It is customary to celebrate the New Year in Russia for a long time and on a grand scale - in January we have a rest for more than a week. However, the festive mood persists even after the end of the official holidays, because on the night of January 13-14, the whole country celebrates the Old New Year. Kultura.RF tells about when and how the holiday with such a controversial name appeared.
New Year pre-revolutionary postcard. Russia, before 1917.
The old New Year came into our culture along with the old style of reckoning.
In 1918, the Bolshevik government decided to change the calendar. Tsarist Russia lived according to the Julian calendar, and Europe - according to the Gregorian. The first was created in the Roman Empire and was based on ancient Egyptian astronomy. The Gregorian calendar was more accurate; it was created in the 16th century, taking into account the latest knowledge about the structure of the universe. The difference between the two systems of calculation was 13 days and created inconvenience for the conduct of international political and economic affairs and led to funny incidents in everyday life. For example, according to the dates on the postmarks, it turned out that the telegram was received in Europe a few days earlier than it was sent in Russia.
The transition to the Western European calendar took place on February 14, 1918. According to the decree, the main goal of the entire project was "the establishment in Russia of the same calculus with almost all cultural peoples."
An unusual holiday also appeared - the old New Year, that is, the New Year according to the old style, which was not forgotten by the people. However, they celebrated the old New Year not on such a large scale as the night from December 31 to January 1.
The Russian clergy did not agree with the transition to the new style and did not abandon the Julian calendar. But this was not so important for the Bolsheviks, who had already signed the Decree on the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church. The old style has become informal.
Today, the Russian Orthodox Church still uses the Julian calendar. Therefore, Christmas in our country is celebrated on January 7, and in Catholic countries - on December 25. The New Year, or rather the New Year, the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 14 (September 1, according to the old style) - not from the Nativity of Christ, but from the creation of the world. During the secular New Year holidays, believers keep the Nativity Fast.
Directly on January 1, the holy martyr Boniface is commemorated, to whom one should pray in order to get rid of drunkenness (the disease of wine drinking).
Contrary to popular belief, the tradition of celebrating the Old New Year exists not only in our country. There are similar holidays in the countries of the former USSR, as well as in Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Algeria, Tunisia and many other countries. In all states, the appearance of an unusual date is associated with transitions to different calendars, but each country has its own traditions. In the German-speaking regions of Switzerland, for example, old St. Sylvester's Day is celebrated on January 13, dressing up in fancy dress and wishing each other a Happy New Year. In Macedonia, carnivals are held on the New Year according to the old calendar. There is an analogue of our holiday in Wales - the Hen Galan festival. It also means the beginning of the New Year according to the Julian calendar, and on this day children can “carol” - go from house to house and receive sweet gifts.
In Russia, according to statistics, the old New Year is celebrated by about half of the country's population, gathering at the festive table. And a number of museums and cultural organizations dedicate thematic exhibitions to the holiday.
After the usual New Year has died down, and the streets are filled with people again, do not rush to say goodbye to the festive mood, another important winter holiday is ahead - the Old New Year. This date is celebrated on the night of January 13-14. And, like any holiday that has taken root among the Slavs, the Old New Year keeps a lot of traditions.
In Belarus and Ukraine, this holiday is known as "Generous Evening", and in Russia - "Ovsen". According to the old chronology, this day fell on January 1 and was called Vasilyev's day, since it was the day of memory of Vasily the Great, and the eve of the memorial day, respectively, on December 31, was Vasilyev's evening.
Why the Old New Year is called There is no special meaning in the name of this holiday. This day is called so only because, according to the Julian calendar, the New Year fell from January 13 to 14. Today we use the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in 1918, which is why the holiday is called the "Old" New Year.
In addition, according to the calendar tradition, Christmas must precede the New Year.
Where the Old New Year is celebrated Previously, the Old New Year was celebrated in all countries of the Soviet Union. Today this holiday exists in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.
