Holidays of the Slavs - Navy Day

Navy Day (Madder Day) among the Slavs is a holiday of remembrance of the dead From this day on, visits to graves began, where rituals and sacrifices were performed In memory of the dead people, libations were poured and funeral feasts were held Particular attention was paid to the production of the required Requirements meant what was done with one’s own hands It could be pies and cereals, rolls and cookies, pancakes and colored eggs, wine and beer The ancient Slavs firmly believed that if you cook something with your own hands, lovingly thinking about the deceased, you can saturate the creation (cookies or pie) with energy She, in turn, will become food and satiate the Souls of her relatives In this sense, the service was a sacrificial offering of living energy, very necessary and important (according to the thoughts of the ancient Slavs) to the Gods and ancestors But before rendering demands to the Gods and relatives, it was necessary to perform personal cleansing with all the elements To do this, they sprayed water, surrounded it with fire, fumigated it with air and sprinkled it with earth On this day, the children “called out” for the first spring rain We started watching the clouds and sky clouds early in the morning If nature blessed people with rain, everyone vying with each other hurried to wash themselves with “heavenly water” The old people claimed that this would definitely bring happiness On Navy Day, it was important to go to the graves of relatives in the same way as the funeral procession You should have left him the way you left on the day of the funeral It was assumed that in this way it would be easier for the deceased relative to find the way to the living (through sleep) and help with advice if necessary On Navii day, after sunset, the Slavs lit fires This was done away from human eyes Deceased relatives were “warmed” by lighting a fire The performers of the ritual took a branch in their hands and, calling the name of the deceased, to whom they could not go to the grave, threw it into the fire for him Food was also set on fire in honor of this man On Naviy Day, festivities, fun and drunken celebrations were prohibited Only quiet “gatherings” among relatives were allowed, with obligatory commemoration of those who had gone to another world When night came, people went to bed also thinking about the dead They hoped that the meeting in a dream would definitely happen People believed that the veil of secrecy would be lifted: they would find out how their relatives lived in another world and would receive answers to all their questions