Folk holidays and festivities. Folklore holidays as one of the types of folk art
Many philosophers and historians have argued that ignorance of the past inevitably leads to a misunderstanding of the present.
The upbringing of students in the traditions of Russian culture is one of the main directions of updating the content of the pedagogical process. An active restructuring of the educational process based on familiarizing students with Russian family and household traditions, with folk songs and dances, crafts, crafts, holidays and rituals is carried out in many schools in Russia. This interest is due to the following reasons:
Without knowledge of the basics of folk life, native folklore, classical art, it is impossible to foster interest and respect for the culture of other peoples: after all, Russia is a multinational state. If a graduate does not know the origins of his national culture, the culture of another nation is alien to him.
The Russian way of life has largely been lost, but it is based on the harmonious existence of man with nature, on mutual respect and harmony in the family. In the relationship between young people and older people between believers and non-believers.
To reveal these and other secrets of the Russian way of life and to pass them on by pedagogical means to the younger generation is one of the most important tasks.
Folk art is not only an inexhaustible source of wisdom and beauty, but also an invaluable means of education, familiarizing modern adolescents with the treasures of oral artistic, applied folk culture.
Interest in folk art, including the holidays of our ancestors, arose in connection with changes in the social system in our country, because much has been lost. There was a need to study folk art - this is manifested in the revival of ancient holidays and rituals, an increase in the amount of specialized literature on folk art, the appearance on television and radio of special programs on folklore and ethnography.
Holidays in the Russian countryside of the past constituted an important aspect of social and family life. The peasants even said: "We have been working for the holiday for a whole year."
A holiday is a time of relaxation, fun, joy, a feeling of fullness of life, a time when people realized that they were part of a single community. The holiday was perceived by the religious consciousness of people as something sacred, the opposite of everyday life - everyday life.
If everyday life was interpreted as a time in which a person should be engaged in worldly affairs, earning his daily bread, then the holiday was understood as a time of merging with the divine and familiarizing with the sacred values of the community, its sacred history. On the holiday, people should achieve a special psychophysiological state of fullness of life, attitude, feeling of God, as well as a sense of inner unity with each other. Such a philosophical understanding of the holiday at the everyday level was consolidated in a number of rules that a person of Russian traditional society had to learn.
The alternation of weekdays and holidays was considered a necessary component of the normal course of life, and failures could lead, according to popular beliefs, to chaos and death.
The holiday also implied complete freedom from all work. On this day, it was forbidden to plow, mow, harvest, sew, clean the hut, chop wood, spin, weave, that is, to do all the daily peasant work. The holiday obliged people to dress smartly, to choose pleasant and joyful topics for conversation, to behave differently: to be cheerful, friendly, hospitable. A characteristic feature of the holiday was the large number of people. Quiet on weekdays, the village was filled with invited and uninvited guests - beggars, wanderers, pilgrims, walkers, leaders with bears, booths, raeshniks, puppeteers, fair traders, peddlers. The holiday was perceived as the day of the transformation of a village, a house, a person. Severe measures were taken against persons who violated the rules of the holiday.
In the Russian village, all holidays were included in a single multi-stage sequence. They coped from year to year, from century to century in a certain order established by tradition.
In the very nature of man lies the need for an organic combination of everyday life and holidays, to sum up the results of labor activity. In a person's striving for tomorrow's joy there is a stimulus for the development of social activity, on which an effective educational system can be built.
Modern holidays and rituals are richly saturated with folk amateur performances, they sharply oppose the old, religious rites. In folk culture, you can find various forms of holidays: holidays-concerts, holidays-performances. Such holidays bring joy, entertainment to those who come to them as spectators, and no less joy and pleasure to those who are "artists". For the school, the most natural will be those holidays in which children traditionally take part. These are, for example, the holidays: "the meeting of spring", where children are assigned the role of calling out, they lead round dances, the little dogs sing and they are presented with Easter cakes (cookies in the form of birds). The children were looking forward to such a holiday, the excitement of artistic creativity was associated with this day: together with their mothers, they made larks, swallows, magpies, nightingales, titmouses from white dough and brought their products to school. Children embodied in their little creatures a feeling of love for nature, each in his own way expressed his own idea of beauty.
The diverse educational functions of mass folk holidays determine the advisability of widespread use of this form of aesthetic and moral influence in the education system, primarily the younger generation.
The modern system of folk holidays is a kind of pedagogical system that is organically linked to all educational work. It provides a constant educational impact on people, reflects their worldview.
In all the variety of school holidays, the most convincing ones will be those that are focused on the essential aspects of the national holiday in its folklore tradition.
First: the obligation of the holiday, its inevitability. In folk life, everyday life alternated with holidays and were filled with anticipation. The whole year was subordinated to the rhythm of changing work and holidays. The holidays were necessary and vital. They marked the main turning points of the year associated with the change of seasons, the beginning and end of working days. Holidays reflected the feeling with which people related to the nature around them, to their work and its results.
Secondly: mass character. Everyone gathered for the holiday, and everyone took part in it. The culminating moments of the holiday are joint singing, joint dance, and meal. These are indispensable ways of unity, when each participant feels like a part of the universal.
Thirdly: a holiday is fun, laughter, relaxation of tension, release of accumulated psychic energy.
In each holiday, the laws of pedagogy are manifested as a science of educating the younger generations through a purposeful, specially organized system of influence.
Functions of national holidays:
Developing
Outreach
Cultural and creative
Recreational and wellness.
The most fully developing principle is embodied in the informational and educational function of the holidays. The term "enlightenment" in this case means pedagogical educational and self-educational activities aimed at the spiritual enrichment of the individual, the acquisition of a certain system of knowledge, and the receipt of the necessary information.
The informational and educational function of folk holidays is based on the independence of the people themselves; it ensures the fullest satisfaction of the various interests, requests and preferences of people.
Having considered this issue, we can say that holidays are an integral part of people's life, which disposes people to friendly and warm relations. The holiday is one of the branches of folklore, the study and deepening of which leads to an introduction to folk culture.
Folklore holiday"On the backwash"
Objectives: 1) Comprehension of the "wisdom of the people" through the creation
bright pictures of everyday life and holidays of youth of the late 19th - early
2) Fostering a deep respect for the past, traditions and
customs of the Russian people.
3) Establishing close communication with the family.
Decoration: model of the house, wattle fence, blocking.
