After the usual New Year has died down, and the streets are filled with people again, do not rush to say goodbye to the festive mood, another important winter holiday is ahead - the Old New Year. This date is celebrated on the night of January 13-14. And, like any holiday that has taken root among the Slavs, the Old New Year keeps a lot of traditions.
In Belarus and Ukraine, this holiday is known as "Generous Evening", and in Russia - "Ovsen". According to the old chronology, this day fell on January 1 and was called Vasilyev's day, since it was the day of memory of Vasily the Great, and the eve of the memorial day, respectively, on December 31, was Vasilyev's evening.
Why the Old New Year is called There is no special meaning in the name of this holiday. This day is called so only because, according to the Julian calendar, the New Year fell from January 13 to 14. Today we use the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in 1918, which is why the holiday is called the "Old" New Year.
In addition, according to the calendar tradition, Christmas must precede the New Year.
Where the Old New Year is celebrated Previously, the Old New Year was celebrated in all countries of the Soviet Union. Today this holiday exists in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
This tradition has been preserved in Switzerland, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia. In the latter, for example, this holiday is called the Serbian New Year. On the night of January 13-14, fireworks are traditionally fired on the square in Belgrade.
In Japan, the Old New Year is called "risshun" - the beginning of spring, it is celebrated not in the middle of winter, but on February 4th.
Holiday Rules
For this holiday, they also bought good beautiful clothes. The evening of January 13 was called "generous", and therefore the table was laid accordingly. People believed that what the table would be like the year would be. In the morning, women had to cook porridge made from whole grains of wheat. Porridge was seasoned with lard or meat. Or served with jam or honey. The housewives also baked pies, pancakes or dumplings.
Since St. Basil was considered the patron saint of pig breeders, pork dishes were the main dish on the festive table.
In the evening, the people went to the neighbors to celebrate the Old New Year in the world. It was considered especially important that the “necessary” person come first to the house, and this was a young man from a large respected family with a large household. In the morning, young people jumped over the burning sheaves of hay to drive away evil spirits.
In some villages carolers went to the festival. The performers of carol songs were traditionally presented with treats.
Ancient Belarusian folk rite "Carol Tsars"
Traditional signs for the Old New Year The signs of this holiday were associated with both the weather and the New Year's table. For example, if the cooked festive porridge turned out to be lush, beautiful and tasty, then you need to wait for a good year. If the pot cracked in the oven or the porridge came out tasteless, you have to wait for a bad year.
It was also believed that if the wind blows from the south at night, then the next year will be prosperous and warm, if from the west - you need to wait for an abundance of milk, as well as fish, but if from the east, then there will be a good harvest of fruits in the year.
People said about the night: "Vasil's night is starry - to the harvest of berries." So that in general the harvest was definitely a success, in the morning they shook it off fruit trees. If the weather is frosty, but dry in the morning, then you should not expect much mushrooms next year.
Signs for the Old New Year - 2018
Those born on January 14, 2018 should wear a jasper stone for good luck and wealth. Also, before the evening of January 13, it is necessary to remove the holiday tree from the house and distribute all debts so as not to be indebted for the whole of 2018. And, of course, it is necessary to make peace with everyone with whom they were in a quarrel, and to forgive everyone who was offended.
What should be on the table for the Old New Year According to ancient traditions, on the table in Vasiliev evening there should have been a generous kutya or juicy. Halva, nuts, honey and raisins were not spared: the more generous the dish, the richer and richer the new year.
In addition, there was always a pig, a rooster or a hare on the table. All three meats carried a different meaning: pork promised wealth, rooster dishes - freedom, and hare - success in all matters.
It was also important what was included in the filling of holiday pies and, most importantly, dumplings for the Old New Year. For example, stuffed mushrooms - for a long and happy life, meat - for well-being, rice - for well-being, cabbage - for money, and dill - for good health.
What not to do on St. Basil's Day
A week before the Old New Year, it was impossible to dress up in new clothes, this can only be done on the holiday itself. On this day, you can’t say congratulations with the negative particle “not” - this can frighten away desire and good luck. Also, you can’t celebrate this holiday exclusively in a female company - this way you can bring on an unlucky year.
On the festive table there should not be crayfish and other creatures that move back, as it is possible to transfer past problems to the New Year. It is also strictly forbidden to clean this day, because you can take good luck and happiness out of the house.
Fortune-telling for the Old New Year Girls on the night of January 13-14, fortune-telling on various subjects. Vasiliev evening was considered the most successful for predictions. People believed that everything that was foretold and thought at that time would come true. However, the Orthodox Church does not approve of fortune-telling.
