Green Svyatki - learn the secrets of mermaid days and Trinity week. Slavic Holidays - Green Christmas time

Green Christmas time- Slavic folk holiday complex of the spring-summer calendar period, also called by the main day - Semikom. The celebration was widespread among the Eastern Slavs everywhere. For Russians, the week preceding the holiday of the Trinity was often called Green Christmastide, for Ukrainians it was the period from Thursday (in other places from Tuesday) of the seventh week after Easter to Tuesday of the eighth week after Easter (in other places on the Trinity).

In general, the period of the Trinity-Semitsk holidays includes the Mid-Midday, Ascension, Semik, the week preceding the Trinity and the Trinity week before the Petrovsky conspiracy, after which the Petrovsky fast begins. The holiday complex marks the end of spring and the beginning of summer.

Other names

Festive complex: rus. Green Christmas time, Trinity Christmas time, Mermaid Week, Mermaid week, Rusalia, Great week,Klechalnaya, Soul Wake, Cuckoos, Curling Wreaths, Sunday of the Holy Fathers; Belarusian Syomukha, Sedmukha, Syomka, Zelyanetz, Zyalyonyya svyatki; Polish Stado; Czech Kralovy tyžden.

Thursday: Russian Semik, Maundy Thursday, Great Thursday, tulip, Novg. Rusalchin Great day, Mavsky Great day, South Russian, Poles. Trinity of the Dead, Nava Trinity, basics. ripey, Belarusian Semukha.

Saturday: Russian Semitskaya Saturday, Dukhovskaya Saturday, Parents' Saturday, Easter of the Dead, Trinity Parents, Kursk. Klechalnaya Saturday, Soul Wake, Spirits Day, Belarusian Staўroўskіya, Summer, Traetskiya, Semushny dzyady, Green Saturday, Klyanovy Saturday, Ukrainian Green Saturday, field. Mikolsky grandfathers, Maple, May Saturday, Spiritual Saturday, Spiritual Saturday, May Saturday, bulg. Rusalna stranglers, Serbian Mrtva Saturdaya.

Holiday symbolism

Semik, like the Trinity, was considered a girl's holiday. Teenage girls were accepted into the company of girls and they could "bride in marriage", guess about the betrothed and take part in autumn-winter gatherings (see Cumulation). Also in nature, Mother - Cheese Earth was preparing for fruiting - rye and oats were eared on the span:

As before other big holidays, before Semik (Trinity) the dead were commemorated: first the mortgaged ones, then the parents.

In the Catholic tradition, Green Christmastide ended on Trinity with detours around the village on horseback (cf. Easter cavalcade), games of "Kralya" and "Kralitsa".

Rusalia

Rusalia, mermaid days - a holiday in memory of the dead among the ancient Slavs, memorial days, memorial rite.

The first mention of Rusalia is contained in the Laurentian Chronicle (under 1068). It condemns the pagan custom of calling on the "devil" to prevent drought: "The devil is flattering, trumpets and buffoons, harps and mermaids are not from God." In later monuments, Rusalia are characterized as “demonic games” and “fun with dancing”, songs, dressing up in animal masks, etc.

It was believed that on Semik or Trinity (in other places from the Ascension) mermaids come out of the water and stay on the ground. During the entire period, mermaids are in close proximity to a person, so that they can even come into contact with him. Since Semik, numerous prohibitions and customs were in effect, for example, a ban on large works was widespread, it was impossible to go into the forest alone, drive cattle there, rinse clothes and sew. One of the ancient customs associated with this holiday is the ban on swimming in the river, especially at noon and midnight. There was a belief that mermaids drag the drowned to themselves. In Mermaid Week, mermaids should have been appeased - then one could count on their help.

During the Mermaids, songs and festivities dragged on until after midnight. The church was extremely negative about such holidays: for example, the Stoglavy Cathedral of 1551 sharply condemned such festivities.

