According to the folk calendar - Deer Day

According to the folk calendar, Reindeer Day is celebrated on June 3 (May 21, old style) The holiday is named after Queen Helena, Equal to the Apostles, a saint whose memory is celebrated by Christians on this day Helen was born in the 3rd century near Constantinople (modern Türkiye) Having met Constantius Chlorus, she gave birth to his son Constantine, who later became the Roman emperor Unlike other Roman nobles, Helen professed Christianity Already in adulthood, the woman organized a search and found the Cross of the Lord, his coffin and accompanying relics She built several temples on the territory of the finds People simply called Saint Helena Olena or Alena She was considered the patroness of flax, so they prayed to the saint for its generous harvest Flax was used to sew new clothes and linens, linseed oil was pressed from the seeds, and the remains of the plant were used in housing construction, like tow between the cracks of wooden walls Reindeer day was favorable for field work The peasants sowed oats, buckwheat, barley, late wheat and flax More attention was paid to sowing flax For a larger harvest, special rituals were performed Each family in the village collected two chicken eggs and baked them in a common oven Baked eggs were placed in a bundle with seeds for men going to sow flax Before sowing, the men should have thrown the eggs high to the sky, caught them and said a spell for good flax growth The eggs were eaten, and the shells were brought back - the housewives added them to the feed of poultry so that they would lay eggs more often If women sowed flax, then they performed a “deceptive” ceremony To do this, they took off all their clothes, remaining naked Then they loudly addressed the flax that there was nothing to wear, and asked him to take pity on the naked woman and give him more harvest Also, on Venison Day, cucumbers continued to be planted To ward off the evil eye from them, this was done secretly Afterwards, the housewives dragged the worn-out bast shoes along the ground to the very bed of cucumbers, and over them they read a conspiracy so that the cucumbers would bear as much fruit as the road of the bast shoes to them lasted Sometimes the holiday was called Elena's braids The girls prayed to the saint for the gift of beauty On this day, hair was not braided, but left loose They believed that the Flax Deer herself touched them, and from her touch they grew like flax: thick, soft and long If the mountain ash blossomed on Venison Day, then they prepared for an abundance of flax during the harvest Rain on this day foreshadowed autumn with frequent rains The loud chirping of grasshoppers in the grass was heard in anticipation of the approaching rain If the thunder sounded loud during the rain, then the rain was prolonged; if it was quiet, it ended quickly