We love this paradoxical holiday, the meaning of which is so difficult to explain to foreigners. It's like our little secret, our second chance - to start all over again and now to celebrate the New Year correctly.
The history of the holiday Old New Year, or all the calendars lie
Many of us do not realize that we live according to the Gregorian calendar. And what was before him? Before him was the Julian calendar. It is named so because it was introduced into life by none other than Gaius Julius Caesar, the famous Roman dictator. Among other deeds reflected in the school textbook of the history of the Ancient World, Caesar had an affair with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Perhaps that is why he became interested in the calendar created by the Alexandrian astronomers and decisively introduced it in Rome. And at the same time, he moved the beginning of the year to January 1 - the day when the newly elected Roman consuls traditionally took office.
The calendar was good, but not particularly accurate; even adding a leap year (every fourth year February had 29 days instead of 28) still left the Julian year 11 minutes too long. So for 128 years they ran for a whole day! In the end, the discrepancy began to cause inconvenience during religious ceremonies: many ancient churches were built in such a way that on a particular day and hour the sun's rays had to fall on a certain place. And here is the confusion...
Pope Gregory XIII decided on reforms in 1582. He, firstly, at once added 11 days to the current date, accumulated due to an error. Secondly, every year, a multiple of 100 has ceased to be a leap year, but a multiple of 400 has remained a leap year. So the year 2000 (2000 is divisible by 400) was a leap year, but 2100 will no longer be a leap year. These measures turned out to be enough for us to enter into a single rhythm with the rotation of our own planet again! And the calendar was named after the Pope - Gregorian.
Unlike the Catholic Church, and indeed the secular authorities of European countries, the Orthodox Church did not recognize the updated calendar and continues to live, slightly behind the rest of humanity - by about a day every hundred years. Now, in 2020, the old New Year comes from January 13 to 14, but in 2100 this date will shift to January 14-15. However, this does not matter much for the Orthodox Church: in the liturgical church calendar, the year is counted from the first of September.
Old New Year: folk traditions and customs
Buckwheat - the queen of the table
It was hard to resist the temptation and not tell fortunes on New Year's Eve what the coming year would be like. And this is not at all about mysterious fortune-telling about the betrothed-mummers, but about cooking buckwheat porridge. It was buckwheat porridge that was the main decoration of the table. If the hostess took out a full pot of loose buckwheat from the oven, the year will be happy, fruitful and rich. Muddy porridge foreshadowed a “thinner” year, but if porridge fell out of the pot or, worse, the pot cracked, it was definitely not good. In this case, it was worth immediately throwing out both the unfortunate pot and the unfortunate porridge - away from sin.
Of course, today the risk of cracking the pan when cooking porridge is minimal, and modern stoves, unlike the Russian stove, allow you to cook dishes of predictable quality. And yet, try to cook buckwheat for dinner on January 13: good porridge is, firstly, delicious, and secondly, one more happy omen will not hurt us!
Give a pig and a boletus for Vasiliev's evening
January 14 in the Orthodox calendar is the day of St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, church writer and theologian of the 4th century. Among the people, St. Basil was "attached to the cause" - for some reason he became the patron saint of pig breeding. The New Year was celebrated with all kinds of pork dishes, sausages and baked hams were served to carolers, and the health of the entire pig population throughout the year depended on how cheerfully and richly the holiday was celebrated. So if domestic animal husbandry excites you at least a little, serve pork cutlets with buckwheat porridge.
But fish and poultry were not served at the table, so that happiness would not “fly away” and not "floated" out of the house.
Ovsen-Tausen
Livestock - livestock, but the basis of well-being in a peasant country has always been bread. So, on the morning of January 1, the children went to oatmeal - to “seed” their house, as well as the houses of their neighbors, generously sprinkling them with cereals and singing special sowing songs. For "sowing" children were paid with sweets, and chickens were fed with carefully collected grain and were the first to be thrown on arable land. It was considered a special fortune for the hostess to catch some of the sown grain in her apron.
Try with your child on January 14 to "seed" the house for good luck. The easiest way for him to remember is a simple Polish song:
For happiness, for health, for this new year.
May you have more luck than last year.
If your child is a member of a folklore ensemble, invite him to learn a sentence from the Kursk province:
Give birth, God, zhito, wheat,
Peas, lentils, all kinds of arable land.
A barrel will be lived from one spikelet.
