New Year's traditions and signs. New Year traditions in Russia

The New Year in Russia is considered one of the most beloved holidays, so the locals celebrate this winter celebration on a grand scale, sparing no effort, no time, no money. Over the centuries, the country has formed its own special traditions, characteristic of the New Year, today modern customs have been added to them, which came to Russia from other peoples.

From the history of the holiday

They began to celebrate the New Year holidays in Russia by order of Tsar Peter I, who ordered to dress up a coniferous tree in every house, have fun, arrange feasts, but “do not do any disgrace at the same time.” In the 19th century, thanks to the future wife of Nicholas I, a German by birth, it became a fashionable tradition to install and decorate a spruce. In Germany, the forest beauty personified a good spirit that brings warmth, comfort and prosperity to the house, besides, the evergreen plant was associated with immortality, therefore it provided mental and physical health to all family members. The Russians learned how to properly decorate a spruce from the French, who hung paper garlands, sweets and apples on the branches. On New Year and Christmas holidays, it was customary to get married - since then, one of the main traditions has been the offering of gifts.

Do you know what product should never be served on the New Year's table?

There should be no crayfish on the festive table on New Year's Eve, otherwise you will constantly “backward” for the next 365 days.

New Year in Russia is an exclusively secular holiday, however, it does not exclude some superstitions, rules of conduct, ritual requirements and customs, the most popular of which are the following.

It is believed that how a person spends the New Year will determine his life over the next 12 months.

A plentiful feast is perhaps the most important New Year's tradition. The hostesses prepare ahead of time for the holiday, cut salads, bake cakes, prepare snacks.

Recently, in Russia, they are increasingly listening to the recommendations of astrologers about gastronomic preferences for each particular year.

New Year celebrations are usually celebrated with family, and only after midnight do they continue to celebrate with friends, relatives or neighbors.

How to make a wish for the New Year

On New Year's Eve, it is customary to make wishes. There are many ways to do this, including the most famous one - write your most cherished dream on a piece of paper to the chiming clock, roll up the paper, burn it, pour the ashes into a glass of champagne, which should be drunk to the bottom.

Leave no debt

It is considered bad luck to leave debts or unresolved problems in the old year, since one must enter the next year without burdensome duties.

Advice

Before the New Year, try to forgive all your enemies and make peace with those whom you yourself offended.

Even our ancestors considered New Year's Eve ideal for all sorts of divination. The girls wanted to conjure a groom for themselves, and the young men tried to find out how this or that female person relates to them. The most famous are such fortune-telling:

• under other people's doors they overhear random conversations - spoken phrases and predict what awaits a person next year;
• melted wax from a candle is poured into water and they look at what kind of figure it turned out - this will be a symbol of your life in the New Year.

Conclusion:

For Russian people, the New Year is one of the most revered holidays, which dates back to the reign of Peter I. On New Year's Eve, it is customary to set tables, give gifts to each other, congratulate your loved ones, make wishes and guess.

Perhaps not a single holiday of the year has received such an expectation as the New Year. In childhood, we expect a tall old man in a red coat with a beard made of cotton wool, who will definitely bring new toys and lots and lots of sweets. With age, desires become less modest, and often cynical. The only thing everyone expects from the New Year, from kids to old people, is a new turn in life, something bright and clean.

Surprisingly, it is the New Year traditions that unite peoples and generations, strengthen families and make large-scale and local conflicts stop at least for a while. The green forest beauty, decorated in abundance with balloons and sweets, the aroma of tangerines and volleys of fireworks - this is how the New Year is remembered from early childhood.

Russian New Year traditions

Despite the fact that the New Year is celebrated all over the world, each nation has its own traditions, special and extremely rich. Special treats at the table, behavior on a festive night, and even "special visitors" such as Santa Claus and Santa Claus are different everywhere. An interesting fact is that, despite the great interest of Russians in the West, they do not abandon their New Year traditions, continuing to confidently expect new, bright events in life from the holiday.

In the Russian Empire, the New Year was celebrated on the first of September and correlated with the new harvest. Everything changed during the reign of Peter the Great, a great connoisseur of Western culture. It was he who declared this holiday secular and ordered all the nobles to decorate Christmas trees and celebrate the New Year with their families. Perhaps it was at this time that most of the customs and signs associated with this bright celebration appeared, from here it begins.

