For centuries, people attached special importance to signs, especially those that fell on large church holidays. It is believed that the signs of the Scement are of extraordinary strength, because in the festival the beliefs of both Christians and Gentiles were combined. There were special signs for a successful year, a rich harvest, which are confirmed today.
The Lord's birth - what is this?
The word "acquisition" is translated as "meeting". In the ancient Slavic peoples, this holiday symbolized the meeting of winter and spring, when special rituals were held. With the adoption of Christianity, the Feast of the Meeting acquired a different meaning. As the Old Testament says, then the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph came to church with a little Jesus to dedicate their son to the Lord, as tradition demanded. There, the righteous elder Simeon and prophetess Anna saw the God-servant, as predicted to the old man many years ago and given a term of hundreds of years to live to see each other.
Celebrations are celebrated on February 15, festive divine services are held in the churches, special, thundering candles and holy water are given to the faithful. And, because people believed that the Surrender is a day when Spring and Winter are struggling, they were looking for tips from nature. And the signs helped to predict how the spring and the coming harvest would turn out. There are still bans, what can, and what can not be done for this holiday, how to act to lure well into the house.
Signs on the Presentation of the Lord
It has long been believed that the Lord and the saints patronize people for big church holidays and give clues about how well to live a year. What signs for the Lord's Savior were noted especially?
- You can not put coins and bills on a table in the kitchen, otherwise there will be no luck, and wealth will drain.
- It is forbidden to go to a distant road, because it will be difficult to return back.
- The more nourishing to feed domestic animals, the richer for prosperity will be the year until the next spring.
- If you shake the garden trees properly, a generous harvest will not yield fruit.
- A hungry dog, which is suitable for a holiday, needs to be fed, it is believed that then the animal will bring prosperity to the house.
- It is forbidden to engage in any work, only those that help people are allowed.
There are other people's signs on the Sentinel. It is necessary to bake 40 birds from the dough, put a coin into one. To whom she will fall, he will be happy all year. There was a sign for damage. Poured into a glass of Sretensk water and put it on the headboard before going to bed. If the water darkened, this indicated a spoilage, such water had to be poured out at the crossroads, where four paths in the form of a cross.
The Lord's Birth - signs of the weather
The peasants always noticed the signs of the weather on Slyon, because the spring will determine the time of sowing. The family's dependency depended on whether it harvested the bread, because the sign on the Candlemas is snowing especially:
- snow fell out in the morning - a lot of early bread will be collected;
- fell out by noon-there would not be much grain;
- snowed in the evening - to wait for a crop failure.
Attention was also paid to other weather changes that fell on the Sennaya:
- the day is cloudy, with wind - to a good harvest of fruits;
- the frost is frosty - spring and summer will be cloudy;
- the sun looked out before sunset - there will be no more frost;
- the sun did not appear for a day - to the frost on St. Vlasia, on February 24;
- large icicles under the roof - good corn;
- thaw with a drop - the first one must sow wheat, and then millet;
- a clear, sunny day - there will be a lot of flax;
The Signs of Spring for the Conception
At all times people, tired of the winter cold, were looking forward to spring, warmth and sunshine. Therefore, on a landmark day, people tried to notice when to wait for spring heat. What folk signs of the Promenade promised the spring?
- There was a thaw - an early and warm spring will fall out.
- They stand on a cold holiday - spring will come with cold.
- The sky is stellar for the Steniya - waiting for the spring to come late.
- A snowstorm on a holiday - the spring will be late, the cold will last for a long time.
- It's snowing - all the spring months will be rainy.
Signs of the Birth of the Lord for marriage
Although it was strictly forbidden to speculate on church holidays, unmarried women and girls secretly tried to test fate, find out about the condemned. So there were special signs for the Sentence for marriage:
- The girls cooked the muffin, in the evening they laid them out on the blackboard. The owner let in the room a starving dog, whose pastries she ate in the first, that mistress soon found her husband. In some regions, instead of buns, birds were molded.
- In the morning on the holiday it was necessary to take Sretensk's consecrated water and a candle, to stand before the icon of the Meeting and ask the Lord, the Virgin Mary and all the saints to send a good groom. Such a ritual was considered a sure sign that soon the matchmakers would come.
Wedding on the Slyon - signs
If in the families they privately approved, when the daughters were looking for signs of the feast of the marriage of the bridegrooms, it was strictly forbidden to celebrate the wedding. In the temples there were all-night vigils, in the morning - festive services and the procession, so the weddings were not held. People's beliefs also did not approve of this day for marriage. It was believed that the variability of the weather on the Syllenus would certainly affect marriage, and such a union would not be strong.
Pancakes on the Slyon - signs
Even the ancient Slavs created their own signs and ceremonies for Sfense, a very important one of which was considered the baking of pancakes or round pies. Golden pancakes resembled the shape of the sun, especially revered by the pagans. So this food and remained a symbol of the sun and spring. But it is necessary to prepare it, observing the two main signs for the invention:
- Turn the pancakes in a pan only with your right hand, and in the left while holding a coin. Will help to draw money into the house.
- Trying pancakes was forbidden until the first star, otherwise you could bring trouble on the family. Only after 8 pm was allowed to taste food, ask the Lord for good luck and share pastries with family and friends.
Steniya - signs, as a candle burns
The candles, which were consecrated on the Candlemas, were stored until the next year, they were lit, as protection during a thunderstorm and called thunderous. These candles were connected with signs for the Feast of the Savior of the Lord, which were noted during the divine service:
- someone who has a candle will go out before he dies;
- I've got three drops of a molten candle on my hands - there will be luck all year round;
- the candle burns steadily - a sign of good health; flame fluctuates - to future illnesses; managed to bring their candle burning candle - the year will pass in prosperity.
Who was born on the Lord's Day - signs
There are different beliefs about those who were born on the Savior. According to the beliefs of the Slavs, the child who was born on the feast of the meeting of Winter with the Spring, will celebrate happiness and the sun. According to other pagan beliefs, it was predicted that the weather variability of this day would have a bad effect on the baby, and he would be unhappy. And women, who have a baby born on the Candlemas, must certainly celebrate the feast in order to propitiate the gods of nature.
Modern interpretations are interpreted differently, what are the signs of the Syllable predict the nature of the child:
- if it is windy, the character of the newborn will be changeable;
- The weather is clear, with thaw - the child is characterized by shyness;
- frosty, with a light snowball - in relations with parents, the baby will lack heartfeltness.
Die on the Candlemas - a sign
Our ancestors believed that signs and superstitions for Sentinel can predict and the fate of the deceased. Allegedly, Steniya is a border in the space that needs to be crossed neatly, then everything will be fine. The dying person was given a sreeten candle in his hands, there was an opinion that she possesses special power and will help to leave the world of the living easier. Signs promised: God will take away immediately to Paradise or to another church feast of the dead. Priests deny this belief, arguing that the main thing is to confess and pray.