Children in Russian folk costumes sit on the embankment. (Folk song sounds)
Leading:
Good afternoon, dear guests! Guests are invited, but welcome!
People are mature and young, married and single!
We have been waiting for you for a long time - waiting for you. We have a place for everyone, and a word, and we have prepared different amusements for every taste.
God grant to the one who is in our house-
Dear guests and your kids.
Would the Lord endow you
And live and be and health!
And according to the old Russian tradition, we bow to you in the belt ...
(slow bow)
A guest in the house is joy for the owner.
What kind words did our distant ancestors say, isn't it?
And now so often behind the events and the hustle and bustle of days
We don't remember our old days, we forget about it
The past is a special country! Everything is sweeter and clearer in her,
closer and closer. And what a pity that the past goes further and further and much is forgotten. Now none of us knows the meaning of some words. What a pity that such beautiful words have been forgotten: pattern, matitsa, high tower, zavalinka, get-togethers ...
Fortunately, nothing goes unnoticed. Folk wisdom is alive and will always live among the people.
We are lucky - we are residents of the village and many traditions are preserved bit by bit and passed on from generation to generation.
In the old days, each village had its own customs of gatherings, holidays dedicated to the national calendar - summer, autumn, winter and, of course, spring calendar holidays.
In the spring, the people felt their unity with the surrounding nature, was convinced that by their good deeds, games, rituals, they help the spring awakening of the Sun, the appearance of flowers and cereals, the arrival of birds ....
In Russia, it was believed that only those who know how to truly celebrate a holiday, to sit cheerfully - he also knows how to work.
That is why, in ancient times, every village, every village had its own gatherings, where single girls and boys gathered.
They had one thing in common: they were going to myselfto show others to see, to throw a ditty, compete in fun and amusements, the ability and skill to show off.
And today we will try to show you fragments of village gatherings on our blockade. You will see and hear what they talked about, what they sang and what our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers dreamed about.
Does everyone see?
Does everyone hear?
Was there enough space for everyone?
Then we start our folklore holiday "On
heap"And you are welcome to our gatherings ...
SONG "ZAVALINKA »
(children address each other as if conducting dialogues with guests)
Good afternoon and bow to you,
Dear guests!
Gathered from all sides
All of us, relatives.
I look at your faces
Well, it makes me feel good
It's like I'm in a huge, friendly
And a friendly family.
From all doors
From all the gates
Come out soon
Hurry, people!
I open the gate
Come out, who wants!
(the NOISE ORCHESTRA " IN THE GARDEN IN THE GARDEN»)
Girls: Oh, and made some noise, well, shhh! (shows "quieter") Well, go home, or the mother will scold! (children run away)
The girls sit on a bench, gnaw seeds.
Enter 2 boys in Russian costumes.
They go, gnaw seeds, look at the girls.
1. Oh! Naro - ode!
2. Wow! To the populace - y!
1. Where are you going?
2. Where are you going?
1. I am here.
2. And I'm here.
The boys sit on the bench.
1d. Oh, girls, what did I see yesterday!
Everything. What?
1d. I don’t know, should I tell you?
2d. How do you not know this?
3d. If she stuttered, so tell me, come on?
1d. I was sitting by the window last night, the moon is shining brightly, it’s good to see outside, walking past our house Varenka and Seryozhka. He takes out a handkerchief and throws it over her shoulders so carefully, carefully. And everything looks into her eyes.
4d. No, the wedding will be soon.
. (tell enthusiastically)
1 d. And my mother told me,. what at old Russian weddings, a ceremony was performed that is now completely forgotten. In the midst of the wedding
At the feast, the bride threw a pillow into the circle of unmarried girls. And the first one to sit on her was the next bride. The groom did the same. Look, it was fun ...
(a couple passes, the boy puts a scarf on his shoulders and pulls a bag of seeds)
2d. Oh, look, that's funny, look how Senka is staring at Tanya, is he in love or something? ...
1d. Are you jealous or what?
2d. Well, do not be envious, he is an enviable groom ..
3 days ( ironically) that's for sure ... enviable ...
(couple sit down)
SONG "SEEDS » (the girl sits down with other girls, waves to the boy and he leaves, the dialogue continues ...)
3d. Listen to what happened to me today. I'm coming here to you, suddenly a black cat runs across my path. What to do? Not to go - you can’t, you are waiting for me, but to go like this we will all quarrel ...
2d. Oh oh oh? What have you done?
3d. Well, I was not at a loss - I spat over my left shoulder three times ...
2 virgins Poor fluffy animal! Oh, and he sipped grief because of his color! And why exactly a black, and not a red, striped or some other cat became a symbol of quarrels, troubles?
1 virgin My grandmother told me that it happened because our ancestors connected many troubles in their lives with black. Dark night…
dark forest ... black hole of the cave - they were fraught with danger. Since then, it has become a tradition that the black color has become a symbol of evil, deceit, unkind thoughts. And the peasants threw a harmless black cat out of the hut during a thunderstorm - and suddenly it would attract lightning to itself.
2 virgins And if you bring such a cat on a horse, that's it, the horse is gone, and if the black cat sneezes, the owner of the toothache cannot be avoided.
Everyone: ha ha ha
2 virgins It's funny for us now, but not so long ago people believed in all this nonsense.
3 virgins And here is what the people said about superstition.
1.Ants in the house - fortunately; horses laugh - for good.
2. Whoever accidentally envies the light in his home - expect happiness.
3 An owl near the house is screaming - to the newborn.
4. The hare runs through the village - to the fire.
1 virgin Yeah, just about ...
5. If you step on someone else's trail, your legs will hurt.
6. Black eye is dangerous. Fear the black and brown eyes.
7. Soap in the bosom saves from damage.
8. Do not play with a knife - there will be a quarrel.
9. Keys on the table - to a quarrel.
2 virgins... What are you all about the sad! For a good mood, listen to these funny signs: “Ringing in one ear - to the fulfillment of desires.
Ringing in both ears - turn off the alarm and get up. "," If all the cats running across the road are black, it means that there are tires nearby. "
(everyone laughs together)
1d. Oh, something has become boring!
(boys come out)
1m. Shouldn't we play forfeits? ( children pull pieces of paper and make wishes come true, those who are not involved clap)
You have a job:
Draw us a kitten.
In order not to get trapped,
I had to look with all eyes.
