Many people get sad when August ends and September begins. The signs of autumn are evident by this time - the leaves begin to turn yellow already at the end of August, and although it is still warm, everyone understands that the rainy and damp season will soon come.
About September, many signs and sayings have been preserved since ancient times in different countries, where its names corresponded to these signs.
September in different Slavic languages
September is the most “rich” in names in various Slavic cultures. Most often this is due either to the end of field work, or to the weather, or to the hunting season.
In the Belarusian, Ukrainian and Polish languages, the name of the month is associated with the time of heather flowering. In Belarusian it sounds verasen, in Ukrainian - veresen, and in Polish - wrzesien. For Czechs and Croats, the signs and traditions of September were associated with the beginning of the hunt, which is why it sounds accordingly - zari for the Czechs and rujan for the Croats.
USeptember was designated by the ancient Slavs as ryuen (howler) - the time when male deer roar. This month they had a meal in honor of Rod and Rozhanits, who were revered by many pagan Slavic tribes. The clan stood higher than Perun the Thunderer, and tables were set in his honor and thanked for the generous harvest. Women in labor were considered "virgins of life" who helped give birth to children.
Seeing off summer
In ancient times there were many beliefs that fell on September. Signs were associated with the harvest or those who could harm it. For example, it was believed that on Agathon's day (the 4th day) a goblin comes out of the forest and behaves outrageously - he scatters sheaves in villages and villages.
There was even a rite called "night", during which the men put on their sheepskin coats inside out, tied their heads and took a poker to protect the threshing floor. Having circled the poker around the threshing floor, they seemed to seal it, kindle fires and wait for the dawn.
The beginning of autumn was perceived as seeing off a fruitful summer, as evidenced by the folk saying "August cooks, and September serves to the table." After the harvest, tables were laid and the end of the harvest was celebrated.
Among the ancient Slavs, the new year began in September, as the time for sowing and harvesting had passed, and the land was preparing for a new period of “hibernation.”
In fact, it was September that gave the forecast for the winter. Signs of the month were tracked by people who knew a lot about it.
Signs for the weather in September
Since September is only the beginning of autumn, to find out how muchcold will come soon, will it snow in winter or will it be wet and rainy, the ancient Slavs, observing the weather and passing their knowledge from generation to generation, developed their “forecasts”.
The signs of the weather for September concerned not only her, but also the behavior of birds and animals. So, on Lupa-cowberry (September 5) we observed cranes. If they flew to warmer climes that day, then expect an early winter. The wedge flies low - to be warm in winter, high - frosty.
To find out what autumn and next spring would be like, the peasants noticed what the weather was like on Eutychius. If it rained that day, then the rest of autumn was expected to be dry, and next year's harvest promised to be high.
Long autumn was promised if there was a thunderstorm in September. Folk signs say: "Thunder in September to a long autumn." If we compare folk signs with what modern weather forecasters predict, then the result will be 50/50. For example, by the protracted autumn, there is also a belief that the drier September is, the later winter will come.
Proverbs about the harvest in September
Today, signs of September are often mentioned for children in nature studies or literature lessons. Proverbs about the autumn harvest have survived to this day and convey the centuries-old folk observation of people whose life directly depended on the mercy of nature. Today, the harvest most often depends on fertilizers, so ancient beliefs have become only a memory of peasant wisdom.
“September is cold, but full” - the peasants treated this fruitfulmonth.
Berries, root crops, mushrooms, oats and flax are harvested at this time. Each of the vegetables, fruits or berries has its own sign, saying or proverb. "September smells like apples, October smells like cabbage" - so the wise old people used to say.
Since September was the end of business in the fields and was fruitful and warm, the largest number of weddings at all times fell on this month.
Wedding traditions in September
If a wedding was scheduled in September, the signs accompanying it, and various beliefs were strictly followed. Most young people got married in this month, as it closed the fruitful summer and was considered the breadwinner of winter.
Today these rites are no longer used, but once their performance was mandatory, otherwise the marriage could be unsuccessful. In ancient times, a wedding was not just an event, but a real "theatrical" production, where everyone present knew what to say, where to stand and how to behave.
It was believed, for example, that a cobweb that fell on the bride's face indicates a life of fun and full of joy. If it rained on the wedding day, then abundance and we alth awaited the young. The groom, who entered into a puddle, had every chance of becoming a drunkard if the wedding was in September. Signs of antiquity are perceived with humor today, but once people sincerely believed in them.
From the old wedding traditions, for example, the ransom of the bride has remained, which no longer has the same semantic meaning as it once did. In those days, the bride went to live in the househusband, where his relatives were not obliged to love and pity her, so the bride price assumed that the more the groom paid, the more he would value his wife.
