According to the folk calendar - Akulinin day

On April 20 (April 7 according to the old calendar style) people celebrate Akulinin Day The origin of the name is associated with the name of Saint Aquilina of Sinope, a martyr whose memory is revered on this date in the church calendar Akilina lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries in Sinop on the Black Sea coast of modern Turkey, and was a secret Christian When, by order of Emperor Maximian, the persecution of Christians began, her comrade, deacon Rufinus, was locked in prison until trial The girl visited him and supported him morally She was also taken into custody for this In conclusion, she and the deacon, with their convincing speeches, converted about 200 guards to Christianity Having learned about what had happened, the ruler became furious and ordered Aquilina, Rufinus and all the guards to cut off their heads And among the people there was a belief that on Akulinin’s day mermaids rose to the surface of reservoirs after winter sleep They were represented as young beauties with long hair and fish tails Suicidal girls who did not marry, drowned women or unbaptized children became mermaids They were classified as evil spirits, and not in vain River maidens could play vicious jokes on people: entangle fishing nets, tickle them to death, lure them into the depths and drown them To protect the family from mermaid pranks and not be afraid to swim during mermaid week (after Trinity), women performed a ritual of appeasing the undines It was the women who carried yarn, scraps of fabric, towels, skirts or shirts ashore for them on Akulinin’s day It was believed that the weather was still cool for the mermaids, and human clothing helped them warm up When going to the pond, peasant women took with them wormwood grass and a head of garlic, as a talisman that warded off evil spirits Mermaids were also afraid of the cross and the sign of the cross According to legend, they could attack only at night, and during the day they turned into water lilies By picking such a flower, one could kill the undine, but this would bring misfortune to the person If there were frosts on Akulinin's day, the peasants expected a generous harvest of buckwheat, wheat and rye Short-term rain foreshadowed an abundance of raspberries during harvesting, but prolonged rainfall predicted the yield of viburnum The sunny day promised a rich harvest of root crops The starry sky revealed an abundance of berries and mushrooms