the banks of a river or pond, met Mother Osenina with round oat bread (69, p. 106).

Among the autumn agricultural holidays, the beginning of the harvest should be noted - zazhinki, and its ending dozhinki.

Zazhinki and dozhinki are the most important agricultural holidays. Many researchers of Russian life tell about how they were carried out in Russia. “In the morning, zazhinshchiki and zazhinchitsa went out to their paddocks, writes A. A. Korinthsky in his work, - the cornfield was blooming and dazzling with peasant shirts and woman's shawls; At each paddock, the hostess herself walked ahead of all the others with bread and salt and a candle. The first compressed sheaf - the “baptismal sheaf” - was called the “birthday sheaf” and an individual was placed from others; In the evening she took him to the house, walked with him in front of her household, brought him into the hut and put the birthday boy in the red corner of the house. This sheaf stood - right up to the dozhinki. At the djinki in the villages, they arranged a "worldly fold", ... they baked a pie from new flour ... and celebrated the end of the harvest, accompanying them with special rituals timed to coincide with that. The reapers went around all the harvested fields and collected the remaining uncut ears. From the latter, a wreath was twisted, intertwined with wildflowers. This wreath was put on the head of a young beautiful girl, and then everyone went with songs to the village. On the way, the crowd increased by the oncoming peasants. A boy walked in front of everyone with the last bundle in his hands. "

Usually, the dozhinki falls on the period of the celebration of the three Spas. By this time, the rye harvest ends. The owners, who had completed the harvest, carried the last sheaf to the church, where they consecrated it. Winter fields were sown with such grains sprinkled with holy water

The last compressed sheaf, decorated with ribbons, patches, flowers, was also placed under the image, where he stood until the very Intercession. According to legend, the sheaf possessed magical power, promised prosperity, protecting from hunger. On the day of the Intercession, he was solemnly taken out into the courtyard and fed to pets with special spells so that they would not get sick. The cattle fed in this way were considered prepared for the long and harsh winter. From that day on, they no longer drove her out to graze, as the cold set in

A kind of milestone between autumn and winter was a holiday Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was celebrated on October 1 (14). “On the Pokrov before lunchtime - autumn, after dinner - winter,” - said the people.

The Intercession is one of the religious holidays especially revered by Orthodox believers.In the old church books there is a story about the miraculous apparition of the Mother of God, which took place on October 1, 910. They describe in detail and colorfully how, before the end of the all-night service, at four o'clock in the morning, a local holy fool named Andrew saw that the Mother of God stood in the air over the heads of those praying, accompanied by an angel and saints retinue. She stretched a white veil over the parishioners and prayed for the salvation of the whole world, for the deliverance of people from hunger, flood, fire, sword and the invasion of enemies. According to popular beliefs, the Mother of God was the patroness of farmers. It was to her that the Russian people turned with a prayer for the harvest. It was from her that he expected help in hard peasant labor.

The festive church service on the Day of the Intercession is built in such a way as to convince the faithful of the mercy and intercession of the Mother of God, in her ability to protect people from troubles and console them in grief. The divine service on the Feast of the Intercession is dedicated to revealing her image as the all-powerful patroness of this world and as a spiritual person who unites the heavenly and earthly forces around him.

Thus, we examined the main calendar holidays, winter, spring, summer and autumn, in which the character of the Russian people, its beliefs, customs and traditions were reflected. Over the centuries, they, of course, have undergone changes associated with certain historical events, the change of eras. But the main meanings and meanings of these holidays are still important for our people (69, pp. 106-109).

Consider artistic elements of the Maslenitsa holiday... Maslenitsa (Maslenka) is a holiday of farewell to winter, the eighth week before Easter is actively celebrated by the population today (90).

It takes place before Great Lent, in the cheese-growing week of the Orthodox calendar, and ends with Forgiveness Sunday. According to the canons of the Orthodox Church, the cheese-growing week was intended to prepare believers for fasting, when each of them had to be imbued with a mood corresponding to the coming time of bodily abstinence and intense spiritual reflection - such are the Christian traditions of this holiday. But there are many traditions that came to the celebration of Maslenitsa from distant paganism.

In traditional Russian life, this week has become the brightest holiday filled with the joy of life. Shrovetide was called honest, wide, drunk, gluttonous, ruinous (pagan elements, since Christianity preaches the rejection of all earthly joys. Its basis is a dean and calm existence). They said that Maslenitsa "sang and danced for a whole week, ate and drank, went to visit each other, rolled in pancakes, bathed in oil."

Shrovetide is celebrated throughout Russia in villages and cities. Its celebration is considered obligatory for all Russian people: "Even if you lay yourself in, but spend the Shrovetide." In the villages, in the old days, all residents took part in it, regardless of age and social status, with the exception of the sick and the weak. Failure to participate in Shrovetide fun could lead to, according to legend, "life in bitter trouble."

The festivities begin with Shrovetide on the Sunday before Shrove Tuesday. However, this rite was not widespread. Where he was known, Shrovetide was greeted with pancakes, which were laid out on elevated places (a pagan symbol, since it was the elevations in the days of paganism that were considered “sacred” places where communication with the gods took place) with the calls: “Come to me at guests, Shrovetide, wide to the yard: ride on the mountains, lie in pancakes, have fun with your heart! ”and also singing songs.

The first three days of Shrovetide week, preparations are underway for the holiday: they bring firewood for Shrovetide bonfires (the pagan symbol is fire), and the huts are removed. The main festivities fall on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - the days of the wide Shrovetide.

All Shrovetide entertainment usually takes place on the street. They enter houses only to warm up a little, if it's frosty, and treat themselves to festive and food (gluttony is a pagan element, since Christianity imposes a large number of prohibitions on abundant food intake). Smartly dressed people - girls, boys, married couples, children, old men and old women - all pour out into the street, take part in a festive party, congratulate each other, go to the fair, which functions in all large squares, where they buy necessary and unnecessary things, in the old people were amazed at the miracles that were shown in booths - traveling theaters, rejoiced at puppet shows and "bear fun" - performances of a leader with a bear (traditions that have come to us since pagan times, when there were a large number of rituals and beliefs associated with the cult of animals. many tribes was considered a sacred beast, it was believed that from communication with him, a person would pass on part of his abilities - strength, endurance, courage. In addition, the bear was considered the patron saint of forest lands).

The Pancake Week complex includes such entertainments as skiing down the mountains, sleigh rides, various ceremonies of honoring newlyweds, fist fights, processions of mummers, war games, such as "Taking the Snow Town", etc.

A characteristic feature of Shrovetide is the use of a large amount of fatty food, as well as intoxicating drinks (a pagan element). From drinks they prefer beer, and from food - sour cream, cottage cheese, cheese, eggs, all kinds of flour products: pancakes, cheese cakes, cheesecakes, brushwood, flat cakes. The predominance of dairy food was due to the church ban on eating meat in the week preceding Great Lent (Christian element).

On Shrovetide in the old days, many songs, jokes, sentences sounded, most of which did not have ritual significance, these were funny songs dedicated to Shrovetide and Shrovetide festivities (90).

Skiing from the mountains- winter entertainment for children and single youth. The skating of young people from the icy mountains has always been one of the main entertainments of the Shrovetide week. “We ride on the mountains, we gorge ourselves on pancakes” - was sung in an old Pancake week song.

For skiing, natural mountains or specially made of wood were filled with water. The ice slope turned into a long ice path, often descending to a river or lake. They tried to decorate the roller coasters: they put Christmas trees next to them, hung lanterns, etc.

Towards evening, all the village youth gathered around the hill. For skiing, sledges, matting, skins, skates, ice-skates were used - round flattened baskets, frozen from the bottom, rollers - wide hollowed out boards, spines - wooden troughs, reminiscent of dugout boats, short benches turned upside down. Children sat on sleds but several people. The guys, wishing to show the girls their prowess and youth, rolled down from the highest mountains: they sat down in a nimble spine and maneuvered along steep slopes, controlling it like a boat with the help of a special short stick, or, taking a shrieking girl in their arms, descended, standing on legs. However, most often we rode in pairs on
Sudeikin S.Yu. Maslenitsa

sledding: the girl sat down on the guy's lap, and then had to thank him for the ride with a kiss. If the girl did not follow this rule, the young people would “freeze” the sled, that is, they would not allow them to get up from them until the guy and the girl had kissed.

