24 May - Thursday

Semik (Green Christmas-Holidays)
Day of Slavic Writing and Culture (Cyril and Methodius Day)
European Day of Parks

1844 Telegraph Morse sent the first telegram from Washington to Baltimore
1900 Cruiser Aurora, the future symbol of the October Revolution, was launched in St. Petersburg
1928 Expedition Umberto Nobile on the airship reached the North Pole

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Semik (Green Christmas) was the main frontier between spring and summer.
In the ceremonies of the Greens, the saints greeted the first greenery and the beginning of the summer fieldwork.
The cycle of Green Christmas was composed of several rituals: introducing birches into the village, twisting wreaths, kumlenya, funeral of a cuckoo (Kostroma or mermaids). Birch was the symbol of an inexhaustible life force. As during the winter Christmas holidays - carols, in all the rituals participated mummers, depicting animals, devils and mermaids. In the songs performed during the Green Christmas, two main themes can be singled out: love and work. It was believed that the imitation of labor activity ensured the well-being of future field work.
During the performance of the song "You succeed, succeed, my flax" the girls showed the process of flax sowing, weeding, cleaning, carding and spinning. Singing the song "We Millet Sow" was accompanied by movements in which the participants reproduced the processes of sowing, gathering, threshing, falling asleep in a millet cellar.
In ancient times, both songs were performed in the fields and performed a magical function. Later ritual sense was lost, and they began to sing in places of festivities.
It was customary to bring birch branches and bouquets of first flowers to the house. They were dried and kept in a secluded place all year round. After the beginning of the harvest, the plants were put in granary or mixed with fresh senu. From the leaves of the trees collected during the holiday, wreaths were woven, they were put in pots, where cabbage seedlings were planted. It was believed that Trinity plants have magical powers.
To ensure a high yield, there was sometimes a special prayer service. It is associated with the custom of "crying for flowers" - drop tears on a turf or a bunch of flowers.
After the completion of the special prayers, all the participants went to the cemetery, where they decorated the birch graves with branches and arranged a treat. After mentioning the deceased, they went home, leaving food in the cemetery.
Green Christmas trees ended with the funeral rites or wires of Kostroma. The image of Kostroma, associated with the completion of green svyatok, rituals and rituals often took the form of a funeral ritual.
Kostroma could be a beautiful girl or a young woman dressed in white, with oak branches in her hands. She was chosen from the participants in the rite, surrounded by a girlish round dance, after which they began to bow, to show signs of respect. "The deceased Kostroma" was placed on boards, and the procession moved to the river where "Kostroma was awakened", and the celebration ended with a bath.
In addition, the funeral ceremony of Kostroma could be carried out with a scarecrow of straw. Accompanied by a round dance, a scarecrow was carried around the village, and then buried in the ground, burned at the stake or thrown into the river. It was believed that the next year Kostroma will rise again and come back to earth, bringing fertility to the fields and plants.