MASLENITSA

Originating from the immemorial pagan times, it is the feast that celebrates the end of winter and the arrival of the sunny days. All over Russia, throughout the week, pancakes are eaten, folk concerts, games, fairs, sleigh rides are organised. It is the equivalent of the Slavic Mardi Gras. But if this feast is linked to the religious calendar (it takes place the last week before the Great Lent), it is indeed from a pagan source. A whole ritual is associated with it. We find ourselves in one of the forests near the city, and we make a big fire around which we dance while watching a rag doll being consumed, representing the winter we hunt and the spring we claim. The blinis we eat are also full of symbols: cooked in butter (maslo), they gave the word maslenitsa, but, round and yellow like the sun, they also announce the return of spring.