"Bit of Life!" - Dmitry Zherebtsov.

In Russia, on this day, the Babi holiday, or the feast of porridge, was celebrated. On this day midwives and women in childbirth were praised. Women took their children and with gifts and congratulations went to the midwives who helped them during childbirth. Those, in turn, treated the guests to porridge. At the same time, a custom associated with Christianity was born: women came to church with pre-baked pies to present them to the Mother of God.

In general, the midwife in any village enjoyed great respect. She was called a midwife because she knew how to properly “twist” a newborn with diapers so that he would not break out and sleep peacefully. The midwives were experts in women's and maternal care. No wonder they said: "Grandma is like - she will help the whole thing." They also noted their skill: “Every grandmother has her own tricks.”

Regarding the holiday, there is another saying: “On the holiday of porridge, everyone walks with a spoon - a full scoop will not disperse the family.” This meant that the customs of this day were aimed at strengthening the family. Babi porridges are also marked with their signs. If in the morning the titmouse screams, it means that in the evening there will be frost; but if the crows are clamoring - there will be snowfalls and snowstorms. Plentiful snow also foreshadowed porridge browned in the oven.

It was believed that clear weather on this day promises a good harvest of millet. It was from this day that girlish fortune-telling began, which continued until the very Epiphany. Guessing was taken accompanied by special songs or in complete silence. The main objects of divination were marriage, death and harvest. Over time, the ritual essence of divination was practically lost, and their entertainment side came to the fore. And today, many girls are happy to guess "on the betrothed."

The folk holiday of Babi porridge in 2020 is celebrated on January 8 (the date according to the old style is December 26). believers Orthodox Church on this day they celebrate the Cathedral Holy Mother of God.

The content of the article

history of the holiday

Church feast The Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary is dedicated to the mother of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first official celebration took place in 681. It was named the Cathedral because other saints close to the Theotokos and Jesus Christ are also venerated on this day: Joseph the Betrothed and his son from his first marriage, Jacob.

The origin of the folk holiday Babi porridge is associated with the veneration of mother goddesses. On this day in Russia, midwives and women in childbirth were honored.

These two holidays are combined into one.

Traditions and rituals of the holiday

On this day, divine services are held in churches. Believers glorify the Mother of God, thank her for the birth of Jesus Christ and turn to her with prayers.

On Babi porridge in Russia, it was customary to honor midwives. Young girls, pregnant women went to visit them with treats (pies, pancakes) and gifts. It was believed that if a pregnant woman presented gifts to a midwife, then her birth would be easy.

The midwives greeted the guests with hearty and tasty porridge, for which they did not spare milk, butter, cream. This tradition gave rise to the name of the holiday.

Signs and beliefs

• A blizzard is circling and frosty weather is standing - a sign of a cold and rainy summer.
• Porridge burned during cooking - to frequent snowfalls.
• If you take snow in your hands on this day, and it sticks to them, then heat will soon come.
• If carolers appeared on the threshold of the house on this holiday, then they must be taken inside and treated to delicious food. This will bring happiness, peace, tranquility and prosperity to the family.
• On January 8, it is forbidden to purchase ropes and products made from them. According to legend, this can lead to suicide in the family - one of the relatives and friends can hang themselves.

Attendants were called midwives, as they had to swaddle a newborn, “twist” him in such a way that he would not get out of the diaper and was not constrained in his movements. Not everyone was allowed to assist in childbirth, but only those who had already reached an old age and were also a mother. Only under these conditions and the presence of "skillful hands" could a woman become a midwife.

The feast of Babi Kash has very ancient roots and goes back to the veneration of mother goddesses.

On this day, midwives were revered. Women with children brought gifts and treats: homemade beer or liqueur, pies, pancakes. They came with children so that the grandmothers would bless them.

At the time of the introduction of the Julian calendar: December 26
Date according to the old style: December 26
New Style Date: January 8
Astronomical date: the day following the birth of the new Sun, the Winter Solstice.

It was especially recommended that expectant mothers and young girls go to grandmothers on this day.

Visiting and eating together with midwives sometimes took place from the evening "until white light". At the table, everyone is having fun, joking, conversations are almost always filled with sexual overtones. The midwife herself sometimes performs rituals to help women have more children. The midwife cooked porridge for women in labor from millet or buckwheat. This dish was given important role in ritual activities. For example, to warn the short stature of the child, the grandmother raised the pot of porridge, saying: "Grow high, high." In order for the baby to get back on his feet as soon as possible, the older children were also given a pot of porridge: they were supposed to eat it on the street, and plant a rooster or chicken (according to the sex of the newborn) in an empty pot. On this day, they cut their children's hair, and in memory of the dead they put a special meal for the Family and Rozhanitsy.