Now close your eye
Cook a couple of times.
4. Surprise with politeness:
Shake hands with everyone around.
(together)
Place your ears on top of your head:
We will sing ditties for everyone.
Girl: They say ditties, like, these days are no longer in vogue?
Boy: Only, is it a matter of fashion, if they are loved by the people?
PIECES
We collected ditties-jokes by the whole village
For everyone's joy and amusement, we will sing them out now.
I danced by the river, lost my heels.
I turned back - my heels are there.
Don't look at me, don't break your eyes,
I am not from your village, you do not know me.
And in our yard frogs croaked,
And I was barefoot from the stove, I thought, girlfriends.
Ah, the accordion-beep, knows its business.
She plays well in Sasha's hands.
How can we not sing ditties, because we live in Ardon!
We sang ditties to you - more than half an evening.
We will go, and you are sitting, you have nothing to do (leave?)
(Boy comes out.)
1 fables in faces
They sit in the chambers-light rooms.
2.Nuts snap
Yes, they say ridicule.
All participants come out.
Everything : Folkloric shifters .
1.The village drove past the driver,
Suddenly the gate barks from under the collar.
2.The roofs flew, sat on the crows,
The horse pushes the driver with a whip.
3. "Whoa" - said the horse, and the driver neighed,
The horse went to visit, and the driver stood.
4. The horse ate shangi, and the driver ate oats,
The horse got into the sleigh, and the driver drove.
Everything: Folklore nursery rhymes . (DIALOGUE TWO)
1.-Fedul, what lips pouted?
The caftan burned through.
You can sew it up.
Yes, there is no needle.
Is the hole big?
One gate remained.
2.-Thomas, what are you getting out of the forest?
I caught the bear.
So bring me here.
He's not coming.
So go yourself.
He won't let me.
3.- Thomas, is it warm in your hut?
Warmly. You can keep warm in a fur coat on the stove.
4.-Sonny, go to the river for some water.
The belly hurts.
Son, go eat porridge.
Well, since my mother tells me, we must go.
All: Folklore riddles .
1. Between two luminaries, I alone in the upper room. (Nose.)
2. There are two stakes, a barrel on the stakes,
There is a bump on the barrel,
And on a hummock there is a dense forest. (Human.)
3. One of me is not eaten, and without me they will eat little. (Salt.)
4. Two mothers have five sons.
One name for all. (Fingers).
5.And lumpy, and nostril, and soft, and brittle,
And all the sweeter. (Bread.)
6. A black dog, curled up, lies:
He does not bark, does not bite, but does not let him into the house. (Lock.)
All: Folklore teasers.
1.Dunya-pyshka went out into the street.
She sat down on a hummock, ate a mosquito.
2.Loshka-flatbread, head with a basket,
Hat with a peg, legs with a log.
3.Kolya, Kolya, Nikolay, threw a fur coat on the barn,
The fur coat is spinning, Kolya is angry.
4.A Dunya - Grandma-hedgehog, bone leg,
I fell off the stove, broke my leg,
And then he says: "My stomach hurts"
(a woman with a child in her arms enters the stage) Shhhh! ... the baby falls asleep ..
Leading (behind the scenes ) Young married women who already had small children also came to the gatherings. The baby also does not know how to say "mother", but he is already being put to bed with a cozy lullaby.
Girl with a doll sings a lullaby .
Bayu, bayu, bayu, buy!
Sleep, baby, go to sleep.
And then the gray top will grab you by the barrel.
Bayu, buy, buy, buy,
Go to sleep soon.
Host: (behind the scenes) A child will wake up, arms and legs are numb - they used to wrap it tightly. Mom will unfold it and start stroking and condemning ..
(The girl unfolds the doll, strokes and speaks).
Drink up, teenagers,
And in the legs of the walker, and in the hands of the grabber,
And talk in the mouth, and the mind in the head.
Leading (behind the scenes) What good, sweet words, right? And the baby watches with his eyes: where are his legs, where is his mouth. Kindly how everything was ... in our opinion ... warm ... sincerely ...
(noise and din .. a noise orchestra enters the stage ...)
Children: And now we will lull your Lyalka ...
NOISE "KAMARINSKAYA »
Woman: oh and you guys are noisy! Let's go ... (leaves, children sit down)
Leading (behind the scenes ): Serious conversations were also held at the gatherings. They thought about a better life, remembered the past, wanted to know about the future.
May-June is one of the most important holidays - the Holy Trinity. Many folk customs and traditions are associated with the holiday of the Holy Trinity. This holiday is associated with the cult of the glorification of flourishing vegetation, with the cult of water and land. On Semik (Thursday), the girls put on their best outfits, weaved wreaths from birch branches and flowers, and went to the forest to curl a birch. In our village, the holiday "Birch" is still held in high esteem. Probably because around the village there are birch groves and near the school snow-white beauties grow ...
To her, a beautiful Russian woman, a myriad of songs have been written ...
SONG ABOUT BIRCH (DK Ardon)
Where does the Motherland begin?
Probably from white birches,
From their kingdom of through milk
And from plump childish dreams.
Holiday "Birch" unites everyone, both experienced and young
Girls come out with wreaths, come up to the birch , surround her and take turns praising her.
1.Hey yes beautiful!
2.Hey yes curly!
3.Hey yes slender!
Children: .Let's wind a birch ! Yes, we will make wishes!
1.View-view a ring on the priest,
Another ring on my brother
The third ring is for yourself.
2.View a ring on my sister,
Another ring on my brother
And the third ring on yourself,
To make all our desires come true.
Participants driveround dance "Oh you, white birch!"
3.Birch birch, curl, curly!
The girls have come to you, they have come to make wishes.
4. White birch, go for a walk with us, let's go play with us.
5.Girls-friends, let's go to the river wreaths in the water
to throw, to guess at the suitors.
All participants leave….
Girl:And here is the end, the crown of the whole business.
Leading : We have shown you only a part of that good and
beautiful that our distant ancestors knew and loved.
NSI want to wish you so that your souls are kind, so that they love
the land on which you live, take care of your love for your mother, father, brother, sister. If there is harmony among you, there will be a treasure for all of you.
Our home, our land, is rich in love and work.
And with songs, games, happiness accumulates and fills.
The old is leaving, but you need to know and cherish it.
Russian antiquity is permeated with good, and this is very important today.
