According to the folk calendar - Zosima the beekeeper

On January 17 (January 4, old style), according to the folk calendar, the feast of Zosima the Beekeeper is celebrated It takes its name from the church day of honoring the memory of the martyr Zosimus of Cilicia But for people, his name more evoked the idea of ​​Saint Zosima of Solovetsky, who was popularly considered the patron saint of home beekeeping and forest honey collection Zosima the beekeeper was asked in prayer to give a good harvest of honey Traditionally, a bowl of honey or honey sweets was placed on the dining table It was believed that the abundance of snow on the fields on a given day foreshadows a year generous with honey In Zosima the Beekeeper, there was a ritual among the people to survive the devil and his pack from the earth To do this, people changed into clothes turned inside out, lit torches, armed themselves with iron rods or pokers and went to drive away the devil The role of the devil was played by a man dressed in a bearskin When a crowd pretended to pounce on him, the devil took off his fur coat and ran away, and returned back in human form Rejoicing at the victory, the youth jumped over the fire In the house, the owners walked around the rooms with the icon and at the same time read a prayer to drive out evil spirits To protect against damage and evil spirits, a talisman was made from thistle It was kept under the pillow for seven days, hidden from the public eye, and then brought to the healer She boiled thistles with wax, reading out incantations They wore such a talisman around the neck near the cross Girls who performed fortune-telling in previous days could find out the result of the truthfulness of fortune-telling on the evening of Zosima the Bee-Keeper To do this, we went outside and looked at the sky If the constellation Ursa Major was located on the right side of the fortuneteller, it means that the results of the divination were correct, if the Milky Way was false, and the whole year she had to walk without the matchmaker According to folk signs, the weather was predicted on the day of Zosima the Beekeeper Thus, a clear sky with a full moon foreshadowed the flood of the river after the snow melted Hanging clouds promised severe cold Also, deteriorating weather conditions were foreshadowed by fox barking If you saw a red sunset and a bright sunrise, you expected warming