Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-07-19
IN DARKEST RUSSIA.
Some Very Curious Ceremonials
Which Mark the End of Winter.
ODD SURVIVING SUPERsTITIONs
Among the Peasantry of the Rural Regions
Of the Country.
WELCOMING The GODDESS OF SPRING

WELCOMING The GODDESS OF SPRIN,
"Death Week" the ''Smartna Nedelya'
of the Slavonic peoples, marks the end O
winter in rural Russia, says writer in tn
Chicago Tribune 1t is kept during the las
seven days of March, and is q survival pur
and simple Of early paganism. In its ole
Slavonic mythology, as in the minds of tn
mass of the untaught Russians nowadays
the idea of death and winter is closely asso
ciated; and the ceremonies proper to tn,
"Death Week" from the sacrifice to th'
"Vodyanoi," or water spirit, which i
begins, to the driving out and drowning Of
death, with which it terminates, are based
upon the superstition that was formerly
universal in Northern Europe. That writers
on Russia and the Russians have given nc
account of the death Week" celebration
is due, no doubt, to the fact that it take.
place at time of the year when travellers
are rarely tempted to visit Russia, and is
confined to rural districts out of the beaten
track, which are unlikely to attract foreign.
| era
When the ice begins to break on the
water winter is considered over in Russia;
and the breaking of the ice is due, the Rus.
sian peasants hold, to the 'Vodyanoi," OF
water spirit, who has his abode in the rivers
and streams He has slept over the winter,
they say, and awakes hungry and angry
with the first ray of the returning SUM-
| He bursts the CONCEALED covering of the
water, sends the ice foes drifting, drives
the fish from their haunts, and causes the
streams to overflow. In the last week in
March, therefore, before the ice begins to
| break, the peasants in rural Russia start
the death Week" celebrations by prepar-
| Ing sacrifice for the "Vodyanoi," so that
he shall not be Kept waiting when he awakes
from his winter sleep. They meet in a
| village where the celebration is to take
purchase of a young horse.
The Horse Must Not Be Gift.
The animal must not be a gift, but bought
for money; it must not be bargained for,
and no one person m lst contribute more
than another to the amount required The
horse is taken to q stable specially reserved
for the gift to the 'sVodyanoi," and fed for
three days on breai aud oilcake. The fourth
day, at midnight the horse is taken from
the stall and conducted to the nearest river
or stream, the villagers following in a
body. The name is decorated with red
ribbons, the head smeared with honey, the
legs are tied together and a couple of mill
stones secured to the neck. Then hole is
made in the ice and the horse thrown
into the water, a living sacrifice to the
"Vodyanoi."
Fisher folk in the Archangel district pour
a quantity of fat into the water instead of
throwing in a horse; and the millers of the
Ukraine cast the horses head into the river,
and not the living animal After appeas-
ing the Water Spirit, the House Spirit the
"Domovoi," calls for sacrifice. He awakes
on the night of March %. and will only
wait three days for his offering. So on re-
turning from the riverside the villagers
prepare suitable gift for him. They take
a fat, black pig, kill it, and cut it into as
many pieces as there are residents in the
place. Each resident receives one piece,
which he straightway buries under the
doorstep at the entrance to his house. In
some parts, it is said, the country folk bury
few eggs beneath the threshold of the
dwelling to propitiate the "Domovoi.
Ono Of the Peculiar Ceremonies.
On the following day the ceremony known
as the ''Lyalya" takes place. The "Lyalya"
is not the Goddess of Spring, but personif-
cation of the season. The ceremony of the
day is known as the 'Lyalynik," and only
young unmarried girls take part in it. They
select one who is to be the "Lyalya" She
is attired in white robe, with . crown of
green stuff on her head, and . staff, decorated
with green leaves, in her hands. Barefooted
the girls then perambulate the village,
headed by the "Lyalya," stopping at certain
dwellings settled upon beforehand At the
first of the houses where a halt Is made a
cake prepared over night is handed the
party. At the next they receive a basket
containing as many eggs as there are girls
in the procession, and one over. At the
third house they, get measure of mixed
grain. Preceded still by the 'Lyalya,"
they leave the village, stopping, however,
at the last house, where an egg is taken |
from the basketful and thrown clear over |
the roof. The party now make the round |
of the fields belonging to the village, each |
one dipping her hand into the grain |
measure, and strewing few of the seeds |
over the ground. This is supposed to |
insure fertility the coming year
When all the fields have been traversed |
the procession returns to the spot whence a |
start was made; the cake and eggs are |
divided, and each girl returns to her home.
II,
preserved as charms against all sorts of mis-
fortune.
Most Curious Superstition.
The young women who have taken part
in the procession can, if they are curious
that way, ascertain on the night ofthe ely
,lya" whether they are likely to marry
within the course of the next II months, and
f so, in which month. They must procure
IN onion and take off IL layers and put |
hem in row between the piece of the ely
llya" cake and egg. Each layer of onion
represents month, and if one of them be
Iuite dry in the morning, it is q sign of
and the order in which the piece
tands shows the month in which the mar
iage will take place.
All is now ready for the ceremony of
Irving out death, from which the week
lerives its designation. Early in the morn
ng the residents of the village, men, women
nd children, meet in the market place,
'ome bring packages of rags and old clothes,
thers bundles of straw, long sticks, and
ross pieces. Out of these. three or four
xpert hands accustomed to the work manu-
Rcture dummy figure resembling an old |
roman. The face is painted and made as
ideous as possible. This is the figure of
)eath-Death, according to Slavonic myth
logy, being q woman. The dummy is
laced aloft upon a long pole, which is
iven to q sturdy peasant who is dressed ,
ut in what is left of the rags and tstters
sed In the construction of the figure. The !
len then arm themselves with whips and
histles, the women and children bring
ots and pans and iron kettles-any uten-
Is, in fact, they can bang upon and make
clatter with-and the procession starts, !
10 peasant carrying the image of Death in /