Peasants' New Year. The history of the celebration of the new year in Rus'. old New Year

The history of the New Year holiday comes from ancient times - from the times of pagan Rus' of the 9th century. Among the ancient Russian peoples, the new year came with the beginning of the awakening of nature, and it was supposedly celebrated on the day of the spring equinox on March 22.

Together with the adoption of Christianity in Rus' in 988, a new chronology appeared, and March 1 was adopted as the beginning of the year. But later, in the 14th century, the Orthodox Church moved the beginning of the year to September 1, in commemoration of peace from all worldly worries associated with agricultural work. This custom was adopted from Byzantium. From September 1, they began to count not only the church, but also the civil year.

New Year's customs among the Slavs took root quite quickly. Many old rituals, tricks of mummers, sleigh rides, round dances and fortune-telling that used to accompany Christmas time (the period after Christmas to Epiphany, from January 7 to January 19), fit well into the fun of the New Year!

In the Moscow Kremlin on the day of the New Year holiday, the ceremony "On the Beginning of a New Summer" was held. On the cathedral square of the Kremlin, a platform was arranged, which was covered with Persian carpets. Analogues for icons were installed on the platform. Opposite the lectern, two places were placed for the patriarch and the king. The king went out in festive clothes. The patriarch asked about the health of the king and blessed him. The clergy and boyars took their places according to their rank. After the service, all those present congratulated each other, and after the king, the whole square congratulated.

In 1699, Peter I issued a decree according to which January 1 was considered the beginning of the year. The tsar made sure that the New Year's holiday in tsarist Russia was no worse and no poorer than in other countries. Christmas trees were decorated with fruits, vegetables, sweets and nuts, and they began to dress up much later.

The first New Year with a changed date began with a parade on Red Square in Moscow. And in the evening the sky was decorated with colorful fireworks, people danced, sang, had fun and gave each other New Year's gifts. . It was from January 1, 1700 that New Year's festivities received their popular recognition. The celebration of the New Year has become secular.

The main element of the celebration was. A pig acted as a sacrificial animal, which symbolically meant wealth, fertility and prosperity in human life. The New Year's pig was considered the property of the peasant world and a separate family. Everyone in the peasant community could come and eat his tender meat, but each of those who came had to bring some money for the owner. The next day, the collected funds were transferred to the parish church.

There was also a family ritual of eating a pig. On the evening of January 1, all households gathered at one table, put a candle in front of the icon and prayed to the church writer and theologian Basil the Great. After the prayer, the owner would cut off the head of the pig, break the roast and give it to the family members in parts. After eating the meat, the hostess took the bones to the pigs. Such a rite had a magical meaning: it was supposed to cause a good harvest and well-being in the family.

Not a single New Year in Rus' was complete without the rite of caroling. Crowds of boys, having gathered on January 1 before mass, went from house to house and congratulated the owners on the holiday. Entering the hut, the boy bowed to the owner and sprinkled the room with millet or oats, saying "for happiness, for health, for the new summer." Then the sprinkled grain was collected with special love and stored until the spring sowing. Guests, especially children, were treated with special cordiality, because it was believed that they bring wealth to the house and happiness to the family. As a token of gratitude, they were presented with money or pies.

The tradition of celebrating the New Year in Rus' originated in the 9th century and still has not lost its relevance. New Year's customs have changed over time, but we can observe most of them in our time. People still have fun on New Year's Day, congratulate each other and give gifts!

A small historical overview of the celebration of the New Year in Russia - the Soviet Union in different years and under different regimes. And the inevitable conclusion: this holiday was, is and will be one of the most beloved among Russians!

Before the Baptism of Rus', the new year was celebrated on March 1 according to pagan traditions. The beginning of spring symbolized the beginning of a new life cycle and this, to be honest, is more logical for the beginning of a new year than autumn or the middle of winter. But the Byzantine calendar, invented in 988 and adopted in Russia in 1492 as the official one, said that the new year began on September 1st. They accepted, reconciled themselves and began to celebrate the New Year according to this conventional chronology, which is not connected with the deep beliefs and traditions of the peoples, including the peoples of Russia.

However, for many years the peasants continued to focus on the day of the vernal equinox and celebrate the beginning of the new year in the spring. The official New Year was celebrated mainly in the Kremlin, where the tsar, nobles and representatives of the higher clergy gathered. They all dressed in gilded clothes, kissed the icons and the Gospel, then the patriarch asked about the health of the king - the anointed of God. He, according to tradition, answered him with a lengthy speech, which he certainly ended with the words "... God gave, he lives." Then all those present bowed to each other and ended the celebration of masses. In fact, it was a religious holiday, important for maintaining the prestige of the power of the Tsar and the Church, and of little interest to ordinary people.

Peter I carried out extensive reforms in Russia according to the European model, including the reform of the calendar and holidays. By his will, since 1700, the chronology in Russia began to be conducted from the Nativity of Christ, and the new year began to be celebrated on January 1.

But the gap between the nobility and ordinary people was too great and new traditions, as before, took root only among the upper classes, while the lower ones continued to celebrate the new year in the old way - in September.

