Maslenitza/Масленица

Session 3

 

Пекут блины, стоит весёлый чад.
На масленицу всюду разговенье! 

Сегодня на Руси, как говорят,
Прощёное Святое Воскресенье!
И вот, во имя этакого дня,
Коль в чём-то провинился, допускаю,
Уж ты прости, пожалуйста, меня...
И я тебя за всё прощаю!

Maslenitza  is an ancient Russian holiday that marks the end of winter and beginning of spring. Similar holidays exist in many cultures: Chinese New Year is all about celebrating spring and new life, for example. 

This holiday is not of Christian origin. It was born in pagan times and was celebrated in honor of  Volos/ Veles -  Slavic God of farming and cattle tending ( rival of Perun, he was also God of autumn, western lands, underworld, earth, waters, fertility, cattle, pasture, snakes, wolves, medicine and magic). This holiday opened a new farming season.

When Christianity officially came to Russia in 988, the Church knew that it could not completely do away with the pagan holidays and would typically align Christian observances with them. Such is the case with Maslenitza.  The word Maslenitza has as its root Russian  word "масло"( butter), and  the holiday was first recorded as such in the 500s AD.

 Maslenitza is one last big party before the 40 days of penitence and fasting. (Compare: Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday). It runs the entire week prior to Russian Orthodox Lent/Великий Пост, the season which precedes Easter/Пасха.  (In 2011 this is the week of  February 28 -- March 7.)

Maslenitza is the last week when it’s allowed to eat fish and dairy products ( lots of масло ;-), though animal meat is already prohibited. Sometimes Maslenitza is also called Cheese week.

Essential to Maslenitza is blini that from pagan times symbolized the sun (literally - round, golden, warm). While eating pancakes people thought they were consuming part of sun’s energy. Maslenitza was and is characterized by more than just  eating of mass quantities of pancakes. Each of the days of the celebration feature such things as masquerade parties, visiting friends, sleigh rides, and any form of merriment along with special rituals.

On Monday/Понедельник, which was called встреча / vstrecha/ ( meeting day), people from neighboring villages used to meet at the freshly established fairgrounds and have fun on the ice and snow slides and horse sleigh riding. Also, on Monday, a straw dummy of Lady Maslenitza, a symbol of hope and agricultural prosperity, was constructed and clothed in  bright garments. At the end of the day it was erected on the outskirts of a village, usually in an elevated spot. On Monday,  wealthier families started making blini. The first one was always given to the poor in commemoration of the dead relatives.

On Tuesday/Вторник, ряжаные/riazhaniye/ ("mummers" - thank you, Raymond) – costumed villagers in goat masks carrying a broom on a long stick paraded around the  village.  For a little fee villagers could tie a ribbon to a twig of the broom. This was no ordinary ribbon  - it "contained", through some enchanting ritual, all illnesses and troubles of the family, which riazhaniye would take away with them. On this day, the village youth would gather in the most spacious house for fun games and meeting new friends, that’s why this day had a name заигрыши/ zaigrishi/ ( flirtatious play dates). On Tuesday people started inviting friends and relatives for  pancakes.

On Wednesday/Среда, every mother-in law used to invite her son-in-law along with other relatives to have pancakes in her house. This day is called лакомки/lakomki/ (tasty treats). It was a chance for a hostess to  show off her culinary skills. Every family had a secret pancake  recipe. The preparation of the pancake batter was thoroughly guarded. As the superstition goes : if a stranger saw the pancake batter being made, the pancakes would be ruined. On this day blini were taken into the streets and offered to neighbors and passersby.

Thursday/ Четверг was called разгул /razgul/ or Широкая Масленица/shirokaya maslenitza/ ( revelry, bacchanalia or  Broad Maslenitza) --  the start of massive public partying and feasting, which included heavy drinking. People in the streets were offered bear, braga and wine. On this day villagers were to bring old  things to the Maslenitza dummy. The broom with enchanted ribbons was erected next to the dummy in the evening. Youth was partying until the following dawn, riding on troikas and having  group (стенка на стенку/wall-on-wall/) mock fist fights.

