February. Folk Calendar. Folk Omens, Holidays

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February. Folk Calendar. Folk Omens, Holidays
February. Folk Calendar. Folk Omens, Holidays

Video: February. Folk Calendar. Folk Omens, Holidays

Video: February. Folk Calendar. Folk Omens, Holidays
Video: Indie/Pop/Folk Compilation - February 2019 (1½-Hour Playlist) 2024, March
Anonim

Among the ancient Romans, February was dedicated to the repentance of sins and the memory of the dead and was named after the god of the underworld, Februus. According to another version, the name of the month was given by the name of the rite of cult cleansing from sins, repentance in Ancient Rome - februarius (Latin - cleansing), since in those days February was the last month of the year.

Old Russian names for February: Széchen - still whipping winter winds; low water - the boundary between winter and spring; snow, lute - frosts are fierce; bokogrey - on the sunny side it starts to warm up. In Ukraine, February is called lute, in Belarus and Poland - fierce.

The average monthly temperature in February in the Moscow region is -9.6 ° C. The length of the day increases by 2.5 hours - up to 10 hours 30 minutes. The total sunshine duration is 59 hours versus 32 hours in January.

Usually in February there are severe frosts, which are accordingly called: Timofeyevsky (February 4), Sretensky (February 15), Vlasyevsky (February 24).

A. K. Savrasov, Winter (1870)
A. K. Savrasov, Winter (1870)

Folk proverbs and signs of February

  • February knocks down the horn to winter.
  • In February, winter meets spring for the first time.
  • February - cut: the winter is cut in half.
  • February is a fierce month, asks: "How shod?"
  • Blizzards and snowstorms came in February.
  • February breaks the winter, lets the water in, adds three hours.
  • In the morning a titmouth screams - to frost.
  • Frost falls at night - there will be no snow during the day.
  • Snow sticks to trees - to warmth.

Detailed folk calendar for February

February 1 - Venerable Macarius of Egypt. Saint Mark, Archbishop of Ephesus. Makariev day, Makar Yasny, Makar - clean roads, Makar - weather guide.

On Makaryev's day, they tried to judge about spring. It is also believed that the weather on that day determined the weather for the entire month.

February 2 - Efimiy. Venerable Euthymius the Great, Euthymius of Syanzhemsky, Vologda. Efim, Efim Metelny, Efimka, Efim - "Oblomi Tyn". On Efimy at noon the sun is in early spring. If in the middle of this day a blizzard breaks out - the whole carnival (the last week of February) is blizzard.

February 4 - Timofey the half-winter, the creepers are over.

They noticed that around the day of this saint there is half of the winter, so the Apostle Timothy is called the Half-Winter. On Timothy there are severe frosts, which on behalf of this saint are often called Timofeyevsky.

If from Epiphany (January 19) a bitter frost lasts a week, then a week of thaw follows, followed by Timothy frosts, which are usually stronger than Epiphany frosts, but last only 2-3 days, and then light frosts set in.

If on this day the shoots of "snowy plants" on the windows stretch upwards - wait for frosts, bend over - towards a thaw.

February 5 - Saint Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople. Hieromartyr Clement, Bishop of Ankyra, Martyr Agafangel.

Saint Gregory the Theologian (329-389) was endowed with the gift of speech, which was embodied in his amazing sermons. The Orthodox Church calls St. Gregory the second Theologian (after the Apostle John the Theologian). Household day. We watched the birds: in the morning a titmouth screams - to frost.

February 6 - Reverend Xenia. Aksinya-spring indicator. “What is Aksinya, so is spring; a bucket on the half-winter - spring is red.

Just like St. The Apostle Timothy is called the Half-Winter, on the same basis the Monk Xenia bears the name of the Half-Winter. In many places this saint is called the Half-baked bread, Aksinya - the Spring-indicator, Aksinya the half-baked bread, since from that day half of the term remained until the new bread, and since by that time the winter grain had lain in the ground for half the time before germination. On the day of the Monk Xenia, our ancestors inquired at the auction about the prices of bread and, if they noticed that they were rising, they expected high prices; if they went down, they expected bread to be cheap.

The semi-bread box sets the price of bread. On this day, you can guess the prices of bread in the near future and for a new harvest: take baked bread and weigh it first in the evening and then in the morning. If the weight of bread decreases overnight, it means that it will become cheaper, if it increases, it will rise in price. If the weight remains unchanged, the price of bread will be the same.

February 7 - St. Gregory the Theologian, Archbishop of Constantinople.

It was believed that what will be the day from morning to noon, so will the first half of next winter.

February 9 - Transfer of the relics of St. John Chrysostom.

Nature revives. Spring games begin with hares, beavers come out, moose shed their horns. Birds revive, wood grouses begin to mourn. Rarely, but you can hear the sound of a woodpecker.

February 10 - Ephraim Sirin, Efrem - Vetroduy, Zapechnik, Pribautnik, Cricket patron. Efremov day. No insects can be killed on Ephraim at home: no cockroaches, no bugs, no crickets - the brownie will be offended.

The wind rushed - towards the wet year.

February 11 - Transfer of the relics of the Holy Martyr Ignatius the God-bearer.