With the growth of the wealth of the Russian nobility, the celebration of the New Year became richer. Under Catherine II, large-scale and extremely pretentious New Year's balls came into fashion, and in the 18th century, the first Christmas trees appeared in the homes of the nobility.

Actually, even Peter I ordered “to make some decorations from trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper”, but they decorated mainly squares and street buildings, the Christmas tree came to the houses of nobles thanks to the wife of Nicholas I, the Prussian princess, who converted to Orthodoxy under the name Alexandra Fedorovna. It was she who introduced the fashion for New Year trees in Russia, which have long settled down for a holiday with the Germans. They were decorated according to the German model: the star of Bethlehem crowned the tree, and they also hung apples on it, symbolizing the forbidden fruit, as well as Christmas-themed toys.

But during the First World War, this German tradition was persecuted. In the wake of anti-German sentiment, the Synod called the Christmas tree "an enemy, German idea, alien to the Orthodox Russian people."

And after the revolution of 1917, the Synod itself, along with Orthodoxy, were outlawed, which, oddly enough, served as a revival of the New Year traditions that had begun to be forgotten - in the first years of Soviet power, despite the devastation, the New Year was celebrated widely and cheerfully - there are no new holidays yet came up with, and the need for holidays among the people was very high. New Year's Eve turned out to be just right every time. For now... Stalin did not decide to tighten the screws, because the holidays discouraged, and the country was in desperate need of restoration and development.

After Lenin's death, the New Year was banned as an anti-Soviet phenomenon, even special groups of "comrades" went from house to house, checking the presence of fir trees and all kinds of decorations in the houses for the new year. During these years, it was allowed to celebrate only on May 1 and November 7, and even then, with demonstrations, the glorification of the great Stalin and, mainly, communist labor.

In 1935, New Year trees and the celebration of the New Year with the family were allowed, but the New Year became truly festive, that is, a day off, only in 1947. And in 1954, after the death of Stalin, the tree appeared in the Kremlin, becoming the main tree of the country.

In the 60s, “Soviet champagne” appeared on the tables of the Soviet people,

existed before, but it was during these years that it became a traditional New Year's drink, and thanks to the fraternal southern peoples, who built socialism together with us, we had tangerines for the New Year. In 1962, the Central Television of the USSR aired the New Year's "Blue Light" - the traditional features of the modern New Year were finally formed.

In the Soviet years, there was also a tradition of celebrating a truly unique holiday that does not exist anywhere else in the world - the Old New Year. Together with Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated in Russia today even by atheists, New Year - Christmas - Old New Year make up the main festive triad of modern Russia - tiring in terms of the number of days off during the darkest time of the year, the amount of alcohol drunk and calories eaten, but distinguishing us from all other peoples.

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The celebration of the New Year in Rus' has the same difficult fate as its history itself. First of all, all the changes in the celebration of the new year were associated with the most important historical events that affected the entire state and each person individually. There is no doubt that the folk tradition, even after the officially introduced changes in the calendar, preserved ancient customs for a long time.

Pre-Christian New Year

How the New Year was celebrated in pagan ancient Rus' is one of the unresolved and controversial issues in historical science. No affirmative answer was found from what time the countdown of the year began.

The very meaning of the year is not defined in Slavonic. Among Russian, Bulgarian and Vendian Slavs, it is called the same year. For the Wends, the year means the actual holiday, for the Poles, fate means the year and the inevitable time, fate or fate. For them, the verb rokowac still means to guess, to guess from conclusions or conclusions, because fortune-telling was made for the new year. There is also the Polish word gody and it means a feast. Some researchers believe that qody was a popular holiday, like Christmas time. But it is not clear from any popular events that qody was ever celebrated or some kind of holiday was formed, and even a fixed fun, like Christmas time, which is still a festival for all Slavs. Others began to produce a year from qodzic - to reconcile, to negotiate a price. But this has not been reliably established. Subsequently, the word year was adopted by the Russians, but not in the sense of a holiday, but in the sense of the entire year, summer as part of it.

The year is now divided into 4 parts of time: winter, spring, summer and autumn, but before our ancestors divided it into winter and summer, or winter and summer time. Among the ancient Germans, the year was divided into winter, spring and summer; the first part of the time they considered sacred, because then the most important holidays were celebrated in honor of idols. Over time, this division has changed.

Let us turn to the holiday of Christmas time, trying to discern their original pre-Christian origin. Christmas time, or Holy Evenings, constitute a national winter holiday, with which one year ends and another begins. It lasts 12 days, begins on the day of the winter solstice, when the old one dies and the new sun is born (the shortest day of the year gradually begins to increase). This winter holiday cycle is brightly and widely illuminated by a large amount of ethnographic evidence.

