On Monday, February 12, Pancake Week begins. For seven days the whole country will bake pancakes, go to fairs, and everything will end with the traditional burning of a scarecrow. the site tells about the origin of the holiday, its traditions and rituals

When is Maslenitsa in 2018?

Maslenitsa week in 2018 starts on February 12th. It will end with Forgiveness Sunday February 18th.

Where did Maslenitsa come from?

Few people know that Shrovetide was originally a pagan holiday. The peoples of the Eastern Slavs celebrated the day of the vernal equinox, which was called Komoeditsa. According to the solar calendar, a new year began at the junction of winter and spring. The festivities lasted two weeks - a week before Komoeditsa and a week after. However, Maslenitsa borrowed some rituals from Vlasyev's day - a cow's holiday. St. Blasius, the Eastern Slavs prayed for the conservation of livestock and well-being in family life.

Shrovetide received its modern name after the Baptism of Rus in 988. Religious expansion tried to erase all references to paganism from history. Patriarch Adrian wanted to completely destroy the "demonic holiday", but he could not complete what he had begun because of his death. However, he managed to shorten it from 14 to 8 days. Soon the holiday was named Cheese Week. The Orthodox Church punished a week before Lent to gradually limit the diet, for example, not to eat meat. Therefore, the week received another name - Myasopust. In total, there are four preparatory weeks for fasting: the week of Zacchaeus, the week of the publican and the Pharisee, the week of the prodigal son and the week of the last judgment, which is also a cheese week.

The church allowed the use of dairy products, including butter, before Lent. They were greased with pancakes, cheese cakes, dumplings - traditional treats that came from pagan rituals. Because of this, among the people, the holiday was called Maslenitsa.

Shrovetide traditions

Undoubtedly, the most famous Shrovetide rite is the burning of a scarecrow. The fire symbolized the death of a cold autumn and the revival of a warm spring. In pagan mythology, the stuffed animal personified the image of a dying and resurrecting god. The Slavs believed that the deity does not die, but goes into the kingdom of the dead, disappears for a while and returns again. Just like the cold winter leaves and comes.

There is an erroneous theory that the Slavs associated pancakes with the sun. In fact, pancakes have always been a memorial dish. On Shrovetide, it is customary to remember the dead and go to the cemetery. Therefore, funeral pancakes fit the essence of Shrovetide at the right time.

Festivities are divided into three stages: Small Maslenitsa, Narrow Maslenitsa and Wide Maslenitsa. The first stage was preparatory to the main celebrations. Parents gave kids about ten years old pancakes and let them go to the streets. They rode on a poker or broomstick and shouted “Goodbye, winter snotty! Come, summer is red! " Sometimes children collected sandals and met travelers returning from cities. Visitors were asked: "Are you taking Shrovetide?", If they answered negatively, they were beaten with bast shoes.

Narrow Pancake Week is the first three days of Pancake Week. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, people prepared firewood, baked pancakes, and cleaned huts. On Thursday, all household chores were thrown and the festivities started. On this day, the Wide Maslenitsa began.

How was Maslenitsa celebrated in Russia?

The narrow Shrovetide began with meetings of matchmakers. The relatives agreed on a joint festive feast, discussed the list of guests, etc. By the evening they began to bake pancakes. The first pancake was given to the poor for the commemoration of the dead. The men weaved a straw effigy, impaled it and drove it in a cart through the streets.

The show begins on Tuesday. Parents selected worthy parties for their children for the Pancake Day, since it was believed that then the wedding would fall on the first Sunday of Easter - Krasnaya Gorka. To invoke Maslenitsa, they said the words: "Our snowy mountains are ready and pancakes are baked - we ask you to favor!"

On the last day of the Narrow Maslenitsa, the mother-in-law baked pancakes for her son-in-law, which he was obliged to eat. Thus, the mother-in-law showed approval of her daughter's choice.

