This Saturday Orthodox Christians honor the Autonomy of Italy, which suffered for the faith. People call this day Artamon Serpentine.
Saint Autonomus was bishop in Italy at the turn of the 3rd-4th centuries. He converted many pagans to Christ and consecrated a temple in the name of the Archangel Michael.
After the destruction of the idol temple by the converts, the pagans attacked the temple and, after torture, killed the priest. Christians removed his body from under a pile of stones and buried him.
People began to call September 25 Autonomus, Artamon, Serpent’s Day, Artamon Serpentine. People believed that on this day snakes crawl in a row into the forest and hide in the ground until spring.
It was forbidden to walk on Artamon Serpentine in the forest, otherwise the campaign could turn into disaster. However, this did not apply to hunters, they put on high boots and read conspiracies from snake bites.
On this day, the hunt for hares, foxes and wolves was opened. They did not kill the snake on Artamon, but tried to bypass it. According to popular belief, when meeting her, it was necessary to step over her with the right foot.
Housewives on this day collected mountain ash and made preparations for the winter. It was considered a bad omen to cut down a mountain ash on Artamon or even break a branch. This could bring illness and hunger to a person for the whole year.
On this day, you cannot swear, wish your loved ones bad things and refuse those in need of help.
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