Slavic Pagan Holidays
Winter
For the West, it's the rigors of Russian winter that are legendary. In tones of awe, stories are told of how the snow begins in October and lasts until April, how the houses are sometimes buried up to their roofs and the winter nights last twenty hours. So intense is the cold that houses crack; travelers sometines arrived in town frozen stiff and dead in the sleighs. Considering all this, one would suppose that Russians would dread the coming of the frost. Yet to the astonishment of Westerners, Russians also found great magic and delight in winter. They greeted the first snow with joy and excitement.
Suzanne Massie - Land of the Firebird
On the frozen snow, see how sleighs glide light and silent! In a night sparkling with stars, gallop in a troika across the vague and frozen spaces where there are no roads, no bridges, no villages, and you will feel that delicious sensation of the infinite and the unknown, so well described as the "vertigo of the north." When a sleigh is thus taken in a rapid whirlwind you are no longer on earth, you are in space, in the clouds, in the moon! Going up in a balloon which is taking off and in its flight dissolving the silver layer of the clouds!
Victor Tissot - La Russie et Les Russes
Koliada
Also called Koleda or Koljada, it is the ancient name for Christmas or the winter holiday and was probably originally held on the Winter Solstice. January 6th is Koliada's Eve in the Orthodox areas of Eastern Europe.
Many erroneously believe that the word comes from the Roman word "calendae" which meant the first 10 days of any month. It seems far more likely that the word is derived from the word "Kolo" or wheel - much like the word "Yule" is an Anglo-Saxon word for wheel. The holiday was filled with revelry. Processions of people masked like animals and cross-dressers roamed the village. Often they were accompanied by a "goat"- a goat's head, either real or (usually) made and stuffed on a stick. The person holding the "goat" would be covered by a blanket to play the part. Sometimes a child on horseback - symbol of the reborn sun - would accompany them; the horse was often played by two young men in horses costumes. One of the wenders would carry a spinning solar symbol, internally lit by a candle, on a stick. Later, after Christianity entered the scene, the spinning "sun" became a star.
This unusual group would stop and sing Koliada songs from house to house. These songs usually included invocations to "Koliada", the personification of the holiday, praises and good wishes,requests for handouts and threats for refusal. The handouts, also called "koljada", usually took the form of little pastries or "korovki" shaped like cows or goats. The were sometimes just in the shape of the animals head, but often were described as having "horns and tails and everything." The korovki were traditionally baked by the old people in the house, the grandmothers and grandfathers.
The "tricks" played by those who were not rewarded could be brutal: Garbage might be brought from all over the village and piled in front of the offending host's gate, their gate might be torn off and thrown in the nearest water or livestock could be led off.
In Poland one "caroller" would carry a bundle of hazel twigs and after receivng koljada, would gently hit his host/ess with a small stick loudly wishing "Na shchestia, na zdravia, na tot Noviy Reek" (happiness, health, in the coming New Year). A small twig was left with the farmer who nailed it above his door for wealth and protection.
In the Ukraine, the Koliadky singers had to come every year and were welcomed into every home with great honour. Without their songs, the Spring might never come. Special songs were also sung about every member of the household, magic songs that would imbue young men with strength, young women with beauty and magical abilities, and older folk with prosperity and fertility.
Bonfires were sometimes lit and the dead ancestors asked inside to warm themselves. Mock funerals were held where a person pretending to be dead was carried into the house amidst both laughter and wailing. Sometimes even a real corpse was used. One young girl would be chosen and tradition made her kiss the "corpse" on the lips. If a pretend corpse was used, the person would leap up after being kissed - a symbol of rebirth.
Holiday foods included kut'ia, a traditional funeral food consisting of whole grains and pork. The whole grain is a universal symbol - "the seed as the mysterious container of new life" (J A Propp p.8) In the Ukraine, the kut'ia was meatless, as well as the 11 other dishes to be set out on Koliada eve. Hay was placed under the tablecloth and table to ensure fertility for the animals and prosperity for those at the table. Before the feast began, the oldest male of the household would invite all wolves, storms, witches, foxes, bears and the dead. At the end of the Winter holiday season, these spirits would be sent away through a hole in the ice in the local river during the ritual of "jordan".
