Shrovetide is one of the elements of the Eastern Slavic tradition of seeing off winter, combined with festivities and the use of pancakes with oil. But in this holiday, pagan and Christian beliefs bizarrely united. So, in church practice, there is Meat-Eater - a week during which you can eat meat and Cheese week, corresponding to Shrovetide, but without eating meat products.
When does Shrovetide week begin
The celebration of Maslenitsa precedes the beginning of Lent before Easter. And since the date of Easter is floating, then Shrovetide is celebrated on different days. In 2018, it was celebrated from February 12 to 18, and in 2019 it is scheduled for March 4 to 10. Shrovetide is an analogue of carnivals held in Europe.
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 the new year according to the solar calendar. In the northern hemisphere, it corresponds to March 20. Pancake week has different names for the days of the week ; different events take place these days.
Program and holiday names
The festival program includes mass festivities, eating pancakes, flat cakes. And representatives of the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples also prepare dumplings, cheesecakes and hold a ceremony called “pads”. During its implementation, the girls and unmarried lads are tied to the foot with a deck or some other object, which means the censure that they did not marry at the appropriate time.
Shrovetide week has a large number of names, for example, such as: Gluttonous, Meat, Gingerbread, Oily polizuha, 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 Shrovetide
The holiday symbol is a scarecrow of Shrovetide, 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 celebration.
The doll itself is the embodiment of fertility and fecundity, the ashes remaining after its burning were scattered across the fields, which should help to increase their productivity. This fully applied to the beliefs that fertility in couples is also increasing. Thus, the importance of the institution of marriage was emphasized.
The third side of Pancake Week was characterized by such a direction as a funeral. It was expressed in the presence of trisny elements such as horse racing and fist fights. According to some folklorists, pancakes eaten during hearty meals were the most memorable food, not a symbol of the sun, as is commonly believed.
In our time, Pancake Week embodied the ancient pagan and Christian traditions, as it is associated not only with the scarecrow of Pancake Week, but also with Lent and Forgiveness Sunday.
Preparation - “Little Butterdish”
Before describing Shrovetide week, we briefly consider preparations for it. In some places it started in the previous week, which was called "Pestra". So, on Saturday, pancakes were pre-baked. The kids with pancakes “saddled” the poker and, running around the garden, urged the winter to get out, and the summer to get closer.
On Saturday, they began to celebrate "Little Butterdish". Children, running around the village, picked up discarded bast shoes. When the adults returned from the bazaar with purchases, they were asked if they were taking Shrovetide. If the answer was no, the children beat them with bast shoes.
On Sunday, immediately preceding Pancake Week, which was called "Meat", relatives, friends and neighbors visited, inviting them to visit Pancake Week. A father-in-law called his son-in-law to “eat up a sheep” and start talking to cheese and butter, that is, to eat fast food.
Names of days of the week: general information
The Pancake Week before fasting is divided into two parts, the first of them is called the “Narrow Pancake Week”, and the second is called the “Broad”. The first part includes the first three days, and the second - the last four. The first three days were allowed to farm, and the final ones had to be fully devoted to the holiday. The people gave the name to the days of Pancake Week - each individually. Let's consider them in detail.
Monday meeting
Monday was called "Meeting." Monday morning is the beginning of the "Narrow Carnival." Like every day of Shrovetide week, he had his own characteristics.
The mother-in-law and the mother-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. It specified the time of the festivities and the composition of the invitees. At this point, 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. From the old clothes and straw they made a scarecrow of Shrovetide, put it on a stake, put it in a sled and drove along the streets. Sometimes a cow was brought around the village, on which bast shoes were put on.
In the Belarusian villages there was a game called "Funeral of the Grandfather." When carrying it out, a coffin with a straw effigy was put in the house, which mourned like a living person. After that, the coffin was carried to the cemetery, buried in a straw and set on fire.
Pancake week
Tuesday is called Flirting. On the second day of Maslenitsa week, bride-shows were held, which were preceded by matchmaking. They were timed to Maslenitsa in order to celebrate the wedding after Lent, on the first Sunday after Easter (on Red Hill). Young people went to ride from the mountains and eat pancakes, invited relatives and friends with them.