First of all, it should be mentioned that the New Year's feast must be a family one. For trips to visit and invite friends to your place, there is the first of January, on the last night only family members should gather. An obligatory meal of the Russian table on this night is a pig, baked and served on the table as a whole - a symbol that brings prosperity to the family. It is strictly forbidden to serve crayfish on the table - they personify a constant return to the past, a lack of forward movement.

“As you meet, so the next year will pass!”

This belief gave rise to the main New Year traditions in Russia, Belarus and a number of other countries. Before the festive night, it is customary to carry out a general cleaning in the house, throw away old things or give already boring clothes and toys to poor families. All debts, including loans and pawnshops, must be repaid before the New Year. It is considered a good omen to lend someone before the celebration - money, salt, sugar - it doesn't matter. But it is strictly forbidden to get into debt yourself, so as not to pull bondage for the whole coming year.

The brightest tradition is the reconciliation of all warring. If you offended someone or quarreled with a loved one, then you need to resolve the conflict before the New Year in any way. On this holiday in Russia, you are unlikely to see anyone gloomy, because everyone wants the next year to be marked by joyful events.

The clock strikes twelve...

The president's address, perhaps, has also become a tradition, but they listen to it only in anticipation of the chimes on the Kremlin tower. While the clock is ticking, thousands of people all over Russia make a wish, and then drink a glass of champagne to the very bottom. It is believed that the wishes of this night will surely come true.

Family New Year Traditions

But perhaps the most valuable are the celebrations of the New Year. There is practically no such thing in any country in the world, but in Russia every family has its own special customs - after all, this brings all family members closer, blurs the border between children and parents. The most common phenomenon is the decoration of the Christmas tree and the house before the New Year by the whole family, and many families make toys and tinsel with their own hands.

Leo Tolstoy mentioned that such a custom was passed down in his family from generation to generation. Together with their mother, they carved dolls out of wood, and each child decorated and put on the creation in his own way, after which everyone together hung the dolls along with the balls on the Christmas tree.

In many families, it is customary to give gifts in an unusual way, for example, to play them in a lottery, and after a while to change or hide them, and to give children notes with riddles, having found the answer to which, they will easily find the present itself.

No matter how years fly by and no matter what happens in the world, the traditions of celebrating the New Year will not be lost or forgotten, because so much attention is paid to them. Even the most gloomy people smile that night, and those who are at war forgive each other all insults.

Among all official holidays, the New Year occupies, perhaps, a special place. Each of us, for sure, remembers the feeling of a real miracle left from childhood, when, as children, we tried our best not to fall asleep before midnight and see Santa Claus, who would bring long-awaited gifts under the Christmas tree.

The older we get, the more our attitude towards holidays changes. So, many, upon reaching a certain age, stop celebrating their birthdays, because they remind of the transience of life. But the New Year, even for adults, remains an unusually beautiful, fabulous holiday, when miracles are possible and any wish can come true.

New Year Traditions

It is believed that the tradition of celebrating the New Year came to us from Ancient Rome. It was the Romans, during the heyday of the empire, that the custom arose to give each other symbolic gifts and wish happiness and prosperity in the coming year. Each gift symbolized a specific wish. The one who gave candles (in those days it was a rather expensive gift) wished prosperity, gold - wealth, and honey - a happy life. But the Germanic tribes were the first to use Christmas trees as a New Year's symbol. According to their mythology, it was believed that powerful spirits live in spruce paws, on which human happiness and health depend.

Christmas decorations in ancient times also had not so much a decorative as a practical meaning. They were a kind of offering to the spirits. Among the Druids, by the way, the evergreen spruce was considered a symbol of immortality. So do not neglect the customs of your ancestors - be sure to dress up the New Year tree for the holiday.

Do not neglect the customs of the ancestors - be sure to dress up the New Year tree for the holiday

The main Christmas decorations are the star at the top and balls. This star has nothing to do with the Kremlin stars and the symbol of the revolution - it is nothing but the Star of Bethlehem, which flared up in the sky at the time of the birth of the Savior and showed the Magi the way to the Lord.

