Mermaid week: why did the Slavs see off the mermaids and lead round dances?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Our ancestors of the Slavs had a lot of different holidays in all seasons. Unfortunately, many traditions and festivals have been forgotten, many have merged with Christian holidays.

We propose to recall some forgotten traditional rituals, festivals, customs that existed among the Slavs, the echoes of which have come down to our days. And we start from the beginning of summer (further it is supposed to inform site visitors about our other primordial festivals throughout the year on the principle of summer - autumn - winter - spring).

The end of spring and the beginning of summer were perceived by our ancestors, the Slavs, as the time for nature to reach the highest point of its development (the sun shines brightly in the sky, the water in rivers and lakes becomes warm, grasses, trees that have reached their bloom begin to bear fruit), as the time of filling it with a miraculous by force. These ideas are reflected in many songs, legends, ritual actions, in particular, in the celebration of the Rusal Week, which was celebrated a week before the summer solstice.

Rusal week was the main border between winter and summer, marking the end of spring and the beginning of summer. It was considered a women's holiday and was combined with the rituals of "seeing off the mermaids." In addition, it included rites of remembrance for the departed.

With the adoption of Christianity, it was timed to coincide with the Christian holiday of the Trinity. In Christian times, the beginning of Green Week (as it came to be called) is celebrated on Thursday before Trinity, i.e. on the seventh Thursday after Easter, hence the name "seven".

Thus, these days began to have several names: Semik, Green Week, Green Christmastide, Rusalnaya (Mermaid) Week, Rusalia. In the Green Christmastide ceremonies, the first greenery and the beginning of summer field work were welcomed.

Green Christmastide (Rusalia) began with the Spirit of the Day. It was either the last Sunday before the summer solstice, or (according to Christian tradition) Thursday before Trinity.

In 2017, the Day of Spirits is celebrated on June 1.

It began with honoring the ancestors, who were invited to stay in the house, scattering fresh birch branches in the corners of the house. Then they were dried, stored in a secluded place, and after the beginning of the harvest they were placed in a granary or mixed into fresh hay.

In addition, there was also a rite of chopping down a birch. The ritual birch was cut down or dug up by the roots and carried to the village. There they brought it into all houses, walked around the village and threw it into the river or into the sown field. Thrown into the water, a birch should transfer its healing power to it, and left on the field should contribute to its fertility. In addition, it was believed that drowning a ritual birch in a river provided sufficient moisture for the entire summer.

The reason for such increased attention to birch is that young birch was considered the focus of magical fertile energy. This energy is important for fields that are in vital need of fertility, and for people and livestock, which need the energy of fertility. Therefore, the fields, and reservoirs, and people tried to attach to this life-giving energy of birch.

Merry Week is a time of memory and communication with water, meadow and forest naves - mermaid spirits of a kind. According to legend, mermaids and rusals are those who died prematurely, not becoming an adult, or died voluntarily.

Women performed secret ceremonies, leaving the household to the men, sometimes for the whole week. And those who have children left for the mermaid children in the field or on the branches at the springs the old clothes of their children, towels, canvases: it is necessary to appease the mermaid spirits so that they do not bother children and other relatives, so that they contribute to the fertility of fields, meadows and forests, and give them the juice of the Earth …

According to legend, during the Mermaid Week, mermaids could be seen near rivers, in flowering fields, in groves and, of course, at crossroads and in cemeteries.

It was said that during the dances, mermaids perform a ritual associated with the protection of crops. They could punish those who tried to work on a holiday: trample the sprouted ears, send crop failure, downpours, storms or drought. And in order to protect yourself from the mermaid love spell, you had to carry with you sharply smelling plants: wormwood, horseradish and garlic.

During the Green Christmastide period, age initiations were held, which marked the transition of adolescents to the group of youth of marriageable age and the majority of girls and young people.

Even in the days of the Rusalias, the following interesting rituals took place.

Feeding the tree. Under a tree (most often a birch), the girls left various food (the main ritual dish - scrambled eggs), cooked "powder", that is, from the products collected from all participants in the ceremony. Often the girls themselves ate under the tree (which can be understood as a meal together with the tree).

Dressing up. The birch was decorated with ribbons and scarves, sometimes completely dressed in women's clothing. At the same time, the participants in the ceremony put on wreaths made of birch branches and other greenery, and dressed themselves. Most often, representatives of other age and gender groups were depicted: married women or men, sometimes - animals, devils and mermaids. Dressing up is a complex ritual that has many meanings: birch wreaths serve to make girls like birch, dressing up in clothes of the opposite sex and wearing masks (masks) of some animals - to ensure fertility, mummers depicting various spirits are, in fact, their representatives. In addition, dressing up (according to popular beliefs) serves as a way to protect against possible harm from the inhabitants of the Other World.

An interesting rite of passage. Girls exchange rings, scarves, earrings, etc. through a curled wreath.

The meaning of the rite was originally to conclude an alliance with the spirit of the tree. After the wreaths were curled, the birch was called “godfather”, and one of the Belarusian ritual songs directly says: “I had a drink, I got bogged down with a white birch”. In later times, an alliance was concluded with mermaids (the purpose of such nepotism is to appease the mermaids and learn from them their future). Even later, the boom took place with their girlfriends. Thus, the girls promised to help each other overcome various difficulties, and even choose a groom to their liking.

Seeing off the mermaids. In order to facilitate the departure of the mermaids back to the rivers, after the raskumaniya rituals of "seeing off" and even the "funeral" of mermaids are performed (usually held a week after Trinity). There are a great many varieties of such rituals (folk fantasy, as you know, is rich). Here, for example, are some of them taken from the records of folklorists: “a girl depicting a mermaid in one shirt, with her hair down, riding a poker, holding a log over her shoulder … rides in front, followed by girls and women, they hit the screen. The children run forward, and now and then flirt with the mermaid, grabbing her by the hand, by the shirt, who will cling to the poker, saying: "Mermaid, mermaid, tickle me!" The whole crowd with the mermaid in front is heading towards the hunks … in the rye the mermaid is trying to catch and tickle someone. There will be a dump until she manages to escape and hide in the rye. Now everyone is shouting: “We saw the mermaid, we can walk everywhere boldly!” And scatter home. The mermaid, after sitting for a while, will sneak back home. The people walk along the street until dawn. " (The beginning of the twentieth century, Zaraisky district of the Moscow province).