memories in fire: Shrovetide burning (visual story in 23 foto)

As I shape my post, I am listening to this Goran Bregovic gig with orchestra in Serbia, back in 2007. And I could not only listen to it, I tend to switch to the video feed every few minutes, haha! its so beautiful... no, it doesnt trigger any memories in my head -- nor I ever have been to Serbia, neither attended any of his gigs (sadly). But I used to watch Kusturiza's film 'Black cat, white cat' with his stunning bittersweet music so many times...

So, it is recommended to examine my visual story accompanied with this youtube music. Maybe. Or maybe not - totally up to you!

Ok, back to the post. This is a Shrovetide week running currently -- we do celebrate this ancient pagan's holiday. We do it every year, and since I've got a digital camera in 2007, each year I add more and more pics to this folder. It became huge and divercified... Though, basically, its all the same stuff every time, except of the weather. Sometimes its extremely cold and we have snow, sometimes its mild and no snow at all... and everything inbetween, all alternative combinations.

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Shrovetide figurine traditionally has no eyes, no face - she is faceless. She also always has a bag (I will tell you why so, a bit later). The pole that handles her figurine, always is the trunk of her Christmas Tree, recycled this way. Each year she creates this beautiful piece of art that we burn. As for the bag...

...The bag is designed to contain our notes. In the photo above, we are all writing notes that will burn in the fire along with the scarecrow. I'll explain a little more, in detail... Traditionally, scarecrows were made from simple and accessible materials, the most common being hay or straw, sacks, and old clothes - that's all that was needed. The sack was stuffed with straw, dressed in a skirt, shirt and shawl, mounted on a long pole. The scarecrow is a symbol of the long winter. Fire symbolizes purification and rebirth. Burning an effigy is not just fun, it is a ritual, a saying goodbye to winter and the outgoing year. During the ritual, everyone makes a wish for the new year and breaks up with all the bad things that happened in the past year. Into a bonfire, on which the effigy was burned, were thrown old things, coins (for creation of plots), and notes with wishes. That's why our Pancake Girl has her bag: for notes of wishes.

...сумка предназначена для того чтобы содержать наши записки. На фото выше мы все пишем записки, которые сгорят в огне вместе с чучелом. Объясню немного подробнее, в деталях... Традиционно чучело изготавливали из простых и доступных материалов, самый распространенный из них - сено или солома, мешки, старая одежда — вот и все что нужно. Мешок набивали соломой, наряжали в юбку, рубаху и платок, закрепляли на длинном шесте. Чучело — символ долгой зимы. Огонь символизирует очищение и возрождение. Сжигание чучела - не просто забава, это обряд, ритуал, проводы зимы и уходящего года. Во время ритуала каждый загадывает желания на новый год и расстается со всем плохим, что было в уходящем году. В костер, на котором сгорало чучело, кидали старые вещи, монетки (для сотворения заговоров), и и записочки с пожеланиями. Вот зачем нашей Масленице ее сумка: для записок с пожеланиями.

Does it work? heh. How many times with asking the old gods to burn Punta Hutina, but alas. Apparently his magic is stronger. Or my faith isn't weak enough. Why should they even help people who don't believe in them? / Работает ли это? хех... сколько раз с просил старых богов сжечь Пунту Хутина, но увы. Видимо, его магия посильнее. Или моя вера недостаточно слаба. Почему вообще они должны помогать людишкам, которые в них не верят?..

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Usually, when you light a fire, the figure almost instantly burns out -- the photographer literally has less than 1-2 minutes to take different photos, there's no way to pause or rewind the process; no time to choose the best angle or try different settings in the camera, hehe. So very often my photos failed, or I only had a few good photos each year.

Обычно, стоит только зажечь огонь, и фигурка моментально сгорает -- фотограф имеет буквально 1-2 минуты, чтобы сделать разные фотографии, процесс невозможно поставить на паузу или перемотать назад; нет времени выбирать лучший угол обзора или пробовать разные настройки, хехе. Поэтому очень часто мои фотографии не удавались, или я имел всего несколько хороших фото каждый год.

As you can see for yourself, the fire is lit in the evening when it's DARK. Photographing in the dark is NOT easy, and the results are by no means guaranteed. // Как вы сами видите, костер загорается вечером, когда вокруг ТЕМНО. Фотографировать в темноте - НЕПРОСТО, и результаты отнюдь не гарантированы.

Overexposed.

This is ok?

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With a big company it is hard to start right in time. We always have to wait till everybody came up to the place. While waiting, we play with children different active games (so that nobody stand still and become frozen).

You can't see it in the pictures, but a mandatory part of the ritual is eating pancakes. Everyone makes pancakes at home and brings bags full of treats, everyone treats each other. By this time everyone is usually frozen. We turn on the fire and warm ourselves around the fire, drink hot tea from thermoses, and wait for the wood to burn and the fire to get smaller. When the fire gets smaller, we jump over it (this too is part of an ancient ritual - symbolizing purification... Of course, now the knowledge of this is preserved only in the mind, children jump over the fire just for fun).

На фотографиях не видно, но обязательная часть ритуала - поедание блинов. Все готовят дома блины и приносят полные сумки угощения, все угощают друг друга. К этому времени обычно все уже замерзли. Мы включаем костёр и греемся около костра, пьем горячий чай из термосов, и ждем пока дрова прогорят и костёр станет меньше. Когда костёр становится меньше, мы прыгаем через него (это тоже часть древнего ритуала - символизирует очищение... конечно, теперь знание об этом сохраняется только в голове, дети прыгают через костер просто тaк, для забавы).

Let me part with you on this note. This was a post for #saturdaymemories initiative, by a great Hivean @olga.maslievich. Hope it was not too much for one post ;) thank you for visiting my blog, see you next time!