The onset of Razgulyay opened the stage of the Wide Maslenitsa. All chores stopped, people took to the streets to dance and sing songs. The people organized fistfights, horseback riding and other competitions. But the main entertainment was the storming of the snow town. It was built during the first three days of the week. Men and boys were divided into two teams: defenders and attackers. The invaders attacked on horseback. The game ended when the city was completely destroyed.

On Friday, the mother-in-law paid her son-in-law a return visit, taking her friends with her. The man had to please all the guests, showing his respect in every way. While the husband entertained the guests, the daughter-in-law baked pancakes and prepared various treats.

The adventures of the daughter-in-law did not end there. The next day she invited her husband's sisters to visit. If they were engaged, then she invited her married friends, if not, unmarried friends.

Seeing off begins on Sunday. On this day, all friends asked each other for forgiveness for the insults they had inflicted over the year. This is where the name Forgiven Sunday comes from. It falls on February 18 in 2018. In the evening, relatives went to the cemetery to commemorate the dead. The rest of the food was burned, and the dishes were thoroughly washed. The men went to the bathhouse, clearing themselves of the accumulated negativity. In the evening, a scarecrow was burned, and the ashes were scattered across the fields.

Shrovetide, which implies that the whole week people see off the annoying winter, bake pancakes and visit each other, is rather one of the favorite Russian holidays. In principle, this is probably even the main holiday of its kind, ancient and beautiful, with many traditions and rituals. Maslenitsa in our time is celebrated by many people, not only by connoisseurs of ancient Russian culture and customs. Shrovetide week is a floating holiday that does not have a fixed date. What date will Maslenitsa be in 2019?

We devote our today's material to this merry winter holiday - Maslenitsa.

What date?

What is the date of Maslenitsa celebration in 2019? The beginning of Maslenitsa is celebrated on March 4. However, for most of the inhabitants of our country, Maslenitsa is Sunday, the last day of the Maslenitsa week, when people see off the Russian winter. And in 2019 this day falls on the 10th of March.

Maslenitsa week traditions

Shrovetide is called differently, and all these names mean the same thing. Due to abstinence from meat, the name of the meat-and-mouth came about; from eating cheese - cheese week; from the widespread use of oil - Shrovetide, which lasts a whole week before Lent. In the calendar and church books, the name of the cheese week is used. At this time, they do not eat anything meat; fish, milk, eggs and cheese are common to everyone. The well-known name of this week throughout Russia is Maslenitsa or Maslenitsa week.

During Maslenitsa in Russia, all the estates were carried away by wild life and fun; in northeastern Russia it was called by the common people an honest Maslenitsa, and in the west - a wide Maslenitsa. It starts with a Monday meeting; from the middle of the week there is a riot of Maslenitsa; on a wide Thursday everyone is in a hurry to treat each other; Farewell days finally follow: Saturday and Sunday.

As in the old days, so now, the main treat at Shrovetide is pancakes. All week they bake pancakes from buckwheat or wheat flour in butter, milk and eggs, round, in the entire volume of a frying pan. Pancakes, no more than a tea saucer, are thin, light and mostly on milk and eggs, from wheat flour alone are called pancakes. In rich houses, liquid caviar was served with pancakes. In Little Russia and adjacent places, pancakes were baked and, moreover, dumplings were prepared - small pies similar to Siberian dumplings, they were stuffed with cottage cheese and served with butter and sour cream.

Pancakes were also served hot everywhere: cooled down lose their dignity.
Regarding pancakes in butter and vodka gave rise to the saying: "Not life, but Maslenitsa"

In other places, Maslenitsa began on Monday, and everyone celebrated on Thursday. The commoners, having ate a decent amount of pancakes, began to sing merry songs; then we rode in a sleigh and drove around friends. After skating, they visited a friend's house, in which new pancakes, a ready-made dinner were waiting for them, and there they feasted until midnight.

On Sunday evening, Shrovetide was seen off. In the morning, the children collected firewood for the fire. Young people in a sleigh with a stuffed Maslenitsa rode through the village until dark, joking and singing songs. Late in the evening we went to the field and here, on a fire prepared in advance, the scarecrow was burned. At times, whole performances were played - the funeral of Maslenitsa. They said goodbye to her both jokingly and seriously.

