According to the folk calendar - Yarilin's Day, Top of Summer

Yarilin's Day, also called the Top of Summer, is popularly celebrated on July 1 (June 18, old style) The ancient holiday is dedicated to honoring the god Yarila, and the Top of Summer date was named from the peak of mid-summer - the hottest time Since ancient times, the Slavic people have glorified Yarila as one of the most powerful gods He was considered the patron saint of fertility, family and love, often portraying Yarila as a young, handsome hero In translation, the name of God meant power, strength With his arrival, warm days began, and at the height of summer, he caressed the earth with warmth and gave strength to plants, so the peasants called crops planted in the spring and summer season spring crops With the advent of Christianity, the holiday was celebrated with less intensity They believed that on this day all the saints measured their strength with the god of fertility, but Yarila always won We also observed unusual phenomena - the sun froze in the sky, openings to the other world opened To see what was happening in them, the girls wove strong birch branches into their hair and peered into them from the high bank of the river at noon It was believed that on Yarilin's day dew had healing powers that endowed all living things with health In the morning, residents washed themselves with dew, walked on it barefoot, allowed their children to roll in the dew, and took their cattle out into it Herbs were also endowed with beneficial properties on this day They were collected in the forest and meadows, dried in the attic, and then tea was brewed from them It was believed that such tea could cure various ailments They drank it with honey and gingerbread, while wealthier residents drank it with sugar or jam On Yarilin's day, peasants mowed grass and prepared it for winter In addition, it was customary to change the grass in mattresses by adding aromatic herbs to them: chamomile, clover, weeping grass, tansy Thistle, also used to ward off evil spirits, gave a pleasant smell And to drive away parasites from homes, wormwood was added to mattresses There was a tradition on this day to go to fairs and visit people After sunset, the peasants lit fires, arranging dances and gatherings around them The men fought and measured their strength Unmarried girls wondered about their betrothed If low fog was noticed on Yarilin's day, then good weather was expected An abundance of dew was observed to coincide with a generous millet harvest The pink sunset foreshadowed the heat the next day Crows circling high in the sky promised a change in the weather for the worse