The balls on the New Year tree symbolize the fruit of the paradise apple, the forbidden fruit that our first parents, Adam and Eve, ate. And in the old days, small gingerbread cookies were hung on the Christmas tree, which were supposed to remind people of the unleavened bread eaten during communion. Associated with the New Year and a lot of signs and rituals. It is impossible to fit them all into one article, and therefore now we will only talk about some of them.

To have a good New Year

If during the year you at least once saw a star falling, and managed to say at the same time a “quick word” (it sounds like this: “I KNOW”), then on New Year's Eve go outside, look at the sky and make a wish - it will surely come true .

If you want to live in abundance and prosperity for the whole coming year, then on December 31, tap the table with a spoon and say: As it is now full on the table, So the whole year would be full. Or tap the butt of an ax on the threshold and say: Life, health, bread.

On New Year's Eve, just before midnight, you can ask the twelve apostles for blessings for the entire coming year. To do this, you will need an icon of the twelve apostles, which is placed on the table, and twelve church candles are lit around it. Then, in a quiet but distinct voice, slowly and without confusing the words, cast the spell.

You can ask the 12 apostles for blessings for the whole coming year

Feel the solemnity of this moment, because you do not just pronounce names and titles, but bless every month of this year. The spell words are:

“Andrew the First-Called - January. Peter Simon - February. James the Elder - March. John the Evangelist - April. Philip - May. Bartholomew - June. Matthew the publican - July. Thomas - August. Jacob Alfeev - September. Thaddeus - October. Simon the Zealot - November. Judas Iscariot – December.”

“Father, Creator, King of Heaven and earth! Have mercy and save my child (name), grace with Your wisdom, grant Your merciful protection, keep Your servant (name) from all temptations and cover Your robe from all troubles. Be the protection of the soul and body, may Your servant (name) not be subjected to sudden death at the hands of the enemy. Grant a guardian angel strong for preservation from any illness, danger and temptation. Lord, enlighten the heart and soul of my child with the light of Your wisdom, let Your name shine in him. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen."

Signs for the New Year

I would also like to tell you a little about the signs associated with the onset of the New Year. Since ancient times, people, preparing to celebrate the New Year, used to say: “As you meet it, so you will spend it.” Is this just another pointless superstition or a necessary rule that we've all been taking a little lightly of late?

Let's figure it out. The night between December 31st and January 1st is the end of the old year and the beginning of a new one, this is the time when you complete another stage of your life and, getting rid of excess, unnecessary baggage, get ready to move on. In general, the time from December 21 (winter solstice) to January 7 (Christmas) is very strong energetically, and it is very important during this period to carefully work on yourself, try to cleanse yourself, get rid of everything bad, old, unnecessary for a long time - as in the material, as well as spiritually.

Old things tucked into the far corners of a closet or pantry tend to accumulate not only dust, but also negative energy, which is why you should always get rid of those items that you have not used for a year. (Of course, I don’t mean some things dear to your heart and souvenirs that lift your spirits just by looking at them, but it’s unlikely that such things include an old rusted pot, cracked skis, or an ancient one that hasn’t been around for a couple of decades. working refrigerator).

In general, the ability to part with old things is a very important skill, because this is how you part with the past, which often burdens people, does not let them go, does not allow them to move on. In Italy, for example, there is a wonderful custom - on New Year's Eve, throwing old furniture out of the house. You may object: we are not as rich as the Italians, and we cannot afford to throw something away. But after all, if we cannot throw something away, this thing can always be washed, cleaned, varnished or dragged. And feel free to carry all unnecessary utensils and clothes in the trash. You yourself will be surprised at how much easier it will become for you to breathe in your own house after such cleaning - of course, because you have cleansed the house of negative energy.

In Italy, there is a wonderful custom - on New Year's Eve, throw old furniture out of the house.

Therefore, be sure to carry out a general cleaning before the New Year, throw away all the junk, and carry out an energetic cleaning of the apartment. By the way, you should throw away not only old and unnecessary things, but also things that bring you sad memories, even if they are new or expensive. Sadness and longing are bad fellow travelers, and in the new year you will definitely do without them.

So, we have already dealt with one sign. Now let's talk about others. Well, who among us has not heard: “Be sure to forgive all offenders”, “Make peace with relatives”, “Repay debts” (only they must be repaid before December 31), etc. It is easy to guess that, following these simple rules, we we are spiritually cleansed, we get rid of internal negativity. It is very important to enter the new year spiritually renewed, cleansed of negativity, free from evil and resentment, open to all that is good.

