Green Christmastide rituals in Rus'. Green Christmastide: what to cook for Trinity. Love spell for Trinity

Green Christmastide is a complex of various holidays, which was often called mermaid week, trinity week. Sometimes they coincided with Rusalia; one of the holidays celebrated during this period of time was Semik.

In the article:

Green Christmas time and mermaid week

As you know, green Christmastide is an important period for the entire Slavic people. The Russians called this the 7 days that were before Trinity; on the territory of Ukraine, Green Christmastide was the name given to the period from Thursday of the 7th week after Trinity to the following Tuesday.

Mermaid Week in 2017 begins immediately after Trinity and lasts from June 4 to June 11.

Several important holidays are celebrated throughout this period.

• Monday: Day of the Spirits, Name Day of the Earth, Seeing off the mermaids, Ivan and Marya, Bathing Day, Holy Spirit.
• Tuesday: Water Day, Kostroma, Farewell to spring, Parents' day, Farewell to mermaids.
• Wednesday: Hailbreaker, Buraloms, Dry environment.
• Thursday: Rusal Easter, Kiselev Day.

Customs of ancestors for Trinity week

On Trinity week, usually all the young people put on beautiful mermaid costumes and held extensive festivities. Young girls tried to frighten passers-by as much as possible, so they let their long hair down and wandered around the houses in their shirts, which frightened the neighbors.

It was believed that during this period one could not only protect oneself from the influence of otherworldly forces, but even communicate with them. That is why our ancestors left shirts on the banks of reservoirs, in forests and swamps, so that...

But it was believed that these water entities needed to be appeased, since otherwise they would plot intrigues and steal livestock. That is why our ancestors left various gifts on the same banks of reservoirs: salt, bread, clothes.

It was believed that if a person ignored such precautions, the mermaids would begin to intrigue him.

Signs and beliefs for green Christmastide

According to tradition, on Tuesday our ancestors began to call upon the mermaids, they performed various rituals and tried to appease them. The belief says that if a person does not leave some food near the house for the sea spirit, then various misfortunes will certainly befall him. For example, the family will be poor, ugly children will be born, someone will get sick.

According to the superstition, in Buraloy, on Wednesday, it was forbidden to whitewash canvases, and a storm awaited from those who violated the ban. At the end of the mermaid week, on Sunday, it was necessary to arrange a big holiday.

It was believed that on this day sea spirits leave people and say goodbye to them for the whole year. If the peasant did not perform the farewell ceremony, then the mermaids could even come for him and drag him away with them.

Rituals and ceremonies during Rusal week

One of the most common methods of fortune telling was this. Starting on Thursday morning, all unmarried girls had to bake meat pies and throw them into ponds at midnight. It was believed that in this way the girl appeases the mermaid and may even ask her to send her a betrothed. The following text must be repeated three times:

Ah, the red maiden is distressed, I am tired of living without my betrothed, my beloved. Mavonka, little mermaid, call upon my destiny, so that my heart does not languish, so that it reaches out to me, so that we see each other and have a wedding.

It was believed that if a girl performed such a ritual, she would meet her love within a month. Often young guys also used this ritual, changing the words in the spell (“the red maiden is spinning” - “well done,” etc.).

Our ancestors were sure that if a girl wanted her lover to finally call her down the aisle, then her close friend had to make her a large wreath of herbs during Mermaid week and weave the handkerchief of the chosen young man into it.

After this, the girl who wants to get married had to put it on herself and go to the shore of the reservoir exactly at midnight. The wreath was lowered onto the water, and the girl had to whisper:

Wreath, wreath, you were made by my friend’s little hands, but to my joy she gave you to me. You float the wreath, float, and call my beloved, so that you can sit next to him this year and have a wedding.

It was believed that after such a ceremony the guy would soon take the girl as his wife.

What is Semik?

Sometimes this holiday is also called the Trinity of the Dead or Rusalchin Great Day. It is celebrated exactly three days before Trinity. The main feature of such a day is the commemoration of the hostage dead.

On this day, extensive festivities were held, girls told fortunes and performed various magical rituals. For example, on this holiday they usually performed the ancient ritual of burial and commemoration of the poor in poor houses that were located in groves. Initially, rituals were performed on the graves of the deceased.