Take care of Russia ...
SONG "ROSINOCHKA - RUSSIA »
(on losers)
We wish you more clear days
More light and warmth
Health, joy, success,
Peace, happiness and warmth.
Everything: Come back to us, we will we are glad to have guests!
The twelveth holiday of the Orthodox calendar, celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter, on the tenth day of the Ascension. Other names for the Trinity are the day of the Holy Trinity, Pentecost, the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles. On this day, the Orthodox Church remembers the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and honors the Holy Trinity. The event set forth in the New Testament book "Acts of the Holy Apostles" has a direct connection with the doctrine of the Trinity - one of the main provisions of the Christian faith. According to this teaching, God exists in three non-merged and indivisible persons: the Father - the beginningless principle, the Son - the logos and the Holy Spirit - the life-giving principle.
Holy Week
Spring
The seventh last week before Easter, lasts 6 days, starting on Monday and ending on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. The meaning of the holiday is preparation for Easter. Traditions at the holiday: cleaning the house, obligatory bathing, commemoration of ancestors, putting up a swing, painting eggs, baking cakes. According to the beliefs of the people, colored eggs have magical powers, for example, if you put the shell on fire, then the smoke from this egg can heal a person from night blindness, they also believe that such an egg can heal a sick tooth. Signs for this holiday: if you heat the stove on Maundy Thursday with aspen wood, then the sorcerers will come to ask for ash, parsley sown on Good Friday gives a double harvest.
Popular name of the holiday Transfiguration of the Lord among the Eastern Slavs, celebrated on 19 August, and even before this holiday, it is forbidden to eat apples and various apple dishes, but on a holiday it is necessary the other way around - pick as many apples as possible and consecrate them. The purpose of the holiday is the consecration of apples, seeing off the sun at sunset with songs. Yablochny Savior has another name - the first autumn, that is, the meeting of autumn. According to tradition, you need to treat apples first to all your relatives and friends, then to orphans, the poor, as a reminder of the ancestors who have fallen asleep in eternal sleep, and only then eat the apples ourselves. In the evening, after the holiday, everyone went out to the field to sing along with the sunset, and with it the summer.
Christmastide
winter
Slavic folk festive complex, celebrated from January 6 until January 19. Christmastide is oversaturated with various magical rites, fortune-telling, omens, customs and prohibitions. The purpose of the holiday: folk festivities, carols, sowing, dressing up, erotic games, ritual atrocities of youth, fortune-telling for the betrothed, visiting, rituals for well-being and fertility. Holiday sayings: wolves marry on Christmastide, from Christmas to Epiphany it is a sin to hunt animals and birds - misfortune will happen to the hunter. According to popular beliefs, the presence of spirits among living people, invisible to the ordinary eye, made it possible to look into their future, which explains the numerous forms of Christmas divination.
Epiphany eve
Spring
This holiday of the Orthodox Church belongs to the twelve. On this day, the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Forerunner (the Baptist) in the Jordan River is remembered and the Great Blessing of Water is performed. It is also a preparation evening before the big Orthodox holiday, which is called the Epiphany or Epiphany. Epiphany water is eaten on an empty stomach, spoonfuls, a little bit at a time. The Orthodox keep it in the Red Corner, next to the icons. In addition, a drop of the shrine sanctifies the sea. You can take ordinary, unconsecrated water and add a drop of Epiphany water there, and it will all be sanctified.
Folk Orthodox holiday, celebrated on July 8... Holiday traditions: swim without looking back, because it was believed that on this day the last mermaids leave the banks deep into the water bodies and fall asleep. After the Kupala games, the betrothed couples were determined, and this day patronized family and love, in addition, in the old days, from that day to Peter, weddings were played. The first mowing is the day of all evil spirits such as: witches, mermaids, werewolves and many others. Celebrated on July 8 (June 25 old style). Peter and Fevronia are Orthodox patrons of family and marriage. According to the calendar of East Slavic folk holidays, correlated with the Orthodox, this is the day of the first mowing. It was believed that on this day the last mermaids left the shores deep into the reservoirs, so it was already safe to swim. Since 2008, July 8 has been celebrated in the Russian Federation as the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. Sayings: there are forty hot days ahead, after Ivan there is no need for a zupan, if it rains on that day, then there will be a good harvest of honey, pigs and mice eat hay - for poor mowing.
A traditional holiday among the Eastern and Southern Slavs, celebrated on 2 August... The tradition of the holiday includes: collective meals, the slaughter of a bull or a ram. The holiday has pagan roots, since at first it was a holiday of the god of thunder Perun, but with the adoption of Christianity among the Slavs, instead of the image of Perun, the image of Ilya, the prophet, appeared, hence the name of the holiday. Sayings at the holiday: Ilya keeps thunderstorms, Ilya keeps the rain and brings down the word, Ilya endows with bread, not swords on Ilya's heaps - he will burn with heavenly fire. From Ilyin's day, according to folk legends, bad weather began, and it was also forbidden to swim.
Palm week
Spring
Passion Week. The main folk rituals of the week are associated with the willow and fall on Saturday and Sunday. There is a legend associated with this week, which says that once the willow was a woman, and she had so many children that the woman argued with Mother Earth herself that she was more fertile than the Earth. Mother Earth got angry and turned the woman into a willow. There is a belief on this holiday - a consecrated willow can stop a summer thunderstorm, and thrown into a flame can help in a fire. Holiday traditions: consecration of a pussy willow, beating with willow branches, chants of spring.
A traditional holiday of pagan origin among the Slavic peoples, associated with the winter solstice. Celebration date - on the night from January 6 to January 7... The meaning of the holiday is the turning of the sun from winter to summer. Celebration - caroling, dressing up, Christmas-tide games, fortune-telling, family meal. According to popular belief, Mother-cheese-earth could open up only because of a lie, for a false oath, or because of perjury.
Pancake week
Spring
Slavic traditional holiday celebrated during the week before Lent... The purpose of the holiday is to say goodbye to winter. Traditions: bake pancakes, go to visit, arrange feasts, ride a sleigh and sled, dress up, burn or bury an effigy of Shrovetide. Celebrated from meat-eating Saturday to forgiveness Sunday. The fertility of people in the popular mind was inextricably linked with the fertility of the land and the fertility of livestock, the third side of Maslenitsa is connected with the stimulation of fertility - the memorial.
