Elena Chebotko
“Kuzminki - wake in autumn!” Scenario for an autumn holiday for seniors preschool age
Kuzminki - a wake in the fall!
Target: Introduce children to the traditions of the Russian people. Encourage interest in folk culture.
Tasks: To introduce children to the features of folk holidays using the example of the folk festival “Kuzminki”
To improve children's motivation for creative activity through improvisation, play, singing, movement, and playing children's musical instruments.
Activate personal qualities children.
Celebration progress:
The hall is decorated in the “Russian upper room” style. To the music of the Russian folk song "Spinner" girls enter in Russian folk costumes. The hostess meets them.
Mistress- Peace be with you, dear guests,
You came at a good hour -
A warm welcome like this
We cooked for you.
1 Girl- Hospitality and cordiality
Our native land is famous.
2 girl– Here are Russian rituals for you
And a honey loaf.
Mistress- And the places are noticeable for guests -
There will be a festive table for you
After all, today there is bright joy
He enters the house with you.
3 girl– We know a lot of rituals
4 girl– Let’s beat Kuzminki!
Mistress“Then, kids, get to work!” Take the bread out of the oven, set the table, otherwise the guests will come.
5 girl- Who will come to you, mother?
Boys run in to the music, form a circle, and a game is played.
Game “Nikonorikha Herded Geese”
Children lead a round dance, with the leading “goat” walking in the opposite direction in the circle. Children sing:
Nikonorikha was tending geese,
Yes, she let a goat into the garden,
Nikonorikha swears
And the goat is grinning.
When the singing ends, the children run away and hug in pairs; the one who didn’t have enough pairs is the “goat.”
One, two, three - you goat!
Mistress– We’ve been waiting for you for a long time – we’re waiting for you, we won’t start gatherings without you!
Boys– Why are we gathered here?
Mistress- And then, today is the holiday of Kuzma and Demyan.
Kuzminki is the beginning of autumn gatherings; today they not only work, but also have fun.
Boys– Who are Kuzma and Demyan? And why is there a holiday in their honor?
Mistress- Kuzma and Demyan are saints. They were wonderful craftsmen - blacksmiths and carpenters. Kuzma and Demyan went around the villages and helped everyone, but did not take money for it. They are the patrons of all masters and craftswomen. After all, in the village they did everything with their own hands: the stove, the table, the spoons, and the bowls. This holiday was named in honor of the holy masters Kuzma and Demyan, and they also say that Kuzminki is a wake in the fall.
Boys- Come on, let’s stop working, let’s sing and have fun!
1st blacksmith - The blacksmiths are coming from the forge.
2nd blacksmith - The blacksmiths are carrying two hammers.
3rd blacksmith - Jackdaws - crows, gather with us.
2nd blacksmith - Cook the kutya.
1st blacksmith - Remember Kuzma.
"Blacksmiths"- Owners, do you need blacksmiths?
Girl– What can you do?
Blacksmiths- That's what!
A performance of the Russian folk song “In the Forge...”, boys singing and playing spoons.
Mistress - Sit down, well done, dears, is there enough room for everyone?
1 boy- Don’t worry, hostess, we’re not staying at home, and we’re not visiting!
2 boy- Guests are forced people: wherever they put you in, they sit there!
3 boy- Sitting at home means nothing can happen!
4 boy– We decided to look at people and show ourselves!
At this time, one boy is “lazy”, lies down on a bench, and falls asleep. Two girls come out and pay attention to “laziness.”
1 girl- Not a deck, lazybones, but laziness! And she lies there all day!
2 girl- He doesn’t reap, doesn’t mow, but asks for lunch!
Game "Laziness"
Mistress– I look at everything and rejoice: how many guests I have!
3 girl– And many guests mean a lot of news!
Mistress– What news?
4 girl- Yes, cheerful. Listen!
Children play nursery rhymes.
Andreyka, baby, what are you crying about?
Hit the gate!
When did it happen?
Why are you crying now?
Yes, there was no one at home yesterday!
Where have you been, brother Ivan?
In the upper room!
What did you do?
Helped Peter!
What did Peter do?
Yes, it was on the stove!
I caught a bear!
So bring him here!
It doesn't work!
So go yourself!
He won't let me in!
Hostess - Why are we all sitting around and not entertaining the guests?
Hey, laughing girls, start singing ditties!
Sing quickly to please your guests!
Addresses the boys
And guys, don’t yawn, don’t lag behind the girls!
Ditties:
1. I found the secret of blush
At great-grandmother Thekla's -
Best of all overseas blushes
Juice from our beets.
2. Why, as a little man,
Is the cucumber all covered in goosebumps?
He's lying in the sun
Why is he trembling?
3. My darling sent me
A note for the holiday,
M That he adores me,
Like a salad with radishes.
4. There are a hundred suitors these days
Under my window
Everyone wants to receive
Pie with potatoes.
5. I caught a mouse in a cage
And he locked it there tightly.
After all, you can’t assemble without a mouse
There's a turnip in the garden.
6. Here my little darling is crying,
After all, separation is near.
You, my friend, were wrong.
He cries from the bow.
7. I always catch myself
Glances of admiration!
Beauty and health to me
They give you tomatoes!
8. If there were no wheat,
There would be no cheesecake.
They sang as best they could
We are ditties for everyone.
Mistress - That’s how it goes in Rus'
What talented people
He is both a reaper and a Swiss
And there's a player on the pipe!
Children- Let them let Ivan in so he can play the harp!
1 child- And you, brother, Andreika, play the pity game!
2 child- And you, brother, Ermoshka, play the spoons!
Spoon Orchestra “Dunya Kept the Transport” Russian folk
Mistress- At this time, they played at gatherings, breaking into pairs, and then the whole evening the boy looked after the chosen girl, guarded her and took care of her.
Russian folk game “The drake was chasing a duck...”, after the game a knock is heard.
Brownie- Oh, I’m tired of sitting at the stove,
I decided to look at the guys.
Mistress- How it fell on my head
And where did it come from?
Girls gasp, boys groan.
Brownie“I live in this house and sit behind the stove!”
Who disturbed me here?
Mistress“We have gathered here in the upper room, beautiful girls, and good fellows.” Spend the fall and welcome the winter!