In addition, our ancestors decorated birch trees, decorating them with various ribbons, wove large wreaths of wildflowers, and curled birch trees. On Wednesday, before Trinity, girls quite often went into the forest and broke birch trees, and on Thursday or Saturday they returned to the selected trees with beer and scrambled eggs.

It was carefully fired, after which it was crushed very well and collected in a separate bag. It was believed that such a product, obtained on this particular day, has special healing properties. In some villages they also did roe deer. This is a special cake in the shape of a wreath with eggs.

Sometimes, instead of scrambled eggs, the girls took these roes into the forest. In Siberia there was a slightly different tradition: the top of a young birch was completely drawn to the ground and “braids” were made on it, connecting the branches with tall grass.

Rusalia - mermaid days

Rusalia are very important days for our ancestors, on which they commemorated all the deceased. It is worth noting that Rusal days are winter and summer. The first ones were celebrated on Christmas Eve and Epiphany, and the summer ones - after or on.

Usually people held large feasts, brought gifts to the resting places of the dead, such festivities sometimes lasted all night. It is worth noting that the church had an extremely negative attitude towards such celebrations. Rusalia was celebrated in different ways in different places.

For example, the southern Slavs believed that it was on these days that one could meet a mermaid, so they did their best to appease the water spirits. The Bulgarians were sure that Rusal Wednesday is the 25th day after Easter, when these sea creatures get ready to set off.

In Macedonia, Rusal Week, which lasted from until Epiphany, was of particular importance. At this time, men dressed in various costumes, held round dances, and walked along the streets of villages.

It is important that participants in such events had to adhere to clear dogmas. They could not cross themselves before meals, they were forbidden to return greetings from their neighbors, and at night the men did not return to their home or have contact with their family.

Green Christmastide (Spiritual Day) Trinity - was the main boundary between winter and summer. In the folk calendar (with the adoption of Christianity), the Trinity holiday was dedicated to these days, which then flowed into Rusal week and the holiday of Ivan Kupala. Green Christmastide rituals welcomed the first greenery and the beginning of summer field work.
The cycle of green Christmastide consisted of several rituals: bringing a birch tree into the village, wreathing wreaths, kumeleniya, funeral of a cuckoo (Kostroma or mermaid). The birch tree was a symbol of inexhaustible vitality, as during the winter holidays - carols, all rituals were attended by mummers depicting animals, devils And mermaids. In the songs sung during the green holidays, two main themes can be distinguished: love and work. It was believed that imitation of labor activity ensured the well-being of future field work.
While singing the song “You succeed, succeed my flax,” the girls showed the process of sowing flax, weeding it, harvesting it, carding it and spinning it. The singing of the song “We sowed millet” was accompanied by movements in which the participants reproduced the processes of sowing, collecting, threshing, and pouring millet into the cellar.
In ancient times, both songs were performed in the fields and performed a magical function. Later, the ritual meaning was lost, and they began to be sung in places of celebration.
It was customary to bring birch branches and bouquets of first flowers into the house. They were dried and stored in a secluded place all year. After the harvest began, the plants were placed in the granary or mixed with fresh hay. Wreaths were made from tree leaves collected during the holiday and placed in pots where cabbage seedlings were planted. Trinity plants were believed to have magical powers.
To ensure a high harvest, a special prayer service was sometimes served. Associated with it is the custom of “crying on flowers” ​​- dropping tears on the turf or a bunch of flowers.
After completing special prayers, all participants went to the cemetery, where they decorated the graves with birch branches and provided refreshments. Having remembered the dead, they went home, leaving food at the cemetery.
Green Christmastide ended with the ritual of funeral or farewell to Kostroma.
Image Kostroma.connected with the end of the green Christmastide, ceremonies and rituals often took the form of ritual funerals.
Kostroma could be depicted by a beautiful girl or young woman dressed in white, with oak branches in hands. She was chosen from those participating in the ritual, surrounded by a girl’s round dance, after which they began to bow and show signs of respect. “Dead Kostroma” was laid on boards, and the procession moved to the river, where “Kostroma was awakened,” and the celebration ended with a bath.
In addition, the Kostroma funeral ceremony could be carried out with a straw effigy. Accompanied by a round dance, the effigy was carried around the village and then buried in the ground, burned at the stake or thrown into the river. It was believed that the following year Kostroma would resurrect and come to earth again, bringing fertility to the fields and plants.

