Organizing children's events is not an easy task. Since childhood, we have known about the cheerful Maslenitsa holiday, and many of us have heard about the traditions and beliefs associated with this festive week. Of course it is before people could afford not to work for a whole week and have fun to the fullest. Let's take a closer look at the history of the Maslenitsa celebration and try to combine customs with the rhythm of modern life.

Maslenitsa is one of the happiest and brightest holidays (in 2012 it will be held from February 20th to 26th). For a whole week, people see off the annoying winter, bake pancakes and visit each other.

The history of Shrovetide is rooted deep in antiquity. Shrovetide - ancient slavic holiday, inherited from the pagan culture, preserved after the adoption of Christianity. It is believed that initially it was associated with the day of the spring solstice, but with the adoption of Christianity, it began to precede Great post and depend on its timing.

Let's start with the fact that for a very long time Shrovetide Week was essentially a meeting of the new year, which began in March, and not in January. It's not for nothing that they say: “How New Year if you meet him, you will see him, ”that is why our ancestors had fun. Eh, the village of Pomidorkino - horses in sleighs and roller coasters! Every day was painted with its own rituals.

We will start preparing the day before. On Sunday, collect a small amount of old and absolutely unnecessary things that you do not mind throwing away. It can be worn out clothes, leftover yarn, or whatever! What for? We will build an effigy of Maslenitsa in advance, and it will take no more than 30 minutes. Involve all household members in this activity, the children will be delighted!

Let your imagination go free and make a doll. Cut the fabric into strips 5 cm wide and 30 cm long. Use yarn to make hair and braid. Gather the ribbons into a bun and tie the top tightly. Turn this structure out so that the knot is inside. Crumple a piece of fabric into a ball the size of a child's fist and, laying it under the knot, straighten the ribbons. Tie with a string - this will be the head.

The same procedure with a stuffed bust, just put more fabrics. The remaining free ends of the ribbons will simulate a skirt. Fasten the braids on the head by tying a bright scarf. Prepare "stake", on which, waking up on Monday, we will hoist our Pancake week. Any stick, or a simple pencil, will do. So we performed the first rite.

Monday

The first day - a meeting... On this day, the scarecrow was taken around the city on a sleigh. Well, we, of course, will not carry it with us, but simply put it on the window. The city sees the scarecrow, the scarecrow sees the city and the sun - the ceremony is complete. Today we have to bake pancakes and first of all present to the poor, caroling or itinerant.

It is difficult to even imagine such a picture to run with a hot pancake down the street in search of the above. But after all, the customs are not so narrow and our ancestors remembered the dead with pancakes, so we eat the first pancake, remembering everyone. And we will remember the outgoing winter, supporting the ancient essence of Shrovetide: "We remember winter - we welcome spring." And if you have a free minute, take a walk with the children in the yard. And let them ride down the hill, and swing high and high on the swing, awakening with their laughter the spring from sleep.

Tuesday

Second day - flirtation... Bride-in-law's bride. Girls and women dreaming of marriage, this is your day! At work, show yourself fully armed and let your single male colleagues "fall in stacks" from your stunning uniqueness. Go to the cinema or the theater, or just to any entertainment establishment, not only to see the world, but first of all to show yourself. And remember, Shrovetide protects you! After all, it was not for nothing that all the festivities were aimed at finding the betrothed and matchmaking.

Wednesday

Day three - gourmands... Mother-in-law, have you seen your sons-in-law for a long time? So today is a real reason to invite your son-in-law to visit for pancakes. According to tradition, among the guests invited, the son-in-law must sit in the place of honor and eat pancakes prepared by the mother-in-law with her own hand.

Thursday

Day four - binge... This day began the celebration of the wide Maslenitsa. All the fun (fist fights, the conquest of snow towns, wall-to-wall wrestling) were aimed at throwing off the negative energy accumulated over the long winter.

Where in a modern city can you throw out your energy? Dance or stadium! Going to a football match? Go to it, even if you absolutely do not know a thing about all these penalties, dribbles and other subtleties. Believe me, you will be infected by the general excitement of the stands, this is where you can shout and whistle, and, accordingly, get rid of negative energy.

Friday

Day five - mother-in-law evenings... On this day, the mother-in-law paid a return visit to her son-in-law. An excellent excuse to "butter up" a strict mother-in-law! Surround your dearest guest with a soft cloud of care and attention. Yes, if you also treat her with pancakes own production... you will be the most beloved son-in-law.

Saturday

Day six - sister-in-law gatherings... On such a day, the daughter-in-law invited her husband's relatives to visit. Basically, the sister-in-law (the husband's sisters) were invited and presented with some gifts. If the sister-in-law was not married, then unmarried girlfriends were called for the evening and vice versa. It's good if you have a sister-in-law friendly relations, otherwise you are given a chance with a plausible excuse to try to find a common language.

Sunday

Day seven - forgiven day, farewell... Bowing to the belt, man from pure heart asks for forgiveness from others for accidentally or intentionally inflicted offense, to which he must receive an answer: "God forgive you, and I forgive." Isn't this relevant these days? How much offense do we inflict on family and strangers? After all, this ritual is laid deep meaning... You need to forgive and ask for forgiveness with all your heart and with good thoughts.

And what about our Maslenitsa on the window? It's time to say goodbye to her, and at the same time to winter, calling on spring to come into its own. Unfortunately, they will hardly allow us to arrange a great fire for burning Shrovetide, but we can modestly put it on fire in the courtyard.

