Lutheran Pentecost
Description:
This is the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of tongues of flame, and they began to preach “the great works of God” (Acts 2:38) in different languages. The apostle Peter proclaimed that this outpouring of the Spirit marks the beginning of a new Messianic era (Acts 2:17-18). Therefore, Pentecost is also called the “apocalyptic day” (that is, the day of the last revelation).
In Lutheran Germans, Pentecost Day is traditionally associated with clarifying the relationship between lovers. For this purpose, the May tree was installed (in Germany – common to the whole village, in Siberia – in front of the houses of beloved girls). The May tree was seen as a symbolic form of the proposal of the hand and heart. It was usually a tree cut down in a forest with branches cut off and only a green top left. The trunk was decorated with ribbons, flags, white and red scarves. However, the already installed May tree could be stolen by a rival or just local mischief-makers, and the right to install it had to prove with fists. Therefore, the tree was dug deeper and often strengthened with heavy chains.
If the girl did not reciprocate the guy, she put up an empty basket in response. However, in this case, the girl was waiting for a sleepless night, as in retaliation, her gates could be smeared with tar or left a pile of garbage and dung, and this was considered a terrible shame. In the same way, the eggs thrown on the night of Pentecost into someone's gates testified to the evil character of the owner of this house and a special dislike for him.