Trinity Day can rightfully be called “green Christmastide,” and not only because on this day parishioners stand mass in churches with bouquets of meadow flowers (called “spirits” in Yaroslavl) or tree branches, but also because the reason is that both streets and houses are decorated with birch trees. Wildflowers that have been in the church are dried and stored behind the icons for various needs: they are placed under fresh hay and in the granary to prevent mice, in holes in the ridges from shrews, and in the attic to eliminate fire disasters. Trees are brought to the village streets by the whole cartload and decorate not only the doors, but also the window frames, and, in particular, their “mother church”, the floor of which is strewn with fresh grass: everyone, when leaving mass, tries to grab it from under their feet , to mix with hay, boil with water and drink as a healing medicine. Some people make wreaths from the leaves of the trees that stood in the church and place them in pots when planting cabbage.

These, in essence, are the most important special customs, adapted to the Trinity holiday and blessed by the church, which singled them out for this day from Semik and Rusal celebrations. This explains the confusion that is noticed in various localities when establishing ritual receptions for certain periods. Some of these methods precede, others coincide with Trinity Day (as indicated by us in the appropriate articles) and even precede it, all on the same basis that these festivities in honor of spring are completely dependent on its late or early arrival, at least and in relation to this kind of entertainment, which are reels or swings, arranged not just for small children, but for all young people in general.

Among the latter, in the Novgorod region, an ancient custom has apparently been preserved, adapted specifically to Trinity Day (in the same way as to Maslenitsa) and called “shaking gunpowder.” It consists of the following. During the walk, in the meadow, among round dances and games of “goryshi” (Old Testament “burners”), one of the men grabs the cap from the young newlywed, shakes it over his head and shouts at the top of his lungs and to the whole field: “Gunpowder is on.” lip, the wife doesn’t love her husband.” In response to this cry, the young woman stands out from the crowd (and the whole task is to do this as quickly as possible), stands in front of her husband, bows to him at the waist, takes off the cap that they manage to put on his head at the moment of her appearance, takes the husband by the ears and kisses him three times and bows again to him in all four directions. When a young woman leaves, and sometimes when she appears, a loud assessment of her qualities and various vulgar jokes begin, especially about those who had sins in the girls. Young people are usually embarrassed by this custom and say: “When they shake gunpowder, it would be better to fall through the ground.”

Green Christmastide is the week preceding it. At times, this is the name given to the days starting with Thursday in Seventh week and ending with Thursday in Trinity week. Sometimes this is the name given to the days starting with the Ascension and ending with the Nettle Spell.

As the ancient Slavs imagined, during such Christmastide they appeared. Also, these Christmastides were considered something of a boundary between the calendar spring and the passage, since Trinity itself and the week that followed it were considered the end of spring. When Peter's Day arrived on July 12, people believed that nature was beginning to turn closer to winter. As the culmination of the passing Christmastide, the day on which the summer solstice was scheduled was celebrated, and this day was also called Midsummer's Day. The duration of such a day was determined, and Trinity was considered early. The duration of the Green Christmastide lasted almost the entire month. When Trinity was late, they lasted a couple of weeks.

How Green Christmastide was celebrated in Rus'

The time of Green Christmastide was filled with various rituals intended for the implementation of household affairs. This concerned pastoral and agricultural activities. In particular, a ritual was observed called “going to live” and was considered very characteristic of that era. It was determined by the growth of grain observed on Midsummer's Day. Usually then the girls gathered in small groups and inspected the cereal crops in the fields. When they made their rounds, they gathered in the meadow, lit a fire, cooked scrambled eggs and ate pies. At the end of the meal, spoons with eggshells were thrown up and sentenced so that the rye could grow. They themselves tumbled right on the grass. Various rituals were also performed to prevent hail, possible drought, and other dangers that could harm crop yields. Peasants organized prayer services with water blessing procedures and doused people’s graves with water, especially if the dead died unnaturally, such as drowned people.

