Spring rite "Yurauski karagod" performed by the villagers of Pogost, Zhitkovichi district, Gomel region on holiday "St. George", which is among the most respected and wealthy in his ceremonial filling of Belarusian folk calendar holidays. It has a fixed date for: the Orthodox calendar notes May 6th day of St. George. Syncretic image of St. George (George, Yagorya) is widely reflected in the folklore, folk and professional art, literature and sculpture. According to folk beliefs St. George - "God's steward," as he had the keys, which he closes the winter and the spring opens, releasing the dew on the field, blesses everything: land, people, animals. In the popular imagination Belarusians St. George - guard the livestock and agriculture, herds of wild animals fr om the defender. It largely depended on the success of a peasant in these activities and in the end his well-being. In the village churchyard is a celebration accompanied by a detailed ceremonial complex, which includes a variety of ceremonial activities, songs, games, features and beliefs. Traditionally, the ceremony on the Yure holiday as if divided into two equivalent cycles. The first takes place in the courtyard, wh ere compliance with a series of magical acts (treat animals ceremonial bread in the shape of a cross, consecrated tree branches) is derived from an animal barn. This day is connected to the first pasture cattle in the field after the winter. Magical actions are preventive in nature and aimed at ensuring the fertility and its protection from the wolves and the "evil eye." The second cycle is associated with the agricultural tradition and focused on field crops and the man himself.
Ritual dance on the feast of St. George helps to preserve the cultural identity of villages and educate new generations respect for the customs of their ancestors. It is a form of collective memory, which translates the experience of establishing harmony between man and nature, it reflects the emotional evaluation of the practice by the local community. To this day, it performs the function of the transfer of knowledge, skills and creative achievements (local song and dance tradition) from the older generation younger, consolidates society through forms of joint activities
