Winter is not always pleasing with snowy weather, but with the approach of New Year celebrations, the mood all rises in anticipation of carnivals, a noisy feast, fireworks and gifts. At the end of the year, the calendar makes us happy with a whole series of interesting holidays, which take several weeks. If we add to them also the Catholic Christmas with the Chinese New Year, and our people like to have fun on any suitable occasion, then it is possible to break away until the very spring in clubs and on merry feasts. But here we list the traditional Russian winter holidays, which became folk for the Eastern Slavs. Knowing history will help you better prepare for the upcoming fun and will give an opportunity to shine in the company of erudition, if you accidentally come to argue on this fascinating topic.
Traditions of winter holidays
Many kings and emperors, trying to look like reformers, began to redraw calendars, forbade old celebrations and put their own in their place. Sometimes such initiatives after the death of dictators were forgotten, but in other cases interesting ideas took root, especially when they fell on fertile soil. Slavs have always been famous for their ability to walk from the heart, so the new desire of Tsar Peter was not particularly opposed, and since 1699 the tradition of decorating green Christmas trees on the eve of the New Year has gradually become a nationwide one. European innovations by the date very successfully coincided with the Great winter saints ( January 7 - January 19 ). The new main winter holiday of the country in many respects resembled holy Christmas games, when people gathered in devils, animals and other creatures, collected food from local residents, and went with songs and carols through the streets.
For Christians, Christmas is the first place among the New Year's winter holidays. They begin to meet him on Christmas Eve ( January 6 ), when one should remember the deceased at a fast table in the circle of the closest people. On January 7, it was already allowed to conduct colorful processions with a star in carnival costumes. Thus, the old rites successfully merged with the Christian traditions, and the people had the opportunity to make noisy winter holidays, following the customs of their ancestors, without violating the new laws.
The Old New Year ( January 13 ) is the consequence of the Leninist reforms, when the Bolsheviks rigidly transferred the country from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, moving all the winter holidays for as long as 13 days. Naturally, the people adopted such innovations in a peculiar way, beginning to celebrate them, both in the old and in the new style. In the Christian calendar, the Old New Year falls on the remembrance of the Monk Melania and Vasil, which has always been reflected in folk rites. For example, in the Ukrainian villages Melanka was dressed up as a guy, and Vasil was a beautiful girl, and they circumnavigated the village with special songs in the company of rickety gypsies, goats, bears, grandfathers, women and other characters.
Epiphany Christmas Eve ( January 18 ) marked the preparation for the great holiday - the Great Water Consecration.
We think that our small review on this can be completed, although after Baptism there are many interesting dates. You can describe for a long time what kind of winter holidays there are, mentioning, for example, a cheerful Tatiana's day ( January 25 ) or Valentine's Day ( February 14 ), but the format of the article simply will not accommodate such a large material. We wish you a good time to celebrate New Year's festivities in a new and old style!