The significance of Maslenitsa in past centuries is very great - parting with the long winter meant the birth of a new grain-growing year, new works of the righteous, a new struggle for existence.

Shrovetide history

Shrovetide for us is like a carnival for Italians. Moreover, in translation from Italian "carnival" means "beef, goodbye!" And Shrovetide, preceding Great Lent, has long been called "Meat-empty", since it was forbidden to eat meat this week.

Some historians believe that in ancient times Maslenitsa was associated with the spring solstice, but with the adoption of Christianity, it began to precede Great Lent and depend on its timing. However, this is not all about the meaning of Shrovetide. For the Slavs, it was also a meeting for a long time! Indeed, until the XIV century, the year in Russia began in March. Even pancakes, an indispensable attribute of Shrovetide, had ritual significance: round, ruddy, hot, they were a symbol of the sun, which flared up brighter and brighter, lengthening the days. And according to old beliefs, it was believed: how a person meets a year, so he will be. Therefore, our ancestors did not skimp on this holiday on a generous feast and unrestrained fun. And the people called Maslenitsa "honest", "wide", "gluttonous", and even "ruinous".

Centuries passed, life changed, with the adoption of Christianity new church holidays appeared, but the wide Maslenitsa continued to live. Nothing could force the Russians to abandon their favorite holiday - hospitable and riotous fun. By the way, at one time Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich tried to calm down his daring subjects with the strictest measures. The governors sent out tsarist decrees to cities and villages, either prohibiting private distillation, or demanding that Russians not gamble, and did not carry out fist fights. But neither the formidable tsarist decrees, nor the instructions of the patriarch were able to cope with the overflowing gaiety.

But in 1724 in St. Petersburg Maslenitsa failed. Peter, a well-known lover of all kinds of amusements, intended to arrange an amusing sledding procession in the new capital, but all the festive week there was a snowstorm and there was a severe frost. For several days, participants in the procession in costumes and masks gathered at the gathering place, but, stiffened along the way, they went to warm up with someone on a visit. Alas, the element won, the fun failed.

On the occasion of her coronation, Catherine II, imitating Peter I, organized a grandiose masquerade procession in Moscow at Masleni week called "Triumphant Minerva". For three days a masquerade procession rode around the city, which, according to the empress's plan, was supposed to represent various social vices - bribery, embezzlement, bureaucratic red tape and others, destroyed by the beneficial rule of the wise Catherine.

Over time, "rolling fun" in the cities has improved. Wooden slides with elegant pavilions began to be erected on the ice of the river or in squares. The hills were decorated with multi-colored flags, spruce and pine branches, and even wooden sculptures. In St. Petersburg at the beginning of the 19th century, the mountains of the merchant Podoznikov were famous. They were built on the Neva opposite the Senate and reached 26 meters in height. By the way, skiing from the city mountains at that time was paid and cost a penny. A brisk trade in hot sbitn, tea made from steaming samovars, sweets, nuts, pies and pancakes was unfolding near the icy mountains. The audience in large booths was amused by buffoons and the beloved folk hero Petrushka.

In villages where booths never happened, the inhabitants themselves became the protagonists of an unusual battle - the capture of a snow town. Having gathered, they together erected a fortress out of snow with intricate towers and gates. Most often they put it on the ice of the river and cut through the wormwood in the middle. Then the participants of the merrymaking were divided into two parties. Horse daredevils besieged the fortress, and its defenders fought back with snowballs, brandished twigs and brooms, frightening the horses. The winner, who burst into the gate first, faced a test: he was forced to swim in an ice hole.

But the most beloved and beautiful Shrovetide rite was sleigh rides. Everyone who had a horse rode out, and motley teams were racing through the streets: the rich flaunted sleek trotters and painted sleds covered with a carpet, and after them galloped peasant horses, cleaned to a shine, decorated with colored ribbons.

