Elioba/ Eliyaoba
Eliyaoba is a holiday named after Elijah, the god of weather. According to the Christian calendar, the feast of St. Elijah is celebrated on August 2. Besides the church's official holiday, there were folk versions of Eliyaoba observed differently across Georgia.
In Samegrelo, after returning from the church service, the head of the family would take a tray loaded with food and drink into the cellar, light candles, and pray to Elijah to avert wind and storm. This practice was part of a larger tradition of invoking divine favor to protect crops and ensure good weather.
In addition to the August celebration, there was the Taros day of Kokhinjroba, also associated with Elijah, celebrated from May 7-9. Elijah’s worship often coincided with the rites of Lazaroba, ceremonies performed during drought or deluge, rather than on specific dates. During these times, the rituals of Elijah and Lazarus were often alternated to address the community’s urgent need for favorable weather.
These traditions highlight the deep connection between the Georgian people and their reliance on divine intervention to manage and protect their agricultural livelihoods. Through these rituals, the community expressed their respect and dependence on the forces of nature, invoking the powers of Elijah and Lazarus to ensure their survival and prosperity.
In Samegrelo, numerous rituals were performed to combat drought and increase land yield. One such ritual involved invoking the power of Elioba. Two men would go to Cana, bringing with them a pot of milk, four pieces of wood, and a Lekukha (Khechrela) stick. To protect the area from the evil eye, they would carve a cross into the stick and place it in a visible location.
They would then light a fire in the field and put the pot of milk on it. One of the men, holding a rooster, would run around the fire, beating the ground with the stick, and calling out, "St. Elia, give me Canaan." He would then go to the fire and ask the other man if the milk had boiled. The second man would respond, "He got angry and left." This question and answer would be repeated several times. If the milk boiled over and the fire went out, it was considered a sure sign of a good harvest.
Following this, they would kill the rooster, hang it on a tree, eat the meat there, and pray for an increase in the land's yield. This ritual underscored the community’s reliance on spiritual and natural elements to ensure agricultural prosperity.