According to the folk calendar - Stepanov Day

According to the folk calendar, Stepanov Day is celebrated on January 9 (December 27, old style) In the church calendar, this day is dedicated to honoring the memory of St Stephen the First Martyr, who lived in the 1st century According to legend, the Jew Stephen witnessed the crucifixion and resurrection of God's son, after which the need to take care of the disadvantaged and weak Christians increased The apostles appointed Stephen to this role as archdeacon In addition to helping, he preached sermons about God, for which he was slandered by envious Pharisees and taken into custody At his trial, Stephen was sentenced to death by stoning Thus he became the first martyr to suffer for Christianity Since then, persecution of believers in God began; they were forced to leave their land and go to other countries Together with them, Christianity spread across the earth St Stepan was the people's patron of horses, so the owners organized a holiday for the horses They were fed to their fill and given silver-plated water to drink A silver coin was placed in a bucket of water for a day Then she was hidden in the manger of the barn, and aspen stakes were driven into the corners of the barn This ritual protected horses from illness, the evil eye and scared away evil spirits Stepanov's day was also popularly called the feast of the shepherds Of the applicants for shepherds, one was determined at the general council of the village His duties included walking and looking after cattle, for which his fellow villagers paid him well On Stepanov's day, the girls continued to tell fortunes about their betrothed And girls suffering from sadness in their souls got rid of it through the ritual of pouring water They took turns going to a common vat and pouring out bowls of water, symbolizing spiritual despondency The older woman carried the vat out the gate, spilling it away The children ran around the village, knocking on houses with songs and carols, wishing them well and good health They were thanked and treated to gingerbread and sweets, and given small money It was impossible to kick out the carolers, believing that then luck would bypass the house If people noticed a horse’s legs wet with sweat on Stepanov’s day, then they foreshadowed an early spring A lull in birds was observed before the snowfall If a poultry hid its paws in its down, frosts were expected The fog predicted the coming thaw A blizzard meant a bountiful forest harvest in the summer, and a three-day frost on the trees meant a large grain harvest