On November 22, Orthodox believers commemorate the memory of the Apostle Philemon, one of the closest disciples of the Holy Apostle Paul and an early preacher of Christianity in Asia Minor. In the folk calendar, this day has a special name - Winter Forecast. It was believed that it was on November 22 that nature would tell what the coming winter would be like: harsh, long or mild.
The Apostle Philemon came from the city of Colossae and was a wealthy man who accepted Christian teachings and gave shelter to the first communities of believers. The most famous episode from his life is the story of the conversion of the slave Onesimus. The Apostle Paul, while in prison, wrote a letter to Philemon asking him to accept Onesimus no longer as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. This letter became one of the key texts of the New Testament and a symbol of the Christian idea of equality and mercy.
What not to do on November 22
People believed that this day had special energy, so there were certain prohibitions:
• they did not do hard physical work, so as not to cause fatigue and illness;
• they did not set out on a long journey - they were afraid of getting lost or getting into trouble;
• they did not borrow money, so as not to "give away" their own well-being.
Folk omens for the Winter Solstice
People carefully watched the weather on this day, considering it an accurate harbinger of winter:
• a frosty day - to early and prolonged cold;
• warm and wet - to a mild, late winter;
• morning frost - to clear and cold days ahead;
• low gray clouds - to a rapid deterioration in the weather and possible snowfall.
For many Ukrainian regions, the Winter Solstice was an important starting point: after November 22, according to legend, real winter "becomes" and nature begins to prepare for a prolonged period of cold weather.
