Living day (01/05)

On the night of May 1, the spring Slavic holiday begins — Living Day. Alive (abbreviated form of the name Zhiven, which means «giving life») — goddess of life, spring, fertility, birth, life-grain. Daughter of Lada, wife of Dazhbog. Goddess of Spring and Life in all its manifestations. She is the — giver of the Life Force of the Family, which makes all living things actually alive.

Alive — is the goddess of the Life-Giving Forces of Nature, spring seething waters, the first green shoots, as well as the patroness of young girls and young wives. Under Christianity, the cult of the goddess Zhiva was replaced by the cult of Paraskeva Friday.

On Life's Day, women took brooms and performed a ritual dance around the fire, clearing the place of evil spirits. In this way they glorified Living, which animates nature by sending spring to Earth. Everyone jumped over the Fire, purging themselves of the obsessions (of the powers of Navi) after a long winter:

Who will jump high Death is far away for him.

Here fun games began and round dances were held around the fire:

Kolo yari zareem light Maru borem, thank you Yarilo, Yarilo, show your strength!

They played a fairy tale telling about a journey into the world of Navi and a return to Java. With the onset of morning, they treated themselves to cookies in the form of larks, released living birds from their cages into the wild, calling for spring:

Larks, fly! We're tired of winter I ate a lot of bread! You fly and carry Red spring, hot summer!

The entire coming day was devoted to rest, and in the evening they lit ritual fires along the banks of rivers and swam, cleansing themselves with cold spring water.

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