Important Russian Spring Holidays, Customs and Traditions

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Important Russian Spring Holidays, Customs and Traditions

Celebrating New Year in Russia

Shrovetide

Georgi the Conqueror's Day

Celebrating New Year in Russia

In Russia, different periods in history were marked by celebrating the New Year at different times. Traditionally, the New Year celebration would fall on the beginning of March: that naturally marked an awakening of nature after a long death-like sleep. The church, though, celebrated the New Year on September 1, and in 1492 the traditional New Year was also moved to September 1. Two hundred years later, in 1700, Peter the Great issued a special decree, moving the New Year further to January 1.
This transitional period was generally associated with the danger of activation of chaotic forces; it was believed to be a time to make choices, a time when the fate of the world was being determined. Therefore, it was assumed that the future prosperity could be gained only with the help of special rituals. The New Year was traditionally associated with having lots of fun, and enjoying a nice carnival, filled with wild merriment, later followed by a period of various restrictions. In the Russian tradition, such holiday was associated with Shrovetide - 'Maslenitsa' (Mardi Gras), which was followed by Lent, in keeping with the ancient tradition of celebrating New Year in March.

Shrovetide

Shrovetide was celebrated seven weeks before Easter (end of February - beginning of March). It was the merriest carnival holiday that had no equivalent in the church holiday calendar. On the contrary, the church was kind of opposed to this wild holiday, with all its gluttony preceding the Lent: the church believed that Christians were supposed to be gradually preparing for the Lent in the weeks preceding it. However, traditions were stronger than any restrictions. The very fact that this holiday survived to this day indicates its tremendous significance as one of the main rituals of the year.
Shrovetide would last a week, and each day that week was thoroughly structured and would have its own rituals and its own name. Monday was called "Celebration". (In actuality, they would start preparing for Shrovetide already on Saturday.) An important element of preparation for Shrovetide was making ritual food, the blini. Meals made of grains, flour, and eggs corresponded to the fertile power of the lower world, which was believed to make everything live go up all the way to the crown of the World Tree. Thus, these elements were material symbols of connection between the two worlds. In this sense, the blini were especially symbolic: they were as if connecting two important spheres - the wet one (water, or milk, or butter) and the dry and sunny one, - the blini are usually prepared on a very hot pan; circle-shaped golden blinis resemble the sun.
It therefore becomes clear that eating blinis, this whole Shrovetide gluttony, was a typical magic ritual, which actually represented a fight with the evil destruction forces. The spring return of the sun is directly connected with the amount of consumed food.
Monday was the "Celebration" - children would be singing ritual songs, which will contain motives of saying good-bye to the winter and welcoming the spring:
"Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) - crooked neck!
We know how to celebrate your day!
With cheese, butter, rolls,
And baked eggs!"
- they would name almost all of the rituaal dishes, connected with fertility.
Another important ritual involved tobogganing - this movement from top to bottom imitated a link between the two worlds, a descent, connected with the death of the younger son of Thunderbearer and followed by his ascent, when he resurrected, having acquired the power of life acquired in the lower world (it was associated with the use of alcohol - hence the use of beer on Shrovetide, and with a sexual power - hence the Shrovetide ritual of tobogganing by the newlyweds.)
Another important Monday good harvest/good wealth ritual: both children and adults would go door to door persistently asking for blini.
The rest of the week was filled with tobogganing, entertaining guests and enjoying traditional gluttony. People were singing, riding troikas, kissing and hugging each other.
Tuesday was called "Flirting", Wednesday - "Sweet Tooth", "Turning Point", "Carousing", Thursday - "Merrymaking", Friday - "Mother-in-Law's Evenings". Saturday - "Sister-in-Law's Party", "Good-Bye Party", Sunday - "A Farewell".
Shrovetide rituals were filled with openly erotic symbolism with its dirty jokes and ritual kisses. They would perform ritual incantations, like the one below:
"Let God bring
A good harvest to your fields,
To r threshing floor - extra flour,
To your table - fat food,
Let him fill your pantry with ergot.
Cows are ready to be milked,
Sour cream is rich and thick
So thick that they break their spoons with it.
They break their spoons
And throw them in the window.
And our kids pick them up.
Happy Shrovetide!"