Easter
Spring
The oldest Christian holiday, the main holiday of the liturgical year. Installed in honor of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon, which occurs no earlier than the day of the conditional vernal equinox on March 21... Traditions: consecration of colored eggs and Easter cakes, welcome kissing. Most of the Easter traditions originated in worship. The scope of Easter folk festivals is associated with breaking the fast after Great Lent - the time of abstinence, when all holidays, including family ones, were postponed to the celebration of Easter. At the end of the 19th century, it became a tradition in Russia to send open letters with colorful drawings to those relatives and friends with whom you cannot celebrate Christ, on Easter as the main holiday.
Holiday of the Eastern Slavs, which starts September 14... The essence of the holiday is the celebration of the approaching autumn: the day before, the summer ended and the new year began. On this day, ceremonies are performed: housewarming, ambush, lighting a fire, the rite of tonsure, funeral of flies, the legend of the sparrows. Semyon's day is considered happy, so it is advised to celebrate housewarming. Signs: Semyon sees off the summer, leads the Indian summer; on Semyon - the last thunderstorm; spike seeds have not been removed for seeds - they are considered lost; if geese fly away on Semyon-day, wait for early winter.
Clean monday
Spring
The first day of Fedorovaya week and Great Lent. On this day, everyone forgives each other and starts the day with a clear conscience and a clear soul. This is a very strict day of fasting as well as on the following days. The name of the holiday comes from the desire to spend the first day of fasting clean. On this holiday, during the first Lenten Great Compline, they begin to read the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and other prayers of repentance. At the end of the 19th century, most of the oleaginous revelers, despite strict fasting, were "rinsed out" or got drunk on this day. Since this is the day of fasting, all that can be eaten or drunk on this day is: a little black bread with salt and water or unsweetened tea. The prayer of Ephraim the Syrian, "Lord and Master of my life," will continue to be ascended throughout the days of Great Lent.
One of the holidays of the Eastern Slavs, celebrated on October 14... The meaning of the holiday is the final onset of autumn, on this day the meeting of Autumn and Winter was previously celebrated. People say that from the Pokrovo goblin stop wandering through the forests (in another way they are called forest owners). On the eve of this holiday, young village girls burn their old straw beds, and old women burn their old bast shoes, worn out over the summer. The Russian people, celebrating the days dedicated to the Mother of God, were waiting for Her help.
Orthodox holiday celebrated on 14 August... The essence of the holiday is the small blessing of water. The tradition of the holiday is the beginning of the collection of honey, its consecration and a meal - "widow's aid". The holiday is celebrated in honor of the Origin of the trees of the Cross of the Lord at the end of the XIV century. The meaning of the holiday is the first day of the Dormition Lent. Honey Savior is also called "Savior on the Water", this is because of the small consecration of water. According to tradition, it was on this day in Russia that new wells were consecrated and old ones were cleaned. This holiday is called "Spas Honey" because on this day the bee hives are usually full to capacity and the beekeepers go to collect the honey crop.
Summer holiday of pagan origin, celebrated from 6th to 7th July... The holiday is associated with the summer solstice. Traditions: burn fires and jump over them, lead round dances, weave wreaths, collect herbs. The holiday begins the night before. The name of the holiday comes from the name of John the Baptist (John's epithet is translated as “bather, plunger”). The main feature of Ivan Kupala is cleansing fires, in order to cleanse himself of the evil spirits inside a person, he would have to jump over these fires.
Red hill
Spring
Spring holiday among the Eastern Slavs, which celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter... On this day are celebrated: spring girls' round dances, a meal with scrambled eggs, youth games. The red hill symbolizes the full arrival of spring, it is with this holiday that this season is celebrated. In addition to the fact that the Red Hill symbolizes the arrival of spring, the holiday also symbolizes the meeting of boys and girls, because spring is the beginning of a new life for all nature. At the Krasnaya Gorka holiday there is one proverb that says: "Whoever marries on Krasnaya Gorka will never get divorced."
"The Light of the Russian Soul".
(Scenario on the theme of Russian folk holidays).
On the stage there is a corner of everyday life - the beginning of the century: a bench, a table with a samovar, a spinning wheel, rugs on the floor, etc. In the hall there are tables set for tea.
Characters, participants:
RED GIRL,
GOOD YOUNG MAN,
GUESTS.
(Folklore ensemble is desirable).
RED GIRL. Since the village gatherings gathered our great-grandmothers, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. So much that not everyone knows today: gatherings in Russia usually began on September 1, according to the old style, at Semyon, the pilot. The field harvest ended, the home harvest began. The women spun, weaved, sewed the girl's dowry, the boys shopped. Spinning wheels buzzed, a drawn-out song flowed, old legends were recalled, there were fables. Who spoke, who listened, and all studied together.
Following the wisdom of our great-grandfathers, we decided to get together at the gatherings.
GOOD YOUNG MAN. The basis of most of the folk festivals was made up of ceremonies and ritual games.
RED GIRL. We will now talk about Christian holidays and games. In every house, figurines depicting small cows, bulls, sheep, animals and shepherds were prepared from wheat dough for the feast of the Nativity of Christ. The hostess keeps these figures until Epiphany, while on Epiphany, after the consecration of water, she soaks the figures in holy water and gives them to the cattle.
"Christmas carols have arrived - pancakes and pancakes" - that is, the time has come for mutual treats, fun and joy.
"Winter - for frosts, and a man - for the holidays."
Christmastide was celebrated by everyone, but basically it was a holiday of young people: their games, songs, rounds of houses, gatherings, fortune-telling created a unique atmosphere of Christmastime fun. The custom of New Year's rounds of houses was widespread throughout Russia. Such walks during Christmas time were carried out three times: on Christmas Eve, on New Year's Eve and on the eve of Epiphany.
Each family was waiting for the carols - preparing food for them, listening to carols with genuine pleasure.
Kolyada is a malyada!
You came to the yard
Christmas Eve
On a snowy field
Walk in the open!
I sow - I blow - I sow
Happy New Years.
The swan geese flew!
We are Little, Kalyadovshchiki,
We have come to glorify
Masters to dignify!
So that you are healthy
We lived for many years.
Open the chest
Get out the piglet
At least a pancake, at least a fat wedge.
RED GIRL. And the owners of the mummers presented them with cookies, sweets, and various treats.
