According to the folk calendar - Afanasyev Day, Afanasy - clematis

According to the folk calendar, Afanasyev Day is celebrated on January 31 (January 18, old style) Its name comes from the church date of honoring St Athanasius the Great, who served as Archbishop of Alexandria in the 4th century In his youth, Athanasius’ mother sent him to church to serve the Almighty When he reached the rank of bishop, he fought against the heresy of Arius, an ardent opponent of the Christian church The saint traveled to churches, spread the word of God and denounced the supporters of Arius Due to the cruel slander of the Arians, Athanasius was forced to go into hiding After Emperor Valens ascended the throne, the bishop returned and continued to lead the Alexandrian Church Among the people, Afanasyev Day was sometimes called Afanasy-Lomonos Just on this day, bitter frosts struck and residents traveling far from home sometimes received frostbite on their noses, hands or feet Hence the name “break your nose” The peasants tried to spend their days indoors and move quickly in the cold so as not to freeze On Afanasyev's day, rituals were performed to expel witches from the village who had returned from the Sabbath Usually demons flew into a home through a chimney and stove Elder people secretly invited healers into the house so that they would speak to the stove opening at midnight The healers also drove an aspen stake into the gap between the wall and the roof, and poured ashes from seven different stoves into the brazier For their work, healers were presented with a decent payment It was believed that operations should be avoided on Afanasyev Day, because they could end unsuccessfully They did not conduct legal proceedings so as not to lose the dispute The boy's baptism was postponed to other days, otherwise he could be struck by male diseases in the future It was forbidden to change housing, or quarrels would begin between household members The blizzard on Afanasy foreshadowed a long winter If the sun appeared in the sky at noon, they expected the imminent arrival of spring Looking at the decrease in water in reservoirs, they predicted a hot, dry summer The warmth that arrived on Afanasyev Day predicted a small harvest of root crops in the summer Frosts were expected when they saw a clear border around the moon or sun