Semik

Semik- usually the seventh Thursday or the seventh Sunday after Easter, hence the name. In many places, from that day on, birch trees (“Trinity Tree”) were planted in the villages, and the girls “kumilis”. Opens the ritual complex of the Trinity-Semitsky festival. Over the centuries, the ancient rites of Semik were gradually transferred to Trinity. In some places, this process by the XIX century. completely completed: the Trinity (Trinity Saturday and Sunday) absorbed all the rituals of Semik. In others, ritual actions were decomposed into Semik and Trinity. In Belarus (Belarusian) Semukha) and in the south of Russia, Semik was celebrated on Sunday, considering the name "Trinity" to be church.

A distinctive feature of Semik was the commemoration of the “mortgaged” dead, that is, those who died not by their own death (“who has not outlived his age”). The commemoration was usually held on the Thursday of the Semitskaya week, in some places - on Tuesday ("Soul commemoration"). It was believed that the souls of the pledged dead returned to the world of the living and continued to exist on earth as mythological creatures (see Rusalka, Mavka). They were forbidden to be buried in the church, and they were commemorated separately. According to popular beliefs, the earth does not accept those who die a bad death, therefore they remain restless and can annoy the living, are often in the service of evil spirits, and sometimes even possess demonic properties. It was allowed to commemorate the pledged dead only on Semik, so this day was considered a “joy” for their souls.

Trinity tree

The Trinity tree is one of the main symbols of the Trinity-Semitsk rituals. Along with flowers, wreaths, branches, the Trinity tree is used to decorate a house, courtyard, street, church. Trinity customs with a cut down and decorated birch are widespread in the central Russian regions, in the Volga region and in Siberia. Having chosen a suitable young birch outside the village (in the forest, near a rye field, near the water), the girls each decorated it with their own ribbon, scarves, beads, wildflowers. With a felled ( broken) and a decorated birch (called in different places: kuma, beauty, garden, semik, pillar, bush etc.), young people walked around the village, set up games in place, danced round dances, and then carried them to the river and threw them into the water: “We’ll cut down a birch tree, decorate it with flowers, bring it to the village, spin in a round dance with songs. The round dances are over - we will throw the birch into the river. In the Tobolsk province, a birch dressed in a woman’s dress was “taken to visit”, that is, they were brought into every house, symbolically treated, and in the evening, having gathered in one hut, they “buried”, after which they went to drown it to the river.

Ceremonies with a growing tree (“curling” and “development” of a birch) is one of the central episodes of the Semitsko-Trinity complex among Russians, known almost everywhere. These actions were performed in two stages at different times: they usually went to “curl” a birch in Semik, and “develop” - on the Trinity (in other versions: on the Trinity and Spirits Day; on the Trinity and in the Petrovsky zagovenie). On Semik, the girls went to the forest to “curl a birch” (cf. the song “There was a birch in the field”).

According to V. Ya. Propp, the reason for such increased attention to the birch is that the young birch was considered the focus of magical fertile energy. This energy is important both for the fields, which vitally need fertility, and for people and livestock, which need the energy of fertility. Therefore, both fields and people tried to attach to this life-giving energy of birch. In addition, the birch in its ritual role can be compared with the "May tree" of Western European peoples. According to D.K. Zelenin, both of these phenomena have their roots in ancient totemic ideas.

In the south of Russia and Ukraine, maple often acted as the main ritual tree, which is why the days were called “klechal Saturday” and “klechalny Monday”. Klechalny- from the name of maple leaves, which decorated houses and yards.

Cumbling

Kumlenie is a rite of initiation in the cycle of spring and summer holidays of the Eastern and Southern Slavs, as well as a form of youth union. On the Eastern Slavic territory, cumulation is known in most areas of European Russia (especially in central Russia and, to a lesser extent, in the Russian North), as well as in the north-east of Ukraine and in the east of Belarus. In the overwhelming majority of cases, it was the girls who reached the age of majority who kumised; they kumilis in pairs (very rarely - four); from time to time they were all together, including putting on one wreath in turn.

