Celebration of Pancake Day (Maslenitsa) in Ukraine

Places to celebrate Pancake Week 2011 in Kiev

The last week before the Great Fast coincided with pagan holiday of seeing off the winter and meeting of the spring, which was celebrated by all people of Europe in the pre-Christian period. The east Slavs called this holiday “Maslenitsa”. The rituals of Pancake Day, saved in the folk tradition up to our times, are associated with the pagan cults of ancestors, family relations and fecundity. The necessary dish of this Day is the pancakes – pagan symbol of the sun. It was considered, that the last week before the Great Fast should be brought in a funny way, because ahead there were 7 weeks of the strict behaviour and different limits. Every day of this week has some definite peculiarities and interesting customs.

Sunday is celebrated very luxuriant. For this day there cooked pancakes with different stuffing and curds with cheese.
There are held mass festivals, plays and amusements. On this day you should see all your relatives and neighbours and ask to forgive you for all offences, to be cleaned before the Great Fast. It is forbidden to take in vodka. Before going to bed one should thoroughly rinse the teeth, not to allow the devils to grape out the cheese, which left after Pancake Day. 

History of the Origin of the Pancake holiday

Pancake Day. Cheese week – the holiday cycle, which saved in Rus from the pagan times. The rite is associated with seeing off the winter and the meeting of the spring. After Epiphany of the Rus, Pancake Day is celebrated in the last week before the Great Fast, in 7 weeks before Easter.

Before the Epiphany of the Rus, Pancake Day was celebrated during 7 days before the day of vernal equinox and 7 days after. Pancake is the time, when the Nature awakens and the Sun-child Kolyada becomes the youth Yarylo, and in the human’s organism occurs the reconfiguration of the hormonal system, preparation to the spring activity. Christian Church left the main celebration of the spring, not to contradict the folk’s traditions (similarly to Christmas was timed to the day of the winter solstice), but moved the holiday in time, for it not to contradict the Great Fast and shortened the terms of holiday up to 7 days.