The beginning of August among our distant ancestors was called Spasivka. This indicates that there existed a God to whom the Spasivka rites were dedicated, which have survived even to our days. Until now it was customary to consider Spas a Christian holiday. However, nowhere in Christian scriptures is such a name of a saint or martyr found. The days that coincide with the pagan ancient Ukrainian Spasy in Christianity are dedicated to the "honorable life-giving Cross" (August 1 O.S.), the "Transfiguration of the Lord" (August 6 O.S.), the "Transfer from Edessa to Constantinople of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands" (August 16 O.S.). As we can see, these Christian holidays, described in detail in the Bible, have no relation to the Harvest Festival. Harvest Festivals, which existed since ancient times in all agricultural countries, were celebrated solemnly as a manifestation of gratitude to the Solar God for the generous gifts of summer - fruits, berries, vegetables, grains, honey, etc. Rituals of consecrating fruits existed in ancient Greece, and in Rome, and in Asia Minor, and in Egypt. Among our forefathers, the rites of consecrating fruits were known even in the Trypillian era (end of the 6th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC).
Who then is Spas?
Are there any mentions of him in our pagan sources? The archaism of the Spasivka rites prompted many researchers to speak in favor of the pagan origin of Spas. Thus, H. Dyachenko, referring to Buslaev, wrote: "Spas, the Savior - is the 'deliverer' from all misfortunes and calamities. One should not think that this word is simultaneous with the phenomenon of Christianity; on the contrary, it was used by the Slavs even in paganism: In the Kraledvor Manuscript it is already mentioned that 'the Slavs called their Gods Spasy.' It is likely that among the Slavs, just as in the Vedic tradition, alongside the name of God his epithet was used, for example: the Supreme Svarog. Likewise in the Book of Veles among the names of months (weeks or decades) we find the name Spasyts (Spasych). We may assume that these were days designated for honoring Spas.
Spasivka - the time when the spirits and souls of the Ancestors (deceased relatives) visit their families,
appear on earth, just as on other holidays of the Kolo Svarozhe (for example, Radyunytsia, Rusaliyi). Our people believe that the Ancestors promote the blossoming and ripening of fruits, protect the fields, orchards and gardens... Therefore on these days sacrifices were brought to Rod and Rozhanytsi as family Gods. It was to them that Spasivka candles were solemnly made and lit from new wax, bread was crumbled, honey drink was poured. Ancient pagan prayers have come down to us, which were read to each candle (and there were three - the "trinity"): "Most holy fertile Earth ours, fields, orchards, gardens - the light of the Sun to you! Righteous Sun, bright Moon, bright Stars, most pure Sky, be merciful to people and to cattle! Forests, waters, pure air, all righteous souls, our ladas - to all of you for good, for benefit!"
As we can see, here ancient, specifically pagan Gods are glorified - the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, the Earth, the Sky and the spirits of the Ancestors, which are governed by the God Veles. Not for nothing in the harvest rite the last unreaped ears are dedicated to Veles, which are solemnly tied right in the field with a red ribbon and to which a loaf of bread is offered as a sacrifice. This rite is called Veles's or Spas's Beard (in some places - Grandfather's Beard). All this eloquently testifies to the antiquity of the religious tradition, which millennia could not destroy.
Spasych (Spasivka) has three stages
The first - Makoviy, or Spas on the water (Wet Spas), which is associated with the Goddess of Water Dana, or Mokosha, who at the same time is the patroness of women, fertility, vegetation - in general of the water element. By the First Spas (August 1 N.S. - according to the pagan calendar) beekeepers select honey, honeycombs (combs), melt wax; housewives prepare poppy seeds and herbs, flowers, ears of grain for wreaths - all this is intended for consecration. In ancient times it was on this day that worship took place near rivers and springs, to which sacrifices of honey and bread were brought. Poppy in Ukraine is a symbol of fertility, a talisman against evil forces. Ritual dishes of this holiday: medyanyky, cookies or bagels with poppy seeds, shulyky (baked flat cakes with grated poppy seeds and honey syt), kutia (porridge from unhusked grain with honey and poppy seeds), zavyvanyky with poppy seeds, boiled corn cobs, etc. By the First Spas a sacred drink was also prepared - med. There was a custom on this day to bathe in the consecrated water of a river or to pour over oneself with consecrated well or spring water, which was condemned by the Christian church, as was prayer near water.
But Ukrainians sacredly believed in the healing power of Spasivka water and, despite any prohibitions, performed this sacred rite of pagan antiquity. The second holiday of this cycle - Apple Spas, or Spas on the mountain (August 6 N.S. - according to the pagan calendar). The church adapted its legend about the "transfiguration" of Jesus on Mount Tabor to this holiday. However, we have one of many examples of later myths being superimposed on ancient pagan customs, because the Gods Spasy were honored on high mountains, cliffs or near springs (in places loved by the Gods). Military brotherhoods, tryzny, commemorations of fallen warriors also took place here.
In Ukraine the magic of the beginning was very strongly developed, therefore the first fruits of the Earth also required ritual consecration to ensure abundance throughout the year. And this was achieved also through donation. Sacrifices were brought to water, fire, volkhvy, kumy and neighbors, who were given apples, pears, honey, combs, etc. At the same time commemoration of ancestors was also carried out; after the brotherhood they said: "Those souls whom we commemorated have eaten with us." The consecrated "beginnings" were preserved until the new harvest or the beginning of sowing, they were used throughout the year for healing, fumigation, talisman, and at the end of the annual circle (Kolo Svarozhe) - the remnants were ritually destroyed, that is, thrown into the fire, onto the gardens, into the water. On the eve of the Second Spas (that is, August 5) in some places a mysterious incantation of the Zhytnyk - the spirit of the field - has been preserved, so that the earth would be fertile. On Apple Spas rites with water also existed: the land plowed for winter crops was sprinkled with consecrated water. The Third Spas is called the Bread Spas (August 16 N.S. - according to the pagan calendar). By this day the housewife bakes the first bread from the new harvest. With bread and salt she sees off the master to the field, where he will sow the winter crop. In the pagan faith there was no Spasivka fast, as there is in Christianity.
In addition, the magic of the beginning did not contradict the time of ripening of fruits, because the calendar dates of consecration of the gifts of the Earth were established by the volkhvy, according to weather and climatic conditions. So, when apples ripened, they were consecrated and consumed. In Christianity, however, due to the lag (the transfer of all holidays by 13 days) a discrepancy arose between the ripening of fruits (end of June) and the permission to consume them (beginning of August). Therefore the prohibition to consume already ripened apples, waiting a whole month until the "Transfiguration of Jesus Christ," seems unreasonable. To somehow justify these prohibitions, the priests invented various "legends" about deceased children who supposedly are deprived of golden apples in the other world if their mother eats an apple before the Transfiguration. The tradition of three Spasychi has come down to us, however we have grounds to believe that in ancient times there were other Spasy as well, connected with the gradual ripening of various gifts of summer. Thus, among the people in some places the names exist: Mushroom, Berry, Nut Spasy, etc. One may think that as this or that fruit or vegetable ripened, rites of consecration of the first gifts of the Gods took place. In Ukraine there still exist peculiar incantations before the first consumption of "novynka" (new produce). Thus, in the Mykolaiv region they say: "New novynka, give me strength!", and in the Chernihiv region - "New novynka into the mouth, so that neither the back nor the belly hurts!" Therefore, Spasych, Spasivka - an ancient proto-Ukrainian Harvest festival, one of the great magical holidays of the Kolo Svarozhe. So let us cleanse it of foreign dogmas, as Holy Water cleanses our bodies and souls!