CrimeaPRESS reports:
In Rus’, August 15 was associated with horses. After all, Stepan Senoval is their patron. There was a tradition of giving animals holy water to drink on this day — before this, any silver object had to be dipped into it. They were sure that this would help protect the «ponies» from evil spirits and diseases. There was also a common custom of giving horses water through a hat, into which a silver coin was then placed and hidden in the stable (usually under the manger). It was believed that this helps make the horses more docile, and the cattle themselves are not afraid of evil spirits. Interestingly, the coin used in the ritual was often passed from father to son by inheritance.
It was also the time to mow the grass that had already grown. They tried to do the work on August 15, which included covering the hay from bad weather.
And to protect against colds that beset people in the off-season, they practiced the following ritual: girls went out to the meadow and wove wreaths from 12 different herbs. Then they brought them into the house and hung them under the icons, in the red corner. It was believed that such a wreath had protective and healing powers.
The Church now honors the memory of Saint Stephen, the first martyr who was an adherent of Christian teaching and came from the Jewish diaspora. According to legend, Stephen, along with six fellow believers, was chosen as a deacon by the apostles and was supposed to maintain order and justice among the population. However, it must be said that in addition to this, Stephen also preached faith in Christ in Jerusalem. Once in one of the synagogues, he argued about one of the speeches, as a result of which he was summoned to court. However, it is unknown whether Stephen died as a result of the sentence, or whether he was stoned to death after his release — in any case, he died a martyr’s death. During his torment, he asked Jesus to take him to heaven and prayed for mercy for the murderers. By the way, August 15 marks the transfer of the relics of the martyr Stephen from Jerusalem to Constantinople.
Signs of the day:
- What the weather is like on this day is what the whole of September will be like.
- A wreath woven from 12 herbs on August 15 will protect the whole family from autumn ailments.
- Rainy weather means a good potato harvest. Also, a rainy day foretells the absence of fires until the end of the year.
- If the north-east wind blows, it means there will be a poor grain harvest.
- If the weather is dry in the morning, it will be dry for 6 weeks. If it is rainy, the next 6 weeks promise to be stormy.
- The waxing moon on this day means dry weather. The new moon means damp weather.
- A rainy day during the new moon means a good mushroom harvest.
- Spiders weave small but neat webs — a sign of strong winds.
- Cats scratching walls with their claws means bad weather. Such behavior of a cat is unlucky for fishermen: there will be no bite that day.
- Chipmunks whistle — it’s a sunny and windless day.
- If frogs croak loudly, it will rain.
- If you don’t hear any frogs, there will be severe morning frosts.
- A tailwind in the first half of the day means sunny weather.
Today’s name days are celebrated by: Platon, Kirill, Roman, Fedor, Vasily, Ivan, Stepan, Taras.
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