Holidays of the Slavs - Day of Gerasim the Rooker

Our ancestors commemorated two reverend Gerasimovs on March 17 The first is a monk who lived in the fifth century in the Asia Minor state of Lycia, now Turkey Born into a wealthy, wealthy family, Gerasim, nevertheless, chose the path of a hermit, became a monk, reached the Jordan River and founded a monastery there The monastery still exists today, having been rebuilt many times A widely known story is in which the Monk Gerasim of Jordan tamed a lion that had been healed of its wounds The mighty beast, in gratitude for the healing, became the monk’s “disciple” and followed him everywhere Gerasim, in turn, provided the lion with shelter in the monastery and named it Jordan Nowadays the Lion Jordan is a symbol of the holy monastery The second no less revered Gerasim is the Vologda miracle worker, who is credited with both the founding of the city of Vologda and the founding of a monastery in honor of the Holy Trinity on Kaisarov Stream The legend claims that the saint died on March 4 according to the Julian calendar, which corresponds to March 17 of the Gregorian calendar, hence the holiday date Both namesake monks miraculously died on the same day, more than 700 years apart The return of birds earlier than March 17 was perceived as a bad omen, promising a lean and hungry year To encourage the rapid onset of heat, housewives began to bake “rooks” These are buns made from sour rye dough, with a characteristic shape resembling birds On March 17, it was customary not only to watch the rooks and remember the two saints Gerasimov It was believed that that day was the best time to expel the kikimora, the great domestic dirty trick This evil spirit, a kind of brownie, was accused of broken dishes, thrown pots, tangled yarn, night sounds and knocks that frightened the owners The kikimora, they say, did all this in order to get the inhabitants out of the house She was considered the wife of a brownie, only she had a more malicious character and played dirty tricks with pleasure They depicted this evil spirit in the form of a thin and small creature that penetrated the house in the form of a charmed doll, planted by ill-wishers And only on March 17, on the day of Gerasim the Rook, the kikimora became quiet and lurked in the corners This fear of evil spirits was used to drive out the uninvited guest and a healer was invited He drove out the kikimora with spells and sweeping the home with a wormwood broom If the ritual was successful, then there was no need to fear evil spirits until the fall, when the rooks left their nests and flew away for the winter