God bless you, master
Marry sons, give daughters in marriage,
Drive vodka, brew beer!
Or the one that the children in the Bryansk region sang:
We sow, we sow, we sow
Happy New Year
So that healthy boules and garilochki drank.
Whether it is, or not,
Come on, grandma, nickel.
Hurry up, don't barite us,
Scrolls are short, lytki are frozen.
Short coats, bad heels.
And a whole year of beauty!
Of course, on January 1, you had to get up early to be the first to get fresh water for washing - this simple procedure guaranteed attractiveness for the whole year ahead! If the girl wanted to have a healthy blush all over her cheek in the future, then a copper or gold coin was thrown into the washing water, but if she dreamed of aristocratic snow-white skin, a silver coin should have been saved.
Modern traditions of celebrating the old New Year
The Old New Year in Russia appeared, as you remember, not so long ago - less than a hundred years ago. However, this date has managed to acquire its own legends, superstitions and traditions. It is from January 14 that the new year finally comes into its own. You can throw away the Christmas tree and finally plunge into the bustling everyday life. And in two weeks from 1 to 14, you need to decide what to take with you into the new year and what to leave in the past.
Unlike the family New Year, the Old New Year is a holiday that is usually celebrated together with best friends. Instead of buckwheat porridge, dumplings or dumplings became a traditional dish that evening. It is better to sculpt them yourself - then you can make a few dumplings with a surprise: put a coin, a ring, a button or a few peas of black pepper. The lucky one who comes across a dumpling with an unusual filling can safely count on wealth, a successful marriage, new clothes or good luck this year, sugar portends a sweet life.
And, of course, the eve of the old New Year, Vasiliev evening, is considered the best moment for divination.
Happy Old New Year to you!
Prepared by Antonina Rybakova
Will you be celebrating the old New Year?
Old New Year is one of the unique holidays celebrated on the night of January 13-14 in many countries, including the post-Soviet space
Many generations from year to year arrange a feast for the Old New Year and do not even think about the history of its origin.
For many believers, it symbolizes the end of the fast and is a good reason to celebrate it wholeheartedly.
History
Old New Year is a holiday that is celebrated unofficially. This holiday arose as a result of a change in the chronology. The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year is associated with the divergence of two calendars: the Julian - "old style" and the Gregorian - "new style".
Christmas tree decorations
New Year 2017: how to meet and what to expect....
Almost all European states switched to the Gregorian chronology back in the 18th century, removing a few extra days from the calendar. By the twentieth century, the Russian calendar was 13 days behind Europe, which had long since switched to the Gregorian calendar.
To narrow this gap in 1918, by decree of the Council of People's Commissars, a transition was made to the Gregorian calendar - a new style. In fact, after January 31, February 14 immediately came. As a result, January 14 - St. Basil's Day turned out to be the old New Year.
The Orthodox Church continues to celebrate all church holidays according to the Julian calendar. The modern New Year falls on the pre-Christmas fast - an Orthodox forty-day fast in honor of Christmas.
Santa Claus is photographed with children near the New Year tree in one of the parks of the Georgian capital
Focusing on the Julian chronology, one can trace the natural order of the holidays - the Advent fast preceded the feast of the Nativity of Christ, after which people celebrated the New Year six days later.
The discrepancy between the old and new chronology in the XX-XXI centuries is 13 days, so the New Year according to the old style is celebrated on the night of January 13-14. The difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars is gradually increasing and from March 1, 2100 it will be 14 days, so from 2101 the Old New Year will be celebrated one day later.
Where are they celebrating...
For many years in the countries of the post-Soviet space, including Georgia, the custom of celebrating the Old New Year has been preserved, which, as it seemed to us, was incomprehensible to the rest of the world.
In fact, the Old Style New Year is known and loved in different parts of our planet, and there are countries that also celebrate the arrival of the New Year twice a year.
This custom can be found among the inhabitants of the former Yugoslavia. The reasons are also similar - church ministers count all significant dates according to the Julian system of chronology.
Serbs call this holiday "Serbian New Year" or "Little Christmas". In Montenegro, it is customary to call this holiday "Rights of Nova Godina", which means "Proper New Year".
A similar custom is also among the inhabitants of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. They live in their own way, the Berber calendar, similar to the Julian. As a result of many deviations and mistakes, they celebrate the second New Year on January 12th.
The fabulous night of January 14 is considered in Romania and some cantons of Sweden. In Greece, this night people gather at the festive table to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. This Greek holiday is called Saint Basil's Day, known for his kindness.
