Holidays of the Slavs - Dazhdbog Day (Big Ovsen)

The Slavic holiday Dazhdbog Day or the Meeting of Spring is usually celebrated on May 6th Another name for the ancient pagan celebration is Great Ovsen The cult figure of the celebration is the supreme deity in Slavic “myth-making” Dazhdbog literally translates as “giver of blessings” In the divine pantheon, he is “responsible” for fertility, the vital energy of the sun and the forces of nature The ancestor of the Slavs and Zhiva was destined for the noblest mission of restoring the earth and vegetation after the global flood Together they accomplished this good cause The goddess Lada gave the beautiful young man her daughter Zhiva as his wife In their marriage they had a son, Arius A sacred ritual for a young family was the annual awakening of the earth from severe cold and its transformation, filled with life, long-awaited warmth and joy There is a legend that it was on May 6 that Veles “stole” cloud-cows from Perun, which he hid in a safe “shelter” - in a gorge in the Caucasus Mountains To save life on earth, Dazhdbog rushed to rescue the clouds from captivity He managed to win and return the source of life It’s not for nothing that they say, Dazhdbog brought spring to the threshold Dazhdbog is portrayed as a stately and unusually handsome man He has long hair of a sunny golden color and bottomless clear blue eyes, an open look and an elegant demeanor In ancient times, he was represented as a skilled horseman who drove a luxurious chariot She is carried across the sky of unprecedented beauty by snow-white horses with fiery manes and iridescent golden wings Every morning Dazhdbog goes out on a boat into the sea and crosses it The boat is harnessed to ducks, geese and swans In the evening, the “watercraft” under the control of Dazhdbog returns back Therefore, in ancient times, talismanic amulets in the form of a duck with a horse’s head were popular The supreme deity is associated with the onset of happy and prosperous moments He administers natural justice, regulates the balance of power, appeals to morality and truthfulness Dazhdbog patronizes wedding rituals: he personally meets the groom at dawn on the day of marriage The omnipresent Dazhbog also announces the “start” of summer agricultural work The main symbol of the holiday is the nightingale It is generally accepted that Dazhdbog releases the nightingale into the world so that he can proclaim the beginning of the summer period with his wonderful singing Allegedly, with one wing the nightingale covers the cold and winter, and with the other it reveals blooming spring and warmth The cuckoo is no less revered There is a belief that Zhiva’s wife transforms into a cuckoo and flies to visit the lucky few May 6 is also a day of remembrance of a fateful event, when Dazhdbog abandoned the love of Marena, who personifies death, in favor of the beautiful Zhiva, who bestows joy and fertility The doors of Vedic temples are warmly open to guests Traditional festivities - cheerful round dances around fires, melodious chants in honor of the divine married couple Early in the morning, it is customary to drive livestock out to pasture so that they can eat the grass that still has dew on it It has miraculous powers and helps protect animals from dangers, robbers and terrible diseases According to signs, good weather on this day indicates that summer will be early A cloudy day “speaks” that cloudy weather will last for a long time