Germany is a country where punctuality, scrupulousness and order are valued above all else. It is not surprising that German holidays are events, the preparation of which is extremely responsible. However, the celebrations are just as fun as in any other country in the world. So, what dates are of particular importance to the inhabitants of the state?

German holidays: Oktoberfest in Munich

For more than two centuries in Munich, Oktoberfest has been celebrated annually, with which no one in the world can match in terms of popularity. Like many other German holidays, this event lasts several days. It is traditionally arranged in the first decade of October. According to statistics, the celebration annually attracts over 6 million connoisseurs of good beer, who flock to Munich from all over the world.

The venue for the celebration is Theresa's meadow, located in the heart of Munich. 14 huge tents are erected here, inside each of which there is a place for ten thousand people, as well as 15 small tents, the capacity of which can accommodate about a thousand people. When listing other German holidays, one cannot think of a more lively event than this. Waitresses scurry about in the tents, serving beer to the guests, and legendary pork sausages are also offered. Of course, the organizers of the event don't forget about music either.

in Stuttgart

Volksfest is the name of the famous harvest festival that takes place every year in Stuttgart. The event starts September 23rd, runs until October 9th, competing with the Munich Festival. German holidays are hard to imagine without beer tasting; a drink is also offered in Stuttgart. However, the festival is different in that it provides a wide range of entertainment for the whole family. While parents pay tribute to Bavarian sausages and beer, the kids have fun riding the rides.

The Volksfest festival is extremely important for the Germans, these days tradition tells us to thank God for a great harvest. Special church services are held. The festive procession looks very colorful and large-scale, thousands of residents and guests of the city follow the parade. Hundreds of magicians and artists perform at the fair, music sounds everywhere.

German Unity Day

Listing German holidays and traditions associated with them, one cannot fail to mention the Day of German Unity. The celebration is dedicated to the unification of the country, which ended in 1990. The date of the event has remained unchanged since then - October 3, the holiday is official, celebrated in all corners of the state.

From the point of view of scale, this event can hardly be compared, for example, with the American one. There is no military parade, but residents of the country are happy to take part in mass festivities, watch free concerts. Of course, the celebration ends with fireworks. Also on this day, parliamentary sessions are traditionally held.

Saint Martin's Day

Naming the most famous German holidays and customs associated with them, one cannot forget St. Martin's Day. Many residents of Germany mention this celebration among their favorite ones, it takes place on November 11. There is even a beautiful legend related to this event, the main character of which is a Roman legionnaire who rescued people from trouble.

St. Martin's Day is adored not only by adults, but also by children. The guys run through the streets, lighting their way with lanterns and singing songs. During this time, their parents are having a festive dinner. An obligatory guest on the festive table is considered without which it is impossible to imagine this event. Interestingly, St. Martin's Day is respected in other countries as well: Austria, Switzerland.

Love parade

The Germans are not at all as stiff as it seems to the inhabitants of other countries. The original German holidays are proof of this. Let's say that every year a Love Parade is held in the country, an event is scheduled for July 19. In honor of the celebration, women put on revealing outfits, music sounds everywhere.

Of course, the Love Parade does not pass without the beloved foamy drink by almost all residents of the state, which literally flows like a river. Thousands of people join the festive procession; professional DJs are responsible for the musical accompaniment of the ceremony.

Official celebrations

Easter is an event that cannot be forgotten, listing the German holidays and weekends associated with them. The religious celebration, which lasts for three days, has its own symbol - colored eggs; also, the inhabitants of the country traditionally attend Sunday services. Then adults and children congratulate relatives and friends, everyone exchanges gifts and songs.

For the New Year and Christmas, the Germans begin to prepare for about a month. In all corners of the state, they begin to work. The appearance of the streets, which are filled with colored lanterns, ribbons, and garlands, is changing. Celebrating the New Year is traditionally accompanied by dances and songs, and fireworks are not complete.

Other German holidays are also noteworthy. In May, residents of the country celebrate the Day of Solidarity of Workers, the celebration is traditionally held on the first day of the month. The rallies are attended by thousands of people armed with banners and flags. Of course, songs are sung.

Religious holidays

Religious celebrations cannot be ignored by listing German holidays. The calendar shows that most of them fall in November. For example, the first day of this month, which is considered the day of the saints and the dead, is important for Germans. Traditions tell on November 1 to remember the people who left this world, visit the graves of friends and relatives, and decorate them with flowers.

An important part of the holiday is the church service, during which the orchestra performs funeral music. After the completion of the service, the priest sprinkles the graves with holy water.

Festival of light

This event has no history that goes back centuries like many other German holidays, since it was first held in 2005. However, the Berlin Festival of Light fell in love with the Germans, forever becoming one of the favorite celebrations of the people of Germany. Famous architectural monuments, including the Chancellor's Residence, Bergamon Museum, Berlin Cathedral and others, become light installations for two whole weeks. City streets sparkle with countless lanterns and spotlights.

Book Fair

The Frankfurt Book Fair is a must-see for every book lover. It is set up in October, publishing houses from many countries of the world (about a hundred) participate in the festival. Interestingly, this holiday has been celebrated for over 500 years, but its popularity remains consistently high.

I I

From the originator

Each nation declares itself through its activities, i.e. culture. The traditional culture of the peoples of the North (Khanty, Mansi and Nenets) has evolved over the centuries. She was maximally adapted to the natural conditions of their habitation, she was subject to certain laws passed from one generation to another. The most essential are the relationships that develop between man and nature. These relations and connections, which originated in time immemorial, are jealously guarded by tradition, are fixed in customs, ritual actions, and religious beliefs.

Brento Tamara Nikolaevna,
chief librarian of the Gubkin Central Library System

HISTORICAL REFERENCE

MANSY - a small people, about 7 thousand people, living mainly in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District of the Tyumen Region. The Mansi are united with the Khanty under the name Ob Ugrians. The Mansi and their closest relatives, the Khanty, are the indigenous population of the West Siberian taiga. A few centuries ago, the territory of the Mansi spread much further to the west, but the stronger and more warlike tribes of the Komi-Zyryans drove them back to the Trans-Urals. In the 16th century, the Mansi were tributaries of the Siberian Khan Kuchum, who fought with Yermak. After the defeat of Kuchum, the Mansi lands became part of the Russian state. The former name of Mansi is Voguls.
All Mansi groups are largely mixed. In their culture, one can distinguish elements that indicate contacts with the Nenets, Komi, Tatars, Bashkirs, etc. The contacts between the northern groups of the Khanty and Mansi were especially close.
The main traditional occupations are hunting and fishing; part of the Mansi is reindeer husbandry.

Nenets - the indigenous population of the European North and the north of western Siberia.
Two ethnographic groups are distinguished: the tundra Nenets and the forest Nenets, distinguished by family and clan composition, dialect, and some cultural features. They speak the Nenets language, which has 2 dialects, which break down into dialects.
The traditional branch of the economy of the Nenets throughout the territory of their residence is hunting, fishing, and reindeer husbandry.

HUNTS - the indigenous population of Western Siberia, concentrated in the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs. The total number is 22.5 thousand people.
Among the Khanty, there are 3 ethnographic groups - northern, southern, eastern. They differ in dialects, characteristics of the economy and culture. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Russians called the Khanty Ostyaks. They speak the Khanty language, the writing is based on Russian graphics, the Khanty believers are Orthodox.
The main occupations are hunting and fishing.

