LOVE LETTER TO BIRDS: CELEBRATING GREGORJEVO

The sun doesn’t linger around much yet. It plays hide and seek with the grumpy rain clouds, and you still need to wear your warmest winter coat when you’re out and about.

Still, there is a palpable change in the air: it just feels and smells somehow different. And if you cock your ear, you can hear a little choir in the garden singing every day just a little louder, a little more enthusiastic between two episodes of shower. Spring is around the corner, and in a couple of days our birds, who are just doing their vocal warm-up now, will be ready for the show: on 12th March they will announce the new season’s arrival!

celebrating gregorjevo

When it comes to celebrating nature and the seasons, there is no sweeter and more Slovene holiday than “Gregorjevo” – a traditional folk calendar day, named after Saint Gregory.

The reason why Slovenia celebrates the turn of the wheel ten days earlier than the whole world, is not because we are an impatient nation, or we are luckier with March weather than others. It rather has to do with old church calendars. Originally the celebration of the Saint Gregory – the great pope of the 6th century, and patron saint of students, teachers, and musicians – coincided with the first day of spring. But when the Julian calendar reform rolled around a good ten centuries later, even though the date officially moved back, in people’s minds the holiday was preserved as the beginning of spring.

gregorjevo TRADITION: WELCOMING LIGHT

If you’re attentive enough, then you will notice that the changes in nature have started happening within these ten days anyway: the sun’s rays are getting powerful, and the first brave buds start to pop their heads up on trees. According to tradition, Saint Gregory also brings the light back into our days.

In old times, traditionally this was the turning point of the year when workers didn’t need to kneel over oil or kerosene lamps to work anymore. In places with long-standing traditions of craftsmanship, such as Železniki, Tržič, Kropa or Kamna Gorica, people prepared small floating baskets or clogs, lighting them on fire and throwing them into the local rivers and springs. It was a symbolic act to “throw the light into the water”, when they didn’t need it anymore, and letting it take away every worry and hardship of the winter.

Today the custom is still alive in these regions: but now it’s children and school students crafting artistic floating houses and boats (so-called “gregorčki”) from eco-friendly materials. They light them up with tiny candles and send them off downstream in the evening of 11th March, turning spring’s arrival into a truly magical event.

ON GREGORJEVO BIRDS MARRY

Gregorjevo is not only a celebration of light, but also the celebration of true, lasting love – a Slovene Valentine’s Day, if you like! Oral folk tradition has it that on this day birds are joined in wedlock, that’s why their choir sings so loud!

In the past, parents would hide on the trees and bushes some potica (traditional Slovenian festive pastry), flat bread or other sweets as the feast for the birds’ wedding – and of course, if the birdies couldn’t eat them all, the kids would eagerly help hunt them down and have a cheerful feast themselves!

According to old tradition, you could only catch the birds in wedlock if you went to the bushes barefoot.

PLAYING OUR PART: KEEPING GREGORJEVO ALIVE

To mark this special nature-related Slovene holiday and to help keep traditions alive, our favourite local toymaker, Primož Rojc has crafted something special for you this year.

Two beloved birds, a blue tit and a robin, have been turned into children’s toys under his hands, inviting little ones to appreciate nature while playing. The toys also come for a limited time* with some special, thoughtful gifts (a wooden bird, some seeds and a colourful postcard) that encourage you to make your own family traditions for this old holiday and celebrate our best garden friends, the birds.

*The special limited edition packages will be available starting from 10th March. Gifts are included in the package in the promotional period (10-17.03.2023) or until stock lasts.

IDEAS FOR GREGORJEVO: LOVE LETTER TO OUR BIRDS

Make a spring wreath and decorate it with a bird. Primož has included with both new lacing toys a unique hand-carved wooden birdie. Our idea is to invite you to go on a spring adventure and collect some branches with catkins on with your kids (and if you don’t want to disturb the birds, scurry around the bushes at least silently, if not barefoot like in old times!). Once you’re home, make a spring wreath out of it, and you can hang or nest the wooden bird in the middle.

Play a nature hide and seek. You can also use the bird for a playful hide and sneak activity in nature. Instead of looking for the leftover cakes from the bird’s wedding, you can hide the wooden bird in your garden, or a local park – hung it on a tree branch or bush. Who will find it first? The activity has all the excitement of an Easter egg hunt, just leans into nature and our traditions more gently!

Picture: Jasmina Lozar (@wildandkindmama).

Leave some treats for the birds, too. While kids surely prefer munching on cakes, birds might appreciate some other treats. That’s why Primož included a package of bird seeds with the new toys. Many times, we think that with the arrival of spring we can stop feeding our garden friends, but in reality, food supply doesn’t peak for them until mid-summer. Being in the middle of mating season, birds also need more energy (and thus more of our help!) than ever. So, preparing them a real, bird-friendly feast can be a true act of love! You can put out the seeds as they are, or you can do an exciting family activity first: make real bird cakes and hide them together in the bushes! You can use simple gelatine as a binding agent, and you can shape the mixture in a donut pan. Alternatively, you can also spoon them into any cookie cutter for a different shape – like hearts! Put a rope inside before it solidifies, and there you go: your hangable wedding gift for your birds!

Go bird watching and identifying. With the toy, Primož has also included a postcard with a beautiful, realistic photograph of the bird. This is to help children connect their toy to the natural world around them. You can take the card out on your walks and try to match it with the birds you see around. The short description on the back also gives a little nugget of knowledge of our feathery friend.

Spread the love (for nature) with a love letter. You can, of course, use the card to celebrate love (in general, or just for nature!) on our very own Valentine’s Day. You can write an anonymous love letter, or just a letter of kindness with your child and leave it in a neighbour’s mailbox or in a public place: like a library book or a coffeeshop table.

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