This tradition has been preserved in Switzerland, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia. In the latter, for example, this holiday is called the Serbian New Year. On the night of January 13-14, fireworks are traditionally fired on the square in Belgrade.
In Japan, the Old New Year is called "risshun" - the beginning of spring, it is celebrated not in the middle of winter, but on February 4th.
Holiday Rules
For this holiday, they also bought good beautiful clothes. The evening of January 13 was called "generous", and therefore the table was laid accordingly. People believed that what the table would be like the year would be. In the morning, women had to cook porridge made from whole grains of wheat. Porridge was seasoned with lard or meat. Or served with jam or honey. The housewives also baked pies, pancakes or dumplings.
Since St. Basil was considered the patron saint of pig breeders, pork dishes were the main dish on the festive table.
In the evening, the people went to the neighbors to celebrate the Old New Year in the world. It was considered especially important that the “necessary” person come first to the house, and this was a young man from a large respected family with a large household. In the morning, young people jumped over the burning sheaves of hay to drive away evil spirits.
In some villages carolers went to the festival. The performers of carol songs were traditionally presented with treats.
Ancient Belarusian folk rite "Carol Tsars"
Traditional signs for the Old New Year The signs of this holiday were associated with both the weather and the New Year's table. For example, if the cooked festive porridge turned out to be lush, beautiful and tasty, then you need to wait for a good year. If the pot cracked in the oven or the porridge came out tasteless, you have to wait for a bad year.
It was also believed that if the wind blows from the south at night, then the next year will be prosperous and warm, if from the west - you need to wait for an abundance of milk, as well as fish, but if from the east, then there will be a good harvest of fruits in the year.
People said about the night: "Vasil's night is starry - to the harvest of berries." So that in general the harvest was definitely a success, in the morning they shook it off fruit trees. If the weather is frosty, but dry in the morning, then you should not expect much mushrooms next year.
Signs for the Old New Year - 2018
Those born on January 14, 2018 should wear a jasper stone for good luck and wealth. Also, before the evening of January 13, it is necessary to remove the holiday tree from the house and distribute all debts so as not to be indebted for the whole of 2018. And, of course, it is necessary to make peace with everyone with whom they were in a quarrel, and to forgive everyone who was offended.
What should be on the table for the Old New Year According to ancient traditions, on the table in Vasiliev evening there should have been a generous kutya or juicy. Halva, nuts, honey and raisins were not spared: the more generous the dish, the richer and richer the new year.
In addition, there was always a pig, a rooster or a hare on the table. All three meats carried a different meaning: pork promised wealth, rooster dishes - freedom, and hare - success in all matters.
It was also important what was included in the filling of holiday pies and, most importantly, dumplings for the Old New Year. For example, stuffed mushrooms - for a long and happy life, meat - for well-being, rice - for well-being, cabbage - for money, and dill - for good health.
What not to do on St. Basil's Day
A week before the Old New Year, it was impossible to dress up in new clothes, this can only be done on the holiday itself. On this day, you can’t say congratulations with the negative particle “not” - this can frighten away desire and good luck. Also, you can’t celebrate this holiday exclusively in a female company - this way you can bring on an unlucky year.
On the festive table there should not be crayfish and other creatures that move back, as it is possible to transfer past problems to the New Year. It is also strictly forbidden to clean this day, because you can take good luck and happiness out of the house.
Fortune-telling for the Old New Year Girls on the night of January 13-14, fortune-telling on various subjects. Vasiliev evening was considered the most successful for predictions. People believed that everything that was foretold and thought at that time would come true. However, the Orthodox Church does not approve of fortune-telling.
It would seem that the contradictory and meaningless combination of “old New Year” has become so familiar that it surprises no one and rarely makes you think. However, in moments of philosophical mood, questions begin to arise in my head: what is the Old New Year, why is the New Year celebrated twice in a number of countries, and where did this unusual folk holiday come from?