One more ritual was a visit paid by sons-in-law to their mothers-in-law, and mutual visits, the so-called "Mother-in-Law's Evenings", which were paid on Friday.
An essential ritual consisted of all sorts of manipulations with the straw scarecrow of Shorvetide (Maslenitsa). The scarecrow was dressed as a man or as a woman. They would put it on a sledge and take it up the hills singing songs of praise. According to ethnographic data, young people most often dressed up as gypsies accompanied the scarecrow of Maslenitsa. Sometimes, a woman dressed as Maslenitsa making butter at the spinning wheel would sit next to the scarecrow of Maslenitsa.
They would play with the scarecrow till Sunday, and after that it would be burnt on a special fire, following a special ritual of Maslenitsa's mourning and funeral, often times mocking similar church rituals. This burning, apart from the symbolism of cleansing, and reflecting pagan funeral rituals, also had a connection with the heaven fire and with ascent leading to the spring surge of vital forces of nature.

Evdokia's Day (March 1/14)

Evdokia (Avdotia's Day) - March 1/14 - according to the old style, that's when the spring arrived. The first spring day, also the beginning of the pagan New Year, was supposed to determine the course of the year ahead. One of the popular believes was that the weather on Evdokia's Day was to determine the weather through the spring and summer, and often time - through the entire year to come. Also, the harvest prospects were determined on that day. It was a favorable day to begin things like weaving.
Beginning with Evdokia's Day, they would start the rituals of "calling the spring". To do this, children and young girls would get on some higher places, like roofs and hills and will be yelling out special magic texts, "vesniankas", calling upon the spring to come, like the one below:
"Bless me, God,
So I could get on a hill
And call the spring
And bring the summer
And close down the winter.
It's so nice and warm in summer,
And it's so frosty in winter..."

"Oh, spring, please come to us
With great joy!
With great mercy on us!
With grains of rye,
And with golden wheat,
With curly oats,
With barley with a moustache,
With buckwheat, with millet,
With viburnum, and with rasperries,
With blackberries, pears, apples,
With everything that grows in gardens,
With beautiful blue flowers,
With caressing soft grass!"

Annunciation (March 25/April7)

End of March - beginning of April was believed to be the time of final arrival of Spring. It would arrive on March 25/April 7, on Annunciation. Annunciation was the only holiday when Orthodox Christians were forbidden to perform any kind of work. A popular saying in connection with this holiday would go as follows: "On this day, a bird does not make a nest and a young girl does not make plaits." On Annunciation, they would not even cook hot meals or spin. The weather on Annunciation would normally be like the one on Easter and would help determine harvest prospects. Annunciation was not believed to be a propitious day: on Annunciation they would often quarrel and argue. It was believed that on Annunciation one was not supposed to wear new clothes for fear of tearing them. Also, this day presented a certain danger in terms of getting the evil eye or slander. To avoid that, they would make sacral fires, and would be jumping through them. They would also have their clothes smoked so that no hostile force could penetrate it. In the houses they would have their lights on all night long this would bring a good harvest of flax; it was believed that otherwise lightning would burn it.

Ioann Lestvichnik (March 30 - April 2)

On this day there existed an interesting tradition on this day - they would bake small ladders for the future ascent to heaven. The ladder is a known mystic symbol; it was widely spread in the burial tradition. (There existed a tradition of putting small ladders into graves.)
This day was believed to be marked by an increased activity of goblins, who were supposed to wake up after a winter-long sleep.

Fedul's Day (April 5/18)

On that day, ladybugs were waking up from their winter-long sleep. Children would usually put ladybugs on their palms and say special verses:
"Ladybug, ladybug,
Go up and bring us
From the heaven
New bread,
New mushrooms,
Lots of berries
And radishes with long tails!"

"Ladybug, black little head,
Fly overseas, it's pretty warm over there.
It's pretty cold over here."

"Ladybug, black little head,
Fly to the sky
Your little children are eating candies there,
They are drinking tea and waiting for you!"

