New Year is a favorite holiday of many people, but there is an opportunity to repeat it exactly in 14 days. The traditions of celebrating the Old New Year began to take shape at the beginning of the last century when the calendar changed. Not all of them, alas, have survived to this day, although they can significantly diversify the usual holidays.
In this article, you will learn:
- where did the tradition of celebrating the Old New Year come from;
- in which countries there is a custom to celebrate it;
- the main customs and ceremonies carried out in Russia;
- how to make a holiday memorable;
- what signs are worth paying attention to.
Holiday history or how it all began
If the country had not decided in 1918 to switch to the Gregorian calendar of time reckoning, the Old New Year would not have appeared. While it falls on the night of January 14. But over time, the date will be postponed.
Church celebrations took place on the same days as before. As a result, a lot got mixed up, it was necessary to constantly remind which customs should be performed on a specific date.
From January 13 to January 14, they began to celebrate the New Year's holiday, motivated by the transfer of dates. But at the same time, two important church dates were superimposed: the day of memory of Melania and the veneration of St. Basil the Great. In Orthodox families, this night was also called the meeting of Melanka with Vasily.
Do other countries celebrate the old New Year?
In addition to the countries that were previously part of the USSR, the Old New Year is celebrated by residents:
- Algeria;
- Tunisia;
- Greece;
- Romania;
- Serbia;
- Montenegro;
- Switzerland;
- Morocco.
Different countries have their own peculiarities about how the celebration should take place.
In Greece, on the Old New Year, it is forbidden to raise your voice and quarrel. It's bad if the dishes break, so everyone tries to handle it carefully. If you are invited to a celebration, you need to take a stone with you. It symbolizes the wealth that the owners want to acquire next year.
In Romania, there must be pies on the table. But with an interesting filling in the form of coins, hot peppers, garlic or rings.
In Switzerland, this holiday is dedicated to the veneration of St. Sylvester. Residents dress in funny fancy dress, reminiscent of botanical gardens or houses, calling themselves Sylvester Claus.
In Montenegro, a couple is always prepared - a national dish made from corn dough.
Russian customs largely overlap with Ukrainian or Belarusian, and therefore are considered common.
Traditions and customs of celebration in Russia
Despite the fact that on January 1 the table was saturated, the Old New Year for the stomach became even more test. The indispensable attributes of this holiday in Russia were:
- baking a 2-3 week old pig;
- generous kutia, emphasizing the end of the fast;
- dumplings with surprises;
- pancakes and pies with which they also thanked those who came to carol.
The whole family decided to make dumplings. As in Romania, they hid various surprises. This symbolized fortune-telling about what awaited next year.
Christmas carols, generosity and sowing were a very bright decoration of the holiday, and they went caroling only until midnight, until the evil forces roamed around. On January 13, young girls and boys hid under masks, and one of the guys was dressed up in women's clothes as a symbol of Melanka.
What other traditions were characteristic of this time? Kutya for the New Year's feast began to be cooked in the morning. If there were unpleasant omens, she had to be thrown right into the hole with the pot.
An interesting tradition on this night was the burning of Didukhi (grandfather). For this:
- a sheaf of straw was prepared in advance;
- on the Old New Year, after the end of Christmas carols, they went to the crossroads;
- set fire to a sheaf;
- when the main flame diminished, they began to jump over the fire, saying goodbye to evil spirits.
All this was accompanied by songs, dances, funny ditties and other games.
There is another beautiful tradition associated with the life of the peasants. In the morning with wishes of happiness, health and wealth, we went to the homes of relatives and friends to "sow" grain. It is not known where the custom came from, but it has its own rules:
- sow only males, since it was believed that girls could not bring happiness;
- the first to visit the houses of the godparents;
- the grains were carefully collected and stored until spring in order to mix them with the spring ones.
A special porridge was also cooked. The oldest woman in the family poured groats for her. The oldest man at home had to bring water from the well. Groats from the barn were received at two in the morning. It was impossible to touch it, so as not to change your future. Until the oven burned out, the ingredients were ignored. Then when they cooked porridge, all family members would sit around. The woman stirred it, pronouncing special words. Then they put the porridge in the oven and waited for the result:
- if the porridge came out of the pot, this promised trouble to the whole house, so no one ate it;
- when the pot was burst, they acted in the same way, since it was a disease;
- a lot of foam from above foreshadowed empty chores;
- rich tasty porridge meant harvest and happiness to all household members.
The whole family sat down at the table late in the evening, and this dinner was not to be missed.
At this time, Christmastide continued, so Old New Year's fortune-telling was also used. It was customary to guess at the betrothed, on threads for a quick wedding, the fulfillment of a wish, the appearance of a child, etc. Traditions could differ depending on the place of residence, as well as on the veneration of the saints. Some villages had their own saints, who were given additional attention during the New Year.
Modern Old New Year
Now it is customary to celebrate in the same way as on New Year's Eve. It is believed that on the Old New Year, you need to do something that you did not manage to do on January 1. For example:
- make a wish, having previously written it on a napkin, which is burned and thrown into champagne;
- watch concerts and letters that you have not yet seen;
- send congratulations on the Old New Year to relatives and friends with repeated wishes for good and health;
- put gif.webpts that were previously forgotten under the New Year tree, after which it can be removed.
In the southern regions, the custom of cooking a pig or pork dishes has been preserved so that the New Year becomes rich in good news. In some villages, carols are held, but their true meaning is often lost.
Signs for January 13 and 14
They were attentive to the signs, among which the following stood out especially:
- the first on January 14 a girl entered the house - to trouble;
- Melanka was warm, the summer will be good;
- frost on the trees meant a fruitful year;
- it was forbidden to count small money on Vasily so as not to shed tears. Neither did they lend or borrow;
if there was a blizzard or blizzard at night, it was believed that the year would be hectic; - to hear an unusual ringing in the morning was news of a possible replenishment.
Be sure to placate livestock so that the New Year for them was calm and fruitful.
If at least some of the elements and traditions of the celebration are returned to modern reality, you can improve the New Year's mood even more and make the celebration unforgettable.