Wreaths were woven from the branches. At the same time, they sang songs, danced round dances, and ate the food they brought with them under the birch trees (there must have been scrambled eggs). When curling the wreaths, the girls kumili, that is, they performed the ceremony of kumleniya: a cross was hung on birch branches connected in the form of a circle, the girls kissed in pairs through this wreath, exchanged some things (rings, scarves) and after that they called each other kuma (sisterhood). Experts explain this custom as a relic of ancient rituals that marked the puberty of girls and their acceptance into a special age and sex group.

Pummeling was usually the middle episode of the holiday, which began with the establishment (selection in the forest, bringing into the house, decoration, dressing up) of the Trinity tree (birch, maple branches, etc.) was part of the “cuckoo funeral” rite) and ended with a joint meal of the girls (sometimes with the guys who joined the girls after the cumulus had been performed), and also very often - fortune-telling with wreaths; at the same stage, as a rule, the development of a birch, or rather a wreath curled on it, and the actual cleavage took place.

Green Christmas time (Spirits Day) Trinity - were the main boundary between winter and summer. In the folk calendar (with the adoption of Christianity), the feast of the Trinity was timed to these days, which then flowed into the mermaid week and the feast of Ivan Kupala. In the rites of green Christmas time, the first greenery and the beginning of summer field work were welcomed.
The cycle of green Christmas holidays consisted of several rituals: bringing a birch tree into the village, curling wreaths, kumlenya, burial of a cuckoo (kostroma or mermaid). The birch was a symbol of inexhaustible vitality, As well as during the winter holidays - carols, mummers, depicting animals, participated in all the rites, devils and mermaids. Two main themes can be distinguished in the songs performed during green Christmas time: love and work. It was believed that the imitation of labor activity ensured the well-being of future field work.
During the performance of the song - "You succeed, my flax succeeds" the girls showed the process of sowing flax, weeding it, cleaning it, combing it and spinning it. The singing of the song "We sowed millet" was accompanied by movements in which the participants reproduced the processes of sowing, gathering, threshing, and putting millet into the cellar.
In ancient times, both songs were sung in the fields and performed a magical function. Later, the ritual meaning was lost, and they began to be sung in places of festivities.
It was customary to bring birch branches and bouquets of first flowers into the house. They were dried and stored in a secluded place all year round. After the start of the harvest, the plants were placed in the granary or mixed with fresh hay. Wreaths were made from the leaves of the trees collected during the holiday, they were placed in pots, where cabbage seedlings were planted. Trinity plants were believed to have magical powers.
To ensure a high harvest, a special prayer service was sometimes served. The custom of “crying for flowers” ​​is associated with it - dropping tears on the turf or a bunch of flowers.
After the completion of special prayers, all participants went to the cemetery, where they decorated graves with birch branches and arranged refreshments. Having remembered the dead, they went home, leaving food in the cemetery.
Green Christmastide ended with a funeral or seeing off Kostroma.
Image Kostroma Associated with the completion of green Christmas time, rites and rituals often took the form of ritual funerals.
Kostroma could be portrayed by a beautiful girl or a young woman dressed in white, with oak branches in hand. She was chosen from those participating in the ceremony, surrounded by a girlish round dance, after which they began to bow, show signs of respect. The "Dead Kostroma" was laid on boards, and the procession moved to the river, where the "Kostroma" was awakened, and the celebration ended with a bath.
In addition, the burial ceremony of Kostroma could be carried out with a straw effigy. Accompanied by a round dance, a scarecrow was carried around the village, and then buried in the ground, burned at the stake or thrown into the river. It was believed that next year Kostroma would rise again and come to earth again, bringing fertility to the fields and plants.