Orthodox Easter

Easter is the main Orthodox holiday. The Orthodox Easter usually falls later than the Catholic Easter. It is usually celebrated in the period between April 4 and May 5 (March 22 and April 22 by old calendar, respectively). This is one of the most sacral moments of the year, symbolically reproducing resurrection of Jesus Christ crucified on Friday.
Easter celebration is connected with many rituals, some of which have traces of paganism. The eve of this day is believed to be particularly favorable for activities of dark forces. On Easter night, devils, witches and werewolves are believed to become visible.
The most sacral moment is the Easter service when many impossible things would become possible. The belief is that any wishes for the future, whispered during the service, would come true. The vigil mass is read slowly until midnight. That's when all the candles are lit and a joyous procession bursts out of the church, singing and praising "Khristos Voskres" (Christ is risen.) Khristosovanie - exchange of a triple kiss - is an Easter greeting.
The last week before Easter is usually a time to fast. After church, everyone would go out to feast. The traditional Easter dishes are kulich and paskha. The Easter bread, kulich, is a traditional round and cylindrical bread decorated with frosting and the letters XB, representing "Christ is risen." Another traditional dish, paskha, always accompanies the kulich. Paskha is a thick sweet creamy white spread (often with raisins). It is made in a special triangular mold that also has the XB letters on it. The traditional Easter breakfast consists of spreading paskha on the kulich, eating it with a hard-boiled egg dipped in salt.
Everyone knows about Easter eggs. They also have mythological meaning: an egg, just like a seed, symbolizes both the birth and rise. This way it can be compared to the dead and resurrected son of thunderbearer who goes the way of the seed (down, to the earth; up, from the earth), or the egg - (into the earth, into the nest, and up, to fly). In people's minds this image should have become close to the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Therefore, the egg is connected with the holiday of Christ's resurrection.
Another trace of residual paganism was the ritual of symbolic khristosovanie with the dead: they would go to the cemeteries on Easter and leave food on the tombstones - painted eggs, bread and beer. This ancient sacrifice to the dead relative probably has acquired a new meaning here: sharing the joy of the God's resurrection with the dead, you are as if expressing hope to final resurrection of the late loved one.

Luka's Day

Many of the spring and summer rituals have a distinct pagan component of "dual faith".
Luka's Day falls on April 20 (old calendar)/May 3 (new calendar) - this day was believed to be favorable for planting onions ('luk' (Russian) - onion). The word magic is quite distinct here.

Georgi the Conqueror's Day (Yuri's Day)

Of special importance is Georgi the Conqueror's Day (popular-colloquial name of the holiday - Egori's (Yuri's) Day), April 23 (old calendar)/May 6 (new calendar). It was believed to be the day of spring's final victory over winter. "Yuri has brought spring with him"; "Egorii has come, and spring is here to stay," - these are just a couple of the many popular sayings on the holiday. On that day, the morning dew was believed to be giving vital energy, and so Yuri's Day was considered a propitious day for driving cattle to pasture for the first time after the winter. In the entire Russia peasants believed that the invisible Yuri comes to the fields on his white horse and shepherds the cattle, protecting it from all beasts whose master he also is. The Yuri's Day morning dew was believed to have a healing effect on people as well - it would protect from the evil eye, and from "seven maladies". People would roll on it to gain health.
On Yuri's Day, children would pass around the village houses praising Yuri, wishing well to the cattle; they would be getting sweets for that. It was forbidden to work on Yuri's Day - the belief was that wolves would otherwise be killing the cattle.
On Yuri's Day they would start singing and dancing in a ring. This ancient ritual dance was connected with symbolism of the magic ring and the sun; it resembled a round ornament. The dress ornament and the ornament on the walls and doors of houses performed the magic function of protection from all hostile forces, too.

Mark's Day

Mark's Day falls on April 25/May 8. According to the popular belief, Mark possesses the keys from rain.

Nikola's Day

The warm weather would finally come starting Nikola's Day (May 9/May 22). That's when the spring crops would be sowed.

Simon Zilot's Day

Simon Zilot's Day which falls on May 10/May 23 comes along with yet another magic saying: "Sow the wheat on Simon Zilot's - you will reap it like gold ('zoloto' in Russian)."

Ascension Day

Ascension Day falls on the 40th day after the Orthodox Easter. Many rituals are observed on this day; all of them are connected with the vertical axis of the world. They deal with the future fate of people and the way the plants would grow. On that day they would bake "ladders", sometimes with 7 steps, in accordance with the seven heavens of the Christian faith. At the mealtime they would often toss the ladders up along with boiled eggs and even the spoons with an incantation asking the wheat to grow as high as possible.