These days people joked: "The winds were blowing - the cap was blown off, the caftan was taken off, the mittens were sleeping themselves." The wind on this day is towards a damp and cold year.

February 12 - Day of three saints: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom.

According to popular belief, this day cannot be spun, and therefore it is also called “the day of the three non-spinning hierarchs”. The sled road begins to deteriorate. Blackened thawed patches on the slopes.

February 14 - Tryphon: the sky is starry - by late spring.

Village girls pray for suitors. Probably, this belief is confined to St. Tryphon because February is considered the wedding month.

February 15 - Presentation: winter meets spring. The first meeting of spring took place at the Meeting. Children called out to the sun to appear "from behind the mountains-mountains." It will miss it - the first meeting with the spring went well, no - severe Vlasyevsky frosts are expected (February 24).

  • On Sreteniev day, the warmth of the ice will brighten.
  • On Sretenye, the caftan met the fur coat.
  • He sells a fur coat for Gypsies.

If there is a thaw for the Meeting - the spring is early and warm, if the cold is wrapped up - the spring is cold; the snow that fell that day - by a long and rainy spring. "If on Sretenya snow carries across the road - spring is late and cold."

In Ukraine, this holiday is known as thunderbolts, since there is a custom to carry candles, which are called thunderbirds, to church for the consecration on this day.

In Russia and Ukraine, water is consecrated in churches on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Consecrated Sretenskaya water is considered a remedy against various kinds of diseases. By the name of this holiday, the last winter frosts and the first spring thaws are called Sretensky.

The main Sretensky fortune-telling is “in the dew”. Each owner put out a bowl of grain at night. If dew appeared in the bowl in the morning - for the harvest, it was not - a bad sign.

February 17 - freezing Nikolai. Reverend Confessor, Abbot of Studios. Frozen Nikolay. Nikolskie frosts.

February 18 - Martyr Agathia. St. Theodosius, Archbishop of Chernigov.

The memory of the holy martyr Agafia is honored - the patroness of livestock, the intercessor from fires. On this day, bread and salt are consecrated and kept as the most reliable remedy for fire. During a fire, they throw this bread and salt into a blazing flame or completely to the side, into an open field, so that the wind from the fire will go there.

This day was also called cowshed, cowgirls, golenduhi (hunger). In lean years, food ran out to this day - cow death, pestilence walked through the peasant yards. In order not to let her into the yard, the peasants cleaned the sheds with old bast shoes soaked in tar, from which a cow's death flees without looking back.

February 19 - the Monk Vukol, Bishop of Smirensk.

Beetles calve for Saint Vukol (this is how the cows and calves born in February were called). They took care of the successful outcome of the spring calving of cows.

February 23 - Prokhor. "Before Prokhor, the old woman groaned: oh, it's cold!"

February 24 - the day of the Holy Martyr Blasius. Vlasyev day - in honor of Beles - the patron saint of cattle. He is deeply respected by the people. In some places there is a custom on this day to drive cows to churches, where they are sprinkled with holy water. This is especially observed during diseases and the death of livestock. On this day, the image of St. Blasia in the barns and sprinkle all the livestock with Epiphany water and fumigate it with incense.

By the name of St. Vlasiy we know the Vlasyevsky frosts, which fall around the day of memory of this saint and are considered the last frosts of winter. "Vlasiy will spill oil on the roads - it's time to take his feet off in winter."

February 27 - Equal to the Apostles Cyril, teacher of Slovenian.

Cyril and Methodius compiled the Slavic alphabet and translated the Gospel into the Slavic language, the Apostle, the Psalter and many liturgical books, introduced divine services in the Slavic language. By nature, sickly and weak, Cyril soon fell ill from many labors and died in 869, bequeathing to his brother to continue the Christian enlightenment of the Slavs. The popular name of this day is Cyril Pointer.

The last week of February is Shrovetide. The victory of the forces of light and heat over the forces of cold was celebrated. The winter deity Moran surrenders his dominion to the spring deity Lada. Every Shrovetide day had its own name:

  • Monday - "meeting". On this day, they arranged and rolled out slides.
  • Tuesday - "flirt". The games began. For fun, they were treated to pancakes and mash.
  • Wednesday is a gourmand.
  • Thursday - "Walk-Thursday". We took snowy cities, rode horses.
  • Friday - "mother -in-law of the evening": sons-in-law went to visit their mother-in-law.
  • Saturday - "sister-in-law's gatherings": they visited relatives.
  • Sunday is "forgiven day." We said goodbye to Shrovetide, asked our relatives and friends for forgiveness for the wrongs: "May the sun not go down in our anger." And, having expressed what was in my heart, they took up songs and dances.

The trees are still bare in February. Their branches bend under the caps of snow. Under a thick layer of snow, it is warm to the green shoots of winter crops in the field, to the leaves of lingonberry, bearberry and other plants in the forest. The black raven is already building its nest. Black grouse keep in birch forests: birch buds peck. The first song of the great tit and oatmeal is heard. The spring arrival of waxwings begins.

At the end of February, sometimes at the beginning of March, bullfinches migrate to the north. The she-bear gave birth to cubs in her den. Since half of the month, perch takes on a mormysh (amphipod).

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