Armenian Holidays - Terendez

Terendez is a unique national holiday of Armenia, which is celebrated on February 13th Its origins lie in the distant past, when all significant dates were associated with the cult of natural phenomena Initially, the name of the holiday sounded like “Trndez”, which literally meant “a sheaf of hay in front of the house” The festivities were dedicated to the pagan deities Astkhik and Tiram, who personified wisdom and art With the adoption of Christianity by Armenia, the tradition of the pagan holiday could only be preserved if its meaning changed Terendez was associated with the Day of St Sarkis, and the name itself began to fully comply with church norms and mean “towards the Creator” But the main participants of the holiday remained unchanged: couples in love After the church liturgy, a ceremony of blessing young men and women takes place in all churches Newlyweds married on this day are guaranteed a happy family life The culmination of the holiday is jumping over fire Young people, holding hands, boldly jump over the high flames of the fires The main thing is not to flinch and not to loosen your hands Only in this case will the couple have strong mutual love for a long time Older people also do not stay away from the celebration They encourage the youth and throw wheat and hemp seeds at the jumpers, symbols of fertility and prosperity Following the loving couples, it was the turn of women who wanted to get pregnant to jump over the fire The heat of the fire was supposed to fill them with vitality At the end of the ceremony, everyone could jump over the blazing fires, after which all those gathered joined hands and began a merry round dance The ashes of the ritual fire were necessarily collected and scattered over the fields, asking for a bountiful harvest These days, fire jumping festivities are not for everyone, but even city dwellers celebrate Terendez In recent decades, Terendez has intricately merged with Valentine's Day, when all loving couples can stroll holding hands and carrying a lit candle, as an echo of an ancient custom