Of course, pancakes were the main treat at Maslenitsa. They were baked and eaten in myriad quantities.

For each day of the oil week, there were certain rituals. On Monday - Shrovetide meeting, on Tuesday - flirting. For gourmets, that is, on Wednesday of Oily Week, mother-in-law invited sons-in-law and wives to pancakes. This custom was especially observed in relation to young, recently married. Surely this is where the expression "to the mother-in-law for pancakes" came from. The most crowded tobogganing took place on wide Thursday. On Friday - mother-in-law's evening - the sons-in-law called the mother-in-law for a treat. Saturday was reserved for sister-in-law's gatherings. Sunday was called "Forgiveness Day." On this day, everyone visited relatives, friends and acquaintances, exchanged kisses, bows and asked for forgiveness from each other if offended by words or deeds.

Pancakes, festivities, triplets and the burning of a scarecrow are most often associated with Shrovetide. But are all these rituals really the attributes of the holiday? What is Maslenitsa in fact, the correspondent of "RIAMO in Koroleva" figured out.

Pancakes- not the main attribute of Shrovetide

Pancakes are not only a Slavic product at all. Many peoples have them - from Ireland to Uzbekistan and Pakistan. Slavic countries did not know pancake as a pancake dish. The researcher Sokolova writes that the pancake as a symbol of the reviving sun has no serious grounds: “Pancakes are really ritual food in origin, but they were directly connected not with Shrovetide and the sun, but with the cult of ancestors, which was part of the Shrovetide rite ".

The Saturday before Maslenitsa was celebrated as parental. On this day, pancakes began to be baked. The preparation of ritual food - pancakes - is associated with the commemoration of deceased parents. Even P.V. Shane emphasized in the 19th century that peasants believed that "the custom of baking pancakes is a reliable way to connect with the other world." This is an obligatory meal for funerals, commemorations, weddings, Christmastide and Shrovetide, that is, days associated with the worship of ancestors. Pancakes were placed on the attic dormer window - "to treat the dead", or they were given to the poor, so that they remembered the dead. So they said: the first pancake for peace.

Traditional Russian pancakes were different from modern ones. They were not fried, but baked in the oven, respectively, they were not turned over. Traditional pancakes made from buckwheat, oatmeal and rye flour are almost impossible to cook in a modern frying pan, since if they are fried on the stove, they will be brittle.

Shrovetide is not only a Slavic holiday

Shrovetide was celebrated almost throughout Europe. In the countries of Western Europe, Maslenitsa smoothly turns into a nationwide carnival, when unrestrained fun, laughter and humor reign. In Scotland, on Shrovetide, it was customary to bake "lean cakes". A handful of oatmeal was poured into the palms folded together, then the flour was firmly squeezed in the palms and immersed in cold water, and the resulting ball was baked in the hearth right in the hot ash. The Scots consider baking pancakes to be an important act in which all family members try to take part: one greases the pan with butter, another pours dough onto it, the third turns the pancake over. In one of the cities of England, for many years, a women's pancake race has been held. At 11:45 am, the "pancake bell" is ringing. Women run with a hot frying pan and a pancake. During the run, you need to toss the pancake in the pan at least three times and catch it. The first woman to pass a pancake to the bell ringer becomes a pancake racing champion. In Poland, the main characters of Maslenitsa were bachelors. On her last day, one could go to a tavern where the violinist "sold" unmarried girls. And in the Czech Republic, these cheerful days, young guys with faces smeared with soot go around the whole village to music, carrying a painted wooden block - "klatik". It is hung on each girl's neck or tied to an arm or leg. Liberation is for ransom. In Yugoslavia, you will certainly be put in a pig's trough and dragged around the village. And on the roof of your own house, you can find the figure of a straw grandfather.

Shrovetide is not connected with the wires of winter and the meeting of spring

Not a single Shrovetide song, of which there are so many, mentions either winter or spring. The main Shrovetide custom is to dignify newlyweds and reproach unmarried and unmarried. In the old days, those who sat too long were symbolically married. The ceremony was typical for many Slavs. Among Russians, “marrying unmarried people” on Shrovetide occurs everywhere, much more often than burning a stuffed animal or pancakes.