Celebrating New Year in Russia In Russia, different periods in history were marked by celebrating the New Year at different times. Traditionally, the New Year celebration would fall on the beginning of March: that naturally marked an awakening of nature after a long death-like sleep. The church, though, celebrated the New Year on September 1, and in 1492 the traditional New Year was also moved to September 1. Two hundred years later, in 1700, Peter the Great issued a special decree, moving the New Year further to January 1. This transitional period was generally associated with the danger of activation of chaotic forces; it was believed to be a time to make choices, a time when the fate of the world was being determined. Therefore, it was assumed that the future prosperity could be gained only with the help of special rituals. The New Year was traditionally associated with having lots of fun, and enjoying a nice carnival, filled with wild merriment, later followed by a period of various restrictions. In the Russian tradition, such holiday was associated with Shrovetide - 'Maslenitsa' (Mardi Gras), which was followed by Lent, in keeping with the ancient tradition of celebrating New Year in March.
Shrovetide Shrovetide was celebrated seven weeks before Easter (end of February - beginning of March). It was the merriest carnival holiday that had no equivalent in the church holiday calendar. On the contrary, the church was kind of opposed to this wild holiday, with all its gluttony preceding the Lent: the church believed that Christians were supposed to be gradually preparing for the Lent in the weeks preceding it. However, traditions were stronger than any restrictions. The very fact that this holiday survived to this day indicates its tremendous significance as one of the main rituals of the year. Shrovetide would last a week, and each day that week was thoroughly structured and would have its own rituals and its own name. Monday was called "Celebration". (In actuality, they would start preparing for Shrovetide already on Saturday.) An important element of preparation for Shrovetide was making ritual food, the blini. Meals made of grains, flour, and eggs corresponded to the fertile power of the lower world, which was believed to make everything live go up all the way to the crown of the World Tree. Thus, these elements were material symbols of connection between the two worlds. In this sense, the blini were especially symbolic: they were as if connecting two important spheres - the wet one (water, or milk, or butter) and the dry and sunny one, - the blini are usually prepared on a very hot pan; circle-shaped golden blinis resemble the sun. It therefore becomes clear that eating blinis, this whole Shrovetide gluttony, was a typical magic ritual, which actually represented a fight with the evil destruction forces. The spring return of the sun is directly connected with the amount of consumed food. Monday was the "Celebration" - children would be singing ritual songs, which will contain motives of saying good-bye to the winter and welcoming the spring: "Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) - crooked neck! We know how to celebrate your day! With cheese, butter, rolls, And baked eggs!" - they would name almost all of the rituaal dishes, connected with fertility. Another important ritual involved tobogganing - this movement from top to bottom imitated a link between the two worlds, a descent, connected with the death of the younger son of Thunderbearer and followed by his ascent, when he resurrected, having acquired the power of life acquired in the lower world (it was associated with the use of alcohol - hence the use of beer on Shrovetide, and with a sexual power - hence the Shrovetide ritual of tobogganing by the newlyweds.) Another important Monday good harvest/good wealth ritual: both children and adults would go door to door persistently asking for blini. The rest of the week was filled with tobogganing, entertaining guests and enjoying traditional gluttony. People were singing, riding troikas, kissing and hugging each other. Tuesday was called "Flirting", Wednesday - "Sweet Tooth", "Turning Point", "Carousing", Thursday - "Merrymaking", Friday - "Mother-in-Law's Evenings". Saturday - "Sister-in-Law's Party", "Good-Bye Party", Sunday - "A Farewell". Shrovetide rituals were filled with openly erotic symbolism with its dirty jokes and ritual kisses. They would perform ritual incantations, like the one below: "Let God bring A good harvest to your fields, To r threshing floor - extra flour, To your table - fat food, Let him fill your pantry with ergot. Cows are ready to be milked, Sour cream is rich and thick So thick that they break their spoons with it. They break their spoons And throw them in the window. And our kids pick them up. Happy Shrovetide!" One more ritual was a visit paid by sons-in-law to their mothers-in-law, and mutual visits, the so-called "Mother-in-Law's Evenings", which