Perhaps most of the continental countries are somehow associated with any tree. For Canada it is maple, for Australia it is eucalyptus, for Finland it is undersized spruce, and for Russia it is birch.
The tree has become a symbol of Russia for quite objective reasons, it is on the territory of the country that birch is more common than anywhere else in the world. From ancient times in Russia, birch is considered a symbol of purity, innocence, a tree of young girls. There was even a belief that if you talk about your problems with a tree, it will become easier, and there will certainly be a solution. For this ritual, young girls found a birch in the forest and, hugging her like a girlfriend, shared the most secret.
Birch holidays
Many holidays are associated with birch trees, for example, a church holiday - Trinity. Since ancient times, it is customary to decorate a birch with colored ribbons and lead round dances around it. It was believed that it was on this holiday that birch branches could drive away all unclean power, and therefore in the huts with fresh brooms they swept the floor and even washed the windows.
And on New Year's Eve in the villages, birch rods drove the spirit of the old year beyond the threshold.
There was also a tradition to plant a birch on the occasion of the birth of a child, they believed that how a tree grows - clean and strong - the child will also grow. It was a great sin to chop the planted birch; in the village they could also burn the hut for this.
Belief
In the culture of many peoples living on the territory of Russia, many beliefs associated with the white-trunk tree have been preserved. So, the Chuvash people still believe that the dream in which you cut the birch says that a woman will die in the family.
By the way, in Ukrainian villages birch branches with a green leaf are still placed in the coffin of a young woman as a symbol of purity and sinlessness.
According to biblical mythology, Judas tried to hang himself on a birch after betrayal, but she was frightened, turned white and did not accept it, unlike the aspen, whose leaves are trembling because they saw the death of Judah.