NENETS FOLK HOLIDAYS

As you know, the Nenets do not have traditional folk holidays, but there are days of great joy. This is the birthday of the child, the arrival of welcome guests and relatives, and finally, the creation of a new family - a wedding.
A person's birthday is celebrated only once in a lifetime after the baby's umbilical cord falls off. This is a holiday for adults only, and the birthday man himself will never celebrate his birthday until the end of his life, and will not know how his name day was. On the occasion of the birth of a child, a young deer is slaughtered, and elderly women who have taken birth are presented with gifts. As a rule, these are small gifts: for example, braided braids, pieces of cloth, items for hygiene procedures, etc., a knife is given to the midwife to cut the umbilical cord. While women and grandmothers celebrate the baby's birthday, his brothers and sisters run around, ahead of each other, looking for traces of a new person in the snow, on the sand by the river. The appearance of a little sister or brother is very puzzling to kids, and adults are given a new task, which they cannot cope with, no matter how hard they try. In the end, children come to terms with the fact that it is impossible to find traces of a baby, and come to the conclusion: this mysterious person is very well oriented in the area and knows how to choose places that others cannot walk. Looking for his traces, children invent all sorts of fables: maybe he flew in on wings or climbed into a bag of yellow moss, or came as ngemunji - an image of a dream, silently and imperceptibly sneaking up on a person. These ngemunzi in the tundra tame children who are overly naughty in the evening. In order not to dream of him in the form of a monster, he is called affectionately - Ngemunzikotsya. Adults say: "The image of a dream likes to sit on the eyes in the evening and makes them sick." To prevent this from happening, children try to quickly close their eyes and fall asleep without unnecessary reminders.
There were no special holidays of their own, except for more or less specific periods (but not days) of sacrifices related to reindeer husbandry and trade. As a result of long communication with the Russian population, the European Nenets began to celebrate some of the Orthodox holidays. Linking them with the periods of their reindeer herding and fishing cycle. Here are some of them (old style):

March 25 - Vorna yalya (Annunciation; the beginning of spring migrations);
April 23 - Yegor yalya (it was believed that by this time it was necessary to approach the hotel places);
May 9 - Nicolas Yalya (beginning of ice drift);
June 29 - Petrov yalya (the end of the sinkhole fishing, the beginning of the sor);
July 20 - Ilyin Yalya (mid-summer);
August 15 - Assumption of the yalya (slaughter of deer for malitsa);
September 1 - Semyon Yalya (until this day they handed over sands, hired for fishing);
New Year's Eer'yal cheese (mid-winter).

Khomich L.V. // Nenets: St. Petersburg, Russian Court, 1995 - 336 p..

NENETS FOLK HOLIDAYS

SPRING GIFTING OF THE HEAVENLY GOD THUNDER

Nenets old-timers remember how in the old days they themselves and their ancestors celebrated the spring holiday of presenting the heavenly Thunder God with a deer. In the Panha Pyak family, this event happened like this. The clan of Panhi Pyak went to their sacred hill "Kavr nat ka" to sacrifice deer to the Gods of Water, Sky and Thunder. Pyak Panhai climbed the ridge of the hill, tied a gray dummy to a tree, took off his belt with a small bag on a suede cord, took out a knot from it and laid it at the roots of a larch. The deer was taken out on level ground with its muzzle to the east. Three men killed the deer, and when he let out his last sighs, raising his head to the sky, Pyak untied the knot and tied it to a larch branch.
They ripped open the belly of the deer, the men took out and laid its entrails on the snow. When hot blood filled the belly, the person who sacrificed it, scooped up warm deer blood and slowly walked to the Pur River. Kneel down and poured blood into the fast flow of the river, while bending over the water, saying a sacred prayer to the God-spirit of Water. “Omnipresent, give us luck in the summer catch of fish for our children to eat! Do not take away the spirit of my people during the autumn and summer period. " Do not disturb us with the sound of strong waves. Save the number of our deer. "
Having finished the sacred prayer, they sat down around the carcass of a deer. A fish was put to the head of the dead deer, sprinkled with deer blood on its mouth, and they began to eat.
In the meantime, they killed the white deer of the chorus (male deer), sacrificing it to the God of Heaven - Thunder. And they made an image of a branch - a symbol of God-Thunder in the form of a bird, anointing it with blood and a birch at the roots. At the same time, a prayer is said: “O great master of heaven, we live under you. Our life is visible at a glance. We ask you, from above the looking eye, bring our tribe good luck, warm summer, a lot of game, berries, mushrooms for deer. To avoid mosquitoes and gadflies, there was no extreme heat. Save us and our pastures from fires, thunder and lightning. "
All the relatives of Panha Pyak sat around the slaughtered deer, ate and drank fresh deer blood and tea from fragrant leaves. In the evening, everyone departed to their plagues, joyful from the fact that they had fulfilled their duty to the God of Heaven.
This custom is a thing of the past. The law of nature: everything flows, everything changes.

P. Turutina,
honorary citizen of the Purovsky district
//"Northern Ray", 2003.-June 6. P.12

NENETS FOLK HOLIDAYS

Reindeer breeder's day

The Reindeer Herder's Day is a traditional, annual national holiday of the Nenets, associated with their economic activities. It is organized on a district or district scale, usually in spring. A large number of people gather for it. On this holiday, among the national types of competitions, the most common are reindeer sled races, throwing tynzei (lasso), ax, jumping over sledges, and tug of a stick.
Reindeer sledding is a beautiful and exciting sight. The best deer are selected, the harness is decorated with ribbons, strips of rovduga, and multi-colored cloth. Depending on the season, four or six deer are harnessed. Competitions are held for speed, but those present invariably appreciate the beauty of the deer running, their color (white deer were always considered the most beautiful), etc.
Tynzei is thrown on a stick set vertically, trochee, on the heads of the sled. The ax is thrown at range.
Traditional sled jumping competitions are interesting. Several sledges (usually as many as there are empty empty sledges) are set parallel to each other at a distance of half a meter. Jumps are made with two legs together, first in one direction, then in the opposite direction, as long as there is enough strength. Good jumpers jump over 30 or more sledges without rest.
The stick is pulled while sitting, resting the feet against each other (there are options).
All these types of competitions are for men. Women occasionally only took part in deer races.
Among other games and fun in the open air, one can note women's games - blind man's buff, ring, - which differ from similar Russian games. So, for example, when playing a ring, it was often passed simply from hand to hand, and not along a rope.
On the Reindeer Breeder's Day, usually national treats are prepared (reindeer meat, planes). Fairs are organized where products of national handicrafts are sold (handicrafts made of bone, products made of fur, beads, etc.).

Khomich L.V. // Nenets: St. Petersburg, Russian Court, 1995 - 336 p.

HOLIDAYS OF THE PEOPLE OF KHANTA

In the spiritual culture of the Khanty, the cult of the bear and the complex of myths and rituals associated with it, called the "bear holiday" or "bear games", are of great importance.
The bear, according to Khanty legend, is an ancestor-relative. Initially, this holiday was held only by members of one community, but over time it became national. It has many similarities to the Mansi bear holiday. It is also timed to coincide with the winter solstice (beginning) and the spring equinox and is held both periodically and on the occasion of hunting a bear. The second form of the holiday is still preserved. A rich folklore, folk choreography, song art and folk theater are associated with the "bear holiday".

BEAR HOLIDAY

Fairy tales fly through the taiga
Legends roam the taiga,
Like bear hunters

Like a bear is "lowered".
But no one dares to say
That a bear is being killed ...

He gave in unintentionally, -
His head is big
On the table lies wide.
And then his men
As a hero is praised
The spirit of the forest is called
They entertain with kunya song,
They see off with a bird dance.

Coming out of the warmth of the hut into the courtyard, the feast did not diminish the fervor, and the performance continued: "deer" in pink dresses galloped in the human circle, a hunter pulled a tight bow, and an "elk" in a red silk shirt fell dead, read his poems about his native land its inhabitants Shestalov. The shaggy head, carried out into the street, now rested on the table, surrounded by dishes with boiled fish, steaming venison and other dishes prepared for everyone who came to the holiday.

–M .: Det. lit., 1987 .-- 190 p.

