SUMBULYA

SUMBULYA is a Bashkir and Tatar holiday dedicated to theautumnequinox(September 22–25). It is held as a “Festival of an ear”, “Harvest festival” after the general field labors are over. S. is the name of the zodiac calendar month. The calendar was used by Bashkirs and Tatars before the Julian calendar was introduced. The holiday was held on warm, windy days of early autumn when webs were flying in the air. Women wound them around the finger and  read  fortunes,  predicted the  names  of  future  grooms, put the web under their pillows to see “prophetic dreams”, etc. Women collected food for the meal the day before S., they cooked pancakes, a pie with stuffing from the new harvest. S. was believed to appease the powers of nature and spirits of the ancestors. People made a sheaf of wheat, set it on fire and carried it on a pitchfork saying benevolences and asked for good weather, good harvest, safe life and abundant of food, uttered a special prayer, conducted ethnic games, dances, etc. It was mandatory to visit the elderly women and receive their blessing. During the celebrations people chose a beautiful girl, their Submulya, who was to predict what next winter would be. E.g., she could be asked: “An axe or an awl?”, if she replied, “an axe”, the winter was supposed to be cold, if she replied “an awl” – warm. The girls born during this period were given a Sumbul name (Sumbulya, Sumbel, Sumbelya).

R.A. Sultangareyeva