Many of us celebrate Shrovetide, at the very least remember Ivan Kupala and a couple of other holidays, but often this is where knowledge of the original culture of our ancestors ends. Meanwhile, each month of the year is remarkable for something, interesting traditions are associated with it. How did our ancestors live in January? We’ll talk about this.
The word “January” came to us from ancient Rome. There, the month was named after the two-faced god of time, Janus, who opened doors to the future and closed to the past. The primordially Russian name of the month is different – “prosinets”: the sky turns blue, the day is added and becomes lighter.⠀
January also has another name – “cut”. In some sources, however, February is called the section. Also, this name is associated with the slash-and-burn type of agriculture: in winter they cut down (that is, cut down) trees, forming a plot for future crops. January was also designated as “crackling”, “snowman”, “fireman” (burns with frost), “ice”, “jelly”, “snow”, “pluck”.⠀
Why January must be cold
January is the coldest month of the year, and the people were not afraid of the cold snowy winter. On the contrary, this is exactly what he expected, because the future harvest depended on it: “Frosty January is a fruitful year”, “January cold fills the bins”. And vice versa: “Winter without snow – no bread”, “Winter without snow – summer without bread”, “Save yourself from warm January”, “Beware of spring in January”.
Our ancestors knew that frost protects future crops from pests, and snow protects the soil, protecting plants and crops from freezing. Also, moisture accumulates in the snowdrifts, which nourishes the soil in spring. That is why a frosty snowy winter is so important. And this year, everything is finally right.
Who said “oink”
On the night of January 13-14, we celebrated an unofficial holiday – the Old New Year. It appeared in 1918 when we switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar to keep up with Europe. It was this first day of the New Year that was previously called Vasiliev – by the name of Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia.⠀
On the eve of the New Year, they arranged Vasiliev’s evening – with festive treats. According to the old style, the New Year came after Christmas, so the meal was not Lenten. Good and tasty food that evening was an obligatory task: to be full all year long. An indispensable dish was porridge made from whole grains of wheat or barley – a symbol of wealth and prosperity.⠀
But the main place on the New Year’s table was occupied by a pig. He was called “Caesarean” – by the name of Basil of Caesarea. This saint, the patron saint of pigs, was especially revered by the shepherds. Hence the name of the New Year among the peasants – “pig holiday”. The piglet, a symbol of livestock fertility and well-being in the house for the whole year, was roasted whole – this meant the integrity of life’s good.⠀
On New Year’s Eve, the guys walked in a crowd through the streets and staged Christmas atrocities. If the owner of the sleigh leaves unattended, they will drag it off, remove the harness from the horse, the gate from its hinges, and dump everything on the road so that it would be more difficult for the owners to find it. Such liberties were allowed at Christmas time, because it was believed that at that time all the evil spirits were walking on the earth.
Perhaps the most fun month of the year, January was among our ancestors just because of the Christmas festivities. Hence the proverb: “Summer is for trying, and winter is for walking.”
Kisses of the dead man and the bride’s bride
Until the very Epiphany, the world had to turn upside down so that with the cleansing rituals of the Epiphany water to be born again – this repeats the cosmogony of the symbolism of the New Year itself.
Throughout the first half of the month, young people pooled rent a hut, where in the evenings Christmas games, funny and scary, were arranged. Someone dressed up as a devil, someone – a dead man, “died”, whom the girls were supposed to kiss. Girls on Christmas evenings were guessing to find out the name of the future groom and their fate.
The nights before Christmas, New Year and Epiphany were especially favorable for divination. Well, “Baptism is the accomplishment of deeds.” After drinking the cleansing baptismal water (and it is pure because it is on this night that it becomes what it was at the creation of the world) and plunging into the hole, people washed off all demonic Christmas deeds and masks.
At Epiphany, they also arranged brides’ bridesmaids. All the brides and grooms gathered for the festive service in a large village, and while the girls of marriageable age rode in a sleigh to bless the water, the people lined up along the roads and looked at them. And as soon as the brides returned from the blessing of water, they themselves stood along the road, while the grooms with their parents walked past them and chose the right one.