Don't be angry with us, but dance with us!
Children dance the round dance “The fair maidens came out”
(to the tune of the song “Oh, I got up early”)
1. The beautiful girls came out
Walk out of the gate into the street.
Oh li, oh li and lyuli
Walk out of the gate into the street.
2. The red maidens carried them out
In white hands there is a nightingale.
Oh, oh, oh, yes, Lyuli,
In white hands there is a nightingale.
3. The nightingales will all whistle,
The pretty girls are going wild.
Oh, oh, oh, yes, Lyuli,
The pretty girls are going wild.
Brownie- And what would a holiday be in Rus' without a lush loaf of bread and sweet pies? He brings out a loaf.
Brownie- Shine, shine the moon on our loaf!
Look, look, sun, at our loaf!
Mistress- Eat, eat, and get better,
Gain good health!
Everybody sing- Dear guests, Russian thanks.
We offer it to you, we bow low, -
We ask you to love us, as custom dictates, we offer bread and salt.
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Kuzma and Demyan - God's blacksmiths
According to Orthodox tradition, there are three pairs of holy brothers-unmercenaries, bearing the names of Cosmas and Damian. Accordingly, the Orthodox Church celebrates three days of remembrance per year for each of the binaries. This is July 1/14 - the honoring of the Roman healers-unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, martyrs who were killed, according to life, out of envy by their teacher-doctor in 284; October 17/30 is the day of remembrance of the unmercenary martyrs Cosmas and Damian, who lived under the kings Diocletian and Maximilian, known for their persecution of Christians, this pair of saints are called Arabians by origin (Arabian country) or Cilicians by the place of suffering (Cilicia); November 1/14 - veneration of the unmercenaries and wonderworkers of Asia, born in Asia Minor and raised by their Christian mother Theodotia. The lives of the latter contain numerous tales of miracles performed by the brothers. This includes the healing of seriously ill people, the cure of a camel from rabies, the rescue of a reaper into whose mouth a snake crawled while sleeping, and the deliverance of a woman from the dishonor that threatened her, and others.
Scholars differ in their opinions as to the actual number of two holy brothers. Some, unlike followers Orthodox Church, they believe that there could only be two binaries or one, which is due to the special honoring of saints in different days on the occasion of the transfer of relics, the consecration of churches and the like, various legends appeared that contributed to the formation of ideas about the three different couples brothers-unmercenaries with the attribution of different dates and places of their birth and activities.
IN folk tradition the holy unmercenary brothers were extremely revered, without much distinction between the three twos. With the adoption of Christianity in Rus', many temples and monasteries were built in their honor. In Veliky Novgorod alone from the 12th to the 16th centuries. there were five churches of Cosmas and Damian. Legends were formed about their deeds, one of which - “The miracle of the holy wonderworkers and unmercenaries Cozma and Damian about the brotherhood” - appeared in Veliky Novgorod in the 14th century and was included in the Chet’i-Minea.
The iconography of the saints reflected their involvement in medicine: they were depicted holding boxes for storing medicines in their hands.
Traditional consciousness has retained the idea of Cosmas and Damian as “free” healers. Among the people from the Chetiy-Minea, it was known that they “received from God the gift of healings and gave health to souls and bodies, healing all kinds of diseases, and healing every ailment and every illness in people.” Accordingly, Kuzma and Demyan were revered as patrons of doctors and healers and they turned to them with requests and prayers for the healing of people or animals. The names of saints are often found in spell texts aimed at getting rid of bleeding, hernia, shaking (fever), uraz (bruise), lessons (evil eye), snake bite, sorrow, as well as from “nail” (falling sickness of cattle) and other ailments . This is, for example, what the appeal looks like in the Tobolsk conspiracy for toothache, where the holy brothers turn into a single character: “Father Kozma Demyan lies in a cave, his white teeth do not hurt, and my servant of God (name) does not have pain.”
At the same time, in the popular perception of St. Kuzma and Demyan were endowed with a much wider range of functions than in the church tradition, and the days of their memory correlated with the range of occupations of peasants and blacksmiths - artisans who served peasant labor.
Among the people, Kuzma and Demyan were considered “handicraftsmen,” calling them unmercenary blacksmiths, as well as saints or God’s blacksmiths. Blacksmiths revered them as their patrons and celebrated the autumn day of their memory - November 1/14 - as professional holiday, which we have never worked in. Ideas about St. Cosmas and Damiana as blacksmiths can partly be explained by the consonance of the name Cosmas in the Russian vowel - Kuzma - with the words “smith”, “smith” and similar roots, if we also take into account that in the popular consciousness the images of the brothers often merged into one person called “ Kuzma-Demyan." In the riddle, through the name Kuzma, even the product of the blacksmith’s work is riddled - a forged chain: “Kuzma is knotty, it cannot be untied.” In addition, for the peasant, whose main occupation was agriculture, the brothers’ craft - healing, according to church tradition, and blacksmithing, according to folk tradition - was equally associated with ideas about special magical knowledge, inaccessible to an ordinary person. Another reason for the perception of the holy brothers by blacksmiths was probably the fact that, within the framework of the peasant calendar, the day of their memory in November correlated with the onset of winter and, accordingly, cold weather. Therefore, the people perceived Kuzma and Demyan as natural blacksmiths, shackling water and earth in ice chains and creating winter cold. In line with these ideas, a significant number of Russian proverbs and sayings are associated with the day of remembrance of saints, folk signs:
Kuzma-Demyan is God's blacksmith, he forges roads and rivers;
Kuzma-Demyan’s forge is not large, but for all that’s holy
Rus' is where ice chains are forged;
Frost is coming from the forge from the Kuzmodemyanova forge!;
Kozma-Demyan with a nail, Nikola with a bridge;
Kuzminki - only a wake from autumn;
Kuzma and Demyan - farewell to autumn, welcome to winter, first frosts;
If the leaf remains on the tree on Kozmodemyan, then there will be frost the next year.
Images of Kuzma and Demyan as blacksmiths are also found in legends and fairy tales. According to the stories, they forge plows and plows and distribute them to people, teaching people agricultural work. The Eastern Slavs also have beliefs of an etiological nature, in which Kuzma and Demyan are depicted as blacksmiths forging stars in the sky.