Here is such a celebration of Maslenitsa can be organized by interweaving folk customs into the tight knot of modern life.

Maslenitsa (Russian. Shrovetide, Shrovetide, Ukrainian Masnitsya, Belarusian Maslenitsa, Butterdish, Polish.

Zapusty, Slovak. Fašiangy, Czech. Masopust, forces. Kozelek, Moravian Voračky, Voráčí, Končiny, Slovenian. Pustni teden, Serbian. Poklade, Bulgarian. Sirna of the week, Macedonian. Proshtena nedeљa) -Slavic traditional holiday celebrated during the week (sometimes three days) before Lent, retaining in its ritual a number of elements of Slavic mythology. V folk calendar For the Eastern Slavs, the holiday marks the border between winter and spring, as well as the Meat Eater and Great Lent. Shrovetide is an analogue of Carnival in European countries and similar holidays of the carnival type (Nouruz / Navruz, Purim, etc.).

Names of Meat, Meat week and Cheese week in Russia they were used only in the Holy Calendar as a "church" name.

Shrovetide is akin to " fat tuesday"(Mardi gras) and Meatopust. In the calendar of the Russian Orthodox Tsenkvi, this period is called Cheese Week.

The date of Shrovetide changes every year depending on the date of the celebration of Easter. The main traditional attributes of the Maslenitsa folk celebration are the Maslenitsa scarecrow, fun, sleigh rides, festivities, for Russians, pancakes and flatbreads are obligatory, for Ukrainians and Belarusians, dumplings, cheesecakes and a block.

Other names of the holiday: Maslenaya, Maslenaya, Maslenaya week, World holiday, Pancake maker, Pancake region, Pancake week, Pancake eater, Eat week, Obscura, Wide carnival, honest, cheerful, Tselovalnitsa, Krivosheyka, Curve week (resin), Boyarynya Maslenitsa, Milk week, etc.

K. Makovsky. Festivities on Maslenitsa on the Admiralty Square in St. Petersburg. 1868.

The ritual side of Maslenitsa is very complex and multi-component, combining elements of both Slavic mythology and folk Christianity. It includes rituals related to the cult of ancestors, and to the turning point - the beginning of a new cycle, and to the stimulation of fertility.

Soviet folklorist V.Ya. Propp, developing the ideas of W. Mannhardt and J. Fraser, considered main goal Maslenitsa ceremonies stimulation of fertility, especially relevant in connection with the upcoming start of field work.

The personification of the holiday is the effigy of Maslenitsa, which is an echo of an archaic dying and resurrecting deity. The Scarecrow of Maslenitsa seemed, according to V. Ya. Propp, to be the focus of fertility and fertility, and the rituals of his seeing off were supposed to communicate this fertility to the earth: as you know, the ashes from the scarecrow, or the torn scarecrow itself, were scattered over the fields.

For the peasant, the fertility of the land was extremely important, so he tried to influence him in this way. This was especially important in the spring, when the earth will soon awaken from its winter sleep and begin to bear fruit. The function of stimulating fertility is also carried out by the burning of an effigy of Maslenitsa - the destruction of the old and dried up fertility, death for future birth, an impetus for a new revival of fertile forces. Many Shrovetide rituals, such as the "tsepovnik", reviews of newlyweds ("pillars"), their guesting, skiing from the mountains and on sledges, comic pursuit of singles, are associated with newlyweds and unmarried youth. By this, the society showed the exceptional importance of marriage for the reproduction of the population, and therefore honored young people reproductive age... 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 - commemoration. The departed ancestors, according to the ideas of the peasants, were simultaneously in the other world and in the land, which means they could influence its fertility. Therefore, it was extremely important not to anger the ancestors and honor them with your attention. For this, in Maslenitsa there is a wide layer of memorial rituals: elements of funeral feast (fist fights, horse races, etc.), sometimes - visiting cemeteries, always - plentiful meals (initially memorial), which necessarily included pancakes, which have become the main attribute of Maslenitsa in the modern mass consciousness ... Contrary to popular belief, pancakes are not and have never been a symbol of the sun among the Slavs. Pancakes have always been a memorial dish among the Slavs, so they correspond very well to the memorial essence of Maslenitsa.

Patriarch Adrian wanted to destroy this "demonic holiday", but did not have time, but reduced its time by 8 days.

Researchers point to a relationship between the Western European carnival and the Russian Shrovetide. A foreigner who visited Moscow under Ivan the Terrible wrote: “Shrovetide reminds me of the Italian carnival, which at the same time and in the same way goes ... guard and does not allow excessive rampage; and in Moscow the guards themselves are drunk with wine and, together with the people, are selfish. "

According to the modern Russian folklorist A.B. Morozov, there is no reason to assert that Maslenitsa is its own pagan holiday. Shrovetide rituals rethink what the Church offers. In particular, fasting in traditional culture is understood, first of all, as food restrictions, therefore, before starting the fast, it is necessary to eat as much as possible. The main feature in which the "pagan" essence of Shrovetide is usually seen is the making and burning of a stuffed animal. But in reality, this scarecrow was never considered a semblance of an idol, and the rite itself apparently has game roots.