Ceremonies regarding the safety and health of animals were also carried out. In our country, on this holiday, a ritual was performed to crown cattle. The shepherd was supposed to bring a couple of wreaths for the hostess. The first wreath was hung on cow horns. The next wreath was put on the hostess herself, and magical actions were performed. And then the wreaths were stored in the barn and could be used for the purpose of veterinary treatment. When Peter's Day arrived, it was necessary to treat the shepherds, since this holiday was considered a shepherd's holiday.

Green Christmastide was considered by people as a transitional stage in the life of the nature surrounding people. At that time, many prohibitions with amulets were planned, the purpose of which was protection from evil spirits, from witches who committed rampages on Midsummer’s Day. Sometimes people called this day the witch's day.

The time of the Green Christmastide with its initial period was associated with the fact that the souls of ancestors were on earth. And when cereal crops bloomed, this time seemed favorable to contact with other worlds. Sometimes in villages (in the southwest of the country) they believed in the release of a dead soul on Trinity Saturday. They left this land of souls for the Trinity itself. In certain provinces it was believed that souls turned into birds and sat on birch branches that were carried to houses. They believed in conversations between souls and each other and in the ability to hear such conversations anywhere, anywhere. Also on these days, commemoration of each deceased was organized in the villages - it was carried out:

• in the church,
• in cemeteries.

In addition, as the Russians believed, the Green Christmastide directly related to the appearance of mermaids, which were considered to be the souls of those girls and small children who died. These souls were present among people during Trinity Saturday, swinging on birch branches or hiding in the rye. Souls left the world when Peter’s conspiracy began. It was the first Sunday after Trinity began. And when the mermaids left, a ceremony called “seeing off the mermaids” was performed.

During the Green Christmastide, rituals related to initiation, that is, dedication, were carried out. This implied the transition of teenage children to youth, of marriageable age. Of the rituals, the most striking were those that related to girls' meals held in the meadow, on Trinity Sunday, or on days dedicated to Agrafena the bathing suit. Often such rituals coincided with the rituals of going to live. Meals were held, songs were sung, maiden unions were concluded, where those girls who reached the age suitable for marriage entered. As a symbol of such a union, the ritual concerning “cumulsion” was considered. There were forest gatherings of girls, where they approached the wreaths hanging on the tree. There were also crosses with colored eggs through which you had to kiss. Presents were exchanged and many turned into godfathers. And then there was a party where the guys were invited. Nepotism usually took place a week later, when Peter’s conspiracy began.

When rituals were performed at Green Christmastide, attention was paid to eroticism and marriage. The girls threw wreaths into the water, began to wonder whether they would get married, and performed various magical rituals. For example, a harrow was burned, a furrow was drawn from one’s own house to the betrothed’s home, and so on. All this brought the possible matchmaking closer. The girls and boys spent a lot of time with each other. There were more and more joint celebrations the closer Ivanov, as well as Peter's Day, approached. Moreover, the games became almost erotic. There was communal swimming in ponds, although at any other time this was considered undignified. There were jumps over lit fires, large meals were held, which could end with joint overnight stays. Also, young people beat their peers with nettle branches when Peter the Great began and this symbolized an erotic game. Various songs were sung, the content of which quite often turned out to be indecently erotic.

Christmastide Games

The most colorful reflection of the eroticism contained was in the games played. Usually they played “weddings”. Such fun was popular throughout Rus' - not only among young beauties, but also among those women who were already married. For this purpose, a “groom” was appointed, and a “bride” was also appointed. And then it was necessary to play out every stage of the wedding - right up to the wedding night, while everyone around was watching and having fun. Also, a wedding-themed drawing was carried out thanks to paired mythological characters. One of them was a symbol of the masculine, and the other character symbolized the feminine. For example, we could be talking about Semik and Semichikha. People made effigies of them from straw material, decorated them with phallic symbols and left them overnight. The next morning we had to ask the scarecrows about how their night went. It often happened that such entertainment became unbridled outrage, where they used foul language, showed indecent gestures, and sang disgraceful songs. When the green Christmastide ended, the people who participated in them went to church to pray that God would forgive them.

