Maslenitsa is the favorite holiday of Christians, which he inherited from their pagan predecessors. The appearance of the holiday is easily explained - it is the departure of winter, parting with all the old and obsolete, the meeting of spring and the joy associated with the renewal of nature. All the rituals for Maslenitsa were performed with a single goal - the louder the spring is, the better the crops and livestock will grow. And for this there was a mass of magical rituals and rituals for carnival.
Rituals
For example, in the name of a good harvest, flax and hemp grow as high as possible, women and children ride from the mountains, trying to move as far as possible. Among the women were fights, festivities, and, of course, song-dancing.
For a good increase in livestock, it was necessary to walk especially actively on Shrovetide Thursday (on Vlasy and Volosia).
Among the rituals and traditions of Maslenitsa, great attention was paid to skating. We skated from Thursday to clean Monday. Women catalyzed children on a sleigh (to grow flax), rolling around the whole village and the lakes. All the skating to improve excitement and fun was conducted in a race.
We went on horses harnessed in the trough, this is called "skating ryazhenyh." And, in this case, this rite was practiced by men.
Food
Of course, food is a special place in the traditions and rituals for Shrovetide. Firstly, pancakes are the main dish of Maslenitsa festivities, but, by no means the only one. Baked cheesecake and pies, tortillas, fried eggs, boiled oats and cranberry jelly. One of the key dishes is cheese. The cheesefish is a very high-calorie cake made up of curd, layered with butter.
Do not forget about the dead. At night, so that the spirits are not offended, all the food was left on the table so that the "parents" could also celebrate. Spirits could bless the harvest and the growth of livestock, and could and bring to nothing all diligence and loud festivities of the living.
Scarecrow
Even the most remote from religion and pagan people heard about the rite of incinerating the effigy on Shrovetide. A scarecrow is a bunch of straw, dressed in a blouse and with a handkerchief knotted "in a woman's way." This scarecrow was prepared in advance - the whole Maslenitsa week with him was chased through the village and frightened each other.
The bonfire was bred on the last day of Maslenitsa. Firewood, garbage, old things, branches were collected all over the village. The campfire was piled up with a "well" - a scarecrow was placed on its top, often pinned on a stake. All the "old things" were burned at the festive fire: baskets, old things, food leftovers, hay, all obsolete. It was the funeral of winter, which meant that you had to get rid of everything that was old.
The ritual of burning the effigy of Maslenitsa passed on the outskirts outside the village. During the burning, the old women treated everyone at the bonfire with pancakes, various ritual songs danced around the fire and sang. They built the gates and set them on fire-men with horses drawn into troughs were to pass through the gates.
Through the bonfires they jumped, and the children ran around with larks baked from dough, and they told poems about spring.
And on a net Monday it was necessary to force myself to get up as late as possible, so that flax, as we already know, grew taller.
The Magic of Pancake Day
Maslenitsa is an ancient pagan holiday with a very strong and ancient energy. This is a good time for conducting various magical rituals , for example, a ritual for the fulfillment of desires.
Pronounce the words of witchcraft should be on Shrovetide Sunday before going to bed.
"Enlighten, the star is clear in the heavens,
to the joy of the world baptized,
light up with fire that is unaffected by the joy of the Orthodox
You look, the star, into the house of the servant of God (name).
You consecrate, the star is clear, my house is burning with fire.
Desire to hear mine (say your desire). Amen".
After reading the conspiracy to fulfill the desires, you must cross three times and bow.