Shrovetide in the old days coincided with the end of the wedding period. The young were rolled down the hills. The young woman, as a rule, having climbed the mountain, bowed low three times and, sitting on her husband's lap, kissed him. Rolling down the mountain, the young woman once again kissed her husband. This circle of rituals also includes horse riding, which was decorated with ribbons, painted arcs, and expensive bells. The sleds were traditionally covered with sheepskin fur outside, which was considered to stimulate fertility.

Being a holiday associated with the cult of ancestors, givers of fertility, Maslenitsa in ancient times lasted not 7 days, but 14, that is, it marked the day of the ancestors (the day of the ancestors - 28 days), who returned to the living world to help their descendants. Coming to the world of the living just for a day from their own world, the "parents", led by Troyan, not only increase the life-giving power of the Earth, but also acquire new powers themselves. After all, pancakes, oatmeal jelly, honey, colored eggs, milk, cottage cheese, cereals are food not only for living, but also for ancestors who came to Shrovetide. Thus, ancestors help the living to create, to find strength for new achievements. It is also true that Maslenitsa is a symbol of new life and rebirth. The Shrovetide effigy's costume was always old and torn. Straw and clothes for Shrovetide had to be collected from different houses or bought a bundle, turning a human figure into a symbol of decay, sinfulness and decay. Burned to get rid of it.

Pancake Week days

After the adoption of Christianity, Maslenitsa was "adjusted" to the terms of Great Lent and every year it is celebrated in a different way. By the way, Maslenitsa is the only holiday officially recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church calls this week "cheese" - when you can no longer eat meat, but you can eat any dairy products and eggs, this week ends on Forgiveness Sunday - after it comes Great Lent.

Shrovetide is celebrated for seven days: every day has its own name and meaning. So, the days of Shrovetide week.

Monday is the first day of Pancake Week, called "Meeting". On this day, preparations for the holiday were completed: slides, booths, swings, trays for trade and so on were built. Many have already started baking pancakes.

Tuesday is the second day of Maslenitsa called "Flirting". Young people started festivities, in large companies they organized skiing from ice slides. On this day, it was already possible to invite each other to pancakes.

Wednesday is the third day of Pancake Week called "Gourmands". The mother-in-law invited her son-in-law for pancakes.

Thursday is the fourth day of Pancake Week, which is called "Wide revelry". From that day, real festivities in honor of Maslenitsa began: slides, swings, horseback riding, noisy feasts, carnivals and fistfights.

Friday - the fifth day of Maslenitsa called "Mother-in-law's evening". On this day, the sons-in-law arranged "otvetki" - that is, they invited the mother-in-law to their pancakes.

Saturday is the penultimate day of Maslenitsa, popularly known as "Sister-wife's gatherings". Daughters-in-law invited their sister-in-law to have pancakes, while very young daughters-in-law made a gift to their sister-in-law.

Sunday is the last day of Shrovetide, it is called "Forgiveness Sunday". People asked each other for forgiveness and hoped for the best. On this day, they definitely went to church: the abbot asked for forgiveness from the parishioners, and the parishioners - from each other. In response to a request for forgiveness, they say the phrase "God will forgive." Asking for forgiveness, people bow.

Before Shrovetide, you need to observe certain rituals that are well-established among the Russian people. Basically, holidays in Russia are used to celebrate loudly and on a grand scale, the customs of the Slavs have always been distinguished by their diversity and originality. Preparing for Shrovetide is no less fun and exciting than the celebration itself.

Short description

Maslenitsa is one of the most famous and merry holidays according to the Orthodox calendar, rooted in the pagan past of Ancient Rus. Hence the contradiction in the perception of this celebration by different people. For some, this is a time of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation, while for others it is a time of revelry and fun. For the same reason, Maslenitsa simultaneously means farewell to winter and preparation for Lent. This is the time of festivities, songs and dances before a long period of abstinence.

