Makoviya (Honey Feast of the Saviour)

Makoviya (Honey Feast of the Saviour)

August is the height of summer: the month of harvest and nature’s bounty. Many vegetables and fruits ripen, walnuts and, of course, poppy seeds (Mak in Ukrainian) are harvested. This is where the folk name of the holiday we will discuss, Makoviya, comes from. The holiday is celebrated on 1 August.

The Makoviya Holiday combines Ukrainian folk traditions with biblical legends. According to Christian tradition, this day commemorates the seven Maccabean (Makoviya) martyrs, their mother, Solomonia, and their teacher, Eleazar. However, the connection between the consecrated poppy (“Mak” in Ukrainian) and the Great Martyrs is purely phonetic and has no significance in honouring the memory of the saints.

On 1 August, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church celebrate the Procession of the Holy Cross, which originated in Byzantium in the 9th century. The Greek chronology of 1897 explains the origin of this holiday as follows: “Due to the illnesses that often occurred in August, the custom of carrying the Holy Cross out onto the roads and streets to sanctify places and ward off illnesses was established long ago in Constantinople.” Flower potions and newly harvested honey were also blessed, as was water.

This holiday is also known as the First, or Honey, Saviour. People believed that honey in beehives acquired its true qualities on this day, and that it became truly healing after consecration. This consecrated honey could then be given to those in need or left as alms in the church. Noisy celebrations were discouraged on this day so as not to scare the bees.

The holiday was also called the “Savior on the Water”. On this day, water and wells were blessed, as it was believed that August water acquired healing properties. Water consecrated on Makoviya was valued as highly as that consecrated on Candlemas and was considered extremely useful for treating any disease. Peasants sprinkled haystacks and bees with holy water. They drank it and washed with it to cleanse themselves of evil, and swimming in the river was believed to cure fever.

They also carried consecrated Makoviychiky (boquete amulets) to church. A Makoviychik is an amulet made from hand-picked plants, each of which has its purpose and medicinal properties, allowing anyone to create a bouquet to their taste. Ripe poppy heads were a mandatory addition — these could be garden poppies or wild, self-sowing poppies, which were used as a remedy against witchcraft and ghouls. According to legend, evil forces could not cause harm until all the poppy seeds had been picked, so poppies were sprinkled around the house to prevent witchcraft tricks. Mint protected against misfortune and promoted health. Sunflowers were a symbol of the sun. Oregano was for family strength. Marigolds were for healing all kinds of diseases. Viburnum was for girlish happiness. Other plants included cichorium, yarrow, marigolds, ocimum, lovage, wormwood, and asters. The bouquet was tied with a red ribbon or thread to protect against ‘evil spells’. After being consecrated in church, the poppy was kept behind the icons until spring. In spring, poppies were sown in gardens and sprinkled in cowsheds and farmyards. Housewives smoked cows with dried herbs and made fonts for babies from the potion. Girls also wove dried flowers into their braids on the day of the Annunciation. A consecrated poppy seed head was also placed under the pillow of children so that they would sleep peacefully.

The traditional food for this day is shulyky or lamantsi: broken, flat, lean cakes with a sweet poppy seed filling. Even I. Kotlyarevsky mentioned delicious honey shulyky with poppy seeds in his ‘Aeneid’. Making sweet lamantsi is not difficult at all. Our recipe uses a traditional lean dough for flat cakes because the Assumption Fast began with Makovia. However, if you wish, you can make this dessert with more decadent flat cakes.

Dough: Knead the dough in water, divide it into two parts, and roll them out to a thickness of just over 1 cm. Before baking, prick the dough all over with a fork. Bake in an oven at 190°C until golden brown or in a dry frying pan with a lid over a low heat. Leave the cakes to cool.

For the filling, mix 200 g of poppy seeds with 6 tablespoons of sugar and 0.5 l of water. Add honey to taste. Steam the poppy seeds with boiling water and leave to stand. Drain the water and grind the poppy seeds using a coffee grinder or a mortar and pestle. When the white poppy milk appears, add the sugar, water, and honey (ideally liquid). Break up the cakes and pour over the poppy seed filling. Leave to stand for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. A delicious holiday dish is ready!

The Makoviya holiday among our ancestors was one of the most essential autumn holidays. It was believed that on this day, you should avoid wishing evil upon anyone, cursing or swearing, as negative actions would return to a person a hundredfold. Good deeds and charity were encouraged. In ancient times, it was also believed that on Makoviya, women would be forgiven all their sins if they forgave others and prayed for forgiveness. According to legend, it was on this day that summer ended: ‘The Saviour has come – summer has left us.’

August is rich in significant holidays, named after the Saviour. So let us bless honey, potions, and other gifts, bake shulyky and say sincere prayers.

Happy holidays to all!

The material was prepared by Elena Pachkovskaya, the head of the history department.

ILLUSTRATIONS:

1. Photo from Facebook/Liliia Matviishyn

2. Shulyki with poppy seeds

Photo: ALLEKO_DEPOSITPHOTOS

3. Shulyki and honey on Makoviya. Photo: 1plus1.ua