What is the Trinity? The Trinity is a pre-Christian pagan holiday of the Slavs.

Etymologically, the Trinity holiday was also called Venoshnik, Rusaliy, Zelenets.
Trinity Day was celebrated for three days. The meaning of this holiday was very simple. This is the transition between spring and summer, and during these 3 days nature flourished.

A pagan three-day holiday – Zelenets, Green Week, Birch Day, Name Day of Mother Earth – such names have been preserved among various Slavic tribes.

Even today orthodox Christians decorate their icons with birch twigs, while the pagans wove wreaths from birth twigs and flowers. Ukrainians and many other Slavic nations believed that on this day God created plants on Earth.

Trinity Day was named so simply because it was celebrated for 3 days. One day we honor the spirits of the forest, the second day we celebrate the day of the earth, and the third day we honor the spirits of the water.

On the night before Trinity, (trinity is celebrated on 50th day after the Ostara). plants have magical powers, be sure to collect them on this night. There is also a belief that this is the last day when a person can meet a mermaid.

Bring field herbs in the morning – wormwood, plover, and any other herbs and flowers that grow locally in the fields and mountains- and scatter them on the floor in the rooms.

Beautiful Church Ceremonies

Even today celebration of the Trinity is perhaps one of the most beautiful church event. In the temples – you can find a bizarre mixture of the aroma of incense and freshly cut grass. The grass is laid on the floor: somewhere they scatter quite a bit, and somewhere they spread real carpets with fresh floral ornaments. Trees are placed along the walls, most often these trees are birches. And at the service, people come with home-made candlesticks made from freshly cut branches and flowers.

About a hundred years ago the trinity celebration was even brighter and more magnificent that nowadays. Women went to the churches with flower wreaths on their heads, and those who did not have time to do their own wreaths were given beautiful decorations during the service. Interesting enough, priest himself was in charge of making beautiful decorations. Right in the middle of the temple some wreaths were made taller than human height for icons decorations.

After prayers, people climbed through the wreaths – which symbolizes the gate from one world to another. The wreaths were torn to pieces and people took the branches home as a shrine.

The Trinity is quite close on the calendar to Kupala, hence we can find the similarity of the rites.

On the Trinity, people decorates houses and temples with branches of various trees, grass, flowers, as young plants symbolize prosperity, wealth and the continuation of life.

Often on the Trinity Day, the whole family goes to a church in the morning, where a festive service is taking place. On this day, do not ask the Holy Spirit for favors, you can only thank the Lord for being the savior and faithful protector of all human souls.
After the temple, go home and have a festive dinner. The feast shall be rich and varied: cereals, pancakes, all kinds of pies, kissels and decoctions – you can eat anything you want. No restrictions whatsoever.

Greens symbolize life. Priests also wear green robes on the trinity.

Historically, according to folk traditions, birch branches are used to decorate temples and houses. We can say that the feast of the Trinity without a birch is the same as the celebration of Christmas without a Christmas tree. At the same time, in some areas, the tradition of decorating houses and temples for the Trinity may be slightly different, and oak, maple or mountain ash can be used for decoration.
Since ancient times, after the festive service, believers on the day of the Trinity visit each other, eat sweets, and exchanging gifts. Folk festivals, fairs with songs and dances are also very popular.

In Italy, in memory of the flames descending, it is customary to scatter rose petals from the ceiling of their churches.

on the first day of the Trinity which is called Green Sunday, we should be especially attentive and careful.
It is customary to decorate the homes with various fragrant herbs, and deities with birch branches, in order to protect ourselves from various mythical creatures, such as mermaids, mavkas, goblins and other evil spirits.
In the old days, people believed that mermaids go ashore and lure the guys. To avoid this, bonfires are lit on the banks of rivers and lakes for several nights in a row – because the hot fire can stop evil spirits.

The Symbol of the Trinity is the wreaths floating on the river

The symbol of the Trinity is the wreaths floating on the river – this is how the girls guessed at their betrothed and, according to some beliefs, paid off mermaids and mawks, who also want to dress up.

Talisman for Protection

Another ritual for the Trinity is associated with greenery – a girl who is in love have to weave a wreath for her lover from meadow grass and birch branches. To give it to the guy means to confess her love or at least her sympathy.

Such a wreath could become not only an adornment and a symbol of tender feelings, but also a protection from mermaids, who on the night of Trinity gain the greatest strength and are able to lure any guy to them.
The wreath turns into a talisman by sprigs of flowering wormwood, which, according to legend, scare away any evil spirits, including mermen, mermaids, and mawks.

Prophetic dreams

People believed that on a trinity night prophetic dreams come.

Treasure hunt

There was also a belief that an honest person on this day could find a treasure, as if the Mother Earth from the depths of the earth is hearing his call.

It is believed that the round dance in the fields on the Trinity gives fruitful power to the earth.

The herbs – wormwood, thyme, sedge, are harvested, and the brooms are made from poplar, maple and birch. It is recommended to bath in water with the Trinity herbs. You can turn herbal bunches from lovage, mint, thyme, rye spikelets and hemp into magic portions and drink them like a tea with intentions.

Starting from the Trinity, summer festivities and fortune-telling begin. With the help of ritual songs and dances, we program the land for abundant flowering and a large harvest.
“Where the girls go, / There the flowers bloom, / Where the guys go, / There the rye is thick,”

To make a Harvest Good

So that the harvest is good, a jester, or Andryusha, is made from the remaining last year’s straw, an effigy that is burned at the end of the holiday.

Mermaids Rites

Before Trinity, women had to finish weaving canvases. Otherwise, they said, mermaids would swing on the threads. In many villages, the Trinity week after the holiday was called Mermaid week.

It was believed that at this time the mermaids come out of the water onto the ground to say farewell to spring. According to a tradition, a doll is made from rags, dressed up in women’s clothes and carried around the village with songs and dances.

For a week, the mermaids live among people.
“The mermaid will climb out on Wednesday, on Thursday she will wash her shirts. On Friday she will roll (that is, iron her shirt), and on Saturday she will dress up.

To appease the drowned women, the villagers wove birch branches, making swings out of them. At the end of the week, the mermaid is “escorted” – left in the forest or burned a scarecrow.

Beauty ánd Youthfulness Ritual

In the morning, women perform a ritual with dew to gain beauty. To do this, you put on a shirt or dress made of natural fabric and set off early in the morning to walk barefoot and soak up the grass with dew. Keep your clothes in a sacred place for next rituals.

Money drawing Ritual

Trinity rituals for money and wealth are one of the most popular. On this holiday, go to the church with a bunch of grass, and when you leave, bow to the four cardinal points and wove a wreath of grass. Then the wreath is done, say “I am braiding the grass, I am calling for a harvest year, the work will go smoothly and the house will be in abundance.” The charmed wreath shall be placed in the house behind the icons and deities. For a whole year, this wreath serves to attract wealth and prosperity to the house.

Love ritual

The rite of love strengthening of the marriage union was carried out with the help of ordinary eggs. Of the two eggs, the hostess fried the scrambled eggs, placing them side by side, like a married couple. A round scrambled egg and a frying pan represent the sun and a smooth life – without “corners”. The dish is salted with salt and decorated with greens (at the same time, the greens are not cut, laying with whole stalks). The dish symbolizes the integrity of a married couple – the hostess shares it with her husband at a kind of picnic, sitting under a birch.