Through the involvement of the holy brothers in blacksmithing and, accordingly, in the element of fire, the images of Kuzma and Demyan in the popular consciousness could be correlated with the pagan cult of the thunder god Perun and, in particular, with his function of confrontation with the enemy of chthonic nature. The motive of the holy brothers’ opposition to the enemy, for example, is present in the northern belief, according to which the chains forged by God’s blacksmiths Kuzma and Demyan are imposed by Michael the Archangel on the devil. In East Slavic folklore texts, the enemy of the holy blacksmiths can be an evil spirit, the Serpent, the devil. Thus, in the Belarusian fairy tale “Ivan Pupyalov,” the title character, having killed three snakes and three snake daughters, hides in Kuzma and Demyan’s forge from the mother snake flying after him, “who has opened her mouth from heaven to earth”; blacksmiths kill the snake by pinching its tongue with hot tongs and hitting it with hammers. The motive of Kuzma and Demyan saving people from a snake or serpent and using its (his) power for good is found in South Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian legends. This is how this plot is presented in the Gomel tradition:
There was once a Kuzma-Demyan forge. And there was a snake. So she ate people. And he’s already getting to them. “What, brother, will we make an iron plow!” They made a plow and said to the snake: “If you lick these three doors, we will sit on your tongue, and you will eat us!” She licked once, licked twice, and a third - and licked three doors. They then DAC her! Yes, for her tongue with pincers. Yes, one nails her on the head, and the other harnesses her to a plow. As soon as they harnessed it, they plowed the forest on it, they plowed the fields, they plowed everything and did not give them anything to drink until they plowed the Nepr. As they approached Nepr, she dug a ditch, began to drink, and unharnessed.
In some legends, blacksmith brothers use the first plow they forge to plow the land on a fierce serpent “from sea to sea.”
Miracle Yudo. Russian hand-drawn popular print.
As in the Christian tradition, in popular beliefs of St. Kuzma and Demyan were revered as patrons of marriages. At the same time, they were perceived as blacksmiths who forge wedding crowns and the weddings themselves. This idea was reflected in the popular definition of saints: “Kuzma-Demyan is a wedding blacksmith.” The well-being and longevity of marriage were considered to depend on the quality of the work of the holy blacksmiths. This idea was embodied in the motifs of “making” a wedding in wedding lyrics, where Kuzma and Demyan themselves are often depicted as one person, and female, which may be due to their inheritance of the function of a female pagan deity who patronizes marriage. So, in the wedding song they were addressed:
Mother, Kuzma-Demyan!
Throw us a wedding
Firmly and firmly
To the gray head,
Long beard!
Kuzma-Demyan
I walked through the hallway,
Collected nails
I forged the wedding!
You and forge us, Kuzma-Demyan, a wedding!
To firmly and firmly
So that forever and ever,
So that the sun does not dry it out,
So that it doesn't get wet by the rain,
So that the wind does not scatter,
Don't let people tell you!
In some cases, the wedding itself is indicated through the image of “Kuzma-Demyan”:
Father imprisoned
And mother is imprisoned
Bless everything from old to small
To play Kuzma-Demyan.
The autumn day of memory of Kuzma and Demyan - November 1/14 - was one of the traditional periods for weddings. In the Nizhny Novgorod tradition, this is where the wedding season began. This day was called “Kuzminki” or “Kuzmode-myanki” and was considered a girls’ holiday everywhere in Russia. Many rituals and actions that girls performed on this day were correlated with wedding rituals and the idea of changing the status of representatives of an adult girl group.
In Kuzminki, a girl who reached marriageable age, became the mistress of the house: she prepared food and treated her family; The main dish that day was chicken noodles. In the evening, and sometimes for three days, the girls organized a “Kuzminskaya” “ssypchina”, for which they rented a hut in advance, together collected food from the village - potatoes, butter, eggs, cereals, flour - and prepared festive dishes, among which there was always porridge . Kozmo-Demyanskoye beer was often brewed for the girls’ meal.
In the Nizhny Novgorod province in Kuzminki, girls walked in groups around the courtyards with a decorated broom, exactly the same as in wedding ceremony symbolized girlish beauty, and they asked for millet, flour and the like: “Serve for Kuzma-Demyan, for the girl’s holiday!” The food was given to the housewife from whom the hut was rented, and she cooked porridge, made “cherepeshniks” (loaves with millet), and pancakes. In the Novgorod region, teenage girls, having collected cereals and butter for porridge from home, cooked it in several pots and ate it together: first they ate a dish of porridge with vegetable oil, then a dish with quick butter, and “for a gulp” - with lard. In some areas, girls sold porridge to guys for a few kopecks, putting it in cups, and dividing the money received among themselves.
After the refreshments, the young people began singing, dancing and playing games, among which there were always the so-called “kissing” games - ending with a kiss between the guy and the girl. In the Nizhny Novgorod province, girls made a doll: they put a shushpan on a grip or a frying pan, attached hands made of sticks, and led it “on a walker.” They took turns dancing with this doll; the guys did not participate in the dance, but only watched it.
The Kuzminsk gathering could last all night. When the treat was over, the guys went “on a hunt” - they stole the neighbor’s chickens, and traditionally thefts of this kind were not condemned by the peasants.
Nizhny Novgorod girls celebrated Kuzma-Demyan for three days: for two days they dressed up like good fellows, went to gatherings, sang, danced. On the third day, everyone dressed up as men again, and one girl portrayed the bride. Outside the village, on the road, she was “married” to her “boyfriend.”
In the Penza province and a number of other places, in the evening on the last day of the holiday, the ritual of “the wedding and funeral of Kuzma-Demyan” was carried out, which before that could have been carried out during the summer Kuzminki (however, the summer day of honoring Kuzma and Demyan was celebrated, as a rule, by women and was considered "Women's" holiday). To perform the ritual, the girls made a scarecrow by stuffing a man's shirt and pants with straw and attaching a head to this structure. They put it on a stuffed animal outerwear made of cloth, girded it with a sash and put on old bast shoes. Then the scarecrow was seated in the middle of the hut and a comic “wedding” was arranged - “Kuzka was married” to one of the girls. The action ended with the “married Kuzka” being placed on a stretcher and carried into the forest, where he was undressed, torn into pieces, danced on the scattered straw from the effigy and finally burned. The meaning of this rite, close in structure to the rituals of farewell-“funerals” characteristic of agricultural cultures - farewell to Maslenitsa, the destruction of the Trinity birch tree, the funeral of Kostroma and Yarila and the like - correlates with the idea of production both in relation to the forces of nature and to man.