The Old Style New Year is celebrated in a small Welsh community in Wales in the west of the UK, where they celebrate "Hen Galan" on January 13th. "Khen Galan" - a holiday of good neighborliness and "open doors" according to the traditions of the ancestors, is greeted with songs, folk festivals and local home-made beer.
And then, two New Years is a great occasion to once again gather the whole family and friends at the same table and have a good time.
Customs and traditions
The Orthodox Church on January 14 commemorates St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea Cappodacia. In the folk calendar, it is called St. Basil's Day and was of decisive importance for the whole year.
Many traditions and customs are associated with the old New Year in Russia. On Vasily's Day, they celebrated the holiday of agriculture, which was associated with the future harvest, and performed the rite of sowing - hence the name of the holiday "Autumn" or "Avsen".
On this day, the children scattered grains of wheat, oats, and rye around the house, saying: "God, freak out every living thing according to the bin, that according to the bin, and great, and there would be life for the whole baptized world." The mistress of the house collected grains from the floor and stored them until sowing.
And there was also a kind of ritual - cooking porridge. On New Year's Eve, at about two o'clock, the eldest of the women brought cereal from the barn, and the eldest man brought water from a well or river. It was impossible to touch cereals and water until the stove was heated - they just stood on the table.
Then everyone sat down at the table, and the eldest of the women began to stir the porridge in the pot, while uttering certain ritual words - the groats were usually buckwheat. Then everyone got up from the table, and the hostess put the porridge in the oven - with a bow.
Ready porridge was taken out of the oven and carefully examined. If the pot was just full, and the porridge was rich and crumbly, then one could expect a happy year and a rich harvest - they ate such porridge in the morning.
If the porridge got out of the pot, or the pot cracked, this did not bode well for the owners of the house, and then trouble was expected, and the porridge was thrown away.
On the night of the Old New Year, the girls guessed at the betrothed - after all, the period of Christmas time continued, the best time of the year for all kinds of fortune-telling and predictions. It was believed among the people that fortune-telling on the night of January 13-14 is the most truthful and it is at this time that you can see your future spouse in a dream.
Toys and decorations on the Christmas treeChristmas tree
Celebrate the New Year and stay alive!
To do this, the girls combed their hair before going to bed, put a comb under their pillow and said magic words: "betrothed-mummer, come comb my head."
The rite of going from house to house to treat yourself to pork dishes is also interesting. On the night of Vasily, the guests certainly had to be fed with pork pies, boiled or baked pork legs, and in general any dishes that include pork.
A pig's head was also placed on the table. The fact is that Vasily was considered a "pigsty" - the patron saint of pig breeders and pork products, and they believed that if there was a lot of pork on the table that night, then these animals would breed in abundance on the farm and bring good profits to the owners.
But the tradition of sculpting dumplings with surprises for the Old New Year appeared not so long ago - no one remembers exactly where and when, but it is observed with pleasure in many regions of Russia. In some cities, they are made in almost every home - with family and friends, and then they arrange a fun feast and eat these dumplings, looking forward to who and what kind of surprise will come across.
Signs
In the New Year, they did not lend money, so that during the year there would be no shortage of them. It was considered very successful to receive money on this day - it foreshadowed profit in the new year.
In order to dress well all year round, on Vasiliev's evening to celebrate the New Year, one should put on good new clothes.
One of the women's and men's clothing stores in a shopping center in the capital of Georgia
In the old days, there was a belief that if you spend the old year and meet the new one as cheerfully as possible, then it will pass happily.
The clear, starry sky on Vasily's Day foreshadowed a rich harvest of berries. A fierce snowstorm on January 13 in the evening indicated a plentiful harvest of nuts.
Also, a plentiful harvest in the new year was indicated by fluffy snow in the morning on the branches of trees and thick fog on St. Basil's Day.
According to popular belief, Saint Basil protects gardens from worms and pests. On the morning of the Old New Year, you need to walk through the garden with the words of an ancient conspiracy: "As I shake off (name) the white-furred snow, so St. Basil will shake off the worm-reptile of every spring!"
In the old days, they believed that on January 14 a man should enter the house first, then the year will turn out to be prosperous, if a woman enters - to trouble.
This is an absolutely amazing holiday, which is celebrated only in a few countries. The tradition of celebrating the old New Year in Russia arose after 1918, when a new chronology was introduced. At first, this holiday was called the New Year according to the old style. But such a long name was inconvenient, and the phrase "old New Year" appeared. It is absolutely impossible for foreigners to understand it: how can one be old and new at the same time?! But we Russians are so unpredictable...