LEADING. The mummers thanked the owners:
God grant that
Who this year
One hundred and fifty cows, ninety bulls.
Lord put you on
And life, and life, and wealth!
But if they didn’t give anything, they could say this:
Kolyada, Malyada!
Kolyada was born!
Who will serve the pie -
Tom is the yard of the belly,
Who will not give a pie
Let's take the cow by the horns.
Who will not give a cake
Let's fill up the windows.
Who will not give a dime
Let's fill up the loopholes.
Who will not give bread
Let's take grandfather away.
Who will not give ham
That will split the cast irons.
LEADING. Threats to very greedy owners could be worse.
For the New Year -
Aspen coffin
Stake on the grave.
Skinned the mare.
But there were almost no such terrible threats, because the festive mood and the desire for a good life in the coming year made people generous, tolerant, hospitable.
After a noisy, cheerful round of houses, the young people gathered in one hut and arranged a general feast - they ate everything that their fellow villagers presented them.
These are the two-week New Year's festivities - Christmastide is still held today.
RED GIRL. The few weeks separating Epiphany from Maslenitsa were called "meat-eaters" and were considered weddings.
GOOD YOUNG MAN. Shrovetide was celebrated on the eve of Lent, widely, freely. This holiday lasts for a week, and we have been waiting for it for a whole year. Each day of the week had its own name:
Monday is "meeting".
Tuesday - "flirt".
Wednesday - "gourmet, revelry, break."
Thursday - "walk Thursday" - "wide".
Friday - "dark evenings", "mother-in-law's evenings".
Saturday - “sister-in-law's gatherings”, “seeing off”.
Sunday is "Forgiven Day."
The whole week was called "Honest, wide, cheerful boyarynya-Shrovetide, Mrs. Shrovetide."
It was on Shrovetide that the children called out to the birds, called for spring.
Oh, waders are larks,
Fly to us at the window.
Fly to us, hurry to us
Bring us the red spring.
Go away winter, come spring.
Go down the winter
Send me the spring.
GOOD YOUNG MAN. And Winter gave way to the threshold of Spring, and said to her such words: "Well, what can be seen and really it's time for me to leave - reign Spring for glory, your time has come."
Children saw off Winter - they sang a glorious one to her.
Forgive me, goodbye Winter is white,
Forgive me, goodbye Winter is white.
Mother winter, mother winter!
I'm sorry, goodbye - yes. (Drawn out).
RED GIRL. When do we bake pancakes? At the funeral, at Shrovetide. According to popular beliefs, it was believed that the Sun needed to be helped to defeat the evil winter, therefore it was not by chance that pancakes were considered an obligatory meal at the holiday. Steep with fervor, with heat, they were a symbol of the luminary of Yarila - the Sun and Spring.
PIECES:
We haven't eaten pancakes for a long time -
We wanted pancakes
Oh pancakes, my pancakes,
Oh bli my nights.
My own sister
The pancakes are baked by a craftswoman.
She baked to eat
There are probably five hundred.
He puts pancakes on a tray,
And she herself bears the guests.
Guests, be healthy
Here are my pancakes
Oh pancakes, my pancakes
Oh, my pancakes.
(They put pancakes on the table for guests).
RED GIRL. At the end of the Maslenitsa holiday, the performance "The Funeral of the Maslenitsa" was performed. They made a stuffed animal - a straw woman and burned her, while singing cheerful, farewell songs.
Goodbye, Pancake Week.
Great Lent begins.
Everyone arrived in the village.
Serve herring tail!
Goodbye. Pancake week,
Goodbye Red!
Great Lent is coming,
The radish tail pleases us.
And we do not take radish,
A cat for the ears!
GOOD YOUNG MAN. And on the eve of Great Lent, trying to cleanse themselves from all sinful things, people asked each other for forgiveness.
For the same purpose, on forgiveness Sunday they went to the cemetery, left pancakes on the graves and worshiped the ashes of their relatives.
RED GIRL. Immediately after seven days of riotous Maslenitsa fun began a seven-week period of severity, holiness, abstinence - Great Lent.
GOOD YOUNG MAN. The peasants had a belief that on Easter "the sun is playing" and many tried to watch for this moment, the young climbed to the roof to meet the sun, and the children turned to the sun with a song.
The sun, the bucket,
Look out the window!
Sunny, roll
Red, dress up!
LEADING. During the Easter service, the girls quietly whisper: “The Resurrection of Christ! Send me an unmarried groom, in stockings, and in little porches! ”,“ God grant a good groom in boots, but with galoshes, not on a cow, but on a horse! ”
LEADING. On Easter, another round of courtyards was made, reminiscent of Christmas carols, and it was performed by a group of young children.
Well, fellow-comrades!
Get together to the heap!
Let's go to that village
We congratulate them on the holiday,
Theirs with a holiday, with Christ's day,
Happy Christ day, red egg!
And no noise makes noise, and no thunder roars -
Host, you are our father!
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Are you lying asleep, or are you lying like that?
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Give us young guys!
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Our gifts are not great, small.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
A couple of eggs and a glass of wine.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
A glass of wine and a piece of pie!
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Hostess, you are our father!
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
What happened in your yard!
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Light a fire, go to the yard.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
There are three joys in your yard.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
The first joy was the cow calving.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Another joy, the lamb was lambing.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
The third joy was that the mare was foal.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
For your daughters for dowries.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
Give us young guys as a present.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
A couple of eggs and a glass of wine.
Christ is Risen for the whole world!
LEADING. The owners brought out eggs, bacon, money, pies, milk. Very unpleasant words, which were feared, could be heard addressed to the stingy owner.
Whoever does not give us an egg, a sheep will die,
If he doesn't give a piece of bacon, the heifers will die.
We were not given lard - the cow fell.
LEADING. Like any big holiday, the Easter week is filled with various games, entertainment, and visits. On Easter, it is customary to congratulate each other on the Resurrection of Christ, to christen and exchange painted eggs.
LEADING. One of the most important, crucial periods of the national agricultural calendar falls on the seventh week of Easter - the Trinity begins. The seventh Thursday after Easter was considered a very big holiday, it was a ceremony of farewell to spring and a meeting of summer. Glorified green land with a central character - a birch. Houses and streets were decorated with cut birches, branches, flowers. On Trinity, parishioners come to church for mass with bouquets of wildflowers, and the floor in the church is covered with fresh grass.