HUNTERS - CREATORS OF EPOS

... The performance of a ritual song was an essential part of many rituals. Consider here a bear holiday, one of the most striking among the Khanty.
A bear in the Khanty world outlook is not only a forest animal, but also an exalted creature. When he lived in heaven as a child, he was irresistibly attracted to the earth. The father - the supreme god - yielded to the requests of his son and lowered him to the ground in a cradle, instructing him to maintain order and justice here, not to harm people. However, the bear violates some of the father's attitudes, hunters kill him and, as prescribed by God, arrange a ceremonial holiday in honor of the heavenly beast.
As follows from the stories of hunters and numerous descriptions, going after a bear, hunters underwent ritual cleansing with the uttering of the corresponding conspiracy texts. For everything connected with the bear, a secret language was developed, which, according to experts, included about 500 words. He himself was called "the beast", the skin - "soft clothes made by the mother", snow - "white dust", the gun - "thundering thing", the bear is not killed, but "brought down" from the forest to the village.
The rise of the animal from the den is a prerequisite for its prey. The skin of the dead bear was removed from the head and taken to the village. Here the “bear” was greeted with welcoming shots, and the hunters were sprayed with water or powdered with snow. The bear was brought into the house, laid with its nose on its paws, put a hat or scarf, jewelry on its head, rings on its claws, and birch bark circles or plaques on its eyes. They also offered refreshments. The bear was informed that he had been killed by an arrow or a Russian bullet, and asked not to frighten the women in the forest.
The fun began in the evening, people came to it from afar. The program began with songs telling about the celestial life of the bear and his earthly deeds. In the morning they sang a song of awakening to the bear, then songs of praise were sung; a Russian who got here could sing a ditty. Then the next part of the bear holiday began - dramatic performances. The actors were only men in masks; when performing female roles, they wore women over their clothes. Over the course of several evenings, a dozen scenes from the daily life of the Khanty were played out: they portrayed a cowardly hunter, an unsuccessful matchmaking, overeating bird cherry, a clash with an official, etc. Some scenes were of sexual content. No one dared to be offended if the mocking scene referred to him, In the intervals between songs and scenes, dances were arranged to music. Fortune-telling about hunting was also carried out. At the end of the holiday, the bear meat was cooked and eaten. They carried the bear (skin) through the window with certain precautions. The skull, and sometimes the skin, was kept in special buildings.
The structure of the bear cult is most fully revealed in the dissertation of Eva Schmidt, which reveals about 30 motives for its perception. The image of a bear is, as it were, scattered across different spheres and worlds, appears in different guises - a bear-like spirit, a bear-man, a heavenly bear, forest, earthly and underground.
The rituals performed at the bear festival are not only sacred. At the same time, it is a holiday on which people rejoice at large prey and pay tribute to the courage of a person and his courage in hunting for a bear: after all, in the Khanty's ideas, this beast is an almost supernatural creature. Equally important is the fact that the bear festival allows people living in these sparsely populated areas. The holiday of the bear, like others, brought variety to difficult everyday life, relieved mental stress. The comic-critical scenes played an entertaining and educational role. In modern terms, this is a folk festival. And at present, some traditional scenes of the bear holiday are performed at concerts during official celebrations, at festivals of folk art.
People Mos and Por appear in folklore stories about the bear. According to the sacred legend, the Mos woman was born to a bear in the prehuman era. The northern groups have many tales about the rivalry between the Mos and Por women.

Kulemizin V.M. Lukina N.V. // Meet: Khanty. - Novosibirsk: VO "Science". Siberian Publishing Company. 1992. - 136 p.

BEAR REMINDERS

Among the Khanty, the bear has always been considered a sacred animal. In the mythology of this forest people, he appears to be the younger “brother” of man, therefore, he was invariably treated with high respect. Probably, there is no northern writer who, in his work, one way or another, would not mention the owner of the taiga. The scientific literature contains data on a variety of rituals associated with the bear. Let's dwell on one of them.
A bear's evening - a wake - the Khanty always celebrated over every killed bear. These rituals are still carried out by reindeer herders, but only if the “brother” is not “unclean,” that is, the culprit of the death of a person. Indisputable evidence of guilt is the presence of a ball of human hair in the stomach of the animal. The meat of an unclean bear is usually burned. (It should be noted that the Khanty do not get almost any benefit from the bear - on the contrary, people sometimes suffer a significant loss, since the commemoration, which usually lasts longer than a week, leads to high costs for treating guests.)
... Immediately after the bear is killed, he is taken to the village. Taking the carcass, they stop on the right side of the house and shout loudly three times towards the High Sky and dense taiga. To this cry, everyone, without exception, goes to the killed bear, bows down to him and kisses him in the face, saying: “King of the forest! Hello!" After that, be sure to wash your face with water. The one who does this may consider himself to have received a bearish forgiveness if he has ever scolded anyone. Preparations for the evening begin. (If it is not possible to celebrate the evening immediately after the hunt, the killed bear is removed to the cold barn, where it lies until a convenient opportunity.)
The brought bear is placed on a low bunk in the house where it is supposed to be. A scarf is tied around his neck, and a hat is put on his head. If a bear is killed (the Khanty usually say “caught”), then her head is decorated with a scarf. In front of the bear, in small birch bark bowls, they put dried fish, fatty cooking, nuts, bread; immediately put a comb.
Then the congregation begins to sing and tell different stories. The singing is accompanied by rich facial expressions and gestures, and the singer himself puts on a special birch bark mask and changes into various national clothes. Anyone who has the ability to do this, including women, can sing songs. But usually for this purpose special jokes and rhetoric are chosen. While singing, a specially assigned person marks the number of songs sung by making cuts on a long stick made for this purpose from young larch. The presence of an experienced shaman at such a party is not necessary, and he does not play a special role in it. After the prescribed number of songs has been sung, each of those present tries to find out what kind of fishing he will have this year. To do this, raise a bear's head. Whoever picks it up easily will have good fishing, and whoever has difficulty - bad. Then the killed bear is divided into parts, boiled and eaten, which, sooner or later, ends the evening.
It should be noted that bear commemorations are somewhat different from each other depending on the place of residence of the Khanty - they look different for those living in the upper reaches of the Ob River than among the inhabitants of the middle and lower Ob.
Kazimtsy immediately bring the killed bear into the house, having previously ignited birch chaga in front of its face; no cups of water are placed, and everyone who takes part in this meeting is showered with snow. At the bear's evening, many of those present put on special frock coats made of good cloth with light copper buttons, sewn just for this occasion. Kazym residents believe that after each meeting with a person, white spots appear on the bear's shoulders, under the skin.
At the bear evening, for the most part, songs and tales of satirical and humorous content sound - as a rule, from the hunting life. They ridicule boasting, unsuccessful fishing, lack of intelligence ... Here is an almost literal translation of one such song:
- In one of the Khanty's chums, a bear stole the supplies stored in the storage shed. The owner says to his wife:

“Come on, baba, let's kill the bear, - I've killed them before; I have a gun and a spear! "
In fact, not only did he not kill bears, but he never even saw them. Therefore, the husband thinks to himself: "How would I not meet this bear, otherwise he will pull me up!"
His wife persuades him not to go hunting, but the husband stands his ground and promises to kill the villain. As soon as they have moved a little away from the plague, a bear comes towards them. The man got scared and ran away, and his wife grabbed a gun, shot and killed the bear. Returning home, the woman scolded her husband: "But I told you that you would get scared and run away." To which the husband replies: “I would never run away alone! And since now I ran away, I knew that you yourself would easily kill this bear! "
It's not hard to grasp the humor that is the essence of these stories. Pay attention, for example, to another short hunting bike:
- One hunter is going to hunt a squirrel and says: "Today, perhaps, I will kill a half dozen squirrels!" He went into the forest, but forgot his gun at home. I walked, walked through the forest, and saw a squirrel on a tree. Grabbed, but he didn't have a gun! It seemed to him that he had lost it on his way. He began to search throughout the endless forest. I searched all winter day, but I never found a gun. The unfortunate hunter returned home tired. There they ask him: "Well, what did you get today?" And he replies: “But what can you do, a hindrance has happened - the gun does not fire! It must have gone bad. " And he answered: “Why are you lying? You left the gun at home! " The humiliated hunter only had to make excuses: "If he took it, it still wouldn't shoot!" Yes, so he still remained a deceiver for everyone.
These are the stories most often told at bear evenings.