The holiday lasts one week, it always starts on Sunday. Maslenitsa dates change every year. To find out when an event will occur in each specific year, you need to count back 56 days from the date of Easter. This will be the first day of Maslenitsa. It usually falls in early March or late February.

According to the Orthodox calendar, Maslenitsa is considered meat and cheese. To some extent, it is, as it were, the beginning or preparation for Great Lent, which lasts 7 weeks and ends with the onset of the bright holiday of Easter. It is called meat-bearing because you cannot eat meat, or rather, on the first day of Shrovetide, you can eat meat dishes for the last time before Lent. And it is called cheese because during the holiday week you can still eat dairy products, as well as fish.

Motley week

7 days before Shrovetide is called a variegated week. By this time, it was customary to end the wedding period, which had passed since the beginning of the Winter Wedding.

It was believed that whoever marries in a motley week will live in poverty and need, that is, motley.

Preparations for Shrovetide began 3-4 days, or even a week before its start. Most of the training was done by women. During this period, it was customary to do a general cleaning of their homes, to wash it out, which is called "from the attic to the underground." At this time, people were busy decorating the house and giving it a festive look. The villagers, preparing for the celebration, always cleaned the stoves and whitewashed the rooms, prepared the festive dishes. Special attention was paid to the pancake pans, they had to be perfectly cleaned. They also tried to put the appearance of the houses in order, in the courtyards they got rid of the accumulated rubbish and swept out all the rubbish outside the gates.

During the Maslenitsa days, it was necessary to eat and eat a lot and treat guests to their fill. This was the only way it was considered correct to see off the winter. Failure to comply with this tradition was considered bad. Therefore, a considerable part of the preparations consisted in the advance purchase of all the necessary products for the preparation of the seven-day festive table.

The main festive dish on Shrovetide is, of course, pancakes, most often made from yeast dough with buckwheat flour. The Slavs worshiped nature and worshiped the Sun as a deity that gives vitality to all living things. Therefore, it was customary to bake pancakes on this spring holiday. Pancake pancake still symbolizes the sun - round, yellow and hot.
Pancakes were prepared not only from wheat flour, like most modern housewives, but also from buckwheat, corn, oatmeal, millet, barley and even pea flour. In addition to pancakes, there must have been other dishes on the table, for example, fish, mushrooms, all kinds of pies and gingerbread. I had to buy a lot: different varieties of flour, eggs, butter, cottage cheese, as well as products for all kinds of sweet and salty fillings for pancakes and pies. Local and city fairs and bazaars were very crowded.

It was customary to buy for the Maslenitsa holiday and renovations, mainly jewelry and outfits for girls.

Small Maslenitsa

The last Saturday before the celebration is called the Little Shrovetide. At this time, many housewives began to bake pancakes, gave them to children of 8-10 years old and sent them to “celebrate the holiday”: kids with pancakes jumping up and down on a grab or a simple poker in the garden and shouted: “Goodbye, snowy winter! Come, summer is bright! Sokhu, harrow - I will work! ".

There was a funny tradition for the small Maslenitsa. Children collected sandals around the village, then went to the “high road”, met everyone who was returning home with purchases, and asked them the question: “Are you taking Shrovetide?”. If the answer was no, the children threw bast shoes on the unfortunate one.

The Little Shrovetide for many was a parental memorial day, the first of the year when pancakes were specially baked and taken to the cemetery or distributed to children, poor people and nuns with a request to commemorate the dead.

Seven days of Shrovetide

Each day of Shrovetide week has its own name:

• Monday - meeting;
• Tuesday - play;
• Wednesday - gourmet;
• Thursday - take a walk;
• Friday - evenings at the mother-in-law;
• Saturday - sittings of the sister-in-law;
• Sunday - Great Forgiveness Sunday.