In general, the girls' holiday, celebrated on the day of Kuzma and Demyan, was characterized by young people meeting, playing and courting, contributing to the emergence of new married couples. The theme of marriage was also supported at the level of ritual food: the main treat at Kuzminki were such wedding dishes as porridge, chicken noodles, fried chickens and roosters.
The preparation of ritual chicken dishes in Kuzminki, not only for girls’ meals, but in all houses, is also associated with the traditional idea of Kuzma and Demyan as “chicken coops” and “kochetyatniki” - “chicken gods”, patrons of chickens. Therefore, the day of remembrance of the holy brothers was also called “chicken name day”, “chicken holiday”.
In the Saratov province, on this day they “broke kochetov” (slaughtered roosters); in every house it was considered an obligation to have a roasted rooster or chicken on the table. Here the girls, for their Kuzminsk sypchina, brought with them roasted roosters and chickens, which, according to established custom, they stole from their parents and relatives the night before. At the same time, it was considered important that no one saw the kidnapping, although no one would pursue this theft.
In the Kaluga province, the holiday on the day of Kuzma and Demyan was called “Samokur”. Here on this day they walked around the huts as mummers - dressed as gypsies, turning out their fur coats. Approaching the house, the mummers sang songs that had magical meaning:
So that there are chickens,
They sat on the netting,
Big-eared, big-headed!
Ku-ka-re-ku, ku-ka-re-ku, ku-ka-re-ku!
The mummers were given bread, lard, and money. If the stingy owners did not give gifts to the linemen, then they sang: “Samokur, get the chickens!”
The custom of celebrating “chicken name days” has existed among Russians for a long time. In Moscow, for example, women in the morning went with chickens to the Church of Cosmas and Damian. After mass, elderly women served prayers for the welfare of poultry. People said: “Kuzma-Demyan has a birthday chicken, and Kuzma-Demyan needs to pray to her.” The owners sent chickens to relatives as gifts.
In the villages of the Voronezh and Penza provinces, “chicken name days” were marked by prayer services held in or near chicken coops, sprinkling birds with holy water, as well as bringing hens and chicks to church. In some places, it was customary among Russians for women to come with chickens to the manor’s yard and “petition” them to present them to their mistress for a “red life.” In return, she gave the peasant women ribbons for their “ubrus-nik” (head towel). The “petition chickens” were not killed, and the eggs they brought were considered medicinal: they were given to patients suffering from bile disease.
On the day of remembrance of the holy brothers, chickens were always slaughtered to prepare dinner, which was reflected in popular sayings: “On Kuzma-Demyan there is a chicken death,” “Kuzma-Demyan and the Myrrh-Bearing Women are a chicken death.” In the Tambov region they said: “At Kozmodemyan, chicken is on the table!” According to popular beliefs, preparing dishes from chickens and roosters was a sacrifice to the chicken patrons Kuzma and Demyan, helping to ensure that the peasant farm kept poultry all year round. In the Kursk province, for the same purpose, it was customary to slaughter three chickens, which were cooked and eaten in the morning, lunch and evening. The festive meal was accompanied by a special prayer: “Kuzma-Demyan - Srebrenica! Give birth, Lord, so that there will be squeaky birds.” While eating, they tried not to break the bones of the bird, since otherwise, according to legend, the chickens on the farm would be born ugly. In the Yaroslavl province, the eldest in the house selected a rooster for preparing a ritual dish and cut off its head with an ax. The birds' legs were thrown onto the roof of the hut so that there would be chickens. The rooster itself was boiled and eaten at dinner by the whole family.
In the Ryazan province, it was customary for Kuzma and Demyan to take care of the victim since the spring. To do this, they walked around the village and asked each housewife for two eggs with the words: “Give me a chicken and a cochet!” The eggs were carefully placed in the bosom, and after collecting twenty-five of them, they returned home. After sunset, the eggs were placed in a hat and prayed: “Mother Kuzma-Demyan, give birth to chickens by autumn; We’ll slaughter a chicken and a cockerel for you!” After this, the eggs were placed in a bag where the chicken was placed. And in the fall, on the day of Kuzma and Demyan, they kept this promise: they cut and fried a chicken and a rooster, or two roosters, and ate them. This custom was called “begging chickens.”
The holy brothers were often perceived as the patrons of not only poultry, but also all livestock, as Archpriest Avvakum mentioned in his “Life”: “Kuzma and Damian did good to man and cattle and did good for Christ. God needs everything: both cattle and birds for the glory of Him, the Most Pure Lord, and for His sake and for man.” In this regard, there is a well-known custom on the day of Kuzma and Demyan to appease the dashing servant who is torturing the cattle by feeding him. And if he didn’t calm down, then they took a broom, mounted a horse, which the yard man didn’t particularly like, and rode it around the yard, waving the broom and shouting: “Father yard man! Don’t destroy the yard and don’t beat the animal.” Shepherds also approached Kuzma and Demyan with a request to preserve their livestock during grazing.
For St. Kuzma and Demyan established in tradition the function of patronage not only of the male craft - blacksmithing, but also of various women's work. These saints were especially revered by women and girls due to typical women's activities. So, they were approached with requests for help when the harvest began: “Kuzma and Demyan, come with us to reap.” Those who started the spinning season later in the fall, in order to keep up with those who started work earlier, began to spin yarn and said: “Father Kuzma-Demyan! Compare me, the late one, with the early ones.” In Yaroslavl, teenage girls prayed on the day of Kuzma and Demyan: “Teach me, Lord, to spin, and weave, and to make patterns.” In the Saratov province, on this day, women brought skeins of thread to church at the end of mass and, kissing the cross, laid their needlework on the pulpit, thus marking the “spinning” - the beginning of the spinning season. In the Tula tradition, on the day of Kuzma and Demyan, it was customary to complete “votive” work: housewives sold their canvas products, and the proceeds were used to buy candles for icons and to give to the poor and wanderers. In the Ryazan region, before starting any business, women turned to the holy brothers: “Kuzma-Demyan, mother, help me work!”