The Old New Year is celebrated on the night of January 13-14, when everyone can afford to celebrate their favorite holiday. This holiday has a special meaning for believers. After all, the modern New Year falls on the Advent, when many foods cannot be eaten, and excessive fun is inappropriate. The fact is that the Orthodox Church continues to celebrate all church holidays according to the old, Julian, calendar (according to the "old style").
After the collapse of the USSR, in addition to Russia, the old New Year is also celebrated in Moldova, Armenia, Belarus, and Ukraine. The tradition of celebrating the old New Year has also been preserved in Serbia and Montenegro, since the Serbian Orthodox Church, like the Russian one, continues to live according to the Julian calendar. Serbs call this holiday the Serbian New Year. Old New Year is also celebrated in Macedonia, as well as in some German-speaking parts of Switzerland.
From the history of the holiday Old New Year
In Russia, this day once fell on January 1 and was called Vasiliev's day, and its eve - December 31, which became later than January 13 - Vasiliev in the evening. According to an old tradition, the "rich" Vasiliev evening was celebrated on New Year's Eve. On this day, it was customary to generously set the table. Basil the Great was considered the patron saint of pig breeders. There are also folk signs associated with this night. If the sky is clear and starry, there will be a rich harvest of berries. On January 14, gardeners shook fruit trees, because Saint Basil the Great, according to popular belief, also protected the gardens from pests.
On Vasil-evening, witches steal the month from heaven, but still they cannot stop the gradually growing day, shortening the long winter night.
On this day, early in the morning, it was customary to cook Vasilyev's porridge and watch how it was cooked. If porridge climbs out of the pan, there will be trouble. It was considered a bad omen if a pot or pan in which porridge is cooked is cracked. If the porridge is successful, you need to eat it clean. And so that any of the bad omens did not come true, it was necessary to throw the porridge along with the cracked pot, preferably into the hole.
Today, on the old New Year, few people cook porridge. But the number of people wishing to celebrate this day is growing every year. And, despite the fact that this day, unfortunately, is not even a day off, the popularity of the old New Year is growing. .jpg)
The most common tradition in Russia on the night of the old New Year- sculpt and cook dumplings.
You can make dumplings with a surprise and agree on what this or that surprise means. For example, a button is for a new thing, a coin is for a gift, a thread is for a trip, a peppercorn is for unexpected joy, etc.
This holiday is cozy and calm. He is not characterized by the fuss that inevitably accompanies the usual New Year. On such an evening, after a treat, it’s nice to play some kind of calm family game, for example,
Another New Year - on the night of January 13-14 - is usually celebrated with much more rituals than just raising a glass of champagne.
Where did it come from
For the fact that we celebrate the New Year twice, we must say thanks to the Russian Orthodox Church, or rather, to such a feature of it as conservatism. When in 1918 a new Gregorian calendar was introduced in Russia, according to which other countries had lived since 1582, the church did not recognize the innovation and continued to honor the holidays according to the Julian calendar or according to the “old style”. This gave rise to incidents: two Christmases and two New Years, one of which (from December 31 to January 1) falls during Lent.
It is curious that the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars grows by one day every 100 years - this happens when the number of hundreds in the year from the Nativity of Christ is not a multiple of four. From March 1, 2100, the difference will be two weeks, and from 2101, Christmas and Old New Year will come a day later.
Simultaneously with Russia, the Old New Year is celebrated in Belarus and Ukraine, Serbia and Macedonia, Montenegro and Georgia, as well as in Kazakhstan (40% of the population) and in the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland. This is because either the local churches still live according to the Julian calendar, or the people do not forget the tradition of rejecting the transition from the old chronology to the new one.
Vasily's meeting with Melanka
The people call the night of January 13-14 the meeting of Vasily with Melanka. According to the Orthodox calendar, January 13 is the day of memory of St. Melania (Melanka), and January 14 is the day of St. Basil the Great.
Melanka's holiday has long been popular with young people. Guys on a festive evening could get a second chance to win the girl they liked: if before the matchmaking ended in a refusal (“garbuza”), then on the eve of the Old New Year, he could send the matchmakers again.
And the girls were supposed to guess at Melanka. The people said: "The girl will think of Vasily - she will not pass." According to tradition, during girls' fortune-telling, the guys removed the gates from the fences of the fortune-tellers, and the girls' fathers could return the stolen goods only through the magarych.
divination
Some fortune-telling looks like this.
