Animal protection organizations across Russia are demanding that the use of animals for recreational purposes be illegal. Since 2011, activists have been calling for circuses to be banned, as the animals are constantly tortured and their living conditions otherwise leave much to be desired. Such animals pose a danger to humans: maddened by cruelty and confinement, they can injure or even kill.
During a tour of the Mondial Circus in the Krasnodar Territory, a lioness attacked a 4-year-old girl and inflicted serious injuries on her. This forced the deputies to revise the current legislation and develop several amendments that would prevent the use of animals in circus numbers.
The exploitation of animals is unacceptable and dangerous, because only in appearance the arena is separated from the audience, and those present on it keep everything under control. Even the trainers did not interfere with the tragedy, who tried to drag the 100-kilogram lioness away from the child. The girl received spinal injuries, her facial nerve was also damaged. The child is currently in a medically induced coma. Krasnodar doctors are fighting for the life and health of the victim, but they do not give any comments.
The director of the circus is 51-year-old Andrey Manucharyan. The girl's parents have already gone to court to recover 5 million rubles in moral damages from him. The man is currently under house arrest. The circus has already found itself at the center of a scandal, because in 2017 a tiger attacked one of the employees. Manucharyan denies the fact of the attack, while suing the injured trainer for a long time.
Officials, including Andrey Sharonov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, are in favor of humanizing the circus. The MP drafted the bill after seeing a video from the scene. But, despite the resonance, the law is unlikely to be adopted before 2021. Sharov noted that there are fans of circuses and many lobbyists who will do everything to prevent the law from being passed. But it is of great importance.
Opinion of animal rights activists
The head of the Vita Animal Protection Center, Irina Novozhilova, said that animals are bullied in circuses, and therefore such emergencies are not uncommon. Repeatedly, the staff of the center seized animals with malnutrition, rickets and many other diseases. The cases were running. Some animals chewed off their paws in pain, suffered from severe stress, and also could not function normally even in rehabilitation centers. The activists created the Circus Without Animals movement, which has already been supported by 111 cities across Russia, as well as 11 countries. In total, more than 50 states have abandoned the circus.
In Russia, the circus industry is actively lobbied by those who receive huge sums for the illegal exploitation of animals. The so-called circus dynasties openly lie about the existence of humane training, and then videos of this or that famous trainer hitting the animal get into the network. They actively hinder the progress of the law and fear competition from a circus without animals.
Spirits Day is the most important event in the Orthodox religion. The holiday is associated with the Holy Spirit, who descended on the apostles and gave them the opportunity to preach in various languages. Many do not share this day with the Trinity. So, for example, Catholics celebrate them even on the same day. Why is the holiday attractive and when will Spirits Day be celebrated in 2019?
Spirits day in 2019: history and date
The day dedicated to the Holy Spirit is celebrated 51 days after (- on the 50th). Every year this is a different date, but in 2019 it falls on June 17th. The Catholic Church makes this holiday on June 16th. If we turn to the church calendar, it is easy to determine that a significant day for the Orthodox is always Monday, so you can find a second name - Spirits Monday.
The Holy Scripture says that the Holy Spirit endowed the disciples of Christ with an extraordinary gift. They were able to speak in languages they did not know before. They also have the ability to heal people. All this became an occasion for the spread of faith in other countries. If you turn to the history of ancient Israel, they treated this holiday with a special way. Crowds of believers gathered in the Zion Upper Room and prayed for several hours. Then, in broad daylight, lightning appeared in the sky, an unusual noise was made. This phenomenon was associated with the descent of the Holy Spirit. It was he who moved into the apostles, who were destined to preach the faith and help ordinary people. Now they could convey the truth in different languages, therefore, without missing an opportunity, they dispersed to different parts of the world.
Day of the Holy Spirit: what not to do on a holy holiday
This Orthodox day has pagan roots. This trend can be traced in almost all religious holidays. Before the baptism of Russia, it was believed that on this day one should pay respect to mother earth. The beginning of summer was symbolized with the nurse of all people, so it was impossible to do any land work.