A midwife is a distant relative in the village. Not a single homeland could do without a midwife. The grandmother helped the woman in labor. And she was, as they used to say, with hands. Knowing the customs of antiquity, the grandmother knew her business. In the throes of a woman in labor, she flooded the bathhouse, pulled out the woman in labor in the sun. Babkanie - waving - was made good by a kind word, good herbs, good prayers. Smoking a woman in labor, that is, setting fire to a birch torch and setting fire to wormwood with immortelle grass, the grandmother cared about easy homelands.

Not every woman was entrusted with the difficult and responsible task of delivering a baby. Firstly, she had to be middle-aged, i.e. past childbearing age. Witness was even called "grandmother". Secondly, only one who herself gave birth to children could be a midwife, and in no case was a virgin allowed to midwife. She had to be “with hands”, i.e. clever and knowledgeable. At the first contractions, the woman in labor melted the bathhouse to alleviate her torment, fumigated with a birch torch, herbs of wormwood and immortelle, read good prayers supported with kind words.

It should also be noted that women who did not stain their honor with adultery or a quarrelsome or absurd character were involved in obstetric care. It was believed that otherwise it is possible to harm both the health and the fate of the newborn. For the same reason, it was forbidden to accept assistance in childbirth from black-eyed grandmothers. From time immemorial, there was a belief according to which spiritual and kinship relations were established between midwives and babies adopted by them.

In Bulgaria, an interesting custom has been preserved on Babin's Day: Early in the morning, women go to the midwife, whose children are aged from 1 to 3 years.

There, in the yard, under a fruit tree, a ritual of "washing hands" is performed. Young women who have taken a bucket of clean water, soap and a new towel from home, water the midwife on her hands, and then give her a towel, which she accepts as a gift (clothing, linen are also brought as a gift to the midwife - all this is put on her right shoulder). In this ritual, the old woman tries to raise as many sprays as possible with a slander so that the woman's child runs and jumps in good health. For her part, the midwife also gives mothers children's socks and shirts, and if a baby comes with her mother, she ties a coin or a horse figurine on his hand with woven threads (red and white).

And also, in not so distant times, mother gathered the children in the evening and taught them to glorify Christmas, sprinkle with grain - for a long century, for happiness, for well-being. It was as easy as shelling pears to give out a piece of cake at the festive hour, to pamper the children with cranberries on honey. But mother knew: “Not every house has a loaf baked, and even so that the whole family has plenty.” And so the children had to earn a treat, to taste the whole world of children equally and satiety and sweets. “Give a cow, a butter head, a liver on the hearth, a golden cow!”

And in the children's box from every house they carried out both big women and maiden brides ritual cookies, which in their appearance are akin to cattle. And the kids urged: “You, hostess, give it! You, sweetheart, come on! Give - do not break! Break off a little - there will be Yermoshka. If you break off the crust, there will be Andryushka. And give the middle - to be a wedding! And so, the childish box was heavy. And the praisers ran in a crowd to someone's heated bathhouse, shared a treat among themselves. It was a joyful time of games, fun. Children got to know each other and were childishly happy, remembering this wonderful winter time.

On this day, they turned to the prophet David, a musician and tamer of anger, for help. A commoner, going on a journey, asks him for protection from fierce animals, from robbers, believing that the holy psalmist, by his singing and playing the harp, can invisibly calm these enemies. What miraculous power the harp had in the hands of a true boyan, our storytellers told in the high language of epic poetry, making two epic heroes, Dobrynya and Sadko, harpists.

Sayings and signs

If the day turned out to be clear, then a good harvest of millet was expected. If in the morning the titmouse screamed, then by the evening frost would break out, if the crows and jackdaws were noisy - there would be snowfalls and snowstorms. The porridge browned in the oven was also a sign of heavy snow.

Babi porridge - a wonderful holiday
Women in labor and midwives!
This holiday hovers
Old forgotten spirit.

From time immemorial have given birth
Women's children at home.
What happened to the traditions?
How do we give birth now?

Thank God there is hope!
Revival is coming!
Who does not want hospital walls,
He will find the midwife.

Congratulations midwives,
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
For birth without fear
For Love and Kindness!

"Babi porridge" (January 8) is a holiday of women in labor and midwives. According to the old custom, on this day women went to midwives and puerperas with pies. In addition, pies were carried to the Church - the Mother of God, which caused the anger and criticism of the clergy, who condemned and forbade such a custom, considering it unworthy and incompatible with the holiness of the Most Pure. But, despite the bans, the holiday continued to be celebrated almost everywhere. Every year, on the day following, women visited midwives and women in childbirth, arranged a feast, which sometimes began in the evening and lasted until dawn.

On the morning of January 8, midwives and women who gave birth this year gathered in the church and served a prayer service before the icon of the Blessed Womb. After the prayer service, the midwives went to visit the women in labor, who presented them with money and treated them to specially prepared porridge. This ritual treat gave the name to the holiday "Women's porridge".