Greasy environment
Wednesday was called "Gourmand." Another name for it is “A modest environment,” that is, the day on which the modest food is consumed. The word “fast-moving” comes from the Old Slavic “fast”, which literally means “fat”. On Wednesday, the son-in-law went to visit his mother-in-law to enjoy pancakes, which she baked specially for him. Thus, she showed him warmth and respect. In addition to the daughter’s husband, other guests came and treated themselves.
Rally Thursday
Continuing the description of each day of Pancake week, I would like to especially note Thursday. He bore several names, for example, such as: "Rampant", "Rally Walk-Fours", "Carnival Carnival", "Broad Thursday". It was from this day that the present, wide celebration began, since all economic activity was suspended. Various funs began, fistfights, horseback riding and sleigh rides. The main fun on Thursday was the battle for the snowy town.
On this day, bonfires were lit everywhere, through which ritual jumps were performed. The festival was accompanied by Pancake week songs, which described the events of folk festivals. A straw horse was transported through the villages, it was poured with water at night so that it froze and gained firmness, and a live goat was carried with an elegant headscarf draped over its head.
Young guys made fun of themselves with special excitement. They scared passers-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 the sheds.
On 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 money and a glass of wine. Usually, all events ended with noisy feasts.
Mother-in-law return visit
Friday was called "Mother-in-law's supper", because when she came, the mother-in-law came to visit her daughter and her husband - her son-in-law - on a return visit. Now the daughter was engaged in baking pancakes. Mother brought with her girlfriends and relatives, to whom the son-in-law was to show his disposition along with his mother-in-law.
Saturday gatherings
Saturday was called "Zolovkin gatherings." On this day, young married women called to their home a sister-in-law (sisters of her husband) and his other relatives. If the sister-in-law has not yet married, the daughter-in-law brought her girlfriends, who were also unmarried. And vice versa, for married people they called married relatives. At the same time, the sister-in-law was gifted with gifts.
Culmination of the holiday
Sunday was called "Seeing Off" and as such, in fact, was. He was also called: “Tselovnik”, “Syrupost”, “Forgiveness Sunday”. It was the culmination of the whole Maslenitsa week. At that time there was a charm, that is, abstention from work and refreshments with festive dishes before Lent. And also close people turned to each other asking for forgiveness for possible insults and troubles.
During the evening service in the church, the abbot asked for forgiveness from other ministers of the church and the believers present. After that, the parishioners also asked each other for forgiveness, making obeisances. In response to the request sounded: "God will forgive."
In the evening, the deceased relatives were remembered, they visited the cemetery. Women in silence went there at about four o'clock in the evening, searched for the grave, knelt beside her and bowed three times, asking for forgiveness from the deceased. After that, pancakes were put on the grave and a bottle of vodka was put, and the women also went home in silence.
Even on this day, a Russian bath was heated. It was customary to burn the rest of the food and wash the dishes thoroughly. At the end of all the festivities, the scarecrow of Shrovetide was burned, and its ashes spread through the fields.
Burning Shrovetide
The ritual of the Maslenitsa wires in different regions of Russia had certain differences. But as a rule, it was the burning of a scarecrow of Shrovetide. This stuffed animal personified winter or a mythological female character named Maren, or Moran, who in the Slavic tradition was associated with the rites of permanent dying and resurrection of nature.
The doll was loaded on a cart, which was at the head of the Pancake week train, which sometimes totaled about several hundred horses. Food rushing into the fire, where the doll was burning, was destined to commemorate the dead - eggs, cakes, pancakes. And also small dolls were made, which symbolized all sorts of unpleasant phenomena. They were thrown into a fire to get rid of adversity in their face.
Sometimes Shrovetide was not burnt, but buried in the ground. At the same time, a parody of the funeral procession was organized, the participants of which carried a scarecrow through the village, placed in a trough, cradle or in a specially constructed casket. A girl with a tied beard made of wool or hemp in chintz clothes imitating a robe depicted a priest. It could be a man. The procession was closed by a group of weepers. This rite was perceived as comic.
Maslenitsa holiday has successfully survived to our days. Both the ancient Slavic and Christian traditions, which he incorporated, and the schedule of Pancake Week are observed by many Russians. This is baking pancakes, and visits to friends and relatives, and burning a stuffed Pancake week. As well as requests for forgiveness, church service, commemoration of the dead and preparation for Lent. Pancake week is a cheerful, life-affirming and unifying holiday.