The preparations for these days were as follows. On Monday, the hostesses began to bake pancakes. On this day, they made a funny straw effigy of Maslenitsa, dressed in a woman's costume. By Tuesday and Wednesday, it was necessary to prepare places for festivities and amusements, made huge swinging (swings), built snow towns, slides for skating, put booths for buffoons, prepared sledges. Popular belief said that the further the sleigh moves, the richer the harvest will be. They also set up places for trade: shops and tables for the sale of sweets and all kinds of food. For fist fights, in which whole villages often went against each other, it was necessary to choose places for the battle and chieftains, agree on the rules of the game, the number and composition of participants.

The preparation of the first dough for yeast pancakes was considered a special rite before Shrovetide. Some housewives tried to do it right on the street, by the water, while special sentences were carried out.

It was believed that then the pancakes would be especially successful. Some added melt water to the dough instead of usual. Cooking the first dough was entrusted exclusively to women in the family and only to the most experienced, of course, the best cooks. The recipe and the preparation of the substance itself was kept in strict secrecy not only from outsiders, but also from the rest of the family. It was believed that if you do not observe all the features of this strict rite, pancakes for celebrating Maslenitsa may not work at all or turn out to be bad and tasteless.

As you can see, there have been many traditions and rituals since ancient times, but only the main ones have survived to this day. Shrovetide in the perception of people is a long-awaited and beloved holiday. In cities, villages and villages, they definitely organize walks with fun in order to have fun in the winter. At home, people do the cleaning and bake pancakes all week. The culmination of the celebration remains the tradition of burning the Maslenitsa effigy.

Many people go to church or cemetery to commemorate their deceased parents.

In educational institutions, especially in kindergartens and schools, they begin to prepare in advance. Children are told about how they meet Maslenitsa, prepare dance numbers, contests, outfits, learn various sayings and poems about this holiday, come up with crafts.

For Orthodox Christians, Maslenitsa, as a preparatory week for Lent, is dedicated to one main goal - reconciliation with neighbors, forgiveness of offenses and a repentant path to God. Shrovetide is a time that needs to be devoted to good communication with neighbors, relatives, friends and goodness.

Video

Shrovetide is one of the most fun and long-awaited holidays of the year, the celebration of which lasts seven days. At this time, people have fun, go to visit, arrange walks and eat pancakes. Maslenitsa in 2018 will start on February 12, and its end date will be February 18.

Pancake week is a folk celebration dedicated to the welcome of spring. Before entering Great Lent, people say goodbye to winter, enjoy warm spring days, and, of course, bake delicious pancakes.

Shrovetide: traditions and customs

There are several names for this holiday:

• meaty Shrovetide is called due to the fact that during the period of celebration they refrain from eating meat;
• cheesy - because they eat a lot of cheese this week;
• Shrovetide - because they consume a large amount of oil.

Many people await with trepidation the onset of Maslenitsa, the traditions of which are rooted in our history. Today, as in the old days, this holiday is celebrated on a grand scale, with chants, dances and competitions.

The most popular amusements that used to be organized in the villages were:

• fist fights;
• eating pancakes for a while;
• sleigh rides;
• climbing a pole for a prize;
• games with a bear;
• burning a stuffed animal;
• swimming in ice holes.

The main treat both before and now are pancakes, which can have different fillings. They are baked every day in large quantities.

Our ancestors believed that those who do not have fun on Shrovetide will live the coming year poorly and joylessly.

Shrovetide: what can and cannot be done?

1. On Shrovetide, you cannot eat meat. It is allowed to eat fish and dairy products. Pancakes should be the main dish on the table in every home.
2. You need to eat on Shrovetide often and a lot. Therefore, it is customary to invite guests and not skimp on treats, as well as to visit themselves.

Shrovetide: history of the holiday

In fact, Maslenitsa is a pagan holiday, which was eventually changed to the "format" of the Orthodox Church. In pre-Christian Russia, the celebration was called "Farewell to Winter".

