Volunteering and Our Cultural Values Heralding the Coming of Spring
Today and tomorrow is Hıdırellez. As far as I know, Hıdırellez is celebrated on the night connecting the 5th to the 6th. The day when Hıdır meets Ellez.
They call it a subbotnik here, it's like a labour of love, they call it that because they mostly do it on Saturdays. Subbota means Saturday in Russian.
They can gather at any time of the year for anything, but mostly in early spring for spring cleaning.
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Yes, it's spring again, how quickly the trees turned green. I've been looking out of the window for a few days now, and there's hardly a tree in the backyard of the next block that hasn't budded.
They call it verba here, willow tree, weeping willow, tree branches with cotton-like buds on their thin thin branches in spring time are sold in the markets. The other day on the road I saw a young man handing them out one by one to everyone, so you don't have to buy them with money. I don't know what that young man is now, but others like him also distribute these branches, which we can call spring branches, as the harbinger of spring.
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Today and tomorrow is Hıdırellez. As far as I know, Hıdırellez is celebrated on the night connecting the 5th to the 6th. The day when Hıdır meets Ellez.
The story is as follows:
According to the rumour, Hıdır and Ellez went in search of Ab-u Hayat, the water of immortality; After many years, they dived into the land of Darkness. Hıdır and Ellez found the source of Ab-u Hayat water and drank it. But they did not tell the cruel king of the time. Hıdır said, ‘I am Ab-ı Hayat, let those who want to drink from Kevser come to me, the light of the Creator is in me’.
The cruel king destroyed Hıdır and Ellez, but the people did not believe in these deaths; since that day, the people of Anatolia and Mesopotamia believe that Hıdır and Ellez are alive and living.
It is believed that Hıdır comes to the aid of those in need of help in the air and on land, and Ellez in the seas, and that they meet every 6th of May under a great plane tree in Anatolia.
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Another version of this story takes place between Hizir Alayhisselâm and Ilyas Alayhisselâm.
I don't know these beliefs.
When we were little, we used to light a fire and jump over it.
I don't remember any other entertainment from my childhood.
In some places Hıdırellez is celebrated in different ways with different names.
There are those who make sacrifices, tie a cloth to a rose branch and make wishes to Hızır Aleyhisselam.
When I was little, all this was just an evening entertainment for us, we only knew how to jump over the fire as children.
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I don't know if it always coincides with the same time in Russia, but Easter is being celebrated today.
Special Easter cakes or Easter buns are being prepared, eggs are boiled with special natural dyes and colourful eggs with colourful shells are being eaten.
Yesterday, on Saturday, a subbotnik was organised and the area was cleaned.
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Yes, it is a good thing to do something together on a voluntary basis, to help each other. It is a good activity that keeps the society together.
Of course, it is not everywhere anymore, but it is still valid, especially in the depths of Russia (the interior of Russia is called the depths of Russia here!).
What can I say, I guess volunteerism is an important thing.
By the way, whether it is called Hıdırellez, Easter or some other event with another name, the purpose is clear, the arrival of spring is celebrated.
Spring means the re-greening of life. Outside the trees are celebrating the coming of spring, I suggest you celebrate it too.
My love and respect to everyone from Moscow.