The holiday is divided into two periods 24-25 / XII - 1 / I - holy evenings and 1 / I - 6 / I - terrible evenings. Holy evenings precede the celebration of the New Year, covering the days from Christmas to January 1. Terrible evenings precede the Christian feast of the baptism of the Lord. The interpretation of these names could be made on the basis of the legends about the birth of Christ and about the temptation of him by the devil before baptism. However, a similar periodization of the New Year period is also known among non-Christian peoples. It can be assumed that the division of New Year's days into two periods is an ancient feature, only Christianized and associated with church legends and superstitions. After the first of January, the date that opens the new solar year (in the first days, the beginning of the sun's flare, which has become tangible), the "evil spirits" acquire special power, can create excesses, cause harm. The superstitious view of the nature of the holy evenings (when the peasants gathered together for games) in the legends received a Christian justification. The legend says that from the night before the new year until the baptism, devils and evil spirits walk around the world, as God, celebrating the birth of his son, unlocks the gates of hell and allows the demons to “celebrate” the birth of Christ on earth. Protecting houses and yards from visiting evil spirits, they put a sign of the cross with coal or chalk over doors and windows.

Without going through ritual cleansing, fasting, not preparing himself for the holiday, not quitting work, a person could bring on the community and himself the great wrath of the deity.

Therefore, the holiday for the peasant and now is not so much joy as sacred awe. “The holidays are terrible with a mustache,” say the peasants. On some holidays, as in “terrible evenings” at Christmas time, it was forbidden to visit and even leave the house in the evenings.

A holiday is always a cataclysm, a moment of temporary death and at the same time a new birth of the world. It is no coincidence that the idea of ​​a light show, the Christian Armageddon, was associated with the onset of the most important holidays.
Witches, in agreement with the devils, stole the moon and stars from the sky, as in Gogol’s “The Night Before Christmas”, they could also squeeze milk from cows, fly through the chimney into the hut and “marry” the child, spoil the girl; a fiery serpent under the guise of a red fellow could become the father of a kikimora cursed in the womb, a domestic malevolent spirit. The dead came to their house for dinner, and if they were not left with the food they were supposed to, they could also bring illness and grief to their “relatives”.

Trees could stop giving birth, and therefore they were specially shaken out into the garden (often exactly at midnight, when the apogee of the holiday came, he always “set” in the evening, after sunset), awakening from death sleep. All sorts of amulets were undertaken from “evil spirits” - they smeared with resin “crosses on doors, lintels, windows and other “border” places of the home and courtyard world; they smeared the foreheads of cattle, burned crosses with fire in the hut, sprinkled them with holy water. All major holidays are accompanied by a detour of the houses of the village or village by a certain group of people. At Christmas time, these are carols. Why was it necessary to bypass all the yards? And at Christmas time it was always done by mummers. In order to surround the entire population of a given community with a “magic circle”, protect it from the action of evil forces and contribute to its prosperity. Agricultural magic is also here - a promise of a good harvest, although they go in winter. The fact that “carolers” demand a bribe for going around — “damn it and a cake in the back window” — and threaten with all sorts of punishments if the gift is not given out, they say that they were, in the minds of people, people from a “parallel world” that could have an impact on life of the living.

The attitude to the initial days of the agrarian-solar year as days that carry the danger of harm from any "evil spirits" was reflected in the rites of propitiation or opposition to hostile forces. Since field agricultural work was not carried out in the December-January days, the farmers limited themselves to signs of amulets on the storehouses of bread and the bread itself; ritual actions were carried out mainly with the aim of protecting the available livestock and poultry from misfortune, which played a large role in the economy of the peasant agricultural economy. The whole family, usually headed by its eldest member, took part in the conduct of such rites. These include, bypassing the “magic circle”, sometimes bypassing on “magic” things - a stick, a broom or a broomstick, your livestock and chickens, with special conspiracies and spells; horned animals were driven through the ordinary novelty - a canvas woven by unmarried girls in one night. In the Oryol province, this rite looked like this: after mass, they took an icon with a lit candle, an ax, a bowl of consecrated water and a straw sprinkler. The owner at the same time, put on a fur coat, wool outside. The whole family went to the barnyard (in front, the son or brother of the owner, bent over, carries an ax with the tip down, behind him - one of the women with an icon, then they carry a censer and behind all the owner with Epiphany water). They walk in silence and stop in the middle of the yard, where they have prepared food for the cattle: bread broken into pieces, rye cakes baked for Christmas and New Year, grain bread and six unmilled sheaves of various cereals. The hostess unlocks the barn and releases the cattle, which, seeing the food, begins to eat it. The owners walk around the cattle three times, and the owner sprinkles water on each head; the ax is thrown crosswise over the cattle.

“Crossing” cattle with an ax is a relic of ancient rites, similar to the above rites of exorcism and propitiation of the brownie with the simultaneous frightening of the dashing.

About cattle - one of the foundations of peasant welfare - they said in the South Russian vesnyanka: “Oh, you are larks, larks, bring health, the first is cow, the second is sheep, the third is human!” During the winter rebirth of the sun, they sought to ensure the well-being of the house, in whose life the fate of livestock plays a significant role. Health "cow, sheep, human" caused the same concern during the New Year period, when the future seemed especially dark, especially unclear.

New Year's ceremonial cookies, bearing the characteristic name: “cows”, “kozulki” (modified “karakulki”, “pretzels”) were prepared for the main dates of the Christmas period or two days before them.