Trinity Day can rightly be called "green Christmas time", and not only because on this day the parishioners stand masses in churches with bouquets of meadow flowers (in Yaroslavl they are called "spirits") or tree branches, but also on that reason that both the streets and houses are decorated with birch trees. Wildflowers that have been in the church are dried and stored behind icons for various needs: they are placed under fresh hay and in the granary so that mice are not found, in holes in the ridges from shrews, and in the attic to eliminate fire troubles. Trees are brought to the village streets in whole wagons and decorate not only the doors, but also the jambs of windows, and, in particular, their “mother church”, the floor of which is strewn with fresh grass: everyone, when leaving mass, tries to grab it from under their feet. to mix with hay, boil with water and drink as a medicinal. From the leaves of the trees that stood in the church, some make wreaths and put them in pots when planting cabbage.

Such, in essence, are the most important special customs adapted to the Trinity holiday and blessed by the church, which singled them out for this day from Semik and mermaid celebrations. This explains the confusion that is noticed in various localities when setting ritual methods for certain periods. Some of these methods precede, others coincide with Trinity Day (as we indicated in the relevant articles) and even precede it all on the same basis that these festivities in honor of spring are completely dependent on its late or early arrival, at least and in relation to this kind of amusements, which are relays or swings, arranged not only for small children, but in general for all young people.

Among the latter, in the Novgorod region, apparently, an old custom has been preserved, adapted specifically to Trinity Day (just like to Shrovetide) and called "shaking gunpowder." It consists of the following. During a walk, in a meadow, among round dances and games of “googryshi” (old testament “burners”), one of the men grabs a cap from a young newlywed, shakes it over his head and shouts at the top of his lungs and on the whole field: “Gunpowder on lip, the wife does not love her husband. At this cry, the young woman stands out from the crowd (and the whole task is to do this as quickly as possible), stands in front of her husband, bows to his waist, takes off the cap that they manage to put on his head at the moment of her appearance, takes her husband by the ears and kisses him three times and bows to him again and in all four directions. When the young woman leaves, and sometimes when she appears, an assessment of her qualities begins aloud and various commonplace jokes, especially those that had sins in girls. Young people are usually embarrassed by this custom and say: "When they shake gunpowder, it would be better to fall through the ground."

In ancient times, mass festivities were organized at this time, ceremonies were held for well-being. All week before the Orthodox holiday of the Trinity, people rejoiced at the arrival of warmth, guessed at the future and attracted good luck to life.

Traditions and rituals of Green Christmas

Green Christmas time also has a name - Semitskaya week. The celebration of Semik in 2018 falls on May 24, and this day is also very important. On the 24th, “mortgage dead” are commemorated, that is, people who ended their life path in an unnatural way. In the morning, the Orthodox visit churches, and in the afternoon they clean the graveyards, pray for the repose of the souls of their relatives and decorate the graves with birch branches.

Birch is the main attribute of the entire holiday week, so many rituals are associated with this tree. So, young girls can braid young birch branches and make a wish. If the branches remain green before Trinity, then the year will be prosperous, and cherished dreams will surely come true soon.

In Semik, any work, including field work, is prohibited, so the people organized mass festivities. On the day of the holiday, young people always went out to the fields, sang songs and praised the forces of nature, asking for a rich harvest. For this, an effigy of Kostroma was made from straw, which was burned at the end of the day.

Already on the 20th, all unmarried girls can follow the traditions of their ancestors and bake pies. They are made small, stuffed with meat and thrown into ponds to appease their inhabitants. It was believed that after tasting the treat, mermen and other evil spirits stop harming people and can help in case of unexpected trouble.

Rituals are held throughout the week to help achieve an excellent harvest. Rituals are held both in vegetable gardens and in fields, and are designed to protect plantings from bad weather, pests and theft. At the same time, young girls tell fortunes about their betrothed, perform rituals to attract mutual love.

A prerequisite for the Green Christmas time was and remains the appeasing of all kinds of evil spirits. Treats are taken out to the fields and to the edges of the forests, in houses and baths they communicate with brownies and banniki. Special attention was paid to coaxing brownies. These entities have always lived in human dwellings and could help in the household. So that the brownies do not get angry and do not fix tricks, they were always treated to milk porridge, generously flavored with butter.

