The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-03-28

oil spnn mn in a single night. The old pro-
verbs saw, 'tBegin work on Friday, and 1t
will come to nought t'-"She who spins on
Friday covers her parents eyes with the
lint"-"An old woman has seven fFldays
in q week" On the 2Sth Of October,
the Feast of st. ParaslSeva, flax is
washed and the first portions are consecrated
in tbe church. She is the patron OF hus-
bandrv and fruits are offered up to her
imaoe nravers are addressed to her for
GOOD harvest. and her pictures decorated with
flowers and ribbons are carried into the tiel 'is
in nrooession. Paraskeva-Pyatnltza Is Ike
wise considered the protector OF mar dsge,
and MANY attributes are ascrlbed to he,r which
usually belong to the Virgin. On che Feast
of the Intercession Of the Virgin, which the
Russians call SozrOf, the veil-frOm the veil
of the VIRGIN spread over Constantinople in
the reign Of the Emperor Leo TO protect it
from the Saracens--the girls who wish to get
married sing Mother Pyatnitza-Paras keva,
cover me quietly" The married women have
their hair always covered with kerchief,
whence the song means Find me husband.
The same PRAYER is often addressed to the
Virgin.
These and many other points in the cult OF
Pyatnitza identify her with the Slayonlo
goddess Pria, known as Lada and Siva--Llth.
seeara. lin Carniola, Friday is called Shine
spring. Pria is the same as the German and
scandinavian Freya or Frigga, from whom
Friday is named; and we find many Of the
same superstitions and legends connected
with Friday in the German as in the ola-
| yonic countries. This is the case about
| spinning and weaving, which in Germany is
| also forbidden on Thursday evenings, not SO
much because Thursday was the great holy
day, as because it was the eve of the day con-
| secrated to treya.
We know that the week was introduced
into Rome from Egypt in the fourth century,
and that the days were named after the
planets according to a peculiar system of in
tervals. 1t has been supposed, by Mannhardt,
among others, that the German and English
names of the days were translations OF the
| Latin names; in the case of Tuesday, We'd
nesday, Thursday, and Friday, the gods Thu,
Wodan, Thor, and Freya being thought to
correspond to Mars, Mercury, Jove, and
| Venus These names of heather gods recur-
ring weekly, induced the Germans, who had
| by no means got over their Paganism, to OBJ
serve in particular ways the days consecrated
to their old gods, and hence the veneration
| for Thursday and Friday. Now what is strange
| is that we see the same observances on Friday,
| and to some extent on Thursday, in Slayonic
countries, where the names of the days have
no reference to old gods but are chiefly nu-
merical designations These observances are
all evidently Pagan, and can in no way be
traced to any Christian belief or tradition.
| Neither can we suppose that these observ-
ances were derived from the German ones,
| for they differ in some respects, and exist
where no Western influence has ever pene-
trated. 1t is curious that besides the actual
connection of the divinities who preside over
| Friday, those to whom Sunday is dedicated
are feminine among both the Sclayonic and
German peoples Wednesdays god, how
| ever, which is male in German, is feminine
in the few sclavonic legends which speak
| of her.
We seem therefore led to the conclusion
that the reverence paid to Friday in Russia is
owing to the fact that the days of the week
| were known before the introduction of
Christianity. 1t is possible indeed that
during the century between the coming OF
Rurik and the conversion of st. Vladimir, the
Germans, who even then had certain com.
mercial relations with Novgorod, may have
introduced the notation by weeks, and ever
the names of the days. But it is conceivable
that the week may have been in use in botl
Russia and Germany long prior to the intro
duction of Christianity. Is there any proo
that it was not brought to the northern
nations direct from the East, without passing
through Greece and Rome? 1t would bt
interesting to know if there exist in England
among the lower classes any legends as to tn,
origin of the connexion between Friday anC
i'll luck.