According to custom, the newlyweds were to take part in skiing from the mountains. They sat on sleds and rolled down the mountain to the shouts: "Salt the saffron milk caps, salt the saffron milk caps" (that is, kiss in front of everyone). Skiing from the mountains was not forbidden for married people either; there was even such a belief that a married woman who rode down the mountain on Shrovetide would get a good harvest of flax (a pagan element - agricultural magic) (90).

Sledging- winter entertainment, typical for Christmastide, Shrovetide, patronal holidays.

The carnival skating was especially bright. They were called "gatherings", as the inhabitants of all the surrounding villages took part in them.

They thoroughly prepared for the holiday skating: they washed the horses, combed their tails and manes; were just as attentive to the harness; tidied up the sleigh.

Young people usually skated in the morning, newlyweds could go out at any time they wanted, and married couples, especially "highs, kondovye and rich peasants" - in the late afternoon. Guys and girls in the Smolensk region go out for skiing with noise and fun even today: horses rush forward, bells are ringing, towels tied to the back of a sleigh are fluttering, an accordion is playing, songs are sounding. In the old days, newlyweds were supposed to drive sedately, with dignity, bow to all the residents they meet, stop at their first request in order to accept congratulations and wishes.

The ceremonial departure of a wealthy family was formalized quite solemnly. The owner slowly brought the harnessed horses to the gate of the house, the hostess carefully laid pillows in elegant pillowcases, a fur or felt cavity, beautifully tied ribbons and half-hangers to an arc. Then the smartly dressed family got into the sleigh. The front seat was intended for the owner and son, the back seat for the hostess and daughters. Old men went out onto the porch to watch the front exit, small children screaming ran after the sleigh.

All those who arrived at the site usually rode for five or six hours, interrupting for a short feast in the houses of relatives and giving rest to the horses. The riders followed the established rules: some sledges had to follow the others along the main street of the village or round and round, not overtaking or exceeding the speed. The guys rolled the girls walking down the street, politely inviting them and the sleigh: "Please take a ride!" The rules of decency obliged the guy to ride the same girl for no more than three or four circles, and then invite another. The girls, as a token of gratitude, tied small half-hats to the arch of his horse. Newlyweds, for whom skating on Shrovetide was obligatory, stopped at the request of fellow villagers to "salt the mushrooms", that is, to kiss in front of all honest people.

Skating reached its culmination in the afternoon on Forgiveness Sunday, when a particularly large number of sleds gathered, and the speed of their skating sharply increased. The dashing guys, trying to show their prowess in front of the girls, controlled the running horses while standing, jumped into the sleigh on the go, played the accordion, whistled and shouted. Sunday skating was supposed to end instantly, immediately after the first blow of the bell, which called for evening. This moment was especially great pleasure for the youth, who rushed headlong out of the village on sleds that overtook each other.

Sleds for skiing on Maslenitsa

Atkinson D.A. Skiing from the mountains on the Neva

Fist fight- festive entertainment for guys and young men, elements of which can be found during Maslenitsa celebrations even today.

Geisler H.-G. Fist wrestling. Engraving

Fist fighter. Porcelain

"Daring fellows, good fighters." Splint

Fist fights were organized in winter during Christmas time on Shrovetide and sometimes in Semik. At the same time, preference was given to Maslenitsa, the wild nature of which made it possible for the male part of the city and village to show their prowess and youth in front of everyone.

The teams were formed on the basis of the social or territorial community of the participants. Two villages could fight each other, residents of opposite ends of one large village, "monastery" peasants with landowners, etc. Fist fights were prepared in advance: teams jointly chose a place for a battle, agreed on the rules of the game and the number of participants, and elected chieftains. In addition, the moral and physical training of the fighters was necessary. Men and boys steamed in the baths, tried to eat more meat and bread, which, according to belief, gave strength and courage (pagan element).

Some of the participants resorted to various kinds of magical techniques to increase fighting courage and power. So, for example, one of the old Russian medical books contains the following advice: “Kill the black snake with a saber or a knife, and take out the tongue from it, and screw it into the green and black taffeta, and put it in the left boot, and put on the shoe in the same place. ... Walking away, do not look back, and whoever asks where you have been, do not say anything to him ”(pagan motive - an appeal to magic, magical actions (spells), which were absolutely permissible and necessary in pagan religion). They also tried to ensure victory in a fist fight with the help of a conspiracy (pagan element) received from a sorcerer: “I will become a servant of God, blessing, I will cross myself from the hut into the doors, from the gates and gates, into an open field, to the east, to the east to the side, to the Okiyan-sea, and on that holy Okiyan-sea there is a master husband, and at that Saint Okiyan-sea there is a raw crusty oak, and that master man cuts a raw oak with his damask ambition, and like chips fly from that raw oak, so would a fighter, a good fellow, fall on the damp earth from me, every day and every hour. Amen! Amen! Amen! And to those words of mine, the key is in the sea, the castle is in heaven, from now to everlasting. "

Fist fights in Russia could take place not only with fists, but also with sticks, while fist fighting was more often chosen. The fighters were supposed to have special uniforms: thick, tow-hemmed gangs and fur mittens, which softened the blow. A fist fight could be carried out in two versions: "wall to wall" (found today) and "clutch-dump". In a wall-to-wall battle, the fighters, lining up in one row, had to keep him under the pressure of the enemy's “wall”. It was a battle in which various military tactics were used. The fighters held the front, walked like a wedge - "pig", changed the fighters of the first, second, third row, retreated into an ambush, etc. The battle ended with the breakthrough of the enemy's "wall" and the flight of the enemies. During the battle "clump-dump", each chose an opponent according to his strength and did not retreat until complete victory, after which he "grappled" into battle with the other.

The Russian fist fight, in contrast to the fight, proceeded with the observance of certain rules, which included the following: "do not beat the lying person", "do not beat in a crippled way", "do not beat a smear", that is, if the enemy has blood end the fight with him. It was impossible to strike from behind, from the rear, but to fight only face to face. An important point of the fist fight was the fact that its participants always belonged to the same age group. The battle was usually started by teenagers, they were replaced on the field by guys, and then young married men - “strong fighters” - entered the battle. This arrangement maintained equality of arms.

The battle began with the passage of the main fighters, that is, guys and men, surrounded by teenagers along the village street to the chosen place of the battle. On the field, the guys became two "walls" - teams against each other, demonstrating their strength in front of the enemy, slightly bullying him, taking belligerent postures, encouraging themselves with appropriate shouts. At this time, in the middle of the field, teenagers were arranging a "junkyard-dump", preparing for future battles. Then the cry of the chieftain was heard, followed by a general roar, whistle, shout: "Give me a fight!", And the battle began. The most powerful fighters joined the battle at the very end. The old men who watched the fistfights discussed the actions of the young, gave advice to those who had not yet entered the battle. The battle ended with the flight of the enemy from the field and the general merry drinking of the guys and men who participated in it.

Fist fights have accompanied Russian festivities for many centuries. Fist fights educated men in endurance, the ability to withstand blows, stamina, agility and courage. Participation in them was considered a matter of honor for every guy and young man. The feats of the fighters were praised at men's feasts, passed from mouth to mouth, and were reflected in daring songs and epics (90).

V.I. Surikov Taking a snowy town. Shrovetide fun.

Pancakes - an obligatory attribute of Shrovetide, which has come since the days of paganism. They baked wheat, buckwheat, millet, rye, barley, oat pancakes and pancakes, and ate them with all kinds of additives - frozen milk, raw or boiled eggs and fish, butter and honey. Pancakes mixed with milk were called "milk", and pancakes made from buckwheat flour - "red". Sometimes housewives mixed buckwheat flour with white high-grade flour "gritty" during baking.

Rural carnival. Rice. from a splint

Prepared for the holidays and pancake pies, which were pancakes folded in a pile and baked in a Russian oven, smeared with a chatterbox of cow butter and raw eggs. In capital and provincial cities in wealthy families, expensive varieties of fish and caviar served as an addition to pancakes. Pancakes during Maslenitsa were the most favorite food. They were cooked and eaten in huge quantities, not only in their own homes and guests, but also feasted on at festive fairs. "Damn the belly is not damage", - said the celebrants, indulging in Maslenitsa wild gluttony on the eve of the impending Strict Fast.