Rugin Vilena. // "Yamal Meridian", 2001, No. 4, P.40-41

HOLIDAYS OF THE PEOPLE OF HANTA

SWAN WIRES

Few people know that the Khanty people have, besides the revered day "Vorna Khatla" - "Crow's Day", another holiday - Seeing Off the Swan, which is dedicated to meeting and seeing off the sacred bird - the swan. This event is preceded by a holiday accompanied by a special ritual.
Here is what I.S. Possokhov, an elderly man, Khanty by nationality, about the ritual of such a holiday of Farewell to the Swan, which he witnessed once in the fall.
The day before, the residents of the yurts agreed on the time of departure for the holiday.
On the day of the holiday, they drove up to the sacred place, and the male hunters announced their arrival with three volleys from hunting rifles. The guardian of the holy place, hearing the shooting, went ashore to meet the smartly dressed guests. The arrivals, mooring their boats to the boardwalk, walked in a line to the village along a path lined with branches and hay.
Then the women set fire to the stacked firewood, put food on the board by the fire. They sprinkled the fire on the alcoholics, threw a coin into the fire, and after that they lined up in a row and, sending obeisances, whispered:
"You are our sacred bird, we came to visit you and from the bottom of our hearts we brought everything that is needed with us ... Parting will soon come, you will leave your native land ... We are waiting for your return in the spring. On your mighty wings fly over mountains, taiga! We wish you a clear sky over our beautiful land. "
Then the women turned over their right shoulder, completing the ritual, and began the meal.
Bundles with gifts were suspended on a peg to the side. This was a common place for the ceremony. Old and small crowded, stood here and asked the swan to accept their gifts.
The main ceremony took place in a sacred place where only men were allowed to go. The sacrifice was performed here. This place was founded from time immemorial by distant ancestors.
The men brought a sacrificial animal, tied it under a thick, reddish one, and on another tree a primitive table was already made, under it poles were passed between the branches of the tree. The guardian of the holy place arranged the refreshments, untied the bundles with gifts, each item, enveloping the smoke of smoldering chaga. hung on poles. Those present threw a coin on the table, stood in front of the table, bowed. Then the caregiver brought the animal out and began to lead it in the direction of the sun.
- Hell! - a call-out cry was heard after each turn - and seven times the echo carried this cry ...
At the end of the holiday, one of the organizers put on a tetrahedral stick the number of people from each family, in order to then divide equally the costs associated with the ritual ritual, then he took out of the cauldron a piece of the neck, heart and eyes of the sacrificed animal, pricked them on the processes of the pole, put it on to a table attached to a tree.
The holiday ended on this.

Alexandrov M. // Yamal Meridian 1992, No. 1, P.65

HOLIDAYS THE MANSY PEOPLE

.....................................................................................................................................................................

The bear is the most revered animal. There were periodic (from December to March) and sporadic (popular with the successful hunt for a bear) - a complex complex of rituals associated with hunting a bear and eating its meat. The goals of the participants were varied, they included the desire to absolve themselves of the blame for killing the bear and eating its meat, as well as the wish to achieve well-being thanks to the bear and other heroes of the holiday. The holiday included mythological and everyday interludes, masked performances, folding folk theater, and puppet shows. Nowadays, the bear holiday is retained as the most popular and favorite entertainment.

Calendar holidays coincide with Orthodox dates. The Annunciation on April 7 is celebrated Raven day - Urine hotel equa, associated with the desire to reproduce life, well-being for the family, especially children. At the end of May - at the beginning of June (on different dates), fishermen's holidays were celebrated, which included boat competitions and shamanistic rituals and ritually prepared fishing. Autumn holidays were associated with hunting, mainly with the beginning of fur hunting, primarily Pokrov, which included sacrifices in a cave or on a mountain (for which they used the so-called "shaman" mountains - archaeological sites). The reindeer breeder's holiday is Ilyin's Day, on which the reindeer are sacrificed. At present, the Mansi perceive traditional holidays as one of the means of reviving their culture.

// Peoples of Russia: encyclopedia / Ch. ed. V.A. Tishkov - Moscow: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 1994 - 479 p. silt

HOLIDAYS OF THE MANSY PEOPLE

RAVEN'S DAY

Spring is coming violently in the North. It is announced by bright sunny days, streams and loud crows of crows. Everyone is waiting for the arrival of birds. They bring warmth and sun. The crow is one of the first to arrive, in April, when there is still snow and there are frosts. With her cry, she kind of awakens nature and, it seems, brings life itself. This is probably why the Ob Ugrians - Khanty and Mansi - consider this bird the patroness of women and children and dedicate a special holiday to it.
A crow song recorded on the Northern Sosva River contains the following words: “With my appearance, let little girls, little boys be born! I will sit down on the hole with talovy rotten (from their cradles). I will warm my frozen hands, I will warm my frozen feet. Let the long-living girls be born, let the long-living boys be born! " According to the customs of the Khanty and Mansi, all things of small children must be strictly monitored so that misfortune does not happen to the child. This also applies to those items that the baby no longer needs. Therefore, each family piled wet tsap (shavings of soft wood, which were poured into the cradle under the fur bedding) in a pile on the outskirts of the village around the hemp. The Khanty believed that a crow, having flown in from the south, warms its paws on these warm shavings on cold days and says: “More children would come to the earth so that I had somewhere to warm their paws”. Women always kept the images of the crow, made by their father or older brother, and when they got married, they took them with them to their new home.
In some areas, for example on the Conde River, there are no crows celebrations, but the concept of a crow there is associated with the concern for the reproduction of life, the health and well-being of children. They said about her here that she "arrives, who, where gives birth, wishes well." The moss, on which they saw a sitting crow, was laid on the children to make them happy.
Raven Day was celebrated on April 7, when the Annunciation is celebrated according to the Russian Orthodox calendar. The traditional calendar holidays of the Khanty and Mansi were often timed to coincide with the church ones. So, Crow's Day - the day of arrival - as if the message of the awakening of nature and life. It is close in meaning to the Annunciation and many early spring holidays.
Earlier on this day, adults gathered in houses, went to visit each other and prepared a lot of food from the meat of domestic animals. Ivdel Mansi necessarily cooked "salamat" - a thick porridge made from cereals with water. It was also eaten at the celebration of the birth of the child.
Food prepared from individual grains meant the sprout of new life.
Traditional Mansi dances were an indispensable element of the holiday. Men and women performed them separately under a stringed musical instrument - sangultap. In a dance depicting the spring behavior of birds, women covered their faces and heads with a scarf, leaving only small holes for their eyes. These dances also had a magical meaning associated with the idea of \u200b\u200ba female body as a symbol of fertility.
The Ivdel Mansi bring the raven closer to the mythological heroine Syan (Kaltash), who, as the progenitor, determined the fate of people, marking their life path on sacred tags, and helped with childbirth. They considered the Hsien holiday "Urine hotel" (Crow's Day).
The northern Khanty also associated the holiday with this heroine. According to them, "the crow is a clean bird, it flies to the southern land and brings menstruation to" clean "girls." During the holiday, at the edge of the village, they made a sacrifice to this bird: they put hot porridge and tea on the table, from which steam came out. Only small "clean" girls and old women could come here.
Spring women's holidays of the Khanty and Mansi are essentially close to the Crow's Day. Their goal is to strive for the well-being of the family, especially children.
Not far from the village of Vanzetur, on the shores of Lake Moravitur, in the lower reaches of the Northern Sosva River, there was a sacred Mansi site - arasch kan (campfire site). In the spring, women and children gathered there. Everyone brought colored strips of cloth and tied to a pine tree, under which there was a table with food and tea. The women bowed to the tree and prayed for the welfare of the family.
Women's holidays with similar ceremonies were also held near the village of Lombovozh on the shore of the "Loon Lake".
The Khanty, who live on the Synya River, also celebrated their women's celebrations on the Crow's Day. In sacred places they cooked food on a fire, prayed to spirits, bowed to a birch tree. As gifts they brought ribbons and scraps of cloth, coins and specially made dolls.
The Khanty and Mansi spring holidays have much in common: the special role of women and children, bird attributes, a decorated tree as the center of the holiday, sacrifice, some types of ritual food, and a functional purpose.
Similar rituals existed in the Urals among the Bashkirs. In the mythology and rituals of this people, the raven, raven and rook are interchangeable as black crying birds.
The festival "Karga Tui" (karga - rook, tui - holiday) was held on the hill closest to the village in late April - early June, when rooks arrived.
It was attended by women, girls and boys no older than thirteen years old.
Girls and young women danced in circles, played ball, jumped over obstacles, cooked and ate porridge, drank tea. The steward was the eldest of the women, dressed in a special suit.
Among the Eastern Bashkirs, the spring rite "Crow Porridge" meant the New Year. Girls and young women decorated the trees with pieces of colorful fabrics, coins, beads, scarves, and then walked around the tree, saying good wishes: “May there be enough food for every couple! May there be enough food for both people and birds! " The Bashkirs sometimes forced children to climb trees, eat a ritual kasha and shout there, imitating the voice and habits of crows.
Although at present there are no direct contacts between the Bashkirs and the Ob Ugrians, the characteristic features of their spring women's holidays may indicate contacts between the ancestors of these peoples. This led to the emergence of common features in the culture.
Among the northern Mansi, “Urine hotel” marked half of the year - “tal kotl”, and this performance was reflected in their economic activities. From April 7, hunting stopped. The reindeer herders went to the mountains. Fish came with fresh snow water, fishing began, and part of the fishermen left for the Ob until September.
On Raven Day, the Khanty and Mansi used to guess and observe the nature. For example, if the wind was blowing from the north, then “forty matinees will pass before warmth,” that is, forty days will remain cold; if a crow arriving sits on the top of a tree, they said that there would be "big water". By the amount of snow that day, they determined whether there would be a lot of fish and berries. The Ob Ugrians were convinced that some magic tricks should work on the eve of or on the day of the holiday. On the night of April 7, they went out onto the road and laid out lumps of horse manure. It was believed that whoever collected more of them in the morning would have a lot of duck eggs in summer and a successful hunt. There was another technique: at five o'clock in the morning, a bundle of hay was tied in the middle, imitating a duck's nest, horse manure was put on it and placed at the door of the house. The larger the nest, the more duck nests the family will find and the more successful the hunt will be. In the northern Khanty, "nests" were made by boys aged 10-14 years.
Among other groups of the Ob Ugrians, the Raven Day is not celebrated as a holiday, but there is some evidence of its possible existence in the past. Thus, the Vakhovian Khanty celebrated the New Year in March, a month that was called according to the traditional calendar “urniks” (“crows arrive a month”).
The crow month was known to the Selkups, Salym, Vasyugan-Vakhovsky, Aleksandrovsky and Middle Ob Khanty, Chulym Turks, Baraba Tatars, Evenks, Komi, Udmurts.
The revival of calendar holidays is closely related to the restoration of the development of the traditional way of life. In the course of the historical development of the peoples of the North, a special attitude towards nature has developed. They tried to adapt social and economic life to the rhythms of space. The cyclical nature of the rituals, in the opinion of the participants, should preserve the cyclical nature of fishing activities. A special place in this row belongs to the Crow's Day - a significant event in the life of the Khanty and Mansi. The main ideas of Raven's Day are close, understandable to everyone, as they are associated with the renewal of nature, life and the cult of fertility. For several years now, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the Crow's Day has been celebrated again - a traditional celebration underlying the revival of the culture of these peoples.