On the last day of the koliada season in Poland, all the unmarried men of the village would get together to "wend" for oats. It was impossible to get rid of them with a scoop of oats; it took at least 7 liters. The farmer would keep a sharp eye on his grain that night, because otherwise the carollers would steal it as part of the evening's custom. With the money from the sold oats the men would hire musicians and organize a large dance party in the village during the pre-Spring festival period.
If you don't give us a tart - We'll take your cow by the horns.
If you don't give us a sausage - We'll grab your pig by the head.
If you don't give us a bliny - We'll give the host a kick.
- Reeder, p.85
Malanka
Malanka is the Ukrainian New Year Eve Celebration. Many of the customs of Christmas were moved to New Year during the Soviet era and Malanka is probably another example of this.
Malanka is celebrated according to the old calendar, so it is held on January 13th instead of Dec 31st. According to the Eastern Church, it is the feast day of St. Melania. According to Ukrainian myth, it is the holiday of the Pagan Goddess called Mylanka, because she so loved the world (myla). She seems to be the Ukrainian version of the Russian Lielia or the Polish Lel'.
On this night, troupes of singers go house to house playing pranks an acting out plays. Malanka is often a character in these plays. Usually, a young man is chosen to play Malanka and lead the troup. This cross/dressing male is similar to the priest dressed as a woman seen in Celtic Pagan ritual. Other costumes and masks typical of a Malanka group are devils, witches, bears, foreigners, old women and men, death, the blacksmith, warriors and lampoons of current politicians. Many of the costumes are passed down through many generations, particularly the skins worn by the "bears". These bears are chosen from the largest and most robust men in the group. Their role is to protect the 'dignity' of Malanka.
These troupes go from house to house, playing pranks, performing plays, starting lots of innocent mischief (including knocking over of furniture and the stealing of kisses) and eventually being treated to food and drink by the hosts and hostesses. Often the carryings on and performances go on til noon the following day.
Many games are specific to this holiday, most commonly one which consists of hanging a giant baked donut from the rafters and having the guests try to bite it. New Year's eve is also considered the primary time to do divinations and readings in most Slavic culture and often the village witch is invited around to help with this part of the festivities.
On the New Year itself, the 'bears' often have wrestling tournaments with the 'devils' as the seating ushers guiding the spectators with their whips. The bears are not allowed to kick or punch, only use bear hugs to win the competition. The winner of the wresting matches is treated as a true hero for the day. It is believed that this particular ritual sport may have its root in the mesolithic age.
Spring
In Russia the season of flowers and the leaves is so brief that it hold a special poignancy. The transformation from snow to flowers comes almost overnight; the ice breaks, the trees flower. Spring in Russia is a waterfall; once it begins, there is no slow growth of buds. Suddenly, everything seems to bloom at once, helped by the covering of snow - pussy willows, violets, anemones and apple blossoms, all together.
Strinennia
Around Mar 9th. Clay images of larks were made, their heads smeared with honey and stuck with tinsel. They were carried around the village amidst the singing of vesnjanki, invocations to Spring. Birds were thought to bring the Spring with them upon their return. Children were given pastries shaped like birds to toss into the air while saying "The rooks have come.". Sometimes the pastries were tied to poles in the garden. The baking of these pastries was to ensure that the birds would return.
Oh little bee, Ardent bee!
Fly out beyond the sea.
Get out the keys, the golden keys.
Lock up winter, cold winter
Unlock summer, warm summer.
Warm summer -
A summer fertile in grain.
- Reeder, p 92
Maslenitsa
"Butter woman" from the word Maslo which means butter. It was most likely, originally practiced at the Vernal Equinox but later was celebrated the week before lent. Maslenica (mah-sweh-NEET-sa), sometimes called Shrovetide, was a celebration of the returning light, a time of games and contests, especially horse racing, fist fights, sliding and mock battles. It was a time for protection and purification rituals and a time of gluttony, obscenity and dissolution.
At the beginning of the festivities a life-sized corn doll would be made as a personification of the holiday. The doll would be invoked and welcomed by the name Maslenitsa. Sometimes a drunken peasant was chosen, instead, to represent Maslenitsa. He would either be dressed in woman's clothing or in a costume sewn all over with bells. His face would be smeared with soot and he would be seated on a wheel resting on a pole within a sledge. Wine and pastries would surround him and as many as could would accompany him in other sledges. Crowds would follow on foot, laughing, dancing and singing ritualsongs. Corn "Maslenitsas" were also driven around in barrows, wagons or sleighs accompanied by crowds of celebrants.
