| Green week | |
|---|---|
 Semik, Russianlubok, 19th century | |
| Also called | various names inSlavic languages |
| Observed by | Slavic people |
| Begins | Easter + 42 days |
| Ends | Pentecost |
| Date | the week precedingPentecost |
| Duration | 7 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Pentecost,Trinity Sunday,Eastern Orthodox liturgical days,Rosalia |
Green week, or thegreen holidays, is a traditionalSlavicseasonal festival celebrated in early June. It is closely linked with theveneration of the dead and the spring agricultural rites. In Eastern European villages, the seven weeks followingEaster have historically been a time of festivity. Green week takes place during the seventh week leading up to thePentecost,[1] and includes the seventh Thursday after Easter, calledSemik.
The green week is followed by Trinity week, also known as theholiday of the Trinity inEastern Christianity. It is also widely known asWhitsuntide week in the English-speaking world, especiallyGreat Britain, and is inaugurated by the celebrations ofTrinity Sunday, the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity.
In Russia on Semik (the Thursday of the green week), funeral rites are held for theunclean dead (those who had died before their time).[2][3]Birch trees are particularly significant, because they are considered hosts for the souls of the deceased.[1] Sometimes people honor a particular tree by decorating it or carrying it around. At other times, people cut birch branches and hang them in their homes.[1][2] The birch is also seen as a symbol of vegetative power, and may be honored with people's hope that it will bring its vitality to the coming season's crops.[2]
Springtime and fertility rituals are also important to the holiday. Girls bring offerings of fried eggs (a symbol of rebirth) and beer to birches, andspeak charms about improved harvest when weaving garlands for the trees.[1] Another tradition is for girls to pledge vows of friendship before the chosen birch tree.[1][2] Some believe this to be the remnant of ritual sexual activity associated with the cult of spring.[1] LikeKostroma duringMaslenitsa, in Russia a chosen birch tree is destroyed at the end of the festivities. It is usually drowned,[1][2] "in order to provide the needed rainfall for the sprouting crops".[4]
In Ukraine during the Green holidays (Ukrainian:Зелені свята) women would engage in the tradition known askumuvannia (кумування), during which a kerchief andcoral jewelry would be given to a potentialgodmother of one's future child (kumá). InPolesia girls would give each other birchwreaths andyellow-painted eggs, kissing and wishing for themselves to becomekumas in the future.[5] During the Green week people would also commemorate the deceased by visiting their graves, holding religious services and feasting. AmongHutsuls, after a blessing ceremony in the church, bread loaves (kalach) would be carried to the cemetery along with cheese and milk products. InGaliciaknyshes and pies would be baked for this occasion. Bread made during the Green week was considered to have magical properties. In some regions of Ukrainekoliva would also be prepared in that period.
As part of the commemoration ritual during the Green week, in Ukraine graves would be decorated with green branches oflinden,willow,maple and other plants. Private homes were adorned in a similar way. The most popular plant for this purpose wassweet flag, which was considered to have magical properties, functioning as an amulet against evil forces, and could also be used for covering floors. Other plants used for house decoration during the feast werethymus,lovage,carex,ash, oak, walnut etc. Green branches could also be placed on garden plots to provide good harvest, and inPodolia they would be thrown into wells to attract rainfall. In some Ukrainian villages the tradition of blessing wells on Green holidays exists to this day.
After thePentecost service, Ukrainian peasants would go into the fields together with a parish priest, who performed a blessing ritual over each plot of land in order to protect the harvest from hail and fire. In some localities a cross would be dug into the earth to prevent hailstorms. If the procession passed aroadside cross, the priest would say a prayer commemoration the person who had paid for its erection. Sometimes a few stalks of rye or wheat would be tied together, as it was believed to stimulate growth. In some places the procession would produce noise to expel evil forces from the fields.[6]
Therusalki are nature spirits (navki,mavki) associated with green week traditions. They derived their name fromRusalii, another name for the holidays. Some believe they were associated with deceased family members,[1][2] or perhaps only unclean dead.[2] Sometimes an honored birch tree would be named for a rusalka as part of green week.[1] Some of the rites of green week (like making offerings of eggs and garlands) were thought to placate the rusalki so they would stay away from the village's agricultural fields for the season and not bring them harm.[2][3] In Ukraine it was believed that bread baked on Saturday during the Green week was the best for accommodating rusalki and mavki.[7] Rusalki are also associated with water and fertility, and so may be invoked during green week in an attempt to bring their moisture and vigor to the fields.[2] During green week, rusalki are believed to be more active, making them a greater threat to villagers.[2] One precaution villagers take during this week is to avoid swimming, because rusalki are thought to live in the water and could drown passersby.[2]
There is a similar holiday celebratingPentecost inRomania, calledRusalii.[8] There are also similar Germanic traditions, for example,Pfingstbaumpflanzen inGermany. In modern-dayPoland it is celebrated along with Pentecost Sunday asZielone Świątki.
An important Romanian celebration is coming up this Sunday, May 23rd. It's called Rusalii or the Descent of the Holly [sic] Spirit (the holiday is also called Pentecost sometimes) and it is always celebrated by the Orthodox Church 50 days after Easter.
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