If we do not do all this, if we do not reconsider in these few days our attitude to life in general and to ourselves in particular, then it will be useless to make wishes for happiness and wealth. Remember one simple rule: like attracts like.

Directly on December 31, before celebrating the New Year, dress in everything new. At this time, you can’t work too hard, especially do dirty and hard work, otherwise you will spend the whole coming year in worries.

It is very good if on December 31 and on the first day of the new year (January 1) you have some amount of money in your house - this way you will attract prosperity and prosperity to the house. If you are engaged in trade and went to work on January 1, then be sure to give the first buyer the goods at a big discount - then throughout the year you will not
know the problems, the goods will leave easily and quickly, and the profit will be high.

Please remember the following rule and always follow it: do not give anything or anyone from home either on December 31 or January 1 (the same applies to days such as January 6 and 7). Otherwise, you will give away your own happiness, luck and prosperity.

Many have heard a sign that the festive table should be plentiful. Therefore, many believers, celebrating the New Year, which always falls on Philip's fast, face difficulties. But, believe me, a tasty and beautiful treat can be prepared from vegetables, and even without oil, it is not at all necessary to serve meat on the table. The main thing is to do everything with a soul and from a pure heart, wanting to please relatives and friends. It is very good to invite guests for the New Year - in this case, you will live the whole coming year surrounded by faithful and cheerful friends who will not forget about you for a day.

It is very good to invite guests for the New Year

Do not forget, before setting the table, sprinkle it with seeds of rye, wheat and oats (they are symbols of fertility, wealth and health) and only then cover it with a new white tablecloth. It’s good if you have bread on your table that day (it’s best to bake it with your own hands) and salt, because bread has been a symbol of prosperity since ancient times, and salt has always been an excellent amulet against evil and evil spirits.

Also on the table you should have poppy seeds, which symbolize longevity, garlic, which protects the house from unclean, hostile spirits, sunflower seeds, which are symbols of a large friendly family and health. It can be advised to serve dishes of peas and beans on the festive table - this is a symbol of strength and health, friendship and good family relations. Pepper protects from quarrels in the family, nuts symbolize health, intelligence and longevity, and pumpkin is a symbol of fertility.

By the way, do not forget to entangle the legs of the festive table with a rope: this is done so that the people who have gathered behind it are together all year long: no one quarreled, did not leave home, did not get seriously ill.

The meeting of the New Year, without any doubt, can be called our most beloved and popular holiday. We love it so much that we celebrate it twice: the first time according to the Gregorian calendar adopted today, and then according to the old Julian calendar, used before 1918. This is the second in time, but not in importance, holiday, we can safely consider only our own, truly Russian New Year, because even the name of this holiday - Old New Year cannot be translated into any foreign language. And is it worth it? Can we afford to have such a special, homely, cozy and at the same time Russian-style cheerful and generous New Year's Eve celebration.

No matter how strange it may seem, the New Year holidays did not take root in Russia at all at once. Even more than that, such a beloved New Year by everyone today constantly met various obstacles on its way to Russia. The sovereign-reformer Peter I brought us this holiday from Europe, but it didn’t work out right away to make it Russian. Everything about this holiday was strange for the people: the new chronology from the Nativity of Christ instead of the usual chronology from the Creation of the world; and the meeting of the new year, transferred from the abundant time of the beginning of autumn to the stingy middle of winter; and even the order of the Sovereign to decorate houses with fir trees, pines, and juniper branches. Indeed, in Rus', joy and prosperity have always been identified with birch and oak, and spruce was a mourning tree. And it was not clear to the peasants and the common people what kind of a holiday it is when you need to decorate your house with funeral spruce branches. And so it turned out that with the death of Peter Alekseevich, the celebration of the New Year established by him immediately ceased.