Many customs honoring the sun were included in the festivities such as the lighting of bonfires, pushing a wheel whose axel pole was a flaming torch about or circling the village on horseback with torches. Farmsteads were also circled at this time, either with a religious icon or with brooms, sweeping around the entire property three times to create a magickal circle which protected against illness and evil spirits.
Traditionally, the house and barn were cleaned and decorated and holiday foods such as bliny (pancakes), kulich (sweet bread) and pashkha (pyramid shaped cottage-cheese bread) were prepared. Special loaves were baked and fed to the cattle to guard them from unclean spirits. Kozuli, pastries shaped like cattle, goats, etc. were prepared and eaten to bring on the multiplication of the herds. Eggs were decorated and rolled along the ground in order to transfer the fertility of the egg to the earth. The customary swinging (on a swing) which occurred at this time was believed to strengthen the stock and fertility of the villagers as well.
Maslenitsa was considered to be a time for purification. All salt was prepared for the coming year, as salt was used for cleansing and curative purposes. Ritual baths to prepare for the oncoming work in the fields were also taken before sunrise and followed with fumigation in the smoke of the juniper.
Another important part of Slavic ritual is the funeral meal. A huge feast was prepared and brought to the cemetery where it was eaten amidst much wailing and laughter. Food was always left for the dead. In Eastern European ritual, funeral and fertility rites are intertwined.
At the end of the week the Maslenitsa (if a doll was used) was taken to a field outside the village, usually where the winter crops were planted. There it was destroyed, either by being torn apart and thrown into the field or burned. The doll was always destroyed with laughter as such a "death" was seen to bring life. Smaller dolls were also made for individual households which were also torn apart at the week's end and fed to the livestock. This was believed to ensure their fertility and the customary willow branch they were fed was thought to protect them for the entire year to come.
Our Dear Maslenica, dear, leli, dear
Came for a while, for a while, leli, for a while
We thought for seven weeks, seven weeks, leli, seven weeks
But Maslenica stayed only seven days, seven days, leli, seven days
And Maslenica deceived us, deceived us, leli, deceived us
To lent she offered a seat, offered a seat, leli, offered a seat
Bitter horseradish she put out, put out, leli, put out
And that horseradish is more bitter than xren, more bitter than xren,
leli, more bitter than xren.
(Traditional Maslenica song - Zemcovskij - xren is a form of horseradish also)
It is interesting to note that in this song, the singer laments that he is betrayed by Maslenitsa because she gives up her seat to Lent and gives him bitter things (to eat). In the Slavic traditions, The periods directly before and after Easter were filled with customs, rituals and celebrations although Easter itself came and went without much ado. This is supposedly due to the Orthodox Priest's successful efforts to keep the day of Easter, itself free of pagan influence.The holiday of Maslenitsa lasted a week and marked the beginning of the Slavic Spring Festivals which continue through to the Summer Solstice, Kupalo.
Krasnaja Gorka
- "beautiful" or "red" hillock - the Sunday after Easter. In Russia, a woman holding a red egg and round loaf of bread would face East and sing a spring song which the chorus then took up. Afterward, a doll representing Marzena, grandmother Winter, was carried to the edge of the village and thrown out or destroyed. Xorovods, Russian circle dances, started on this day as well as were Spring game songs; A female performer would enter the center of a circle and mime the sowing, pulling, spreading, etc..of the flax all the way up to the spinning. She and all those in the circle would sing:
Turn out well, turn out well, my flax.
Turn out well, my white flax. *
This is a form of sympathetic magic to ensure a bountiful flax harvest.
(* - Reeder - Russian Folk lyrics)
Egorij's Day,
April 23rd - George is Greek for "farmer". The first day the flocks are taken to the fields. They were driven out using pussy willows that had been blessed on Palm Sunday. The energy of the willow was thought to be transferred to the animal, or person, being whipped by it. According to an old song;
The pussy willow has brought health
The pussy willow whip beats you to tears
The pussy willow does not beat in vain.
