Maslenitsa is one of the elements of the East Slavic tradition of seeing off winter, combined with folk festivals and eating pancakes with butter. But in this holiday, in a bizarre way, pagan and Christian beliefs were combined. So, in church practice there is a Meat-Eater - a week during which you can eat meat and a Cheese Week, corresponding to Maslenitsa, but without eating meat products.
When Pancake week starts
The celebration of Maslenitsa precedes the beginning of Lent before Easter. And since the date of Easter is floating, Shrovetide is also celebrated on different days. In 2018, it was celebrated from February 12 to 18, and in 2019 it is scheduled for the period from March 4 to 10. Maslenitsa is an analogue of carnivals held in European countries.
In the era preceding the spread of Christianity among the Slavic peoples, the celebration of Maslenitsa was tied to the spring equinox, which was the beginning of a new year according to the solar calendar. In the northern hemisphere, it corresponds to March 20. Pancake week by day of the week hasdifferent names, different events are held these days.
Program and names of the holiday
The holiday program includes mass festivities, eating pancakes, cakes. And representatives of the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples also prepare dumplings, syrniki and conduct a ceremony called “pads”. During its implementation, girls and unmarried boys are tied to the leg of a deck or some other object, which means a reprimand that they did not marry at their due time.
Shrovetide week has a large number of names, for example, such as: Gluttonous, Meat, Obyedukha, Oily Polyzuha, Dairy. With all their diversity, they reflect such an important moment of the holiday as saturation with tasty and nutritious foods before Lent.
Three sides of Maslenitsa
The symbol of the holiday is an effigy of Maslenitsa, which is burned at the stake. This tradition evokes associations with the myth of a pagan deity who periodically dies and is born again. There was another side to the holiday.
The doll itself is the embodiment of fertility and fertility, the ashes remaining after its burning were scattered across the fields, which was supposed to increase their productivity. This fully applied to the beliefs that the fertility of married couples also increased. This emphasized the importance of the institution of marriage.
The third side of Shrovetide week was characterized by such a direction as a funeral. It was expressed in the presence of such feast elements as horse races and fisticuffs. According to some folklorists, pancakes, eaten during hearty meals, were the most funeral food, and not a symbol of the sun, as is commonly believed.
In our time, Shrove Tuesday has embodied ancient pagan and Christian traditions, as it is associated not only with the effigy of Maslenitsa, but also with Great Lent and Forgiveness Sunday.
Preparation - "Small Butter Dish"
Before describing Pancake Week, let's briefly review the preparations for it. In some localities it began in the previous week, which was called "Motley". So, on Saturday, pancakes were baked in advance. Children with pancakes "saddle" the poker and, running around the garden, urged the winter to get out, and the summer to come.
On Saturday, they began to celebrate the "Small Maslenka". Children, running around the village, picked up discarded bast shoes. When adults returned from the bazaar with purchases, they were asked if they were bringing Maslenitsa. If the answer was negative, the children beat them with sandals.
On the Sunday immediately preceding Shrovetide week, which was called "Meat", relatives, friends and neighbors visited, inviting them to visit Shrovetide. And the father-in-law called the son-in-law to “eat up the ram” and start talking about cheese and butter, that is, to eat quick food.
Names of the days of the week: general information
The Maslenitsa week before Lent is divided into two parts, the first of them is called the "Narrow Maslenitsa", and the second - the "Wide". The first part includes the first three days, and the second - the last four. The first three days were allowed to do household chores, and the finalI had to devote myself entirely to the holiday. The people gave the name to the days of Shrovetide week - each separately. Consider them in detail.
Meeting on Monday
Monday was called "Meeting". Monday morning is the beginning of the Narrow Maslenitsa. Like every day of Pancake week, it had its own characteristics.
The mother-in-law with the father-in-law sent the daughter-in-law to her mother and father for one day. And in the evening they themselves went to visit them. There, the time of the festivities and the composition of those invited were specified. By this time, the construction of swings, booths and snow slides was usually completed.
The process of baking pancakes began. As a rule, the first pancake was given to poor people to commemorate the dead. They made a stuffed Maslenitsa out of old clothes and straw, put it on a stake, put it in a sleigh and drove it through the streets. Sometimes a cow was driven around the village, on which they put on bast shoes.
In the Belarusian villages there was a game called "Grandfather's Funeral". During it, a coffin with a straw effigy was placed in the house, which was mourned like a living person. After that, the coffin was carried to the cemetery, buried in straw and set on fire.
Shrovetide celebrations
Tuesday is called "Tricks". On the second day of Maslenitsa week, brides were held for brides, which were preceded by matchmaking. They were timed to coincide with Shrovetide so that after Great Lent, on the first Sunday after Easter (on Krasnaya Gorka), to celebrate the wedding. Young people went to ride from the mountains and eat pancakes, invited relatives andacquaintances.
