Holidays of the Slavs - Perun's Day

The Day of Perun (Perunitsa) among the pagan Slavs fell on August 2 according to the new style After the adoption of Christianity, some features of this deity passed on to the prophet Elijah and the Great Martyr George the Victorious That is why on August 2 not only Perunitsa is celebrated, but also Ilya’s Day, which appeared much later It is believed that from this day on, summer is on the wane and farmers are already beginning to prepare for autumn work Perun is the god of thunder and lightning, the lord of rain, who is the head of the pantheon of Slavic gods, the son of the mighty Svarog and the goddess of love Lada He patronized the prince and his brave squad He had many hypostases: he was responsible for calm and harmony in Reveal (the world of the living), endowed men with strength, and helped farmers His symbols are the oak, the ax and the hammer This deity was depicted with a head made of silver and a mustache covered with gold According to pagan beliefs, Perun walked the earth in the form of the bull Tour In his duties, he is similar to the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god Mars Sacrifices to Perun were made at special temples in the shape of an iris flower or near a mighty sacrificial oak tree Initially, human sacrifices were made, later - red roosters or bulls For a worthy celebration of Perun's day, it was necessary to prepare well: women sewed festive robes for the whole family, and men chose the weapons with which they would appear at the temple A few days before Perunitsa, a victim and demands for Perun were chosen by drawing lots At a specially equipped place, with the help of the blood of the victim, the priest consecrated all the weapons brought With it, he drew special signs on the forehead of each man to maintain strength, spirit and will, and all those anointed put red bandages on their heads Here the young men underwent the rite of initiation into warriors, overcoming four tests Women were not allowed to participate in this part of the celebration, called the beginning After the sacrifice, the men and priests left the temple, and the festivities continued in oak groves, preferably closer to the water At first, the Slavs produced flames naturally and lit a large fire Women prepared a meal to commemorate the deceased warriors, which necessarily included beer, beef and cottage cheese Young people doused themselves with river water, competed in prowess, thundered, imitating the Thunderer, and staged fights between Perun and Veles If there was a drought, they chose a girl and doused her with water to make it rain On Perunov's day there was a ban on work in the field and at home Cats were not allowed into the house, as various evil spirits under their guise could enter the home Even the cattle were not allowed to leave the yard The Slavs believed that if all these prohibitions were violated, Perun would punish them with a lightning strike It was only possible to work in the apiary On this day they were not afraid to get caught in the rain: rainwater washed away everything bad However, they tried to wait out the thunderstorm itself in a safe place in order to avoid being struck by lightning If the weather was dry, then in the morning the Slavs, standing with their bare feet on the ground, would shower themselves From that day on, it was forbidden to swim in rivers In modern Russia, this pagan holiday of warriors and farmers is reflected in the honoring of paratroopers - brave defenders of the Motherland - on August 2