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Feast of the Rožanice/Autumn Equinox

The celebration of Autumnal feasts clearly has very ancient roots, which probably go back much further than the feasts of the first Christians. If we try to understand which pre-Christian feast the church celebration of the consecration of the church directly followed, the first clue we can draw is the time when feast celebrations were usually held. We have said that this was most often after the harvest, when the granaries were full, allowing the farmers to prepare expensive and lavish feasts not only for the family, but also for all the relatives who came from near and far for the occasion. It is clear that the feast took over some elements of the old family feast. According to some researchers, the feast can be identified with the Old Slavic feast of Rožanice, i.e. of Lady and her daughter Lelja, the goddess of spring reborn nature, spring agricultural work, fertility, love and marriage, and also with the holiday of another Slavic goddess Mokoš, who ruled primarily over the harvest, the family hearth and human destiny. According to these views, the original date of the feast customs can also be connected with the autumn equinox, when the mysterious Rod was also worshipped, who is considered the deity of birth, the creator of the universe, and the guardian of human destiny, who stood at the very top of the Slavic pantheon, similar to his female counterpart Rožanice.

Image of the fates from the book Karel Jaromír Erben: Slavic mythology, illustrations by Eva Kramarzová. Author: Naďa Vaverová

Rožanice or Rodjenice, Sudjenice are mythical beings known in East Slavic paganism and folk culture. They most often appear as a pair, perhaps mother and daughter, in younger sources the singular and plural fluctuate. In folk tradition, they determined human fate at birth and, like Rod , the first cut hair was sacrificed to them, so they are identified with the Czech Sudicka , or possibly the Greek Moira, the Roman Parks and the Nordic Norns. According to Boris Rybakov , however, they are two goddesses, Lada and Lelja. Other Slavic female spirits watching over fate include, in addition to the aforementioned Sudicka, the Ukrainian Dolja and the South Slavic Sreča .

According to written sources, where they are mentioned with Rod, they are offered honey, cheese, bread, porridge, grain, special cakes, a sacrificial table is set up for them and drinks are made in their honor, especially at the graves of ancestors. After Christianization , their feast day was celebrated on the birth of the Mother of God , i.e. December 26 [Mother’s Night??]

However, if we go further and carefully study the autumn annual customs of individual Slavic-speaking peoples, we come to the rather surprising conclusion that they are all too strikingly similar. In the course of the feasts recorded by ethnographers during the 19th and 20th centuries, we also find many identical features with the feasts in other European countries. We can therefore assume that the church holiday of the consecration of the church did indeed indirectly follow on from pre-Christian celebrations of the clan and family, but also of the harvest. These holidays were held by the village every year at the very end of summer, when it was time for the peasant to take stock and at the same time welcome the approaching autumn. Such clan celebrations took place at the turn of two seasons. People not only gave thanks for the harvest, but also tried to ensure a good harvest and sufficient abundance in the next agricultural year. They were also helped by various magical practices, which included, among other things, rich ceremonial feasts organized by the joint efforts of the inhabitants of the entire village.

This holiday was probably originally held at the time of the autumn equinox and was one of the four greatest and turning points of the entire ceremonial year. With the beginning of autumn, the deities ruling the spring and summer periods left the world of people and went to paradise, where, according to legend, they resided and rested until the beginning of the coming agricultural year. Therefore, the peasants thanked them for the harvest and brought them the first fruits of the harvest. In this way, they not only expressed their gratitude to them, but also hoped to secure their favor. In addition to Rod and Rožanice, the villagers also brought gifts to Mokoši, the personification of Mother Earth, and apparently also worshipped Veles, the god ruling over the harvest of the fields, wealth, but also the underworld. Perhaps that is why the souls of the ancestors were never forgotten, who could intercede with the deities on behalf of their earthly children, and thus directly affect the harvest of the following harvest. On these days, the whole community rejoiced, songs were sung, games were played, and rich feasts were held, during which ceremonial offerings were made in honor of the gods.

A goat or ram was also slaughtered and a selected rooster was cut into pieces. During such festivities, the youth, the future generation of the entire clan, played an important role. The young men and women not only thanked their parents for raising them and taking care of them until they reached adulthood, but above all they wanted to show themselves in a new role before the entire village. After all, they were the ones who would soon take over the farm and shoulder serious responsibilities, which they would at least temporarily become acquainted with during the autumn feasts, when, according to ancient clan customs, they had the "right** over the village.

František Doucha: Sudička (ilustrace k pohádce Šípková Růženka, 1874)

In the Czech environment, Rožanice are known as Sudice, Sudice, Rodičky or Věštice, and belief in them has been documented since the 15th century. They usually have the appearance of white ethereal virgins or friendly grandmothers, dressed in long robes and covered with a veil. When they determine the fate of a child, they hold candles in their hands, which go out after the fortune-telling. One can only rarely see them, and if they do, they are paralyzed with horror.

They traditionally appear at midnight after the birth of a child and send a deep sleep upon the mother. In some traditions, they do not enter the room , but remain behind the windows or sit on the roof and foretell the child's fate from the stars. Their statements mainly concerned three areas of the newborn's life: the age he will live to, poverty or wealth, and the manner of death. For this reason, the third Fate was often identified with Death . It was also typical to imagine that the Fates would spin a person's life like a thread, the length of which determined how many years he would live, and the oldest of them would cut it. In order to ensure a favorable fate for the child, crops or animals were sacrificed to the Fates. Conversely, failure to observe customs could lead to the Fates betraying the newborn .

In order for our ancestors to honor the Rožanice, a sacrificial table called a trapeze was built for them. A trapeze covered with a new tablecloth was also prepared for the birth of a child. Consecrated bread, salt, egg, honey, various goodies and fruits were placed on the festively laid table. There was also a jug with spring water and kvass. Wine or mead could also improve the fate of Rožanice.

Their sacred day was established on the ninth day before the autumnal equinox.

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