Just one step remains until spring in February. And therefore, most of the Slavic holidays and rituals are aimed at showing Zima-Morena that her dominion over Reality is once again nearing its end.
The first battle of spring
On February 2, the Slavs celebrated Gromnitsa, the time when Spring first converges with Winter in the battle for power over the human world. And no matter how this first battle ends, Morena-Zima realizes that her boundless dominion is coming to an end again. Another name for the holiday is Winter Perunye (in honor of the Thunderer Perun), because only on this day, thunderous peals sound in the sky, which are completely uncharacteristic for winter weather, - echoes of the battle between darkness and light, going on in the heights of the heavenly Rule.
And as a reflection of the heavenly fire in every Slavic family, magic was happening on Gromnitsa: the eldest man in the house made a special thunder candle. The more she went out, the more Perunova's power could hold. A candle was supposed to be lit on the temple under a special prayer of the Magi. Then the owner went around with her the salting (in the direction of the sun's movement) every corner and nook of the hut, filling it with sacred light and driving away all ailments, troubles and misfortunes. After cleansing the house, the time came for the household: the head of the family made a cross over the head of each of them with a candle, protecting them from ailments and filling them with vitality. The same was done with all the livestock, a thundering candle even burned some animal skins and left a trail of wax on them, protecting them from death and damage. In some regions, in addition to the listed rituals, another one was carried out - the most prosperous member of the community went around all the houses with his candle, as if sharing with his neighbors a particle of his well-being and prosperity.
The gigantic candle for the next year became a powerful family amulet, it was kept in the home altar and was lit only for the most important everyday occasions. With her they went on matchmaking, for the first time they went out into the field to sow and reap, gave with them those who set off on a particularly long or dangerous journey. If someone in the family was overtaken by a serious illness, the element of fire was used as an effective remedy for it, that is, the same thunderous candle. In drought, it was installed on the window as protection from fire. And of course, neither the removal of the evil eye, nor the removal of damage, nor any other action from the category of household family magic could do without a miraculous candle.
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We knock down the horn in winter
On February 11, Winter Veles came to the Slavs - on this day one of the most powerful Slavic gods "knocked down the horn of winter". The legend says that he wandered through the snow-covered fields and forests, played his wonderful pipe, and the sounds of his music warmed the viviparous Mother Earth, and at the same time with her all people and all animals. And no matter how angry she was at the musician Marena-Winter, no matter how much she let blizzards and cold on people, and a terrible "death of a cow" on the cattle, there was no way she could defeat Veles, she could not regain her former strength.
Since Veles was considered the patron saint of pastoralists, various rituals were performed on his holy day, aimed at protecting livestock from all diseases and at increasing the income from cattle on the farm. From the very morning, young men were allowed to drink strong honey in order to "be gentle", and then they should beat their husbands (who had to endure beating) a little with a board from a spinning wheel so that "the bulls were obedient." During the day, the ritual of "plowing" was performed, designed to drive away from the community the "death of a cow" sent by Marena and her servants.
Only women took part in it - their husbands were instructed not to stick their noses out of the house in order to avoid the "great misfortune". The most authoritative woman in the community was appointed as a “hangman”: she went from door to door and gathered women with an appeal to “calm down the cowardice”. Then the assembled "female army", armed with sickles, grips, brooms and even clubs, headed to the village outskirts with a hanger at the head. There the hanger stripped naked, they put on a collar and harnessed her to a plow, after which she plowed the village with a protective "mezhavodny" furrow three times. The rest of the women accompanied her with lighted torches, bare-haired and dressed in only shirts. At that time, no one risked getting in the way of those performing the rite: it was believed that a "cow death" could enter anyone who met, and therefore such a person was beaten without any mercy,and could well have beaten to death.
Closer to evening, the "competitive" part of the holiday began. It was opened by the ritual battle of the "cattle god" with "black death": the strongman dressed up by Veles, after a short battle, "knocked down the horn" from the winter goddess. And then, to the glory of the victorious God, Veles's struggle flared up - a special kind of struggle, devoid of Perun's rage, but filled with bullish tenacity and measured strength. Its rules consisted in grasping the enemy with your hands and pushing him out of the circle or in overturning into the snow. After the competition, the community honored the winners and sat down for a hearty feast, the only forbidden dish on the menu of which was beef.
And the Magi considered Veles' day especially suitable for making and amulets and carrying out special rituals over them. The amulet made on this day, according to beliefs, had an irresistible force and brought many benefits to its owner.
Make friends with evil spirits
Few people know that the solid "grandfather-neighbor" of the Brownie sometimes lived in the homes of our ancestors more than one: Kikimora, a tiny malevolent old woman, was his partner. It was believed that a hardworking and calm brownie could partially re-educate his wife, but if he himself had a grumpy disposition and was lazy, then the owners of the house had a hard time. True, Kikimora never settled in the house just like that, there were usually reasons for that. Most often this happened due to the construction of a house in an inappropriate, "pernicious" place, in the event that the mistress of the house decided to have an abortion, or if a special slander was made on the house.
As soon as Kikimora settled in a new place, chaos immediately reigned in the economy. The eternally grimy grubby beat the dishes, scattered cereals and flour, confused yarn and thread. The only merit of her antics was that any inept in needlework could blame her own sloppy work on the "help" of Kikimora. By the way, the spiteful creature was not limited to domestic antics, and pets also got it from her. As soon as she made her way into the poultry house or shed, she immediately began to pluck the feathers of the bird, drive the piglets, and pull the wool from the sheep. There was no way to calm her down, all that was left was to put up with an unpleasant "neighbor".
