Winter Christmastide is the longest, noisiest and most cheerful of the winter holidays. In it, pagan and Christian traditions are intricately intertwined. The end of the calendar year was considered a time of special activity of evil spirits. The anxiety that had settled among the people was intensified by mummers, stories about encounters with evil spirits, and prophetic fortune-telling.
Winter Christmastide was celebrated for 12 days, from January 7 to January 19, i.e. from the Nativity of Christ to the Baptism of the Lord, or, as they used to say, "from star to water."
History of the celebration of Christmastide
The origins of the holiday should be sought in ancient times. During pagan times, Svyatki were associated with the name of the god Svyatovit. There is a version that Svyatovit is one of the names of the main god of the Slavs, Perun. On Christmastide, he was supposed to leave a little festive treat, which was thrown into the oven especially for him. People believed that at the beginning of winter, gods and spirits travel the earth, and they can be asked for a rich harvest, and a good husband, and other benefits.
The Christian tradition associated with the celebration of Christmastide became widespread in Byzantium already in the 4th century. However, the Russian Orthodox Church was very ambiguous about Christmas festivities. Not only fortune-telling, but even caroling and, moreover, dressing up was considered a sin. Then a new custom appeared: on Epiphany, which ended the celebration of Christmastide, a cross-shaped hole was made in the ice of a river or lake. Those who took part in Christmas rituals plunged into it, thus washing away sins from themselves. Gradually the pagan roots of Christmastide were forgotten, and the holiday was devoted entirely to the glorification of Christmas.
"Saints" and "terrible" evenings
The first 6 evenings of Christmastide were called “saints”. They were considered a time of Christmas miracles and the fulfillment of cherished desires. The next 6 evenings are "scary". At this time, the evil spirits violently indulged in revelry and could meet a person anywhere. Imitating the evil spirits that were playing out, the guys arranged all sorts of mischievous tricks: they overturned woodpiles of firewood, filled up the gates, so that the owners could not go outside, laid the chimneys with boards. People were condescending to the festive mischief of young people, especially since they stopped immediately after Epiphany.
The girls devoted their "scary" evenings to a variety of fortune telling about their betrothed. Fortune-telling with a rooster was one of the most common. A handful of cereals, a piece of bread, various objects were laid out on the floor or on the table, a mirror and a bowl of water were placed. Then they brought a rooster to the hut and watched what he first would start to peck: cereals - to wealth, bread - to harvest, he would start drinking water - the husband would be a drunkard, etc.
They hung a comb in the barn: they said that at night the groom would brush his hair, and he would be recognized by the hair caught between the teeth. They went out on the road and asked the first person they met: it was believed that this would be the name of the groom. The most terrible, but also the most faithful, was fortune-telling at night in an empty bath with candles and mirrors. However, not every girl decided on it.
In the last days of Christmas time, preparations for Epiphany took place, which ended a series of winter holidays.