In some villages, the first pancakes were made already on the eve of Maslenitsa on Saturday, which was called "Little Maslenitsa". On this day, there was a tradition in the peasant community to commemorate deceased parents (the pagan element is the cult of deceased ancestors). A plentiful table was laid especially for them and they were respectfully invited to taste the treats. But in a large number of pancakes began to bake in rich families from Monday, and in poor families from Wednesday or Thursday, cheese week, and continued to do this throughout the rest of the days of the holiday. “Without a pancake, there is no Maslen,” said the peasants.

At the same time, special importance was attached to the preparation of the first pancake dough. To cook it was trusted by "senior" women respected in the family, good cooks. The dough was kneaded in the snow on a lake, river bank, by a well, or in a yard. This ritual action began only after the rising of the month and the appearance of the first stars in the sky (pagan tradition is the sacredness of a certain time of day). The process was carried out in complete secrecy from everyone, on the night before the first day of Shrovetide. The centuries-old peasant tradition strictly prescribed to act in this way so that forces harmful to people could not notice all the peculiarities of the preparation of the dough and did not send melancholy and blues to the cook for the whole Shrovetide week (belief in otherworldly dark forces is an element of paganism).

The baking of the first pancakes was often accompanied by special ceremonies. For example, a boy of eight to ten years old was sent with a freshly baked pancake to ride around the garden on a grip or poker and call on Maslenitsa with a special call.

The use of the first pancake in the peasant environment was also strictly regulated. It was abundantly greased with butter and honey, placed on a dormer, a shrine or a roof "for treating deceased ancestors" (the cult of deceased ancestors was formed during pagan times). Pancakes could not be cut, you had to tear them to pieces with your hands. This custom repeated the tradition of eating the first pancake, known during the commemoration. According to popular belief, the soul of the deceased in this case could get enough of the steam emanating from the pancake. "Our honest parents, here's a pancake for your soul!" - said the owners. Sometimes the first baked pancake was thrown over the head behind the back, thus symbolizing "feeding the spirits" (pagan element - belief in the soul and spirits).

Pancake seller. Pancake table.

Scarecrow of Maslenitsa- a pagan attribute of the holiday that has survived to this day. On a sheaf of straw, which served as the basis for the body of Maslenitsa, they tied the head and hands from bundles of straw with a frill.

One of the most important ritual actions in making such a doll was dressing it up - “dressing up”. The Maslenitsa costume should be old, shabby, torn, and sometimes a fur coat turned out with fur outside was also worn on it. At the same time, both the straw for the Shrovetide body and all the items of her clothing had to be collected from different houses or bought in a pool, turning the figure performed in the height of a person into a ritual symbol of the entire village or village and thus emphasizing the involvement with the act of its creation of all members of a particular peasant community. As a rule, the character was also endowed with a personal name - Dunya, Avdotya, Garanka, etc.

Shrovetide effigy

In the villages, in addition to the main ritual character in many houses, they made a significant number of their own "family" dolls, which had a similar name. Unlike the village-wide Maslenitsa, they, as a rule, had an attractive appearance. They drew eyes, eyebrows, nose with charcoal, dressed up in bright elegant costumes characteristic of married women: festive ones, decorated with polychrome branded weaving, embroidery and appliqué shirts, bright chintz sundresses or checkered aprons embroidered with colored woolen, garus threads, and ornamented aprons ... Red chintz or silk fabric shawls were tied on the head with the ends back. But in domestic figures, the signs of gender were always emphasized in the same way. Shrovetide was supplied with attributes corresponding to the holiday - a frying pan, a ladle, pancakes and put on a bench in the house in such a position as if she was baking pancakes. They did not attach any serious ritual significance to such images. They made five or six such figures and seated them for the whole week in a place of honor - on a bench by the window. The girls took them with them to all gatherings and games in a hut specially rented for this, walked with them along the village streets, rode in a sleigh, singing love "suffering". Such characters appeared mainly in those houses from which they took young people to a new family, where they expected the arrival of the "newlyweds" or where girls of marriageable age lived. Sometimes the masked figure turned into a simple toy,

Several similar figures could coexist in the village at the same time, but only one of them personified a holiday symbol for the entire peasant community of this village or village, only it was used in all ritual actions during Maslenitsa and at the end was “seen off” or “buried” by the whole village.

According to popular beliefs, Maslenitsa, regardless of the way of its embodiment, was endowed with supernatural magical abilities (pagan motive). Demonstration of these exaggerated qualities was the most important ritual action, while they tried to exaggerate not only external, but also internal properties. Shrovetide has traditionally been called a wide, riotous, gluttonous, drunkard. “Fat Shrovetide. Blinov ate too much, overeat! " - shouted the participants in the street festivities. In all incarnations of Shrovetide, the obligatory details were torn and ridiculous clothes, old sleighs and dilapidated and unusual "departure". So, probably, they tried to emphasize to the character the obsolescence of the allotted period of possession of ritual power and the time of earthly existence. The appearance of this attribute of the holiday, which during pagan times personified fertility, winter and death and was the main character in a number of ritual actions, was always accompanied by noise, laughter, shouts and general joy - actions to which the peasants attributed certain protective properties (pagan element).

The performers of the ritual dolls in the villages were mainly young married women (pagan element). This was probably due to the fact that such an action was compared in the popular consciousness in its significance with the birth of its new member - a child. Therefore, all the action to make the Shrovetide symbol was in the nature of a female ritual. In addition to its direct performers at this time, young children also had the right to be in the room.

Component of the Shrovetide rite - Shrovetide bonfire (pagan tradition). One large fire was made for the whole village, and each family had to do their bit. In advance to a certain place, they pulled off old, out-of-use things, worn out bast shoes, parts of dilapidated wattle fences, collapsed logs, empty tar barrels and wheels from carts, rakes, harrows without teeth, old brooms-shanks collected by children during the year, straw left over from autumn threshing and from the bed on which they slept all year. Most of the trash has been collected by small children during the previous week. To do this, they walked around each courtyard with a special song.

Often, in the center of the fireplace, a high pole was fixed with a wheel, or a barrel, or a sheaf of straw attached to a broom. As a rule, an elevated place was chosen for the construction of a fire, usually the same where the meeting of Maslenitsa (pagan element) originally took place. The fire must be bright and well lit so that it can be seen from afar. It was believed that the brighter it is, the richer the village. Frequently burnt objects were additionally lifted up using a special lever.

Bonfires were kindled at seven or eight in the evening on the last day of the holiday - Forgiveness Sunday. The ritual action was performed outside the village, in a field on winter crops, on the ice of a lake or on the bank of a river (pagan belief in the sacredness of these places) and symbolized the end of the holiday. After the fire burned out, all those gathered went home.

In some districts, fires in Shrovetide rituals replaced lighted sheaves of straw mounted on poles. With such torches they walked around the village and around it, installed them in large numbers outside the villages along the roads, and the youth danced and sang around. Such actions probably carried an echo of the ancient rites of fumigation of villages, which were attributed to a great magical power of influence on human life and the environment. Performing such rituals promised the village getting rid of unclean, destructive and hostile forces to all living things, as well as an abundance of livestock and an increase in the harvest (pagan tradition).

Shrovetide is a complex and ambiguous phenomenon. This holiday dates back to the spring agrarian rites of the pre-Christian era of the life of the Slavs (pagan period), when Shrovetide was timed to coincide with the day of the vernal equinox - the line separating winter from spring. The ritual actions were aimed at making the winter hardships end and spring coming, followed by a warm summer with abundant bread. In the XIX-early XX century. in the celebration of Shrovetide, elements of an entertaining nature with pagan roots, echoes of which we meet today, came to the fore (90).

Introduction

One of the twelve church holidays, the first of those that falls on the cold season, is the Introduction to the Temple of the Virgin, celebrated on December 4. But that is how it was called officially. The people in the name of the holiday retained only the first word - "introduction", and even rethought it. All popular proverbs and omens connect the Introduction not with the Mother of God, but with the beginning of the Russian winter. It was believed that it was on this day that it came into its own: "The introduction came - the winter brought on", "If the snow falls before the Introduction, it will melt anyway, and if after the Introduction winter will fall!" By the way, according to the weather on this day, the weather was predicted for all other winter holidays.

On the introduction to the olden days, the sled route was tried. If it had not been established, it was believed that there was no winter yet: what kind of winter would come over the frozen black mud? The right to "renew" the winter sled road was given, according to custom, to newlyweds. Their departure for a walk was solemnly furnished: sledges were selected painted, light, with multi-colored carpets and decorated with paper flowers. Horses had to be well-groomed. The young husband, girded with a bright sash, dashingly ruled, shouting for the sight of the already briskly running black or brown. And the young wife sat in the sleigh in silence, demonstrating with dignity to the oncoming her goodness and beautiful outfits ... This rite was called that - "to show the young."