How the New Year appeared on the calendar
Celebrating the New Year on January 1 in the Russian Empire began only in 1700. Prior to this, there was no organization - the New Year was celebrated throughout the country on various dates. Someone continued to do it in March on the day of the vernal equinox, and someone - on September 1, the date adopted in the state in the 15th century.
The initiator of the introduction of a single day at the beginning of the year was the founder of many innovations - Peter the Great. By decree of the sovereign, it was ordered to establish January 1 as the first day of the year and to celebrate this day festively, congratulating all relatives and just people they met. The king commanded people to decorate Christmas trees, give gifts to each other, have fun and rejoice. Also in the decree it was said that on New Year's holidays the people should not abuse strong drinks and not commit massacres.
Of course, such a strict framework first aroused indignation among the people, but after a whole week was declared non-working, residents of cities and towns calmed down and quickly fell in love with the new holiday. At night, in honor of the beginning of the new year, bonfires were lit, fireworks were arranged, songs were sung, and musical instruments were played.
By the way, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree was borrowed from the pagans. Ancient people decorated coniferous trees on the longest night of the year. They hung gifts and ribbons on spruce branches, trying to appease the spirits and beg them for a good harvest, prosperity and health. The fun tradition of dressing up in carnival costumes has the same roots - the pagans changed their image in order to hide from the unclean forces descending to the earth on New Year's Eve.
Why New Year's Day Has Changed
The shift in the date of the beginning of the year in Russia occurred due to the transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian after the revolution. The difference between the two calendars is 13 days - exactly the same amount of time that passes from the day of the celebration of the official New Year to New Year's Eve according to the old style.
Perhaps the transition to a new calendar would forever change the date of the beginning of the year, and no one would remember that it was once celebrated on a different day. However, the Russian Orthodox Church opposed the transition to the new chronology adopted by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and continued to live according to the Julian style. For this reason, all church holidays and important dates have shifted.
Traditions in modern times
Old New Year is becoming more and more popular every decade. Of course, this holiday is not on the calendar, and it is unlikely that it will ever appear in it, but people gather at the laid table on the night of January 13-14, present gifts to each other, make toasts and congratulations. In many homes, decorated Christmas trees and holiday decorations are not removed until the Old New Year. On television that night, they broadcast a repetition of New Year's programs and traditional films.
Advent Christians cannot afford New Year's Eve New Year's Eve in the modern style. For them, the Old New Year is the only chance to set a delicious table with delicious snacks and meat dishes.
According to church customs, a special porridge is cooked on this night. All family members take part in the preparation, and in the morning they eat it for breakfast at a common table. This custom, as well as visiting guests on New Year's Eve, came from the Old Russian calendar, when Vasiliev's Day was celebrated on this date.
Interestingly, the New Year's date according to the Julian calendar in a century that is not a multiple of four is pushed back by one day. Based on this, from 2101 New Year's Eve according to the old style will have to shift to January 14th. Whether such a shift will occur among the people, and when people will celebrate the second New Year, time will tell.
Which countries celebrate the old New Year
Some are sure that the tradition of celebrating the New Year in the old style exists only in Russia and the Slavic countries that were part of the Soviet state. Actually this is a delusion. Old New Year is magnificently celebrated not only in Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova, it is adored in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Switzerland, Georgia and Armenia. Do not forget to celebrate the beginning of the new year according to the Julian calendar, some residents of the Baltic countries, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
The Berber calendar, which is followed by the inhabitants of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and some other countries, celebrates the beginning of the new year on January 14th. It is known that their calendar is in many ways similar to the Julian, but slightly shifted due to errors accumulated over the years.
Old New Year is an unofficial, but unusually warm, joyful and magical holiday, which is celebrated on the night of January 13-14. This additional New Year was the result of a change in the order of the chronology, so it can be considered a cultural-historical phenomenon.
Where did this holiday come from?
