of the early 21st century, pampered by civilization. And they, of course, should have noted for themselves the fact that if the straw left in the field after harvesting the grain burned for any reason, then the next summer the grain grew more than such repeated observations were enough to quite consciously set fire to this straw and thus fertilize the soil. Apparently, this is the very source, the starting point, from which the real cult of straw later grew. Hence the custom to burn straw fires on Christmastide, Kupala, to burn a straw effigy on Shrovetide, which marked the beginning of a new agricultural year – traditions that have come down to our days.
In the Paleolithic era, the type of economic activity and division of labor took shape, in which it was women who were engaged in the collection, storage and processing of grain, as evidenced by the preserved in the Russian folk tradition until the middle – end of the twentieth century very archaic «stubble» ritual songs, in which only «girls, young men» were charged with the obligation to harvest, dry and grind grain. Moreover, perhaps, the alarming closeness of such words as «muka-flour» and «muka- torment». It was in the Paleolithic that, together with the idea that «bread is the head of everything,» the cult of the Mother, the giver of life and the keeper of grain, the mistress of the harvest, water and fire, the Great Goddess, took shape. This vast epoch is often called the «Golden Age of Equality of the Matriarchy».
It ended 13 millennia ago, when a global catastrophe changed both the landscapes and the Earth’s climate.
Mother-in-law – as a character of Shrovetide
Turu-turu, shepherd, do you sound far off?
From the sea to the sea, to the Keiev city
There is our homeland, in the homeland there is an oak tree,
An owl is on the oak, an owl is my mother-in-law, and she grazed horses One of the most difficult and mysterious in the Russian calendar rites, of course, is a holiday called Maslenitsa. All ethnographers, without exception, noted and note the strange circumstance that Maslenitsa (or Maslyanitsa) is the only major pre-Christian holiday that was not timed to coincide with a Christian holiday and did not receive a new interpretation. And really why? After all, if we look at the ritual cycles of the so-called «cross of the year», that is, the winter and summer solstices, the autumn and spring equinoxes, then there is a paradox. The winter solstice (Christmastide or Kolyada) is associated with the Nativity of Christ. Summer solstice (Kupalo) is the Nativity of John the Baptist. The autumnal equinox (Oat tree) is the Nativity of the Virgin. And spring – nothing. Have you forgotten the spring equinox?
In order to deal with this strange phenomenon, we will have to plunge into the depths of millennia. And remember that during a huge time interval – from 7 thousand BC. until the middle of the 1st millennium BC in the north of Eastern Europe (from 69° N to 55° N), the average summer temperatures were 4—5° C higher than at present. Spring began a month earlier than now. Accordingly, the arrival of autumn shifted, the winter pattern changed, in which the temperatures were close to 0° С, winter was very mild.
Since spring practically began already at the turn of February and March, the rituals of meeting spring, which lasted in antiquity (like the winter Christmastide) month, began at the end of February and ended on the day of the vernal equinox – March 22 (more precisely, on the night of March 21—22). It was from this day that a new agricultural year began, marked by the rites of Maslenitsa – «the only major pre-Christian holiday not timed to coincide with a Christian holiday.» Judging by the Western European and Slavic traditions, in which dressing was, adopted everywhere for these days, and zoomorphic masks were mainly used, the addition of these traditions can be attributed to the common Indo-European period, i.e. no later than the turn of 4—3 thousand BC. The fact that Maslenitsa, as a holiday of the beginning of the agricultural year – spring, took shape in the common Indo-European period is evidenced not only by the traditions of European peoples, preserved up to the present day, but also by the traditions of India, which came from ancient times.
In ancient Indian rituals, many elements of Maslenitsa (and subsequent Easter) are traced in one of the brightest holidays on the border of winter and spring – Holi, which is celebrated in February – March (the end of the cold season). N. R. Guseva emphasized that «all ritual actions of the holiday are inseparable from the magic of fertility and historically go back to the pre-Indian period of the life of the Aryans». The ritual and magical manifestations associated with the vernal equinox are extremely close to the Easter ones, going directly back to paganism, which passed into the Easter rituals of the Slavic peoples.
The common ceremonies of Maslenitsa and Holi included: performing obscene songs of an erotic content, drinking alcoholic beverages, preparing ritual food from dough and cottage cheese. In India, during the Holi festival, the effigy of Holiki, which is made from straw, is necessarily burned. For the ritual bonfire collect: brushwood, straw, old things, cow dung.
In Russia, fires were also burned on Shrovetide. Moreover, the material for the fires was hay, straw, old things. Cow dung was also used. And they also burned an effigy of Maslenitsa, which was made of straw.
In Indian tradition, there is a custom during Holi to sprinkle the ash from the fire on the floor of the house and sprinkle it on each other. But in the Vologda province, for example, at Maslenitsa, mummers often poured ashes and ashes on the floor of the hut and danced on them, and also smeared with soot and sprinkled ashes and ashes on all participants in the ceremony.
We should especially note that in the East Slavic tradition one of the main elements of the Maslenitsa ritual, a holiday associated with the commemoration of the dead, was ritual food – pancakes. Being a very ancient ritual food by origin – fresh cakes baked on hot stones – pancakes are in no way associated with the cult of the sun, but are a common Indo-European symbol of the moon – «the sun of the dead». Russians, for example, baked pancakes on «parental Saturday». In some villages, the first pancake was smeared with honey, butter and put on the goddess – «parents». Sometimes the first pancake was carried to the churchyard and laid on the grave. Note that pancakes are a must (along with oatmeal jelly), and the latter is food for funerals, funerals and weddings. And another interesting circumstance is that the dough for pancakes on Shrovetide was necessarily created by the oldest woman in the house, and in secret from family and strangers and always in the light of the month. And if she was the mother of adult married daughters, then her name was Mother-in-law. It was to the mother-in-law (and not to the father-in-law and mother-in-law) that they went «for pancakes». Mother-in-law – as a character of Maslenitsa, is, in our deep conviction, the greatest interest of everything connected with this archaic ritual complex.
Why? We will try to answer this question. First of all, let us note that the text of the Veles Book (translated by Valentina and Yulia Gnatyuk) contains a list of the main holidays of the year.
These are Kolyada, Yaro, Krasnaya Gora and Ovseni (Great and Small). Kolyada, of course, is our Winter Christmastide with ritual songs – «kolyadki» and performing those mummers – «kolyadniki», «kolyadovshchiki». The very term «Kolyada» (that is, «kolyada» – giving a circle) is directly related to the end of the divine day, when the Night of the Gods, which ends on the night of December 21 to 22, is replaced by a new Divine Day, starting from December 22. The entire period of Winter Christmas (December 19 – January 19) is dedicated to the worship of the Divine Light – the Creator of the Universe, whom our ancestors called the Immutable Law – Grandfather. During this month, those who were able to comprehend the Cosmic Law in earthly life and after death acquired a light body («holy») returned to the world of people, that is became a Saint.
Thus, Winter Christmas is a period of worshiping the Light – the Creator, summing up the results of the annual circle and meeting the new Kolo – the Sun.
Yaro or Yarilin Day (Kupalo) – June 22 – the summer solstice and the beginning of the Divine Night. Note that this is a celebration of youth, those who