The name of the holiday came from the church date of honoring St. Tarasius of Constantinople, a courageous patriarch who lived in the 8th-9th centuries. According to popular belief, Taras Bessonny suffered from fever, sometimes called kumokha or shaking. On this day they asked Saint Tarasius for protection from fever. Weather signs for this day: if birds were nesting, warm days were expected, a pointed month was observed in frosty weather.