According to the folk calendar - Fedoseev Day

According to the folk calendar, Fedoseev Day is celebrated on January 24 (January 11, old style) The name of the national holiday comes from the church date of honoring the memory of Saints Theodosius of Antioch and Theodosius the Great Theodosius of Antioch lived in the 4th century He spent his life in solitude from humanity, devoting himself to prayers to the Lord Theodosius the Great (5th century) lived a long life, helped people become Christians and did good deeds He built the first monastery in Palestine, guided believers on the true path, saved sinking ships through the miracle of prayer, and cured them from various diseases The people associated Fedoseyev Day with severe cold weather At the end of the Christmas festivities, people rid their homes of the invading evil spirits using various rituals According to legend, such frosts were caused by evil spirits driven out into the streets, and evil fever spirits infected passers-by with serious illnesses Typically, fevers (shaking fevers) appeared in the form of a thin woman To drive fever out of the body, on Fedoseyev Day the patient was taken to a healer At dawn, he read out incantations and performed a ritual to expel the disease So that fevers would no longer appear in the house, it was fumigated with unpleasant aromas Smoke from deer antler, dried fish gills, and passerine nests was considered effective The bath also helped against illnesses After steaming in it, the peasants gained strength, and the sick managed to improve their health To prevent diseases in children, they used the skin of the animal They believed that if you wrap a child in it at night, the animal's endurance and strength will be passed on to the heir Anticipating the arrival of spring and imminent warming, people on Fedoseyev Day performed the ritual of rolling a wheel, symbolizing the sun Bread was baked in the form of the sun, women depicted the sun in embroidery, and men carved it on window shutters It was forbidden to stand with your back to the luminary or give anything away after sunset If it was cold on Fedoseev's day, long, severe frosts were expected The warming foreshadowed an early but rainy spring Icicles on the roofs meant that the next month would be warm Light snowfall was observed before severe cold weather If the cattle refused to leave the barn, a blizzard would soon begin