Go outside: which animal you see first - that will be the betrothed. If you meet a sheep, you will find a husband who is quiet and docile. And the cutest dog - to dog life.
Pour three heaps of grain at the gate, and in the morning check: if everything is untouched - to a happy family life, but if vice versa - alas ...
You can also put a scallop under the pillow, saying before going to bed: “Narrowed-mummer, comb my head!”. Whom you see in a dream, you will marry him.
Another guess. Before going to bed, put the fragments of a broom in a plate of water and say: “Betrothed-mummer, take me across the bridge.” If in the morning you find that the wreckage has gathered in a whisk, then get engaged to those who dream.
generous evening
According to a long tradition, on Old New Year's Eve, Vasiliev's evening is celebrated - he is also "generous". On this day, it is customary to lay a rich table. To thank those who sow and are generous, the housewives bake pies, fry pancakes and make dumplings. Pork dishes are especially relevant, because the holy
Vasily is the patron saint of pig breeders.
As at Christmas, kutia, which is called "generous", is prepared for Vasily. Unlike lean (for Kolyada), it is customary to season generous kutya with lard and meat - skoromnina. You need to cook kutya in the early morning, keeping your eyes on the utensils. According to legend, a cracked pot or a kutya that has fallen out of a pot is a disaster. If the kutya succeeds, it must be eaten clean, and if a bad omen comes true, then the brew must be thrown into the hole with the pot.
On a generous evening, kutya is placed in a red corner - on pokuti. For dinner on the Old New Year, you need to sit down, as well as at Christmas, with the whole family. It is important for everyone to wear clean clothes. And after dinner, it is customary to ask for forgiveness (including from neighbors) for possible grievances in order to celebrate the New Year in harmony.
Key to food
If they carol at Christmas, then on the Old New Year, on the Generous Evening, they are generous - they sing ritual songs of the generosity, in which they wish the owners of the house prosperity in the new year and all kinds of blessings:
"Shchedryk-Petryk,
Give me a dumpling!
a spoonful of porridge,
Top sausages.
Give me a piece of fat.
Take it out quickly
Don't freeze the kids!
How many donkeys
So many pigs for you;
How many trees
So many cows;
How many candles
So many sheep.
Happiness to you
Owner with hostess
Great health
Happy New Year,
With all kind!
Once schedrovki were vesnyanka, because until the 15th century the Slavs celebrated the New Year in March. It was the time of the return of birds from warm lands, so many ancient sheds contain references to spring birds - finches, cuckoos or swallows.
How to be generous and sow
According to an old custom, Old New Year's detours are made after sunset, when evil spirits are walking around. Sowing and generous, like Christmas carolers, go around the house from evening until midnight.
The first guest brings happiness to the house. It was considered a good sign if it turned out to be a guy from a large family with a strong household. It was not welcome if the first guest was a girl or woman of childbearing age. And it’s really bad if an old maid, a widow, a cripple or an old man comes to visit first. Therefore, girls most often do not sow, and if they go to be generous, they do not go into the house or come after the guys.
On the evening of January 13 (Melankin evening), girls (women) are generous. And on January 14, only boys (men) sow.
What's with the goat
One of the oldest folk mysteries is driving a goat. The roots of this rite are in the pre-Christian period, when the goat was considered a totem animal. Her image, associated with honoring the ancestors, symbolizes wealth and fertility. The key stages of the mystery are the dance of the goat, its conditional death and resurrection. All this personifies the revival of nature after the winter fading.
The custom of "driving Melanka" is that a group of guys in masks with jokes and jokes plays out a ritual action. One of the generous people dresses up as a woman - this is Melanka. She is accompanied by a woman and grandfather, a Cossack, a gypsy, a Jew, a doctor, a bear, a crane, etc. The girls also portrayed the bride Melanka and her fiancé Vasily. In the company of cheerful witnesses, Melanka and Vasily walked around the yards and were generous.
After completing the detour, the mummers went to the crossroads to burn ritual sheaves of straw - "Grandfather" or "Didukh". At the same time, it was supposed to jump over the fire - so the generous ones were cleansed of communication with evil spirits.
And at the dawn of the next day, sowers walk around with grain in mittens and bags. It is customary to bestow gifts on the first guest most generously. First you need to visit the godparents and relatives. Entering the house, the sowing sprinkles with grain and greets the household with the New Year. By the way, it is impossible to throw away the scattered grain - it is collected and stored until sowing.
© Vyacheslav Kaprelyants, 2016
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