Friday/Пятница was called тёщины вечёрки /tioshchini vechiorki/( mother-in-law's eve), a reciprocal dinner from the son-in-law to his mother-in-law. It was an official honoring of the mother-in-law with a very official -  for all the neighbors to see  - invitation the day before.

Saturday/Суббота was a daughter-in-law’s gathering – золовкины посиделки /zolovkiny posidelki/. Every daughter-in-law invited her husband’s relatives to a feast. It was a a trying time for a young hostess. She had to prepare and serve a multi-course dinner. First she served soups, then fried and baked fish dishes, after that -- mushroom and vegetable dishes, and, of course, various kinds of blini with a wide choice of fillings. It was especially crowded at the fairgrounds that day. Youth slid down the hills on sleds, turned-over wooden benches or even slabs of ice from the river. There were troika competitions. Farmers markets or ярмарки /yarmarki/ sprung in the big  centrally located villages.

Sunday/Воскресенье – the last day of Maslenitza is Forgiveness Sunday  - прощёное воскресенье /proshchionoe voskresenye/. It is also called проводы /provody/ ( seeing off). A bit of sadness was added to the celebratory mood. During the day people visited the graves of their relatives with offerings of pancakes and pleas for forgiveness. This day presented a great opportunity to reconcile with the enemies and to right the wrongs.  Instead of a usual greeting, people met each other with “Prosti menia/Прости меня”-“Forgive me,”  to which they received a reply,  “Bog proshchayet, I  ya proshchayu/Бог прощает и я прощаю.” -  “God forgives, so do I.” After this greeting they were supposed to kiss each other three times to confirm mutual forgiveness.

 In the evening, with souls relieved of sorrow and moral wounds, the villagers came to the Maslenizta statue. They asked Lady Maslenitza to be merciful and bring good harvest. Then, each of the villagers lit a bunch of straw they brought with them and  burnt the dummy. The fire also took with it the pile of the old things and the broom with the enchanted ribbons. It was believed that all sorrows  were carried away with the millions of sparks . After the bonfire burnt out,  nobody  dared to lit even a single candle in the households on that night. The following morning, the ashes from the Maslenitza bonfire were scattered on the farm fields for good harvest. All the feast and pancake leftovers were given to pigs or cattle, or thrown away. They say that even the poorest beggar would not touch anything left from Maslienitza feast. The Great Lent began.

    In the movie"Barber of Siberia"/Sibirskiy Tziriulnik/"Сибирский Цирюльник" Nikita Mikhalkov, a famous Russian director and actor, masterfully shows traditions of Maslenitza celebration in Russia at the end of the 19th century.

  Here's a few recipes from Maslenitza feast. Enjoy!