GREEN CHRISTMAS (aka RUSALIA) in the traditional Russian monthly calendar (calendar) is a magical time dedicated to seeing off spring (Goddess Lelya), honoring water spirits (mermaids) and birches, as well as commemorating the deceased (including those taken hostage (that is, the deceased) before the deadline) deceased).
Semik is Thursday of Rusal week.
In ancient times, the beginning of the Green Christmastide was presumably associated with Yarilin's Day (4th Sunday/June), and the end of Rusalia was the holiday of the summer Solstice - Kupalo.

Our ancestors associated mermaids with water and honored them by holding festivals and prayers to the mermaids, considering them the spirits of rain, vegetation and fertility. Initially, mermaids were depicted not with fish tails, but as winged girls - “Sirins”. Rusalia were winter and summer. Winter ones were tightly intertwined with New Year's spell magic, and summer ones (“Mermaid Week”) - with prayers for rain. Mermaid girls were associated with birch trees. Thin, delicate, light, they became a symbol of the end of winter and the beginning of summer.
During the Green Christmastide, it was customary to bring home birch branches (the branches of this tree, especially those used in rituals, were considered a powerful amulet by the Slavs) and flowers, and decorate everything with greenery.
The birch tree was a symbol of life, inexhaustible strength. Wreaths were woven from its leaves. They were then placed in pots and covered with soil to plant cabbage seedlings there. It was believed that “Trinity plants” have magical powers.
The first flowers and birch branches were brought into the houses. When the branches and flowers dried up, they were not thrown away. It was customary to keep them all year round in a secluded place. And when the harvest began, dry plants were mixed with fresh hay.
Rusal ritual consists of two main parts: honoring birches and mermaids and commemorating the dead.

Honoring birches and mermaids.

Curling wreaths.
At the beginning of Christmastide (in Semik), the girls “curl wreaths” on the ritual birch tree. First of all, a protective circle is drawn around the tree (very often it is replaced by a maiden round dance singing ritual songs). Then the top or branches of the birch are bent and tied into a ring (without breaking them!). These rings are called wreaths.

“I look, I look at the wreath,
- Curl yourself, little birch.
I look, I look at the wreath,
“Curl yourself, curly.”

The girls worship through the rings. After a few days, the wreaths will definitely develop.
According to popular beliefs, mermaids emerge from rivers in the spring and swing on rings made of birch branches. People try to appease the water spirits by bringing them needs.

“During the dirty week the mermaids sat,
- Early, early.
Mermaids sat on a crooked birch tree,
- Early, early.
On a crooked birch tree, on a straight path,
- Early, early.
The mermaids asked for bread and salt,
- Early, early.
And bread, and salt, and bitter cibul,
Early, early."

Feeding the tree.
The tree is fed - various foods are left under it (the main ritual dish is scrambled eggs), prepared in bulk - that is, from products collected from all participants in the ritual. Often the girls themselves eat under the tree (which can be understood as sharing a meal with the tree).
“Rejoice, white birch:
Go to your place
Red snappers,
I can't help but think
Yaeshni are awesome,
Bitter burner
The violin is ringing"

Dressing up.
Birch is decorated with ribbons and scarves, sometimes completely dressed in women's clothing. At the same time, the participants in the ceremony put on wreaths of birch branches and other greenery and dress themselves up. Most often, representatives of other gender and age groups were depicted: - married women or men, sometimes - animals, devils and mermaids. Masquerade is a complex ritual that has many meanings: birch wreaths serve to liken girls to birch trees, dressing up in clothes of the opposite sex and wearing masks (masks) of some animals - to ensure fertility; mummers depicting various spirits are, in fact, their representatives. In addition, dressing up (according to popular beliefs) serves as a way of protection from possible harm from the inhabitants of the Other World.

