Folk calendar - Elijah's day

According to the folk calendar, Elijah’s Day is celebrated on August 2 (July 20, old style) This holiday received its name from the church calendar - the day of honoring the memory of the holy prophet Elijah, who lived 9 centuries before the appearance of Jesus Christ on earth Elijah lived on the territory of modern Jordan during the period of paganism, but he himself was an active fighter against idolatry and glorified the Lord It was he who predicted to the local king Ahab about the upcoming three-year famine in the country When the famine began, the prophet lived in a desert area, eating food brought by a raven Afterwards, he proved to the pagans the existence of One God - through prayer, he asked the Lord to light the altar made of wood for him According to the Holy Scriptures, Elijah was taken to heaven by the Almighty on a chariot of fire In addition, on this day the ancient Slavs honored the memory of the god of thunder and lightning - Perun That is why another name for the holiday appeared among the people - Ilya the Thunderer Thunderclaps were often observed on this day, believing that Ilya himself sent them, destroying the unclean serpent The people believed that when Elijah was taken up to heaven in a chariot, a horseshoe flew off one of his horses and fell into a pond Then, because of her, all the waters on earth cooled down Therefore, from that day on, residents stopped swimming in rivers and lakes It was also believed that autumn was coming to the earth during this period And it is no coincidence, because in August the daylight hours became shorter and the reservoirs managed to cool down during the night On Elijah's day, residents prayed to Saint Elijah for a good harvest in their gardens and fields If there was a drought for a long time, the peasants organized special rituals to attract showers If there was too much moisture and the fields needed drying, then the ceremony was performed in clear weather This day was considered a day off; residents postponed work in order to avoid Ilya’s wrath There was a tradition for Ilya to bake bread and pies from the first grinding They were carried to the church for the lighting, and then treated to relatives, friends and neighbors Such pies were often shared with beggars and wanderers They said that on Elijah’s Day, evil spirits move into the forest animals, so caring owners carefully looked after their livestock and did not let them out into the forest to graze, so that wild animals would not tear them to pieces It was forbidden to allow cats or dogs into the home at night, in the belief that they could cause lightning to strike the roof If rain was noticed on Ilya the Thunderer, they believed that the fires would bypass the settlement Getting wet in the rain promised excellent health for the resident The noise in the beehives foreshadowed clear days Gusty winds were observed in calm weather