According to the folk calendar - Philip's gimmick

At the end of October, on the 24th, according to the folk calendar, Philip's Gimp is celebrated The name of the holiday is associated with the veneration of the Christian Apostle Philip, as well as the gimmick - the so-called washout of roads and dampness characteristic of this time of year The Apostle Philip is famous among Christians for his sermons and miraculous healings The saint was born in Galia, he had 4 daughters endowed with the gift of prophecy During his life, Saint Philip converted a huge number of pagans to the faith, received the rank of bishop and lived to a ripe old age Despite the terrible condition of the roads in Rus', on this day it was necessary to take the grain to the mill Grinding grain was hard manual labor, so work had to start as early as possible, otherwise the grain could go to waste It was difficult to get to the mill in such weather, hence the use of the word “gimp” in the sense of a long tedious action with interference and obstacles Gimp was also the name given to precious thread for embroidery, the production of which was not an easy task and took a lot of time On Filippov's day, they watched for signs that predicted the weather: if snow fell during the day, a harsh snowy winter was expected, fog foreshadowed a thaw, and leaf fall promised a difficult year Also, the leaves that had not fallen from the trees by this time spoke of approaching bad weather They believed that the behavior of domestic animals could indicate the imminent onset of cold weather: the chicken puts its head under its wing or climbs onto the roost earlier than usual On this day, it was customary to tell fortunes about family well-being based on weather changes If the snow fell on Filippova and did not melt, then the family would have a good income in the spring One could also hope for a good profit if one dared to walk along the ice crust that had by this time covered the surface of the river