People walk around the fields singing invocations to Egorij begging him to protect the flock from wild animals in the fields and beyond them. These invocations probably originated as prayers to the god Weles, ruler of horned animals, wealth and the underworld. After the flocks left, the entire village would gather together for one solemn moment. Some of the pussy willows were then stuck in the rye fields to give them strength, others were brought home to ensure the flock's return.
St. Egorij is a holiday predominated by men. One ritual for this day consisted of the old village men going down to the river and gathering a stone for every animal in their family's flock. They would then put them in a bag and hang the bag in the courtyard saying
Tsar of the fields, Tsarina of the fields,
Tsar of the forest, Tsarina of the forest,
Tsar of the water, Tsarina of the water,
Protect my flocks, from the evil eye,
From wicked people, from wild beasts,
And from all others.
On the eve of this holiday, young boys and men do a form of trick-or-treating by singing from house to house for food and bestowing blessings upon those who are generous and curses upon those who are not. This door-to-door singing was called "The Labor of St. George."
Cows, give birth to calves. Pigs, give birth to sucklings.
Roosters, stamp your feet. Hens, hatch chickens.
Hostes be good to us. Host, don't be stingy.
If the host and hostess were generous, the singers would usually wish for the hosts and for themselves 200 cows and 150 bulls each. If the host was stingy, he might hear:
Neither a farm, nor a courtyard
Not any chicken feathers
May God grant you cockroaches and bedbugs
Summer
June flings open the door to summer. It is a month of never ending dawns; a dawn meets another dawn, they seem to shake hands. That is why the month is called "the rouge of the year". Crimson dawns rise over the fields, meadows, and forests washed with silvery dew.
Polina Rozhnova - A Russian Folk Calendar
Rusal'naia, Rusalia, Rusalska Nedelya
Mermaid's Week, was and is still in some parts, celebrated on the 7th or 8th week after Easter. During this week the Rusalki, female water spirits, were said to leave the rivers and go to the forests and fields, but mostly to climb into the trees. This is a particularly dangerous time and a number of taboos are kept for protection; bans on washing or weaving or washing at all in rivers and lakes. No one was allowed to wander aimlessly through meadows or fields and herbs which protect one from the Rusalki were kept at all times; walnut leaves, catch-weed but especially wormwood.
On the Wednesday of this week, girls would go into the forests and choose and mark the birches. The following day, Semik, bringing fried eggs (omelettes) & beer, they would decorate the chosen trees with flowers. One special birch would be chosed and "curled". That is, the ends of the twigs would be knotted and twisted to form wreaths. The fried eggs would be placed around it while Semickajas (songs sung only at Semik) were sung. Then the kumit'sja ceremony would be held: The girls would kiss each other through wreaths on the birch tree and swear an oath of friendship. This spell was believed to ensure that they would be best friends for life or, "kumas".
This tree was sometimes left in the forest, and sometimes cut down and brought into the village. No males were allowed to touch the tree. The tree might be dressed in woman's clothing and/or stripped of its lower branches. Sometimes this tree was set up in a home as a guest. If left in the forest, its tip might be bent down and tied to the grass, ensuring that its sacred energy would return to the earth. Girls would sing and dance the xorovod around the tree.
Banishings of the Rusalki were performed during Rusal'naia. Dolls of them were made and ritually torn apart in the grain fields.
On the Sunday of this week, girls would perform memorial rites on the graves of their parents and afterward divide eggs among their family members. Then the sacred birch tree was removed from the village and tossed into a local river or stream. Girls would take wreaths from their heads and toss them in after the birch. If their wreath floated off, love was to come from the direction the wreath floated toward. If the wreath sunk, the girl was supposed to die within the following year. If it circled, misfortune would come.
I, a young girl, am going to the quiet meadow, the quiet meadow.
To the quiet meadow, to a little birch.
I, a young girl, will pick a blue cornflower,
A little blue cornflower, a cornflower.
I, a young girl, will weave a wreath.
I, a young girl, will go to the river.
I will throw the wreath down the river.
I will think about my sweetheart
My wreath is drowning, drowning.
My heart is aching, aching.
My wreath will drown.
My sweetheart will abandon me.