In Moscow, a toboggan fair was traditionally held for the Introduction. On this day, many sledges filled the Lubyanka for many decades. The sleighs were for every taste: light "single" and more solid "paired" and "triple". Sleighs are everyday and festive, often decorated with very intricate carvings and paintings. These sledges were made by Galician masters.

However, it was important not only to make the sled, but also to skillfully, dashingly sell. Experienced barkers found an approach to each customer, did not skimp on praise for their product, shouted advertising "raeshnye" poems, improvising on the go:

But the sleigh scooters,
decorated, rich,
decorated, gilded,
morocco edged!

Or another, in modern language, "slogan":

Go, go, go, ford,
In cowards, in races, in pursuit, in a race!
And who had time - the first grade was forged!

The goods were sold "with a bang": it was difficult to drive around winter Moscow 100-150 years ago on wheels. And on a sled - just right. Only the snow under the runners creaks!

Katherine's festivities

On December 7, on the day of St. Catherine, or, as she was called in Russia, Catherine the Sannitsa, they organized a sleigh race. The whole village gathered on some hillock, and young guys and peasants tried to "surround" each other on a snow-covered road winding around the surrounding fields. The audience was frantically sick, often moving from verbal arguments in defense of their favorite to fist ones. And the girls evaluated possible suitors at these races: their prowess, dexterity, strength, and prosperity - the "fair" man has a good horse!

Buy, darling, a skate,
Golden legs
I will roll girls
On the big path!

The evening "under Catherine" was considered the best for fortune telling and fortune telling. Before going to bed, the girls put a piece of bread under the pillow and asked: what kind of betrothed will they be? If the bread is stale by morning, the husband will get it with a tough and tough character, if it crumbles, life in marriage promises to be unsuccessful in general ... Gathering together, the girls often sang:

Darling wooed, rolled,
I broke three sledges,
I caught all the rich
And I did not pass!

Or here's another ditty:

Will it come true
This year?
The golden crown will be put on
On my head? ..

New Year and Christmas tree

New Year in Russia (and in Europe in general), as you guys already know, was not always celebrated on the night of January 1. Once upon a time, the countdown of the new year began on March 1. The memory of this time is preserved in the names of some months. September, for example, translated from Latin means "seventh", October - "eighth", November - "ninth", and December (remember?) - "tenth" ... And what place do they occupy in the line of months today?

With the adoption of Christianity, the Julian calendar came to Russia. The Church began to keep the chronology "from the creation of the world" (5508 BC) and postponed the beginning of the new year to September 1. It turned out to be a fair amount of confusion, and Metropolitan Theognosius in 1342 simply canceled the March New Year. And after another two and a half centuries, the great reformer Emperor Peter I, who cared about everything, commanded to meet the new year, 1700 from the birth of Christ, on January 1. The will of the emperor is the law, and therefore - even with a creak and grunt! - Russia switched to a new calendar for itself, began to celebrate the New Year four months later than the usual date.

All the same Peter I ordered to decorate the houses and streets of cities with fir and pine garlands for the New Year, to launch rockets and arrange fireworks, to have fun "until you drop." (True, in the old days in Moscow, fir branches tied over the door of a house meant that it was a tavern!) But the New Year tree, which all boys and girls love today (and adults too!), Appeared in Russia much later.

At the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, along with other customs of the Germans who moved to Russia, the custom came to us to decorate a Christmas tree brought from the forest for Christmas. The first Christmas trees in Russia, already decorated with toys and sweets, were sold in ... pastry shops! But then everything gradually fell into place: in Moscow, the Christmas tree bazaars began to rustle, where everyone could choose a green tree to their taste and to their pocket.

Russian Christmas trees for the public are, in all likelihood, a Moscow invention. In 1851, in the Great Hall of the Noble Assembly (now the Column Hall of the House of Unions), at a children's party organized in favor of women's private schools, the first common Christmas tree in Russia was decorated. After the Bolsheviks came to power, in the mid-1920s, the Christmas tree (like the holidays themselves - Christmas and New Year) was declared a "bourgeois relic". Only in 1935 did the authorities return the old custom to the people. Since then, in addition to home holidays, they arrange, for example, in the Kremlin, the House of Unions, "main Christmas trees" - with performances, songs and dances. The tallest and slender trees were always chosen for them. But in recent years, when society began to think about the preservation of Nature, children increasingly often lead New Year's round dances around an artificial tree ...

And what does the New Year smell like? "Christmas tree!" - remembering his childhood, everyone will say. A green tree, brought in from the frost and thawed, gradually fills the house with a coniferous aroma, conquering every corner of it. But the smell of the New Year, guys, is not only the freshness of a winter forest, the scent of resinous needles. It is mixed with the light smell of dust from toys that have lain in a closet or a dark pantry for a whole year - paper hares and crackers, boxes with golden balls and silver cones. To the spicy scent of resin is added the bitter scent of tangerines, candy aroma, stifling scent of candle wax ...

Many songs have been composed about the New Year, but for a hundred years the most famous among them is the simple song "A Christmas tree was born in the forest". The history of this song is very curious. Once upon a time there lived in Moscow a young school teacher Raisa Kudasheva (1878-1964), who wrote poetry. “I didn’t want to be famous, but I couldn’t not write,” Raisa Adamovna later recalled. And so in 1903 she brought the poem "Fir-tree" to the editorial office of the "Malyutka" magazine. The editor-in-chief liked the poem so much that he immediately ordered to replace some story in the already finished Christmas issue with these verses:

The Forest Raised a Christmas Tree,
She grew up in the forest
Slender in winter and summer,
It was green.
A blizzard sang a song to her:
"Sleep, herringbone, bye-bye!"
Frost covered with snow:
"Look, don't freeze! .."

However, is it worth repeating familiar words to everyone? After all, each of us knows them from early childhood! But what happened to the poem then, more than a hundred years ago? But what happened: these lines were seen in the magazine by the agronomist L.K. Beckman, who composed music at his leisure. He sat down at the piano - and it was a song! Since the amateur composer did not know musical notation, the melody was recorded by his wife, professor of the Moscow Conservatory Elena Aleksandrovna Bekman-Shcherbina. Neither the writer nor his wife knew anything about the author of the words. Didn't know that her poems had become a song, and Raisa Kudasheva. Only many, many years later, she accidentally heard on the train how a little girl was singing "Christmas tree". Here's a story!

Vasiliev evening

This day, when the name day is celebrated by Vasily and Vasilisa, today falls on the eve of the Old New Year, that is, on January 13th. In former times it was also called "rich evening" or Avsen (Ovsen, Usen) and was celebrated by singing carols. Costumed with games and songs went from house to house with a sack, where they put the treats begged from the owners:

We sow, we sow, we sow,
Happy Christ's Day,
With cattle, with a belly,
With little children - youngsters!
How many branches are there on the bush,
You would have so many children!
Merry Christmas,
The owner with the hostess! ..

If you look into the ancient, pre-Christian Russian history, then among many gods of that time you can find Avsen (in those centuries he bore a different name, and "Avsen" was borrowed from the Germans: in translation from German it is "sowing"), the patron saint of the first seedlings. Why does the spring deity celebrate his day at the height of winter? Recall that once in Russia, the new year began on March 1. So then Avsen was on the calendar to the right place! And after Peter I ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1, Avsen found himself another day - it became a winter holiday, but he retained some spring habits. Even in the last century, mummers during carols on Vasilyev's evening in every house threw a few grains of bread on the floor. These old women were sure to raise and store the grain until the spring sowing. So, perhaps, in the very name of the holiday - Avsen (Ovsen) - is the expectation of spring?

Christmas

The Feast of the Nativity of Christ is one of the most important holidays in the Christian calendar. For those of you guys who want to know its history and related rituals, it is best to turn to the Bible. Several editions of Children's Bibles have been published in recent decades. And then there is an excellent book by Selma Lagerlef (a writer you know from the fairy tale about the boy Niels, who traveled with wild geese), which is called Legends of Christ. Read them. Christmas in Russia is celebrated after the New Year - January 7. And in the rest of the Christian world - December 25. The fact is that in Russia the New Year is celebrated according to the generally accepted Gregorian calendar today, and the church holiday of Christmas according to the Julian calendar, which was used by our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers until 1918. The Julian calendar "lags behind" its younger brother: the difference between them in the XX and XXI centuries is exactly 13 days.