The confusion with the celebration of the Old New Year began in 1918, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced instead of the Julian calendar, and the concept of "old" and "new" style entered our lives. At the same time, the day that for centuries was considered the first of January, “moved” in the calendar to January 14th. For those who did not want to change their habits, he remained a holiday.
In addition, celebrating the New Year from January 13 to 14 turned out to be more logical for Orthodox believers, who are used to celebrating it 6 days after Orthodox Christmas. But they tried not to celebrate the holiday from December 31 to January 1, because it fell on the Advent, when you can’t set the festive table, you can’t drink wine and you won’t have fun. And in general, in the public mind since the 19th century, the New Year was considered a cheerful and violent holiday.
“The New Year is the same as the campaign of mummers in the village,” writes in his essay historian Lev Lurie. - This is the time when people can behave as if indecent. After the New Year, the time for girl fortune-telling comes at all. They guessed, of course, about the suitors - they let the rooster peck oats, drowned the wax, put papers with the names of potential suitors into the pelvis, used a mirror. Divination traditions are pagan, they were not only not welcomed by the Orthodox Church, but also prohibited. Of course, during the fast it was clearly inappropriate to do all this.
Why do we still celebrate it
By the way, there is no scientifically based date for the beginning of the new year. This is the subject of a social contract. It is simply more convenient for people to unify the calendar and assume that in all countries the calendar new year begins on the night of December 31 to January 1.
So, why not stop at this beautiful date? After all, now even Orthodox believers do not refuse to celebrate the New Year together with everyone. However, the annual Polls of the Levada Center show that the tradition of celebrating the Old New Year in our society not only does not die out, but only grows stronger from year to year. The number of people who celebrate this holiday is growing and in recent years it has been from 43 to 47% of the respondents.
Scientists believe there are several reasons for this. The first is that our culture traditionally welcomes everything that confirms the idea of the mystery of the Russian soul. “Our people generally like the idea that Russia has its own unique third way,” says expert of the Center for Political Technologies, social psychologist Alexei Roshchin. - Therefore, we have our own specific holiday - the Old New Year. This allows us to feel that we stand out against the backdrop of globalization.” However, in fairness it should be said that the Old New Year is celebrated not only in Russia, but also in most CIS countries, as well as in the former republics of Yugoslavia.
The second reason, according to psychologists, lies in the fact that our long cold winter and lack of light provokes us to seasonal blues. And the holidays are the best way to deal with it. Festive garlands, multi-colored lanterns, cheerful mess, a feast, a desire to treat yourself to food and alcohol. So we grab every opportunity not to fall into winter depression. How else can you defeat her
The third source of why we so want to extend the New Year holidays follows from the previous one. “The fact is that the New Year holidays are best suited to feel like children and pamper our “inner child”, which is hidden in the soul of each of us,” says psychologist Oksana Poleshchuk. - A Christmas tree, tangerines, snow, a skating rink, a cafe, a cinema, the opportunity to just have fun, be reckless, push the burden of daily responsibility, relax, sit in front of the TV, eat what you want, not counting calories, and finally, just do nothing. Many of us, in fact, do not have enough of this, and after the holidays such a lack is felt most acutely.
There are even wonderful poems by Yunna Moritz about this, which Sergey Nikitin set to music, and the result was an unusually lyrical, wonderful song:
He's old, he's old, he's not new at all,
And still we are children, we are on the Christmas tree,
And we fly for this ghostly additive,
For the irrevocable and unique,
Add us at least the Old New Year.
Make your dreams come true
Finally, an important reason for the growing popularity of the Old New Year is that in our fragmented world, people are increasingly experiencing a lack of human understanding every decade. And so we are increasingly in need of warm unhurried fellowship. Best of all - at the festive table, in the circle of the closest and most understanding people. Maybe that is why the holiday from December 31 to January 1 remains violent and cheerful, with shooting and dancing until the morning. But the Old New Year is now assigned, rather, the role of a quiet, sincere, warm and magical holiday.
