: what kind of holiday is this and how did it appear. The time for a completely unique holiday is approaching. Such a holiday is the Old New Year. In 2018, as usual, it is supposed to be celebrated on the night of January 13-14.
The Old New Year is a relatively young holiday. It appeared not so long ago and is not an independent holiday. The Old New Year is a holiday that arose as a result of the transition from one calendar to another, that is, from the Julian to the Gregorian. This happened in Soviet Russia in 1918 by order of Lenin. Until now, Russia, like other countries of the former Soviet Union They celebrate the New Year twice. However, many people mistakenly believe that only countries former USSR celebrate the Old New Year. In a number of other countries, citizens also celebrate the New Year twice.
According to the Gregorian calendar currently in effect, we celebrated the New Year 2018 on the night of December 31 to January 1. And on the night of January 13-14, 2018, we will celebrate the New Year “according to the old style,” that is, the Old New Year.
It is worth noting that opinions regarding the celebration of the Old New Year are different. Some people are happy to gather a festive feast on this day, set a rich table, and invite guests. Others, on the contrary, do not accept the Old New Year as a full-fledged holiday, and therefore do not celebrate it at all. There are no tips or recommendations in this situation. Everyone has the right to determine for themselves whether or not to celebrate the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14, 2018.
Many of us, residents of Russia and countries in the post-Soviet space, dream of extending the charm of a winter weekend as long as possible. Therefore, in the vast majority of families, the Christmas tree is not removed until January 14, and on the eve of this date they set the table and arrange a celebration for themselves - quieter, calmer and very family-friendly. It has a strange name, and foreigners are ready to rack their brains trying to understand what kind of holiday the Old New Year is.
This day is not a public holiday, few people give gifts, the Christmas trees for children have already died down, but still among Russians and representatives of other nations of the former Soviet Union there is a belief that the real New Year begins on January 14th. Where did this holiday come from, what is it and why does it have such a strange name - we tried to collect answers to all these questions in this article.
History of the New Year holiday
The change of years has always been celebrated solemnly among all peoples. She was taken very seriously. The New Year was associated with mysterious natural forces, with successive cycles, with the normal and consistent functioning of people's lives. In the old days, every significant action had sacred meaning: got married, built a house, sowed and harvested grain at a certain time. Therefore, the New Year was tied to a certain period of existence.
- During the times of paganism (polytheism) in Rus', the New Year began on the day of the spring solstice - March 22. This date has always been associated with the beginning of field work - plowing, after which grain was sown. Farmers considered it their duty to turn to the gods with a request for a harvest, a successful start to the season, and good weather.
- With the advent of Christianity in Rus', the countdown of time gradually moved, according to the Byzantine calendar, to autumn. The celebration of the indicta, as the first day of the New Year was called, fell on September 14th. To this day, in Orthodox churches on this date, chants are sung glorifying the New Year. Here, on the contrary, fertility, collecting the gifts of the earth, and gratitude to God for them had an important symbolic meaning.
- First Russian Emperor Pyotr Alekseevich changed the entire way of life of Russian people. He did not bypass the New Year celebration either. The sovereign moved the date to January 1st. Of course, at first such an innovation seemed wild to Russian people, but the command to have fun, congratulate each other, dance, decorate the tree and light the lights, and most importantly, not work and relax, gradually persuaded people to enjoy the holiday with pleasure. By the way, the tradition of decorating Christmas tree branches, adopted in Europe, was originally pagan. It is of the same nature as dressing in carnival costumes- appeasing evil spirits or trying to deceive them and hide.
However, it must be said that the country, which until 1917 was almost completely Orthodox, could not celebrate the New Year during the Advent Fast. Amusement and entertainment on days of abstinence were not allowed, theaters practically did not work, there were no balls and parties, or public festivities. How were these facts related to each other?
The Old New Year itself and the history of this holiday are a unique phenomenon. This simply never happened in the world before and after the establishment of the celebration. And this event is connected with the opinion of the Russian Orthodox Church and the drastic restructuring of the country’s life along Soviet lines during the revolutionary years.
All disagreements in dates and calculation of days of the year are rooted in history and are caused by the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars.
Julian calendar
Named in honor of Emperor Julius Caesar, who decided to count days and years not according to lunar calendar, which gave an error, but according to the solar one. According to him, it turned out that a year lasts 365 days.