Holiday signs

According to signs, on a holiday you can not do physical labor, sow and plow, as well as needlework. Those who violated the prohibitions were in danger of misfortune in the near future.

Green Christmas holidays were held cheerfully and with songs so that the whole year would be joyful.

It was necessary to treat everyone who looked into the house. It used to be believed that the gratitude of each cordially received guest would surely attract monetary luck to the hosts.

You need to decorate the house with birch branches in order to scare away evil spirits, troubles and misfortunes.

Solitude on Semik is considered a bad omen. All day until night, it is important to be with at least someone, otherwise evil spirits can settle in the house.

Each ceremony held on Green Christmas time helped to avoid troubles, as well as bring luck and love to life. Single girls should perform a ritual aimed at attracting their betrothed to life, and gardeners can protect their plantings by making a stuffed Kostroma.

The second half of June is rich in holidays - both Orthodox and ancient, still pagan. The pagan holidays of this time, as a rule, are associated with the feminine, water, divination, the world of spirits. Orthodox - with the acquisition of faith.

The Slavs had a week Green saints. They were celebrated in early-mid June. Orthodox Christianity by this time timed the feast of the Trinity, the date of which depends on the day of Easter (in 2019, the Trinity - June 16 ).

There was also an ancient holiday Lita, falling on the summer solstice, June 21st. And then there are pagan Agrafena Kupalnitsa and Ivan Kupala.

The start of Green Christmas time falls on June 20. What kind of holidays are these? They have another name - the Second Rusalia. The first Rusalia fall in April and are dedicated to honoring the virgin Lelya, the young and blooming goddess of spring. The second Rusalia is the time when the maiden Lelya becomes the wife of Lada, spring turns to summer.

In the rites of the Green Christmastide, the first greenery and the beginning of summer field work were welcomed. Green Christmas time consists of several rituals: bringing a birch tree into the village, curling wreaths, kumlenya, the funeral of the Mermaid. The girls went to the forest - "to make friends", weaved wreaths of birch branches, collected bouquets of forest and wild flowers, brought them into the house, dried them and stored them in a secluded place all year round. It was believed that plants at this time have magical powers. The Second Mermaids ended with the funeral ceremony of the Mermaid, which was portrayed by a beautiful girl or young woman dressed in white clothes. She was surrounded by a girlish round dance, they bowed, showed all kinds of respect. After that, they laid them on boards and the procession went to the river, where the Mermaid was “awakened”, and the celebration ended with ritual bathing.

Mermaid week

Mermaid week is a time of commemoration and communication with navkas, mermaid spirits. It was believed that those who died prematurely before becoming adults, or who died voluntarily, became mermaids and mermaids. In the old days, women performed secret ceremonies. Those who had children left old clothes and food for the mermaid children in the field or on the branches near the springs in order to appease the mermaid spirits. And those in gratitude should contribute to the fertility of fields, forests and gardens, filling them with the juices of the Earth.

People believed that during the Mermaid Week, mermaids could be found near rivers, in fields and groves, at crossroads and in cemeteries. According to popular beliefs, such a meeting is either to wealth or to misfortune. Especially mermaids should be wary of girls and children. It was believed that mermaids could pull into their round dance, tickle or dance to death. Therefore, during the Mermaid Week, children and girls were strictly forbidden to go out into the field or into the meadow. The people said:

"It's dangerous to swim during the Mermaid Week - the mermaids will tickle you"

To protect yourself from a mermaid love spell, you need to carry strong-smelling plants with you: wormwood, horseradish or garlic. Best guard against evil spirits- collected on the night of the summer solstice - in Lita - elderberries, as well as birch twigs nailed over doors or over gates.

From May 26 to June 2, Green Svyatki (Second Rusalii) is celebrated - a series of holy days preceding Yarila Wet, an enchanted week dedicated to seeing off spring and the accompanying female spirits - mermaids-shores.

