Symbols of the new year of different countries. Why is the Christmas tree the symbol of the New Year? Traditions of the New Year. New Year's address of the head of state

Santa Claus is a symbol of Christmas and New Year, but each country has its own character, sometimes strange and even frightening!

Morozko, Studenets, Treskun - all this is one Slavic character of Slavic mythology, the lord of winter and frost. Our ancestors represented him as a tall old man with a white beard and a staff. From his breath a cold began, from his touch objects froze. Later, with the advent of cinematography, Santa Claus dressed in a blue fur coat, moved to Veliky Ustyug, and became a good friend for children who still believe in him.

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Weinakhtsman is very similar to our Santa Claus, he is also dressed in a fur coat and has a beard. He rides a donkey and congratulates children on Christmas. The children of Germany leave a plate in which Weinachtsman puts tasty treats, and a shoe with hay for the donkey. He looks after the children all year round, and he encourages good children, and for bad children he has rods prepared.

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On this merry holiday in France, Per Noel comes to the children, whose name can be translated literally as Father Christmas. Per Noel also has an assistant, and his name is Schaland. Shaland is dressed in a road cloak and helps his friend. The two of them go home and congratulate the children. They have gifts for good children, and whips are prepared for bad children.

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In the UK, the main role in the celebration of Christmas is assigned to the Queen. She gives a congratulatory speech, and after that everyone goes to church. Children ask Father Christmas to give them gifts, write letters with wishes and burn them in the fireplace. The smoke from the letters goes through the air to the Father, and he fulfills their wishes. Interestingly, he himself does not appear in front of the children, but sends gifts to the parents of the children. He looks the same as the rest, in a red coat and with a beard.

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The dwarf Joulupukki came to the Finnish kids. This funny name can be translated into Russian as "Christmas goat". The villagers, who carried gifts home on Christmas night, put on fur coats made of goatskins. He has sensitive, large ears, so he knows well which of the children behaved well and which was naughty. He also knows who wants to receive what gifts. While the children are sleeping, he brings them gifts, and for the naughty rods.

Source: heliograph.ru

Children in Sweden are waiting for Christmas presents from a gnome who looks a bit like our brownie. He hides in the underground of every house at Christmas. His name is Yul Tomten. He walks around the cities and looks into the windows, watching how the children behave. With him is always his good companion - a white goat. At Christmas, he throws gifts under the tree, and hides back into the underground.

Symbol of the new year 2013- is a black snake, which makes the year 2013 really something unique and unusual. At first glance, it may seem that this is a somewhat gloomy symbol, but in the east they believe that just the snake is a symbol of the main components of human life - health, happiness and success. Astrologers say that 2013 is the ideal time for the arrival of your first child. The snake as a symbol has always been a mandatory attribute of imperial power. All people who are born under this sign embody valor, ambition, nobility, but they are not without passion and dedication.

The coming year promises to be bright and dynamic. It will be full of positive emotions and changes. Everyone will have the opportunity to succeed, regardless of external circumstances. Summer will be overly active, so you should take care of your vacation in advance. In addition, try to be wary of all kinds of financial scams, trust only trusted people.

In the new year, forget old grievances, erase failures and misconduct from memory, try to reconcile with relatives. This holiday is a great occasion not to start everything from scratch, but to continue writing the “new chapter” much wiser and more responsible. Think about career growth, because the Snake loves assertive and ambitious people. You can afford something super new, something crazy and extremely adventurous. Don't be afraid, the Black Serpent will appreciate your originality.

Many people are seriously interested in the attributes and characteristics of each next new year, because there is something magical and alluring in it. The New Year 2013 was no exception. The year of the Snake is characterized by black and dark blue colors. The element of this sign is water - a symbol of purity, clarity, fertility and, as you know, the source of life itself.

Young people in the new year should expect stability and order, but they need to be prepared for drastic changes. Thus, the Chinese advise to be careful in the year of the snake, try to plan all important things and evaluate them objectively. This year it is better not to neglect money, because snakes do not like it when finances are “scattered” over trifles and thoughtlessly. In the year of the Snake, you can safely plan a wedding, as this is a favorable and very good time for a wedding. In addition, this year will be successful for those who work in the scientific field, as it will help to make new and unexpected discoveries.

