Previously, the Slavs had many holidays, but unlike modern people, they spent them not at tables with refreshments or noisy festivities, but in labor.
The proverb “you reap what you sow” like no other reflects the realities of the life of the Slavs. The future of the entire clan, community or village entirely depended on the harvest of grain and fruit crops, since they constituted the basis of the diet.
The main Slavic harvest holidays: Zazhinki, Spozhinki and Dozhinki. And the final stage was the Osenins. After them came the cold winter time, giving the Slavs a little rest until the next planting and harvesting season.
The harvest holidays are not tied to a date or month. In each region of the country, they had their own and directly depended on weather conditions and the rate of appearance of ripe fruits, ripening of grain. In the southern territories, the harvest was harvested more than once during the summer and much earlier than from the northern neighbors.
Zazhinki
The first major harvest festival - Zazhinki - falls roughly on June 5th. At this time, they are engaged in the preparation of hay for animals, and also go to the forests and fields for the first gifts of nature.
Zazhinki always began with a special ritual. The oldest woman in each family - Bolshuha - was the first to go to the field at dawn. They took with them an offering for the Mother of the Raw Earth: bread, eggs, milk, and ate the first sheaves, which were also brought as a gift along with the feast. And only after that, the subsequent sheaves were piled into a common haystack, as if from the whole village. This ritual was intended to bring a rich harvest. After that, other women also began to harvest.
The first sheaf, collected by the older women, was kept until the next season. The next year, several spikelets were taken from it and thrown at sowing for a bountiful harvest.
Previously, before the ritual, it was necessary to clean the house, cover everything with clean linen and prepare a festive treat. Freshly baked bread always took a special place on the table during the Zazhinok celebration.
Spozhinki
This holiday means "joint harvest" and falls in mid-August. Spozhinki were no longer celebrated with solemn rituals and offerings. Instead, the community was going to estimate how much harvest has already been harvested and how much is left, who has more unharvested ears, who needs help. This was done after the Honey Savior. When the first honeycomb appeared on the table, the owners called the guests for pancakes and porridge with honey and agreed with them about help, common work - cleanup. Relatives, provided that they could afford it, helped disinterestedly, but other villagers had to pay for participation in the cleanup with money or part of the harvest.
During Spozhinki, it was customary to clean wells and collect the first clean water for themselves and the animals, as well as swim in rivers and lakes ourselves and wash livestock, cleansing themselves and them from thinness.
Dozhinki
The holiday of the end of the harvest was otherwise called Dozhinki and fell at the end of August - the beginning of September. The main condition: to have time to collect the remnants of the harvest before the autumn rains or Autumn, the celebration of the day of Avsen. Dozhinki were timed to coincide with the Third Savior.
At the end of the harvest, a number of ears were left unharvested in the field. This bundle is called "beard". The stems were broken and bent in an arc so that the spikelets touched the ground. With this bundle, women often wondered for their betrothed, for the future, or simply made wishes.
Dozhinki had its own traditional dishes served on the table in every house. It was believed that they could contribute to fertility and a bountiful harvest in the next year. "Salamat" - thick porridge made of oat flour with butter and lard, "dezhen" - oatmeal mixed with sour milk or water, pies with porridge, pancakes, beer and honey.
Dozhinki were also Leshy's holiday. At this time, the owner of the forest still does not fall asleep, and people bring him gifts, thank him for his help, and say goodbye until next year. On the border of the forest and the field, the Slavs left some of their harvest, praising the owner of the forest for his kindness and wisdom, thanks to him for the fact that the forest animals did not damage the harvest, did not trample the crops, and the birds did not gnaw the seeds.
Oseniny
There is no exact date for this holiday, which ends the harvest year, but the Slavs traditionally celebrated it together with Avsen, the holiday of the Autumn Sun. They begin to prepare for them in advance, on September 19.
At this time, it is customary to visit relatives, including in neighboring villages, to gather at the same table to discuss the results of the year: who, how much of the harvest, what he managed to stock from the gifts of the forest, is there enough supplies to feed the family all year, is it possible to surplus sell or donate to relatives. This is called brotherhood, only men take part in it. Also at the table is the distribution of responsibilities for the preparation for the celebration. Avsenya the whole village.
Avsen or Tausen falls on the day of the autumnal equinox, and the celebration of it and Autumn lasts the whole week from September 20 to 25. This is the time for noisy festivities, feasts, the time for meetings with family and friends.
Also at this time, fairs are held, where livestock and goods grown, harvested or prepared with your own hands are displayed for sale: berries, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, pickles, jam, honey, dairy and meat products.
