"Baptism" is one of the main Christian holidays for the spiritual world. It also has one more name: "Epiphany". The holiday is directly related to the well-known fact of the baptism of Jesus Christ, at one time, in the Jordan River. If a person decided to take part in Epiphany bathing, then first you need to properly tune in, realize the meaning of the holiday, and only then plunge into the hole.
Place and time
They bathe after the evening service, beginning on the eighteenth of January and on the night of the eighteenth to the nineteenth. The access to the fonts is also open on January 19 throughout the day. Swimming in special ice holes called Jordan is a voluntary matter, and not at all obligatory. For them, special safe fonts are equipped on reservoirs. The hole is usually cut in the shape of a cross to help the person to tune in properly. Find a place to swim in advance, it should be a crowded place, do not dive into Jordan alone, if you suddenly need help, no one can provide it. Usually in the equipped places there are both rescuers and doctors who, if necessary, will help anyone who will need it. …
Preparation for bathing
- A contrast shower will help prepare the body for a sharp temperature drop.
- Experts recommend a hearty meal a few hours before the dive. It is better to eat something nutritious so that the body will recharge and gain strength.
- Take a tablespoon of fish oil: this will increase the heat resistance of the body.
- Be sure to take with you: swimming trunks or one-piece swimsuit for women, preferably a long shirt or other clothes in which you will swim; warm clothes, with the least number of buttons, which can be put on immediately after bathing; dry, clean, warm, terry towel that absorbs moisture well; a rubber mat that will help you stay even on the ice without falling; rubber non-slip slippers; thermos with warm tea.
Rite process
You need to enter the bathhouse slowly, at an average pace, so as not to freeze. To avoid general hypothermia of the body, it is not recommended to stay in ice water for more than 30 seconds. It is enough just to dip three times and get out quickly. If you do everything quickly enough, but without too much fuss, the body will not have time to cool down.
We must not forget that swimming in the hole is necessary not for self-affirmation, but only from deep, spiritual motives, because this rite is part of a religious action.
