October 14: the main rules, rituals and prohibitions of the day

For our ancestors, Pokrov meant the end of field work and the transition to the winter way of life. The harvest was completed by that day. Men were engaged in the procurement of firewood and insulation huts. The women took out spinning wheels and sewed new clothes, because the people said: “Chief the fur coat to the Intercession, otherwise there will be no heat.”.

On this day, for the first time in the year, the oven was flooded in a residential room. To keep the house warm all winter, the hostess baked pancakes (as a tribute to the ancestors-guardians of the hearth) and tried to use apple logs for heating. It was also customary to change the straw in the mattresses to fresh, and babies for good health symbolically poured water through the sieve right on the doorstep.

Traditionally, the wedding season opened. Dreaming of marriage, girls rushed to church at dawn: it was believed that who first puts a candle, she will quickly find a betrothed. A popular prayer was: “Prayer-father, cover the earth with a snowball, and me with a wife.” In the evenings, the youth gathered for fun gatherings with common porridge and pancakes, where the guys gave the girls sweets (but not needles or scissors, so as not to “prick” fate).

What can not be done on the cover:

Fight for hard work: sewing, building, digging or doing general cleaning.

- Swearing, swearing, abusing alcohol and borrowing money.

Refuse matchmakers (it was believed that after such a girl will remain single for three years).

What will bring luck:

Help those in need, smoke the house with haze from cherry twigs or apple trees, and light a fire from dry moss in complete silence. This ancient ritual cleansed space and attracted well-being. And if the first snow fell on Pokrov, it was considered healing: washing them promised beauty and youth for a whole year.