Other signs in the year of the Snake should be actively engaged in their own business, not be afraid of passions, but always make only informed decisions. In general, the coming year will not be bad, but it depends on us whether it will be really good and successful!

On Russian soil, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree among the people did not take root, it seems, until the revolution - this is due not so much to the fact that the Christmas tree as a symbol of the New Year was originally part of the noble culture, but to others circumstance: spruce in folk Slavic culture is inextricably linked with the world of the dead (remember and With modern funeral wreaths), and "reassigning" a symbol is much more difficult than approving a new one.

From an article by A.L. Barkova. Here from here:
As we found out, the mythological core of the New Year's ritual is
reproduction of the act of creation of the world, with the only difference that at the beginning
From time to time the gods created the world, but from year to year it has to be done by man. Of the whole set of elements of the myth of creation, let's focus on the central one (in a figurative and direct sense) - on the image of the World Axis.

The World Axis is the most important element of the mythological picture of the world: it, supporting the sky, embodies the forces of Order, Good, Life. Most often, she appears in the form of the World Tree, which connects together the earth, heaven and underworld. It is not difficult to guess that we are talking about the Christmas tree. The custom of decorating a Christmas tree for the New Year came to Russia from Europe under Peter I, it is of German origin. However, the veneration of spruce as a sacred tree was not originally Germanic, but Celtic. In Gaulish culture, spruce was the embodiment of the Tree of Life (that is, the World Tree) due to its evergreen branches.

So today's Santa Claus.

His name contains two important characteristics - he is old and associated with the element of cold. Before us is one of the incarnations of the lord of the Lower World, the world of death. But what is the world of death for an archaically thinking person? This is not the hell depicted in Christian literature, nor the infernal nightmare reproduced by American cinema. The world of death is the abode of departed relatives, with whom the archaic
the person was in regular and regulated contacts: he
"fed" the ancestors, bringing them pancakes, scrambled eggs and other funeral food,
they also magically ensured his well-being, harvest,
plentiful offspring of livestock, etc. Repeatedly described in mythological texts, such a world of death appears like a world the living or the world of abundance. His master rules over untold riches (which he can release into the world of the living), power over time, power over wisdom. In the image of Santa Claus, these features are preserved quite well: he brings gifts, he is the materialized time of the new year. As for the connection with wisdom, it is indirectly traced in the interaction of Santa Claus with children: read a rhyme and Grandfather will give a toy. Regarding Santa Claus, we note one more detail: the children understand that his image under the tree is not himself; so the figure a Christmas tree, necessary for the coming to the house of a different world ruler, is nothing more than an analogue of a pagan idol.

On the Christmas trees, along with Santa Claus, there is also a boy dressed in exactly the same way as he is. This boy - New Year - according to the plot of the holiday is a young twin of Santa Claus. Their pair brings to mind the symbolism of the Roman god Janus (after whom, by the way, the first month of the year is named), the lord of every beginning and end - Janus seemed to be two-faced, and one of his faces was young and the other old.

So, Santa Claus comes to us . But why does he come?

In recent years (under the influence of Western culture) he has replaced the Russian troika with a string of deer. Why did the deer so easily enter our culture as Santa Claus's mount? This is not at all explained by the fashion for the foreign, but by the re-actualization of the mythological archetype: the deer is a conductor between the worlds, especially associated with the path from the Lower World to the Middle World and vice versa (for example, we point out the golden deer in the Indian Ramayana).

Gifts, like Santa Claus himself, come from another world. Children know for sure that in Santa Claus's bag there will be enough gifts for everyone (here they are - incalculable wealth). Where did the custom of giving gifts to each other for the New Year come from? Before us is an element of producing magic: gifts on a festive night magically provide an abundance of life's blessings that we hope to receive in the new year.

Everything is ready for the holiday. And we turn on the TV and carefully (albeit for the tenth time!) We watch some classic New Year's film - "Carnival Night", "Irony of Fate", "Magicians". Why is it so important for us to watch this movie again and again? The meeting of the New Year in these films is a ritual duplication of the ongoing event; we are again faced with the fact that the ritual seeks to absorb the natural phenomenon that serves as the basis of the holiday.