On the holiday "Women's porridge", water and cereals for porridge were collected at two in the morning. Porridge could be crumbly, viscous and liquid (slurry). It depended on the amount of liquid in the dish. In folk cuisine, friable porridge was prepared from the core, and slurry from fine or ground cereals.

From time immemorial, our ancestors held porridge in high esteem. She was not only a favorite dish for every day, but also a ritual dish. In epics and fairy tales, porridge is a symbol of prosperity and wealth. V Ancient Russia called "porridge" wedding feast. Our forefathers, concluding a peace treaty, cooked porridge and ate it together with former opponents as a sign of alliance and friendship. This is where the expression came from: You can't cook porridge with him».

The midwives were treated with respect, because, according to popular belief, between the midwives and the children they adopted, spiritual and family relations were established for life. The midwife was responsible for the child she adopted, and among the child's relatives she occupied an honorable place in the rituals related to important events in his life: christening, wedding, seeing off to the army.

According to popular beliefs, there is a special connection between the Virgin and the midwife. The midwife was often called Solomonis, Solomei, Solomoniya. In Christian legends, this was the name of the woman who helped the Mother of God during childbirth. On some icons of the Nativity of Christ, Solomonides is depicted in white clothes, about to wash the Christ Child.

It was this legendary midwife that our ancestors revered as the patroness of all midwives. Women in labor and women giving birth turned to her for help. Pregnant women appealed to the Mother of God, asking Her help in finding a good midwife.

The fact that the feast of women in childbirth and midwives follows immediately after Christmas emphasizes with particular force the connection of the Blessed Virgin with midwives, as well as patronage ordinary women, and also points to equality in labor pains, in the joy and pain of motherhood of all women, including the Virgin Mary. This folk holiday as if he exalted and deified every woman in labor and gave the fact of the birth of a baby a high, charitable meaning.

January 8, according to the old style - December 26. In Russia, it was believed that if the titmouse swears in the morning, it will be frosty in the evening, if the crows yell, there will be snowfalls and snowstorms. Plentiful snow also foreshadowed porridge browned in the oven. If the weather is clear during the day, then by the harvest of millet. From that day on, girlish fortune-telling began in Russia, and the subjects of fortune-telling were wedding, death and harvest. They continued until Epiphany, January 19 (January 6, old style). Divination was accompanied by singing or mysterious silence.

And this day was considered the day of midwives and women in childbirth and was called the holiday of Babi porridge. Mothers with gifts and congratulations, accompanied by children, went to the midwives who helped them during childbirth. Those, in turn, treated the guests to porridge. In general, the midwife in any village enjoyed great respect. She was called a midwife because she knew how to properly “twist” a newborn with diapers so that he would not break out and sleep peacefully. According to the proverb: a midwife is distant relatives in the village. Not a single birth was complete without a midwife. The grandmother helped the woman in labor. And she was, as they used to say, with hands. Knowing the customs of antiquity, the grandmother knew her business.

In the throes of a woman in labor, she flooded the bathhouse, pulled out the woman in labor in the sun. Babkanie - waving - was made good by a kind word, good herbs, good prayers. At the first contractions, the woman in labor melted the bathhouse to ease her torment, fumigated with a birch torch, herbs of wormwood and immortelle, read kind prayers, and supported her with affectionate words.

Not every woman was entrusted with the difficult and responsible task of delivering a baby. Firstly, she had to be middle-aged, i.e. past childbearing age. Secondly, only one who herself gave birth to children could be a midwife, and in no case was a virgin allowed to midwife. Thirdly, women who did not stain their honor with adultery or a quarrelsome character were involved in obstetric care. It was believed that otherwise it is possible to harm both the health and the fate of the newborn. Fourthly, it was forbidden to accept assistance in childbirth from black-eyed grandmothers.

The veneration of midwives was also evidenced by another custom - “washing hands”. On the ninth day after the birth, the grandmother visited the newborn she had adopted, and she and her mother, having swaddled the baby, performed a joint “washing of hands” - they washed their hands in the same tub or basin, wiped them with one, certainly new towel, which the grandmother immediately received as a gift.

Since ancient times, there is a belief that between midwives and babies adopted by them, spiritual-kinship relations are established. The midwives were experts in women's and maternal care. No wonder they said: "Grandma is like - everything will help." "Every grandmother has her own tricks."

There is another saying about this holiday: “On the holiday of porridge, everyone walks with a spoon - a full scoop will not disperse the family.” This meant that the customs of this day were aimed at strengthening the family.

Now other times and these customs, like childbirth with the help of midwives, are a thing of the past, and now there are no midwives. Children without exception are born in maternity hospitals, but midwives have not become those same midwives for our children. Although they took a lot from these midwives, and added their skills. And this is their holiday, because they, too, like midwives, are the first to meet a new human life. Honor and respect for them!