March 25
Spring
Return of the stork, Bloviesciai, seed, grain, stork nest, stork cakes, neighbors' visits, spring signs
Gandrines, or Bloviesciai, on March 25 marks a spring threshold and the return of the stork. In Lithuanian custom the stork brings good fortune, kicks out the ice, awakens seed and grain, while people bake stork cakes, share food with neighbors, avoid lending things, and read signs from the first stork they see.
What Are Gandrines and When Are They Celebrated?
Gandrines are celebrated on March 25. VLE notes that they coincide with the Catholic feast of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, while in the folk calendar the day marks the beginning of the phenological calendar and of a half-year.
The day is also called Bloviesciai. It is an early spring threshold: snow may still lie in yards, but the stork, wagtail, seed, and first drops of water show that winter's order is withdrawing. VLE also notes the name Bee Day, when beekeepers set swarm boxes so summer swarms would not wander far.
Why Was the Stork a Bird of Fortune?
B. Imbrasiene calls the stork a sacred bird that brings people happiness. A stork nest in the farmstead was believed to promise good harvest, travel, or livestock luck, depending on where and how it was raised.
The stork was also linked with health. Beliefs say it can take a person's illness and carry it to marshes or deep bogs. Such words show the spring bird imagined as one that removes misfortune.
Seed, Granary, and the First Stork
The first stork seen in spring was a sign for the whole year. VLE says that seeing a stork flying, especially from the right, promised quick, successful work. A standing or unfavorably seen bird could be interpreted more cautiously.
In Dzukija, when the first stork was seen, grain in bins was stirred or seed shaken. The action is plainly agrarian: the bird's return coincides with the coming sowing time, and the person symbolically wakes the grain from winter sleep.
What Was Avoided on Gandrines?
Lending and household goods mattered on Gandrines. Imbrasiene notes that from Bloviesciai to April 9 people tried not to lend anything and to recover items already lent. Around Svencionys a sieve was not lent so wolves would not slaughter sheep.
In some places eggs were not moved so young birds would hatch healthy, and field work was avoided. Around Tverecius, a snake-under-the-threshold motif was recorded as protecting livestock from bites. These customs show concern for the whole farm, not only the returning stork.
Stork Cakes and Neighborly Feasts
As early as the first half of the nineteenth century, peasants tried to prepare food on Bloviesciai and neighbors visited one another. Hemp cakes and buns made from mixed grain flours were baked and called stork cakes or kratinys.
VLE stresses sharing: coarse buns from various grains were shared with neighbors so grain would be viable. From Gandrines, ploughmen had to be given an afternoon meal; it was said the stork brought that meal and carried it away in August.
Mackantiskes and Contemporary Stork Welcomings
In Mackantiskes, near Aukstadvaris in the Trakai district, Gandrines have been revived as a community feast described by Alkas.lt. A local welcoming custom is mentioned: housewives placed small pastries or sweets in bags for children and tied them to apple branches or fences.
This is a specific local example, not a rule for all Lithuania. Still, it shows how Gandrines can live today through watching the stork nest, children's gifts, songs, kankles music, stork pastries, and a community gathering at the farmstead.
