All Russians favorite winter holiday - Old New Year is still not understood by many foreigners. What is the difference between it and the traditional New Year, which comes on a mysterious night falling from December 31 to January 1? At first glance, it only seems that the whole difference lies in the dates, in fact, the Old New Year is an independent holiday that prolongs our feeling of winter happiness. This is a more relaxed and homely holiday; there is no such fuss that always precedes the traditional New Year's Eve.
How the Old New Year came about
In ancient times, the traditional New Year in our country was celebrated in the spring - March 22. This is the festival of the vernal equinox. After the adoption of Christianity, the calendar has changed a little and now the new year has come on the first of September. Later, at the direction of Emperor Peter the Great, the New Year was postponed to January 1 (according to the old style), and therefore it turned out that according to the new style it falls on January 14. So there were two different dates and two different New Year celebrations.
Although the Old New Year is not a weekend on the calendar, Russians love to celebrate it. More than 60% of the population enjoy preparing for this day. Workers, students, entrepreneurs, housewives, mostly under the age of forty - all these people love this home holiday and are even ready to take time off from work in order to spend this magical evening at home with their family.
Unusual and cheerful congratulations on this holiday. The Old New Year involves dancing, songs and poems - you can choose one thing to your taste, or you can prepare a few congratulatory numbers for a change, for example, sing a song, and after a while perform a pre-prepared dance.
What people don’t do for everyone’s favorite winter holiday, Old New Year: they read fortune-tellers, visit each other with gifts and congratulations, play carols, make funny dumplings with surprises, play a variety of old games, generosions and seeders. Old New Year is a magical holiday, because just to spend it at home at the TV would not be very interesting.
Rite of sowing. It is believed that this old rite came to us from ancient times. Our distant ancestors, as we already know, celebrated the New Year first in the spring, and for this reason the sowing ceremony is associated with hopes for a good harvest. Usually the children walked and sowed, and the most gifted was the one who first came to the house.
On the night of January 13-14, Vasily is celebrated according to the old tradition. What is a bounty? These are old ritual songs glorifying and congratulating the family or an individual. Generosity is always accompanied by a mandatory walk around all the houses, wishing people good health and happiness in the new year. Unlike caroling, one can be generous, one at a time and in a company, more often women and girls are engaged in this. Be sure to sprinkle the house with grain - this predicts a rich year. On the New Year's Eve, midnight, holiday bounties begin to sing. On January 13th, according to tradition, girls go generous, and already on the 14th surely the first guests in any house should be seeders - young guys. This promises a good harvest for the owners in the new year. For such congratulations, the owners of the house traditionally treat them to sweets and give small coins.
It’s impossible for the bounty hunters not to open the door, because they bring the best wishes, joy and good mood for the coming year to the house. Therefore, it is necessary to stock up on sweets and small things! And even if your home is littering, you will be rich in the new year!
According to legend, once a year, girls can recognize their grooms. This period is called Christmas time. A variety of fortunetelling can be found out from your grandmothers and mothers, or rummage through the literature.