Sphere of patronage of St. Kuzma and Demyan also extended to agricultural work. When sowing, they often turned to the saints: “Kuzma-Demyan is the intercessor of the field, come to us, help us work!” In the Yaroslavl province, before starting to sow flax, a service was held in honor of Kuzma and Demyan. In many places to autumn day The completion of the threshing was timed to commemorate the saints. Hammers were traditionally marked by the preparation and eating of festive porridge. One of the popular explanations for the custom of cooking “before-grinding” porridge is contained in a Vologda legend. According to the story, Kuzma and Demyan were ordinary workers,
who were most willing to hire out to thresh. At the same time, they never demanded payment, but worked with the understanding that only the owners would feed them plenty of porridge. Therefore, the holy brothers are called “kashniks”, and “pre-threshing porridge” is an obligatory dish that the owners treated the threshers to after finishing work. The workers, finishing the last barn, said: “The owner has a stir, and we have a pot of porridge,” and when they sat down for a treat, they turned to their patrons: “Kuzma-Demyan, come to us to slurp porridge.” In the Moscow province, on the day of remembrance of the saints, the owner of the threshing floor made a request: “Kuzma-Demyan, father of the craftsman, send, Lord, happiness and talents, good health for everyone, for all brothers, sisters and for all the poor brethren.”
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Kuzminki autumn |
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folk-Christianfolk-Christian |
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Kuzma and Demyan - handicraftsmen, Meeting of winter, Kurya name day |
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Cosmas and Damian (church) |
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Meaning: |
first meeting of winter |
Noted: |
Slavs |
Celebration: |
girls in Ssypchina celebrated the Kuzminsk party |
Traditions: |
ritual of appeasing the Brownie in the Yaroslavl province |
Other names
Rituals of the day
The Legend of Kuzmodemyan
Sayings and signs
Kuzminki autumn (Kurya name day) - day folk calendar among the Slavs, celebrated on November 1 (14).
According to the Eastern Slavs, on this day they say goodbye to autumn and welcome winter. In Russia, the day of Kuzma and Demyan was celebrated more by girls - they rented a hut and celebrated “chicken name days”.
Among the Catholic Slavs, All Saints' Day: this day and the next are holidays in remembrance of the souls of deceased relatives, who, according to legend, return home at this time.
Other names
Kuzma and Demyan, Kuzma-Demyan - handicraftsmen, Kuzma, Demyan, Blacksmiths, Father Kozmodemyan, Kuzminki. Chicken holiday, Chicken name day, Chicken death, Handicraftsmen, Kozma and Demyan Chicken coops, Autumn Kuzminki, Chicken coops, Chicken coops; “Kuzma i Dzyamyan” (Belarusian), “Kuzma-syakach” (woodland), “Doctors, Vrachevi” (Serb.), “Bezmitni Vrachevi” (Serb.), “Sveti Vrach, Kuzma and Demian” (Bulgarian. ), “Shine on Vrachove, Doctors, Doctor-bezmitniche” (Bulgarian).
On this day, the following are honored: Orthodox Slavs- Cosmas and Damian, and by the Catholic Slavs - the Council of All Saints; whose names appear in the names of the day.
Rituals of the day
Cosma and Damian (Kuzma and Demyan) - Christian saints, patrons of crafts, marriage, poultry; are also revered as unmercenary doctors.
They pray to Cosma and Damian for mental and physical healing, for enlightenment of the mind, learning to read and write and for help in difficult studies, for the love and peace of spouses, for the protection of the family hearth.
On this day, chickens celebrated their name day. This old custom was known in Moscow. There, in Tolmachevsky Lane, beyond the Moskva River, women gathered around the Church of Kozma and Damian with chickens and held prayer services after mass. Rich people sent chickens as gifts to family and friends. In the villages, women came with chickens to the boyar's courtyard and petitioned them to present them to their boyar "for a good life." In response, the noblewoman gave the peasant women ribbons for their ubrusnik (headdress). Such “petition chickens” were kept in a special way: they were fed mainly on oats and barley and were never killed. The eggs that these chickens laid were considered healing. In the Yaroslavl province, on this day in the villages they killed a rooster (“kochet”) in barns. The owner chose a rooster and cut off its head with an ax. “Kochetina” legs were thrown onto the roof of the hut so that there would be chickens. The rooster itself was cooked for lunch. In the Voronezh province, peasants always fried “kochet” (rooster) and chicken, served prayers in chicken coops and sprinkled them with holy water.
In Russia, the day of Kuzma and Demyan was considered a girl's holiday and was widely celebrated. For a day, or even three days, a hut was rented where they were going to celebrate the Kuzma party; the girls went from house to house, collecting food for dinner, and also brewed beer together. If a bride girl was present, she was considered the mistress of the house. These "Ssypchinas" were organized for themselves, but in the evening they invited guys, a musician, and then the fun began - cooperative games, songs, dances, courtship and “grooming”. So-called “kissing” games were usually played. The gathering could continue until the morning. When the food ended, the guys could go “on the hunt” - stealing the neighbor’s chickens. Such thefts, according to the existing tradition, were not condemned by fellow villagers.
The obligatory dish for such a party was chicken noodles, other chicken dishes, and porridge. Saints Kuzma and Demyan were called “chicken coops” and “chicken gods” (cf. Chicken God), and the day of their memory was called “kochetyatnik”, “chicken holiday” and “chicken name day”. Priests were invited to serve a prayer service in the chicken coops, then the priest sprinkled holy water on the poultry. On this day, chickens were slaughtered so that the farm would have poultry throughout the year. The meal usually began with a prayer: “Kuzma-Demyan - silver! Give birth, Lord, so that there will be squeaky birds.” There was a belief: if a chicken bone breaks during dinner, then next year the chicken will hatch into an ugly one.
In some areas there was a custom according to which a girl of marriageable age would prepare various chicken dishes for the family and treat everyone who came to the house. Chicken noodles were served on such a table as an “honorable” treat. In some villages, Kozmodemyansk beer was brewed for honest guests.