In some places, preparations have been made for the Maslenitsa meeting since the Saturday preceding the Pestnio week. In the Kaluga province, starting to bake pancakes in advance, the hostess sent children of 8-10 years old to “meet Maslenitsa”: she gave a pancake, with which they rode on horseback or a stoker through the garden and shouted: “Goodbye, snotty winter! Come, summer is red! Plow, harrow - And I'll go to plow! " On Saturday, they began to celebrate the "small butter dish" in some places in the Vladimir province. The kids ran around the village and collected old sandals, then they met those returning with purchases from the city or from the bazaar and asked: "Are you taking Shrovetide?" If they answered: "No", then they beat them with bast shoes.

In Belarus and in some places in Russia on Saturday before Maslenitsa celebrated the first day this year. On this day, the dead parents were commemorated. For them, pancakes were specially baked - and the first pancake was placed on the shrine, a dormer or a roof, left on the graves in the cemetery, and pancakes were also handed out to children, beggars and nuns with a request to remember such and such.

In the morning and in the evening, sitting down at the table, they were sure to invite relatives who died in the house to share a family meal consisting of beef, boiled pork, and fried lamb. "Do not pick up from the table": the remains of the evening meal are left on the table until morning along with dishes and spoons, covering all this with the ends of the tablecloth (village Shchepikhino, Kaluga region).

And now the peasants are convinced that it is necessary to leave food for the dead ancestors for the plot, especially the Pancake week, before Lent. And therefore, after supper, nothing is removed from the table, the cups and spoons are not washed, even the pots with the remaining food are put on the table. Everything that is not eaten is left to the “parents”, who, under cover of the darkness of the night, go out from behind the stove and eat.

Last Sunday before Shrovetide was called "meat Sunday". On Sunday they said: "Today they eat shti (cabbage soup) 12 times, eat meat 12 times." In the Vologda villages, they went to visit relatives, neighbors, friends and invited them to Shrovetide. This Sunday, the father-in-law called his son-in-law to "finish the ram." “I’m heading for cheese and butter,” they said the evening before the butter shop.

P. Gruzinsky. Pancake week. 1889.

V. Surikov. Taking a snowy town. 1891.

From that day, the Wide Maslenitsa began, chores ceased, the celebrations unfolded in full swing. The people indulged in all kinds of fun, horseback riding, fist fights, various competitions, which ended with noisy revels, were arranged. The main action on Thursday is the assault and further capture of the snow town. The meaning of wide Thursday, as well as of the whole Shrovetide, is an outburst of negative energy accumulated over the winter and the resolution of various conflicts between people.

Shrovetide festivities everywhere accompanied by the making of fires and ritual jumping over the fire. Distinctive feature festivities were Shrovetide songs. “They shoot at the Butter Fire. Bonfires are burning here and there. Women in wide skirts jump over fires, and men jump. We are collecting (deadwood) and singing:

I’ll go for butter, for the Jewish spells
Sparrow stole the testicle, laid it on a high shelf.
And the blind spied, and the deaf overheard,
And the legless ran to catch up, and the armless ran to take it away.
Butter, butter white leg, but hto will not marry, chiriya lip.
Maslena, buttered white cheese, and whoever doesn't marry is a son of a bitch. "

In the village of Urakovo, Krasnensky District, Belgorod Region, a straw horse has been driven around the village since Thursday. “They made big sleds, and there was a horse on them. To do this, they took rye straw, long and hard, tied with ropes - this was the body. Then they made the horse's neck and head. The straw horse was made by craftsmen, since not everyone could do it. The horse was poured over with water and left overnight. He froze until morning. Then they painted his eyes with charcoal. They rode on such a horse. " In the village of Kamyzino of the same district, a live goat dressed in a headscarf was carried around the village on a sleigh. A table with booze was placed next to her. And so we drove through the village.

From that day on, in the villages of Soldanskoye and Rogovatoe, the Starooskolsky district, the guys arranged Maslenitsa pranks: they propped up the doors with a log, covered the gates and windows with snow, dragged a cart onto the roof of the shed, dressed up in twisted fur coats, smeared their faces with soot and frightened passers-by.

In Yaroslavl, they have been singing kolyada since Thursday. On this day, people go home with tambourines, balalaikas and others folk instruments, congratulate the owners on the holiday and “ask permission to sing the kolyada,” which they usually do not refuse.

Carols song:

How the carollers walked,
Carollers, all factory owners,
We were looking for the courtyard of our master,
The masters' yard is seven miles away,
At seven versts, eight pillars.
In the middle of the yard, in the middle of the wide,
There are three towers,
Three golden-domed towers.

In the first mansion there is a red sun,
In the second chamber, stars are frequent,
The master of the house himself, the master of the mansion,
The mistress of the house, the mistress of the high,
Young girls in the house, like nuts in honey,
Grapes, my red-green!

At the end of the song, the owners give the carollers money and treat them with wine. At parting, the carolers sing thanks to the owner:

Thank you master, on bread, salt and salary.
Grapes, my red-green!
I fed it, gave it a drink, let it out of the yard,
Grapes, my red-green!

Ukrainians and Belarusians dedicated Thursday to Volosia and celebrated in the name of livestock welfare.

Friday - mother-in-law's evening. On this day, with a return visit, the mother-in-law came to visit her son-in-law. Pancakes that day were baked by a daughter - the wife of a son-in-law. Mother-in-law came to visit with her relatives and girlfriends. The son-in-law had to demonstrate his affection for the mother-in-law and her relatives.

Saturday - sister-in-law's gatherings [. Young daughters-in-law invited their sister-in-law and other relatives of her husband to visit them. If the sister-in-law was not married, then the daughter-in-law invited her unmarried girlfriends, if the husband's sisters were already married, then the daughter-in-law called her married relatives. The daughter-in-law was supposed to give her sister-in-law some gift.