This establishment of the Roman emperor was of great importance for Christian Church. At the Ecumenical Councils - congresses of priests and bishops who adopted rules for believers, they talked about the importance of simultaneous chronology and strict adherence to the calendar in the celebration of church celebrations. Thus, at the First Ecumenical Council the celebration of Easter was regulated, which falls every year on different days, is carefully calculated and depends on the spring lunar cycle.
Gregorian calendar
In the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII ordered the calendar to be changed so that the spring equinox would be moved to March 21. Since the triumph of the Light is tied to it Christ's Resurrection, sometimes the celebration was held before the Jewish Passover. For orthodox Eastern Christians, such freedom was a gross violation of the rules Ecumenical Councils. Therefore half Christendom Gregorian calendar I didn’t accept it and still don’t accept it. But the entire Western world lives by it, celebrating, for example, Christmas not on January 7, like the Russian Orthodox Church, but on December 25, before the New Year.
The main difference between calendars is how they calculate leap years. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the Julian and Gregorian calendars differ by 13 days, but in less than a hundred years another day will be added. This is due to the fact that the Earth completes its annual revolution around the Sun in an imprecise number of days.
According to the Julian chronology, calendar year goes ahead of the astronomical. This leads to a gradual shift important dates: for example, in more than a hundred years, Christmas will come on January 8th.
Today, most experts note the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar. It doesn't need drastic edits or even changes. There are projects that require slight adjustments, but the principle of chronology itself has been decided to remain unchanged.
The essence of the Old New Year holiday
During the revolutionary times, the authorities ordered a transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar so that the dates coincided with those accepted throughout the world. However, the Church categorically disagreed with this, since its priority is the orders of the Holy Fathers. Thus, it turned out that the secular New Year holiday moved to a position before Christmas. If only Russian Orthodox world agreed with the authorities, the New Year would be celebrated a week after the end of the fast on December 24.
What is Old New Year? This is the New Year according to the Julian calendar, which follows the Nativity of Christ. Almost all over the world, the Julian calendar has already been forgotten, but in our country an unofficial celebration is considered the day on which the new year began before the 1917 revolution.
Holiday charm
Russians love the Old New Year, although many find it difficult to explain how it differs from the usual one. However, the tradition of celebration in itself is good, and there are reasons for this:
- People tired of New Year's fun, however, feel a pity to close the series of these lovely days with a Christmas tree, treats and gifts. I would like to do this somehow solemnly and, at the same time, in a family way. Therefore, many people gather with friends or family, at home or in some institution, and celebrate the beginning of the New Year according to the old style.
- Any tradition is good, it unites the family and unites the nation. The Old New Year came to us from the distant pre-revolutionary years, and it’s great to remember it, if you want to, of course.
- January 14th is traditionally still Christmastide - the cheerful days after Christmas. They are conducive to fun, fun, festivities and feasts.
- On the Old New Year, you can do what you couldn’t do on the night of the New Year - be alone with your loved one, try to cook something original, go dancing or take a walk on the fresh air. Such small joys always bring people together and give them a feeling of happiness and fulfillment in life.
This is a strange holiday after all. It’s just some kind of complete oxymoron, a kind of “combination of the incongruous.” Well, how is it - the Old Year and then the New Year? But nevertheless, the popularity of the Old New Year in Russia today is growing from year to year. All more people They treat it as an independent holiday that prolongs the charm of the New Year.
In 1918, when the new revolutionary government carried out many reforms, the calendar also suffered. On January 24, the “Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic” was adopted, which came into force on February 1, 1918. Thus, the Old New Year is a rare historical phenomenon, an additional holiday that resulted from a change in chronology. Because of this discrepancy in calendars, we celebrate two New Year holidays - according to the old and new styles. And so it happened that in Russia two New Years are celebrated at once: traditional, on the night of January 31 to 1, and according to the old style, on the night of January 13 to 14. Kazhetta Akhmetzhanova on how to attract good luck. Watch the video!..
Why celebrate the Old New Year?
IN Orthodox Russia All Christian holidays are still celebrated according to the Old Russian calendar, the Julian. In the Julian calendar, January 14 was dedicated to Basil the Great and was called Vasily's Day. After the abolition of the old calendar, believers did not change their traditions and celebrated the New Year at their usual time, January 14. And now, despite the fact that almost a hundred years have passed since the replacement of the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar, many celebrate the New Year according to the old style. For believers, the Old New Year has special meaning, because you can fully enjoy it only after the end of the strict Nativity fast, which lasts until January 6. New Year's Eve from December 31 to January 1 falls during the strictest time - the Orthodox forty-day fast in honor of the Nativity of Christ. According to the old style, everything went as usual: the Nativity Fast preceded the Christmas holiday, shortly after which people celebrated the New Year.
