Russian Northwest country folklife-orthodox calendar (spring-summer period). Part I

In the essay on the material of the Russian dialect speech of rural residents of the North-West of Russia, the peasant’s life over time is presented. In chronological order, the content of some days of the spring-summer cycle is described. The following Orthodox holidays are considered: Easter, Christmas of John the Baptist (Ivan Kupala), the day of Peter and Paul, Kuzma and Demyan, the day of the Kazan Mother of God, and others, including such little known as the holy martyrs Kirik and Iulita. According to the stories of the villagers, peasant rituals and customs dedicated to these holidays (both related to the Orthodox tradition and pre-Christian), signs and long-term weather observations related to these days are recreated. There are also evidence recorded in the medieval monuments of writing (mainly in documents created in the historical territory of the Principality of Pskov). The material is extracted from dialect dictionaries (Pskov Regional Dictionary, Seliger Dictionary, Dictionary of Russian dialects of the Lower Pechora, Dictionary of Russian Dialects of Karelia and adjacent areas), as well as from the archive of dialect records made in the Russian North.