When Maslenitsa comes...
Word: Blini... And traditions...
Blini: from Russian Блины (plural of Блин) = pancakes. Some confusion about the term reigns, probably due to the fact that the word was adopted in different countries and different languages and adapted to different culinary traditions before arriving, relatively recently, in the French-speaking domain. Still, according to my experience, Russian blinis (Блины) are pancakes very similar to Belgian pancakes... with the difference that they can be prepared (as in French Brittany) both in a salted or sweet way, with an (almost infinite) variety of fillings. Perfect for "pancake week"…
Maslenitsa (Масленица) is a celebration which is similar (for us) to a mix of Shrove Tuesday and Candlemas which would last a week... The common point with our Shrove Tuesday is that it is the last week before Lent. Last opportunity to "go fat", as we used to say... The common point with Candlemas is pancakes, which in our tradition are a very old solar symbol, the Christian calendar having been "superimposed" on an older calendar. Although some question this idea of a solar symbol with regard to Slavic tradition, today pancakes are in any case the most important symbol of Maslenitsa in Russia, whereas previously it was only one of its components. Pancake is a traditional Russian memorial food. Since Maslenitsa is associated with the worship of ancestors, pancakes gradually became its main dish. We eat them, we offer them to relatives and friends, we give them away, we take them to graves, we place them on window sills "for the memory of souls". They are served with all kinds of fillings...For the whole week, fortunately, we are spoiled for choice...
In tradition, each day had a specific meaning and rituals. Monday was Maslenitsa reunion day. An effigy of Maslenitsa (which reminds me of our "winter man") was made and carried around the villages. We start cooking pancakes... Tuesday was a day of games and meetings between young people of marriageable age... Wednesday, mother-in-law's pancake day or gourmet day. This day, the mother-in-law (the wife's mother) prepared pancakes to give to her son-in-law (to maintain good relationships... "The way to the heart is passong by the door of the oven" is a proverb that exist in Russian as well as in French)... Thursday was traditionally dedicated to various winter games , sleigh rides, skating, etc. As well as fights between men (not always harmless)... Friday is the opposite of Wednesday. It was the son-in-law who received his mother-in-law and his wife who prepared pancakes (note that the son-in-law has a good life in the story, on Friday like Wednesday, he has nothing to do but eat)... Saturday was the sisters-in-law reunion day, it was customary to welcome the "zolovki" and their families ("zolovka" in Russian means the husband's sister)
This week of rejoicing ends with "Forgiveness Sunday". It is the culmination of the entire week, the last day before the start of Lent. Day when everyone will make it their duty both to ask for forgiveness from members of their family and loved ones, and to grant them forgiveness (and vice versa)... No self-flagellation here, I reassure those who would have the idea awakened memories of catechism, and learning confession during which all the children that we were, very worried at the idea of having done nothing really bad (according to the standards of the time) ended up admit to the priest having "pulled their sister's hair", or, failing that, having stuck out their tongue (what horror!), to satisfy the exercise... This is not a question of confessing precise facts, from what I understood (and except in particular cases) but simply to recognize that living together does not happen without clashes, and that without reciprocal forgiveness, we would end up accumulating resentment... And, at the very Jesuit objection that it is not only on this day that we must forgive but that it is a necessary general attitude (which is also valid, for example, for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, etc.. .), our human nature being what it is, it is precisely because we do not do every day those things that we should do - and that if "this goes without saying", it is often even better by saying it - the simplest thing is to set a day, to remember it...
And the week ends by burning the effigy of Maslenitsa... Which will not fail to remind you of our Great Fires of Wallonia...
Other Intercultural Notes...
"Si vis pacem..." the article, some kind of manifesto of our association.
You can follow our Facebook. page. But, as prevention is better than cure, to avoid censorship, we are also on Telegram