Where else is the Old New Year celebrated?
To be fair, we must say that we are not the only happy “owners” of this holiday. The Old New Year is celebrated in many countries of the post-Soviet space: in Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia. And also in Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Romania - in these countries church holidays are also celebrated according to the Julian calendar. Old New Year is also celebrated in north-eastern Switzerland, in some German-speaking cantons and in the small Welsh community in Wales in western Great Britain. Residents of these places in the 16th century did not accept the reform of Pope Gregory and still celebrate the holiday on the night of January 13-14.
How to celebrate a holiday that is not marked in red on the calendar?
The Old New Year is the same holiday for most of us, only it is celebrated at the end and in a “lighter version”: the table is no longer bursting with treats, wishes are not made, gifts are not given and the chimes do not strike. You can modestly celebrate the New Year according to the old tradition with a bottle of champagne, which is opened at 12 o'clock at night, an original dessert or light snack. For several years now, all television channels have been broadcasting the same concert program on this night as on New Year's Eve - this creates a pleasant feeling of déjà vu and puts an end to the New Year and Christmas fun. And from January 15, it is customary to dismantle the New Year trees, remove decorations and immerse yourself in the usual work atmosphere, no matter how much you want to extend the holiday.
Old New Year– a great reason to stop once again for a while in the daily hustle and bustle and pay attention to your loved ones and loved ones. On this day, it was customary to prepare many dishes, varied and satisfying, because the more dishes on the table, the more generous one promised to be next year. Required on festive table there were special traditional dishes: kutia, dumplings and pork dishes.
New Year is the favorite holiday of many people, but in Russia it is possible to repeat it exactly 14 days later. 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.
From this article you will learn:
The history of the holiday or how it all began
If Russia had not decided to switch to the Gregorian calendar in 1918, the Old New Year would not have appeared. So far it falls on the night of January 14th. But over time the date will be postponed.
Church celebrations took place on the same days as before. As a result, a lot of things got mixed up, and we had to constantly remind ourselves which customs should be performed on a specific date.
From January 13 to 14 they began to celebrate New Year's holiday, motivated by the postponement of dates. But at the same time two important church dates: day of memory of Melania and veneration of St. Basil the Great. IN Orthodox families They began to call this night the meeting of Melanka with Vasily.
Is the Old New Year celebrated in other countries?
In addition to countries that were previously part of the USSR, the Old New Year is celebrated by residents of:
- Algeria;
- Tunisia;
- Greece;
- Romania;
- Serbia;
- Montenegro;
- Switzerland;
- Morocco.
There are some peculiarities about how the celebration should take place.
In Greece, during 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 them carefully. If you are invited to a celebration, you need to take a stone with you. It symbolizes the wealth that the owners wish to gain in the coming year.
In Romania, pies are a must 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 masquerade costumes reminiscent of botanical gardens or houses, calling themselves Sylvester Clauses.
In Montenegro, they must prepare parenitsa - national dish from corn dough.
Russian customs have many similarities with Ukrainian or Belarusian ones, and therefore are considered common.
Traditions and customs of celebration in Rus'
Despite the fact that on January 1 the table was full, the Old New Year became an even greater test for the stomach. Indispensable attributes of this holiday in Rus' were:
- roasting a 2-3 week old pig;
- generous kutya, emphasizing the end of Lent;
- dumplings with surprises;
- pancakes and pies, which were used to thank those who came to carol.
Making dumplings was a tradition for the whole family. As in Romania, various surprises were hidden in them. This symbolized fortune-telling about what awaits in the coming year.
They were a very bright decoration of the holiday. And they went caroling only until midnight, until the evil spirits cleared up. On January 13, young girls and boys hid under masks, and one of the boys was dressed 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 unpleasant omens happened, she had to be thrown into the hole directly with the pot.
An interesting tradition of this night was the burning of “Didukha” (grandfather). To do this:
- a sheaf of straw was prepared in advance;
- on Old New Year, after the end of the carols, they went out to the crossroads;
- they set fire to the 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, and other games.
There is another beautiful tradition associated with the life of peasants. In the morning, with wishes of happiness, health and wealth, we went to the houses of relatives and friends to “sow” grain. It is unknown where the custom came from, but it has its own rules:
- only males sow, because it was believed that girls could not bring happiness;
- the houses of the godparents were visited first;
- the grains were carefully collected and stored until spring to be mixed with spring grains.