In Russia, Christmas is still slightly inferior in solemnity to Easter, but in the West, Christmas is the main holiday of the year. In Russia, as in the whole world, on this day, the lights on the Christmas trees are lit, and children and adults give each other gifts. After all, the more gifts and good wishes, the better!

Baptism

Remember, V.A. Zhukovsky: "Once on the Epiphany evening, the girls wondered ..." How did the girls guess, and why did they do it on the Epiphany evening? Well, you all know about fortune-telling: many people today believe that stars, reflections in mirrors, twigs and nuts thrown at random, melted wax, and various omens help to know the future. The Christmas week before the feast of Epiphany, which falls now on January 19, at all times was considered the best time for fortune telling! Both science and the church consider fortune-telling as superstition. But among the people, ancient customs are held tight! Many folk signs are associated with Baptism, by which they determined what the year will be: "On Epiphany, snow in flakes - for the harvest", "If dogs bark a lot on Epiphany, there will be a lot of beast and game", "If the night is starry on Epiphany, wait for the red harvest berries ".

The very same holiday of the Baptism of the Lord, or Epiphany, is Christian, ecclesiastical. The main event of Epiphany is the blessing of water. On the night before Epiphany, an ice-hole is made in one of the reservoirs at the established place - the Jordan. The priest immerses a cross in it - blesses it, after which they bathe in the Jordan, take water from it. This custom has long existed in Moscow. In the old days, Jordan was made, as a rule, in the ice of the Moskva River. Nowadays, the river practically does not freeze, and therefore in recent years, when this ancient custom has revived, many Muscovites come to Jordan, carved into the ice of one of the lakes of Serebryany Bor. Blessing of water also takes place in every Orthodox church, but the cross there is lowered into a vessel filled with water.

On January 19, Epiphany frosts were traditionally expected in Russia. They were the second in January after the Christmas frosts. It was believed that by the end of the month another drop in temperature awaits us - the Afanasyevo frosts (January 31). "Athanasius-clematis has come - take care of your cheeks and nose!" - said the people. But the industrial twentieth century confused all the pages of the national calendar: due to climate change, winters have become warmer and slushier. And frosts, predicted by folk signs, do not come every year ...

Presentation

The church holiday Presentation of the Lord is celebrated on February 15, on the fortieth day after Christmas. On this day, according to the story of the Evangelist Luke, the Mother of God with the baby Christ in her arms came to the Jerusalem temple ...

In Russia, Christian beliefs are usually closely intertwined with folk beliefs dating back to the days of paganism. "On Presentation, winter meets summer," said the people. On this day, it was believed, Winter and Summer are arguing, fighting: who to go forward, and who to go back ... Sretenya is associated with Sretenya frosts. But there are also Sretensky thaws - year after year does not happen! "What is the weather on Sretenye, so will spring be", "If snow is sweeping across the road, it will be late spring, and if it is not sweeping, it will be early." So note, guys: will folk signs coincide with real life this year or not?

Maslenitsa

This holiday is considered the most cheerful holiday in Russia. It is even called either "wild Shrovetide" or "wide Shrovetide". They even came up with a saying about Maslenitsa: "Not life, but Maslenitsa."

Shrovetide, or Cheese Week (as it is called in church calendars), mixed everything in its customs: the ancient Roman masquerades (Saturnalia - in honor of the god Saturn), when men dressed up in women's clothes, and women in men's clothes, dressed up as monsters and animals, putting on twisted animal skins ...

One of the foreigners, describing the Russian Shrovetide three hundred years ago, explains its name in this way: "Shrovetide is so named because Russians are allowed to eat cow's butter during this week, for they use hemp instead of cow's butter during fasting ... At that time , when everyone with heartfelt repentance had to prepare to contemplate the sufferings of Christ, these lost people betray their souls to the devil ... Day and night, gluttony, drunkenness, debauchery and murder continue (the author probably meant fistfights) ... They bake pies, rolls and the like all the time; they invite guests to their place and revel in honey, wine and vodka to the point of insensitivity ... "

Frightened by the breadth of Russian nature, the foreign writer did not remember other ancient customs and amusements on Shrovetide: skiing downhill on a sled, sleigh and just on birch bark, "runners" on skis and skates (more precisely, it was a semblance of modern skates) ...

The main thing in Russian Maslenitsa is, of course, pancakes. They are baked all week. The first pancake was once placed on the dormer, remembering the souls of the parents. Pancakes, according to scientists, are older than bread: even the biblical king David distributed on the occasion of the holiday "pancakes" ("pancakes from a frying pan"). Pancake is a pagan symbol of the sun, that's why it is round. Pancakes in Russia are loved and eaten in abundance (especially on Shrovetide): with caviar, and with red fish, and with honey, and with sour cream, and with jam ... Have we forgotten anything with you? In short, pancakes are delicious!

In olden times, sleigh rides on Maslenitsa were very popular in Moscow. They usually started at 12 noon on Monday. Muscovites loved sledding on the ice of the Moskva River and the Neglinnaya River, which flowed at that time in the very center of the city, near the walls of the Kremlin (the Aleksandrovsky Garden is now laid out on this place). But the most crowded skating took place on the Thursday of Cheese Week. Huge snow and ice slides were arranged on Red Square and on the banks of the Moskva River and Neglinka. There is a legend that a famous robber and, at the same time, a detective Vanka Kain, built one such snow slide for several years in the 18th century with his own money for Muscovites. Whether it is true or not is not known for certain, but the high slope of the Moskva River near the Kremlin was popularly called the Cain Mountain for many years ...

The most famous masquerade procession in Moscow was the Solemn Masquerade on the occasion of the Peace of Nystad, concluded in 1721 by Emperor Peter I. It was an unprecedented spectacle for Moscow at that time. It took place on the fourth day of Maslenitsa and began from the village of Vsesvyatskoye (now there is the Sokol metro station). The procession was attended by many sea vessels (moving on dry land) and about a hundred sledges. At the signal of the rocket, the carnival "train" moved towards the Triumphal Gate. On one of the ships, which was carrying 16 horses, Peter himself was seated in the form of a naval captain with generals and naval officers ... Having passed the Triumphal Gate, the procession went to the Kremlin, but reached it only in the evening. The celebration lasted four days and ended with cannon fire and fireworks.

After Maslenitsa, Great Lent begins, which lasts 40 days, until Easter.

WHAT IS INSTEAD OF A FIR-TREE?

There are countries where trees do not grow. How do children celebrate the New Year there? What trees do they decorate? It is customary for the Chinese to have a small tangerine tree in the house - the Tree of Light, and cut daffodils on the table. In Nicaragua, on New Years, rooms are decorated with branches of a coffee tree with red fruits. And in Australia, where the New Year falls at the height of summer, a metrosideros tree is erected for children, strewn with scarlet flowers at that time. Every Vietnamese will definitely give a friend a sprig of a blossoming peach tree on New Year's Eve, and the Japanese will attach a sprig of pine at the entrance to the dwelling.

HOW DO WE MEET THE NEW YEAR?

You know how the New Year is celebrated in Russia. And in other countries? In Germany, in the last minutes of the old year, people of all ages jump on chairs, sofas, tables and, with the last stroke of the clock, together, with joyful shouts, "jump" into the new year. In Hungary, on New Year's Eve, it is customary to blow and whistle: the sounds of pipes and whistles, according to the existing belief, drive away evil spirits, and the year will do without the interference of evil spirits. In Brazil, the arrival of the New Year is celebrated with cannon shots. Spaniards and Cubans on New Year's Eve eat a grape with every stroke of the clock. With the last strike of the clock, the Panamanians begin to shout, beat the drums, press the horns of cars ...

Life is boring and monotonous without holidays. Holidays are created so that we can feel the fullness of life, have fun and escape from routine worries. Winter would be especially dreary without the holidays - because of the frost and darkness in the evenings you will not go too far, and the TV is already disgusted! Therefore, in winter there are so many merry holidays: the New Year and the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord.

New Years reshuffle or when is the New Year?

