In the Orthodox tradition, this day takes its name from the forty Christian warriors of Sebaste who suffered a martyr's death, refusing to worship the pagan gods alongside the other Roman soldiers. Among the common people, this day was considered the second meeting of spring, the moment when birds return from warm lands. First and foremost larks, but in general some counted up to 40 different species of birds. It was precisely with the feathered creatures that many of the omens for March 22 were associated.

What you can and cannot do on March 22

  • Our ancestors believed that in order to be healthy and lucky all year, you had to count 40 birds in a single day. But! You could not count crows and jackdaws – they brought misfortune.
  • You should bake buns in the shape of birds – «larks». In each one they placed some sort of surprise-prediction: a coin meant wealth, a ring – marriage, and so on.
  • Unmarried girls could use these «birdies» to tell fortunes about their betrothed: they tossed a bun over their shoulder to find out from which direction their future husband would come.
  • Women prayed to the forty martyrs for their husbands and sons: that they would be alive, healthy, and return home unharmed.
  • You could not harm birds, catch them, or destroy nests. Luck does not favor wicked people.
  • You could not feed birds bread, so that there would be no famine. Ornithologists agree, but they have different arguments. It is better to treat the feathered creatures to grain or millet.
  • You should not lend money on this day.
  • A bad day for washing floors: you might wash away your prosperity.

Weather omens for March 22

  • A warm day means the next 40 days will also be warm, and vice versa.
  • If starlings and larks, magpies and jackdaws have returned by this day, it means warm weather will come soon. To see a chaffinch – a sign of cold.
  • If by this day the snow has not yet come off the roofs, then on the Annunciation (April 7) there may still be snowdrifts.
  • Sparrows are chirping loudly – a sign of warming.
  • A warm wind – a sign of a rainy summer.
  • Seagulls circling over bodies of water – a sign of the ice breaking up.
  • The leaves have not yet opened, but the first thunder is already heard – the harvest will be poor.
  • A clear day – winter will drag on, an overcast one – it will end soon.