According to tradition, it was forbidden to dig up the earth at all, yell, weed, plant in it. On this day, it was believed that a new crop was born in the soil, so in no case should it be harmed. This threatened that people would simply be left without bread. Also excluded any household chores: laundry, cleaning, sewing.
Centuries-old traditions of the Orthodox day
In contrast, it was necessary to "appease" the land. For this, women prepared a festive dinner, gave each other postcards, and enjoyed the weather. A white tablecloth was spread out in the middle of the field, treating all guests with hearty meals. Bread crumbs, eggshells were scattered across the field to help the main nurse in the ascent of a new crop. There was also a religious procession in the fields. It was believed that in this way the soil would receive a blessing.
They did not forget about the dead, who on Spirits Day had to be remembered with kind words. They honored all the deceased believers, and not just loved ones. For the repose of souls, candles were lit and prayers were read. The atmosphere of pure nature reigned in the houses. Decorated with birch twigs, which were laid out near the icons, above the bed, in children's rooms. Not without bouquets. Herbs consecrated in the church were collected in wreaths. It was believed that after such a ritual on Spirits Day, plants acquire special power.
Women prepared medicinal tinctures, decoctions, brewed teas. If there was a sick person in the family, it was necessary to give him a drink that could heal him. This is a family holiday, which was not without fees at the same table. Pastries and pancakes were considered popular dishes on the table. Also on this day it would be good to gather for a picnic and reunite with nature.
Signs and beliefs of the day of the Holy Spirit
There are several interesting clues:
- from the very morning it was necessary to wash with holy water from a well or river. It was said that in this way it was possible to be cleansed of sins and ailments, conspiracies of evil spirits;
- fortune-telling among girls: homemade wreaths were thrown into the water. If he quickly goes with the flow - the girl should expect happiness, if she drowns - trouble;
- they saw off the spring, kindled bonfires and danced round dances;
- You can't run today. It was believed that in this way a person could escape from his fate;
morning walks in the dew predicted happiness.
Interesting Facts About Holy Monday:
- according to the weather of the holiday, they determined what the next month and a half would be like. It was also considered the beginning of summer;
- this day in the Orthodox world is considered the birthday of the Church. After all, even then, ordinary people who followed the teachings of Christ believed in the power of the Son of God and his foundations. The apostles were endowed with God's gift and assigned to them the mission of preaching Orthodoxy;
- ancestors believed that the Holy Spirit descends from heaven and roams the earth itself. So that he could enter the house, people left all the windows and doors open.
On June 17 next year, divine services will be held in Moscow churches, people will remember this important day and will once again be able to pay tribute to the breadwinner with their prayers. Remember all the prohibitions of this holiday and try not to ignore them. Decorate your home with birch twigs and feel the power of your faith.
Holy Spirit Day, Spirits Day - June 17, 2019 - Orthodox Christian holiday in honor of the Holy Spirit, which is celebrated on the fifty-first day after Easter. Spirits Day is celebrated in memory of the Holy Spirit who descended on the disciples of Christ so that they could preach to everyone about the Son of God, about His suffering for us about the resurrection of the dead. It was from that moment on earth that the establishment of the Church of Christ began, which is why Spirits Day is so important for Christians. The Holy Spirit is one and inseparable from God the Father and God the Son, Spirits Day is dedicated to sincere and comprehensive faith in the Lord.
Holy Spirit Day, Spirits Day 2019
“Wow - so early and already so drunk,” the apostles heard on the day of Pentecost from the Jerusalem crowd. They were really acting strange that day.
Protodeacon Andrei Kuraev
As if having forgotten their native Aramaic language, they made some strange sounds that could be mistaken for foreign languages, but everyone in Jerusalem knew that the disciples of Jesus were very far from bookishness and scholarship. Unusual strength and determination were heard in their eyes and gestures, words and intonations (and in Jerusalem everyone remembered that Jesus' companions did not show these qualities on the night of His arrest).
There was such uncontrollable gaiety on their faces (but the inhabitants of the holy city remembered these people well as lost and weeping - not even two months had passed before their teachers were killed, and with Him all their hopes). And this sudden joy of theirs did not at all fit with those mournful memories ... No, of course, only excessive zeal in pouring wine on their grief could influence these, in general, quite pious and restrained people ...