The most beloved and long-awaited winter holiday for everyone was and will be the New Year. Children impatiently count down the days until New Year's Eve in the hope of receiving gifts, while adults are in a hurry to get rid of the burden of problems that has accumulated over the past year. Celebrating the coming of the New Year on the night of December 31, many of us do not even think that this wonderful holiday has been postponed several times. But in pagan times, the onset of the New Year was symbolically associated with the vernal equinox and saw off the old year on March 22. Since 998, the year began on March 1, and this was due to the introduction of a new chronology (in connection with the Baptism of Rus) and the adoption of the Julian calendar. Over time, the New Year began to be celebrated on September 1. The idea was that the harvest had been harvested by September, which means that we can summarize the results of the past year. In 1699, Peter I approved a new date - January 1 and founded the tradition of awaiting the arrival of the New Year noisily and cheerfully.

Traditions of a festive feast for the New Year

To celebrate the New Year, it is customary to invite close friends and beloved relatives to visit. Traditional New Year's festivities continue until the morning. In the New Year, gifts are placed under the Christmas tree for everyone, without exception - both children and adults.

An obligatory attribute of the New Year's celebration is a decorated Christmas tree. The forest guest is decorated not only with glass balls and garlands, but also with various "sweets" wrapped in foil - tangerines, sweets, apples, nuts. Fir branches or wreaths are hung on the doors. Candles lit everywhere create a festive atmosphere.

Ded Moroz and Snegurochka should be obligatory guests of the New Year's Eve. By the way, it is advisable to put symbolic images of these fairy-tale characters under the tree.

According to tradition, 12 different dishes should be presented on the table on New Year's. However, the Soviet period of history has made its own adjustments and now it is impossible to imagine a New Year's table without the salad "Olivier", "Soviet champagne" and tangerine.

On New Year's Eve, it is customary to arrange with dressing up or putting on masquerade masks. In order not to get bored, you can come up with funny contests and games at the New Year's table.

New Year comes into legal rights at midnight on December 31st, accompanied by the deafening chimes. In the last moments of the outgoing year, it is customary to accept congratulations from the incumbent president. And under the clink of glasses of champagne, you need to try to make a wish - if you have time, then it will definitely come true.

It is impossible to miss the onset of the New Year - fireworks and exploding firecrackers illuminating everything around will notify everyone of the event.

A little about the celebration of Christmas

While the New Year is a lush and noisy holiday that does not provide for absolutely any restrictions on food or games, but a quiet and modest holiday. On Christmas Eve, i.e. January 6, the fast ends, and the meal begins no earlier than the rising of the first star. For a meal on Holy Evening, you need to cook 12 dishes, necessarily lean ones, and, of course, kutya. Kutya was always cooked from wheat, rice, barley or peas and seasoned with sweet uzvar with honey, dried fruits, poppy seeds, etc.

But on Christmas (January 7), they were already preparing a festive dinner and the whole family sat down at the table. According to tradition, an armful of hay is symbolically placed on the table as a reminder that Jesus was born in a cattle barn. Meat and fish dishes are already prepared for the meal, but kutia should become the central dish of the evening. Traditionally, the celebration begins with kutya, because according to popular belief, the one who ate at least one spoonful of kutya on Christmas will be healthy and successful in the coming year.

It is very difficult for modern people to observe the age-old traditions of organizing that other holiday. Constant employment, stress and haste do not allow to allocate enough time to prepare the necessary 12 dishes or the same kutya. However, the holidays are just created in order to stop your run for a minute, to give your loved ones your love and to feel the belonging to the traditions of your people.

Celebrating the Baptism of the Lord

The Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the night of January 18-19. Due to the fact that for true Christians church baptism was a very important and significant event, the baptism of the Savior Jesus Christ in the Jordan River acquired a special scale. Therefore, Baptism is the main church holiday on which all Christians try to repent of their sins committed during the year.

Cleansing the soul takes place through swimming in a winter ice hole. First, a service dedicated to the Baptism of Christ is performed in the church, and then all the priests and people who come to the church make a procession with the cross to a nearby reservoir. A hole is cut through and the priest consecrates the water in accordance with all church canons. After consecration, the water becomes healing and three times dipping in ice water helps to cleanse the soul and heal from ailments. It is recommended to collect holy water and sprinkle the house, give it as medicine to sick people or use it as a remedy for various love spells, the evil eye, etc.

On Epiphany Eve, it is customary to cook lean porridge and vegetables for dinner. The evening on the eve of Epiphany has long been famous for folk festivities, fortune-telling and other sacraments. For example, on Epiphany it was customary to choose a bride, baptize children and marry.

The cycle of winter holidays ends with baptism, and winter begins to gradually give up its positions. Despite the fact that Epiphany frosts are the strongest, the people knew that winter was fierce in the end.

I you he she,
Together - the whole country.
Together - a friendly family
In the word "we" - one hundred thousand "I"
Big-eyed, mischievous,
Black, red and linen,
Sad and cheerful
In cities and villages!

In the past, holidays in Russia were an important part of family and social life. For many centuries, the people sacredly kept and honored their traditions, which were passed on from one generation to another. The Significance of Holidays On weekdays, people went about their daily activities and got their daily bread. The opposite of this was a holiday. On such a day, there was a merger with the history and sacred values ​​of the community revered by all, which was perceived as a sacred event. Basic Traditions At the everyday level, there were a number of rules that made it possible to get a psychophysiological feeling of the fullness of life on a holiday.

Russian folk holidays for children, old people and old maids simply did not exist. It was believed that the former had not yet reached the age when they could realize the sacred value, the latter were already on the verge of a living and a dead world, and the third, marked by celibacy, had not fulfilled their purpose on this earth.

Russian folk holidays and rituals have always meant freedom from any kind of work. A ban on such days was imposed on plowing and mowing, chopping wood and sewing, weaving and cleaning the hut, that is, on any daily activity. On holidays, people had to dress smartly and choose only joyful and pleasant topics for conversation. If someone violated the accepted rules, then a monetary fine could be imposed on him. One of the measures of influence was whipping.

Chronology of Holidays In the old days, all days free from work were combined in a single multi-stage sequence. The Russian folk calendar of holidays placed them in a certain order, which did not change from century to century.

It was believed that the holy day of Easter possessed the greatest sacred power. Russian folk holiday, classified as great, is Christmas. Trinity, Maslenitsa, as well as Petrov and Ivanov days were of no less importance. They singled out special periods that were associated with the initiation of various peasant works. It could be harvesting cabbage for the winter or sowing grain. Such days were considered half-holidays or small holidays. The Orthodox faith established Easter with twins. These are twelve holidays proclaimed in honor of the Mother of God and Jesus Christ. There were also temple days. They were local holidays dedicated to significant events in the lives of the saints, in honor of whom temples were erected. A special group includes days that have no connection with church traditions. These include Shrovetide and Christmastide. There were also cherished holidays celebrated in memory of some tragic event. They were carried out in the hope of gaining the favor of a deity or nature. Numerous women's and men's, as well as youth holidays were celebrated. Winter ceremonies For a long time, the Russian people assigned a certain role to each of the seasons. Any Russian folk holiday celebrated in winter was famous for festivities, amusements and games. This quiet time was the best fit for the farmer for entertainment and meditation. In Russia, New Year was considered the milestone date for a large list of ceremonies associated with farming. It was accompanied by Christmastide and Kolyady. These were colorful folk festivals.

Orthodox world celebrates Christmastide - two weeks of winter holidays

Christmastidecalled the twelve holidays between Christmas(January 7) and Epiphany (January 19). In Catholic Christianity, Christmastide corresponds to twelve Christmas days, lasting from noon on December 25 to the morning of January 6.

By tradition, in the first days of the festival, it is customary to visit acquaintances, relatives, friends, to give gifts - in remembrance of the gifts brought by the magi. Also these days it was customary to remember the poor, sick, needy people: to visit orphanages, shelters, hospitals, prisons. In ancient times, on Christmastide, even kings, disguised as commoners, visited prisons and gave alms to prisoners.

In the evening and at night mummers went to their homes - carols; For a long time the Slavs had a custom during Christmas time to dress up, put on masks ("okruty", "skuraty"), "play a goat". With the spread of Christianity in Russia, all these pagan rituals did not lose their strength, despite the fact that the Orthodox Church prohibits “on the eve of the Nativity of Christ and during the Christmastide, according to old idolatrous legends, games and, dressing up in idol clothes, dancing along the streets and hum seductive songs. "

Christmastide was celebrated by everyone, both young and old took part in them. But basically it was a holiday of young people - games, songs, rounds of houses, gatherings, fortune-telling created a unique atmosphere of Christmas fun.