The only day of the year when the owners had a chance to calm Kikimora was her name day - February 16. The domovoy at this time was supposed to sleep soundly, huddled in a warm corner of the hut, so that only Kikimora remained "on the farm". Therefore, it was especially shortsighted for the family to miss her holiday - who knows what dirty tricks the offended spirit will come up with.
It is interesting that the most correct behavior of the owners on Kikimora's name day was a comprehensive preparation of the house for spring. It was in the middle of February that it was supposed to get rid of rubbish, throw away broken and battered things, old clothes - in a word, everything from which there would be no use. In addition, all cabinets and stacks were shaken up, products in the cellars were revised, houses were ventilated and washed to a shine. As a sign of respect for Kikimora, a decoction for cleaning floors, walls, cabinets and other household surfaces was prepared on the root of a fern - this plant was very respected by the domestic scum.
The mistresses put their needlework in boxes and boxes out of harm's way - the restless birthday girl would not get it. And for her, balls of thread, scraps of fabric, buttons and trimming ribbons were left on the window or in another prominent place: Kikimora will start to amuse himself with gifts - you look, and he will stop mischievous. In addition to the gifts, she was supposed to give the ugly a piece of cake baked for her day and a mug of milk or boil. Our ancestors believed that Kikimora, who was well catered to, could make friends with the owners and stop making her endless pranks.
Don't throw words down the drain
On February 21, when winter was already drawing to a close, the Slavs paid tribute to the omnipresent Stribog, the lord of the winds. According to legend, born from the breath of the Great Family, the air lord lived where the birds of the sky fly, in the middle between heaven and earth. His power was great: he sent light clouds and heavy clouds to the sky, and life-giving rains to the earth, but he could just as easily punish mortals with drought and hurricanes. Stribog was usually described as a lean old man flying in an airship, holding a horn in one hand and a smashing spear in the other.
On the day of Spring, Winter Stribog brings spring on the wings of his servants, brings the first news of the imminent onset of warmth to Yav. And he himself best heard the prayers that the winds carried him. Therefore, with the beginning of the Stribozh day, the plowmen threw grain into the air and asked for an abundant harvest, sailors and merchants threw coins along the rivers and seas for good luck on their wanderings, and the Magi went out to “listen to the winds,” bringing either good or bad news on their wings. On the day of the air lord, it was allowed to ask him for the preservation of material well-being, worldly luck and revenge for the offense inflicted. However, Stribog vigilantly monitored the observance of justice. Material prosperity was received only by those who earned their living by their favorite work, and did not perform the set "out of the way." Good luck came to everyone who "hoped for God, but did not go wrong himself."And it turned out to take revenge from someone who himself was completely innocent of the quarrel.
But what was forbidden in Vesnovy was “toss words to the wind”: to make empty promises, to waste meaningless compliments, and even more so to deliberately deceive the interlocutor. For this, the liars and windbags were overtaken by the inevitable punishment of the master of the winds.
Pay for falsehood
It is known that the Slavs treated both good and evil deities with equal respect, remembering that life and death are impossible without each other, they are only parts of one whole - the circle of life, the circle of endless rebirth of nature. But still, for the holiday of Kashchei-Chernobog, the owner of Navi, the god of cold, evil and madness, our ancestors set aside only one day in 4 years - February 29. Years when one day is added to February, people have long called leap years, and they believe that the whole year, and especially the "extra" February day, bring everyone around only trouble, illness and other disorder. And the Slavic belief also says that on the Koschey day (Koschei's day), all the evil he once created returns to man. They say that every scoundrel, scoundrel and scoundrel receives from the Black God what he deserves,and this supreme punishment can never be avoided.
In other words, February 29 was really dangerous only for those who lived along Krivda, did not honor the gods and ancestors, did not respect the communal law. Those who followed the Truth, and did not do anything bad to others, were under the protection of light forces, and could not worry about their future. And in order to certainly avoid misfortunes, a number of simple rules were additionally observed in the Slavic communities. On Koschny day, without extreme need, no one took up any work, it was customary to sleep until lunchtime and once again not go out into the street, but even into the courtyard of their own house. This day was also considered unsuitable for visiting, even with the closest relatives. On February 29, weddings and other celebrations, which could be postponed even for a day, were categorically prohibited.
There was, however, an event that was absolutely impossible to postpone. You can't ask for a day to wait for a woman for whom it's time to give birth to a child. The people, however, were of the opinion that on the holiday of Chernobog, only weak babies subject to many ailments would be born. But the Magi argued that among them one can often find the elect - those with the gift of foreseeing the future, talking with the gods, or endowed with other magical skills from birth. The proportion of such children was usually special, as if the gods appointed them a path that few could walk.
It was supposed to end the Koschiy day with a simple ritual, confirming the death of Winter and the coming of spring days. The senior man in the house at exactly midnight solemnly crushed a fresh hen's egg in his hand, which, according to legend, was melting "Koscheev's death." Along with the ritual "death" of Chernobog, the time of cold weather ended, giving way to the spring of Revenge.
Ekaterina Kravtsova
(Pictures by Russian artist Vsevolod Ivanov were used as illustrations)