Month: May 2015

Eastertide Portraits:  Easter Day in Azdamichy 2015.  Велікодныя партрэты:  Вялікдзень у Аздамічах 2015 г.

The Bench (part XIV):  Easter evening in Azdamichy 2015.  Лаўка (частка XIV):  Вялікдзень у Аздамічах 2015 г. What can seem more prosaic than the plain wooden bench in front of almost every village house in Belarus?  And yet the bench is the pivot of social life, the gathering place of generations on a feast-day evening,… Continue reading Photo of the Day for May 30, 2015

Celebration of Easter:  presentation by Sunday school pupils, Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity, Azdamichy 2015. Сьвяткаваньне Вялікадня:  імпрэза нядзельнай школы царквы Сьвятой Тройцы, Аздамічы 2015 г.

Easter Rites (VII/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (VII/VII). Blessing of Easter bread, Daniljevichy 2015.  Асьвячэньне Велікодных страў, Данілевічы 2015 г. Villagers patiently waited for the priest to arrive.  He arrived and left in such a hurry that the ceremony, while satisfying the grannies, was clearly an afterthought to the timeless rites observed earlier in the morning. We… Continue reading Photos of the Day for May 28, 2015

Easter Rites (VI/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (VI/VII). Maja, Daniljevichy 2015.  Мая, Данілевічы 2015 г. Attentively watched by her great-grandmother Katsjaryna, Maja insisted on taking full part in the village Easter traditions.  By the end of the morning, we and the grannies agreed that Maja had proved herself equal in granny skills to all the others. Напрыканцы… Continue reading Photos of the Day for May 27, 2015

Easter Rites (V/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (V/VII). The Bench (part XIII):  awaiting the arrival of the local priest to bless Easter bread. Daniljevichy 2015. Лаўка (частка ХІІІ):  у чаканьні сьвятара для асьвячэньня Велікодных кулічоў.  Данілевічы 2015 г.  

Easter rites (IV/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (IV/VII). The heart of the Easter celebration in Daniljevichy is the re-dressing and worship of the stone cross of the “girl turned to stone” (see photos of the day for March 20, 2015).  Village women carefully tie headdresses (namitka – намітка – a traditional girl’s or woman’s head-covering, especially in… Continue reading Photos of the Day for May 25, 2015

Easter rites (III/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (III/VII). Women of the Polesian village of Daniljevichy on the way from the re-dressing of a roadside cross to the shrine of the “girl turned to stone”, where they will perform the same Easter morning rite of re-dressing and worship. Раніцай у Вялікдзень бабулькі ў вёсцы Данілевічы ідуць да “каменнай… Continue reading Photo of the Day for May 24, 2015

Easter rites (II/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (II/VII). Christian/pre-Christian syncretism, where Christian rites have overlaid but not destroyed pre-Christian practices, is visible, even in church, on so many Belarusian feast days (e.g., photo for November 20, 2013).  Under the impact of the Soviet-era Chernobyl’ nuclear power plant disaster and general depopulation of villages, there are now sharply… Continue reading Photos of the Day for May 23, 2015

Easter rites (I/VII).  Велікодныя абрады (I/VII). Easter morning re-dressing of roadside crosses, Daniljevichy 2015.  Велікоднае пераапрананьне прыдарожных крыжоў, Данілевічы 2015 г. Having burned the previous year’s cloths on Holy Saturday (photos of the day for May 13-16), women of Daniljevichy meet at sunrise on Easter Day to re-dress village crosses.  They perform this rite with… Continue reading Photos of the Day for May 22, 2015