In Russian ritualism, the pig, as a ritual animal of the main Christmas and Epiphany festival of Christians, was nicknamed St. Basil of Caesarea, celebrated on January 1. The Caesarean pig is included in the circle of sacrificial animals, and symbolically it meant fertility, wealth, well-being in human life. The cult pre-Christian meaning of the pig is evidenced by the interpretation by the Christian church of the pig as the embodiment of demonic power, as a horse for "evil spirits", sorcerers, witches, an indispensable participant in all devilish gatherings and games. So this example clearly shows that with the establishment of a new form of religion, the old pagan deities were designated as hostile.

Sacrificial New Year's pig - or Caesarean pig was both the property of the peasant world and a separate family. “The roasted Caesarean pig is considered as if it were common property; all wishing fellow villagers can come and eat it, and each of those who come must bring at least a little money, which is handed over to the owner, and the next day they are transferred to the parish church and benefit the parable ”(S.V. Maksimov). The attitude to New Year's pork as a ritual food eaten by all members of the peasant community is evidenced by the custom in Solvychegodsk. The peasants had to come to the churchyard on the morning of January 1, bringing with them a whole pig carcass or part of it. The carcasses went to the benefit of the parable, and the heads were thrown into a common cauldron, boiled and eaten by "the whole world."

Even more vividly about the incantatory nature of the family rite of the ritual New Year's dinner, the following message tells: “Before dinner, seeds of rye, buckwheat, oats and other things are poured on the table - in the form of a cross, around which seeds are poured in the form of a circle; thus it turns out "a cross at the circle." Then the table is covered with a tablecloth and the family sits down for dinner. After eating something hot, mostly borscht, everyone gets up; the eldest in the family - it doesn't matter a man or a woman - takes a dish with a boiled pig or pork, raises it three times up to the icon, then puts it on the table, on the very place where the seeds are poured under the tablecloth, and everyone begins to pray to Basil the Great that so that "pigs were found and every kind of cattle." Then the old man or woman again takes the dish, again raises it to the icon three times, puts it again and everyone again prays for the same. This continues for the third time, after which the family sits down to continue their interrupted dinner. While they are eating “Caesarean”, one of the small children sits under the table and grunts, and then they feed him alone” (Salamykov village, Oboyan district).

In New Year's rites, poor and rich kutya are distinguished. A poor (or Lenten) kutia is held on Christmas Eve, a rich one on New Year's Eve (and sometimes on baptism). Kutia on Christmas Eve among Russians is much simpler and poorer in rituals that accompany food than among the ancient Slavs. Russians, in fact, did not celebrate Christmas Eve, marking it with one post before the first evening star. “Lenten kutia” was not complicated by the additions from the Christian legend. Among a number of ancient Slavic peoples, the Christmas Eve meal grew into a whole network of rituals merging with the ritual table, complicated by associations with the religious legend of the Christian holiday of Christmas. The simplicity of the Russian kutia is due to the absence of echoes of the cult of Christ and the pictorial moments of the legends about the Magi in it. Simplicity and lack of development can also be seen in the description made in the first half of the last century by I Sakharov: “For the evening meal, porridge is still prepared from cereals, and Christmas Eve kutya from millet and barley. Little Russians also cook their own special kutya. Wheat is made in one pot, and apples, pears and plums boiled in honey in another; both pots are placed on the shelf in the front corner.”

All Slavic tribes have been celebrating the New Year since time immemorial. Among the Czechs, Serbs and Bulgarians: walking on the kolde meant congratulating on the new year, for which they received gifts; among Bosnians and other Transdanubian Slavs, a gift for the new year is called a koleda. Among the Poles, all estates take part in mutual congratulations and gifts, and this is called kneeda.

The names of Russian New Year's songs used on the eve of the main winter holidays - Christmas, New Year, baptism - are different. As a rule, they are given according to the refrain, which has the form of an exclamation (hence - click carols, click oatmeal). Songs with the chorus “carol, oh carol” are widespread throughout Russia, but in a number of regions they give way to peculiar Russian forms. Such a form in the northern regions on the territory of Novgorod was “grapes”. The central strip of Russia and the Volga region have “autumn”.

The rite of caroling, in spite of any persecution, letters directed against it, survived and in a number of places even preserved the names of songs mentioned in the 16th-17th centuries. In Murom, Vladimir province and its environs, crowds of carolers stand in front of the house and ask permission to sing tusen. Are the owners at home? the carolers ask. “Not at home,” they answer. “Where is the owner? He went to the market to buy salt. What is salt for? Salt the meat. What's the meat for? Marry son. What to marry your son? To plow the pasha, to earn bread.

In Russia and Little Russia, boys go from house to house, even before mass, to congratulate the owners on the new year. At this time, they are sown with barley, wheat, oats. Little Russian boys, with the dawn of the day, go to sprinkle. To do this, they fill a sack (a small bag) with grain bread, and hanging it on their shoulders, they go from hut to hut. Entering the hut, the boy bows to the owner, and then sprinkles, saying: for happiness, for health, for the new summer; glad God lives wheat and all kinds of arable land. They are given with money or pies. Powdered grain is harvested with special considerations and stored until spring sowing. Some seize thrown grains, and whoever picks up how much of which grain in his hand, then draws a conclusion about the harvest in his field from them. Young guys also go to sprinkle, only in such houses where the brides are. These sprinklers are treated with special cordiality, because, according to the remarks of the old people, they bring wealth to the house and happiness to the family.

