According to the folk calendar - Dorofeev Day

Dorofeev Day according to the folk calendar is celebrated on June 18 (June 5 according to the old style) The day received a partial name from the name of St Dorotheus of Tire, a Christian martyr revered by the church on this date Dorotheus lived in the 3rd-4th centuries in the city of Tire (modern Lebanon) He preached Christianity, for which he was elevated to the bishop of Tire Persecution by the pagans forced Dorotheus into hiding, but under the rule of Emperor Constantine I he returned and continued to convert Gentiles to Christianity Half a century later, when the bishop was already at a venerable age, the persecution resumed He was captured by the pagans and tortured to death Sometimes Dorofey's day was called Sparrow Nights And this was associated with night thunderstorms lighting up the sky with lightning Because of the bright lightning, they were popularly called motley, rowan, reminiscent of the consonance of the word “passerine” Residents believed that stormy weather was caused by walking evil spirits and so frightened the sparrows To escape from the pranks of evil spirits, people used sleep-grass, which blooms during this period They believed that she scared them away, so they carried her dried flowers with them She protected from damage and the evil eye, and her flowers in the rooms brought prosperity to the family Thanks to this plant, the date received another name - Dream Grass Day On this date, healers went to the forest to collect dream herbs It should be collected after sunset, reading a special spell In order to check whether the plant was real or not, it was dipped into spring water - the real dream grass in the water began to move its fibers Afterwards it was dried so that all toxic substances were removed from it, and used in folk medicine as a potion Infusions of sleep herbs helped with insomnia, high blood pressure, tuberculosis, skin inflammation and rheumatism It was believed that prophetic dreams were dreamed on Dorofey's day They turned to the saint with a request to interpret them and help if they had a bad dream They believed that if a handsome young man or girl appears in a dream, then happiness will come to the sleeping person But seeing an elderly hunched over woman meant problems and troubles On Dorofey's Day, they checked the cucumber ovaries; if there were a lot of barren flowers, then the housewives dragged old bast shoes to the garden bed along the ground and read a plot to increase the harvest of cucumbers Also in the gardens, weeding the beds to remove weeds was carried out It was not recommended to have a haircut on this day, otherwise the hair might stop growing Noticing an abundance of dew on Dorofeev's day, residents prepared for a good harvest in the fields The fog on the pond foreshadowed a bountiful mushroom harvest Seeing a lot of spiders meant that hot days had arrived, but hearing a woodpecker meant that thunderstorms were coming They also prepared for precipitation if they smelled a strong aroma of grass