// Northern open spaces. - 1995.- № 2-3, pp. 53-56

HOLIDAY TRUCK

From the tale of Anna Konkova

With the spring holidays, grandmother Okol - Mothers Mothers had a lot of troubles and worries. She went around all the dwellings, found out who had what reserves in the family. She asked what they could bring to the celebration in honor of the Wagtail.
All this was done by the Mother of Mothers for the children. So that the joy of the children is not darkened, does not cause resentment and envy towards others. Granny Okol was worried about the weather, what will it be tomorrow? Will it interfere with children's fun? Maybe winter will sneak between the clouds and cover the festive square with snow. What if the old woman Winter will quarrel with the young Spring?
In the morning Okol woke up, and barely opened her eyes, immediately anxiously went out the door. I looked around. The morning was beautiful, it promised to be a fine day with blue skies bathed in sunshine.
Here Okol, calm for the weather, walks through the village, and everywhere she meets silver-winged wagtails. They sway on their thin legs, bowing to her affably. Grandma Okol also immediately responds with a bow and greets:
- Grazing, grazing! Hello, hello, messengers of the Great Light and Red Spring!
And the wagtails, happy that they have returned to their homeland, then take off with a short takeoff, then sit down, shaking their tails. They turn their heads, showing one beady eye, then the other. They dance to the music of ringing streams. The coveted spring is celebrated with a short chirp. Big Light, white nights. They shake off the warmth brought from the southern land from the wings.
Grandma Okol stood and rejoiced at the birds, as if she had seen them for the first time in her life. Smiling, reasoning, whispering:
- Is there any bird better than this polite bird in our land? No! Of course not. She is all summer, every morning greets us with a bow. It chirps that the whole summer will be with us.
Still smiling, Grandma Okol hurries to the end of the village to the playground. I went to a long table made of planks for the party. Women put cups of Mansi porridge - salamat. The porridge is extraordinary! It is generously flavored with pine nut kernels. And the nuts themselves are fried in fish oil. But porridge with nuts is not all. Swampy swarthy with fat, dough figurines of wagtails are placed on both sides of the tabletop. They are crunchy, melt on the tongue, barely bring it to your mouth.
Okol affectionately with a bow greets the mothers bustling for the sake of the children's celebration:
- Live healthy for many years, my daughters. The women are delighted to fuss:
- O our Mother of Mothers, now we will bring hot coals in a coal pit, put branches of fir and juniper on the coals. You purlahtan - send a prayer to the upper god - Torum.
Soon a perfumed smoke rose over the table, and the Mother of Mothers solemnly began to pay obeisances to the Heavenly Torum - god. The women sat down, peering into the face of their Mother Okol. The face of the grandmother often changed, it became joyful, then woefully sad. Everyone listened, listened to her quiet words and rejoiced and suffered along with her prayers.
Mother of Mothers finished praying. She looked at the treats on the table, whether the fish baked in ash was tasty enough, whether the jerky and salamat were appetizing.
Grandmother Okol takes one wagtail figurine and twirls it on a leg made of a birch stick. Oh, how lively the eyes of a baked bird are made of pike eggs! The pre-satisfied Okol stepped aside, sat down on a block of wood. I thought: "Skillful hands of my daughters!" (From the first days, when she was chosen as the Mother of Eurin women-mothers, she considered all housewives with families to be her children).
Okol thought to herself:
Hunting, fishing and preparing food for future use, sewing and washing - all can be done by vogul. Embroider and knit, weave and spin. Look how the chiseled figurine of our sacred bird, the Wagtail, was molded from dough! ...
Soon the men came to the holiday, the children gathered. Old man Petotka went up to Mother of Mothers, helped her to get up from the block of wood and spoke:
- Mother of Mothers, probably, congratulate your children on a bright holiday?
- Yes Yes! I'll go to the table now. She stood at an elegant, plentiful table and sang in a singsong voice: - My dear adult daughters and sons, our dear children, I congratulate you! The first spring bird has arrived - the Wagtail! The sacred bird has arrived - winter will not return. She can't get it anymore, don't freeze us. I ask the Spirits of Heaven to send us a long hot summer, warm rains, so that the berries will soon bloom. Let the ovaries of berries appear sooner. Let the rivers and lakes be full of fish, and the forests with animals!
Okol raised her hands to the sky and said:
- Spirits of Heaven, make my wishes come true!
Everyone was sitting at the table, eating, joking merrily and did not notice how Petotka raised the wooden miracle bird - the Wagtail. He got up and carried the bird around the table, tilting it over everyone sitting at the table, as if she, sacred, overshadowed the people.
I walked around Petotka's desk and walked across the square. Children jumped up from the table and rushed after Petotka.
A wooden bird, raised high on a stick, sparkled with bright green beady eyes inserted by the master. A wagtail was shaking with light openwork wings made of aspen chips.
The children were delighted:
- Look, look, the Wagtail throws off the snow with its wings, which has not melted in the woods. Soon, soon Grandma Okol will lead us to the forest for spring lingonberries! Yes, yes, for spring sweet lingonberries!
Petotka circled the square and disappeared into the willow thickets above the Evra River. Grandma Okol said:
And now the girls will perform the Wagtail dance!
The girls got up, spread their arms to the sides, as if they had grown wings. And suddenly they scattered, scattered, like a flock of multi-colored birds. They waved, the floors of their brightly embroidered robes flew apart. The little ones ran after the older girls. All movements were free. Whoever could, waving their little hands. Some, springing up, clapping their hands, turning their heads, darted from their place and jumped running, as if they were flying over a clearing - a square.
There were many hidden smiles of adults, when the youngest girls, with their still awkward movements, tried to imitate their elders.