In other places, birds are fed with loose grain, and by their pecking they notice about the future harvest.

When sprinkling, they also utter a lament:

“Ilya walks on Vasily, wears a puga, Dart; And another tin.

Move here, Zhito growth. God's mats, Zhito sting: Childbirth God Zhito wheat, And all arable land We congratulate you on the holiday of the New Year,

And with Vasily. Gilya, gilya, - on Vasil; And Vasily has a life of fright. Wherever I go, I smell there.

In Chervonaya Russia, boys also go, from the very morning, with various grains in sacks. Sowing a hut or master's rooms, they say: for happiness, for health, for a new rock! Childbirth God! Zhito, wheat, all kinds of arable land, in a sack, a child of capitsa. Others throw rye at the feet of passers-by, who give them some money for that, for meeting with a sprinkler at that time, especially with one throwing rye at their feet, portends a good sign.

Ovsen in the same provinces is often used instead of carols. In these places, in the villages, guts and stomachs are stuffed and pork legs are boiled, which are distributed to the sprinklers instead of gifts. Young women and girls go under the windows to sing autumn in the evening of the new year. One of them carries behind her a purse, called a machonka, for carrying gifts. Under the window or at the door of the hut they ask: should I call the oatmeal?

It was during the holidays that one could see the devil, and the witch, and the “dashing man”. To do this, it was necessary to fulfill some special instructions, for example, to collect the “sacred number” (7,9,12) of logs by the cherished day and burn them on a holiday. The witch will come to ask for fire. But why was it necessary to see the witch? Then, that she was among ordinary people, and she herself seemed to be a completely ordinary person, and this “internal”, unknown enemy could immediately become led and open.

In the Russian peasant life of the 19th century, when most divination was recorded, only young girls in the villages and partly in the cities believed in them. Fortune-telling with singing, the so-called spy songs, can be considered as a game, consisting in the fact that a dish of water was placed on the table. Then, each of those present gave away something that belonged to her, often an ordinary ring. This thing was dipped into a dish of water, and covered with a towel on top, then short songs were sung promising this or that fate, a ring was taken out to the song. With the girl who owned the ring, what was sung in the song was supposed to come true. More than ten people did not sit at one table. The lot was drawn by someone not participating in the game. And a ring came out to her Under the song of ancient days. There the men are all rich, They row silver with a shovel; To whom we sing, goodness and glory ”(Pushkin A.S. “Eugene Onegin”, Chapter V, Art. VIII)

Another usual final stanza for spy songs is: To whom it will come out, To that it will come true, To that it will come true, It will not pass.

Happy New Year to you!!! May all your wishes come true.

The onset of the New Year on the night of December 31 to January 1 was introduced by the Russian Emperor Peter I in 1699. Before that, according to historical chronicles, there was complete discord with the date of the celebration of the main winter holiday. The ancient Slavic farmers began work in the fields after the winter on March 1. And this day was considered the beginning of the new year. According to other sources, it was celebrated on March 22 - the day of the spring equinox. For many pagan ancestors who considered the evil frosty grandfather Treskun (Karachun) as their deity, the New Year began in December at the “winter solstice” - the shortest day of the year and one of the coldest days of winter.

By the way, on New Year's Eve, Rus' celebrated Vasily's Day. In the 4th century, Archbishop Basil of Caesarea was revered as a great theologian. And in Rus' they began to call him Vasily the pigsty, without having anything bad under it. On New Year's Eve, it was customary to cook many dishes from pork. It was believed that thanks to this, Vasily, the patron saint of pigs, would certainly improve the number of these important animals in the economy. So they regaled the guests who went from house to house with pork pies, boiled pork legs ... And in order to get a good harvest, they performed the rite of "sowing" - they scattered spring wheat around the house, read a special prayer, and then the hostess collected the grains and stored them until spring - time sowing.

In 988, after the introduction of Christianity by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, the Byzantine calendar came to Rus', the celebration of the New Year was postponed to September 1. The time when the crop is harvested, the work is completed, you can start a new life cycle. And for quite a long time there were two holidays in parallel: in the old way - in the spring and in the new way - in the fall. Disagreements continued until the 15th century, when by decree of Tsar Ivan III, the official date for celebrating the New Year in Rus' became September 1 for both the church and worldly people.

And so it was until December 20, 1700, when Peter I signed his decree, according to which the celebration of the New Year was postponed to January 1. The young tsar introduced European customs, so that on January 1, 1700, at his behest, the houses were decorated with pine, spruce and juniper branches according to the samples exhibited in the Gostiny Dvor - just as they had done in Holland since ancient times. The tsar considered 1700 the beginning of a new century.

Historical documents record that on the night of December 31, 1699 to January 1, 1700, a grandiose fireworks display, cannon and rifle salutes were arranged on Red Square, Muscovites were ordered to fire muskets and launch rockets near their homes. The boyars and servicemen were dressed in Hungarian caftans, and the women in elegant foreign dresses.

