Komoeditsa — Maslenitsa (20/03)

Now many have forgotten, and some have never known, that Maslenitsa — is not just a meeting of spring. Previously, in Rus', Maslenitsa was called Komoeditsa, marking the onset of the vernal equinox. The spring equinox, which in the modern calendar falls on March 20 or 21, — is one of the four main holidays of the year in the ancient pagan tradition and one of the most ancient. Essentially — is an agricultural New Year.

In addition to celebrating Spring and celebrating the beginning of the New Year, the Slavic Bear God was also revered on this day. There is an opinion that in ancient times the Slavs called the bear Kom (and hence the saying — «the first pancake comam», that is, bears). Therefore, early in the morning, before breakfast, with songs, dances and jokes, the villagers carried «blin sacrifices» (pancakes baked for the holiday) into the forest to the Bear God and laid them out on stumps. And after that, feasts and wide festivities began.

They waited for the como unit, carefully prepared for it: they flooded the steep slopes of the banks for skiing, built high icy and snowy mountains, fortresses, and towns. It was considered obligatory to go to the bathhouse before the last days of the holiday in order to wash away all the bad things that happened last year. It was forbidden to work these days.

On the ice of lakes and rivers, snow towns were stormed, in which an effigy of Marena was hiding under the protection of mummers. There they also staged fierce fist fights, which were attended by men of different ages and from different villages. They fought seriously, believing that the shed blood would serve as a good sacrifice for the upcoming harvest.

On the last day of festive festivities, ritual actions were mainly performed, seeing off the winter. They burned an effigy of Marena planted on a pole, on which they imposed «nauzy» — old ones that had served their Amulets or just old rags with slander, in order to burn everything bad and outdated on the fire of a ritual fire.

Immediately after the holiday, difficult everyday life began, people began to engage in agricultural work, which continued throughout the warm season.

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