The church celebrates the Council of all the reverend fathers on Saturday.

Sunday - farewell. Goodbye day in peasant family... XIX century Also called: Kissing man, Goodbye day, Conjuration, Forgiveness Sunday; Cheese, woodland, Spring, Buttered plots, Sentinels, Lent runs, Oil runs, Masnitsa, Guards lettuce, Teal , Chorna nedil(poltav.).

F. Sfchkov. Dance. 1911.

The culmination of the entire Maslenitsa week. On Sunday, a spell took place before the beginning of Great Lent. All close people asked each other for forgiveness for all the troubles and insults caused during the year. On the evening of Forgiveness Sunday, they commemorated the dead, went to the cemetery to say goodbye to their relatives. On this day we went to the bathhouse. The remains of the festive food were burned, the dishes were thoroughly washed. At the end of the holiday, an effigy of Maslenitsa was solemnly burned, the resulting ash was scattered over the fields.

In the Kostroma province on Sunday, a "train" is organized: "a horse ride of dressed-up men, with straw caps on their heads." In the evening, the mummers go out of town and burn their caps there - "they burn Shrovetide." And in the villages in the evening, taking a bundle of straw, they put it in one heap and light it - "they burn a straw man."

In churches at the evening service, the rite of forgiveness is performed (the abbot asks for forgiveness from other clergy and parishioners). Then all the believers, bowing to each other, ask for forgiveness and, in response to the request, say "God will forgive." They begin to perform Lenten services. On next week sometimes "Maslenitsa tuzhilki" were held.

Seeing off Shrovetide

And Tretyakov. The bride.

On the last day of Maslenitsa week, the ritual of seeing off Maslenitsa took place, which in different provinces of Russia consisted both in the burning of an effigy of Maslenitsa (winter - Morena) and in its symbolic funeral. The burning of an effigy was traditional for the northern, central and Volga provinces. The Maslenitsa effigy was carried by the participants of the Maslenitsa train (sometimes there were several hundred horses in it). Traditional memorial food (pancakes, eggs, flat cakes) was thrown into the fire with a burning effigy. In the Volga region, in particular in Tatarstan, there is also a tradition of throwing special Maslenitsa dolls into the fire, with which all adversity went away.

F. Sychkov. Holiday fun.

In the southern Russian, Central Russian, western and a number of the Volga provinces, the ritual of the Maslenitsa funeral was widespread. The ritual was different in different provinces.

The most archaic is the ritual in which the actions of the participants are erotic:

In the Onega district of the Arkhangelsk province, on the last day of the holiday, a boat put on the old logs was dragged around the village, in which lay a man smeared with red lead, nailed from behind. On the river Tavda, the directors of the farewell - Maslenitsa and the Voivode, performed a parody of a rite of cleansing from adversity after visiting the village. They stripped naked and, in the presence of all the assembled spectators, imitated washing in the bath with their movements. In other localities, the "king" of the holiday sometimes pronounced his due order solemn speeches in the cold, completely naked, or, grimacing, exposed the "shameful" parts of the body in front of everyone.

In other provinces, farewell to Maslenitsa was a parody of a funeral procession. Its participants carried around the village a scarecrow in a trough, cradle or a special box-coffin. The procession was attended by a "priest" (a girl in a chintz robe with a beard made of hemp or wool; a man could also play the role), a "deacon" with a "clerk", as well as a group of mourners who closed the procession. In a number of cases, such a farewell to Maslenitsa acquired the features of a Maslenitsa train, where the scarecrow was placed in a sleigh, which was often carried not by horses, but by men, after which it was burned according to beliefs that it would bring good harvest.

A. Vasnetsov. Burning of an effigy of Maslenitsa at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Shrovetide on Maslenitsa. tsa... The first day of Lent. In some places on this day, despite strict fasting, "Rinsed your mouth" with vodka. They said: "Whoever gets it in his teeth soon, he will see devils in a dream." Then they went to the bathhouse and shouted: "Give some oil to the oil". After the bath, they "rinsed their mouth" again. Some people "rinse their mouths clean" for almost the entire first week of fasting. In some places, fist fights were held, which were supposed to contribute to the "cleansing" of the slow-moving, they were called "knocking out cakes" (Vyatka) or "shaking out pancakes" (Tulsk.). Women washed and cleaned kitchen utensils, cleansing it of fat and residues of holiday food.

Adonyeva S. B. Ritual effigy: the projective principle of ritual practices http://folk.ru/Research/adonyeva_obriad_chuchelo.php?rubr=Research-articles

Notes (edit)