Many rituals and actions that girls performed on this day were correlated with wedding rituals and the idea of changing the status of representatives of an adult girl group.
The rooster here can be compared with the emblem of the sun - the noted festive ritual of sacrificing a rooster on Kuzma-Demyan merged with ritual food, the main one of which was chicken.
In the Yaroslavl province, on this day they addressed the servant who looked after the livestock. If there was a dashing servant in the yard who liked to misbehave, then the owner took a broom, mounted a horse that the servant did not like, rode it around the yard, waved the broom and shouted: “Father, the servant! Don’t destroy the yard and don’t destroy the animals.” After this ritual, the courtyard should calm down. Sometimes the broom was dipped in tar with the intention of marking a notch on the bald head of the yard. It was believed that with such a mark the dashing brownie ran away from the yard.
In the Penza province of Gorodishchensky district there was a custom of “funeral of Kuzma-Demyan”: “in a fat hut the girls prepare a stuffed animal, that is, stuff it with straw men's shirt and trousers and attach a head to it; then they put a “chapak” on the scarecrow, gird it with a sash, put it on a stretcher and carry it to the forest, outside the village, where the scarecrow undresses and there is a merry dance on the straw.”
In Belarus, on this day in some villages, young people at parties made a straw effigy of Kuzmydemyan. He was dressed in men's clothing, they attached a phallus from red material, sat him in a place of honor at the table, treated him and treated himself. A girl sat next to the scarecrow and they “got married, had a wedding,” and performed ditties on a love-erotic theme. At the end of the evenings, the guys took the scarecrow outside the village, took off its clothes, and burned the straw.
Among the southern Slavs, Kuzma and Demyan are revered as healing saints. In their days, Qurban was inflicted, women refrained from work so that no one in the family would get sick, they baked bread and distributed it “for health.” Kuzma and Demyan are considered their patrons by healers, healers and herbalists.
The Poles believed that on this day the souls of the dead visited their homes, they left windows and doors open for them, food and drink on the table, and also brought them food to the cemetery; in the evening they were afraid to go to church, since it was believed that the dead themselves came there to celebrate mass. Czechs and Slovaks also visited the graves. Baked buns (Czech) dušičky, duše) were distributed to the poor or given to carolers who went wishing for a big harvest. In northern Slovakia, memorial notes and the same number of tows of combed flax were served in the church, believing that one soul would grab hold of each tow and escape from purgatory. In Benet Slovenia (in the southwest of the country), the custom of caroling is known for women who sing special “carols” (Slovenian) on this day. dušne kolednice).
The Legend of Kuzmodemyan
Kuzmodemyan, the old people say, was the first man with God since the world was created. This Kuzmodemyan was the first blacksmith and made the first plow in the world. There were no plows then; he was the first to invent them. His forge was 12 miles away, it had 12 doors, 12 hammers.
In those days, in the forest wilds and impassable slums and swamps lived a many-headed and winged Serpent. There was a difficult agreement between the people of our land and the Serpent: people had to send a maiden to him every year to be killed. Where the Serpent appeared, people perished like grass under the feet of cattle, and like millet in the sun.
One day, a blacksmith was forging the first plow when a man-eating snake flew to the forge, chasing a victim. Kuzmodemyan hid it in his place and locked the thick iron doors of the forge. When the Serpent found himself at the very forge, the blacksmith suggested to him: “Draw a hole in the door, then I will put it on your tongue.” The snake is licking the iron door of the forge, and at this time the blacksmith is warming up his tongs. When the Serpent stuck his tongue into the hole he had licked, the blacksmith grabbed the Serpent by the tongue with red-hot pincers. Feeling that he was losing strength, the Serpent suggested: “let’s make peace: let there be half of your light, and half of ours... let’s share.” To which Kuzmodemyan replied: “It’s better to plow up the light so that you don’t climb over to our side to take people - take only your own.” He harnessed it to the plow he had forged and began to plow a giant furrow on it. He plowed a smooth furrow all the way from the Chernigov province straight to the Dnieper. And where they passed there remained a rampart with a ditch on the southern side, which still exists today. As he roared all the way to the Dnieper, the snake became very tired and thirsty. Having finally reached the water, the Serpent drank and drank and burst.
Sayings and signs
- “Wszyscy Święci, zima się kręci” (pol.) - Winter coincides with All Saints.
- Kuzma-Demyan is a blacksmith who forges ice on land and water.
- Father Kuzma-Demyan is a chicken God.
November 14 (November 1, O.S.) - a day dedicated to the memory of the unmercenary saints Cosmas and Damian, known according to church traditions as doctors who treated people for free and were glorified for their selflessness. This day in folk Rus' was most often called “Kuzminki”. Kuzminki was considered the first winter village holiday (its other name is “winter Kuzma-Demyan”). In the oral folk month, passing from old to small, this holiday is given its place of honor.
Saints Cosmas and Damian in the imagination of a Russian village merged into one inseparable image of “God’s blacksmith - Kuzma-Demyan”, and some features that were assigned in the old days to the almighty thunder god Perun were transferred to him. In one of the old Russian legends, Kuzma-Demyan, who forges plows, harrows and plows for the needs of the Russian peasant, who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow, enters into a fight with the “great serpent” (the devil). The blacksmith of God was working in his forge, the legend says, and he heard a kite flying. He locked himself, but no bolts could save him from the great serpent. The snake flew up, sank to the ground and began to ask in a human voice to open the doors. The blacksmith did not unlock the bolts, and then the snake began to lick the iron doors with its tongue. But as soon as the snake licked the door, Kuzma-Demyan grabbed him by the tongue with iron pincers. The snake begged the blacksmith to let him go, but that was not the case! The blacksmith harnessed it to a newly forged plow and rode across the steppes, through wastelands - plowing the whole land from sea to sea on the snake. The evil one was tired, he prayed to the saint, asking for water to drink from the Dnieper River. The blacksmith did not heed the pleas, he kept driving him with an iron chain, and only at the Black Sea did Kuzma-Demyan let the snake near the water, the monster fell to it, drank and drank, drank half the sea, and when it got drunk, it burst. And the furrows drawn by the plow of God’s blacksmith, who plowed with evil spirits, are still visible throughout the Dnieper region and the surrounding people call them “snake shafts.”