New Year's celebrations returned in the reign of Catherine the Great. Surely someone, but the Empress knew a lot about holidays, and she felt and loved the Russian soul. It was She who first set up a Christmas tree in the Winter Palace, and not just a Christmas tree, like Peter I, but a festive, elegant Christmas tree, decorated with sweets, fruits and garlands. Such beauty, of course, pleased the Russian people, and it is from the reign of Catherine the Great that one can begin the countdown to the celebration of the real Russian New Year. In those days, the secular New Year was celebrated more with balls and festivities than with plentiful feasts, but the beginning of traditions was laid. It may sound somewhat unexpected, but the New Year's treats of those times were almost the same both in palaces and in peasant huts. Catherine the Great had great respect for sour cabbage soup - a fizzy kvass drink, which she called nothing more than Russian champagne, and the tables were lined with the simplest, typically Russian treats: pickles and pickles, baked pigs, fish dishes, pies - everything that they were treated to on New Year's Eve and in the simplest homes. Except that greenhouse exotic fruits and outlandish sweets distinguished rich New Year's balls from simple, but no less cheerful New Year's festivities of the townspeople and peasants. It is interesting that poultry dishes, so popular today, were not served at Russian New Year's tables in those days - it was believed that luck could fly away in the coming year. This is how the first New Year traditions were established.

The real popularity of the Russian New Year holidays was brought by the 19th century. Today, for some reason, it is believed that pre-revolutionary Russia widely celebrated only church holidays, for example, Christmas, and secular holidays, like New Year, were not widespread at that time. Sometimes calls are even heard to completely abandon the celebration of the “pagan and alien” New Year. Perhaps this confusion comes from the fact that, according to the modern calendar, the New Year holidays fall on the time of Philip's fast. But really, that is precisely why the Old New Year is of such importance for a Russian person, which embraces with its joy and binds together all layers of our society, allowing deeply religious people to boldly celebrate the New Year together with secular friends, combining ancient and modern New Year traditions.

Already from the beginning of the 19th century, winter holidays in Russia began with the Nativity of Christ and continued until Epiphany. And in a series of cheerful balls and masquerades, plentiful feasts and festivities, there was certainly a place for New Year's Eve. In restaurants and general meetings, public Christmas trees were arranged, theaters gave New Year's performances, and after the performances they arranged New Year's masquerades and dances. At the same time, there was also a tradition of New Year's gifts, albeit a little more modest than Christmas ones.

And of course, by this time the tradition of New Year's feasts had already developed. And in big cities, and in provincial towns, and even in the most remote villages, a plentiful feast has become one of the most important attributes of the New Year. And it doesn’t matter how important it was already to what strata of society the celebrants belong. Whether it was palace balls of aristocrats, chic festivities of rich residents of both capitals, or home feasts of poor bourgeois and peasants - everyone tried to celebrate the New Year as magnificently and cheerfully as possible, treating themselves and treating friends to the most delicious dishes and wishing themselves and everyone around prosperity in the coming year . Regardless of wealth, each family tried to set the table with as many different dishes as possible, and it should be noted that the New Year's treat was much more varied and plentiful than even the Christmas treat. It is not in vain that the evening of December 31 was called generous! Even in the simplest families, they tried to serve as many meat dishes as possible to the table. There were also baked piglets, and jelly, and jellies, and boiled pig heads, and stuffed lamb sides and stomachs. In peasant families, rich kutya was certainly prepared, which was seasoned with pork fat and crushed poppy seeds. From the bins and cellars, the most delicious delicacies were obtained, specially prepared for the New Year's Eve: pickles and sauerkraut, salted and dried mushrooms, pickled apples and berries, berry marshmallow and jam - all the most delicious went to the preparation of New Year's dishes, all the most delicious were set New Year's table. Russian rich cabbage soup and the most generous porridges with meat did not remain forgotten either. As today, in those days it was believed that the more plentiful the New Year's meal, the more various dishes will be put on the table, the more full and plentiful the coming year will be.