Once upon a time in the villages of the Moscow province, Kolyada, a girl dressed over a fur coat in a white shirt, was taken on a sleigh. And they sang: "Kolyada was ugly on the eve of Christmas ...". But by the beginning of the twentieth century, such complex actions were noticeably simplified, and then reduced to a minimum. On the first Christmas night, young people usually used to carol, and boys and girls walked in a merry crowd through the streets, carrying in front of them on a pole either a lighted lantern in the shape of a star, or a house cut out of cardboard with a burning candle inside.

Christmas

They stopped at those houses where the fire was burning, went in and sang carols - songs in which they praised the owner with his entire family, for which they received either food or money as a reward. Songs were often composed on the go, but there were traditional rules in this art, coming from ancient times.

The owner, for example, was called nothing other than "the moon is bright", the hostess - "the red sun", their children - "pure stars." However, whoever knew how, invented more expressive magnifications: “The master of the house is like Adam in paradise; the mistress of the house is like pancakes with honey; little kids - that the grapes are red-green ... "

Christmastide is the best time for fortune-telling!

Fortune-telling and all kinds of divination were especially fascinated by children and adolescents, more often women, adult girls and even married women. It is difficult even to list all types of fortune-telling. In Christmastide, in a strange way, everything around took on a special meaning, nothing seemed accidental. They asked for the smallest trifles, any detail turned into a sign, into a harbinger of something definite. Everything that no one would pay attention to after Christmas was remembered and interpreted.

For example, fortune-telling with a rooster. A pinch of cereal, a piece of bread, scissors, ash, coal, coins, a mirror are laid out on the floor, a bowl of water is placed. They bring a rooster and see what it will start to peck first: cereals - to wealth, bread - to the harvest, scissors - the betrothed will be a tailor, ash - a smoker, coal - to eternal girlhood, coins - to money, if the rooster touches the mirror - the husband will be a dandy if he starts drinking water - to be a drunkard to her husband.

Time carols and fortune-telling.

From Christmas Eve to January 1, not a single housewife swept the litter out of the hut, then to collect it all in a heap and burn it in the middle of the yard. It was believed that in this way all the troubles would be swept out of the house, and the harvest of the next year would be protected (both in the garden and in the vegetable garden).

The mask-disguise is an obligatory and most ancient Christmas tree accessory. Disguises were made of the most varied, mainly from birch bark. On a piece of birch bark, holes were cut out for the eyes, nose and mouth, sewn on a birch bark nose, attached a flax beard, eyebrows, mustache, blushed cheeks with beets. The most expressive masks were often kept until the next Christmastide.

They start caroling even at night. "Kolyada" (or "koleda") is a mysterious word, and to this day there is not a single reliable explanation for it. The fact is that in different regions of Russia the people gave this word a variety of concepts. So, in the north, Christmas Eve itself is called carol, and caroling is the rite of walking from house to house with congratulations and songs.

In the Novgorod region, Christmas carols are gifts received when walking around the courtyards. In the south, they call this name the very holiday of Christmas and even all the Christmastide. For Belarusians, “caroling” means - to praise Christ. If a resident of the Smolensk region utters this word, in his mouth it has the meaning of “begging, begging for alms”.

Epiphany evening marks completion

Christmas Eve ends on January 19 - the Feast of Epiphany or Epiphany. In churches on this day, water is consecrated, which is called Epiphany and is kept as a shrine for a whole year.

Presentation of the Lord is celebrated on February 15th. It is also one of the twelve Orthodox holidays. It is celebrated in memory of the meeting of the infant Jesus, who was brought to the Jerusalem temple, with the holy prophetess Anna and the elder Simeon. Spring Holidays Winter is over. The forces of heat and light conquered the cold. At this time, a Russian folk holiday is celebrated, which is known for its free-for-all fun - Maslenitsa. During this period, which lasts a whole week before Great Lent, parting with winter took place.

The scenarios of Russian folk holidays that have come to us since ancient times dictated to visit Shrovetide and bake pancakes, ride a sled and sleigh, burn and then bury a scarecrow of winter, dress up and arrange feasts. On March 22, Magpies were celebrated, when the day was equal in length to the night. Traditionally, young people danced and sang songs. The gatherings ended with Shrovetide. April 7 - Annunciation. The sixth week of Lent is Palm. The folk traditions of this holiday are associated with the willow. Its branches are consecrated in the church. Easter is a great holiday for all Christians living on our planet. On this day, the Resurrection is celebrated, that is, the accomplishment of the transition of Jesus Christ from death to life. Krasnaya Gorka is a Russian folk holiday. It is timed to coincide with the first Sunday after Easter, and is a symbol of the full arrival of spring. With this holiday, the ancient Slavs met the time of the revival of nature. Ascension was celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter. This is the last spring holiday. Rites and traditions in the summer The fiftieth day after Easter is considered the Day of the Holy Trinity (Pentecost). This is one of the greatest Orthodox twelve-year holidays. In the Bible, this day is described by events that endowed the Apostles with the Holy Spirit and allowed them to preach the teachings of Christ among all nations. Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church itself.

Russian folk holidays in the summer began with Trinity. This day was associated with the final wires of spring. The main tradition for the celebration of the Trinity was to decorate the dwelling and the temple with various twigs, flowers and fragrant grass. This was done so that the Holy Spirit would descend. As in Easter week, eggs were painted again. A significant Russian folk holiday in July is Ivan Kupala. It is of ethnic origin and is celebrated from the sixth to the seventh when the summer solstice is observed. Traditionally, on this day, bonfires are burned and jumped over them, wreaths are made and round dances are held. The holiday is called in honor of John the Baptist. The main thing that distinguishes this day from other festivities is jumping over fires, which help to cleanse a person from the evil spirits inside him. Summer Russian folk holidays in August are notable. They begin from the second day, when Ilyin's day is celebrated. After it, the summer heat decreases with the establishment of moderate heat. Traditionally, for Ilyin's day, donuts and koloba were baked from the flour of the new harvest. Already on August 14, together with the first Savior, the farewell to the summer began. On this day, beekeepers broke off the honeycomb in the hives. That is why the holiday is called honey. The Second Savior is celebrated on August 19. They called it apple, since at this time the time for harvesting the ripe harvest of fruits comes. The Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos is celebrated on 28 August. This is a great event. It is referred to as twelve Orthodox holidays. This is the day of honoring the memory of the great Prayer Book - the Mother of God. According to folk traditions, this holiday is called the Lord's Day. He is surrounded not by sorrow, but by joy.

The day after the Dormition, the third Savior is celebrated. This day is marked in both the Orthodox and the Slavic calendar. It marks the last flight of swallows and the last flight of swallows, as well as the beginning of Indian summer, which lasts until the eleventh of September. Autumn Holidays On September 14, the Eastern Slavs celebrate a holiday named after Semyon Letoprovodts. Its essence is to hold celebrations that herald the coming autumn. This is the day of the ceremonies, which include the following: housewarming and sitting, trimming and setting fires, as well as burying flies. Exactly one month later, on October 14, the Protection of the Day is celebrated. It marks the final onset of the autumn period. In the old days, sandals and straw beds, worn out over the summer, were burned on this day. It was believed that on Pokrov, autumn meets winter. Russian folk holidays in modern life Since ancient times, the days when people traditionally did not work and performed certain rituals, awakened a sense of beauty in a person, allowed them to feel free and relax. At present, in Russia, some ancient holidays are not forgotten. They are celebrated, as before, with the preservation of the most ancient traditions. As in the old days, the Russian people have a reason to arrange merry feasts, dances, games and festivities.

Religious holidays are also celebrated in Russia. They are also popular, because the Orthodox faith cannot be separated from the values ​​that the country's culture is rich in.

Trinity- the twentieth holiday of the Orthodox calendar, celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter, on the tenth day of the Ascension. Other names for the Trinity are the day of the Holy Trinity, Pentecost, the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. On this day, the Orthodox Church remembers the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and honors the Holy Trinity. The event set forth in the New Testament book "Acts of the Holy Apostles" has a direct connection with the doctrine of the Trinity - one of the main provisions of the Christian faith. According to this teaching, God exists in three non-merged and indivisible persons: the Father - the beginningless principle, the Son - the logos and the Holy Spirit - the life-giving principle.

