According to the folk calendar - Finogeev day

Finogei Day is popularly celebrated on July 29 (July 16 according to the old calendar style) This name was borrowed from the church date of honoring the memory of Saint Athenogenes of Sebaste, a martyr who died for preaching Christianity Athenogenes lived in Sebastia in the 2nd-3rd century and was a Christian bishop Thanks to him, most of the inhabitants of Sebastia believed in the Almighty When the ruler learned about this at a pagan festival, he ordered Athenogenes to be brought to him In those days there was massive persecution of Christians; they tried to return them to idolatry through torture Athenogenes was firm in his faith, so the pagans had to kill him Along with the bishop, ten of his students were killed And the people began to call Saint Athenogenes Finogaeus It was just the middle of summer - the height of the heat In many regions, rye was ripening and people were harvesting it To do this, they cut the ears of corn using a sickle and formed sheaves from them The owners saved the first collected sheaf for various rituals, calling it the birthday one It was illuminated in the temple and kept in the corner with the icons They believed that the grains of the birthday sheaf could cure disease in household members, and its stems could cure disease in livestock The first grinding of flour began with its grains Some of these grains were stored until the next sowing, believing that thanks to them the harvest would be excellent There was an ancient ritual among the people, dating back to pagan times When removing the cornfields from the fields, it was necessary to leave a few spikelets on the field untouched They were intended as a sacrifice for the Slavic god of wealth and cattle breeding - Volos (Veles) The women wove braids from them, after which it was forbidden to touch the sacrificial ears It was believed that on Finogei Day it was impossible to visit forest lands, since on this date evil spirits were walking around in them They could drag a random resident deep into the forest or swamps, where he could get lost Therefore, the peasants tried to avoid the forest thickets, and if they had to, they did it quietly, without unnecessary noise During this period, mushroom season was approaching Residents used the collected mushrooms for food They were fried with onions, stewed with potatoes and vegetables, aromatic soups were made from them, and pies with mushroom filling were baked If there was an excess of mushrooms, they were dried on a rope and stored in this form until winter If on Finogei Day you noticed how the greens of carrots were withering, then you were preparing for rain However, the rain that happened promised a bountiful harvest in the gardens Thick fog in the morning foreshadowed a good mushroom harvest Seeing a kite hovering for a long time in the sky meant the approach of dry days We prepared for a harsh winter if we observed voles in the fields