Old New Year holiday description. Festive table for the Old New Year. Customs and traditions for the old New Year

29.04.2019

About celebrating New Year in Russia it is accepted for a long time and on a grand scale - in January we have a rest for more than a week. However festive mood is preserved even after the end of the official holidays, because on the night of January 13-14, the whole country celebrates the old New Year. Kultura.RF tells about when and how the holiday with such a controversial name appeared.

New Year's pre-revolutionary postcard. Russia, before 1917.

The old New Year came into our culture along with the old style of reckoning.

In 1918, the Bolshevik government decided to change the calendar. Royal Russia lived according to the Julian calendar, and Europe - according to the Gregorian. The first was created in the Roman Empire and was based on ancient Egyptian astronomy. The Gregorian calendar was more accurate; it was created in the 16th century, taking into account latest knowledge about the structure of the universe. The difference between the two systems of calculation was 13 days and created inconvenience for the conduct of international political and economic affairs and led to funny incidents in Everyday life. For example, according to the dates on the postmarks, it turned out that the telegram was received in Europe a few days earlier than it was sent in Russia.

The transition to the Western European calendar took place on February 14, 1918. According to the decree, main goal of the entire project was "the establishment in Russia of the same calculus with almost all cultural peoples."

Appeared and unusual holiday- the old New Year, that is, the New Year according to the old style, which was not forgotten among the people. However, they celebrated the old New Year not on such a large scale as the night from December 31 to January 1.

The Russian clergy did not agree with the transition to new style and did not abandon the Julian calendar. But this was not so important for the Bolsheviks, who had already signed the Decree on the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church. old style became informal.

Today, the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar. Therefore, Christmas in our country is celebrated on January 7, and in Catholic countries - on December 25. The New Year, or rather the New Year, the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 14 (September 1, according to the old style) - not from the Nativity of Christ, but from the creation of the world. During the period of secular new year holidays believers hold the Nativity fast.

Directly on January 1, the holy martyr Boniface is commemorated, to whom one should pray in order to get rid of drunkenness (the disease of wine drinking).

Contrary to popular belief, the tradition of celebrating the Old New Year exists not only in our country. There are similar holidays in countries former USSR, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Algeria, Tunisia and many other countries. In all states, the appearance of an unusual date is associated with transitions to different calendars but each country has its own traditions. In the German-speaking regions of Switzerland, for example, January 13 is celebrated old day Saint Sylvester, dress up in fancy dresses and wish each other Happy New Year. In Macedonia, carnivals are held on the New Year according to the old calendar. There is an analogue of our holiday in Wales - the Hen Galan festival. It also means the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian calendar, and on this day children can “carol” - go from house to house and receive sweet gifts.

In Russia, according to statistics, the old New Year is celebrated by about half of the country's population, gathering at the festive table. BUT whole line museums and cultural organizations devotes thematic exhibitions to the holiday.

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 fasting and is a good reason celebrate it wholeheartedly.

Story

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".

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.

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 Julian and Gregorian calendars gradually increases and from March 1, 2100 it will be 14 days, so from 2101 the Old New Year will be celebrated a day later.

Where are they celebrating

For many years in the countries post-Soviet space, including in Georgia, the custom of celebrating the Old New Year is preserved, which, as it seemed to us, was incomprehensible to the rest of the world.

In fact, the New Year in the old style is known and loved in different corners 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 - the ministers of the church are counting 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.

And then, two New Years is a great occasion once again gather the whole family and friends at one table and have a good time.

Customs and traditions

The Orthodox Church on January 14 commemorates St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea Cappodacia. AT folk calendar it is called St. Basil's Day and was of decisive importance for the whole year.

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. AT new year's eve, at about two o'clock, the eldest of the women brought cereals from the barn, and the eldest man brought water from a well or river. It was impossible to touch the cereal 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 you could wait happy year and a rich harvest - they ate such porridge in the morning.

Icon "Saint Basil of Caesarea" (XVII century)

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.

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.

Signs

In the New Year, they did not lend money, so that during the year there would be no shortage of them. To receive money on this day was considered very successful - it foreshadowed profit in the new year.

To dress well all year round, on Vasiliev's evening to celebrate the New Year, one should wear good new clothes.

In the old days there was a belief that if old year and meet the new one as cheerfully as possible, then he 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.

By folk beliefs 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 ancient conspiracy: "As I shake off (name) white-fluffy snow, so Saint 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.

The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.

A feast on the Old New Year is arranged from year to year by many generations, and at the same time they don’t even think about the history of the origin of the holiday.

For many believers who observe the Advent fast, the Old New Year is a good occasion to celebrate the New Year from the bottom of their hearts.

How and when this holiday appeared and why in Russia and in many other countries they celebrate the Old New Year.

History and essence

The Old New Year, which is celebrated unofficially, arose as a result of a change in the chronology - this tradition is associated with the divergence of two calendars: the Gregorian - "new style" and the Julian - "old style". But let's not get ahead of ourselves and tell everything in order.

New Year in Russia pagan times celebrated on the day spring equinox i.e. March 22. After the adoption of Christianity in Russia, the Byzantine calendar began to gradually replace the old one, and the New Year began to be celebrated in the fall - on September 1.

Although until the 15th century there was no single date for celebrating the New Year in Russia - some celebrated in the fall, and some, out of habit, in the spring. Officially, the beginning of the New Year in Russia was determined on September 1 only in 1492.

On January 1 (according to the old style), the New Year was postponed by decree of Peter I in December 1699, as a result, the next year 1700 came four months later.

