The long awaited summer has finally arrived. Birds sing outside the window, clouds float slowly and unhurriedly. We rejoice in fresh greenery that has not yet faded in the sun, and we are planning a vacation that is about to come. And what was June like for our ancestors and what were they preparing for?
From the Latin language, June, Junius, is translated as the «month of Juno», the patron goddess of the family hearth. But in Ancient Russia, the month was called «worm», since it was at this time that our ancestors collected special worms — worms, with the help of which they made crimson paint.
There was another name — «izok», which means «grasshopper». Imagine if this affectionate name survived to this day: “Well, let’s go to the sea in isok?” And the answer is: “Of course, let’s go! After all, the izok is in the yard.
This month was extremely rich in terms of signs and traditions: the dead “got up” from their graves, mermaids “came out” of the water and swayed on the branches, and ordinary girls kissed in the forest and danced round birch trees. Let’s see how it all happened.
appease the dead
On the Trinity week, the seventh after Easter, spring officially ended in the Slavic calendar and summer began. Trinity falls on June 20 this year. The modern Trinity has absorbed the ritual of the ancient holiday of Semik, which was celebrated for centuries in Russia before the adoption of Christianity, therefore this week was also called Semitskaya.
Semik transferred to the Trinity the custom of commemorating the «mortgaged» dead, that is, those who did not die by their own death. They included, for example, those who died a violent death, suicides, drowned people or those who died from drunkenness — they were allowed to commemorate only on this day.
In ancient times, it was believed that the earth does not accept those who died a «bad» death, so the «mortgaged» dead rise from their graves and disturb the living. To prevent this from happening, people came to the cemetery and left ritual food on the graves — eggs and pancakes.
Protect yourself from mermaids
In ancient times, it was believed that the souls of the dead did not turn into demonic beings by their own death. For example, in mermaids. Throughout the Semitskaya week, mermaids appeared in rivers, in fields, swayed on the branches of birches and could strangle or tickle a passerby who fell into their hands to death. Hence the other name of this week: Mermaid. Remember Pushkin: «Mermaid sits on the branches»? She sat only in June.
Today, thanks to the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and the cartoon by Walt Disney, the mermaid is associated with a harmless sea beauty who saved a man’s life and fell in love with him. In Russia, mermaids were considered evil creatures, into which girls who committed suicide or died before marriage turned into. Therefore, throughout the Semitskaya week, people carried amulets with them — horseradish, wormwood or garlic.
The beautiful folk song «On the Dirty Week» is dedicated to the Mermaid Week. There is a version that this is one of the most ancient East Slavic songs that have survived to this day. Listen to how she takes the soul!
***
In the muddy week the mermaids sat
Early-early.
Sitting mermaids on a crooked road
Early-early.
On a crooked road, on a crooked birch
Early-early.
The mermaids asked for bread and salt
Early-early.
And bread, and salt, and bitter tsybuli
Early-early.
***
Mermaid Week was accompanied by many bans. For example, spouses were not allowed to have sex, men were not allowed to do construction work, and pregnant women were not allowed to sew, embroider and patch, otherwise the child was believed to be born with a birthmark. Interestingly, these prohibitions are also found during the winter Christmas time.
Hang out with a friend
While researching the June rituals, in one of them I found similarities with the modern New Year custom of decorating trees. But not Christmas trees, but birch trees: it was during the Semitskaya week that it was customary to cut down young trees in the forest, decorate them with ribbons, beads, belts, and dance round dances around them. After the ritual, it was necessary to get rid of the tree: “We will cut down the birch, decorate it with flowers, bring it to the village, spin in a round dance with songs. The round dances are over — we will throw the birch into the river.
The birch trees had a hard time this month: those that were not cut down were made part of the rite of sacrifice. Cumulation (or sisterhood) is a custom according to which girls established a special spiritual connection with each other. Those who did not have children dressed in Semik especially festively and went to the forest, where they broke into pairs and retired with their friends near the trees.
Let’s make a fuss, godfather, let’s make a fuss so that we don’t quarrel with you
There they exchanged vows of friendship, kissed, gave each other gifts and thus denoted their spiritual relationship. Curling of birches was an indispensable attribute of the ceremony: the girls twisted the branches in the form of a wreath and kissed through it.
So they became godfathers: “Let’s make a feast, godfather, let’s make a feast so that we don’t scold you …” After the feast, the girls cooked scrambled eggs in a frying pan (the eggs were brought from home), and then organized festivities in the village. But the girls didn’t hoard for life: after three days, on the Trinity, it was necessary to perform the second part of the rite — to clear up. They went to their original place, returned gifts to each other, developed branches of birches, took out ribbons from them, and threw wreaths along the river.
Semik symbolized the introduction of women to the fertile power of the earth
It is a pity that the rite has not been preserved in this format to this day! Modern experts would call it a powerful way to pump female energy.
Folklorist Vladimir Propp suggested that Semik was an exclusively women’s holiday, because it symbolized the familiarization of women with the fertile power of the earth: during this period, it showed its brightest flowering. Why was it necessary to join the power of the earth? Of course, to prepare for motherhood.
I would like to tell you about another holiday that often fell in June in the old days — Ivan Kupala. But in the 2021 calendar, it falls on July 7, so we’ll discuss it next month.