Cumiliation.
This is followed by the rite of communion - rings, scarves, and earrings are exchanged through a curled wreath.
“We will kiss each other, gossip,
I look, I look at the wreath,
- Let's kiss, my dear.
I look, I look at the wreath"
Russians call the birch tree “kuma” after curling wreaths, and one of the Belarusian ritual songs directly says: “I had sex with a white birch tree.” In later times, as a result of a reinterpretation of the original custom, an alliance was concluded with mermaids. Trying to please the mermaids and ensure a fertile season rich in rain, people performed rituals of cumulation, as if calling on the mermaids to become their relatives.

Dispossession.
A few days later, the so-called disassembly took place: the branches of the trees were untied, the decorations were removed, and the holiday approached its final phase - seeing off the mermaids. According to popular beliefs, mermaids came out of the rivers for a short time in the spring, and their stay on land beyond the prescribed period was harmful: they began to play pranks, trample crops and cause inconvenience to people. The ritual of repentance is a delicate way to remind the water spirits that it is time for them to return home.

Cutting down a birch tree.
After all the symbols of the holiday were removed from the birch tree, it was cut down (sometimes dug up by the roots) and carried to the village. There they usually carried it into all the houses “for good luck”, and then walked around the village with it and threw the tree into the river. A birch tree thrown into the water was supposed to transfer its healing power to the water. It was believed that drowning a ritual birch tree in the river would provide enough moisture for the entire summer.
Seeing off the mermaids

After the dispossession, rituals of “seeing off” and even “funeral” of the mermaid are performed.
A girl or doll was dressed up as a symbolic mermaid. They performed a farewell ritual, which ended at a rye or wheat field. This was done to improve crop growth, in the hope that water spirits would help grow a decent harvest.
Presumably, the “funeral of the cuckoo” ritual held at Green Christmastide has the same meaning. The fact is that the cuckoo in folk tradition is associated with mermaids, and in the Belarusian language the word “zozulya” means both a cuckoo and a mermaid. This ritual is as follows: girls make a stuffed animal from grass or rags, dress it in women’s clothing, solemnly “baptize” it, and soon (maximum every other day) two chosen girls bury the “cuckoo” in a secret place.
In some areas, before seeing off the mermaids, a ritual of driving the “mermaid” into Zhito was carried out. In the Gomel region, it was done like this: they chose the funniest girl, let down her hair, took off her clothes, covering only her shoulders with something, wove a huge wreath and wrapped it around the “mermaid”. Then she was solemnly led to Zhito with songs and drumming, and torches were lit during the procession.
Having reached the place, they forcibly dragged the “mermaid” into the zhito, tore the remaining clothes on her and ran away. The girl ran after her fellow villagers, trying to stop them... The purpose of this ritual is to imitate the migration of mermaids to the crops, necessary for the water spirits to help the crop grow.

Remembrance of the dead.
During the Green Christmastide, it is customary to remember the dead. The commemoration of the Ancestors was carried out on a large scale
A special place at Green Christmastide is occupied by the commemoration of the hostage-laden dead. In folk tradition, this is the name given to people who died before their time: murdered, suicides, those who died in an accident, as well as those who passed away at a young age, cursed by their parents and communicating with evil spirits (sorcerers and witches). “Hostages” are considered inclined to harm people, including causing various types of natural disasters (frost, drought, etc.). During rusalia (and also during drought), it was customary to pour water on the graves of drowned people and drinkers - it was believed that this would help prevent (or stop) the disaster. The “hostages” are commemorated separately from those who died their own deaths, on time, and the “clean” dead. This ritual can be carried out at any time, but Semik is a special day for commemorating this category of the dead.