Our ancestors revered the sun as a god. And with the onset of the first spring days, we were glad that the sun was beginning to warm the earth. Therefore, a tradition appeared to bake round, shaped like the sun, flat cakes. It was believed that after eating such a food, a person will receive a piece of sunlight and heat. Over time, pancakes were replaced by pancakes.

Shrovetide: traditions of celebration

In the first three days of the holiday, there was an active preparation for the celebration:

• they brought firewood for the fire;
• decorated huts;
• built mountains.

The main celebration took place from Thursday to Sunday. They came into the house in order to treat themselves to pancakes and drink hot tea.

In some villages, young people went from house to house with tambourines, horns, balalaikas, singing carols. City dwellers took part in festive festivities:

• dressed in the best outfits;
• went to theatrical performances;
• visited booths to look at buffoons and fun with a bear.

The main entertainment was the skating of children and young people from the ice slides, which they tried to decorate with lanterns and flags. Used for riding:

• matting;
• sled;
• skates;
• skins;
• ice floes;
• wooden troughs.

Another fun event was the capture of the ice fortress. The guys built a snow town with a gate, put guards there, and then went on the attack: they burst into the gate and climbed the walls. The besieged defended themselves as best they could: snowballs, brooms and whips were used.

On Shrovetide, boys and young men showed their agility in fistfights. Residents of two villages, landowners and monastic peasants, residents of a large village living in opposite ends could take part in the battles.

Seriously preparing for battle:

• steamed in baths;
• ate hearty;
• turned to the sorcerers with a request to give a special conspiracy to win.

Features of the rite of burning a scarecrow of winter on Maslenitsa

As many years ago, and today the culmination of Shrovetide is considered to be the burning of a scarecrow. This action symbolizes the onset of spring and the end of winter. The burning is preceded by games, round dances, songs and dances, accompanied by refreshments.

As a scarecrow, which is sacrificed, they made a large funny and at the same time scary doll, personifying Maslenitsa. They made a doll out of rags and straw. After that, she was dressed up in women's clothing and left on the main street of the village during Pancake Week. And on Sunday they were solemnly carried outside the village. There the scarecrow was burned, drowned in an ice-hole, or torn to pieces, and the straw left over from it was scattered across the field.

The ritual burning of the doll had a deep meaning: it is necessary to destroy the symbol of winter in order to revive its power in spring.

Shrovetide: the meaning of every day

The holiday is celebrated from Monday to Sunday. At Shrove Tuesday, it is customary to spend every day in its own way, observing the traditions of our ancestors:

1. Monday called "Shrovetide Meeting". On this day, pancakes begin to bake. It is customary to give the first pancake to poor and needy people. On Monday, our ancestors prepared a scarecrow, dressed it in rags and displayed it on the main street of the village. It stood on public display until Sunday.
2. Tuesday nicknamed "Flirting". It was dedicated to youth. On this day, festivities were organized: they rode on sleds, ice slides, carousels.
3. Wednesday- "Gourmet". On this day, guests were invited to the house (friends, relatives, neighbors). They were treated to pancakes, honey cakes and pies. Also on Wednesday, it was customary to regale their sons-in-law with pancakes, hence the expression: “ Son-in-law came, where to get sour cream?". Also on this day, horse races and fist fights were held.
4. Thursday popularly nicknamed "Razgulyay". From this day, the Wide Maslenitsa begins, which is accompanied by snowball games, sledding, merry round dances and chants.
5. Friday nicknamed "Mother-in-law's evenings", because on that day the sons-in-law invited the mother-in-law to their house and treated them to delicious pancakes.
6. Saturday- "Cousin's gatherings". The daughters-in-law invited her husband's sisters to their house, talked with them, treated them to pancakes and gave gifts.
7. Sunday- the apotheosis of Maslenitsa. This day was named "Forgiveness Sunday". On Sunday they said goodbye to winter, saw off Maslenitsa and symbolically burned her effigy. On this day, it is customary to ask friends and family for forgiveness for the grievances that have accumulated over the year.

Proverbs and sayings on Shrovetide

Video: history and traditions of the Maslenitsa holiday