// Northern open spaces. - 1995, №2-3, p.57

BEAR HOLIDAY

Light sledges are ringing on the snow crust, rushing us along the coast of Lyapin, the most fishy tributary of the Northern Sosva. Deer are running fast, waving their nostrils towards the blue teeth of the Urals on the horizon, from where a fresh "wind of touch" blows (driving reindeer herds to a new pasture) We fly, buried in fur armor, to the taiga mistress - the sorceress Misne (Misne are kind forest giantesses helping people). The goddess of waiting, she will shelter in her possessions both a tired hunter and a chilled traveler. But how to find her home in this forest tale with sacred trees carved with mysterious faces? How to hear her call? Perhaps he is in this creak of runners or the whistle of the wind in his face? Or maybe you need to look for misne not under the cover of a snowy forest, not in the noise of cedars, but in the warmth of the hearth, in the songs of the mansiyoks that maintain this warmth in order to warm up the husbands and sons who have gone hunting or fishing?
We are in a hurry with the Mansi poet Yuvan Shestalov to the main hunting holiday - the most archaic and mysterious of all that have survived among the peoples of our country - to Bear Dances, or games, as the Mansi call it - a small people of hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders living in the northern Siberian taiga. It was about this holiday that L. Tolstoy wrote: “... recently I read a story about the theater among the wild people of the Voguls. One of those present described such a performance: one large vogul, the other small, both dressed in deer skins, depicting one - a female deer, the other - a cub. The third vogul depicts a hunter with a bow and skiing, the fourth depicts a bird in a voice warning a deer of danger. The drama is that the hunter runs on the trail of the uterus with the cub. The deer run away from the stage and come running again. This performance takes place in a small yurt. The hunter is getting closer and closer to the hunted. The fawn is exhausted, hugs its mother, the mother licks his wound. The hunter draws another arrow. The audience, as the present person describes, freezes, and the audience can hear heavy sighs and even crying. And I felt from one description that it was a true work of art. "
This holiday cannot be predicted or calculated according to the calendar, because in order for it to take place, a bear must be killed. “The bear is killed” - the Mansi would never say that: why should he remember in vain the name of the owner of the taiga, his great ancestor, if he hears, he will be offended. Better to say "vortolnut" - "living in the forest":

Fairy tales fly through the taiga
Legends roam the taiga,
Like bear hunters
Having met, by cunning they "bring down".
In the villages the Mansi will tell
Like a bear is "lowered".
But no one dares to say
That a bear is being killed ...
The bear is "brought down", "down", -
He gave in unintentionally, -
His head is big
On the table lies wide.
And then his men
As a hero is praised
The spirit of the forest is called
They entertain with kunya song,
They see off with a bird dance.

These poems by Yuvan Shestalov, the canvases of his wonderful compatriot artists Konstantin Pankov and Gennady Raishev, taiga legends and legends, books of historians and ethnographers fascinated, called into the distance of distances and times, beckoned to an ancient holiday in which nature returns a person to its bosom, to his world order, and he again merges with it behind the masks of the beast. Of course, from a height of flight over the taiga, this whole world of forest secrets can now be captured at one glance along with new cities, oil rigs and gas pipelines. The legends of the bear's footprint are woven with a thin thread into a huge motley fairytale canvas of other times and peoples, and the light of today involuntarily peeps into the distant centuries and past rituals.
Many years have passed since we saw a real Bear Festival in these places - the old people were still alive, who knew the whole complex scenario of the performance, all its songs and quirks. Bear Dances were played after a successful hunt and later. They are rarely played even now - in a highly simplified form. And so it was conceived to restore this half-forgotten holiday, to invite experts and the best performers of the roles of the Bear Games from all over the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug to it in the village of Sosvinskaya, and this is almost all of Ukraine in terms of area. For such a case, everything unnecessary was taken out of the most spacious hut, as expected. A “sacred” table was placed in the front corner, on which the bear's head would be reclining. To decorate the room and the table, they used the indispensable attributes of the holiday - patterned birch bark boxes, ornamented products made of reindeer fur and beads, and the local school museum of folk art provided the best exhibits - a ritual bear cradle, carved wooden dishes, a magnificent ancient Mansi instrument with strings of reindeer veins - sankvyltap, which means "ringing". Related to the Finnish and Estonian kantele, similar to our gusli, it is probably one of the oldest musical instruments. Playing on it invariably accompanied Bear dances, shaman rituals (with the help of special drinking, dancing, singing and rhythmic beats to the tambourine, the shaman brings himself into a special ecstatic state, during the ritual the soul of the shaman allegedly travels to the world of spirits), and from Mansi fairy tales it is known that the magic sankvyltap makes the one who owns it omnipotent. Although the Bear Dances are characterized by a rather strictly defined order, but, as in any national holiday, its participants are given the opportunity to improvise, unexpected scenes, sharp jokes - they give it that topicality that connects ancient rituals with today's life.
Prepared in the village for the upcoming celebration and festive clothes. The cloth in these parts was once woven from strong and warm nettle fiber. Now, of course, the fabric is purchased, but the cut has remained traditional: for women - a long, straight dress sewn with a shirt - colored, with gathers at the yoke, the sleeves with cuffs are also gathered, a border is embroidered along the hem. But the most beautiful thing in this outfit is the breast jewelry embroidered with multi-colored beads. Men wear the same old cut of shirts - long, bulging, belted with colored braid, with a patterned yoke and appliqués made of small triangles. The Mansi outerwear is also remarkably beautiful - yagushki fur coats, as well as footwear, especially fur: kitties - high soft boots made of reindeer skin, decorated with an ornament of kamus - fur on the legs of a deer ... And then finally came the long-awaited moment when sledges drove up to the porch, in which the fanged head of the master of the taiga was adorned with a spread bearskin.
The holiday has begun! Half the village gathered to meet the sledges. Seven prescribed shots rang out, and snowballs flashed in the air - in order to cleanse it is necessary to spray each other with water or sprinkle with snow. After all, they do not meet a simple beast, but a formidable ancestor who can be reborn after death, and so that the soul of the murdered vortolut does not harm people, you need to cleanse yourself before it, and then appease it, appease it - this is the traditional meaning of the Bear's holiday. The head is given all kinds of honors - they bow down to it for goodbye, carefully take it out of the sleigh, solemnly pass it from hand to hand and, with a ritual struggle at the door, bring it into the house, where it is placed on the "sacred" table among the dishes - bread, cookies, sweets, fish , deer meat. A saucer with a smoking chaga - a healing birch growth - is placed in front of her: this is also a rite of purification. Places of honor on both sides of the table used to be occupied by an old man - the leader of the holiday or a shaman and a hunter who "brought" to the holiday "one who lives in the forest."
Today Yuvan Shestalov is dressed as a shaman. On his right hand is one of the best hunters - Pyotr Ivanovich Yukhlymov. Further along the walls, hunter's assistants, muses and spectators are sitting on benches. The center of the room is free for dancing and performances. The thick fringe of the shaman's cap hides Shestalov's face, a tambourine appears in his hands, into which he beats faster and faster. Here the "shaman" enters the circle, and the mystery of the ancient dance begins. Probably, he is striving to get there, up to the seventh heaven - to the abode of the creator of the world, the great Torum, whose son was a bear. A long time ago, when people still did not know how to make fire, a bear lived with his father behind the clouds and, seeing from there the earth changing its outfit from white to green, he thought that life on earth is more interesting than among the stars. Three times the bear asked his powerful father to let him go for a walk downstairs, until he agreed and lowered his son to the ground in a cradle. The bear got hungry on the ground, began to ask for it back, but the parent threw him a bow, arrows and fire and ordered him to live on the ground, getting his own food, and mending a just judgment over those who do evil. And if the son himself acts unjustly, then the man will inflict reprisals against him. The bear did not heed his father's warnings, he did a lot of trouble. One of the seven hunting brothers killed him, took away his bow, arrows and fire, which people have since begun to use. So the legend tells.
Now the bear has been "killed" by the hunter and the best performer of ritual songs at the Bear Holidays, Pyotr Yukhlymov - he is the first to apologize for this before his head, to ask her for forgiveness. Therefore, according to custom, he gets up and turns to the Clawed Old Man: “Forgive me, it was not I who killed you, it was my gun that fired, and you know it was not made by us. So they killed you by accident, this won't happen again. " Under the condemning gaze of bear eyes, the rest of the hunters stand up for their friend. Yukhlymov sings a long, drawn-out hunting song, and then three hunters perform a ritual dance, from which we learn about the bear's life in heaven and on earth, learn about all the vicissitudes of the hunt - how they tracked down and trapped the beast, how they killed him with seven arrows. The magic figure invariably accompanies all the ceremonies of the holiday and makes you remember the Big Dipper with its seven stars. After the ritual part, a costume performance begins: the sankvyltap rings, the figures in birch bark masks with long pointed noses are jumping, jumping, twirling, cackling, depicting a hunter setting a trap, a fisherman pulling a net, forest dwellers, deer, roosters.
The archaic is interspersed with the present day - ritual songs are replaced by comic scenes ridiculing would-be hunters who have fallen into their own trap, or a loser fisherman who has fallen into a wormwood. In a small village, everyone is in sight, and the hints of the actors do not constitute a mystery to those around them: every now and then the hut is announced with friendly laughter. If, as usual, only men perform in the masquerade, then women also take part in the dances that replaced it. Local soloists sing to the sounds of strings - first adults, and then girls. The holiday has been going on for a long time - before it was celebrated for several days, more precisely, nights - and the program is far from being exhausted. It's time for him to break out of the cramped hut, into a wide snow-covered courtyard, where venison is cooked in cauldrons over a fire. The "shaman" sets fire to the straw tail of the "fox" with a birch bark nose with a match, and the fox runs out of the hut with a noise and shout, dragging the people along with it. What this final rite means, none of those present remembers, however, in the image of a red fox in Mansi fairy tales, fire appears, received by people from the son of Torum.
Coming out of the warmth of the hut into the courtyard, the feast did not diminish the fervor, and the performance continued: "deer" in pink dresses galloped in the human circle, a hunter pulled a tight bow, and an "elk" in a red silk shirt fell dead, read his poems about his native land its inhabitants Shestalov. Brought out into the street, the shaggy head rested now on the table, surrounded by dishes with boiled fish, steaming venison and other dishes prepared for everyone who came to the holiday.
Where did this taiga carnival come from? Perhaps, it is related to the Belarusian holiday "Komoeditsa", at which peasants, dressed in fur coats turned inside out, performed a ritual dance imitating the movements of a bear waking up from hibernation? Or the spring bear holiday of the ancient Greeks with a "comedy" ("komos" in Greek means "bear"), to which both the Slavic "comedians" and the modern name - "comedies" are believed to go? Or maybe it leads to the most ancient rituals that took place in the sacred "bear" caves of the Paleolithic era? After all, the cult of the bear arose at the dawn of mankind as a cult of the rebirth of all living things, and it is likely that the bear rituals of the Neanderthals, similar in detail to the cult of the bear among the Siberian peoples, are generally the first holidays of man. But only misne can tell about this ...

