Ladodenie (30/03)

On this spring day, it is customary to glorify Mother Nature, who wakes up« after a long winter. In other words, — is a holiday of spring and warmth, which the Slavs celebrated in honor of the goddess of the Slavic pantheon Lada — patroness of love and marriage.

Some researchers believe that Lada is one of two goddesses-mother-in-law (there are similar deities in the pantheons of almost all Indo-European peoples). Meanwhile, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov compared Lada to Venus.

The Ladodeniya holiday was traditionally accompanied by special rituals among the Slavs. Everyone sang of awakening nature. Girls and young people held the first round dances dedicated to the Goddess Lada, the patroness of love and marriage.

Women climbed onto the roofs of houses, onto slides, onto high haystacks and, raising their hands to the sky, called for spring. Cranes were again made from the dough. Typically, these Lenten dough birds were placed in a high place — above the door, like amulets, to preserve space.

The belief is associated with Ladodeniya, according to which birds return from Iriy — of the Slavic paradise, and therefore it was customary to imitate the dances of birds — to be mummered (remember the expression: are you being mummered?). These ancient rituals are associated with the return to earth of the solar power of Life.

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