The history of the holiday Old New Year. Rituals, signs and traditions for the Old New Year

What only the dates do not contain our history! Holiday Old New Year is not in any calendar of the world, but almost a whole century it is celebrated in our country and in some countries of near and far abroad. Almost two weeks after the first of January, the fun at the tree returns. The existing dual tradition is very surprising to foreigners, and not all our compatriots know why this happens. Where did it come to meet the Old New Year? What date is it celebrated? Let's look at our article in all the riddles of this wonderful holiday.

Changing the Chronology

Up to the beginning of the twentieth century, the Julian calendar operated in Russia. Even in the sixteenth century, astronomers recognized it as erroneous, and the countries of Europe began to live according to the Gregorian, introduced by Gregory XIII. The thing is that the year has a different average duration, and so a difference in dates has gradually emerged.

By 1917, Russia and Europe had a difference of thirteen days. Having come to power, the Bolsheviks made numerous changes and reforms, including the question of bringing time into one format with the European one. The decree issued by Vladimir Lenin in 1918 on the transition of Russia to the Gregorian calendar saved the confusion in numbers, and the whole world began to live according to one calendar.

This is the history of the holiday. The Old New Year, as we see, arose because of the change in the calendar. Instead of moving the event from one date to another, in the current historical situation there was another reason to celebrate. Now we have two opportunities to meet the coming year, we can do it according to the old and new style.

Origins - in the church traditions

The Julian calendar has been preserved in the Russian Orthodox Church, which to this day counts all the Christian holidays only on it. Preserving the traditional time, the so-called "old style", the Russian church rejects the European calendar. Since the world's newest falls on January 14, the Old New Year can be called New Year in an old style. It was this day before the revolution that was considered the first day of January. Historically, our ancestors, having moved to a new calendar, have not moved away from the old one. This is the secret of the two New Year holidays in our country and some of the nearest states.

Is there a feast during fasting?

For Orthodox people, the current January 1 falls at the time of a strict Christmas fast. During this period, believers refuse meat, fast food and entertainment. These prohibitions come to an end only on the 7th, so on January 14 the Old New Year becomes a really special day when you can enjoy life and enjoy the holiday. In European countries, the Catholic Christmas is celebrated on December 25, so the New Year's table can be safely covered with any dishes.

The second chance, or the continuation follows ...

Surprisingly, since 1918, traditionally and annually, people celebrate the Old New Year. What date to celebrate this holiday, even today children know.

What is the secret of the popularity of the holiday, it is unequivocally difficult to answer. For some, this is an Orthodox New Year's day, for others it's an excuse to collect the whole family at the table, for the third - the opportunity to complete what did not have time before January 1.

The New Year's fuss and hype has subsided, there is no more shopping around in search of gifts and products, and a person has a unique chance to prolong the charm of the holiday. If the battle of the bells on December 31 you met with relatives, then this time you can arrange a party with friends, or vice versa. If, covering the table at the end of last year, you were preparing a traditional salad and salted herring under a fur coat, then this day you can experiment with new dishes.

What to do in the Old New Year?

It's no secret that the TV has firmly entered our life. TV programs, broadcasts and films are watched all over the country. Prepared specifically for New Year's Eve, some shows may be of interest. If you missed a holiday film or a transmission last time because of going to a fir tree or a noisy feast, then do not get upset: the TV men, perfectly aware of this point, usually repeat their program on the evening of January 13. Each family can come up with their own traditions of meeting the Old New Year.

A carol came - open the gate

Mid-January is the time for Christmas. They begin on the eve of Christmas and last two weeks, until Baptism. Being in the middle, the holiday divides Christmas trees into two halves. The first week was called "holy evenings". This time is dedicated to the birth of Christ. But the second week was called "terrible evenings". The ancestors believed that these days the unclean power is walking. People turned to divination, remembered different rituals. On the Old New Year, on Christmas Eve and the eve of Baptism, it was customary to carouse.

This folk act was something like a fun carnival. Young people and children went to different suits, masks and walked through the village. Stopping at each house, they sang special songs. And they were performed both in Christmas and in Epiphany, and not only in the Old New Year.

