Russian Holidays

The calendar of Russian holidays has formed in a peculiar way: through Christian traditions, pagan elements tied to the annual natural cycle "shine through" here and there. The book leads the reader from the beginning of the year to its... end, making stops at each holiday date, and tells what rituals accompanied the arrival of spring, sowing, and harvest gathering. How girls divined in Rus; why villagers swung on swings and slid down hills; who the dressed-up and volochebniki are, what kumlenie, meat-eater, "terrible evenings," and "chicken name days" are...
The enchanting illustrations by Vera Pavlova create a poetic world where the heroes are both ordinary people and Russian saints, angels, and seraphim. Birds fly across the pages of the book, snails crawl, cats stroll, sheep and hares roam.
The book explains the preserved traditions and interprets the echoes of those that have faded away, building a bridge between the past and the present. It is suitable for family reading and will be useful for anyone interested in the history of the Russian people.