According to the folk calendar - Soykin Day

Soykin Day is celebrated according to the folk calendar on December 11 (November 28, old style), it was established to honor the jay bird People were attracted by its bright plumage, which is why the jay got its name, because the ancient Russian word “soy” meant to shine The jay belongs to the corvid family, is no larger in size than a magpie, has a long tail and a crest on its head The main feature of the bird is the color of its wings, slightly reminiscent of small mirrors There is even a belief that if you look closely at them, you can see the future Therefore, the jay is often called the prophet The bird is interesting because it can imitate various sounds, be it the singing of other birds or human speech It was revered by the peasants, since seeing this bird on Soykin day was a good omen And if she began to sing on the roof of the house, then the owner should certainly follow her The people believed that the jay guided a person towards happiness On Soykin's day it was customary to tell fortunes Waking up in the morning, the man went to the well and listened to its sounds: any noise meant the future receipt of money, but the absence of sounds was not particularly pleasing - wealth was not expected Fortune telling was also done using coins They were thrown into a snowdrift; if they managed to get a coin with the highest denomination, then success would come to the person A small denomination, on the contrary, indicated its absence To find out what kind of life the next year would bring, people divided the beans into three piles One determined health, the second determined personal life, and the third determined work Then the number of beans in each was counted An even number symbolized prosperity, an odd number symbolized problems Unmarried girls told fortunes after sunset about the name of their betrothed They wrote the names of men on scraps of paper, threaded a needle and lifted the free edge of the thread above the names Swinging, the needle indicated the name of the future husband The weather was determined by observing birds on Soykin day If a flock of crows was circling in the sky, you should prepare for a snowstorm Birds roaming the earth foreshadowed warming Terrible bad weather with wind and blizzard was determined if crows gathered on the lower branches of trees, clinging to the trunk