The ancient pagan Perun also seemed to the imagination of our ancestors defeating winged fiery serpents, harnessing them to a plow and plowing the heavenly fields to the very ground. He either killed them with his lightning club, or they themselves got drunk sea water and, bursting, they spilled it onto the ground, being the personification of winter clouds torn apart by the first spring rain. In another legend, Kuzma-Demyan kills on the spot with his heroic hammer a snake, “the mother of all snakes,” whose mouth opened from earth to heaven. This legend directly follows from the legend about Perun the Thunderer, cutting through a thundercloud with his hammer (lightning). There are legends that claim that the blacksmith Kuzma-Demyan not only forges plows and harrows, but also taught people agricultural work, for which he is especially honored in popular memory.
According to popular weather observations, from the day of Saints Cosmas and Damian, winter shackles both the land and the waters: “Kuzma-Demyan - with a nail, nails bridges.” Frosts fly from the mountains to help Kuzma-Demyan.
“Kuzma-Demyan’s forge is small, but ice chains are forged in it for all of holy Rus'!” - says the people. “Kuzma-Demyan will chain it up, it won’t be unchained until the red spring!”, “From Kuzmodemyan’s forge, frost is coming from the forge!”, “Winter won’t chain the river without Kuzma-Demyan!” etc. At the same time they said sayings about ordinary blacksmiths. These people were reputed to be drunkards: “The tailor is a thief, the shoemaker is a brawler, the blacksmith is a bitter drunkard!” - and they added: “God makes the blind man wise, and the devil makes the blacksmith wise!”, “For this reason, the blacksmith forges the tongs so as not to burn his hands!”, “The hammer does not forge iron, hunger forges the blacksmiths!”, “A blacksmith is like a goat everywhere.” vegetable garden!”, “Whatever the blacksmith knocks, there’s a hryvnia everywhere!”, “The blacksmith’s hand is light, if only his neck were strong!”, “Whoever God hasn’t given intelligence, the blacksmith won’t chain him!”, “I wanted coal from the blacksmith: either drank, or you have to do it yourself!”, “Don’t look for yeast from a Kalashnik, from a blacksmith for extra coals, from a shoemaker with boots on his feet!”, “The blacksmith Kuzma is a mediocre head!”, “There are blacksmiths who forge from other people’s chests (thieves)! »
The holy blacksmith of God Kuzma-Demyan not only forges plows, earth and water, but also forges weddings that were not completed in October. That is why it is rewarded to him in the old wedding verse: Kuzma-Demyan was walking there
For an honest feast, for a wedding:
Are you a saint, Kuzma Demyanovich!
Are you planning a wedding for us?
Is it an unbreakable wedding?
Not for a day, not for a week,
Not for the month of May, not for three years,
And forever and ever,
For the rest of your life, inseparable!
The day of Kuzma and Demyan is also popularly known as “chicken coops” and “kashnikov”, because when the memory of these saints is celebrated, in the villages they brought chickens to church “for the holy day” and cooked porridge, which the saints were invited to taste. “Kuzma-Demyan,” the peasants said, sitting down to a meal, “come to us to slurp porridge.”
It is difficult to say how Kosma and Damian turned into “chicken coops” and “kashniks” in the eyes of the people, but in some places popular imagination even came up with a legendary explanation for this. Thus, they said that Saints Kuzma and Demyan were simple workers who most willingly hired themselves out to thresh, but never demanded payment, but only set the condition that their owners feed them plenty of porridge. This legend even gave rise to a peculiar custom, in which peasants considered it a rule to cook porridge on hammers, and workers demanded it from the owners as something due, sanctified by tradition. As they finished threshing the last barn, they usually said: “It’s a stir for the owner, and a pot of porridge for us.” Along with porridge, on this day the peasants considered it necessary to slaughter three chickens and eat them in the morning, at lunch and in the evening, “so that the birds would be abundant.” The meal was accompanied by a special prayer: “Kuzma-Demyan-Srebrenica! Give birth, Lord, so that there will be squeaky birds.” They also watched the meal so that no bones were broken, otherwise the chickens would be ugly.
In some areas, women brought chickens to Kuzma and Demyan for mass. “The chicken is the birthday girl, and Kuzma-Demyan needs to pray to her!”, “Father Kuzma-Demyan is the chicken God!” - this is how this custom was explained. In the old days, it was customary to bring chickens to the boyars' courtyard on November 14th. The peasant women brought them with petitions to their boyars - “for a good life.” The noblewoman presented them with ribbons - “for the harness.” It was considered a sin to kill these petitioning chickens: they were given under the special protection of the saints honored on this day. Even the eggs they laid were considered healthier for food than others - from ordinary, non-petitioned chickens.
Kuzma and Demyan are also known as patrons of the family hearth and marital happiness. The day dedicated to their memory was especially honored by girls. In some places there was a custom when the bride was considered the mistress of the house on this day. She prepared food for the family and treated everyone, with chicken noodles being served as a treat of honor.
The village youth spent the evening of Kuzminki having fun. The girls gathered in some large hut and made the so-called “sprinkles”, that is, each brought something edible in its raw form: potatoes, butter, eggs, cereals, flour, etc. Food was prepared from these products and, in To mark the beginning of winter work, a feast was held, to which boys were invited as guests. Such feasts were called “kuzminki” and lasted until dawn, and the guys managed to get hungry again and went to steal neighbor’s chickens, geese, ducks, which the girls then fried for them in the “fat” hut. At the same time, of course, it was kept secret how many chickens were stolen and from whom, although the peasants treated thefts of this kind quite leniently and, if they scolded, it was only for the sake of order. Who and why this thieving custom was started is unknown, but no matter how the owner or mistress protects his property, young people will manage to get both chicken and goose for their kuzminka!
In some places, Kuzminki were accompanied by a custom known as the “funeral of Kuzma-Demyan.” In the “fat” hut, the girls made a stuffed animal: they stuffed a man’s shirt and trousers with straw, girdled it with a sash, attached a head, put it on a stretcher and carried it out of the village, into the forest, where they undressed the scarecrow, and there was a merry dance on the straw.