New Year in Russian certainly included special New Year's pastries. Most often these were various figurines of animals, elegant gingerbread ones - in wealthy houses, or simple ones, baked from rich or the simplest unleavened dough - in poorer houses. Such figurines were baked so that cattle would multiply well in the new year. The peasants baked pancakes for the New Year's table, so that the cattle were smooth and well-fed, and various buns and rolls for a good harvest, and elegant loaves decorated with dough spikelets and flowers, so that wheat and rye were born to glory. And besides ritual baking, they did not forget about delicious pies with a wide variety of fillings, and about pies, cheesecakes, fried and yarn pies, levashniks (sweet pies with levash - dried apple or berry mass) and gingerbread. Pies and pies were prepared for the New Year a lot, a lot. So much to turn a simple meal into a whole New Year's ritual. The hostess folded them in a slide on the table, the owner of the house hid behind this slide, and only then the children were called. The children, entering the room, shouted: - And where did our father go? - Don't you see me? - cheerfully answered the owner of the house from behind a mountain of pastries, - We do not see! - the children rejoiced, - And God forbid that we don’t see you all year either. They said this with a view to the hope that the whole next year the table would also burst with dishes, as on New Year's Eve. And during the New Year's festivities, all these pies were presented to neighbors, friends and, of course, all the surrounding children.

Of course, we didn't forget about drinks on New Year's Eve. In peasant houses and families of poor townspeople, sbitni were certainly prepared, warming on a cold winter night, and non-alcoholic sbitni were prepared for children from water, honey, dried berries and spices, but adults got strong sbitni - with mead, wine, vodka. By the New Year holidays, both liqueurs and tinctures were ripe. In the richer houses, champagne was already flowing, a wide variety of wines, madeiras, ports and vodkas were served at the New Year's table.

In addition to delicious dishes and drinks, the newest desserts and sweets appeared. At the same time, the Napoleon cake, beloved by many today, appeared, decorating the tables of wealthy citizens. A newfangled dessert, ice cream, has become an indispensable attribute of the New Year's table of aristocrats.

In general, the New Year's tables of wealthy citizens and the aristocracy differed from our modern New Year's menus, except perhaps in an excessive abundance and an impressive assortment of dishes. But most of the rich New Year's dishes of that time are available to us today. Ducks and geese baked with apples, caviar, noble fish, a variety of delicious salads and snacks of that time, which came to us from European cuisine, have taken root well in Russian cuisine, over time, having migrated from the tables of the old aristocracy to our festive New Year's menus. , often with only minor changes associated with products that have become too difficult or costly to obtain. And even simple, but such tasty and satisfying dishes of the New Year's table are available today to absolutely everyone. This means that, like centuries ago, today every family can not only celebrate the Old New Year, but also celebrate it, respecting many old New Year traditions, celebrate the real New Year in Russian on the night of January 13-14.

First, Peter issued a corresponding decree, then by his own example he consolidated it, showing the population how to celebrate the New Year. Since that moment, the chronology has also changed, and for the first time Russia began to keep pace with other countries. This is how the first traditions for the new holiday appeared, which quickly became one of the favorite events of the population.

Russians are used to seeing a couple - Santa Claus and granddaughter Snegurochka at all gatherings dedicated to the New Year. All matinees in schools, holidays in concert halls are held only with their participation. The third silent symbol of the holiday is a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. The custom of decorating a fir tree appeared with the advent of the winter New Year, in 1700.

No wonder Peter insisted that houses be decorated with spruce or juniper branches. Perhaps he saw New Year's wreaths with toys and sweets inside. Also, the inhabitants of Rus' decorated Christmas trees growing near their houses or squares. Now huge Christmas trees are being erected in city squares, there are Christmas trees in people's homes, dozens of living trees are brought to markets every year.

Perfect New Year

This is a family, warm holiday, in which it is customary to pay attention to loved ones. After all, gifts are not just a duty, but an opportunity to show attention. However, for the first time, the Romans began to give gifts. Clients of wealthy patricians had such obligations, who wanted to somehow “cajole” the boss and please him. Gradually, the custom expanded to cover all the Romans.

Now every child is waiting for gifts, because he is not in vain trying all year! He studies well, obeys his parents, and most importantly, writes a heartfelt letter to Santa Claus, in which he expresses his most secret desires. Sometimes children really trust a fairy-tale character with all the secrets that they cannot or do not want to tell their parents.

Adults, on the other hand, are haunted by some kind of magical expectation all the pre-holiday days. There is more than enough strength and enthusiasm, even though December is rich in various events. After all, I want to solve all the pressing matters, deal with problems, and the annual report is still approaching at work! It would seem, what kind of holiday? But even buried in papers, running away in the morning, people no, no, yes, smile. They know that all the fuss is just the last jerks before the desired rest.

Meanwhile, cities are magically transformed. Install