Shrovetide: how a pagan Slavic holiday appeared on the Orthodox calendar

Maslenitsa week ends - one of the most beloved national holidays of Russians. Since ancient times, he personified the end of winter, and the traditional burning of a scarecrow was intended to accelerate the arrival of spring and ensure a good harvest. Shrovetide is perhaps the most vivid pagan holiday of the Eastern Slavs, which not only did not lose its original meaning, but also organically fit into the Christian calendar. Let's see how this happened.

Before the advent of Christianity in Russia, the festival of Maslenitsa was always celebrated at the same time - on the day of the vernal equinox. Festivities lasted two weeks: seven days until March 21 and seven days after. People had fun, went to visit each other, prepared plentiful treats, staged street festivities and burned a scarecrow on the last day of the holiday. During the celebration of Maslenitsa, unmarried guys and girls looked at each other and participated in ritual games. A number of historians also point to the memorial meaning of Pancake Week: pancakes in Russia have traditionally been considered a memorial dish.

Thus, Maslenitsa was celebrated in the week preceding the beginning of Great Lent, and its duration was reduced to seven days. At the same time, the holiday date also lost its permanence: since Easter and Lent each year fall on different days of the calendar, Shrovetide is celebrated every year at different times. In the Russian Orthodox calendar, Shrovetide week is called the Cheese Week.

Interestingly, in the Catholic world there is a holiday that is an analogue of Shrovetide. The famous carnivals that take place before Lent in Italy, France, Germany, Brazil and many other countries have the same meaning. Theatrical processions, mass celebrations, an abundance of refreshments, fun and laughter are the invariable attributes of carnivals.