• Dubrovsky, 1870, p. 13
• Rybakov, 1981
• Dubrovsky, 1870
• Vasilevich, 1992
• 2 3 4 Tolstaya, 2005, p. 298
• Propp, 1995
• Propp, 1995, p. 81-85
• Seeing the newlyweds
• Hosting newlyweds
• Roller coaster // Russian Ethnographic Museum
• Rides // Russian Ethnographic Museum
• Bernshtam T.A. Youth in the ritual life of the Russian community in the 19th - early 20th centuries: gender and age aspects of traditional culture. L .: Nauka, 1988.
• Artemenko et al., 1985, p. 262
• A similar scientific myth arose in the middle of the 19th century thanks to the activities of the "mythological school", and mainly A. N. Afanasyeva. He also cited a metaphor comparing a month with a round pancake: "Shine, for a month, shine clearly, yak mlynske kolo"; “Come, for a month, so, yak mlynske kolo”. Cm.: Afanasyev A.N. Poetic views of the Slavs on nature. T. 3.M., 1995.
• Propp, 1995, p. 28-29
• Sokolova, 1979, p. 46-48
• Dubrovsky, 1870, p. 23
• 2 3 Belkin, 1975, p. 5
• Andrey Moroz: folk orthodoxy
• Kalinsky, 1877, p. 347
• Sosnina
• 2 Soviet Ethnography No. 2, 1936, p. 102.
• Galkovsky, 2000
• Kotovich, 2010, p. 332
• Yudina, 2000, p. 406
• Shrovetide: rituals for every day
• How to hold a traditional Russian Shrovetide, part 1
• 2 Solodovnikova, 2008, p. 19
• Sakharov, 1885, p. 167-168
• Tolstaya, 2005, p. 297
• Sakharov, 1885, p. 168
• Seeing off the Russian winter (Maslenitsa) / Maslenitsa week / Thursday - revelry (break, wide Thursday)
• AIF-Spring: Where and How to Meet Shrovetide
• 2 Agapkina, 2002, p. 41
• Fist fight // Russian Ethnographic Museum
• Taking a snow town // Russian Ethnographic Museum

Introduction

Relevance - in this work, I consider the topic "Shrovetide: traditions, customs and modern tendencies". The dishes I am considering can be included in the assortment of dishes for new businesses.

The problem is that new enterprises are being created; accordingly, it is necessary to expand the range of products.

The goal is to study the assortment of dishes for Shrovetide, develop a technical and technological map for the dish, calculate the rationalization

Research objectives:

Should find out the classification, assortment of dishes, recipes and technological processes preparation of dishes, culinary and confectionery products;

Rules for registration, release of finished products

Research methods - theoretical, empirical, mathematical

Structure:

In this term paper contains:

Introduction

· main part

· technological maps

Technical and technological map

Calculation of the rationalization of the recipe of the dish

Shrovetide: traditions, customs and modern trends

Characteristics of the rites of the Maslenitsa week

Shrovetide is a pagan holiday, but it got its name from the church calendar. During this period of time, last week before Great Lent, it is allowed to eat products of animal origin ( butter, dairy products, fish). This week is also called Cheese Week in the Orthodox Church.

All Shrovetide traditions are aimed at driving away the winter and awakening nature from sleep. Shrovetide was greeted with magnificent songs on the snow slides. The symbol of Maslenitsa was a scarecrow made of straw, dressed in women's clothes, with which they had fun, and then buried or burned at the stake along with a pancake, which the scarecrow was holding in its hand.

The carnival effigy is burned and symbolically buried. V different corners Russian rituals on this day were slightly different from each other. For example, in the northern, central and Volga regions, a Maslenitsa train was organized, which was carried by several hundred horses. The scarecrow was set on fire, and while it was burning, traditional memorial food (pancakes, eggs) was thrown into the fire. In the south and west of the country, it was customary to bury Maslenitsa after the burning. The parody of the funeral was also popular. They chose "priest", "deacon" with "deacon" and a group of mourners who would close the funeral procession.

As is known, church calendar borrowed many pagan holidays... Shrovetide is no exception. A celebration of joy and daring, with a mountain feast and fistfights, Shrovetide is wide, drunk, ruinous - an analogue of the Latin American "carnival" with dances in the squares and demonstrations revealing outfits... Both Shrovetide and carnivals have been persecuted for over a thousand years by the church, which hopes to curb their wild temper. But everything is useless ...

Our ancestors revered the sun as God, and in gratitude for the fact that it began to warm more and more, they first baked unleavened cakes (round like the sun), and when they learned leavened dough, it became a tradition to bake pancakes. Eating a pancake, our great-great-great ... grandfathers and grandmothers believed that with him they received a piece of the sun's warmth and light.

After Orthodox Church gave new status seeing off winter, Maslenitsa became the week leading up to fasting. According to the idea of ​​the church, these days people were supposed to be engaged in reconciliation with neighbors, forgiving offenses, preparing for the “repentant path to God” - after all, fewer and fewer days remained before Great Lent.

Today on Maslenitsa week Sunday brunch restaurants organize a buffet and two special lines where chefs bake pancakes, complementing them with fish, caviar, sour cream, decorate with a “Russian oven” made of sugar and chocolate, decorated with cookies, pancakes, barrels of honey and other sweets. Waiters dressed in National costumes, offer guests a traditional Russian drink - mead.

If in Russia it was possible to arrange noisy festivities throughout the week, then in modern world this is problematic. Due to the fact that the vast majority of us work, the rituals of every day of the week are practically not followed.

The only thing that almost everyone does is bake pancakes and invite guests to their place for treats. In some families, the tradition of Wednesday and Friday (gourmet and mother-in-law evenings) is preserved.

Be sure to ask each other for forgiveness. They call all their relatives, friends, acquaintances. Young people love to send sms messages in verse, which include a request to forget grievances and sins. V social networks acquaintances also send similar messages to each other.

Beautiful Maslenitsa traditions and there were a lot of rituals in Russia. Naturally, it will no longer be possible to revive some of them. Modern Shrovetide is "overgrown" with new traditions that correspond to the realities of our days. But the main thing is that it remains as cheerful and perky as it was centuries ago.