In the 18th century, almost all the states of Europe switched to the Gregorian chronology, removing a few extra days from the calendar. And Russia, which by the twentieth century continued to live according to the Julian calendar, lagged behind Europe by as much as 13 days.

The Bolsheviks decided to "catch up" with the Old World and abolished the calendar discrepancy in 1918 by decree. As a result, January 14 - St. Basil's Day turned out to be the Old New Year.

The Russian Orthodox Church continues to celebrate the New Year, Christmas and all other church holidays according to the Julian calendar. Because of this discrepancy in calendars, Russians celebrate two "New Years" - in the old and new style.

In the XX - XXI centuries, the discrepancy between the old and new chronology is 13 days, so the New Year according to the old style is celebrated on the night of January 13-14.

But 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 a day later.

By the way, the modern New Year falls on the Nativity Fast, which ends on January 7, so it is natural that the Old New Year for many Orthodox fasting has special meaning, since they can celebrate it wholeheartedly only after the end of the fast.

And yet, despite the fact that this day, unfortunately, is not even a day off, the popularity of the Old New Year is growing every year.

By the way, the natural order of the holidays can be traced, focusing on the Julian calendar - the Advent fast preceded the feast of the Nativity of Christ, after which people celebrated the New Year six days later.

Where else do they celebrate?

The custom of celebrating the Old New is preserved in the countries of the post-Soviet space. New Year according to the old style is loved in different parts of our planet, and there are countries that also celebrate the arrival of the New Year twice a year.

Residents of the former Yugoslavia celebrate the New Year twice a year, as church ministers there count all significant dates according to the Julian calendar.

"Serbian New Year" or "Little Christmas" is the name given to this holiday by Serbs. And in Montenegro it is customary to call this holiday "Rights of Nova Godina", which means "Proper New Year".

The inhabitants of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria have a similar custom. They live in their own way, the Berber calendar, similar to the Julian. But as a result of many deviations and mistakes, they celebrate the second New Year on January 12th.

In some cantons of Sweden and Romania, the night of January 14 is considered fabulous. On this night, they also gather at the festive table in Greece to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. This Greek holiday is called Saint Basil's Day, known for his kindness. In the west of Great Britain, the Old Style New Year is celebrated in a small Welsh community in Wales and is called "Hen Galan" - a holiday of good neighborliness and "open doors". According to the traditions of the ancestors, the holiday is celebrated with songs, folk festivals and local home-made beer.

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

In Russia, many traditions and customs are associated with the Old New Year - the Orthodox Church commemorates on this day St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia.

In the folk calendar, January 14 is called Vasily's Day, which was of decisive importance for the whole year. 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 that 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.” Then the mistress of the house collected grains from the floor and stored them until sowing.

Cooking porridge is another peculiar ritual. On New Year's Eve, the eldest of the women, at about two o'clock, brought cereals, usually buckwheat, from the barn, and the eldest man brought water from a well or river. It was impossible to touch the cereal and water until the stove was heated - they just stood on the table.

After the stove was heated, all the rest of the household sat down at the table, and the eldest of the women began to stir the porridge in the pot.

Stirring, she uttered certain ritual words. Then everyone got up from the table, and the hostess put the porridge with a bow into the oven. Then they all got out of the oven together. ready porridge and looked at carefully.

If the porridge turned out to be rich and crumbly, and the pot was just full, they ate the porridge in the morning and expected a happy year and a rich harvest.

Porridge was thrown away if it got out of the pot or the pot cracked - this was a harbinger of an unsuccessful year.

The girls on the night of the Old New Year were guessing at the betrothed - the period of Christmas time, best time year for all kinds of divination and predictions. Fortune-telling on the night of January 13-14 was considered by the people to be the most truthful, and it is at this time that you can see your future spouse in a dream.

To do this, the girls combed their hair before going to bed, put the comb under their pillow and uttered the magic words: "betrothed-mummer, come comb my head."

The rite of going from house to house is also interesting - at this time people were treated to pork dishes. By ancient tradition, on the night of Vasily, the guests had to be fed with pork pies and, in general, with any dishes that included pork.

Be sure to serve a pig's head on the table. Saint Basil was considered a "pig sty", that is, the patron saint of pig breeders and pork products, and they believed that the abundance of pork dishes on the table that night would be a guarantee of abundance and profit.

Another tradition - to make dumplings with surprises for the Old New Year - appeared not so long ago. This tradition is observed with pleasure in many regions of Russia, although it is not known exactly where and when it originated.

Dumplings are made in almost every home - with family and friends, they arrange a fun feast, eating dumplings and looking forward to who and what kind of surprise will come across.

Icon "Saint Basil of Caesarea" (XVII century)

Saint Basil, according to popular belief, 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) white-fluffy snow, Saint Basil will shake off every worm-reptile in the spring!"

In the old days, they believed that the year would turn out to be prosperous if a man entered the house first on January 14, but if a woman entered, there would be trouble.

Old New Year is one of 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.

Story
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 menswear in mall 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.

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, its features such as conservatism. When in 1918 a new Gregorian calendar was introduced in Russia, according to which other countries had been living 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. By 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 (“harmelon”), 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 girl 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 intact - to a happy family life, but if the opposite - 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), generous kutya It is customary to fill with bacon 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 kutya succeeds, it must be eaten clean, and if it comes true Bad sign, then the brew must be thrown with a pot into the hole.

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. good sign it was considered if it turned out to be a guy from large family with a strong economy. It was not welcome if the first guest was a girl or a woman 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 dawn 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.

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