Pagan Maslenitsa-Comoedia: how to celebrate the equinox by our ancestors

Worldwide Christian Church acted on the same principle — if a pagan holiday it is impossible to eradicate, then you need to turn in the Church. It happened with the Slavic carnival, with the light hand of the Orthodox clergy. Multi-day ancient festival of spring awakening of nature called the cheese-fare week for greater credibility tied for Easter. But did the Church to eradicate the pagan spirit carnival?

When the Slavs began to celebrate pancake day, nobody knows. Spring celebrations lasted a week before the equinox and the week after, was inextricably bound up with the worship of Veles, God of cattle ranchers, beekeepers, traders, happiness and love. The occasion was honored our ancestors as well as we have a New year — nature awoke and started a new page and begins a new life cycle, the duration of the year.

Vélez was depicted as a man with horns, which everywhere accompanied by coma (bears)

The carnival was a lot of names, but the most common was Comoedia. In ancient Russia, a lump called the bear and this beast our ancestors represented the God Veles. Around this time, "the master of the forest" are awakened from hibernation and out of the den.

To give honor Veles, men danced special "bear" dancing, using specially made costumes. Women could not participate in ritual activities, but they had another problem — they were baked coma — special round bread from different types of flour.

Coma put on the festive table, but their main purpose was iconic. Cakes were donated Wallace, which took them into the forest. There is on large stumps covered tables to the embodiment of the Godhead — the bear could come out of the woods and eat. It was believed that if animals graciously accept the gifts, the entire year will not be to destroy the beast and destroy the apiary.

The well-known saying: "the First pancake — a clod" is associated with this ritual. Though she looked early on as "the First pancake — comas", that is bears. While the meal will not be applied in the woods, no one started eating pancakes — it would mean a gross insult to the "master".

But before that, at the dawn of the first day of carnival, the Slavs went with songs to the intersections of roads and hills to scatter the grain there. This meal was meant for evil forces, which according to the ancient belief could turn into forty. Birds had to peck the offering and for all holidays evil does not harm people.In Slavic towns and villages, Shrovetide was considered the most hearty feast. No celebration did not expect such an abundance of treats. The tables were put on the street, and they were full of different dishes.

Pies, rolls, biscuits, snacks, honey, jelly, brew — it was all minor courses, as all the tables were filled pancakes. Round and rosy, they symbolized the spring sun, waking up after winter. Lubrication of the surface of the pancake oil had a ritual significance — thus our ancestors cajoled was shining and asked him to be kind to people and crops.

The pancakes were baked and eaten in incredible amounts, but it had nothing to gluttony and festive revelry. Initially, a great feast was inextricably linked with the cult of ancestors. It was believed that, saturating all help to convey food to the afterlife, treating the dead. No one wanted his ancestors in the holiday remained hungry, so all eaten on Shrove Tuesday as ever diligent.

After the feast it was time for the mass festivities, in which, again, lay the sacred principles. All the venture, be it dance or pouring of the melt water had special meaning and was dedicated to Wallace, Vesna and the future harvest. In the same way as in the Midsummer carnival jumped over the fire and sang songs dedicated to the awakening of nature.

Huge toboggan, which was built for carnival, impressed foreigners

As in a Midsummer night pancake day guys and girls looking for a mate. In the crowd of people walking free youth could know each other, hand tied ribbon or lace. Celebrated this holiday and those who have already found their happiness, and created a family in the past year.

The climax of the carnival was the rite of coma awakening from hibernation. For this man dressed in a bear, dressed in the skin or tying straw and placed in the "den", constructed from the branches. Depicting the beast pretending to be asleep, and celebrating drove around dances and sang songs.

Awakening coma-"owner" began after the audience had begun to pelt him with snowballs. But first, the main view on the costumed had to get the girl to jump on it. "The bear" began to portray discontent and then the participant in the performance was out of his costume tuft of wool or straw and ran away. The task of waking the bear had to catch up with the "offender" running inside a large circle and joking "strangle".

Fist fights were an important part of the celebration of carnival, even at the beginning of the XX century

After waking up a makeshift bear began the mass games. If the snow was enough, the guys staged a snow storm the fortress, which was defended by girls. The first person who broke through the defense was given a prize he could kiss all the defenders of the citadel. Also in the compulsory program consisted of lasagna for the prizes on the pillars, fights, skating on the big swings.

An important part of the festival was to reconcile people. In the carnival it was customary to ask forgiveness for the wrongs and forgive each other, to not drag in the new year squabbles and sadness from the past. Reconciled bowed low to each other, apologizing for the misdeeds and then repeatedly kissed.Christianity appeared in Russia in 988, immediately began an aggressive attack on paganism. Of course, in the first place affected Perunova and Velesova temples dedicated to the gods and the holidays. With Sun worship, a part of which was the celebration of carnival, began to fight and, very soon, the feast of the spring equinox were outside the law.

The planting of the new faith actively resisted, but every year more and more inferior to the brute force of the Baptist and began to look for ways to circumvent the bans. Many have identified with Christian saints pagan and rebuilt temples in the Church. So in Novgorod the Great in 1111 a Church Blaise, which for many centuries was a sanctuary of Veles.

Russia began the era of dual faith that lasted for centuries and was marked by the struggle of Orthodoxy with those who tried to interpret the Holy Scriptures, plaiting it to the ancient gods. The Church struggled trying to erase from people's memory and calendar, Shrove Tuesday, but not too successful in this.

Therefore, remained nothing how to go to the trick and reshape the pagan festivals on the Orthodox. Shrove Tuesday — Comedic replaced in the Orthodox Shrove Tuesday, which is called the cheese-fare week and a Cheese week. Religious holiday has appeared relatively recently — in the XVI century.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk maketh the Gentiles

The date of a pagan holiday, the clergy had to shift back, as traditional Slavic Mardi Gras falls on fasting, during which it was forbidden gluttony and mass celebrations. The result is a celebration of Comedity was given to the requirements of Orthodoxy — the event which was formerly sometimes 15 days, reduced to weeks, and their middle ceased to coincide with the spring equinox.