Besides weddings, September was full of folk holidays
Celebration of Natalia and Adrian in September
September painted every day for all the peasants. As the people used to say, “a day missed - the harvest was lost”, but after everything was cleaned in gardens, fields and vegetable gardens, people celebrated numerous holidays, the number of which in September is more than in any other month of the year.
The peasant holiday of the beginning of autumn was the day of Natalya fescue and Andrian of the autumn (8th day). On this day, the peasants went out to harvest oats. “Natalia brings an oatmeal pancake to the barn, and Adrian brings oatmeal in a pot,” they said, cutting off the first bunch of oats and tying it into a sheaf, carrying it with songs to the manor’s farmstead or to their hut.
On this day, it was customary to bake oatmeal pancakes, eat buckwheat porridge and drink mash. September showed important signs that day. If the leaf has not yet fallen from birches and oaks, then the winter will be harsh, and a cold morning on Natalya will lead to early winter.
Holidays in the second half of September
Kupryanov day (13th day) was marked by the harvest of root crops, except for radish. Also on this day, the collection of cranberries (cranes) in the swamps began, as the cranes gathered in a wedge and flew away.
September 21 was the great day of Apos and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the time of onion harvesting and the meeting of autumn, as this day was the solstice from summer to winter. If athere was a thunderstorm in September, the signs of this day pointed to a “rotten” autumn, and a fine day - to dry and warm.
Ex altation - another big holiday among the villagers, which meant that turnips and cabbage were removed from the fields. On this day, skits and festivities were arranged after the church service. Also, after the Ex altation, they began to s alt the cabbage, and it was the end of the Indian summer.
Indian Summer
According to the tradition of the ancient Slavs, Marfino (Indian) summer began on Simeon's day (the 14th) and ended on the day of the Ex altation (September 27). The name came from the constellation Pleiades, which in Russia was called Baba. From the second half of August until mid-September, it appeared in place of the sun, as the day became shorter and the luminary left the sky.
It was a time of family reconciliation and numerous works in the fields and gardens. If there is a thunderstorm in Indian summer in September, folk signs reported a dry and warm autumn. With the end of the warm "Indian" period, women sat down to needlework, wove canvases, sang songs.
Proverbs about September
Observant and savvy people have created a whole layer of folklore traditions, rituals, sayings and proverbs about autumn. Although this is the period when the warm summer ends, in Russia they revered autumn and gave it sometimes affectionate, and sometimes harsh designations. Today, proverbs and signs of September are most often published for schoolchildren, as they have lost their semantic meaning for those who work on the ground. For the ancestors, September was a significant month.
“Father-September will not spoil,” the old people warned negligent owners. ATSeptember, fire in the hut and in the field”- this meant that it was time to heat the huts and burn the leaves in the gardens and tops in the gardens.
"In September, there is only one berry, and even that mountain ash is bitter," the peasants so regretted about the outgoing generous summer, but at the same time they paid tribute to autumn: "Spring is red with flowers, and autumn with sheaves." This is also confirmed by another proverb - "September is cold, but full."
This is the end of field work, and it was September that showed how easy and satisfying it would be to survive the cold: “What July and August do not cook, September will not fry.”
September Traditions
September closed the summer, but due to the still warm weather, it was often called late summer. Weddings were traditionally played this month, seeing off the summer and organizing harvest festivals.
In ancient times, people not only worked hard, but also knew how to walk well. Each new type of harvesting or plowing was accompanied by traditional songs, dances, feasts and an appeal to the patrons of the harvest with a request that it be high.
God Horse was the patron saint of grain growers and controlled the weather. He was asked to give a good grain harvest in the summer and thanked for it in the fall.
The goddess Vesta was in charge of the arrival of spring and was addressed when they called her after a long icy winter. She also gave color to all plants. Goddess Diva was responsible for fertility and rain. She was asked for large harvests of vegetables and fruits.
Traditionally, in September, after harvesting the fields, the peasants honored these gods with a mealand songs. These pagan rites continued in Kievan Rus until the end of the 10th century, until these holidays merged into church rites after the baptism of Rus.
Church holidays in September
From the time of the baptism of Kievan Rus (988), more than 1000 years have passed, and during this time, church holidays have supplanted pagan beliefs. But until now, in many villages and villages, pagan rites are carried out, which coincide in time with the great religious holidays.
September did not escape this fate. Signs of the month for John the Baptist (September 11) have always shown what to expect next. The people called this day Ivan the Lenten, since there was a strict fast in memory of the beheading of John the Baptist. It was forbidden to cook and eat food made from round vegetables.
"Ivan the Lenten came, but took away the red summer" - from that day the Indian summer began, full of work on the preparation of pickles and the collection of roots.
Another great holiday in September is the 21st of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Before Christianity, it was a celebration of the collection of onions and honey. On this day, the harvest festival began, lasting from 5 to 7 days, not only with festivities with dances and songs, but also with fairs, bazaars and booths. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is also traditionally celebrated for 5 days.
