Folk signs on April 9: willow branches will give strength

April 9 in the folk calendar – Matryona Nastovitsa or Polurepitsa. And Christians celebrate Palm Sunday. Many folk traditions are also associated with willow.

Willow people have long attributed healing properties, which are especially strong if cut off on Palm Sunday and consecrated in the church. Branches must be cut from young and healthy bushes. They avoided taking twigs from willows growing near cemeteries, busy roads, dumps and other polluted places.

In the old days, it was believed that if children were lightly whipped with branches of consecrated willow, this would give them health. If there was a sick person in the house, a vase with twigs was placed at the head of his bed. They believed that willow would help to cope with illness. In the villages, willow branches were driven out of the barn by livestock – for health and good offspring. They also swept all the corners and thresholds in the house – to protect the home from negativity.

Willow twigs are usually kept until Easter, or even a whole year. It is believed that this attracts happiness and good luck to the house, protects from misfortunes and natural disasters.

It is impossible to throw away willow, especially consecrated. It must either be let down the river, or burned in the yard.

There is still a belief that indoor flowers planted on this day will indicate whether everything will be safe in the family. If the flower takes root well, happiness and prosperity will reign in the house all year long, and if it dries up or gets sick, it means that there is a serious problem in the family that interferes with well-being.

This year on April 9, you can’t do difficult work, you can’t take care of the housework. But when the day of Matryona Nastovitsa does not coincide with Palm Sunday, it is considered successful for starting or completing a variety of things – from cleaning the house to signing a lucrative contract. Today you can only cook. However, do not do it somehow, in haste. It is believed that Matryona, who is the patroness and intercessor of housewives, can punish a negligent woman who feeds her family with sandwiches or fast food.

Conflicts should be avoided today, swearing and scolding – otherwise you can later regret what was said.

Thoughts and feelings on this day must also be pure and kind, otherwise misfortune and sorrow await a person.

Folk signs on April 9 are as follows:

– if the clouds are blue – to the rain;

– if mold is visible under the melted snow, there will be a lot of mushrooms;

– if the cat sneezes often, it will rain.

Dreams that will occur on the night of April 10 may give a hint of what needs to be done in order to change for the better and achieve harmony with your inner self.

Alena Bodrienko.

Photo by Sergey Vedyashkin / Moskva Agency