Green Svyatki (Second Rusalia) - the magical week preceding Yarila Wet. About this time, Vodyanitsa Mermaids come out of the reservoirs - they lead Navi round dances (anti-salt) along the banks of rivers and lakes, swing on the branches of trees, as if on a swing, and also - they like to play a trick on unlucky late travelers when they are taken by surprise. At this time, meetings with Mermaids can be quite dangerous for living (living in Yavi) people. With something that a person she likes, a Mermaid can tickle half to death and drag her under water if he does not have any amulets - Solar signs, and his life itself was not particularly righteous ... In order to protect themselves from Mermaids, the words say:

MERMAID-SISTER RED GIRL VELESOVA NEIGHBOR DO NOT RUIN MY DEAR DO NOT LET IT STROK AND LET HOME RETURN TO YOU I BOW MY WORD STRONGLY BY FIRE IS NOT Scorched by WATER IS NOT RAZOVIMO IS NOT OVERCOME BY ANYONE! GOY!

At the very beginning of the Rusal week, red girls go to the forest to curl wreaths on birches:

DO NOT REJOICE OAKS DO NOT REJOICE GREEN NOT TO YOU GIRLS GO NOT TO YOU GO RED NOT TO YOU PIES BRING SCRIED EGG BITS! REJOICE BIRCH REJOICE GREEN TO YOU GIRLS GO TO YOU GO RED PIES TO YOU BRING EGG CAKE! GOY!

Twisting birch branches, girls braid wreaths, decorate them with scarlet ribbons. They kiss through the wreaths - they “fumble” with each other, exchanging body amulets, they sing:

VIEW-VIEW I'M A WREATH WEAVING BIRCH! VIEW-VIEW I'M A WREATH WEAVING CURLY! VIEW-VIEW I'M A WREATH WE'LL GO GOSSIVE! VIEW VIEW I'M A WREATH LET'S KISS DOVE! GOY!

During the entire Rusal week, the wreaths remain untouched on the birches:

WORTH MY WREATH ALL THE WEEK GREEN AND I AM YOUNG ALL YEAR FUN! GOY!

At the end of the week, they go to unweave wreaths:

YOU REJOICE DUBNIK-KLENNIK DO NOT REJOICE WHITE BEREZONKA WE ARE GOING TO DEVELOP THE RED RIBBON TO UNWIND YOU! GOY!

Closer to dusk, the rite of seeing off the Mermaids is going on all over the world: the maiden, dressed as a Mermaid, is “escorted” out of the village with great noise - to the river, after which the old people go home, and the youth continues the mystery game. They are divided into two gangs: young men - separately, girls - separately. The latter go into the field, where, dressed in long-sleeveless sleeves and taking off their belts (or even all their clothes at all), but putting on light masks made of birch bark, they twist and turn into "Mermaids", creating a "twisted dance" in the middle of the night (as on the First Rusalii ), the speed of which gradually increases from small to incredible. Enraged, the “Mermaids” sweep the Kostroma scarecrow pre-woven from straw and grass across the field (before sweeping it across the field, they carry Kostroma to the river and soak it in water - they dedicate it to Lela and the Mermaids), which should ensure the future productivity of the field. And woe to that of the mortals, who during this time will turn under their arm...

This same deeds and otherwise. The girls stand in a round dance, choosing between themselves one, which fell to represent Kostroma - to be throughout the action next to Her scarecrow in the middle of the circle and answer ceremonial questions for Her. The chorus sings the chorus:

KOSTROMA! KOSTROMA! MY EMPLOY KOSTROMA! AT KOSTROMUSHKA KISEL WITH MILK AT KOSTROMUSHKA PANCAKES WITH COTTAGE CHEESE! GOY-MA! KOSTROMA! GLORY!

