Verbnaja subbota

[Leslie J. Dorfman]

Dear SEELANG-ers,

Is there anyone out there who can tell me a little bit about Verbnaja
Subbota?  It has come up in a couple of Silver Age poems I'm working on,
and I am curious about some of the associations it may have had for
Russians before the Revolution.

According to Joanna Hubbs (Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian
Culture), Verbnaja Subbota comes before Palm Sunday, and there is a ritual
involving pussy-willow branches (carried by the tsar onto Red Square).
Genevra Gerhart suggests that pussy willows were used in Russia on Palm
Sunday (Verbnoe Voskresenie) "perhaps due to an absence of palms" (The
Russian's World, p. 98).  Does anyone know whether the pussy willows
themselves have any particular significance (aside from being seasonal),
and whether there are any other specific flowers or plants associated
with the holiday? People on this list seem to be very knowledgeable
about flower symbolism in Russia.  Also, can anyone recommend a good
guide to botanical names in Russian?

Spasibo zaranee!
Leslie Dorfman
serapion at umich.edu