Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1893-04-01
DEATH WEEK.
A Singular Ceremonial Which Take

80
A Singular Ceremonial Which Takes
Place In Rural Russia.
death week. the '.Smartna Ne
delya'' Of the Slayonic people, marks
the end Of winter in rural Russia. It
is kept during the last seven days of
March. and is & survival pure and
simple CT c..rly Eaganism In the
old 5]avoz2ic I. yt51oiugy, as in the
minds Il the mass Of untaught Rus
slams nowadays. TIE idea of death
and winter is closely associated, and
tie ce1'elac--lass proper to the death
week" from the sacrifice to the
"Vodyanoi, or water spirit, with
which it begins, to the driving out
and drowning Of death, with which
it terminates, are based upon the
superstition that was formerly uni
versal IN northern Europe That
writer's On Russia and the Russians
have given no account Of the death
week celebration is due, no doubt,
to the fact that it takes place at q
time of the year when travellers are
rarely tempted te visit Russia and is
confined to rural districts cut of the
beaten track, w1iich are unlikely to
attract foreigners.
When the ice begins to break on
the water, winter is considered over
in Russia, and the breaking of the
ice is due-the Russian peasants hold
to the ''Vodyanoj, OF water spirit,
who has his abode in the rivers and
streams. He has slept over tho Win
ter, they say, ard awakes hungry
and angry with the first rays Of the
returning SUM- He bursts the con-
gealed 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 OF March there
fore, before the ice begins to break,
the peasants in rural Russia start
the death week celebration by
preparing & sacrifice for tic "Vody-
anoi, SO that he shall not be kept
waiting when he awalzes from his
winter sleep. They meet together
in the village where the celebration
is to take place and subscribe sum
Of money for the purchase of young
horse. The animal must not be q
gift but bought for money; it must
not be Eargained for, and no one per
son must contribute more than an.
other to the amount required
The horse is taken to stable spe-
cially reserved for the gift to the
"Vodyanoi" and fed for three days
on bread and oilcake. On the fourth
day, at midnight, the horse ls 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
with honey, the legs are tied
together and couple CT millstones
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 Archangcl dis
trict pour quantity Of fat into the
water instead Of throwing in q horse,
and the lni!lers Of the Ukraine cast
the horses head into the river and
not the living animal. After ap-
peasing the water spirit, the house
spirit, the ''Domcvoi, cells for
sacrifice. He awakes Oh the night of
March 25, and will wait only three
days for his offering. So On return
ing from the river side tho villagers
prepare a suitable gift for ll1iii.l. They
take fat black pig, kill it and cut
it into as many pieces as there are
residents in the place. Each resi-
dent receives one piece, which he
straightway bu1ies under the door
step at the entrance to his house.
In some parts, it is said, the coun-
try folk bury few eggs beneath the
of the dwelling to propiti-
ate the "Domoyoi. London Spec
tator.