And here comes New Year's Eve. The whole family gathers at the laid table. The custom of putting the most plentiful treat on the New Year's table is now, if it is interpreted, then within the framework of the "magic of the first day" - how you meet the new year, so you will spend it. This subtext cannot be denied, but there is another behind it: this is not just a festive abundance of food, it is food of all kinds, and it symbolizes the whole world, everything that the earth will give birth to - and thus this food embodies the unity of the universe, and being distributed between the participants in the ritual (that is, eaten by the whole family), it becomes the magical embodiment of the unity of the family, its "total share", a common destiny. Let us emphasize this point again: the appointment of the New Year's feast - not so much providing abundance, how much renewal and strengthening of ties between team members. Perhaps we, who live in an era of tragic disunity of people, have something to learn from "ignorant", "superstitious" ancestors.

The last event of the outgoing year is the president's address to the people. Why does it have to be at this very moment? Why should the head of state turn to us?

Before us is one of the last echoes of the ancient cult of leaders. The leader (whatever specific title he wears) in the mythological consciousness is an intermediary between the world of people and the higher spheres, therefore he is responsible for performing all the rituals that ensure correct contact between these two worlds. Through the leader, people turn to the gods, and the gods to the people. What do we want to hear from higher powers? - what the president will tell us: this year was hard, but the next one will be good. Purely ritual speech!

And now the chimes are striking, a bottle of champagne is loudly popping, foamy glasses are ringing, and an anthem is heard from the TV. Sounds, sounds, sounds - they accompany the transition from one year to another. Before us is a manifestation of the mythologeme "music as a means of opening the gates between the worlds." Both in myth and in ritual, song and melody are a magical bridge that connects the other world and the world of people. Let me remind you of just a few examples.

Orpheus sang in front of the throne of Hades, praying to return Eurydice to the world of the living - and Hades agreed (not God's fault that Orpheus turned around and thereby violated the ban on meeting the eyes of the representative of the world of the dead). When Hermes, having stolen the cows of Apollo, nevertheless agreed to return them to the god of light, he began to play the lyre while Apollo drove the cows out of the cave (that is, from the underworld).

The magical role of the game of Hermes is clearly seen in comparison with the Indian myth of the abduction of cows: the demons of the underworld imprisoned them inside the rock, and the seven sages of Angiras came to liberate them together with the Thunderer Indra, and the sages sang sacred hymns - and broke through the rock with singing, freeing the cows. In European fairy tales of Celtic origin, the appearance of elves is accompanied by a melodious chime of bells or gentle music, and Altai shamans, on the contrary, call the spirits themselves by ringing bells. Not only contacts between the beyond worlds are carried out by means of a sounding word or music, but the very creation of the world often appears as the first sound.

So, the Indian Shiva creates the world with a divine dance, but before the dance, the voice of a small drum is heard, which the god holds in one of his right hands. The hero of the Karelian-Finnish epic "Kalevala" Väinemeinen creates prototypes of various things by singing, which are then used by all people. Across the ocean, in the epic of the Quiche (Maya) Indians "Popol Vuh" it is said: "In the beginning everything was in silence", and then the Word descends from the god Hurakan to the earth. This cannot but recall the beginning of the Gospel of John, the philosophical predecessor of which was the ancient Egyptian monument. " Memphis Theological Treatise" which says: "Nothing has being unless it has first received its name, pronounced aloud."

Against this background, all ritual songs, ritual music, especially loud and rhythmic music, are perceived with special significance - for many peoples, any loud sounds serve as a magical means of dispersing evil spirits. By the way, one of these peoples is the Chinese, from whom we have borrowed the custom of launching fireworks over the past decade - not suspecting that the deafening noise of Chinese pyrotechnics is, from a ritual point of view, hardly more meaningful than the lights.

From antiquity to the present day, music is a ritual entrance to any new state, and therefore everything sounds at the holidays. The chimes and the clinking of glasses symbolically open the door to the coming year.

