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How not to invite trouble on a Bad day: what were they especially afraid of violating
Holy Spirit Day completes the Trinity celebrations, which in the church tradition are dedicated to the glorification of the Holy Spirit and continue the liturgical meaning of the feast of Pentecost. In popular culture, this period correlated with Rusalnaya Nedelya, a time around which ideas about the mysterious and sometimes gloomy images of Slavic mythology developed. The Church categorically rejects such beliefs as elements of folklore unrelated to Christian teaching, and researchers note that a significant part of them has come down to us through late ethnographic records. Read more about this in the Izvestia article.
When is Spirit Day celebrated in 2026
In 2026, Spirits Day (the church name is Holy Spirit Day) is celebrated on June 1. This is an Orthodox holiday that always falls on the day after Trinity (Pentecost) and on the 51st day after Easter.
— We have a tradition of remembering those who were directly involved in these events the next day after major church holidays dedicated to significant events in spiritual history. For example, after the Nativity of the Virgin, the next day we remember her parents, after the Nativity of John the Baptist — his parents. Similarly, on the Day of the Holy Trinity, we glorify all three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and the next day we especially honor one of the Persons, the Holy Spirit, whose descent on the apostles in the Upper Room of Zion is remembered the day before," Vladislav Beregovoy, head of the missionary department of the Pesochen diocese, told Izvestia.
According to his observations, since the holiday always falls on a Monday, a working day, not everyone who wants to attend the service can attend it.
— There are fewer people in church on this day, not because we do not honor the Holy Spirit, who lives in the Church, but because people have jobs and studies. Even I have a master's degree, and as a priest, I have to leave in the morning because I have a service," he explained.
The history and ecclesiastical significance of the Holy Spirit Day
St. Basil the Great, who lived in the fourth century, made a great contribution to the formation of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. In his writings, he proved that the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son, and refuted the view of Him as an inferior being or an impersonal force. His views became an important basis for the subsequent establishment of church teaching.
In 381, the Second Ecumenical Council was held in Constantinople, at which the Orthodox doctrine of the Holy Spirit was finally consolidated. The Council confirmed His divinity and equality to the Father and the Son, confirming the dogma of the Holy Trinity in its classical form.
As for the ecclesiastical significance of the holiday, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, as St. Seraphim of Sarov said, is the main goal of Christian life. This is understood as the achievement of a state that the holy fathers called deification, when a person by grace becomes involved in the Divine life.
It is achieved through spiritual effort, good deeds, and love for one's neighbor.
— The works of faith are prayer, austerity, social activity, alms, volunteering, helping those in need — not only loved ones, but also those who may not even say thank you. Help can be not only material, but also expressed in words, the ability to sympathize, worry, hear a person, be with someone who is in pain. Anyway, social activity really does bring us closer to God, because God is love," Father Vladislav noted.
However, according to him, closeness to God cannot be reduced only to good deeds. In the church's understanding, Communion is the main source of grace for a person.
"Every Divine Liturgy at which we receive communion, including on the Feast of Trinity or the Day of the Holy Spirit, is what makes us truly vessels of God's grace, vessels of the Holy Spirit," the priest noted.
Prohibitions and a common mistake of believers
There are no special church prohibitions on the Day of the Holy Spirit. However, according to Father Vladislav, the Church categorically advises people not to rely solely on their own emotions and feelings, trying to understand whether they live "in the Holy Spirit."
— Then the question arises: how do I know if I am acting by grace or not? After all, the priest says that one can confuse well—fed complacency with the action of grace, and aesthetic or emotional experience with the action of the Holy Spirit," continued the interlocutor of Izvestia.
The Apostle Paul, according to him, suggests a criterion — these are the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If they are present in a person's life, it means that he lives in harmony with God, if not, this is a reason to think. There are nine fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, and temperance.
Love is not just a feeling, but an action, a manifestation of an attitude towards one's neighbor. Joy is a spiritual state of peace with God, people, and oneself, and inner peace. Long—suffering is the ability to endure difficulties without irritation and grumbling. Goodness is gentleness and kindness to everyone, a quiet but very strong manifestation of love that is felt even in the presence of a person. Mercy manifests itself in concrete acts of help. Faith is not only a belief in the existence of God, but also faithfulness to Him in all circumstances. Meekness — gentleness, non-irritability, absence of malice. Abstinence is the ability to control one's desires and not be their slave.
— If opposite qualities manifest themselves in a person's life, this is a reason to think that he may be deceiving himself, considering himself good and pious, but not noticing the fruits of the Holy Spirit's action in himself. In this case, he may confuse emotions with real spiritual life," the priest noted.
What to do on the Day of the Holy Spirit
On Holy Spirit Day, believers are traditionally reminded of the importance of avoiding sins and doing good deeds. Priest Beregovoy named five simple good deeds that can be done on a holiday.