A special porridge was also cooked. The oldest woman in the family poured the cereal for her. The oldest man in the house had to fetch water from the well. The grain was taken out of the barn at two o'clock in the morning. It was impossible to touch her, so as not to change your future. Until the oven burned out, the ingredients were ignored. Then, when the porridge was being prepared, all family members sat around. The woman stirred it, saying special words. Then they placed the porridge in the oven and waited for the result:
- if the porridge came out of the pot, it promised trouble for the whole house, so no one ate it;
- when the pot burst, they did the same, because this was a disease;
- a lot of foam on top foreshadowed empty troubles;
- rich delicious porridge meant harvest and happiness to all household members.
The whole family sat down to the table late in the evening, and this dinner was not to be missed.
At this time, Christmastide continued, so and were used. It was customary to tell fortunes about the betrothed, about 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 saints. Some villages had their own saints, who received additional attention during the New Year.
Modern Old New Year
Nowadays it is customary to celebrate in the same way as in New Year's Eve. It is believed that on the Old New Year you need to accomplish what you couldn’t do on January 1st. For example:
- make a wish by first writing it on a napkin, which is burned and thrown into champagne;
- watch concerts and letters that you haven’t had time to watch yet;
- send Old New Year greetings to family and friends with repeated wishes for good and health;
- put gifts that were previously forgotten under the New Year tree, after which it can be removed.
In the southern regions, the custom of cooking pig or pork dishes has been preserved to make the New Year rich in good news. In some villages carols are celebrated, but they true meaning more often lost.
Signs for January 13 and 14
We paid close attention to the following, among which the following stood out:
- The first girl to enter the house on January 14 means trouble;
- Melanka was warm, then 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. They also did not give or borrow;
if there was a blizzard or blizzard at night, it was believed that the year would be restless; - Hearing an unusual ringing in the morning was news of a possible replenishment.
They made sure to appease livestock so that the New Year would be calm and fruitful for them.
If at least some 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.
Holiday January 14 - Old New Year. The story of the Old New Year. Celebrations and traditions for the Old New Year 01/13/2018 14:33
On the night of January 13-14, Russians celebrate the Old New Year - a holiday incomprehensible to many foreigners. No one can really say - how does the Old New Year differ from the traditional, familiar New Year? Of course, from the outside it would seem that the issue is only a discrepancy in dates. However, we all treat the Old New Year as a completely independent holiday that can prolong the charm of the New Year. Or maybe this is the first time to feel it, because the situation can be different, but on this day the holiday is calmer, there is no fuss, so characteristic of the holiday on January 1st.
There are two reasons for the appearance of a unique New Year - a change in the date of the beginning of the New Year in Rus' and the stubbornness of the Russian Orthodox Church, which did not want to switch to New style.
History of the Old New Year
In pagan times, the New Year was celebrated in Rus' on March 22 - the day of the vernal equinox, and this was associated with the agricultural cycle. With the adoption of Christianity in Rus', the Byzantine calendar began to gradually supplant the old one, and now the New Year began on September 1. For a long time, discord persisted, and in some places the New Year continued to be celebrated in the spring. Only at the end of the 15th century in Rus' the beginning of the New Year was officially determined - September 1.
By decree of Peter I in 1699, the New Year was moved to January 1 according to the old style, that is, to January 14 according to the new style. After the revolution in 1918, the Bolsheviks “abolished” another 13 days a year, which made up the difference between our calendar and the European one.
This is how two New Year celebrations were formed - according to the new and old styles.
Church about the Old New Year
The custom of celebrating the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14 in Russia is due to the fact that Russian Orthodox Church continues to celebrate both the New Year and the Nativity of Christ according to the Julian calendar, which still differs from the generally accepted one Gregorian calendar for 13 days. But starting from March 1, 2100, this difference will be 14 days. From 2101, Christmas and Old New Year in Russia will be celebrated a day later.
Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, said that the Russian Orthodox Church does not yet intend to make adjustments to its calendar.
"Indeed, the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases by one day every 100 years, when the number of hundreds in the year from the Nativity of Christ is not a multiple of four. And if the Lord allows this world to exist for another 100 years, then the Orthodox will celebrate Christmas on January 8, and Celebrate the Old New Year on the night of 14 to 15," Chaplin said.
According to him, one should not attach of great importance calendar differences. “The Gregorian calendar is also not entirely accurate, so the Russian Orthodox Church continues to use the Julian calendar,” Chaplin explained.