were paid on Friday. An essential ritual consisted of all sorts of manipulations with the straw scarecrow of Shorvetide (Maslenitsa). The scarecrow was dressed as a man or as a woman. They would put it on a sledge and take it up the hills singing songs of praise. According to ethnographic data, young people most often dressed up as gypsies accompanied the scarecrow of Maslenitsa. Sometimes, a woman dressed as Maslenitsa making butter at the spinning wheel would sit next to the scarecrow of Maslenitsa. They would play with the scarecrow till Sunday, and after that it would be burnt on a special fire, following a special ritual of Maslenitsa's mourning and funeral, often times mocking similar church rituals. This burning, apart from the symbolism of cleansing, and reflecting pagan funeral rituals, also had a connection with the heaven fire and with ascent leading to the spring surge of vital forces of nature.
Evdokia's Day (March 1/14) Evdokia (Avdotia's Day) - March 1/14 - according to the old style, that's when the spring arrived. The first spring day, also the beginning of the pagan New Year, was supposed to determine the course of the year ahead. One of the popular believes was that the weather on Evdokia's Day was to determine the weather through the spring and summer, and often time - through the entire year to come. Also, the harvest prospects were determined on that day. It was a favorable day to begin things like weaving. Beginning with Evdokia's Day, they would start the rituals of "calling the spring". To do this, children and young girls would get on some higher places, like roofs and hills and will be yelling out special magic texts, "vesniankas", calling upon the spring to come, like the one below: "Bless me, God, So I could get on a hill And call the spring And bring the summer And close down the winter. It's so nice and warm in summer, And it's so frosty in winter..." "Oh, spring, please come to us With great joy! With great mercy on us! With grains of rye, And with golden wheat, With curly oats, With barley with a moustache, With buckwheat, with millet, With viburnum, and with rasperries, With blackberries, pears, apples, With everything that grows in gardens, With beautiful blue flowers, With caressing soft grass!"
Annunciation (March 25/April7) End of March - beginning of April was believed to be the time of final arrival of Spring. It would arrive on March 25/April 7, on Annunciation. Annunciation was the only holiday when Orthodox Christians were forbidden to perform any kind of work. A popular saying in connection with this holiday would go as follows: "On this day, a bird does not make a nest and a young girl does not make plaits." On Annunciation, they would not even cook hot meals or spin. The weather on Annunciation would normally be like the one on Easter and would help determine harvest prospects. Annunciation was not believed to be a propitious day: on Annunciation they would often quarrel and argue. It was believed that on Annunciation one was not supposed to wear new clothes for fear of tearing them. Also, this day presented a certain danger in terms of getting the evil eye or slander. To avoid that, they would make sacral fires, and would be jumping through them. They would also have their clothes smoked so that no hostile force could penetrate it. In the houses they would have their lights on all night long this would bring a good harvest of flax; it was believed that otherwise lightning would burn it.
Ioann Lestvichnik (March 30 - April 2) On this day there existed an interesting tradition on this day - they would bake small ladders for the future ascent to heaven. The ladder is a known mystic symbol; it was widely spread in the burial tradition. (There existed a tradition of putting small ladders into graves.) This day was believed to be marked by an increased activity of goblins, who were supposed to wake up after a winter-long sleep.
Fedul's Day (April 5/18) On that day, ladybugs were waking up from their winter-long sleep. Children would usually put ladybugs on their palms and say special verses: "Ladybug, ladybug, Go up and bring us From the heaven New bread, New mushrooms, Lots of berries And radishes with long tails!" "Ladybug, black little head, Fly overseas, it's pretty warm over there. It's pretty cold over here." "Ladybug, black little head, Fly to the sky Your little children are eating candies there, They are drinking tea and waiting for you!"