So if you feel that you celebrated the New Year not the way you would like, but “like people do”: with reckless running around the shops and bowls of salads, then you still have a chance to realize your hidden desires and celebrate the Old New Year like this as you wish. Or just dream, release your dreams into extraordinary distances, believe in miracles and return at least for a while to such a wonderful world - the world of childhood!
Tatyana Rubleva
The Old New Year is another reason to get together with the whole family, congratulate friends and relatives, present beautiful gifts and, of course, believe in a miracle. This winter holiday is celebrated in our country on the night of January 13-14 and completes the series of New Year celebrations. But is there an Old New Year only in Russia? And why did such an unusual holiday arise? We are sure that many of our readers have asked this question more than once on the eve of the winter holidays.
Usually the Old New Year falls on the first working week after a many-day rest. But how great it is to watch New Year's films again, cook a “herring under a fur coat” and invite guests! We owe this wonderful opportunity to an amazing phenomenon. Do you want to know which one? Read about it in our new article!
How did the holiday come about?
In Russia, in the distant times of paganism, our ancestors celebrated the New Year on March 22 - on the day of the spring solstice. After the adoption of the Christian faith by Prince Vladimir in 988, this holiday began to be celebrated on September 1. According to the Old Testament, this date corresponds to the first day of the creation of the world.
For many centuries there was no consensus on the celebration of the New Year: someone celebrated it in the fall, and someone continued to adhere to the pagan calendar. But in 1492, the discrepancies were put to an end, and the New Year was officially celebrated on September 1.
However, this date did not last long: after only a couple of centuries, Peter I moved our favorite holiday to January 1 from the Nativity of Christ, since the emperor did not want to be behind enlightened Europe. This decree was issued on December 19, 1699, so the current year was only four months: September, October, November and December. Since then, the people of Russia began to celebrate the New Year on January 1, as we do today.
But where did the 14th come from then? Here we come to the solution. The thing is that before the revolution it was used julian "old" calendar. The difference between it and the "new" Gregorian calendar, according to which Europe lived for a long time, was as much as 13 days.
After the October Revolution and the advent of Soviet power, Christmas was canceled due to its religiosity, and a year later the Bolsheviks decided that Soviet Russia was switching to a new chronology. Thus, the difference in calendars was eliminated, and January 14, which used to be the New Year, coincided with the day of St. Basil. This is how two holidays began to be celebrated in our country.
It is noteworthy that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Christmas continued to be celebrated on January 7, which corresponds to the Julian "old" style, so the date of this religious holiday has a connection with the Old New Year.
Old New Year in other countries
The night from January 13 to 14 became a holiday not only for the former countries of the Soviet Union - the CIS countries, but also for some others: Switzerland, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Macedonia. And this is still an incomplete list.
Such a holiday as the "Old New Year" exists among states that used the Berber chronology before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar. In fact, it differs slightly from the Julian, but due to some inaccuracies and errors, Old New Year's Eve in Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria is celebrated on January 11th.
Our days
For many people in our country who profess Orthodoxy, there is only one holiday - namely the Old New Year, because before Christmas they observe the Advent fast. For everyone else, this is an opportunity to once again celebrate their favorite holiday and feel the atmosphere of magic: after all, how you want to meet Santa Claus again and find the treasured gift under the tree!
Today, this holiday is becoming more and more popular. Its special charm is associated with pre-revolutionary Russia, Orthodox traditions, and simply the people's love for the New Year. This celebration, in part, has even become independent, because it has its own history of occurrence. In addition, by the end of the holidays, the pre-holiday fuss subsides, and the Old New Year can be enjoyed in a quiet family circle.
Our little historical journey has come to an end. We hope that you have learned a lot of interesting things, and now you have no doubt why the Old New Year is celebrated on January 14th. Probably, we should be grateful to this unusual historical phenomenon for the fact that we have one more chance to happily celebrate the New Year and believe in a winter fairy tale.