The origin of the word "carol" is related to the Latin term calendae, which translates as "the first day of the month". The sense meaning has gradually changed, and now it denotes the cheerful songs that the rank-and-file young people sing under the windows of houses, while collecting alms - treats.

Tulup - inside out, bag - in the hands, and go around the yards!

For this fun, young people usually gathered in a whole group. Necessarily appointed "mehonosha", which was responsible for a large basket or sack, which formed the treats, rendered by generous masters. Most often, people took part in animals, for example, a bear, a wolf or a goat. Dressed and all evil spirits, for example, devil or Baba-yaga. At the same time, complicated suits were not required, reincarnation occurred literally at the expense of improvised materials. Tulup turned inside out and tied a simple rope, his face smeared with soot, charcoal or flour.

Kolyadovschika treat - a year worth living: signs for the Old New Year

The carers lauded the owners, their generosity, the house, the cattle and the yard, congratulated them on the holiday, wished for health, wealth, abundant harvest, and for this the hosts presented them with pies, pancakes and other delicacies. Prepared such a treat beforehand and in large quantities. Ignoring the carols was considered a bad omen. Those masters who regretted the treats, the mummers not only sang the mocking greed of the ditties, but they could also plague it, knocking down a log of firewood, tied a resin rope of the door, or in other ways. It used to happen that a merry procession forgot to go into a house, accidentally missing it. This incident was considered a harbinger of something bad. In dwellings, which during the year visited the trouble, took away someone's life, caroling did not go at all.

Protection from dark forces

Naturally, this disguise in all evil spirits was not welcomed by the Church and was considered a diabolical venture. Therefore, carpenters at the end of Christmas tree were washed by holy water and hastened to pacify the sin in the temple of God. For a long time people have tried to protect themselves and their homes from various troubles in every way, for this there were special conspiracies. In the Old New Year, for example, it was supposed to take 3 lit candles for protection from the evil eye, spoiling and unhappiness and read the following words near the entrance to the house: "Happiness is in the house, all the troubles are out! Whoever thinks evil, will triple it three times. Whoever wants to jinx, will find the misfortune. And this Lord will guard this house, Saint Basil will look. Amen". Repeated these plots in the Old New Year, not only at the threshold, but every window in the house. In the old days people strictly adhered to such rituals.

Folk signs for the Old New Year

As you know, there is a calendar of people's events and events, which contain unusual days and natural phenomena associated with them. Celebrated in it and the history of the holiday. The Old New Year is celebrated on January 14 and is called according to the folk calendar - Vasiliev's Day. People noticed that if the weather was frosty and little snow, then it promised a plentiful harvest. Thaw in this day was perceived as a harbinger of a cold and lean summer. There were other signs. On the Old New Year a blizzard was played out - nuts are getting nasty.

"Avsene, ausen, you went around all ..."

Vasilyev's day was a feast of farming, in connection with this he met cheerfully: song songs were sung, dances were played, people began to dance. Traditional rituals were also used. On the Old New Year, they sowed and sprinkled wheat in the house. And also prayed that she was born this summer.

The patron of not only farming, but also pig production was the holy martyr Vasili, whose day was celebrated in the Old New Year. History says that the owners cooked meat dishes, pies, chilled pork. It was believed that this will bring health and happiness to all the home. In addition, it was necessary to treat guests with meat, so that night people went to each other - and congratulations, and delicacies to taste.

What kind of porridge you make, so you spend a year

Another interesting tradition is the history of the holiday. The Old New Year was a day of predictions. At night, the elderly members of the family, a man and a woman, prepared ritual porridge. At first they waited for the furnace to heat up, and then they poured the rump with water and put the pot on the stove for the night. By what it turned out porridge, determined what the coming year will be. A whole pot and fragrant and crumbly porridge foreshadowed a happy future and a good harvest. This dish was eaten in the morning. If the croup was outside the pot, running over the edge, or cracking the dish itself, the owners were waiting for poverty and a bad harvest year. In this case, the ritual porridge was not eaten, but immediately thrown out.

Even in ancient times, people said: "As a year you will meet - and you will spend". Reached to this day, this statement calls us to cover a rich table with treats and meals and have fun, inviting wealth, well-being and health to your house.