- Reeder, p.101
Kupalo
Originally held on the Summer solstice, this holiday is now synonymous with the Festival of St. John, or "Ivan" and is held on the 24th of June or in Orthodox countries, the 7th of July. Kupalo comes from the verb kupati which means "to bathe" and mass baths were taken on the morning of this holiday. On this holiday, the sun supposedly bathed by dipping into the waters at the horizon. This imbued all water with his power and therefore, those who bathed on this day would absorb some of that power.
Fire was sacred to the ancient Slavs and fires were never allowed to go out. In the sanctuaries, fires were tended by the priests and in the home, guarded by the mother. On the eve of Kupalo, however, all fires were extinquished and rekindled with "new fire". New fire was created by friction. A peg was rotated within a hole in a block of wood made especially for this purpose. In some areas, animals were sacrificed on Kupalo's eve and a feast prepared of them entirely by men was shared as a communal meal. Bonfires were lit and couples jumped over them. It was considered a good omen and prediction of marriage if a young couple could jump the flame without letting go of each other's hand. Cattle was chased through the fires in order to ensure their fertility.
At the beginning of the celebration, a straw image of "Kupalo" was made of straw, usually dressed like a woman and placed under a sacred tree. At the end of the festival, the effigy was ritually destroyed by burning, "drowning" or being ripped apart. Afterward, elaborate mock funerals were held. Two people pretending to be a priest and deacon would cense the figure, with a mixture of dung and old shoes burning over coals in a clay pot. The funeral was carried out among much wailing and laughter.
Kupalo was considered the most powerful time to gather both magical and medicinal plants. It was considered the only time to gather the magical fire-fern. On Kupalo's eve, the flower of the fern was said to climb up the plant and burst into bloom. Anyone who obtained it would gain magical powers including the ability to find treasures. To gather the herb, one must draw a magic circle around the plant and ignore the taunts of the demons who would try to frighten them off. Kupalo marked the end of the "Spring festival" period which started in the beginning of March.
Autumn
In August, summer hurries to meet autumn. It sometimes happens during the month that there is summer in the morning and autumn in the afternoon. The days shorten, the weather grows colder and blossoming of grasses ends. August has a smell of apples and mushrooms. And when honey agarics begin to grow, everyone knows that summer has come to an end.
Apple, Honey and Nut Spas
In the West, the seasons are marked by four quarter days, the solstices and the equinoxes. Although these quarter days are also celebrated in Eastern parts of Europe, three days, not one, are used to greet each season. This is most evident in the holidays of Spas,
Medovy Spas - August 14. In Russia, Medovy Spas or "honey saviour" is when the bees stop bringing honey to hives, signalling that the honey collection may begin. First cut honeycombs were brought to the homes of those in need. Eating honey was not allowed until this day, so this day was not only a day to honor the bees and have the honey blessed, but a festival of cooking and baking and of vendor stalls filled with every kind of honey imaginable. Honey Porridge and Honey cake are very traditional foods for this day. The secondary name for this festival is Mokriy Spas or "Wet Saviour." Celebration of the poppy seed harvest is sometimes also added to this event.
Yablochniy Spas - August 19. "Apple Saviour" was the first day that apples could be eaten. It was believed that deceased children would not get apples in the afterlife if their mothers ate apples before this day. It was customary to go gathering and then gather with the rest of the village to have them blessed. Games would follow with a big feast of apples smothered in honey and other apple based dishes and August fruits. The secondary name for this festival is "Spas na Gore" or Saviour on a hill.
Orekhovyi Spas - August 29. "Nut Saviour" - on this day the feasting starts again with the harvest of nuts being added to the menu heavy with apple pies and honey cakes. Orignally the first fruits from all three festivals would have been offered to the nature spirits and the Gods in order to bribe from them a mild winter and good harvest. The secondary name for this is Linen Spas - named for the linens and canvases brought out to be sold in the fairs on this day. On this last spas the grains were also first thrown on the threshing floor and pies were traditionally baked with fresh flour.
Spas are still celebrated all over Eastern Europe with full week long honey festivals in Kyiv and Moscow. In order to eradicate the Heathen Origins of these holidays, the church has given them very somber religious undertones and now has the people bringing their harvest to church to be blessed. Most ironic, however, is that the church now also uses this Pagan festival to celebrate the forced mass Baptism of the Rus in Kiev.
Musical Selection is Yagudky" by Ukrainian group "DakhaBrakha"
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