Saints Kuzma and Demyan were also called “handicraftsmen” and were considered patrons of crafts, especially women’s needlework. This was explained by the fact that from the day of Kuzma and Demyan, women began to work closely on winter yarn. "Father
Kuzma-Demyan,” they said, sitting down to yarn, “compare me, the late one, with the early ones!” (that is, help you keep up with others who started earlier). In the old days, many noblewomen sold the handicrafts they made with their hands for kuzminki, and the money received from the sale was distributed to the poor, as if following the holy feat of the unmercenary.
“Kuzminki – wake in autumn.”
(to a Russian folk melody, children enter the hall in pairs holding hands and sit on chairs)
Presenter:
The field became black and white
It rains and snows
And it got colder -
The waters of the rivers were frozen with ice.
The winter rye is freezing in the field,
What month is it, tell me?
2 Presenter:
That's right, November! In ancient Rus' November 14 celebrated a holiday called"Kuzminki" The name of this holiday is similar to the name Kuzma.
1 Presenter:
Once upon a time there lived two brothers Kosma and Damian. Their mother, a Christian, raised the brothers in kindness and good faith, and they received the gift of healing from God. They treated not only people, but also domestic animals for many diseases. But they did not use herbs or medicine, but the word of God. They did not take money for this, since they remembered the commandment of Christ, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
2 Presenter:
Kuzma and Demyan were blacksmiths. Gradually, in the popular imagination, they merged into one inseparable image of God's blacksmith - Kuzma and Demyan. Our ancestors, who carefully observed life and changes in nature, noticed that from the day of Saints Kuzma and Demyan, winter shackles the land and water, it becomes frosty and cold.
1 Presenter:
People said:
Kuzma - Demyan will be chained, you won’t unchain them until the red winter!
You can't chain the river without Demyan!
2 Presenter:
Kuzma - Demyan - a blacksmith, forges ice on land and water!
Kuzma and Demyan's journey - farewell to autumn, welcome to winter, first frosts!
Usually at this time there are moderate frosts:
Demyanov's path is not a path, but only a crossroads!
That is, saying goodbye to autumn and welcoming winter, the first frosts, that’s why they said that “Kuzminki is a wake for autumn.”
1 Presenter:
In Rus', in honor of this holiday, folk festivals were organized with songs and dances.
Round dance: “The moon is shining.”
2 Presenter:
Among the Russian people, Kuzma and Demyan were called Kuryatniks and were considered patrons of chickens. On this day, a chicken holiday was celebrated - Rooster Name Day - Kochety, so that there would be chickens. Chickens were slaughtered for sale, chicken dishes were served, and feasting took place until the morning. They considered it necessary to slaughter three chickens. You need to eat them to keep the birds alive. They also listened to prayers in the chicken coops and sprinkled them with holy water, and also cooked noodles - this was an honorable treat.
1 Presenter:
At the festivities, comic “Cockfights” were held, we will now show you how this happened.
Game description:
(The players come out into the outlined circle, put their hands behind their backs and try to push each other out of the circle with their shoulders.)
2 Presenter:
Come on, let's test yourself!
Are you weak or selenium?
We are not interested in finding out
Everyone enjoys having fun!
Game "Cockfight".
1 Presenter:
Chicken feathers were immediately put to use. They used a wing to sweep the stove bench, and feathers were used to make brushes for pies. They also made feather brushes for coloring toys. They did this: small feathers were attached to a large feather and tied with thread into a short, convenient tassel. With these brushes, children helped adults paint toys they had made with their own hands.
2 Presenter:
Kuzma and Demyan were considered patrons of weddings. In one old Russian song there are these words:
Oh, Saint Kuzma - Demyan,
Come to our wedding.
Forge us a wedding, a strong wedding,
Strong, durable.
1 Presenter:
Young guys came to woo girls. We will now show you how this happened.
Game "Boyars"
Game description: (well done, they come up, at the end of the phrase, stomp with your foot)
Boyars, we have come to you
Young people, we have come to you! (go to the second phrase)
Boyars, why did they come?
Young people, why did you come?
Boyars, we need a bride,
We need a young bride!
Boyars, which one is needed?
Young people, she is stupid here!
Boyars, don’t play the fool,
Give us the bride forever!
Presenter:
Let's sing a funny karaoke song.
Song “Drowning in a bathhouse in the garden.”
(performed by parents)
2 Presenter:
Folk rituals are very beautiful, and Russian folk songs are even better!
Russian folk song “Oh, my meadow duck.”
1 Presenter:
“Kuzminki” was also called “Kashniki”. By November 1, they were preparing porridge from the grains of the new harvest, Kuzma and Demyan were invited to taste it. “Kuzma - Demyan,” come to us to slurp the porridge.” Russian peasants in the eighteenth century prepared more than 20 types of different porridges.
Attraction “Find out the porridge”.
(I cover one of the parents’ eyes with a blindfold, they give different porridges to try, you need to taste what kind of porridge it is)
2 presenter:
Until real winter sets in, the children stayed home more and more, some amused themselves by painting clay toys, and others simply played “Silence.”
1 Presenter:
But as?
2 Presenter:
And like this: the children gathered in a circle and sat opposite each other with a serious look. You can't laugh, you can't smile either. Someone, grimacing and grimacing, said silently:
Forty barns of dry cockroaches,
Forty tubs of wet frogs,
I kick the cat, I trash the mouse
Whoever speaks will eat!
1 Presenter:
During the game, children often quarreled and fought:
Like Petka’s nose
The devils ate sausage.
And the answer was:
Borka-Boris
The market has gone sour!
I took the carrots to the market,
They don’t take it at the market
They're fighting for the ears!
2 Presenter:
The bazaars were noble, everything was sold there, not only utensils (products), but different fabrics: calico and brocade. Let’s listen to the song “Peddlers”, and peddlers are the sellers.
Song "Peddlers".
1 Presenter:
Since bazaars were not frequent and opportunities were limited, people had to do handicrafts; they knitted, sewed, embroidered, and weaved on their own.
Competition "Who can sew a button faster"?
(competition for parents).
2 Presenter:
This is how our ancestors spent their leisure time, had fun, but worked a lot, and you and I must preserve in our memory the love for our people, for our history.