Wheel Of The Year

Question 1

What were the four Cross-Quarters of the year? And when did they take place?

Answer 1

First Cross-Quarter
February 1
- Maslenitsa

Second Cross-Quarter
May 1
- Semik

Third Cross-Quarter
August 1
First fruits

Fourth Cross Quarter
November 1
Ancestors - Paraskeva, Kuzminiki

Question 2

Describe First Quarter

Answer 2

First Quarter : Winter Solstice
Dec 21, Yuletide

“Koliada” personification of winter holiday
Fire was symbolic of Sun
Bonfires were lit to symbolize new suns birth

Question 3

Describe First Cross-Quarter

Answer 3

February 1st
Maslenitsa

The name refers to butter
Lots of food eaten in excess
Motto:eat till you hiccup, drink until youve had a skinful, sing until you strain your voice, dance until you drop
Lasted a week
Pre-Lent fest
Church tried to remove it, failed, named it cheese fair week

Question 4

What were the four Quarters of the year? And when did they take place?

Answer 4

First Quarter / Winter solstice
December 21st
- Yuletide

Second Quarter, Spring
Vernal Equinox, march 20th
- Radunitsa

Third Quarter, Summer solstice
June 21st
- Ivan Kupalo

Fourth Quarter, Autumnal Equinox
September 22nd
Harvest Home

Question 5

Describe Second Cross-Quarter

Answer 5

Second cross-quarter: Semik
May 1st
Corresponds to Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after Easter
“Festival of the young tree”
Common rituals:
encircling boundaries of the village
paying tribute to the ancestors and also acknowledging the “Dangerous dead”
rituals revolved around birch trees, which are a symbol of Russia
priests dress in green for Pentecost services
the Semik festival begins at the cemetery in the morning with young girls
the girls went to the woods, cut down a small birch tree, encycled village boundaries with the tree
Semik genre includes a lot of songs about birch trees
at the end of the day, they “drowned” the birch tree
birch tree was a feminine symbol
girls wove wreaths and threw them in a river to tell their fortunes
Semik was the Slavic counterpart to May Day
lots of fertile/sexual energy during this holiday

Question 6

Describe Second Quarter

Answer 6

Second quarter: Radunitsa / Easter
Easter was Orthodox “feast of feasts”
Began with midnight service
Easter feast: eggs, Kulich (special type of yeast bread), Pascha (sweetened cream cheese)
They had egg fights with boiled eggs
Blini were forbidden at Easter because they were associated with the dead and Easter celebrates rebirth
People greeted each other on Easter with “Christ has risen”
week after Easter full of feasting and parties
Radunitsa: Monday or Tuesday after first Sunday after Easter
Memorial day of the dead
People left the bathhouse for the ancestors
left ancestors food at the cemetery
lit bonfires to light their way
after Christianization, people still took food and drink to the cemetery, but an Orthodox priest supervised them

Question 7

Describe Third Quarter

Answer 7

Third quarter: Ivan Kupalo
Midsummer solstice
Ivan = St. John the Baptist
kupalo = “to bathe”, but also similar to word for bonfire
Rituals:
bathing in rivers and morning dew
building a bonfire and jumping over it or dancing around it
rolling a burning wheel down a hill into water
burning clothing of ill people
walking thru ashes of bonfire
staying awake all night
picking herbs at midnight
greentide mumming (people dressing up as trees)

Question 8

Describe Third Cross-Quarter

Answer 8

Third cross-quarter: First Fruits
Harvest began around August 1st
People started harvesting fruits, then moved on to vegetables and grain
Harvest ended about September 22nd-23rd (autumnal equinox)
Christian version: Transfiguration of Christ

Question 9

Describe Fourth Quarter

Answer 9

Fourth quarter: Harvest Home
Celebrated end of the harvest
Rituals:
“braiding of the beard” of grain
making “Grannies” and “Grandpas” out of grain/corn (Counterpart to U.S. corn dollies)
October 1: Pokrov
name means “covering”
a.k.a. “Intercession of the Mother of God”
Mary’s Veil
also associated w/ Mokosh
holiday dedicated to young, marriagable women
Pokrov customs:
posidelki
songs
marriage games and mock weddings

Question 10

Describe Fourth Cross Quarter

Answer 10

Fourth cross-quarter: Paraskeva / Kuzminki
Paraskeva Friday = October 28th
3 “goddesses” of Paraskeva:
Mokosh
Paraskeva
Mary
spinning not allowed on this day