Tzarskie blini Ingredients: 3 cups of buckwheat flour, 2 cups of wheat flour, 1 cup of cream, 1 l of warm milk, 200 g of sour cream, 25 g of yeast, 100 g of butter, 5 egg yokes, 5 egg whites, 1 tbl spoon of sugar, 1 tbl spoon of salt Dissolve buckwheat flour and yeast in two cups of warm milk. In 1-1.5 hours, when the rue is ready, add egg yokes, mixed with butter and sour cream, wheat flour,  remaining milk , salt and sugar. Mix the dough until it leaves the spoon clean, place in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours. Beat egg whites with cream, combine with the dough, let stand 10-15 minutes and start frying	БЛИНЫ ЦАРСКИЕ Ингредиенты: 3 стакана гречневой муки, 2 стакана пшеничной муки, 1 стакан сливок, 1 л теплого молока, 200 г сметаны, 25 г дрожжей, 100 г сливочного масла, 5 желтков, 5 белков, 1 ст. ложка сахара, 1 ст. ложка соли. В двух стаканах теплого молока развести гречневую муку и дрожжи. Через 1-1,5 часа, когда опара поднимется, добавить желтки, растертые со сливочным маслом и сметаной, пшеничную муку, оставшееся молоко, соль, сахар. Все вымешать, пока тесто не будет отставать от лопатки, поставить в теплое место на 1,5-2 часа. Отдельно взбить белки и сливки, соединить их с тестом, дать постоять 10—15 минут и выпечь блины.
Pancake fillings Mushroom : Finely chop  pickled mushrooms, add some chopped onion, and mix adding vegetable oil. Potato and herring: blend boiled and peeled potato with salted herring. Green onion and hard-boiled eggs: mix finely chopped bunch of onions and hard-boiled eggs with sour cream or mayo, add salt, sugar and pepper to taste.	ЗАПРАВКИ ДЛЯ БЛИНОВ Грибная. Маринованные грибы откинуть, мелко порубить, с репчатым луком, заправить растительным маслом. Картофельная с сельдью. Картофель отварить, потолочь, охладить, смешать с измельченной соленой сельдью. Зеленый лук с яйцами. Мелко покрошить пучок лука и крутые яйца, заправить сметаной или майонезом, посолить, поперчить и добавить сахар.
Siberian Braga Ingredients: 1 loaf of rye bread, 3-4 kg of sugar, 10 l of water, 100g of yeast Cut and toast rye bread. Put in a pot, add hot water and bring to boil, filter, let cool off  to the room temperature, add yeast dissolved in water and leave to  brew. When the foam starts appearing, add sugar and leave to brew some more. After about 8 days the drink is ready.	БРАГА СИБИРСКАЯ Ингредиенты: 1 буханка ржаного хлеба, 3-4 кг сахара, 10 л воды, раствор дрожжей (100 г дрожжей на 10 л воды).       Ржаной хлеб нарезать и подсушить. Затем залить горячей водой и довести до кипения, профильтровать, остудить до температуры парного молока. В сусло влить раствор дрожжей и поставить бродить. Когда появится пена, добавить сахар и поставить на дображивание. Через 8 дней напиток готов.

Масленичные частушки

"Частушка -народная песенка -четверостишие или двустишие лирического, злободневного, задорно- шутливого содержания" Словарь русского языка. Ожегов С.И	Chastushka, a rhymed folk verse usually composed of four lines. The chastushka is traditional in form but often has political or topical content. The word is a derivative of the Russian chastyĭ, “frequent” or “in quick succession,” and probably originally referred to the refrain of a song. Encyclopædia Britannica

Here's a translation exercise for intermediate learners. Let me know if you have any problems. And, as always, enjoy these little fun examples of Russian folk art.

Мы при всём честном народе Вам частушки пропоём, Зиму-матушку проводим И весну встречать начнём. Мы на масленой неделе Праздник не нарушили, Всё друзья плясали, пели, Мы блиночки кушали! В маскарадном хороводе Закружился стар и млад, А у Лизы и Володи От конфет глаза горят. В нашем классе кулинарки Ловкие, умелые! Все в нарядных платьях ярких, А блины горелые! Все девчонки в ночь гадали, Дружно кинули башмак. Мишке в голову попали, Во весь лоб теперь синяк! Мы мороза не боимся, Нынче Маслену сожжём. Хорошо повеселимся С ярким, радужным огнём.

На весёлой русской тройке Прокатились мы друзья. Сбив в пути корову Зорьку, Слёзы лили в три ручья. Песни петь боюсь немножко, Хоть и громко я пою. Друг мой пляшет под гармошку Я как вкопанный стою. Бой снежками не на шутку, Катя громче всех ревёт: Ей снежок попал под шубку, А второй в открытый рот. 25 блинов здоровых Съел я за один присест. И теперь на брюках новых Не найдёте чистых мест. На санях с высоких горок Девочки катаются, Ну а мальчики обжоры Животами маются. Мы МаслЁну-хохотушку Проводили на покой. А теперь Весну-подружку С солнцем встретим за рекой.