On Monday, which was called "Pure Maslenitsa - a wide boyarynya", they rode Maslenitsa and Maslenitsa on a sleigh, and after that they solemnly seated them on the most prominent and high place like the bride and groom. The prototype of Maslenik was the thunder god from pagan myths. And the "prototype" of Maslenitsa was the Snow Maiden - a deity that gives and takes life.

In the morning, the father-in-law and mother-in-law sent the daughter-in-law to the father and mother, so that in the evening they themselves would come to visit the matchmakers. Here, over a glass, they agreed on how to spend the time of Shrovetide week, when to ride the streets, and who to invite.

On Tuesday, on "Play", at dawn, Maslenitsa was taken to the central square, there were round dances around, young people rode on swings and from the mountains, venerable married couples went to visit each other. Groups of masked mummers strolled the streets and staged impromptu concerts wherever they pleased. Separately, it should be said about "urges" - people through whom some families invited others to visit. At the meeting, “callouts” were treated to wine and pancakes, showing honor and respect, asking them to bow to the owners with children and all household members. Refusal to visit sounded in the form of an expression: "We ourselves have built mountains and guests are welcome." Such a refusal was usually interpreted by the fact that "they want to marry the daughter off to another." Here, as in many Russian amusements and amusements, the motives of matchmaking are noticeable, because, with a positive development of events, at the end of Lent, it was possible to play a wedding on Krasnaya Gorka.

Wednesday - "Lakomka" - gave "a start in life" to the saying "Not living, but Shrovetide." On this day, they ate as much as the soul accepts, tents with hot sbitn, roasted nuts and honey cakes were set up everywhere. Mobile theaters were launched, festivities and fairs. In families, tables were set with treats, among which pancakes were in the first place.

"Rampant Quarter" had another name "Fracture Thursday", which reminds of the consequences of fist fights, dashing rollercoasters and transporting torched carts through the streets and descents. Often on the streets one could see how a joker man was being driven, sitting on a special sleigh. The peasant had a burning wheel - one of the symbols of the holiday, and people followed the sleigh with jokes and songs. Another symbol of Shrovetide was a bear - either a real, chained, or a man disguised as a bear. One of the fun of Russian men was fighting this bear, of course, with the real one.

Friday, "Mother-in-law's Evening" - the day on which the peculiarity of many Russian rituals was most clearly manifested: to promote the acquaintances and weddings of young people. The newlyweds were held in high esteem that day: they went out in an elegant and painted sleigh, came to visit everyone who was at their wedding. But the main event was the visits of the sons-in-law to the mother-in-law, who baked pancakes especially for this occasion. Not coming to the mother-in-law was considered tantamount to an insult, and such an insult could be a source of eternal enmity between the mother-in-law and the son-in-law.

Saturday - "Cousin's gatherings", was considered family day... On Saturday, the daughters-in-law received guests, the husband's relatives. And if the husband's sisters - sister-in-law - were not yet married, then, in this case, the daughter-in-law also invited her unmarried girlfriends. The newlywed daughter-in-law gave gifts to her sister-in-law.

Sunday, "Forgiveness Sunday", was also called "The Kisser". People walked around the courtyards, kissed the people they met and asked for forgiveness from each other. Seeing an acquaintance, they usually said: "Forgive me, perhaps," and the other answered: "God will forgive you." The meaning of forgiveness is the cleansing from sins before Great Lent. also in Forgiveness Sunday it is customary to go to the cemetery and leave pancakes on the graves.

The newlyweds rode on a sleigh through their relatives, presenting their father-in-law and mother-in-law, boyfriends and matchmakers in response to wedding gifts... On this culminating day of the festival, many dressed in animal skins, depicting evil spirits. The villagers drove them out of the outskirts with sticks, along with a stuffed straw Maslenitsa, where the beating of evil spirits was staged. Everything that would not be useful in the new year was thrown into the fire, thus freeing themselves from trash. The ash left over from the "mistress of winter" was scattered across the fields in honor of the future harvest. Children were baked "waders" and "larks" from dough. Children, with baked "birds" in their hands, climbed onto the roofs of sheds and houses, inviting an early and warm spring.

Wide Maslenitsa, Krivosheyka, Pancake, Obyedukha, Maslenaya week - this is one and the same holiday that is celebrated almost all over the world. The meaning of this holiday is to distinguish between winter and spring period for common people and the definition of Lent for Christians. For a whole week, people walk, sing songs, ride a sleigh, bake pancakes, visit each other, and at the end of the festival they burn a scarecrow.

What is this holiday - Wide Maslenitsa?

Maslenitsa is a traditional seven-day holiday celebrated by the Slavs before Lent. It got its name due to the fact that during this period you can eat butter, dairy products, fish. This period in the Orthodox Church is also called

The date of the holiday varies constantly, but it always comes before fasting, at the end of winter. Therefore, among the people, this holiday (Wide Maslenitsa) marks the farewell to winter and the welcome of spring. People make stuffed animals, prepare contests, bake pancakes. On the squares, a whole performance with songs and round dances is arranged, where everyone can take part in any event.

Shrovetide is celebrated for 7 days. These are Meeting, Flirting, Gourmet, Revelry, Mother-in-law's evening, Sister-in-law's gatherings, Seeing off. The end of Shrovetide always falls on that is why the meaning of the holiday is not in simple mass visits to the guests, but in cleansing the soul of insults with sincere forgiveness.

Narrow and Wide Shrovetide

Shrovetide is divided into two periods:

• from Monday to Wednesday is the Narrow Pancake Week;
• from Thursday to Sunday - it is Wide Maslenitsa.

