Ilya's Day
This date in the Church calendar commemorates Ilya Muravlenin’s death, and concurrently, the dragging of Perun’s idol from its high place on Prut’s Hill during the process conversion, which according to legend was done by none other than Ilya himself. It is one of the most popular of the saints’ holidays in the calendar. The celebration begins with a reenactment of the events on Prut’s hill on the eve of the holiday. The men ascend to a hill, chop down a tree (designated as “the devil”), and drag it through the settlement, while the rest of the populace throws refuse and abuse in its direction. The tree is then dragged into the water and “drowned”. The next day, the men slaughter a full or ram in honor of Ilya, roast it, and consume it at a collective meal, which is followed by celebrations and games throughout the community.
Ilya’s day is also considered a symbolic end of summer. It marks the transition to harvest time, though no work in the fields is to be performed on this day for fear of angering the saint. The dragging of the devil through town causes all of his underlings to turn into beasts to flee Ilya’s morning star and the bolts he shoots from his chariot. At the end of the day, the spirits all return to their domains in the wilderness, especially the water, and the swimming season is considered “closed”.
Though it is not often celebrated now, the original celebration in honor of Perun is performed on this day in a few places still under the sway of the old ways. Perun’s Day is marked by blood sacrifices and burnt offerings to the Thunderlord atop a hill considered sacred to him. The sacrifices carry special magical potency if the holiday happens to fall on a Thursday and/or during a thunderstorm. In the old days, it is said, human sacrifices were also performed on that day. These involved villages that had somehow drawn the wrath of Perun. Priests or princes recruited volunteers who had either committed transgressions or had lost loved ones, and wanted to save their community by offering themselves to propitiate the Thunderlord. They were fed a festive meal, dressed in white vestments, and honored throughout the settlement before being taken to Perun’s hill, and either bled to death, or (better) left in the storm to be consumed by the god’s thunderbolts. Needless to say, the Church views any such activities very negatively.
Observance
20 Lipets
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