According to the folk calendar - Peter Solstice

Peter Solstice according to the folk calendar is celebrated on June 25 (June 12 according to the old style) The date took part of the name from the church day of honoring the memory of St Peter of Athos, who lived in the 7-8 centuries Peter's story began in Greece; in his youth he chose the path of a warrior and became a military leader in Constantinople After being imprisoned in Syria, Peter headed to Rome, where he was tonsured a monk by the Pope Then he went into solitude on the Greek Mount Athos - for more than half a century he prayed, fasted, and fought demonic temptations to leave his monastery When a hunter came to the elder, Peter told about his existence After 12 months, Peter died, and his relics began to lose their healing properties The people called Peter the Solstice, because on this day the heavenly body turned towards winter Although the daylight hours were beginning to wane, it was not getting any colder On the contrary, the sun's rays shone increasingly hotter, filling the ears of spring crops and the fruits of garden crops with their power The people have always revered the sun and treated it with respect On this date, in the morning the peasants went to a high hill in the area and turned to the luminary They thanked him for the bright rays and warmth, they praised him and sang songs to him They asked the sun to stay on the earth longer so that the harvest would ripen and the grain growers would have time to clean up with it Sometimes the date was called Peter the Fisherman, since there was a tradition of fishing in the reservoir on this day Fish soup was cooked from the brought catch Fish was a valuable source of food for peasants, especially during times of famine, when supplies in the cellars were drying up and a new harvest was on the way The fish also contained useful substances necessary for the human body Another name for the date was Belated Cabbage On this day, the housewives were engaged in the last planting of seedlings of the season If they did not have time to sow the fields earlier, then before noon they sowed light varieties of grain - wheat, oats, and in the afternoon they sowed dark varieties - buckwheat, rye, barley Later, the planted crops no longer had time to produce a generous harvest If a lot of dew was observed on Peter the Solstice, then they were preparing for a fruitful year Long bathing of ducks and geese in the pond foreshadowed precipitation If you saw white clouds above the clouds during a thunderstorm, you expected hail The weather of that day predicted what the day of hay cutting and preparation would be like