Orthodox Easter Easter is the main Orthodox holiday. The Orthodox Easter usually falls later than the Catholic Easter. It is usually celebrated in the period between April 4 and May 5 (March 22 and April 22 by old calendar, respectively). This is one of the most sacral moments of the year, symbolically reproducing resurrection of Jesus Christ crucified on Friday. Easter celebration is connected with many rituals, some of which have traces of paganism. The eve of this day is believed to be particularly favorable for activities of dark forces. On Easter night, devils, witches and werewolves are believed to become visible. The most sacral moment is the Easter service when many impossible things would become possible. The belief is that any wishes for the future, whispered during the service, would come true. The vigil mass is read slowly until midnight. That's when all the candles are lit and a joyous procession bursts out of the church, singing and praising "Khristos Voskres" (Christ is risen.) Khristosovanie - exchange of a triple kiss - is an Easter greeting. The last week before Easter is usually a time to fast. After church, everyone would go out to feast. The traditional Easter dishes are kulich and paskha. The Easter bread, kulich, is a traditional round and cylindrical bread decorated with frosting and the letters XB, representing "Christ is risen." Another traditional dish, paskha, always accompanies the kulich. Paskha is a thick sweet creamy white spread (often with raisins). It is made in a special triangular mold that also has the XB letters on it. The traditional Easter breakfast consists of spreading paskha on the kulich, eating it with a hard-boiled egg dipped in salt. Everyone knows about Easter eggs. They also have mythological meaning: an egg, just like a seed, symbolizes both the birth and rise. This way it can be compared to the dead and resurrected son of thunderbearer who goes the way of the seed (down, to the earth; up, from the earth), or the egg - (into the earth, into the nest, and up, to fly). In people's minds this image should have become close to the crucified and resurrected Jesus Christ. Therefore, the egg is connected with the holiday of Christ's resurrection. Another trace of residual paganism was the ritual of symbolic khristosovanie with the dead: they would go to the cemeteries on Easter and leave food on the tombstones - painted eggs, bread and beer. This ancient sacrifice to the dead relative probably has acquired a new meaning here: sharing the joy of the God's resurrection with the dead, you are as if expressing hope to final resurrection of the late loved one.
Luka's Day Many of the spring and summer rituals have a distinct pagan component of "dual faith". Luka's Day falls on April 20 (old calendar)/May 3 (new calendar) - this day was believed to be favorable for planting onions ('luk' (Russian) - onion). The word magic is quite distinct here.
Georgi the Conqueror's Day (Yuri's Day) Of special importance is Georgi the Conqueror's Day (popular-colloquial name of the holiday - Egori's (Yuri's) Day), April 23 (old calendar)/May 6 (new calendar). It was believed to be the day of spring's final victory over winter. "Yuri has brought spring with him"; "Egorii has come, and spring is here to stay," - these are just a couple of the many popular sayings on the holiday. On that day, the morning dew was believed to be giving vital energy, and so Yuri's Day was considered a propitious day for driving cattle to pasture for the first time after the winter. In the entire Russia peasants believed that the invisible Yuri comes to the fields on his white horse and shepherds the cattle, protecting it from all beasts whose master he also is. The Yuri's Day morning dew was believed to have a healing effect on people as well - it would protect from the evil eye, and from "seven maladies". People would roll on it to gain health. On Yuri's Day, children would pass around the village houses praising Yuri, wishing well to the cattle; they would be getting sweets for that. It was forbidden to work on Yuri's Day - the belief was that wolves would otherwise be killing the cattle. On Yuri's Day they would start singing and dancing in a ring. This ancient ritual dance was connected with symbolism of the magic ring and the sun; it resembled a round ornament. The dress ornament and the ornament on the walls and doors of houses performed the magic function of protection from all hostile forces, too.
Mark's Day Mark's Day falls on April 25/May 8. According to the popular belief, Mark possesses the keys from rain.
Nikola's Day The warm weather would finally come starting Nikola's Day (May 9/May 22). That's when the spring crops would be sowed.
Simon Zilot's Day Simon Zilot's Day which falls on May 10/May 23 comes along with yet another magic saying: "Sow the wheat on Simon Zilot's - you will reap it like gold ('zoloto' in Russian)."
Ascension Day Ascension Day falls on the 40th day after the Orthodox Easter. Many rituals are observed on this day; all of them are connected with the vertical axis of the world. They deal with the future fate of people and the way the plants would grow. On that day they would bake "ladders", sometimes with 7 steps, in accordance with the seven heavens of the Christian faith. At the mealtime they would often toss the ladders up along with boiled eggs and even the spoons with an incantation asking the wheat to grow as high as possible.

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