According to the folk calendar - Pavlov's Day (Day of the Witches)

January 28 (January 15, old style) is celebrated according to the folk calendar as Pavlov's Day Its name comes from the church date of honoring the memory of St Paul of Thebes, who lived as a hermit for 91 years Paul's story began in the 3rd century Blackmail by selfish relatives to hand him over to the persecutors of Christians for an inheritance forced the believer to leave for the silent desert, where he spent a long life Crows brought food to Paul, and he made clothes from palm leaves The saint devoted all his time to prayers to the Lord Before his death, the Monk Anthony came to his monastery and helped bury the humble elder But among the people, Pavlov's day is more often referred to as the Day of Witches Sorcerers and witches passed on their experience to young apprentices They, in turn, practiced on whomever they could and wherever they could Rarely has this practice been successful Therefore, on the Day of Witches, peasants tried to stay at home and avoid meeting with unfamiliar people To protect themselves from witchcraft influence, they prayed in church, painted crosses on the windows and doors of their homes, spat over their shoulders, and gave holy water to themselves and their livestock They also read out spells against damage and the evil eye According to tradition, on Pavlov's day the brownie was treated to help him take better care of the house Usually during the day they said kind words about him, and in the evening they left a glass of vodka or wine and a pot of porridge by the stove If they forgot to appease the little drummer, he could do bad things On Pavlov's day, the days gradually became longer and the nights became shorter The people rejoiced that winter was waning Looking at the strong gusts of wind, a rainy summer was determined If the birds were hiding in the corners, a cold was approaching, if they were chirping in the trees, warming was expected, and if they sat silently on the branches, a blizzard was foreshadowed