We celebrated a new holiday, as they say, to the fullest. The celebrations continued until January 6 and ended with a procession to the Jordan. Contrary to the old custom, Peter I did not follow the clergy in rich attire, but stood on the banks of the Moscow River in uniform, surrounded by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, dressed in green caftans and camisoles with gold buttons and braid.

Since then, the celebration of the New Year has been held constantly, from Germany the custom came to decorate the Christmas trees with toys in the houses. And by the 20th century, the New Year's wizard Santa Claus appeared in Russia, the prototype of which is considered to be several characters at once: the pagan sorcerer Karachun (Treskun), St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the German wizard "old Ruprecht" and the fabulous Russian character Morozko.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was going through very difficult times. In 1914, during the First World War, the authorities banned New Year's celebrations so as not to repeat the holiday traditions adopted from the Germans fighting on the other side. After 1917, the New Year was either returned or banned, in 1929 January 1 was made a working day. However, in the 1930s, the main winter holiday was nevertheless rehabilitated in the USSR.

But the Old New Year in Russia was first celebrated on January 14, 1919. In 1918, by decision of the Council of People's Commissars, the "Decree on the introduction of the Western European calendar in the Russian Republic" was approved. This was due to the fact that European countries have long lived according to the Gregorian calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII, and Russia - according to the Julian (on behalf of Julius Caesar). Since then, the Russian people have established a custom to celebrate the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14, and thus celebrate their favorite winter holiday again.

The Nativity of Christ originates from the very Baptism of Rus' by Prince Vladimir in 988. From time immemorial, Christmas has been considered a holiday of mercy and kindness, calling for taking care of the weak and needy. On holidays that began on January 7 according to the Gregorian calendar, charity auctions and balls were organized in Russian cities, festive tables were organized with “sovereign” pies, pretzels and decanters with “bitter” for the poor, gifts were given to the sick and orphans. And on frosty winter days from Christmas to Epiphany (January 19), called Christmas time, a festive meal alternated with wild fun. They arranged sleigh and ice-boat rides from the mountains, snowball fights, fistfights, carols. The name of this ancient Russian fun comes from the name of the pagan god of feasts and the world of Kolyada.

In ancient Rus', both young people and old people loved to carol. In the evenings, dressed in animal skins or funny outfits, the crowd went home for food and money. The most stingy hosts tried to get rid of obsessive visitors with a couple of bagels or sweets, for which they received unkind wishes from sharp-tongued merry fellows - in the new year to get "devils in the yard, and worms in the garden" or harvest wheat "completely with empty spikelets." And in order for the guests to take away the terrible words, they had to be generously presented.

On Christmas days, on the streets of cities, one could also see trained bears that walked on their hind legs, played the harp and danced, and after the performance went around the audience with a hat and stood for a long time near those who were stingy for a well-deserved reward.

A special place these days was occupied by Christmas divination. As now, the girls dreamed of getting an enviable groom. “I want a betrothed - a handsome hand-written and dandy, long curls, high morocco boots, a red shirt, a golden sash,” they said an old conspiracy.

On the days of Christmas time, young girls often guessed “for the betrothed”, spreading wheat grains on the floor near the stove. A black rooster was brought into the house. It was believed that if the cockerel pecked all the grains, then the groom would probably appear soon. And if the “prophetic” bird refuses to treat, then it’s not worth waiting for the betrothed in the New Year. Fortune-telling with wax was also very popular. Melted wax was poured into a basin of water, and then the resulting figures were examined. If a heart was seen, then this was considered a sign of the upcoming "amorous affairs." A pitchfork meant a quarrel, a medallion meant wealth, and a bagel meant lack of money.

The main dishes on the Christmas table in Rus' were pork delicacies: roasted pig, stuffed pig's head, fried meat in pieces, jelly, aspic. In addition to pork dishes, other dishes from poultry, game, lamb and fish were also served on the festive table. Finely chopped meat was boiled in pots along with traditional semi-liquid porridge. Also traditional treats were cheesecakes, kalachi, pies, koloboks, kulebyaks, kurniki, pies, etc. The choice of desserts was more modest: the Christmas table was usually decorated with fruits, marshmallows, gingerbread, brushwood, cookies and honey.

The persecution of the New Year at the beginning of the 20th century also affected Christmas. First, Christmas trees were banned, and then Santa Claus. In the late 1920s, a decree was issued stating: "On the day of the new year and the days of all religious holidays (former special days of rest), work is carried out on a general basis." Then January 1, 1929 became an ordinary working day, and the celebration of Christmas became outlawed.

Only six years later, in 1935, the course of domestic policy towards holidays was changed, the New Year was recognized as a secular holiday, and Christmas was left to the church, separated from the state. Christmas received the status of a day off only in 1991, after the collapse of the USSR.

The countdown date of the new year in Russia was postponed twice. Until the 15th century, it was celebrated in March, then in September, and in 1699 Peter I "appointed" the celebration on January 1. Russian New Year is a holiday that has absorbed the customs of paganism, Christianity and European enlightenment. On December 20, 1699, the decree of Emperor Peter I “On the celebration of the New Year” was issued, overnight throwing the whole country three months ahead - the Russians, accustomed to the September meeting of the new year, should have met the year 1700 on January 1.

