According to the folk calendar - Aksinya day (Ksenia the half-winter)

Aksinin Day is popularly celebrated on February 6 (January 24 according to the old style) Its name comes from the Orthodox holiday in honor of Saint Xenia of Petersburg, who dedicated her life to prayers to God for her late husband in the 18th century After the death of her husband, Ksenia, according to those around her, lost her mind - she wore the clothes of her late husband, responded to his name, and donated his property and inheritance to the poor The widow herself wandered around St Petersburg, praying and enduring the bullying of those around her For her meekness and devotion, the Lord rewarded the blessed one with the gift of foresight Until the end of her life, Ksenia taught people truthfulness and love of God People called Ksenia (Aksinya) half-winter, since in the northern regions of the country it was from this day that winter reached its half They rejoiced at the second half of winter, because it was already leading to the arrival of spring and warmth, and the daylight hours were becoming longer The peasants visited their barns and cellars, counting the remains of food It would be good if there were exactly half of them stored before the summer Less than half meant the family was hungry, then they had to buy more grain On Aksinya’s day there was a tradition of finding out the cost of bread, for which the day was also called Aksinya-half-bread If the price became lower than usual, it means that the grain harvest in the summer was predicted to be large, and the price remained unchanged until the summer The rise in bread prices promised a small grain harvest Another way to find out the yield of grain was to weigh it To do this, before going to bed, the weight of the baked bread was measured, and in the morning it was weighed again - if it became heavier, then a rich harvest was expected, and if it became lighter, a small harvest was expected The same thing was done with rye grain On Aksinyin Day it was forbidden to prepare kvass, believing that because of this the land would not produce a harvest In order not to bring death into the house, people were forbidden to tie knots They avoided making the bed, otherwise the household could get sick They did not cut their toenails to avoid cramping pain They were also silent about the dream they had Based on the weather, the coming spring was predicted on Aksinya, so in some areas it was called the spring indicator A clear sun meant a warm spring, and snowfall meant a cloudy and lingering one