How Russians Celebrate Maslenitsa

What a Bear has to do with it

The holiday used to have a pagan name, “Komoyeditsa”, which has multiple theories about it’s origin. According to one of them, this time of year bears, whom ancient Russians called “kom”, were feeling the spring in the air and waking up from hibernation. Since bears were considered masters of the forest, people brought them pancake offerings, as a way to greet spring. So Komoyeditsa may be interpreted as “feeding bears”.