Then someone from the general circle turns to Kostroma: - Great, Kostroma! The girl representing Kostroma answers her: - Great! They ask her: - What are you doing? She replies: - Kudel mnu! To her - with a bow: - Help those Gods! Then the round dance again sings the chorus, after which Kostroma again asks the question: - What are you doing? Kostroma replies: - I'm spinning! .. And the taco is repeated until Kostroma has gone through all the processing of flax and further: - My spinning! .. - I wind the threads! .. - I weave the linen! And, finally: - I went to the bath! .. - I sat down for a meal! .. - I got sick! .. - I died! To which they tell her: - Why are you talking? Get up, you bastard!!! After that, everyone standing in a round dance pounces on the scarecrow of Kostroma, tear it into small pieces and scatter it all over the field. When this is done, the girl representing Kostroma shouts out: - She came to life! Revived! All those gathered praise Kostroma, bow to Her and the field - on all four sides, they say:

KOSTROMUSHKA RETURN TO NAV RENEW YES RETURN TO US! GOY-MA! KOSTROMA! GLORY!

After some time, the young men go one by one in search of the "Mermaids". "Mermaids", meeting a person, ask him a riddle, for example: - Wormwood or parsley? If he chooses "parsley", then "Mermaids" pounce on him with the words: - Oh, my darling! They tickle until colic, and then they turn into a “roaring beast” or a “flying bird”, forcing him to run on all fours, howl like a wolf, growl like a bear or cuckoo until dawn ... If the guy chooses “wormwood” (grass, which are real Mermaids are afraid), then they answer him: - Navka, perish!

Only in this case, the guy gets the right to take the “Mermaid” to the purifying Fire, jump over it together with her, and then kiss the girl on the mouth ... At dawn, when the circle from all the “Mermaids” has already been removed, and they returned their human appearance, the girls are bathed in dew, washing away all the remnants of navy-night (bone) charms ...

Vedunya Lada Grass cuckoo's tears in the women's rite of martyrdom at the Rusal Week

One of the two ways of women's pilgrimage on the Rusal week (otherwise called Green Christmas time and preceding Yaril Wet, celebrated on 3 Sundays / June months) is known as "cuckoo's baptism". It consists of the following steps: the girls make a “cuckoo” out of grass (which can be of very different types), then they feast on it (which is called its “baptism”), then they bury the cuckoo and in some places they also dig it up. It is easy to see that this act combines two independent rites: female stumbling and the funeral of a stuffed cuckoo, followed by resurrection, which clearly correlates with the cult of the deity of vegetation.

The custom associated with the cuckoo is widespread in a rather narrow circle of neighboring regions: Kaluga, Oryol, Kursk, Kostroma, Tula, Bryansk (and Tomsk), therefore researcher V.K. Sokolova calls it the local South Russian. For the grass used in the ceremony, there is a condition: it must be pockmarked like a cuckoo. Almost always, the herb used is cuckoo's tears (or simply cuckoo's), which is so named because of the brown flecks that cover the leaves. Sometimes it is replaced by bird cherry, the leaves of which are also speckled. What is this grass - cuckoo's tears? The researchers explain that this is an orchis, orchis latifolia; in other sources it is described as a species of agave, or plantain, or snitka.

By its magical properties, it is a love herb, it has a forked root, parts of which correspond to husband and wife.

According to legend, this very root binds husbands, according to its shape, young women guess about the gender of the unborn child. This herb can also make a horse tireless (do you mean a literal horse? ..). Among other plants, dawn grass can represent the cuckoo in the ritual of kumleniya; it happens that a branch plays the role of a cuckoo (willow, bird cherry or mountain ash - note, all are pockmarked). The rite of baptism consists in the culling of the girls over the cuckoo. The actual baptismal actions are not noted anywhere in the ethnographic materials, on the contrary, baptisms (“kstiny”) and the cuckoo are used here to justify the feast - after all, the church recognizes the fumigation only at the baptism of a child. In some cases, the kumlenie is followed by the second voluminous part of the rite - the funeral of the cuckoo. It rarely comes to burial; usually, cumulation is the main and main action. VC. Sokolova points out that out of the 17 cases she observed, only in 4 cases did the cuckoo's baptism continue with a funeral. Although the custom of burying a cuckoo is quite independent in meaning, it is always also called "baptizing a cuckoo".