Calendar
APRIL

"The Month of Saint George"
Taurus
"Month-of-Spring"
(Apr 21-May 20)

The First of April. Once it was the first day of the year for many nations, they celebrated the vernal equinox, the rebirth and Nature. By the reform of the calendar, the first of January became the first day of the year, so the first day of April became a "desipient" New Year's day. The jokes and tricks spread by the students were of Western origin.
Palm Sunday. The Sunday before Easter. At this time school children go to collect ament, which is consecrated at the church. The consecrated ament is considered to expel the evil spirits and to cure illnesses, to drive away hails, to prevent from thunderbolt.
  On Palm Sunday, several Palóts village organise "kiszehajtás". Young girls carry a man of straw dressed in white as a bride symbolising the Winter all the way thourgh the village, then they throw it into the water or burn it. The burial of the winter inducts the ancient feast of the awakening spring, the Easter. The week following Palm Sunday is the Holy Week.
Good Friday. The feast of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is the strictest fasting.
  It is an overall cleansing day: people whitewash,clean, wash all the clothes in the brook and even the animals are bathed. It happens in many homes that on Good Friday there is not even fire lit.
Easter Eve. The Feast of the Ressurection of Jesus Christ is celebrated in the evening. The fire is lit again by ancient methods of rubbing and striking, then it is consecrated. The sound of the bells in the evening signals the end of the Lent.
Easter Sunday. One of the greatest feasts of Christianity originates from pagan "spring beginning" customs. This day is the day of the Easter "field walk". On this day, everybody from the village goes out to his fields, walk around and through them, and clean the springs. In several villages, even balls are organised.
Easter Monday. The most popular folk customs are the following: watering (the female members of the community), giving painted eggs (to the male ones). Both of these rites allude to ancient fertility enchantement. The egg - originally part of the burial cult - symbolises the rebirth of Jesus Christ.
Low Sunday. On the next Sunday after Easter the young girls coose a "mátka", a friend, or they send a "komatál" to each other.
14 Tibor
14 Tibor. If the corn in the blade is nice green by this time, then the hay-harvest will be good. According to the tradition, the cuckcoo sings for the first time on this day.
24 George
24 George. In the whole of Europe this is an ancient sheperd feast, the first driving out of the animals. This is also the day of the visits of evil sprirts, so prickly twigs are put on the fence and the door to keep away the witches. The animals are driven through a Saint George Day fire to become purified, and to prevent them from evil spirits and spells. On this day at dawn, people collect dew with sheets and bake bread from it, or they pursue other magical parctices.
  The Cult of Saint George derives from the legend of the dragon (evil)-fighting saint.
25 Marc
25 Marc. This is the day of the sowing of corn and the consecration of the wheat. The consecrated wheat-stalks are used for expelling evil spirits. If, on this day, the song of a lark or a quail or the croaking of a frog can be heard from crops, then that is the promise of a good harvets.
25 Paul
25 Paul. The conversion of Paul, on the basis of the biblical story of turning of Saulus into Paul, the turning of the bad winter weather into a good weather is predicted on this day: "the conversion of Paul - the "conversion" of winter".
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