Until the end of the 15th century, spring was considered the end of the annual cycle in Rus' (the same ideas still exist in some countries of Central Asia). Before the adoption of Orthodoxy, this holiday was associated exclusively with pagan beliefs. Slavic paganism, as you know, was closely intertwined with the cult of fertility, so the new year was celebrated when the earth awakens from its winter sleep - in March, with the first spring equinox.

During the winter solstice, it was preceded by 12-day "Kolyadas", from which the tradition of "mummers" to go from house to house and sing songs, scattering grain at the threshold, has survived to this day. And today, in many remote corners of Russia and the CIS, it is customary to give pancakes and kutya to “mummers”, and in ancient times these dishes were put on the windows to appease the spirits.

With the adoption of Orthodoxy, the ritual side of the meeting of the new year, of course, has changed. The Orthodox Church did not attach much importance to it for a long time, but in 1495 it got to this holiday - it was officially appointed on September 1. On this day, the Kremlin held the ceremonies "On the Beginning of a New Summer", "For the Summer" or "The Action of Long-term Health".

The celebration was opened by the patriarch and the tsar on the cathedral square of the Moscow Kremlin, their procession was accompanied by the ringing of bells. From the end of the 17th century, the tsar and his retinue went out to the people in the most elegant clothes, and the boyars were ordered to do the same. The choice fell on September, because it was believed that it was in September that God created the world. With the exception of a solemn church service, the New Year was celebrated like any other holiday - with guests, songs, dances and refreshments. It was then called differently - "The first day of the year."

The tradition was preserved for almost 200 years, after which a whirlwind of changes by the name of Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov burst into the life of the Russian people. As you know, the young emperor, almost immediately after ascending the throne, began tough reforms aimed at eradicating old traditions. Having traveled around Europe, he was inspired by the Dutch way of celebrating the New Year. In addition, he did not want to pace in a gold-embroidered vestment along the cathedral square - he wanted the fun that he had seen abroad.

On December 20, 1699 (according to the old reckoning, it was 7208), on the threshold of a new century, the emperor issued a decree that read: our Orthodox faith is accepted, all those peoples, according to their years, count from the Nativity of Christ on the eighth day later, that is, from January 1, and not from the creation of the world, for many strife and counting in those years, and now 1699 comes from the Nativity of Christ year, and on the 1st of the next January, a new year 1700 begins, along with a new centennial century; and for that good and useful deed, he indicated that henceforth the years should be counted in orders, and in all deeds and fortresses to write from this January, from the 1st day of the Nativity of Christ, 1700.

The decree was long and very detailed. It stipulated that everyone should decorate their houses with spruce, pine and juniper branches these days and not remove decorations until January 7th. Noble and simply wealthy citizens were ordered to fire cannons in the yards at midnight, shoot into the air with rifles and muskets, and a grandiose fireworks display was arranged on Red Square.

On the streets, the emperor ordered to burn firewood, brushwood and resin fires and keep the fire going throughout the festive week. By 1700, almost all European countries had already switched to the Gregorian calendar, so Russia began to celebrate the New Year 11 days later than Europe.

September 1 remained a church holiday, but after the Peter the Great reform it somehow faded into the background. The last time the rite of summer conduct was performed on September 1, 1699, in the presence of Peter, who sat on the throne in the Kremlin Cathedral Square in royal clothes, received a blessing from the patriarch and congratulated the people on the New Year, as his grandfather did. After that, the magnificent autumn celebration was over - by the will of Peter, the traditions of enlightened Europe merged with pagan nature, from which the rites of wild fun remained.

On January 6, the first "pro-Western" celebrations in Russian history ended in Moscow with a procession to the Jordan. Contrary to the old custom, the tsar did not follow the clergy in rich attire, but stood on the banks of the Moscow River in uniform, surrounded by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, dressed in green caftans and camisoles with gold buttons and braid.

The boyars and servants also did not escape the imperial attention - they were obliged to dress in Hungarian caftans and dress their wives in foreign dresses. For everyone, it was a real torment - the established way of life was collapsing for centuries, and the new rules looked uncomfortable and intimidating. This way of celebrating the New Year was repeated every winter, and gradually New Year trees, midnight cannon volleys, and masquerades took root.

On the eve of the old New Year, the Slavs celebrate a national holiday - Generous Evening. In Russia, the evening before the old New Year is called Vasiliev, since on this day the church celebrates the memory of Basil the Great. Another name is a rich holy evening. On the evening of January 13, all housewives prepare a second or generous kutya, which, unlike lean kutya, is seasoned with meat and lard. By tradition, a bowl with kutya is placed in the corner where the icons stand.

For a generous evening, the hostesses prepared the best and most delicious dishes for the table. The main dish on the festive table was considered a roasted pig - a symbol of the fertility of livestock and the fertility of the earth. In the people, this time is considered the time of rampant evil spirits. On this evening, after sunset and until midnight, teenage girls walk around and are generous, driving away all evil spirits with their songs and wishing the owners happiness, health and good luck in the new year.

At dawn on January 14, young guys went to sow grain to their godparents, close relatives, and acquaintances. According to popular beliefs, on the old New Year, a man was supposed to enter the house first - it was believed that this would bring happiness to the house for the whole next year. Sowers congratulated everyone on the New Year and wished wealth and abundance with special sayings. In response, the owners gave them pies, sweets and other sweets. It was believed that it was impossible to give money to sowers - with them you can give away well-being in the house.