Holy Week - the seventh last week before Easter, lasts 6 days, starting on Monday and ending on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The meaning of the holiday is preparation for Easter. Traditions at the holiday: cleaning the house, obligatory bathing, commemoration of ancestors, putting up a swing, painting eggs, baking cakes. According to the beliefs of the people, colored eggs have magical powers, for example, if you put the shell on fire, then the smoke from this egg can heal a person from night blindness, they also believe that such an egg can heal a sick tooth. Signs for this holiday: if you heat the stove on Maundy Thursday with aspen wood, then the sorcerers will come to ask for ash, parsley sown on Good Friday gives a double harvest.

Apple saved - the popular name for the holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord among the Eastern Slavs, celebrated on August 19, and even before this holiday it is forbidden to eat apples and various dishes from apples, on the other hand, on the other hand, it is necessary to pick as many apples as possible and consecrate them. The purpose of the holiday is the consecration of apples, seeing off the sun at sunset with songs. Yablochny Savior has another name - the first autumn, that is, the meeting of autumn. According to tradition, you need to treat apples first to all your relatives and friends, then to orphans, the poor, as a reminder of the ancestors who have fallen asleep in eternal sleep, and only then eat the apples ourselves. In the evening, after the holiday, everyone went out to the field to sing along with the sunset, and with it the summer.

Christmastide- Slavic folk festive complex, celebrated from January 6
until January 19. Christmastide is oversaturated with various magical rites, fortune-telling, omens, customs and prohibitions. The purpose of the holiday: folk festivities, carols, sowing, dressing, erotic games, ritual atrocities of youth, fortune-telling for the betrothed, visiting, rituals for well-being and fertility. Holiday sayings: wolves marry on Christmastide, from Christmas to Epiphany it is a sin to hunt animals and birds - misfortune will happen to the hunter. According to popular beliefs, the presence of spirits among living people, invisible to the ordinary eye, made it possible to look into their future, which explains the numerous forms of Christmas divination.

Day of Peter and Fevronia - folk Orthodox holiday, celebrated on July 8. Holiday traditions: swim without looking back, because it was believed that on this day the last mermaids leave the banks deep into the water bodies and fall asleep. After the Kupala games, the betrothed couples were determined, and this day patronized family and love, in addition, in the old days, from that day to Peter, weddings were played. The first mowing is the day of all evil spirits such as: witches, mermaids, werewolves and many others. According to "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", Prince Peter reluctantly married Fevronia, most likely their union was childless and ended with the tonsure of both spouses as monks. Sayings: there are forty hot days ahead, after Ivan there is no need for a zupan, if it rains on that day, then there will be a good harvest of honey, pigs and mice eat hay - for poor mowing.

Ilyin's day - a traditional holiday among the eastern and southern Slavs, celebrated on August 2. The tradition of the holiday includes: collective meals, the slaughter of a bull or a ram. The holiday has pagan roots, since at first it was a holiday of the god of thunder Perun, but with the adoption of Christianity among the Slavs, instead of the image of Perun, the image of Ilya, the prophet, appeared, hence the name of the holiday. Sayings at the holiday: Ilya keeps thunderstorms, Ilya keeps the rain and brings down the word, Ilya endows with bread, not swords on Ilya's heaps - he will burn with heavenly fire. From Ilyin's day, according to folk legends, bad weather began, and it was also forbidden to swim.

Palm week - the sixth week of Great Lent. The main folk rituals of the week are associated with the willow and fall on Saturday and Sunday. There is a legend associated with this week, which says that once the willow was a woman, and she had so many children that the woman argued with Mother Earth herself that she was more fertile than the Earth. Mother Earth got angry and turned the woman into a willow. There is a belief on this holiday - a consecrated willow can stop a summer thunderstorm, and thrown into a flame can help in a fire. Holiday traditions: consecration of a pussy willow, beating with willow branches, chants of spring.

Kolyada - a traditional holiday of pagan origin among the Slavic peoples, associated with the winter solstice. The date of the celebration is on the night of January 6th to January 7th. The meaning of the holiday is the turning of the sun from winter to summer. Celebration - caroling, dressing up, Christmas-tide games, fortune-telling, family meal. According to popular belief, Mother-cheese-earth could open up only because of a lie, for a false oath, or because of perjury.

Maslenitsa is a Slavic traditional holiday celebrated during the week before Lent. The purpose of the holiday is to say goodbye to winter. Traditions: bake pancakes, go to visit, arrange feasts, ride a sleigh and sled, dress up, burn or bury an effigy of Shrovetide. Celebrated from meat-eating Saturday to forgiveness Sunday. The fertility of people in the popular mind was inextricably linked with the fertility of the land and the fertility of livestock, the third side of Maslenitsa is connected with the stimulation of fertility - the memorial.

Easter- the oldest Christian holiday, the main holiday of the liturgical year. Installed in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, which occurs no earlier than the day of the conditional vernal equinox on March 21. Traditions: consecration of colored eggs and Easter cakes, welcome kissing. Most of the Easter traditions originated in worship. The scope of Easter folk festivals is associated with breaking the fast after Great Lent - the time of abstinence, when all holidays, including family ones, were postponed to the celebration of Easter. At the end of the 19th century, it became a tradition in Russia to send open letters with colorful drawings to those relatives and friends with whom you cannot celebrate Christ, on Easter as the main holiday.

Semyon Letoprovets - the holiday of the Eastern Slavs, which begins on September 14th. The essence of the holiday is the celebration of the approaching autumn: the day before, the summer ended and the new year began. On this day, ceremonies are performed: housewarming, ambush, lighting a fire, the rite of tonsure, funeral of flies, the legend of the sparrows. Semyon's day is considered happy, so it is advised to celebrate housewarming. Signs: Semyon sees off the summer, leads the Indian summer; on Semyon - the last thunderstorm; spike seeds have not been removed for seeds - they are considered lost; if geese fly away on Semyon-day, wait for early winter.

Clean monday - the first day of Fedorov week and Great Lent. On this day, everyone forgives each other and starts the day with a clear conscience and a clear soul. This is a very strict day of fasting as well as on the following days. The name of the holiday comes from the desire to spend the first day of fasting clean. On this holiday, during the first Lenten Great Compline, they begin to read the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and other prayers of repentance. At the end of the 19th century, most of the oleaginous revelers, despite strict fasting, were “rinsed out” or got drunk on this day. Since this is the day of fasting, all that can be eaten or drunk on this day is: a little black bread with salt and water or unsweetened tea. The prayer of Ephraim the Syrian, "Lord and Master of my life," will continue to be ascended throughout the days of Great Lent.

Cover day - one of the holidays of the Eastern Slavs, celebrated on October 14. The meaning of the holiday is the final onset of autumn, on this day the meeting of Autumn and Winter was previously celebrated. People say that from the Pokrovo goblin stop wandering through the forests (in another way they are called forest owners). On the eve of this holiday, young village girls burn their old straw beds, and old women burn their old bast shoes, worn out over the summer. The Russian people, celebrating the days dedicated to the Mother of God, were waiting for Her help.

Honey saved - an Orthodox holiday celebrated on August 14. The essence of the holiday is the small blessing of water. The tradition of the holiday is the beginning of the collection of honey, its consecration and a meal - "widow's aid". The holiday is celebrated in honor of the Origin of the trees of the Cross of the Lord at the end of the XIV century. The meaning of the holiday is the first day of the Dormition Lent. Honey Savior is also called "Savior on the Water", this is because of the small consecration of water. According to tradition, it was on this day in Russia that new wells were consecrated and old ones were cleaned. This holiday is called "Honey Savior" because on this day the bee hives are usually filled to capacity and the beekeepers go to collect the honey crop.

Ivan Kupala is a summer holiday of pagan origin, celebrated from 6 to 7 July. The holiday is associated with the summer solstice. Traditions: burn fires and jump over them, lead round dances, weave wreaths, collect herbs. The holiday begins the night before. The name of the holiday comes from the name of John the Baptist (John's epithet is translated as “bather, plunger”). The main feature of Ivan Kupala is cleansing fires, in order to cleanse himself of the evil spirits inside a person, he would have to jump over these fires.

Red hill - a spring holiday among the Eastern Slavs, which is celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. On this day are celebrated: spring girls' round dances, a meal with scrambled eggs, youth games. The red hill symbolizes the full arrival of spring, it is with this holiday that this season is celebrated. In addition to the fact that the Red Hill symbolizes the arrival of spring, the holiday also symbolizes the meeting of boys and girls, because spring is the beginning of a new life for all nature. At the Krasnaya Gorka holiday there is one proverb that says: "Whoever marries on Krasnaya Gorka will never get divorced."