Rituals S ince most of the field studies take place in the summer time, audio and video recording of different materials of summer calendar rites will be an important aspect of our work. This rite is one of the most interesting relics of Slavic pagan notions. Recollections about it have remained bright up to now.
Children perform the cuckoo's funeral rite in some villages even nowadays.
There are five versions of this rite. This is a 'cuckoo'. There they spill water on it to 'baptize' it. Then they put the 'cuckoo' into a small coffin, and with jocular laments carry a coffin in the forest. Then the whole group goes back to the village, makes a festive dinner, sings songs, and dances to the accordion.