In some villages, such a ritual is still preserved: on the night of the old New Year, they burn their old clothes and immediately put on new ones. This symbolizes the beginning of a new, better life. In order to protect your house from all troubles in the new year, on January 14 you need to go around all the rooms clockwise with three lit candles and at the same time be baptized. Also on the morning of January 14, you need to take an ax and lightly knock it on the threshold, saying "life, health, bread."

In folk beliefs, many signs are associated with the holiday of the old New Year.
. You should not pronounce the word “thirteen” on this day.
. January 14 cannot be considered a trifle, otherwise you will shed tears all year long.
. On the old New Year and on Vasiliev evening, you can’t lend anything, otherwise you will spend the whole year in debt.
. Also, signs say that if you take out the garbage on January 14, then you will take happiness out of the house.
. If the night of the Old New Year is quiet and clear, the year will be happy and successful.
. If the bright sun rises on January 14, the year will be rich and fruitful.
. If frost covers all the trees, there will be a good grain harvest.
. From which side the sky is covered with clouds on the Old New Year, happiness will come from there.
. If snow falls on the Old New Year, then next year will be happy.

Mikhailov Andrey 12/23/2014 at 18:30

On December 20, 1699, the Russian Tsar Peter I signed a decree on the transition of Russia to a new chronology and the transfer of the celebration of the beginning of the year from September 1 to January 1. Since then, we have been celebrating the main holiday of the year on this day. In general, the history of the New Year in Rus' is quite curious. At different times, in addition to the above dates, we celebrated it on March 1, March 22, and September 14.

But first, let's return to the young Russian tsar. By his decree, Peter ordered on January 1, 1700 to decorate houses with pine, spruce and juniper branches according to the samples exhibited in Gostiny Dvor, as a sign of fun, be sure to congratulate each other on the New Year and, of course, on the new century.

As the historical chronicles say, fireworks, cannon and rifle salutes were arranged on Red Square, and Muscovites were ordered to fire muskets and launch rockets near their homes. In a word, it was ordered to have fun with all the might of the Russian soul, however, in the European manner! The boyars and servicemen were ordered to dress in other people's costumes - Hungarian caftans. And the women were also to be dressed in foreign dress.

In the decree of Peter the Great it was written: "... On the large and passing streets, noble people and at the houses of deliberate spiritual and worldly rank in front of the gates, make some decorations from trees and branches of pine and juniper ... and for meager people, each at least a tree or a branch on the gate or over his temple put…" In the decree, it was actually not specifically about the Christmas tree, but about trees in general. At first, they were decorated with nuts, sweets, fruits and even various vegetables, and they began to decorate a particular beautiful Christmas tree much later, from the middle of the last century.

On January 6, the mighty festivities ended with a procession to the Jordan. Contrary to the old custom, the tsar did not follow the clergy in rich attire, but stood on the banks of the Moscow River in uniform, surrounded by the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, dressed in green caftans and camisoles with gold buttons and braid.

In general, the celebration of the New Year in Rus' has the same difficult fate as its history itself. The old folk tradition, even after the officially introduced changes in the calendar, preserved ancient customs for a long time. Here is what he told Pravda.Ru about the New Year's story Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Nikolai Kaprizov:

“In Russia, in the old, still pagan times, there was a long span, that is, the first three months, and the flying month began in March. in the current three spring and three summer months - the last six months concluded winter time. The transition from autumn to winter was shading like the transition from summer to autumn. Presumably, the New Year was originally celebrated in Russia on the day of the vernal equinox, that is, March 22. Maslenitsa and The New Year was celebrated on the same day, the winter was driven away, which means that the new year has come.

Well, along with Christianity, that is, after the Baptism of Rus' in Rus' (988), naturally, a new chronology appeared - from the Creation of the world. There was also a new European calendar, the Julian, with a fixed name of the months. The beginning of the new year began to be considered March 1. According to one version at the end of the 15th century, and according to another in 1348, the Orthodox Church moved the beginning of the year to September 1, which corresponded to the definitions of the Council of Nicaea.

In general, the reform of the calendar system was carried out in Rus' without taking into account the working life of the people, without establishing any special connection with agricultural work. The September New Year was approved by the church, which followed the word of the Holy Scriptures. In the Old Testament church, the month of September was celebrated annually, as if to commemorate peace from all worldly worries.

Thus, the new year began to lead from the first of September. This day became the feast of Simeon, the first Stylite, which is still celebrated by our church. This holiday was known among the common people under the name of Semyon Pilots, because on this day the summer ended and the new year began. It was both a solemn day of celebration, and the subject of parsing urgent conditions, collecting dues, taxes and personal courts.

Well, in 1699, Peter I issued a decree according to which January 1 was considered the beginning of the year. This was done following the example of all Christian peoples who lived not according to the Julian, but according to the Gregorian calendar. Peter I, in general, could not completely, immediately transfer Rus' to the new Gregorian calendar, despite all his determination - after all, the church lived according to the Julian.