“If agreement can be found in calendar disputes, then only after the development of a new, absolutely accurate calendar,” concluded the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate.
For many believers, the Old New Year has a special meaning, since they can celebrate it from the heart only after the end of the Nativity Fast, during the Yuletide festivities.
Scientists' opinions about the Old New Year
The Old New Year is an unscientific date, astronomers say. However, the current calendar is not ideal, according to specialists from the Astronomical and Geodetic Society of Russia. According to them, the strict mechanics of planetary movement forces people to make changes to the calendar. The Julian calendar, which was in force in our country until 1918, is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, according to which Europe lives. The fact is that the Earth does not rotate around its axis in exactly 24 hours. Additional seconds to this time, gradually accumulating, add up to days. By the beginning of the twentieth century, they turned into 13 days, which made up the difference between the old Julian and new Gregorian systems. The new style more accurately corresponds to the laws of astronomy.
According to Edward Kononovich, associate professor of the Department of Astrophysics at Moscow State University, the main thing is that the calendar accurately reflects the position of the Earth in relation to the Sun. Today there are many enthusiasts offering their own version of timekeeping. Their proposals are mainly related to changing the traditional week: some propose making a week of five days or doing without weeks at all, and introducing ten days. However, from a scientific point of view, there are probably no ideal proposals - experts have come to this conclusion different countries, studying applications for changes in chronology received even by the UN. Scientists consider it inappropriate to carry out any calendar reforms now.
Celebrating the Old New Year
And yet, despite the fact that this day, unfortunately, is not even a day off, the popularity of the Old New Year is growing. According to the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion, the number of people wishing to celebrate the Old New Year has already exceeded 60%. Among those who are going to celebrate the “old” New Year are the majority of pupils and students, workers, entrepreneurs, housewives and, in general, people under 40 years old, with secondary specialized and secondary education, with relatively high incomes.
Traditions for the Old New Year
In the old days, this day was called Vasilyev's Day, and was of decisive importance for the whole year. On Vasilyev's Day, they celebrated the holiday of agriculture, which was associated with the future harvest, and performed the ritual of sowing - hence the name of the holiday "Osen" or "Avsen". This ritual was different different regions countries: for example, in Tula, children scattered spring wheat around the house, while saying a prayer for a rich harvest, and the housewife then collected it and stored it until sowing time. Ukrainian rituals were distinguished by fun, dancing and songs.
And there was also a peculiar ritual - cooking porridge. On New Year's Eve, at 2 o'clock, the eldest of the women brought cereal from the barn, and the eldest man brought water from a well or river. It was impossible to touch the cereal and water until the stove burned out - they simply stood on the table. Then everyone sat down at the table, and the eldest of the women began to stir the porridge in the pot, while pronouncing certain ritual words - the cereal was usually buckwheat.
Then everyone got up from the table, and the hostess put the porridge in the oven - with a bow. The finished porridge was taken out of the oven and examined carefully. If the pot was simply full, and the porridge was rich and crumbly, then one could expect a happy year and a rich harvest - such porridge was eaten the next morning. If the porridge came out of the pot, or the pot cracked, this did not bode well for the owners of the house, and then trouble was expected, and the porridge was thrown away. This was the program - either for troubles or for prosperity, and it is not surprising that it was often implemented - after all, they believed in it seriously.
An interesting ritual is going from house to house to treat yourself to pork dishes. On the night of Vasily, guests certainly had to be fed pies with pork, boiled or baked pork legs, and in general any dishes that included pork. A pig's head was also required to be placed on the table. The fact is that Vasily was considered a “pig farmer” - the patron saint of pig farmers and pork products, and they believed that if there was a lot of pork on the table that night, then these animals would breed in abundance on the farm and bring good profits to the owners. This sign is much more positive than the ritual with porridge, especially for zealous and hardworking owners. The surprisingly sonorous and coherent saying: “A pig and a boletus for Vasilyev’s evening” also contributed to the mood of the owners for economic prosperity and abundance.
But the tradition of making dumplings with surprises for the Old New Year appeared not so long ago - no one remembers exactly where and when, but it is happily observed in many regions of Russia. In some cities, they are made in almost every home - with family and friends, and then they arrange a cheerful feast and eat these dumplings, eagerly waiting to see who will get what kind of surprise. This comic fortune telling is especially popular with children. They even bring dumplings with them to work to cheer up their friends and colleagues; and on local food enterprises Such dumplings are often released just before the Old New Year.
