Maslenitsa is considered to be an old Russian national holiday. In fact, it is a farewell to the winter and a solemn meeting of spring. There is no specific date for Maslenitsa celebrating.
To find out the date it is enough to subtract 56 days from the date of Easter: these 48 days are the Great Lent and the week of Maslenitsa before it. As a result, this year the holiday itself falls on March 10th. And the Maslenitsa week itself starts from March 4th.
History of the holiday
Maslenitsa is a pagan holiday. And originally its celebration in Russia was associated with the glorification of the God of the sun Yarily.
After the adoption of Christianity, the Church consecrated this pagan holiday and filled it with new ideas.
In ancient times, the Maslenitsa week was called the Cheese Week. It was allowed to eat only dairy products and fish. Meat was strictly forbidden.
Today is the most fun and hearty folk festival. The people call Pancake Week like this: “sugar lips”, “kisser”, “honest carnival”, “cheerful”, “perepelochka” etc.
Maslenitsa Traditions
According to the Russian tradition, the Pancake Week starts on Monday and ends on Sunday with enchanting burning of scarecrow. Every day of this holiday is unique, filled with deep meaning.
“Play”, for example. That is, when all the local people flirt with young girls, choosing their future wife for themselves. So if you’re not married you should pay attention to this fact 😉
Did you heard about the day of mother-in-law’s pancakes? So, on Wednesday, the wife’s mother bakes pancakes and treats them to her son-in-law. On the other day, on the contrary, the daughter’s mother herself visits the house to her son-in-law, and he also has to feed her with pancakes — the symbol of Maslenitsa. And the mother-in-law comes not alone but with “companions” – her friends, to show off to them what respect her son-in-law has to pay.
Another tradition is the “Zolovka meeting”. Each woman should invite her sisters and brothers to eat her pancakes. And besides the treats, the daughter-in-law, as a rule, presents them some small gifts.
– And, of course, not a single Maslenitsa week passes without games: round dances, songs all over the yard, skating from a hill, jumping over a fire, fistfights. But the main tradition -is a capture of the snow town. Children and adults build a snow fort, then they become divided into two teams – infantry and cavalry, and start the game. Infantry, as a rule, protects the fortress and the cavalry is trying to destroy it.
Of course, these traditions are conditional. Usually people just cook many-many pancakes and the whole family eat them 7 days a week 😉
