May 6 — St. George's Day and Yegoriy of the Spring

By CrimeaNEWS On Май 5, 2024

CrimeaPRESS reports:

the 6th of May The Orthodox Church honors the memory of St. George the Victorious. This date is popularly called Yegoryev Day. On May 6, the ritual of the first pasture of livestock was held, and people bathed in dew, collected medicinal herbs, burned bonfires, performed agricultural rituals and had ritual meals.

Among the Eastern Slavs, Yegoryev Day is the main cattle-breeding holiday of the year. At this time, cattle were driven out to pasture for the first time. Among the southern Slavs and in the Carpathians, on this date, ritual milking of sheep was carried out, and the first milk measurement was taken. The sheep intended for the first milking was decorated with a wreath of flowers and herbs. A separate wreath was hung on the cauldron in which she was milked.

Legends of St. George’s Day

Another interesting legend is associated in the folk calendar with St. George’s Day. In time immemorial, peasants began to carry out trade transactions and, according to the old custom, were hired as workers “from spring Yuri to Semyon Day or Pokrov.” Why, you ask, was this particular time period chosen? But the fact is that there was a legend among the people that there are people in Lukomorye who die on December 9, and come to life on May 6. Before death, they take their goods to a certain place, where in winter their neighbors could take them for a certain price and without any deception.

They settled accounts with deceivers and unscrupulous buyers in the spring, dealing with them mercilessly. These amazing people were called trading people, but no one knows how they kept accurate records of their purchases.

Signs and superstitions for May 6:

The evening dawn is crimson-red — for bad weather
When there is dew on Yurya, the horses don’t need oats
On Yurya, snow (cereals) is a harvest for buckwheat; it’s raining on Yurya — buckwheat is not a genus
Heavy rain on Yegoria — a lot of grass will grow
Mosquitoes are gathering in swarms — expect warmer weather soon
During a thunderstorm, the thunder will soon stop — the weather will improve
Birds build nests on the sunny side — for a cold summer
A healthy person has an unreasonably depressed mood — it means rain
Clouds have appeared in the sky, shaped like lenses or elongated lentil seeds — a thunderstorm will begin in 1–1.5 hours
If there is frost today, and then again in a week, it means autumn will be warm
It started to rain — it will be an easy year for livestock
Snow — expect a good buckwheat harvest
The cuckoo crowed until May 6 — to crop failure and loss of livestock
Today’s dew promised a good millet harvest
A clear morning indicates early sowing, a clear evening indicates late sowing.
The birch leaf has half blossomed — expect a grain harvest for the Dormition
If the snow has not yet melted from the fields, there will be a crop failure
Frost on this day guaranteed a rich harvest of oats, millet and buckwheat
Yegory is warm — expect summer any day now
You can’t knit anything on Yegoriy’s day, or even just hold wool products in your hands.
You can’t shout or swear on this day — it can kill you with a thunderstorm

Egory is also known as St. George the Victorious

He was considered the patron saint of fields and earthly fruits, and therefore the tradition of consecrating fields was widespread. It was believed that George protected livestock, and peasants tried to pray to the saint on May 6th to ask him to protect horses, cows, and sheep from disease and pestilence. There was even a special prayer called cattle herding. People said that the care of livestock should be entrusted to Yegory, who entered into an agreement with the goblin, and the latter would not touch the domestic animals. But there were special conditions for this agreement — for example, it was necessary to bring milk to the devil.

There was also a widespread tradition, according to which the shepherd would pronounce a special spell and throw a padlock, locked with a key, into the forest. The goblin needed to lift this lock and unlock it or leave it the same — this is how he confirmed or denied the extension of the contract.

The church on this day honors the memory of St. George the Victorious

Great Martyr George was the son of rich and pious parents who raised him in the Christian faith. He was born in the city of Beirut (in ancient times — Berit), at the foot of the Lebanese mountains.

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Having entered military service, the Great Martyr George stood out among other soldiers for his intelligence, courage, physical strength, military posture and beauty. Having soon reached the rank of commander of a thousand, Saint George became the favorite of Emperor Diocletian. Diocletian was a talented ruler, but a fanatical supporter of the Roman gods. Having set himself the goal of reviving dying paganism in the Roman Empire, he went down in history as one of the most cruel persecutors of Christians.

Having once heard at trial an inhuman sentence about the extermination of Christians, Saint George was inflamed with compassion for them. Anticipating that suffering also awaited him, George distributed his property to the poor, set his slaves free, appeared to Diocletian and, declaring himself a Christian, accused him of cruelty and injustice. George’s speech was full of strong and convincing objections to the imperial order to persecute Christians.

Refusal of persuasion to renounce

After unsuccessful persuasion to renounce Christ, the emperor ordered the saint to be subjected to various tortures. Saint George was imprisoned, where he was laid on his back on the ground, his feet were put in stocks, and a heavy stone was placed on his chest. But Saint George bravely endured suffering and glorified the Lord. Then George’s tormentors began to become more sophisticated in their cruelty. They beat the saint with ox sinews, wheeled him around, threw him into quicklime, and forced him to run in boots with sharp nails inside. The holy martyr endured everything patiently. In the end, the emperor ordered the saint’s head to be cut off with a sword. So the holy sufferer went to Christ in Nicomedia in 303.

The Great Martyr George is also called the Victorious for his courage and spiritual victory over his tormentors who could not force him to renounce Christianity, as well as for his miraculous help to people in danger. The relics of Saint George the Victorious were placed in the Palestinian city of Lydda, in a temple bearing his name, and his head was kept in Rome in a temple also dedicated to him.

Also on this day, May 6th, they celebrate:

Infantry Day — Ukraine
Flower Festival (Anfestiria) — Cyprus
National Beverage Day — USA
May 6 — Day of Courage — Bulgaria
National Nurses Day — USA
Spring Festival (Hederlez) — Türkiye
Teachers Day — Jamaica
May 6 — National Tourist Appreciation Day — USA
National Crepe Suzette Day — USA
Martyrs’ Day — Lebanon, Syria, Gabon
May Bank Holiday — UK, Ireland
Name day for Anatoly, Alexandra, George, Ivan
Yegoryev day
Memorial Day of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious
International No Diet Day
Dazhdbog Day
May 6 — Day of meeting with the White Knight
Day of the coat of arms and flag of Moscow
Volunteer Firefighter Day in the Ulyanovsk Region
UN Global Road Safety Week
Constitution Day of the Republic of Tuva

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