Milovsky A.S. // Song of the Firebird: Stories about Folk Holidays.

–M .: Det. lit., 1987 .-- 190 p.

Contrary to popular beliefs that Germans are dry people and cannot really have fun or celebrate, the people of Germany are the European champions in terms of weekends and holidays. In some federal states, there are up to a half dozen holiday weekends.

Holidays (state and religious) such as German Unity Day, Christmas, New Year, Easter, May 1st, are celebrated by the whole country, others (for example, the Catholic Assumption of Mary or the Protestant Day of the Reformation) - only certain federal states, in others they have fun in general, only some cities and regions, such as the Rhine carnival, Bavarian fascing, rural harvest holidays ... And there are also, so to speak, informal holidays that are not days off: Oktoberfest, Valentine's Day, Halloween. Let's not forget about housewarming, anniversaries, weddings, childbirth, baptism, first communion ... In general, Germans love to have fun and celebrate. There would be a reason. From the many German holidays we have selected ten different ones.

Witches Sabbat and May Day

The night from April 30 to May 1 has been celebrated in Germany since time immemorial. On Walpurgis Night, witches (or those who, so to speak, took their form) gathered for an annual sabbath, more respectable people honored the intercessor of sailors and peasant women, Saint Walpurgia. Today German youths celebrate all night, "dancing in May," as it is called, and the guys put under the windows of the girls with whom they are in love, a "maypole" - a birch tree decorated with colorful ribbons.

And the next day, on May Day, trade unions and various parties (usually left-wing) organize traditional demonstrations and rallies - unfortunately, not always peaceful. May 1st in Germany is an official Labor Day and a day off.

Day of German Unity

On the night of October 3, 1990, Germany celebrated the reunification of the country. Since then, the Day of German Unity has been the country's main national holiday. Festivals, open-air concerts, fairs and folk festivals are traditionally part of the festive program of this unforgettable event in recent German history.

Valentine's Day

No sooner had the New Year passed, followed by the Day of the Three Holy Kings, who brought gifts to the newborn Jesus (in Russia they are called the Magi), as the 14th of February, Valentine's Day, is already approaching. It is celebrated in Germany relatively recently, since the early 1950s. And for the first time it became a holiday of lovers about 500 years ago in England and Scotland.

Valentine's Day is very popular in Germany. The Germans give millions of red roses and chocolate hearts to their wives, lovers, girlfriends. Opponents of this holiday (there are some) say that this is not a holiday, but the product of commercialization and clever marketing. Maybe. But the joy of the "Valentine", which ended up in the mailbox on February 14, is no less of that.

Carnival

In the days of Ancient Rome, after February 14, the Lupercalia began - festivities in honor of the god Faun. It is very possible that this is where the roots of today's carnival are. Mummers literally occupy the cities of the Rhineland, where the carnival takes place especially magnificently. Up to a million tourists come to Cologne for the main procession of jesters and buffoons on the so-called "Crazy Monday". Carnival is called the fifth season here.

It is a great honor to take part in the main carnival procession and in buffoonery "gatherings". The costumes, as well as sweets and bouquets of flowers that the participants in the processions throw around, cost a lot of money, and the mummers pay them, of course, out of their own pockets. That refutes another stereotype - about the stinginess of the Germans.

In the southern regions of Germany, a holiday similar to the Rhine carnival is celebrated more traditionally: the mummers wear frightening-looking masks and chase the onlookers with brooms.

Easter

The formulations "Catholic Christmas" and "Catholic Easter" adopted in Russia are inaccurate. In fact, not only Catholics, but also the believers of the Evangelical Church, and many Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter according to the Gregorian calendar. Western (not only German) feature: Painted Easter eggs and sweets are brought to children ... the Easter bunny. On this holiday, the windows of various German shops are decorated with figures of chocolate bunnies: tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of them are eaten in Germany.

Days of women and mothers

March 8 is also celebrated in Germany. Moreover, it was the German woman Clara Zetkin who initiated the celebration of International Women's Day. True, in Germany this is a normal working day. But not only women "in general" are honored here, but also - separately - mothers. The second Sunday after Easter is the official Mother's Day. In kindergartens and elementary grades of schools for this day they make, draw, sculpt: it is customary for mothers to give what they have made with their own hands.

Exorcism and All Saints Day

More recently, few people knew about Halloween, which takes place on October 31 in Germany, and almost no one celebrated it. But this once pagan tradition, having returned to Europe from across the ocean, took root and even bore wild fruits. Pumpkin heads with candles inside, costume parties and children's parties are growing in popularity. And having driven out the spirits of darkness, on November 1 the Germans (primarily Catholics) celebrate All Saints Day. On this and the following day, discos are closed in the Catholic lands of Germany, loud music is prohibited. This is the so-called "quiet holiday" - like, for example, Holy (Great) Friday.

See also:

January 21: Sweatpants Day

Let's be honest: is there really no problem in the world more important than inventing, and even more so spending days like, for example, Sweatpants Day? Although the idea of \u200b\u200bthe four guys from Graz is not so bad: on a certain day, pay tribute to the feeling of comfort with which we wear the most ordinary sweatpants. Be that as it may, and their call is followed by 47 thousand people on Facebook.