For one night, millions of people turn to a fairy tale loved by adults and children.

Christmas tree

A Christmas tree or a pine tree is the most famous attribute of the holiday, not only in, but also in the West. The very idea of ​​decorating a tree is connected with the ancient traditions of the Germanic peoples: for the harvest, the New Year and other celebrations, Europeans decorated trees or gave their branches. In our country, an elegant Christmas tree appeared on the holiday only from the 19th century, and at first the decorated tree stood on the street.

New Year gifts

And this tradition has its roots. In the middle of the 19th century, when it became fashionable to put up a Christmas tree for the New Year in the homes of wealthy Russian nobles, after the holiday the tree was given to the servants. Everything that was on the branches of the Christmas tree and on the table under it were gifts. Often the gift had its own specific giver. The custom of attributing the appearance of gifts to fabulous creatures (such as Santa Claus or elves) appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century.

Father Frost

Santa Claus is a fairy-tale character, a symbol of the New Year in Russia. In other countries, he is also known as Santa Claus, or as Jollupukki, and the list of his names is not limited to this. The good-natured old man, who is helped by the diligent granddaughter Snegurochka (or cheerful elves, if we are still talking about Santa Claus), became a favorite children's character in the 20th century.

It is believed that the prototype of Santa Claus is St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, although in Slavic legends there was already a mystical hero, symbolizing winter and cold.

Masks and carnival costumes

And this is another tradition "from the depths of centuries." Folk festivals, mummers, buffoons, jesters and fortune-telling were inherited from Slavic paganism. Artists put on bright costumes and masks to amuse the people. In the Russian Empire, on New Year's Eve, masquerade balls, the so-called "carnival nights", were held, where each participant in the holiday hid his face under a mask. Today, the fashion for New Year's carnivals is back.

fireworks

Launching fireworks for the New Year began in BC. Then it was believed that the noise and bright light from the explosions drive away evil spirits. Indeed, who wants to celebrate the New Year with evil spirits? When fireworks, like other no less interesting Chinese inventions, came to Europe, the tradition became international.

sparklers

The history of Bengal fire is rooted in ancient times. It was in Bengal, as historians testify, that in the 5th-6th centuries AD. during religious ceremonies, fires of unusual brightness flared up and quickly burned out on the altars. Depending on the wishes of the clergy, the temple either “smelled of evil” (the composition contained sulfur powder, which, when burned, emits a gas with an unpleasant odor), or “good breath” spilled (in this case, rosin was used instead of sulfur).

Animal of the Chinese horoscope

2014 will be the year of the blue wooden horse. Where did this horse come from and why is it blue? Since the late 1980s, a trend has appeared in Russia and other European countries to associate the arrival of the New Year with one of the animals of the Chinese horoscope, despite the fact that the Chinese New Year comes later. If you don’t seriously go into the subtleties of fortune-telling, then for us it’s just a beautiful and non-binding tradition.

For the people of China, the veneration of the calendar plays a special role, since the most important life decisions have long been made taking into account the interpretation of the horoscope.

New Year cards

The custom of exchanging postcards for the New Year arose in. The first to send New Year's greetings by mail was the Englishman Henry Cole in 1843, after which he asked his friend John Gersle to draw a New Year's card. From this sketch, 1000 copies of the postcard were printed in London.

Champagne

It is believed that the fashion for champagne appeared in Russia thanks to the nobility, which considered it the only noble drink. Very quickly, sparkling wine became indispensable at social events and banquets, gaining a festive status. The fashion to clink glasses with crystal glasses was invented and introduced by Emperor Alexander II.

The tradition of drinking champagne for the New Year appeared in the USSR only in the early 1960s. In our country, they drink it mainly on New Year's Eve - during the holiday they drink 45% of the total annual turnover of this drink.

New Year's address of the President to the people

In our country, this became a tradition after the appeal of L.I. Brezhnev to the people on the eve of 1976. But, as is the case with other symbols of the New Year, the president's address to the people during the holiday is also found in many other countries. So, for example, in England, King Henry V made an appeal in 1923, and since 1970, the chancellor has congratulated the country on Christmas.

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