Folk calendar - Mokiy and Mark, Stozhary

According to the folk calendar, the Day of Mokiya and Mark is celebrated on July 16 (July 3, old style) The holiday received this name from the church date of honoring the memory of two saints - the martyrs Mokius and Mark The saints lived on the territory of the Roman Empire in the 4th century and were Christians At that time, there was persecution of Christians, so Mokia and Mark were seized by guards and brought to trial before the ruler On the way to the judgment seat, a child appeared before the guards, trying to stop the pagans, but the boy was mercilessly beaten For the refusal of Mark and Mokius to leave Christianity and make an offering to the pagan gods, the ruler ordered their heads to be cut off The people called the day of Mokia and Mark Stozhars (the astronomical name is the Pleiades - a cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus) It was during the summer that they became most visible in the sky Residents believed that the Stozhars patronized generous hunting, so hunters went into the forest unless the constellation was covered by clouds The peasants treated the stars themselves with respect and believed that they were God's angels looking at people Another name for the date was Poppy Day, since the names of Saints Mochius and Mark were very similar in consonance to poppy On this day, residents collected poppies and believed that it helped in the fight against evil spirits They sown it around their lands in order to sleep off evil spirits approaching human habitation Engaged couples were given poppy seeds in their shoes to prevent witches from harming the future newlyweds Due to the abundance of grains in the poppy heads, the poppy was associated with abundance Its seeds were often used in cooking: added to Christmas juice, pies, cookies, mushroom and meat dishes It was also used in folk medicine as a remedy for insomnia, headaches or fatigue Poppy was even added to poultry feed, in the belief that it would increase its egg production The day of Mokiya and Mark were considered unfavorable dates They said that you should not start new things, otherwise they could get disastrous results However, the residents boldly prepared the hay Pre-dried grass was piled up in huge piles It was important to collect it in dry weather, otherwise the wet grass could die and rot before winter When the weather was cloudy, the peasants sent their offspring to the fields: they asked the Stozhars to divert the rains If on Stozhary they noticed a spider making its web, or swarms of mosquitoes, then they prepared for fine days Incessant thunderclaps were heard as a sign of imminent bad weather The receding water in the wells signaled hot days The high yield of sorrel foreshadowed a calm winter without severe frosts