Folk calendar - Kuzminki

According to the folk calendar, on November 14, the Slavs celebrate Kuzminki On this day, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of Saints Cosmas and Damian (Kuzma and Demyan), who were famous healers and cured many hopeless patients with the power of the Word of God It is customary for saints to pray for physical healing, for love and harmony in the family, as well as for help in teaching In Rus', this day was called a girl's holiday and was widely celebrated In the evenings there was a feast, the main dish of which was chicken noodles The homeland of Damian and Cosmas was Asia Minor The brothers had the gift of healing and could heal hopeless patients They preached the Word of God and converted many people to the Christian faith On the orders of the Roman Emperor Carinus, they were supposed to be forced to make sacrifices to the pagan gods, but at that time the ruler became seriously ill and was forced to turn to his brothers for help After Cosmas and Damian cured the emperor, they were sent home with honors The preachers did not charge any fee for treatment, so people began to call them unmercenary One day, a hopelessly ill woman turned to them for help, and they were able to heal her As a sign of gratitude, she brought Damian three eggs and asked him to accept them in the name of the Holy Trinity This greatly upset Cosmas, and he bequeathed that after his death he should be buried separately from Damian Before they began to heal people, the brothers learned healing from an old doctor, who could not bear the fact that his students had become famous and, frantic with envy, decided to deal with them He called the brothers to the mountains to collect medicinal herbs and there he killed them and threw them into the river When people found the lifeless bodies of the brothers, they did not know whether to bury them together or separately A miracle helped resolve the issue The camel, whom they had once cured of rabies, said in a human voice that they should be buried next to each other, since Damian accepted the woman’s gift as a sign of mercy People listened to his advice The brothers Kuzma and Demyan have been revered in Rus' since ancient times People knew them not only as healers, but also as talented “handicraftsmen” who did not take money from anyone for their work The miracle-working brothers were always together and many associated them with one saint, whom they called Kuzmodemyan Saints Kuzma and Demyan are considered the organizers of family life, as well as the patrons of blacksmiths and other artisans People have always said that Kuzma was a talented blacksmith who possessed not only outstanding human, but also miraculous magical abilities In Kuzminki, it used to be customary to feed the yard spirit, who lived in the barnyard and looked after the animals If he had a dashing temper and offended someone, then on November 14 a special ceremony was performed on his least favorite horse to drive him out of the yard Peasants on Kuzminki celebrated the completion of threshing As a festive dinner, they prepared porridge from the grain of the new harvest On this day, it was customary to brew beer and treat guests to it A separate hut was chosen for the holiday To prepare dishes, food was collected throughout the village, and some of it was customary to steal All housewives knew about this tradition, so they deliberately left milk, flour, eggs and other products unattended in the hut so that they could be “stolen” If there was a girl of marriageable age in the house, she became the mistress of the house on that day She was supposed to prepare festive dishes and treat them to all the guests According to a special custom on this day, the meal had to start with a hard-boiled egg, which, as they said, could protect against infertility Chicken noodles were also a must-have dish on the holiday table According to special signs on Kuzminki, people determined what the weather would be like in the coming days and months:• If the weather is warm outside on November 14, then the coming winter will be warm• Snow on Kuzminki foreshadows river floods in the spring• If by this day on There are leaves left on the trees, then the winter will be harsh, and next year the harvest will be meager People born on November 14th can become good doctors and live a long, fruitful life They can wear corals as a talisman, which protects them from diseases and the evil eye