But, as often happens, the crowd, wise by worldly experience, turned out to be wrong. Wine of any quality and quantity cannot penetrate into that depth of the human heart, from where the apostolic joy emanated on the day of Pentecost. Man, created by the Spirit of the Creator in the image of the Creator, is incomprehensible and complex. And in everyone there are such secret cells, where even he himself cannot penetrate.
There are such hidden strings in the human soul, from which neither the person himself nor anything else that touches them from our everyday world can extract sound. Those strings that God put in us from the beginning, so that they sound in full and joyful force when we return to our Father's house. Sometimes the breeze wafting from our mountainous homeland makes them slightly respond - and then Pushkin's poems and Rachmaninov's music are born ...
Then even in the soul of a person who for some reason tries to convince himself that, in general, he does not have a soul and cannot have it, a joyful feeling is born that the world is not reduced to a chaotic clutch of dead atoms. And over time, this feeling grows stronger, develops into “a constant feeling that our days here are only pocket money, pennies clinking in the dark, and somewhere there is capital”, from which you can already “receive interest in the form of dreams, tears” even during your lifetime. happiness, distant mountains" (Vladimir Nabokov).
But what happened to the apostles on that Day was more than an ordinary miracle. For the first time these strings were touched not by an echo and not by a weakened breeze, but by the hand of the Artist of the Universe himself. From the beginning, in every person there is an upper room, about which Christ said: “We will come to him and make our abode with him.” And now, after the Son of God snatched a person from the power of death, after the Blood of Christ cleansed him of filth, the Trinity enters into a person: a person has become the dwelling place of the Spirit.
Actually, this is the birthday of the Church. When Christ delivered the Sermon on the Mount, there was still no Church around him, but there were those who were only disciples and novices. When, on the night of His suffering, He offered the Apostles the Chalice of the New Testament, He was surrounded by those whom He no longer calls “slaves,” but “brothers,” and yet this was not yet the Church. When He was resurrected - and then they still did not understand what meaning for their own lives and souls the fact that their Master had left His grave had. But on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, they became the Church.
From now on, the same Spirit lives in the Eternal Son of God and in themselves. From now on, they themselves are the Body of Christ ... Now not from the outside, not as disciples or observers. They know the secret of the Son of God. Now - this is their own secret, or rather, now - this is the mystery of their own life.
Now they can fulfill the covenant of Love, not because they were so punished, not out of obedience or fear. Now they themselves breathe the same Love that once kindled the suns and luminaries. Christ did not leave behind moral prescriptions and not a collection of scriptures. Perhaps one cannot even say that He left disciples behind Him. With people, He forever left Himself on earth, His Divine nature, although He raised His human nature to heaven.
He left His Spirit in the world of men, He left the Church. That Church, the secret of existence of which was wonderfully revealed by the Russian Slavophile and theologian of the last century Alexei Khomyakov, who saw in the Church the unity of people who freely accept Divine grace.
So today is our birthday.
On this Day, the apostles spoke from that depth of heart that yearns for the Word and yearns for the Spirit in every person. Therefore, their words were understandable to anyone in whom this thirst lived, regardless of what dialect he usually spoke in. And therefore, such words were incomprehensible to those who used to live on the surface. The miracle of Pentecost has nothing to do with linguistics. The apostles did not speak Hebrew or Greek, not Tatar or Russian. They spoke simply, in human language.
It is in this language that we have to learn to speak all our lives. And the grammatical error here is sin, coldness and aloofness. It is easy to get confused in conjugations and concordances. How do, for example, our truths and the only Truth fit together? “I yearned for my little truths and wanted Truth,” one quite successful young journalist once said about himself, a friend of Marina Tsvetaeva and the heir to a loud aristocratic name. He went to Athos and instead of the title of "Prince Shakhovsky" acquired the name of "Monk John". He correctly understood the grammar of being.
And just now we were witnesses and participants in an apparently imperceptible, but all the more dangerous mistake.