LEADING. After mass, the girls change their outfit for the best dress, go into the forest, go up to the birch and begin to decorate it with flowers, singing a song:
Do not rejoice, oaks,
Don't be happy green
The girls are not coming to you,
Not for you the red ones.
Don't be happy, aspen,
Rejoice, birch:
The red ones are coming to you
With little pies, with testicles!
Curl you, birch,
Curl you curly!
We have come to you.
LEADING. On Trinity the girls make wreaths and then throw these wreaths into the water. Whose wreath sticks to the shore, she will remain in the girls, whose will float away, she will marry, whose drowning, she will die. The same "behavior" of wreaths in different places was understood differently. So, a sunken wreath could mean death, treason, or the end of love, as well as the opposite - testifying that the dear remembers and yearns,
Holy Spirit - Trinity!
Let us walk
Twirl wreaths!
I will curl a wreath
For the whole year
I'll go to the river
I'll stand on the steep bank
Throwing a wreath on the water
I'll go away, I'll take a look
Does it sink, does not it sink
My wreath is on the water.
My wreath sank.
My dear remembered me.
Oh light, my affectionate,
Oh light, my affable.
In the evening, they remove the ribbons from the tree, break off along the twig, but they are not thrown away, but they are stuck above the gate in the yard to guard livestock or are placed in the bottom of the mice. And the birch itself is thrown into the water with a shout: "Tony birch, swamp angry husbands!"
SONG OF THE BIRCH:
You my friends, take me,
Throw-throw me and into the fast river
And cry over me and over the birch tree.
LEADING. And the unfortunate birch tree floats wherever it will be carried by the current of water.
Also on Trinity, the girls ask the cuckoo when she kukuet, how long will I stay in my father's house. How many times the cuckoo bites, so many years and wait for them to get married.
LEADING. Ivan Kupala was one of the most revered, most important, most riotous holidays of the year, the entire population took part in it, and the tradition required everyone to be actively involved in all rituals. Ivan Kupala is called "clean" because at the dawn of this day it is customary to swim and this kind of bathing is attributed to healing power. On the day of Ivan Kupala, girls curl wreaths of herbs, lead round dances and sing.
Maidens pinched flowers
Yes, Ivan was tortured:
“What are these flowers? -
These are the flowers of the bath
To the maidens - washings,
And the boys - sighs! "
Boys dry, dry
Look at the girls,
That girls are good
And the guys are naked.
LEADING. The main feature of the Kupala night is the cleansing fires. They danced around them, jumped over them: whoever is more successful and taller will be happier. Bonfires were usually arranged outside the village in a high place, birch bark was thrown into the fire so that it burned more merrily and brighter. They tied the old wheels with straw, set them on fire and lowered them from the hills. In the Kupala bonfires, mothers burned shirts taken from ailing children so that diseases would also burn out with this linen. Young people, adolescents, children, jumping over the fires, arranged noisy fun games, running a race. Be sure to play burners. Words for the game:
Burn, burn clearly
In order not to go out.
Look at the sky -
The birds are flying
The bells are ringing.
Digi - don, digi - don -
Run away quickly.
LEADING. However, the main thing about Ivan Kupala was the legend of the fern. With a fern flower, opening only for a few moments at midnight on Midsummer's Day, you can see all the treasures, no matter how deep in the ground they are. According to the stories, around midnight, a bud suddenly appears from the wide leaves of the fern, which rises higher and higher - it sways, then stops - and suddenly it staggers, rolls over and jumps. Exactly at 12 o'clock in the morning, the ripe bud bursts with a crash and a bright fiery flower is presented to the eye, so bright that it is impossible to look at it, an invisible hand tears it off, and a person almost never succeeds in doing this. Invisible, the owner of a flower makes his way to any beauty and there is nothing that would be impossible for him, such is the strength and power of this flower.
Peter's day of "breaking the fast" - the end of Peter's fast. On this day they go to visit, receive guests. As a rule, only married and old people take part in the evening meal.
Young people go to the fields in the evening and spend the whole night "guarding the sun" here. According to the popular concept, the sun on the day of Peter and Paul plays with some special colors that shimmer and sparkle like a rainbow. Bonfires were burned that night, we walked all night, songs sounded until dawn. Very little is known about Peter's songs, here is one of them.
Petrovskaya night,
The night is small
Relay, relay, relay!
The night is small!
I'm young
I haven `t a good sleep today
Relay, relay, relay!
I haven `t a good sleep today,
I haven `t a good sleep today,
I didn’t walk up,
Relay, relay, relay!
Didn't walk up
I'm with a sweet friend
Not infused!
Relay, relay, relay!
Not infused!
I did not insist
I didn’t say enough.
Relay, relay, relay!
I didn’t say enough!
I came home
Has fallen from sadness
Relay, relay, relay!
With sadness fell!
In the meantime, I am young
I'll come in by the canopy
Relay, relay, relay!
I'll go in by the canopy!
I will enter the canopy
I'll make the bed
Relay, relay, relay!
The bed will be made!
And I go to bed,
I will pour a tear
Relay, relay, relay!
I will pour out a tear!
GOOD YOUNG MAN. The Russian people are not only talented, but wise. He created a huge oral literature - fairy tales, proverbs, jokes, songs, riddles. In the old days they said: "Red speech with a parable." Which of you will name the most proverbs, sentences, jokes?
RED GIRL. Riddles are especially popular among the genres of folklore. Let's try to guess tricky folk riddles?
RIDDLES:
1. An old woman stands on a mountain, a gorushka, waves her hands, asks for bread. If you give her bread, he will give it back. (Mill).
2. What a beast: in the winter it eats, and in the summer it sleeps. The body is warm, but there is no blood. You will sit on it, but you will not drive from the place. (Bake).
3. Jumps like a flea, swims like a human. (Frog).
4. Not a king, but in a crown, not a hussar, but with spurs. (Rooster).
RED GIRL. Well done! All my riddles have been guessed. And what is called the greatest miracle in folk art? I think it's a fairy tale. All of you, probably, loved and love to have your grandmother or mother tell you a fairy tale at sleep, and you, falling asleep, would be carried away into the enchanted world.
“It was on the sea - the ocean, on the island of Kidane,
There is a tree - golden poppies, on this tree
Bayun the cat walks, goes up - sings a song,
And he goes down - he tells fairy tales ”.
