The Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the holy Martyr Agrippina on July 6 in a new style. Agrafena - this is what the people called this day. It falls on the eve of the holiday of Ivan Kupala - the time when nature has the greatest power, and the elements of water, earth, air and fire combine with each other, marking the flowering of life. The customs and beliefs associated with the day of Agrafena carry the motif of the Kupala traditions. Therefore, they called Agrafena the Bathing Lady.
Before Ivan Kupala
In ancient times in pagan Russia, when the sun did not leave the sky for a long time, the water in the rivers warmed up, and the plants gained strength, the summer deity Kupala was honored, and his holiday was celebrated. With the advent of Christianity, this period fell on the day of the birth of John the Baptist, so the image of the Baptist in the popular mind was intertwined with Kupala. And the saint began to be called Ivan Kupala.
Ivan Kupala was preceded by the day of Agrafena. The saint in folk beliefs has absorbed the features of the female deity of the holiday - the Bathing Lady. And so Saint Agrafena became the Swimsuit.
Day of Agrafena Kupala opened the cycle of Kupala holidays. They began on July 6, included the day of Ivan Kupala, on July 7, and ended on the day of Peter and Paul, on July 12.
Patroness of women
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Agrafena Bathing Lady was considered a summer deity and was revered in the villages as the patroness of women and their works.
On Agrafena, young girls in a cheerful crowd walked around the courtyards with the request: "Wash!" In return, they received jewelry as a gift: rings, earrings, beads, ribbons, pins. It was not accepted to refuse such guests.
In the evening, dressed in the best dresses, peasant women of all ages gathered together and, accompanied by Kupala songs performed only once a year, walked around the fields and houses. Women from neighboring villages and villages moved from one settlement to another. According to legend, this procession defended the bypassed territory from troubles and hardships. It was considered a shame for a woman not to take part in it. The one that did not leave the house in the evening on Agrafena, neighbors reproached and ridiculed all year.
In each house, the hostesses cooked barley porridge, which was displayed for a joint meal. In some localities, such a "votive" porridge was cooked in one large cauldron of cereals collected from all houses. They dined, as a rule, in the fields - for a good harvest or in the center of the settlement - for well-being. The next day, on Ivan Kupala, beggars and wanderers were treated to porridge.
Purchasing
On Agrafena in the villages, the swimming season was opened. The peasants began to "buy" in open reservoirs.
But before going to the river, lake or pond, on the morning of July 6, they were sure to take a steam bath. Children were bathed in springs before being immersed in open water. It was a kind of ritual cleansing. The peasants believed that washing on Agrafena washes away all diseases and evil eyes. Even severe bedridden patients were brought to the bathhouse that day.
We steamed with fresh brooms knitted early in the morning. It was noted that the trees on Agrafena were "in their very sap", their branches and leaves had the greatest healing power. Everyone knew about the medicinal properties of birch, oak, linden. They noticed that a birch broom helped with coughs, a linden broom - with aching bones, oak and maple brooms were well disinfected …
Brooms were also knitted from a variety of herbs, such as chamomile, wormwood, mint, and nettle. They prepared them both for Agrafyon and for the entire coming year.
The floor in the steam room was covered with flowers and herbs. A favorite plant was ivan da marya, whose violet-orange flowers symbolized the unity of water and fire.
On Agrafena, young people went to the water to find out their fate. They wondered by the wreaths lowered into the pond and candles fixed on them. In some areas, bath brooms were used to predict the future. They were thrown through the roof of the bathhouse: if the broom fell with its top to the gate, the girl would get married, the guy would go on a long journey. If the top is to the house - to sit with the parents, to the cemetery - not to be alive for a long time.
Great strength was attributed to the morning dew on Agrafena. The whole family, young and old, went out to wash with her.
Observant villagers remarked: "If the rain starts crying on Agrafena, then in five days the sun will laugh."
Ferocious roots
As noted above, Agrafena Kupalnitsa opened the so-called Kupala days. At this fertile time, haymaking and collecting medicinal herbs began. "Agrafena - fierce roots" - this is how the Day of the Bathing Lady was called by the people.
Village healers, who went to harvest them at sunrise, knew especially well about the properties of medicinal herbs. Other villagers tried to keep up with them. Collected nettle, plantain, mint, thyme, sage and other plants.
Young people on Agrafena - fierce roots wove wreaths of flowers, and not only for beauty, but also in order to absorb a piece of the life-giving energy of Mother Nature.
Late in the evening, the most inquisitive peasants went to the forest in search of a magical fern blooming only on the night from Agrafena to Ivan Kupala. People believed that the treasure hidden in the ground would be revealed to the owner of a fern flower, power over people and the ability to foresight would be granted.
It was believed that the herbs collected on Agrafena have not only healing, but also magical properties. So, girls used them in their fortune-telling, for example, laying them under the pillow at night. Sorcerers used Kupala herbs in love potions.
Rites-amulets
On Agrafena, the villagers tried to protect themselves and their households from the evil eye, trouble, and to carry out protective rituals.
So, on this day, the hostesses boiled all the eggs remaining in the house so that the bird rushed well. In order to produce rye, in the morning people rolled around the crops.
It was believed that in the evening of Agrafena, the intrigues of evil spirits began. To protect themselves from evil spirits, prudent peasants hung windows and doors with nettles and thistles, and set aspen or wild rose branches in front of the house.
Shortly before sunset, the villagers gathered heaps of nettles, thistles, fragrant herbs and rose hips somewhere on the edge of the village. The peasants passed through them to protect them from damage, first the children, then the cattle. With the onset of darkness, fires were lit in the place of armfuls of grasses, throwing dry branches there. Then, old unnecessary things were used, for example, old mattresses, and all kinds of trash. Adults jumped over this Kupala fire to cleanse them from filth.
Summer has imperceptibly crossed its middle. "The sun is waning, the day is hot," they said among the people. Ahead is the summer suffering, harvesting, which is taken care of by the Kupalnitsa da Kupala, respected at the top of the summer.
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №26. Author: Elena Artyomova