The next day after Trinity is Spirits Day. Many traditions and signs are associated with it, so the Russians show an increased interest in this holiday, trying to find out its essence and history.
This year Spirits Day is celebrated on June 5th. Every year this holiday falls on the Monday immediately after Trinity. On such a day, the Spirit is glorified, and the church also says that this is the day of remembrance of the Ascension of Christ and the Spirit. The most interesting thing is that the holiday itself has come to us since pagan times. And after the arrival of Christianity in Russia, he slightly changed his traditions and meaning. On this day, it was believed that evil spirits come to earth. Therefore, the wells were holy and it was impossible to swim in the reservoir.
Young girls guessed on this day, and the older ones brought gifts to the Earth. On this day, you can not look at the reflection in the water, so that the mermaid does not drag it to the bottom.
Traditions and customs: what not to do on Spirits Day
Like many Orthodox holidays, Spirits Day has pagan roots. In Russia, it has long been strictly forbidden to work on Monday after Trinity - this was primarily due to agricultural work.
In pre-Christian times, right before the start of summer, the name day of the Earth was celebrated - a kind of birthday of mother earth, the breadwinner of the peasant. On Spirits Day, it was forbidden to dig the ground, plant plants, in a word, perform any actions related to working on the ground, even stick stakes into it.
People believed that the Earth on this day was pregnant with a future harvest, and to violate the integrity of the earth's cover meant risking the future harvest, causing serious harm to the Earth. Therefore, folk customs and traditions forbade touching the ground.
On Spirits day in the evening, women performed the ritual of feeding the earth. To do this, they went out into the field, spread out tablecloths and arranged a festive dinner and from time to time laid out small pieces of food on the field and sprinkled them with earth on top.
In the old days, they believed that this enhances fertility. On Spirits Day, it was customary to go around the plowed fields with a procession of the cross - this custom clearly testified to the junction of the pagan and Christian beginnings of the holiday. The procession was held in order to call for a blessing on the birthday Earth. The Earth, overshadowed by God's grace, in response gave a rich harvest of wheat, rye, and barley.
On this day, it is also impossible to sew, wash, clean, and so on.
Spirits Day in Russia, like Trinity parental Saturday, was considered in the villages as a day when it was necessary to remember with a kind word not only departed relatives, but all other deceased Christians. They also commemorated the dead or those who perished in a foreign land without repentance and a funeral service in an Orthodox church and lit a candle for the repose of the soul.
Congratulations on Spirits Day
Spirits day has come, cheers! Holy, prophetic feast, Holiness descended on the fields, And the sun shines brightly. And on this day you are good, Earthly, heavenly grace, So that the weather is favorable, So that the summer is warm, and good luck.
So the day of Spirits has come to Us warmly, he promises to go around the Holy Land And fill it with harvest. Let the Spirit fill your Heart with love and kindness, which makes up the Trinity with the Son and the Father.
The Trinity has passed, Today is the day of the Spirits Grace descends on the earth The shadow will go into oblivion. And in these great days, rejoice, pray. Help your soul to ascend spiritually.
There is a folk sign - Spirits Day - the beginning of summer! Receding cold, Hello, warm time.
Holy Spirit Day (Spirits Day) in 2017 - June 5
In some countries, for example in Ukraine, Spirits Day is considered a day off, since this holiday always follows the Trinity. In Russia, everyone will work on June 20, but despite this, the holiday does not lose its value for Russian citizens.
Judging by the name, we can conclude that this is the Day of the Holy Spirit for Orthodox Christians. In all churches, a service is held with the consecration of birch branches, which are then carried home to decorate the house. In ancient times, for this, they specially went along with the priest, so that he sprinkled one tree with holy water, from which subsequently all the women plucked a branch and carried it into the house. It was believed that this is how you can drive away evil spirits from your family.
However, not everything is so simple, because most Orthodox holidays have pagan roots, which is proved by the rites that we perform on this day. Even before the baptism of Russia, this day was also dedicated to spirits, but already to the spirits of the earth. Our ancestors believed that the Earth also has a certain spirit, which has a huge impact on the fate of each person and humanity as a whole. Therefore, it was Mother Earth's name day. This day was also saturated with a huge number of superstitions, for example, they used to believe that various evil spirits wake up on Spirits Day - mermaids, water creatures, and so on. Perhaps that is why the coming week was called Mermaid.
