GAME WITH PUSSY-WILLOW
GAME WITH PUSSY-WILLOW is one of the rituals that was a part of preparations for the Great day celebration. Its idea was to banish evil spir‑ its and forecast the weather. Mostly it was celebrated on the Saturday before Pussy-willow Sunday (Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian tradition). Mordovians celebrate it (Verbanchi) before Easter, Chuvashes (sioren) and Udmurts follow the tradition and cele‑ brate it on Wednesday. The household chores were to be done before the Great day. In morn‑ ing boys and young men brought uneven num‑ bers of pussywillow branches, 1–2 meters in length, and set them on the stove to make them softer. In the evening before sunset the bunches were woven and people went to their neighbors and lashed them to their houses, gates, cattle. People sang songs while walking down the streets (see Calendar poetry). People went to the river mouth and, having gone through the gate, they turned to face the village and threw the bunches into the river or a ravine with the calls “Eru-u!”. Then they listened to the sounds that could predict the upcoming year: if people heard the neigh of a horse the year should be cold, if they heard a bleat of a sheep – it would be warm.
T.G. Minniyakhmetova