12 unusual reasons to celebrate

March 29: "Earth Hour" "without artificial lighting

When the lights go out for an hour all over the world on the last Saturday of March, Earth Hour begins. By doing this, WWF, the largest wildlife conservation organization of its kind, aims to draw attention to the problem of climate change. In Germany, several cities are already participating in this action, turning off the lighting of some famous buildings, such as the Cologne Cathedral.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

April 2: International Children's Book Day

The stories of Pippi Longstocking and the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm are among the most beloved children's books around the world. Surely they are read to children in schools and libraries on International Children's Book Day. In addition, on this day, seminars and competitions for the best essay are held, and famous authors read out excerpts from their works to children.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

May 6: International Day of No Diet

International Day of No Diet dates back to the initiative of Englishwoman Mary Evans Young. She founded the Diet Breakers campaign to combat excessive thinness in society. Due to problems with being overweight, Mary Evans Young herself developed anorexia, which she was subsequently able to cure. On this day, we are also talking about another important topic: discrimination against obese people.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

June 15: Car-Free Day

In 1981, representatives of church organizations in the former GDR initiated the "Mobility Without Cars" campaign, abandoning their cars for the time being. They wanted to show that people should move around without harming the environment. Then this tradition from the GDR merged with the tradition of West German "car-free Sundays". In Europe, Car-Free Day is celebrated on 22 September.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

July 30: International Day of Friendship

This day was established by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. "Let's maintain friendship. This strengthens our sense of solidarity and promotes the development of a wholesome idea of \u200b\u200bone big family," he urged. On Friendship Day, tribute should be paid not only to the strengthening of ties between individuals, but also to friendly relations in the political and cultural arena.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

August 1st: International Beer Day

There are about 12 thousand types of beer in the world, about 5 thousand of them are made in Germany. On International Beer Day, hoppy drinkers come together to have fun, pay tribute to breweries and learn more about beer and life in other regions and countries.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

September 19: International Pirate Imitation Day

The idea of \u200b\u200bholding International Talk Like A Pirate Day was proposed by two Americans, and curious journalists spread it around the world. The sole purpose of this comic holiday is to bring joy to people. In Germany, he is celebrated at "pirate" parties, dressing in appropriate costumes and imitating the conversation of sea robbers.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

October 5: World Bubble Day

And on this day, everything is subject to one goal - to enjoy life. The idea of \u200b\u200bcelebrating World Bubble Day was proposed on Facebook in order to make the world more colorful. The photo shows the huge soap bubbles that were blown on World Bubble Day in Gdansk. This holiday is celebrated in many other European cities.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

November 19: World Toilet Day

Nearly 2.5 billion people in the world lack well-equipped toilets. In 2001, World Toilet Day was established to show the importance of bathroom facilities for hygiene and health. Not everyone understands this relationship. Many are simply attracted by the name of this unusual holiday, and, without thinking about its meaning, they publish funny pictures of restrooms on the Web.



12 unusual reasons to celebrate

December 11: World Mountain Day

About a quarter of the Earth's surface is covered with mountainous landscapes. They are currently at risk from global warming and tourism. The UN established World Mountain Day in 2002 to draw people's attention to the peculiarities and problems of mountainous regions.

All German holidays with exact dates and translation into German are already listed in the blog - you can find them here. There they are all: from the January holiday of the three wise men to the December Sylvester! German holidays are divided into two categories: religious and state. The first, of course, are more.

Holidays in Germany: winter

The most important holiday in Germany is Christmas. It is a quiet, family friendly and very cozy holiday for Germans. But until the very culmination of this holiday - before Christmas Eve, there is Advent time. It is during this period that a festive atmosphere blows on the streets: you can take a walk, choose new holiday decorations for your home, drink hot mulled wine, and at home you must start culinary preparations for the holiday: bake Christmas cookies, rolls and gingerbread.

Therefore, it is safe to say that Christmas starts already at the end of November - from the first adventwhen the Germans light the first candle on the Christmas wreath (more about Advent -). The whole December is in a festive mood. From the first of December, children (and not only children) open the windows of their Advent calendars, and on the night from 5th to 6th they put up their boots in anticipation of a gift from grandfather Nikolaus. Christmas Eve is the culmination of all the action, the whole December rush around holiday decorations and gifts.

So tired of all this bustle, from purchases, from sweets, from attending pre-Christmas events, that before my beloved in the old times of the New Year, I crawl on my last breath ... And I want to quickly come on January 1, and better just the 2nd!

New Year's Eve in Germany is, of course, a much busier holiday. People throw parties, put on fireworks - which, by the way, can only be used on New Year's Eve. The Germans' table for the New Year is not bursting with treats. The main thing is to stock up on champagne and other alcohol, and prepare a small snack for it, but definitely not kilograms of salads of all stripes))

Having survived all these holidays - and taking a deep breath - you begin to live an ordinary life. Get rid of all edible supplies. For the New Year and Christmas, after all, you need to stock up on a large amount of food - for reasons - "what if not enough, and the shops will be closed ..."

And then one day, waking up on a January morning, you decide to cook chicken soup, which you need to buy ... You go to the store, but it turns out that they are closed, because on January 6 it is already in the yard, and this day of the Three Wise Men who brought gifts to Jesus and another day off in Germany. Because you have to look at the calendar more often. I’m not making it up ... We often planned to go somewhere and buy something, go to the hairdresser - and so on, and we ended up just on that day.

Orthodox Christmas falls on the holiday of the Three Volkhov: in Germany, like all religious holidays, it is quiet and homely. Many do not even notice him: just another day off.

The next winter holiday - which is not celebrated by all of Germany at all, and does not take place in the north - is the carnival. I already talked about it in detail and I will not repeat myself within the framework of this article - be sure to read

After the carnival week, it is time for fasting. This means a rest from the holidays. And this rest lasts until Easter. Although before Easter, religious people still honor Palm Sunday.

Holidays in Germany: spring and summer

Spring and early summer are a whole set of religious holidays related in one way or another to Easter. See the table:

Holidays that are weekends throughout Germany are marked in red. The rest - may be days off in certain regions, or not at all. January 24 and December 31 are still working days for some, and stores are open until 2 pm so that everyone can buy what they need.

Father's Day and Mother's Day are celebrated in May. Moreover, Father's Day is always a day off and it always coincides with the Ascension Day. What's funny: father's day is celebrated violently and noisily by young men who do not yet have children))

And mother's day falls on Sunday: what kind of holiday it is and you can read a little about the history of its appearance here

Summer is a time when there are very few official holidays. Because summer is already a holiday. Germans generally don't stay at home if the weather is good. The parks are crowded, forest paths are too, not to mention the beer gardens and other interesting places.

And in summer there are a lot of other unofficial holidays - urban and rural. Every July we hold a wine festival under our windows - although the region is not at all wine-making or grapevine. But for three days here it is so noisy and fun: after such a party, the tongue will not turn to say that the Germans are boring and they do not know how to celebrate holidays. Both old and young - they dance until late and have fun like the last time))) Some are even taken away by ambulances.

Besides, summer is a time of holidays - why not a holiday? The Germans are planning this business long before the onset of warmth and are therefore looking forward to it.

Holidays in Germany: Autumn

Of the autumn holidays, St. Martin's Day stands out, when children walk the streets with laterns and sing songs. Read more about it. What other holidays take place in the fall? Harvest festival, feast of all saints,

And Halloween has also moved to Germany - although not everywhere: nevertheless, many have adopted it: they not only carve a pumpkin, but also dress up in all kinds of evil spirits. In some famous places, there are various intimidating excursions.

There is also such a thing in Germany as Stadtfest - a street festival. At first I thought it was some kind of procession to match the carnival. But no! It's just a fair in the city center. With sausages, pancakes, beer, sweets and some fun for the kids. Such is the city's holiday: walk, eat and enjoy life !!!

With the same motto, Germans enjoy visiting medieval markets, knightly tournaments and other themed fairs. You can even find similar holidays every week in the nearest villages and towns.

What about the various fountains, sausage, forest, bridges, mills… and other regional parties? In general, you thought that the Germans are a boring people, but they have a holiday every day.