 Source of image: www.nbrb.by
|
| DZIADY
Dziady (the Feast of All Souls), also known as St. Demetrius's Dziady, Asianiny, or All Saints' Day, is one of the most important feast days in the commemorative annual cycle of the Belarusians. Feast celebrations in the Orthodox Church are timed to coincide with the St. Demetrius Memorial Saturday, the last Saturday before the day of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica observed on November 8, and in the Roman Catholic Church with All Souls' Day which falls on November 2.
The feast was austere and memorial in nature preserving a strict sequence of rituals and featuring foods for the ritual meal of the whole family. Once all feast food was cooked, including kuccia (a dish made of boiled cereals, raisins, and honey) and an odd number of bliny (pancakes), it was arranged on the table next to the sacred corner under the beam which was usually engraved with the name of each late member of the family. As a rule, the whole family would sit down at the table according to their age and sex - men by the wall apart from women who were sitting beside the stove. Those who were away always strived to come home on this day. Best character traits of the departed relatives and their deeds in which many future generations of the family could take pride were recalled. The next of kin went through this rite every year sharing, bit by bit, all information with their children and grandchildren.
The meal over, the remaining food was left on the table for the deceased whose souls, according to popular belief, would come at night to eat and drink. Some water, a bar of soap, and a towel were also left for the ancestors on the table. At the end of the memorial dinner each householder performed the following rites: seeing off the souls of the deceased to the cemetery ana bidding them farewell until the next year. The Dziady feast is deemed in Belarusian culture and popular outlook to be one of everlasting and indispensable rituals which, if complied with, make the world sustainable and the way of life stable. A. I. Lakotka
PhD (Architecture, History), Professor An octagonal star on the obverse symbolizes the annual cycle of festivals of the Belarusian folk calendar. In the context of used symbols each marked ray nationally represents one of the eight major Belarusian festivals Kalyady, Maslenitsa (Pancake week), Vjalikdzen (Easter), Syomukha (the Day of Pentecost), Kupalle, Spas, Bagach and Dziady that correlate with the main phases of the Sun (winter and summer solstice, spring and autumn equinox) or are celebrated when the seasons change.
| |
| Date : 28.10.2008 |
| Metal : Cu/Ni |
| Diameter, mm : 33.00 |
| Weight, g : 16.00 |
| Mintage, St. : 5000 |
Minted by :
CJSC "Lithuanian Mint", Vilnius, Lithuania |
Design :
S.Zaskevich | | | 
 |
Ebay-Statistic
(Prices in Euro):
| Year |
Count |
Ave
rage |
Min. |
Max. |
| 2006 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2007 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2008 |
11 |
17,98 |
7,53 |
38,98 |
| 2009 |
12 |
14,84 |
6,02 |
19,06 |
| 2010 |
7 |
17,29 |
10,05 |
26,00 |
| 2011 |
1 |
16,90 |
16,90 |
16,90 |
|
This site as PDF
