Many people feel sad when August ends and September begins. The signs of autumn are evident by this time - the leaves begin to turn yellow already at the end of August, and although it is still warm, everyone understands that the rainy and damp season will soon come.
About September, a lot of signs and sayings have been preserved since ancient times in different countries, where his names were consistent with these signs.
September in different Slavic languages
September is the most "rich" in names in various Slavic cultures. Most often, this is due either to the end of field work, or to the weather, or to the hunting season.
In Belarusian, Ukrainian and Polish, the name of the month is associated with the time of heather flowering. In Belarusian it sounds beeser, in Ukrainian - beeswax, and in Polish - wrzesien. For Czechs and Croats, the signs and traditions of September were associated with the beginning of the hunt, which is why it sounds accordingly - zari for Czechs and rujan for Croats.
Among the ancient Slavs, September was designated as ryuen (howler) - the time when the deer males roared. This month, they arranged a meal in honor of the Sort and the Rozhanitsy, whom many pagan Slavic tribes revered. The clan stood above Perun the Thunderer, and tables were laid in his honor and thanked for a generous harvest. Women in labor were considered the "virgins of life" who helped give birth to children.
Seeing off the summer
In ancient times, there were many beliefs that fell on September. Signs associated with the crop or those who could harm him. For example, it was believed that on Agafonov’s day (4th day), a goblin comes out of the forest and messes up - scattering sheaves in villages and villages.
There was even a rite called the “night”, during which the peasants put on sheepskin coats inside out, tied their heads and took poker to protect the threshing floor. Having circled the circle with a poker around the threshing floor, they seemed to seal it, light bonfires and wait for dawn.
The beginning of autumn was perceived as seeing off a fruitful summer, as evidenced by the popular proverb "August cooks, and September brings to the table." After the harvest, tables were set and the end of the harvest was marked.
The ancient Slavs began a new year in September, as the time of sowing and harvesting passed, and the land was preparing for a new period of "hibernation".
In fact, the forecast for the winter was given precisely by September. The signs of the month were tracked by people who knew a lot about this.
Signs for the weather in September
Since September is only the beginning of autumn, in order to find out how soon the cold will come, whether it will snow in the winter or whether it will be wet and rainy, the ancient Slavs, observing the weather and passing on their knowledge from generation to generation, developed their “forecasts”.
The signs of the weather for September concerned not only her, but also the behavior of birds and animals. So, on Lupa-lingonberry (September 5), cranes were observed. If they flew to warm places that day, then expect an early winter. Low wedge flies - to be warm in winter, high - frosty.
To find out what autumn and future spring will be, the peasants noted what the weather is like on Eutyches. If it rained that day, then the rest of the fall was expected without precipitation, and next year's crop promised to be high.
A long fall was promised if there was a thunderstorm in September. Popular signs say: "Thunder in September for a long fall." If you compare folk signs with what modern weather forecasters predict, the result will be 50/50. For example, by a protracted autumn, it is also believed that the drier September is, the later winter will come.
Proverbs about the September harvest
Today, the signs of September are often mentioned for children in nature studies or literature. Proverbs about the autumn harvest have survived to this day and convey the centuries-old folk observation of people whose life directly depended on the mercy of nature. Today, the crop most often depends on fertilizers, so ancient beliefs have become only a memory of peasant wisdom.
“September is cold, but fed up” - this is how the peasants treated this harvesting month with respect.
At this time, pick berries, root vegetables, mushrooms, oats and flax. For each of the vegetables, fruits or berries, there is a sign, a saying or proverb. “September smells like apples, October smells of cabbage, ” said the wise old people.
Since September completed business in the fields and was fruitful and warm, the largest number of weddings at all times was in this month.
Wedding traditions in September
If the wedding was scheduled in September, the signs that accompanied it, and various beliefs were strictly carried out. Most young people got married exactly this month, since he closed the fruitful summer and was considered the breadwinner of winter.
Today, these rituals are no longer used, but once their performance was mandatory, otherwise the marriage could be unsuccessful. In ancient times, the wedding was not just an event, but a real "theatrical" production, where everyone present knew what to say, where to get up and how to behave.
It was believed, for example, that the cobweb that fell on the bride’s face indicates a cheerful and full of life. If it was raining on the wedding day, abundance and wealth awaited the young. The groom who entered the puddle had every chance of becoming a drunkard if the wedding was in September. Antiquities today are perceived with humor, but once upon a time people sincerely believed in them.