In the first period, it was allowed to work, and in the second, people devoted themselves to the holiday. The Wide Maslenitsa began with ceremonies.

• On Monday morning, the daughter-in-law was sent to her parents. In the evening, the mother-in-law and father-in-law would come to the matchmakers for pancakes and discuss what composition and where they would celebrate Shrovetide.
• On Tuesday, brides were shown. People went from house to house, ate pancakes, sleigh rides.
• On Wednesday, the mother-in-law invited her son-in-law and other guests to pancakes.
• Mass festivities began on Thursday. On these days, people participate in fist fights, ride horses, sing songs, carol, jump over a fire, storm snow towns, scare passers-by, play each other (they prop up the door with a log, drag the cart onto the roof, etc.).
• On Friday, the son-in-law was supposed to greet his mother-in-law and her relatives.
• On Saturday, the daughter-in-law invited her sister-in-law and other relatives of her husband.
• On Sunday, they asked everyone for forgiveness, washed in the bathhouse, burned a scarecrow, said goodbye to the dead at the cemetery.

In which countries is this holiday celebrated?

Congratulations on Shirokaya Maslenitsa are relevant not only for the Russian people. This holiday is also celebrated in other countries, only it has a different name.

The meaning of the holiday is the same for all peoples, regardless of the differences in food and competitions. For example, on the Russian and Belarusian table, a flatbread or pancake is a must-have dish, while Ukrainians cook cheese cakes and dumplings.

Shrovetide connection with fertility, procreation and the departed

Initially, Maslenitsa was a pagan holiday, the essence of which was to stimulate the beginning of the fertile cycle. That is why the peasants scattered the ashes in their fields.

The stuffed animal was made of birch stake and straw, which symbolized the beginning of life. The birth of children was also associated with fertility. That is why childless couples were presented with homemade carnival dolls, at the festivities they honored family ones and condemned singles. In Ukraine and Belarus, such bachelors were tied to their legs with sticks and forced to drag this deck. The meaning of this rite was for girls and boys to think about legal marriage.

And the third meaning of the holiday was associated with the commemoration of the dead. That is why the first pancake was given to the deceased, and on the last day even crumbs were not removed from the table, since it was believed that at night the deceased relatives came and ate.

The harvest, the fertility of livestock, the birth of children and were associated with the fertility of the land. However, many rituals in our time are purely symbolic and are included as historical reference into the script. At the same time, the wide Shrovetide did not lose its scope and rampant.

Unpreserved or rare rituals

Traditional Shrovetide Games

Wide Shrovetide in old days had a number of customs that were repeated from year to year. Burning a scarecrow and making pancakes are the main elements of the celebration. But the following rituals were also performed:

Celebration of the Wide Maslenitsa in modern Russia

The city or village administration is currently organizing folk celebration on the last day of Maslenitsa. On this day, huge platforms are being built, on which professional artists work. They not only sing songs, ditties, but also play up all the days of Maslenitsa with all the walks and historical rites.

People can actively participate in various sweepstakes and performances. To relieve the tightness and cheer up people, buffoons constantly dart around, who are looking for perky and courageous to participate in different competitions... In the old days, a wide one with costumed actors) was always accompanied by booths and parsley comedies.

In addition to the competition places, there are also several trays with hot tea and pancakes. Food from the city administration is usually free, private owners have a variety of dishes, but paid ones. Away from the view, either ice slides are installed, or horses with sleds are provided for riding. The order and discipline are monitored by representatives of the police.

What contests are on the holiday

Despite the fact that many rituals and games are outdated, modern farewell to winter also draws crowds of people. The scenario of the "Wide Maslenitsa" holiday is designed for different ages and needs. Some watch the performance and walk with the artists from one platform to another, going through all the Shrovetide stages.

The second immediately participate in competitions. More often the following events are organized:

• Ice pillar with gifts. People should undress to the waist and climb to the very top along the icy slippery pillar to the gifts. The competition is considered completed if the package with the gift was not ripped off, but removed from the hook. They hang completely different things on the pole, there have been cases when the grunt of a pig could be heard from a height.
• Tug of war. People are divided into two teams and must drag all opponents to their side.
• Dousing with water. Men show their prowess: several daredevils undress and pour water over them.
• Street fighting. These are contests for men. Previously, whole crowds fought each other. At the moment, they are organizing civilized hand-to-hand fighting.

What stuffed Maslenitsa are there?

Not a single Wide Maslenitsa (photos are presented in the article) is complete without a doll. There are several varieties of them:

What is the meaning of a scarecrow?

The stuffed animal of old Winter was depicted as an old woman. Its burning meant the end of everything old and the meeting of the new. It was especially important to make stuffed birch and straw with a pancake in hand, as this meant fertility. Earlier, people with this stuffed animal threw their old things, clothes into the fire and said goodbye to their grievances. Fire helps to cleanse the souls of people before Great Lent.

A large doll of the young Shrovetide participates in mass performances. It is made lightweight so that it can be carried on a stick. This funny doll goes from holiday to holiday (Shirokaya Maslenitsa). The songs then sound more cheerful and perky.

Homemade Shrovetide helps to establish kinship... When it is difficult for a son-in-law or daughter-in-law to ask forgiveness from parents on Forgiveness Sunday, gifts in the form of Maslenitsa help to melt the cold in the heart. In case of quarrels and offenses, a woman can tell them to a doll and tie them in a knot.

