According to the folk calendar - Pelageya the Intercessor, Baklushnik Day

On May 17 (May 4, old style), according to the folk calendar, Pelageya the Intercessor or Baklushnik Day is celebrated The date was named in honor of the holy martyr Pelagia of Tarsus, whose memory is celebrated by Orthodox Christians on this day Pelagia was born in the 3rd century in Tarsus (modern Tarsus, Turkey) into a wealthy pagan family, and was a beautiful and educated girl After accepting Christianity, they tried to forcibly betroth her to the adopted heir of Emperor Diocletian Pelagia refused, declaring her devotion to Christ Her failed husband, knowing how Christians were tortured, committed suicide out of grief for his bride Seeing the beautiful Pelagia, the emperor himself wanted to marry her, but the girl was against it, for which she was painfully executed People called Pelagia (Pelageya) the protector of birds, so they tried not to offend birds on this day The saint also patronized girls and women whose names had been undeservedly slandered If the girls were innocent of what they had done, then they prayed to Pelageya for protection from their offenders Those who were truly guilty did not dare to pray to the saint Another name for the date, Baklushnik Day, was derived from the tradition of going into the forest to pick trees to make baklushniks Wooden kitchen utensils were called baklushi: spoons, bowls, spatulas More often they were carved from linden, birch or aspen The making of baklush was carried out by craftsmen who were freed from field work They tried to decorate spoons with paintings and carvings, since such utensils symbolized the status of wealthy peasants Before sunset, residents performed a ritual to protect the seedlings from evil spirits To do this, a cracked pot was placed in the center of the garden, and a nettle bush, pulled out with its roots, was placed inside Then a special conspiracy was read out They believed that stinging nettle would drive away from the earth all evil spirits and insects that had become attached to the young shoots of seedlings and rising grains If a lot of cockchafers were observed on Pelageya Intercessor, we were preparing for days without precipitation The cuckoo's cuckooing on Pelageya was heard during warm weather Sparrows fluttering across the sky foreshadowed windy weather A rainy day promised a bountiful harvest The sloe blossom meant the second half of May would be cool