FESTS AND RITES OF PENTECOSTIN CALENDAR TRADITION OF THE URAL GERMAN

Abstract

The article, based on the field ethnographic research, held among German inhabitants of the Permskii Krai, the Republic of Bashkortostan and Orenburg and Chelyabinsk Oblast, is devoted to the rite complex of the spring-summer period of the Ural German inhabitants (fests and rites of Pentecost distinguishing its common and local peculiarity).The article distinguishes the rite of using birch saplings and branches as a decoration element in a house as well as other plants and trees in different groups of German inhabitants in the Ural. Furthermore, the article examines beliefs about festive time including prohibitions and orders that should be followed. Other rite complexes such as jokes and tricks and other forms of festive behavior which distinguish the fest (youth outings, games and fun) are also examined and uncovered. The article pays much attention to the tradition of May tree placing which foregoes the pre-wedding period in the structure of a calendar year of German inhabitants. The study of rite complex of Pentecost fest is done in comparison with common German traditions and rites characterizing other groups of Russian Germans and local peculiarities of each confessional and regional group of the Ural Germans.