Such dolls were burned together with a stuffed animal to say goodbye to the negative. There were also those to which red ribbons with made wishes were tied. They were also burned in the fire to make their dreams come true.

Brief conclusions

Wide Shrovetide (pictures with pancakes and a scarecrow are given above) includes memorial, agricultural and marriage and family rituals. In the first case, the burning of a stuffed Marena, round pancakes, fish on the table, a ban on work, bonfires testified to the reverence of people for the dead. In the second case of skiing from the mountains, burning a stuffed animal made of birch and straw with a pancake, scattering ash in the fields indicated a future harvest.

In the third version, family members were honored, brides were arranged and bachelors were punished. So, a young wife, married for a year, had to ride her friends in a sleigh with songs and jokes instead of horses. The captured were obliged to kiss in public at the "kissing" post. And bachelors in pairs (girl and boy) were forced to walk with a hanging deck all day, enduring ridicule. On Shrovetide, all relatives must visit the guests: first, the mother-in-law "oils" the son-in-law, and then he must greet his mother in his house.

It turns out that the most family and happy holiday is the Wide Shrovetide! The songs for each day of the holiday were different, but all were perky and joyful. And there were a lot of pancakes with different fillings. The girls even chose their betrothed according to them.

It so happened that people are used to celebrating all significant events in life in a special way. In ancient times, man was closer to nature, believed and revered its mighty power. Therefore, all pagan holidays were inextricably linked with her.

Most of them have long since sunk into oblivion. But there is one that has not been lost, has survived through the turn of the century. it Shrovetide is a legacy of pagan times, a favorite holiday of the Russian people.

• In 2016, Maslenitsa will come on March 7 and will be celebrated until March 13.

The origins of the holiday

Shrovetide is a unique, multi-meaning holiday. Its original pagan origin, traditions were filled with new content over time. The Orthodox Church accepted it, rethought it, made it a part of Christian culture.

The pagan Slavs saw off the annoying winter and met long-awaited spring... The people who worked on the land knew that if, due to the prolonged winter, they did not sow and harvest in time, then hunger and misfortune could not be avoided. Therefore, it was a time of celebration of life and fertility, which was expected from the next agricultural year.

V Christian meaning the holiday was associated with the annual cycle of worship and was celebrated as a preparation for Great Lent, more precisely, as a preparation for Easter. The time of the Maslenitsa also depended on the time of the beginning of the fast.

Every year the holiday fell on a new date.

Its current name is five centuries old. He was previously called meat-meat... People also affectionately, like a girl, called him “ sliver», « funny quail», « boyarynya carnival"Or else like this -" cheese week», « pancake maker", "O bastard».

Maslenitsa is celebrated not only by the Slavs. In European countries, it was also customary to see off the winter. The closest thing to Maslenitsa is the Italian carnival, which literally means “goodbye to meat”. Our holiday is similar to it, primarily in the Christian meaning of entering Great Lent.

In Western culture, the carnival was able to survive, becoming a certain branch of entertainment, filled with the meaning of emancipation, the removal of all possible social differences, and which is characteristic of the carnival-change social roles... During the days of the carnival, anyone, at the behest of the crowd, could become the master of the city, its king, even for a day, even for an hour. But our celebration customs are still very different from Europe.

Maslenitsa week

If we talk about Russian traditions, then we need to talk about the seven Shrovetide days.

On Monday - Shrovetide meeting... A stuffed animal, a symbol of the holiday, was made from straw. With him, on a sleigh, young boys and girls drove around the village and past every yard. That is, according to the meaning, Maslenitsa came to every home. People said that "Maslenitsa is coming." Most of all, children were waiting for the holiday, for them it was a time of great winter games... They did not work during the Shrovetide week, they had to rest, walk, visit for seven days.

The second day was called flirting... Those young people who have not yet married, this week looked closely at the brides so that after the fast they could have a wedding.

The biggest feast on Wednesday gourmet... The whole family gathered at the table, ate pancakes and remembered all the relatives. Since pancakes are not only a hot symbol of the sun, but also a dish with which all Slavs traditionally remembered the departed, it was believed that the whole family gathers at the table, celebrates. It was necessary to eat not just a lot, but a lot, as much as fit. Overeating on Shrovetide was not considered a sin.

The widest festivities began on Thursday... Thursday was called revelry. There were fairs, stalls in the stalls were full of all sorts of delicacies, honey cakes with patterns, bagels, pickles, caviar, fish were sold. Velvet tea was poured from pot-bellied samovars. And, of course, they could not do without the main treat - hot pancakes. Young people rode down the hills, drove around on sleds and troika. She made noise, laughed in dances and round dances wide Shrovetide... In street theaters, performances went on without end, for those who wanted to measure their strength - fist games, tug-of-war.

On Friday, according to tradition, the son-in-law went to his mother-in-law for pancakes... The main idea of ​​this day is the unification of the family, clan. The older woman had to pass on experience, life wisdom to the younger generation.

For sister-in-law gatherings, on Saturday, young daughters-in-law hosted her husband's relatives at home.

Well and Sunday - the end of the holiday... We said goodbye to winter, to everything old, unnecessary, gone. The scarecrow was taken to the outskirts, a future fire was built from old things, and Maslenitsa was installed on top. Then they burned it, and scattered the ashes in the wind. By Orthodox tradition on this day, everyone reconciled, forgave each other, both obvious offenses and those inflicted inadvertently. All were reconciled, from common man to the king.