From the old wedding traditions, for example, there remains the ransom of the bride, who does not have the same semantic meaning as she once did. In those days, the bride went to live in her husband’s house, where his relatives were not obliged to love and feel sorry for her, therefore the ransom for the bride suggested that the more the groom paid, the higher her wife would be appreciated.
In addition to weddings, September was full of public holidays
Feast of Natalia and Hadrian in September
September painted affairs for every day among all peasants. As the people said, “I missed the day - I lost my harvest”, but after everything was harvested in gardens, fields and kitchen gardens, people celebrated numerous holidays, the number of which is more in September than in any other month of the year.
The peasant holiday of the beginning of autumn was the day of Natalia fescue and Andrian autumn (8th day). On this day, the peasants went out to harvest oats. “Natalya carries an oat pancake in a barn, and Adrian is oversized in a pot, ” they said, cutting off the first bunch of oats and bundling it into a sheaf, carrying songs to the noble courtyard or to their hut.
On this day, it was decided to bake oat pancakes, eat buckwheat porridge and drink mash. Important on this day showed September signs. If the leaf has not yet fallen from birches and oaks, then be a harsh winter, and a cold morning on Natalia - in early winter.
Holidays in the second half of September
Kupriyanov day (13th day) was marked by the harvesting of root crops, except for radish. Also on this day, the collection of cranberries (cranes) in the swamps began, as the cranes gathered in a wedge and flew away.
September 21 was the great Apos day and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is the time of the onion harvest and the meeting of autumn, since on this day there was a solstice from summer to winter. If there was a thunderstorm in September, the signs of this day indicated a “rotten” autumn, and a fine day - dry and warm.
Exaltation is another big holiday among the villagers, which meant that turnips and cabbage were removed from the fields. On this day, cabbages and festivities were held after church service. Also, after the Exaltation began to salt the cabbage, and it was the end of the Indian summer.
Indian summer
According to the tradition of the ancient Slavs, Marfino (Indian) summer began on Simeon's day (14th day) and ended on the day of the Exaltation (September 27th). The name came from the constellation Pleiades, which in Russia was called Baba. From the second half of August until mid-September, it appeared at the place of the sun, as the day was getting shorter and the sun was shining from the sky.
It was a time of family reconciliation and numerous work in the fields and gardens. If there was a thunderstorm in September in Indian summers, popular signs reported dry and warm autumn. With the end of the warm “Indian” period, women sat down at needlework, weaved canvases, sang songs.
Proverbs about September
The observant and savvy people created a whole layer of folk traditions, rituals, sayings and proverbs about autumn. Although this is the period when the warm summer ends, autumn was revered in Russia and given to her when affectionate, and when severe designations. Today most often they publish proverbs and signs of September for schoolchildren, since they have lost their semantic meaning for those who work on the ground. For ancestors, September was a significant month.
"Father-September will not pamper, " - warned the elderly careless owners. “In September, fire was in the hut and in the field” - this meant that it was time to heat the huts and burn leaves in the gardens and tops in the gardens.
“In September there is one berry, and that mountain ash is bitter, ” the peasants so regretted the passing generous summer, but at the same time paid tribute to the fall: “Spring is red with flowers, and autumn is with sheaves.” This is also confirmed by another proverb - “September is cold, well fed.”
This was the end time of the field work, and it was September that showed how easy and satisfying it would be to survive the cold: “That July and August will not boil, that September will not fry”.
September traditions
September closed the summer, but due to the still warm weather it was often called late summer. This month, traditionally played weddings, saw off the summer and arranged harvest holidays.
In ancient times, people not only worked hard, but also knew how to walk. Each new type of harvesting or arable work was accompanied by traditional songs, dances, feasts and an appeal to the patrons of the crop with a request that it be high.
God Horse was the patron saint of farmers and controlled the weather. He was asked to give a good grain harvest in the summer and thanked for it in the fall.
The goddess Vesta knew the coming of spring and turned to her when they called her after a long cold winter. She also gave color to all plants. Goddess Diva was responsible for fertility and rain. She was asked for large crops of fruits and vegetables.
According to tradition, in September, after harvesting in the fields, peasants honored these gods with meals and songs. These pagan rites continued in Kievan Rus until the end of the 10th century, until these holidays merged into church rites after the baptism of Rus.
