According to the folk calendar - Agrafena Bathing suit

Agrafena Bathing suit according to the folk calendar is celebrated on July 6 (June 23 according to the old style) Agrafena holiday is named in honor of the Christian martyr Agrippina of Rome, whose memory the church commemorates on this day Agrippina lived in Rome in the 3rd century, professed Christianity and chose the path of chastity and celibacy During the years of persecution of Christians, the girl was forced to renounce Christ, but she firmly believed in God and renounced idolatry For this she was painfully tortured and beaten, after which she gave her soul to the Lord The body of the martyr was buried, and subsequently miraculous properties emanated from it In Rus', Agrippina was nicknamed Agrafena, and she was called the Swimsuit for tradition Residents went to swim in the pond, and water procedures were also carried out in the bathhouse, using medicinal herbs The day of Ivan Kupala was just approaching, and the residents believed that during this period all herbs were endowed with special medicinal properties Usually, nettle, mint, thistle, wormwood, fireweed, fern, lavender, and St John's wort were used for bathing in the bathhouse Homes were also decorated with herbs They drained pleasant aromas and protected from the invasion of evil forces that were actively rampant on Ivan Kupala Herbs were placed at the threshold and on windowsills to prevent evil spirits from entering the house Aspen branches were stuck near the gate and at the entrance to the barn so that evil spirits would not frighten the cattle In the morning of the day, the Agraphens washed themselves with dew to improve health Housewives went to collect birch branches and wove special brooms from them Brooms were made for Agrafena Bathing Suit for future use until next summer Sometimes they were prepared from branches of various trees and bushes: bird cherry, linden, alder, rowan, viburnum, willow Woven brooms were used for baths, to protect calving cattle, or for fortune telling In general, the day was a holiday, so residents organized festivities Together they set the table for the whole village A mandatory dish was votive porridge; it was cooked from crushed barley and distributed to the poor and travelers In some regions, young people doused themselves with water and then went to the river to swim In the evening they lit fires, jumped over them, sang songs and danced in circles The girls dressed up in their best clothes and went to neighbors’ houses, telling the owners: “Wash them up” This phrase meant a request to give the girls elegant ribbons, beads or fabric By nightfall, the girls performed fortune telling The bravest residents set out at midnight to search for blooming ferns According to legend, the fern bloomed only on the night of Ivan Kupala A resident who saw it blooming could subsequently find places where valuable treasures were buried If the sparkling lightning at sunset was noticed on Agrafena Bathing Suit, then a thunderstorm was expected the next morning Seeing how the ants were hiding in the house and blocking the holes, the residents were preparing for the imminent rain The silencing nightingale promised that the time had come to harvest barley