Other rituals.
1) Walking in life.
This ritual was performed at the beginning or end of Christmastide: girls and women went to the fields to look at the crops. After going around, they lit a fire and had a feast around it. After eating, spoons (and eggshells) were thrown up with the words: “Let the rye grow as high as the spoon rises”; and then tumbled on the ground shouting: “The rye is for the barn, and the grass is for the forest!”
2) Farewell or funeral of Kostroma.
In Russian rituals of “farewell to spring” (“farewell to Kostroma”) - a young woman, wrapped in white sheets, holding an oak branch in her hands, walking accompanied by a round dance.
During the ritual funeral of Kostroma, she is embodied by a straw effigy of a woman or man. The effigy is buried (burned, torn into pieces) with ritual mourning and laughter (cf. the funerals of Kostrubonka, Kupala, German, Yarila, etc.), but Kostroma is resurrected. The ritual is called upon was to ensure fertility.
3) Protective rituals.
On the night of Trinity, girls and women plowed the village, thus creating a protective circle to protect against evil spirits. On the same day, in the west of Rus' they performed a “wedding of cattle”: a shepherd brought two wreaths into the house, one of which he hung on the horns of a cow, and the second he put on the mistress, performing magical actions.
4) Rituals for love and marriage
The theme of love and marriage was one of the dominant ones in the celebration of Rusalia. At this time, the girls were wondering about marriage, and to bring the matchmaking closer they performed various magical actions (for example, they drew a furrow from their house to the house of the young man).

First Rusalia

The week before Trinity has many names: Semik, green Christmastide, mermaid week. All these names come from ancient paganism. But nevertheless, they are closely intertwined with Orthodoxy.

The first Rusalia falls in May and is dedicated to honoring the maiden Lelya, the young and blooming goddess of spring. The second Rusalia is the time when the maiden Lelya becomes his wife Lada, spring turns to summer.

Rusalia is a magical time, also dedicated to seeing off spring and honoring water spirits (mermaids). IN 2018 year the beginning of mermaid week falls on May 21st.

According to legend, during Mermaid Week, mermaids can be seen near rivers, in flowering fields, in groves, at crossroads and in cemeteries.

Like any other undead, mermaids are considered very dangerous to living people. They say that they, like witches, can take on different guises and fly into houses through a chimney. A meeting with a mermaid turns into disaster for any mortal. The same techniques are used as amulets against water maidens as against evil spirits (cross, prayer). In addition, they also resort to folk remedies - wormwood, horseradish, garlic.

However, this period, terrible at first glance, is rich in all kinds of rituals, rites and traditions. For example, there is a custom during Rusal Week to decorate the house with birch branches, flower wreaths and all kinds of greenery. After the expiration date, dried greenery serves as a talisman against evil forces.

At the beginning of Rusal Week, girls “curl wreaths” on the ritual birch tree. First of all, a circle is drawn around the tree. Then the top or branches of the birch are bent and tied into a ring, but without breaking them. These rings are called wreaths. Through these rings the girls celebrate: they exchange gifts, kiss, and wish each other well. Wreaths are sure to develop. This ritual strengthens friendship between girls.

You can perform a ritual called “feeding the tree.” Under a tree (most often under a birch tree) you need to leave a treat for the spirits (the main ritual dish is scrambled eggs). Food is usually collected from all participants in the ceremony. This promises the protection of higher powers throughout the year.

The ritual of “going to life” is performed at the beginning or end of the Green Christmastide. Girls and women go to the fields to look at the crops. After making the rounds, they make a fire and have a party. After eating, spoons are thrown up with the words:

“Let the rye and crops grow as high as a spoon rises.”

This ritual promises a rich harvest.

To ensure that the water maidens leave the earth, at the end of Christmastide, the ceremony of “seeing off the mermaids” is performed. For the ceremony, they sew a doll that represents a mermaid, dress it in a white dress and place it on a stretcher. Then the doll is taken to a field or hill and burned there. At the same time, each person, in his own words, asks the burning mermaid to take all misfortunes and hardships with him.

Mermaid week - money week

To get a constant good profit (no matter what you do), you need to weave a basket of willow twigs yourself.

When the basket is ready, you need to put any pie in it, and on it - a note:

“Mermaid, sweetheart, do no harm. Open the doors to wealth."

Let the treat flow down the stream or river.

The ritual must be performed during Rusal Week.

Weaving a basket is a labor-intensive task, not every person is able to do it; you can buy a small wicker basket and do the same. The weaving master is convinced that the effect will be weaker, but the issue is debatable.

Another version of the ritual for profit involves weaving wreaths from dandelions, willow and birch branches. Treats are placed on the wreath - handmade sweets, and the wreath is sent down the river.

I think that we need to bake some sweets in preparation for a successful ceremony. Formal execution will lead to little result!

* Holiday - Trinity