Thanks to collectors-folklorists, Russian fairy tales have come down to us, which storytellers told our great-grandfathers. And here the storyteller has come to us. Meet grandmother Nastasya, listen to a fairy tale. Gatherings are not complete without tea.
RED GIRL. Our samovar is warming up. Is about to boil. Come on, guests, make yourself comfortable:
Steam is already flowing
The samovar is boiling.
It's time to carry it to the table,
To present tea to the guests.
Let's sit side by side, but let's talk okay.
(Guests are drinking tea with pies. While pouring tea into cups - a short story about tea).
RED GIRL. Tea appeared in Russia in the 17th century, and before that our ancestors drank other drinks. Who will name the primordially Russian drinks? (Sbiten, kvass, fruit drinks, pickles, etc.)... Some drinks warmed, others refreshed, and still others quenched their thirst. The main thing in them is that only natural ingredients were used.
Every nation drinking tea has many proverbs and sayings about it.
Japanese: "Tea tastes better in good dishes."
Chinese: "If you drink tea, your strength will increase."
Turkmen: "Drink tea, have fun."
What proverbs and sayings do you, dear guests, know?
"The samovar is boiling - he won't let you go."
"Drink some tea - you will forget the melancholy."
"With tea, there is no dashing."
"Tea is sweet when a friend is near."
"Drink tea, do not chop wood."
Riddles about tea.
"Four legs, two ears, one nose, and a belly." (Samovar).
"There is a bathhouse in the middle, a sieve in the nose, a button on the head, one hand, and that one on the back." (Kettle).
Well done! They were good at guessing riddles.
So our gatherings are over. Come again! And take with you fairy tales, riddles, epics and Russian songs - who is rich in what.
Welcome!
Folk holidays, Orthodox holidays, Christian holidays, Church holidays are holidays of the Russian people associated with the widespread folk traditions of their holding and the customs of the Russian people.
As a rule, folk-Orthodox holidays are accompanied by cheerful and wide-scale folk festivities, songs, round dances and various fortune-telling, youth gatherings and bride shows. But there are also days where there is no place for fun - these are days of honoring deceased relatives and friends, as well as holidays where spirits and deities were worshiped.
The adoption of Christianity meant the beginning of a new era in the life of Russia. Pagan Russia by this time possessed not only significant agricultural experience, knowledge of the laws of nature and human life, but also a fairly representative pantheon of pagan gods, a system of rituals, beliefs, and oral folk art.
Struggling with previous beliefs, Christianity unwittingly retained in its rituals a glimpse of pagan antiquity. Obviously, many Christian holidays coincide with pagan ones for a reason. So, Christmas naturally for many merged with the celebration of the pagan deity of celebrations and the world of Kolyada. And no one is surprised today that on Christmas night mummers and young people go to their homes and carol - wish the owners happiness and good, receive gifts.
Many Christian rituals come directly from the ancient Slavic holidays. Slavic and agricultural holidays were the main rest period after burdensome work. All these holidays were based on the beliefs and customs of our ancestors, and many holidays are celebrated to this day. And even the brightest Easter holiday has absorbed the pagan Radunitsa - a day of remembrance for the dead, when departed relatives and friends are commemorated with food, which is not accepted in Christianity.
Few know now that in the old days our ancestors celebrated the New Year on March 1, and then on September 1, and only since 1700, by decree of Emperor Peter I, it was ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1.
We have no right not to remember our past and will try, albeit briefly, selectively to tell about folk Orthodox holidays.
Holidays of the Russian people.
Holidays of the Russian people: Folk holidays, Orthodox holidays, Church holidays, Christian holidays.
Forgiven Sunday. Last day of Pancake Week. Among the people, it was also called "wires", in connection with the rite of seeing off Maslenitsa, as well as the "forgiven day" and "kissing man", in accordance with the peculiarities of the ritual of mutual forgiveness of sins and grievances, which in the popular mind was interpreted as a cleansing one. The action of forgiveness of sins extended not only to the living, but also to the deceased relatives: on the eve of Forgiveness Sunday, the peasants visited the graves and made three bows each asking for forgiveness to their ancestors. In some places, a ritual was timed to coincide with this day, aimed at ensuring the harvest of flax: before the start of the church service, married women went around the village three times, covering themselves with headscarves.
Sredokrestye, Sredopostye... Wednesday or Thursday in the fourth week of the Cross, the week of Great Lent. The midsection marked the middle of the post. On this day, biscuits in the shape of crosses were baked everywhere from unleavened or sour dough, which they ate themselves, fed to livestock, and placed in grain prepared for sowing. In Ryazan Province, during the middle week, they called summer: they put donuts on the pitchfork, climbed onto the roofs and called summer. The peasants let the birds out of their cages, thereby, as it were, freeing the vital forces of nature from winter captivity.
Radunitsa. One of the most important days of commemoration of the dead, timed to coincide with Easter. Radunitsa is celebrated most often on the tenth day after Easter - on Tuesday after the end of the Bright week; less often - on Fomino Sunday or Monday. On Tuesday Fomina week in the churches after the liturgy, a panikhida was performed, at the end of which the families of the peasants went to the cemetery to "treat their parents' darlings", "to celebrate with their relatives." At the cemeteries, a family meal was arranged, inviting the dead to a meal, believing that on this day they break their fast after Lent. Be sure to leave Easter eggs on the graves, burying them near the cross, putting them on the ground whole or crumbled. Despite the memorial nature, Radunitsa was considered a joyful holiday. Therefore, in some places the peasants feasted on the graves with songs and even dances. The spring commemoration of the dead dates back to the cult of ancestors and is associated with the desire to ensure their protection in agricultural work.
Memorial Day of the Apostle Mark is celebrated. The Russian peasant correlated this holiday with his labor concerns and the weather calendar. Mark was usually visited by flocks of birds. “If the birds fly to the hemp plant, there will be hemp harvest”, “A small rain makes it dirty, but a big rain cleans”. The people called the Holy Apostle the "keeper": they believed that he held the keys to the rains. They always fervently prayed for Mark and asked for the sending of heavy rain, since it was at this time that it was necessary to thoroughly “shed” the earth, saturate it with moisture. They said: "If three good rains fall in May, then there will be bread for three full years." On this day, in many Russian provinces, they began to sow Tatar (buckwheat).