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

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 summer cycle is described. The following Orthodox holidays are considered: Trinity, St. Elijah’s Day (Prophet Elijah), Christmas of Saint Nicholas, the day of Boris and Gleb, Saint Pantaleon, Tikhon, the day of Basil Fool for Christ, the Transfiguration of Jesus, the day of the Theotokos of Smolensk (Hodegetria), the Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (one of Great feasts in the Eastern Orthodox Church) and others, including such little known as the day of John the Warrior or the Seven holy martyrs Maccabees (The woman with seven sons). Such Orthodox traditions as Zagovenie and Post (Fasting) are considered. 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. Also some agricultural Slavic festivals — Medovy and Yablochny Spas (the Honey Feast of the Saviour and The Apple Feast of the Saviour), Pozhinki (the end of the harvest season) — are described. 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 texts recorded in the Russian North (Mezensky District, Pinezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Vologda Oblast).