Fatty medium
Wednesday was nicknamed "Gourmet". Another name for it is Fast Wednesday, that is, the day on which fast food is consumed. The word "skorny" comes from the Old Slavonic "soon", which literally means "fat". On Wednesday, the son-in-law went to visit his mother-in-law to eat pancakes that she had baked especially for him. Thus, she showed him warmth and respect for him. In addition to the daughter's husband, other guests came and ate.
Rampant Thursday
Continuing the description of each day of Pancake Week, I would like to especially note Thursday. It had several names, for example, such as: "Razguly", "Razguly-Quarter", "Oiled Carol", "Broad Thursday". It was from this day that a real, wide celebration began, since all economic activity was suspended. Various fun began, fistfights, horseback riding - on horseback and in a sleigh. The main fun on Thursday was the battle for the snow town.
On this day, bonfires were kindled everywhere, through which ritual jumps were made. The festival was accompanied by carnival songs, which described the events of folk festivals. A straw horse was taken through the villages, it was poured with water at night so that it would freeze and become hard, and they also drove a live goat with an elegant scarf thrown over its head.
Young guys had fun with a special passion. They frightened passers-by by painting their faces with soot, covered the gates with snow, propped up the entrance doors to the houses with logs,dressed up in fur coats turned inside out, dragged carts onto the roofs of sheds.
From Thursday they began to sing carols, when people walked around the yards with balalaikas, tambourines, and other musical instruments. For congratulating the hosts on the holiday, the performers were awarded with money and a glass of wine. Usually all events ended with noisy feasts.
Return visit of mother-in-law
Friday was called "Teschina's evening", because when it came, the mother-in-law came to her daughter and her husband - her son-in-law - to pay a return visit. Now my daughter was baking pancakes. The mother brought with her girlfriends and relatives, to whom the son-in-law had to show his disposition along with the mother-in-law.
Saturday get-togethers
Saturday was called “Sister-in-law gatherings”. On this day, young married women invited their sisters-in-law (husband's sisters) and his other relatives to their house. If the sister-in-law had not yet married, then the daughter-in-law brought her girlfriends, who were also unmarried. And vice versa, for married women, married relatives were called. At the same time, the sister-in-law was presented with gifts.
Climax of the holiday
Sunday was called "Seeing Off" and that, in fact, was. He was also called: “The kisser”, “Syropustie”, “Forgiveness Sunday”. It was the culmination of the entire Maslenitsa week. At this time, there was a conspiracy, that is, abstinence from work and treats with festive dishes before Great Lent. And also close people turned to each other with a request for forgiveness for possible offenses and troubles.
During the evening service in the temple, the rector asked for forgiveness from other ministers of the church and the faithful present. After that, the parishioners also asked for forgiveness from each other, making bows. In response to the request, it sounded: “God will forgive.”
In the evening they commemorated the deceased relatives, visited the cemetery. Women in complete silence went there at about four o'clock in the evening, looked for the grave, knelt near it and bowed three times, asking for forgiveness from the dead. After that, pancakes were placed on the grave and a bottle of vodka was placed, and the women also silently went home.
Even on that day, the Russian banya was heated. It was customary to burn the food left over from the holiday, and wash the dishes thoroughly. At the end of all festive events, the effigy of Maslenitsa was burned, and its ashes were carried across the fields.
Burning Shrovetide
The ritual of seeing off Maslenitsa in different regions of Russia had certain differences. But as a rule, it was the burning of an effigy of Maslenitsa. This scarecrow personified winter or a mythological female character named Marena, or Morana, who in the Slavic tradition was associated with the rites of the permanent death and resurrection of nature.
The doll was loaded onto a cart at the head of the carnival train, which at times numbered several hundred horses. In the fire, where the doll was burning, food was thrown, intended to commemorate the dead - eggs, cakes, pancakes. And also small dolls were made, which symbolized differentkind of unpleasant events. They were thrown into the fire in order to get rid of adversity in their face.
Sometimes Maslenitsa was not burned, but buried in the ground. At the same time, a parody of a funeral procession was organized, the participants of which carried an effigy through the village, placed in a trough, cradle or in a specially constructed coffin box. A girl with a tied beard made of wool or hemp, in chintz clothes imitating a chasuble, portrayed a priest. It could also be a man. The procession was closed by a group of mourners. This rite was perceived as a joke.
The Maslenitsa holiday has successfully survived to this day. Both the ancient Slavic and Christian traditions that he has absorbed, and the schedule of Shrovetide week, are observed by many Russians. This includes baking pancakes, visiting friends and relatives, and burning an effigy of Maslenitsa. As well as requests for forgiveness, church services, commemoration of the dead and preparation for Lent. Maslenitsa is a cheerful, life-affirming and uniting holiday.