According to him, on this day you can smile at every person you meet on the way. Take candies or lollipops with you to treat them to others. And not just to distribute them to the street, but, for example, to offer candy in a conversation with someone at work or in the classroom. You can also try to do at least three good deeds in a day.
Instead of watching the news endlessly, the priest noted, it is possible to devote time to a book — the one that you have long wanted to read or start.
— At home, let's put down our phones for a while and be with our family for real. We will not just formally ask the children, husband or wife how the day went, giving ourselves a mental check mark "I am a good father or husband," but we will really talk, listen to each other, and communicate. In the end, we'll just be a family. We will try not to deceive anyone, not to do harm to anyone. We will not "take out" the brain to each other. Let's be normal people. Just good, normal people," the priest said.
Folk traditions of the Spirit Day
Dukhov Day opens Trinity Week, which in folk tradition "overlapped" with Rusalia — this period in folklore was associated with the return of ancestral souls to the world of the living and the activity of various mythological creatures.
The Church does not accept such pre-Christian beliefs, considering them as elements of folklore and superstition. As Beregovoy noted, many ideas about "ancient Slavic paganism" are known to researchers from late ethnographic records and were often reconstructed already in the XIX–XX centuries, including in the works of academician Boris Rybakov. Ethnographers themselves do not hide this, however, many folk beliefs and rituals were actually held in different regions of Russia.
"It was believed that it was during this period (in Rusalia) that mermaids appeared — characters of Slavic mythology, who were often associated with the "mortgaged" dead — people who died an unnatural death," a popular science historian, author of the book Not Bedtime Stories, told Izvestia. Gloomy inhabitants of the Slavic world" by Artyom Fuganov.
Ethnographers, according to him, distinguish at least two types of mermaids: northern and southern. Northern mermaids were perceived more as a kind of forest or water spirits, a kind of hypostasis of a goblin or a water spirit.
South Russian mermaids, on the contrary, were often identified with the souls of the dead — for example, drowned women or girls who died an unnatural death. There was also a conditional "subspecies" of the mermaid — mavka. That was the name given to the soul of a deceased unbaptized child.
According to the theory developed by historian and folklorist Boris Rybakov and a number of other researchers, the mermaid is primarily associated with the cult of fertility and the vegetative force of nature. They made this conclusion on the basis of South Russian beliefs and rituals, some of which are still preserved — for example, the "seeing off the mermaid" in the Voronezh region. During this ceremony, the symbolic mermaid is escorted or "buried" in the field, which should ensure a good harvest and well-being.
Signs and beliefs about the Spirits of the day
During the Russian Week in Russia, the "mortgaged" dead were also commemorated and special rituals were performed so that they would not "return" and harm the living. "Mortgaged" dead were people who died an "irregular" or unnatural death. The term was introduced into scientific use at the beginning of the 20th century by ethnographer Dmitry Zelenin, borrowing it from the Vyatka dialect.
— The most ancient ideas about natural and unnatural death, apparently, were associated with the idea of a man's share. If a person died of old age, it was believed that he had lived his term and passed into the category of ancestors. If death occurred prematurely, the person did not have time to "use up" his life force and could not completely leave the world of the living," the Izvestia interlocutor noted. At the same time, he stressed that this is only one of the versions reconstructed by the researchers.
"It is difficult for us to judge exactly what the representations of the Eastern Slavs were in the pre—Christian era: there are no written sources, so researchers are forced to rely on folklore, epics and ethnographic records of the XIX–XX centuries," explained Fuganov.
The "wrong" dead also included suicides, drowned people, burned people, unbaptized babies, people who died as a result of drunkenness, and those who were suspected of being associated with evil spirits.
According to popular beliefs, such dead were considered potentially dangerous for both the living and the deceased with a "proper" death. That is why, according to beliefs, they were not buried in a common cemetery, but were buried in special places — often in a natural location. Their graves were usually laid with stones and branches.
However, not all researchers agree with Zelenin's interpretation. There is also a version that "pawned" means "forgotten", "not remembered", from which, according to beliefs, they "returned," Fuganov added.
The historian emphasized that the belief about the "mortgaged" dead was not solely related to Trinity Week or Holy Day: it was believed that a person who died an "incorrect" death or was not buried according to the rite could become restless and appear alive at any time.
— It is important to note the characteristic dualism of folk beliefs: there were calendar periods, primarily Trinity Week, when the souls of the ancestors were "expected" and commemorated. But the rest of the time, the "return" of souls was considered unacceptable. And even more so, the body of the deceased should not have "returned". In folklore, there are epics where the dead man returns in bodily form, as in the films of George Romero," the Izvestia interlocutor noted.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