Traditions and customs in Spirits day
It seems that such a day should begin with a service in the temple or prayer. However, according to ancient belief, on Spirits Day, many tried to listen to the earth. To do this, even before sunrise, they went outside, put their ear to the ground and listened. Such a rite was performed in the hope that in this way great secrets would be revealed to them. But at the same time, everyone sincerely believed that this could happen only to the elect.
As we have already mentioned, on this day they went to the forest together with the priest to sprinkle birch with holy water. However, this ceremony was also performed over the well. Our ancestors sincerely believed that in this way they save it from drying out, and this sprinkling of the well helps keep the water clean and fresh.
If on the feast of the Holy Trinity women did not have time to collect medicinal herbs, then on Spirits Day they corrected this. After all, according to popular beliefs, on this holiday, all herbs do not lose their special power, and are also able to cure, like herbs collected on the Trinity.
Since Spirits Day is strongly associated with paganism, even after the adoption of Christianity, our people tried to appease evil spirits. To do this, women went out into the forest, to the river and hung old children's clothes everywhere. At the same time, it was believed that if you meet a mermaid, then in this case there is a huge chance to gain wealth and prosperity, but there is also a risk and get trouble and misfortune on your head. Indeed, at the same time, there was a belief that mermaids could tickle to death, or carry them along in a round dance. Girls and children should have been especially wary, so they were not allowed into the forest during Rusal Week.
It was also customary to feed the earth everywhere on this day. To do this, women went out into the field, spread a blanket and had a meal. If this ceremony is performed, then, according to our ancestors, the whole year there will be a good and rich harvest. And part of the food was either carried to different parts of the field, or they tried to bury a little food, saying: “Birthday Earth, give us a harvest.”
The well, which was consecrated, was constantly visited during the day. They washed, left funeral food, threw a coin and prayed. Thus, in ancient times in Russia they tried to wash away all sins from themselves and cleanse themselves.
After the temple, many hurried to the cemetery to decorate the graves with birch branches. They also had a meal there. However, all the remaining food was not taken home, but left in the cemetery.
The holiday ended with a symbolic burial of Kostroma, the role of which was most often taken by a young girl. She was dressed in white clothes, and then laid on the boards, after which they carried the girl to the river and performed the rite of "awakening". Then they all bathed together and had a festivity. This rite symbolized the fact that Kostroma is resurrected after death and bestows fertility and a good harvest.
Signs and beliefs on Spirits Day
Our ancestors believed that in no case on this day it was impossible to look at your reflection in the water. This can lead to the fact that a girl or a guy could lose his true love.
If this holiday was rainy, then, according to signs, the next six weeks will also be the same.
On this day, going to get water, they always said "went on the water." If you say "went for water", then you can easily drown.
It was also believed that the mermaids and mermaids that can be found on this day are people who died before their time or committed suicide.
On Spirits Day, all the dead gather near birches or sit on their branches. Perhaps for this reason, a birch was appointed a symbol of this holiday.
Since our ancestors believed that the name day was near the earth on this day, it was forbidden to work, sew, sow, dig.
And in order to protect themselves from evil spirits, in ancient times smelling plants such as wormwood, garlic or onions were worn on this day.
What the weather will be on Spirits Day, the same is expected for the whole summer.
But thunder and lightning on this day is a good sign, because in this way the earth drives away evil spirits, because since ancient times it has been believed that it is fire that can get rid of them.
Despite the fact that the mermaid is the embodiment of an evil spirit that must be feared and feared, a good omen is still associated with her. so, in the old days they believed that where the foot of a mermaid set foot, there would be a rich harvest of wheat and rye.
They also used to say: "Do not trust the heat until the Spirit Day."
But running that day was undesirable - you can run away from your fate. But in order to bring the meeting with happiness closer, on Spirits Day it was necessary to walk barefoot in the dew in the morning.
