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 imagined 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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Vainakhtsman is very similar to our Father Frost, he also wears a fur coat and has a beard. He rides a donkey and wishes Christmas greetings to children. Children in Germany leave a plate in which Vainachtsman will put treats, and a shoe with hay for the donkey. He watches the children all year, and he encourages good children, and he has rods prepared for bad children.

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

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In Great Britain, 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 travels through the air to Father, and he fulfills their wishes. It is interesting that he himself does not appear in front of the children, but sends gifts to the children’s parents. He looks the same as the others, wearing a red fur coat and a beard.

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The gnome Joulupukki came to visit the Finnish children. This funny name can be translated into Russian as “Christmas goat.” The villagers, who carried gifts home on Christmas night, wore fur coats made of goat skins. He has sensitive, large ears, so he knows well which of the children behaved well and which were mischievous. He also knows who wants to receive what gifts. While the children are sleeping, he brings them gifts and rods for the naughty ones.

Source: heliograph.ru

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

With what impatience adults and especially children await the approach of the New Year holidays. One of the traditions of these days is decorating a festive tree. We are all accustomed to the fact that the tree is considered the main symbol of the New Year and Christmas. But few people know why people chose this particular coniferous beauty.

Traditions of peoples

The tradition of dressing up trees and dancing around them came to us even before the advent of Christianity in our area, during the times of paganism. Then it was believed that spirits lived in these gifts of nature, which people tried to appease. Coniferous plants were especially revered, because they were gifted by the gods to be evergreen, and therefore were associated with eternity.

In ancient times, Germans used spruce branches to decorate their homes on the winter solstice.

Legends and traditions

There are several versions of why the Christmas tree was given the honor of becoming a holiday tree.

According to legend, all the trees went to honor the born Christ the Savior. Among the poplars, oaks and cypresses, a small spruce stood in line at the very end, and therefore only the snow fell on it, then it became elegant and sparkling. The tradition of decorating plants is also connected with this belief, because at Christmas all over the world fruits appeared on different trees. Therefore, the Slavs decorated the first Christmas trees with apples, nuts, and pears.

Another legend says that Saint Boniface, who preached Christianity in Germany in the 7th-8th centuries, cut down an oak tree that was dedicated to Thor. As evidence of the powerlessness of the pagan gods, this oak collapsed, managing to knock down the trees growing nearby, except spruce. Saint Boniface then called the Christmas tree that remained standing “the tree of the Infant Christ.”

From antiquity to the present day

Christmas trees have been decorated since the 1500s. Martin Luther started this by decorating the top of the Christmas tree with a star symbolizing Bethlehem.

This tradition reached the Russian lands only after almost 200 years. In 1700, it was Peter I who ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1. Previously, it coincided with our new school year - September 1st. It was ordered to decorate not only spruce trees, but also any coniferous trees.

Nevertheless, the first experience of decorating festive New Year trees is attributed to German culture. While Martin Luther used the star as well as candles as decoration, his compatriots used fruit for this purpose. However, in a lean year, they began to be replaced with glass toys, which people around the world continue to do to this day. And in the 19th century, the first electric garland was invented in the United States.

New Year remains a special family celebration for many of us. Probably everyone agrees with the statement that without a decorated Christmas tree there will no longer be that feeling of holiday.

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

From the article by A.L. Barkova. From here:
As we found out, the mythological core of the New Year ritual is
reproduction of the act of creation of the world, with the only difference that at the beginning
Since the beginning of time, the world was created by the gods, and from year to year man has to do this. Of all the many elements of the creation myth, let us focus on the central one (in the figurative and literal 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 firmament, embodies the forces of Order, Good, and Life. Most often she appears in the form of the World Tree, which connects earth, heaven and the underworld. It’s not hard to guess that we’ll be talking about the New Year 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 originally not Germanic, but Celtic. In the Gaul culture, the spruce was the embodiment of the Tree of Life (that is, the World Tree) thanks 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 hypostases of the ruler 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 propagated 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 magically ensured his well-being, harvest,
abundant offspring of livestock, etc. Repeatedly described in mythological texts, such a world of death appears as a semblance of the world living or a world of abundance. His ruler has power over countless riches (which he can release into the world of the living), power over time, power over wisdom. In the image of Father Frost, these features have been preserved quite well: he brings gifts, he is the embodied time of the new year. As for the connection with wisdom, it can be indirectly traced in the interaction of Santa Claus with children: read the poem and Santa will give him a toy. Regarding Santa Claus, we note one more detail: children understand that his image under the tree is not himself; therefore, the figure under The tree, necessary for the arrival of a foreign ruler in the house, is nothing more than an analogue of a pagan idol.

Along with Santa Claus, a boy appears on the “Christmas trees”, dressed exactly like him. This boy - New Year - according to the plot of the holiday, is the young double of Santa Claus. Their pairing makes one recall the symbolism of the Roman god Janus (in whose honor, by the way, the first month of the year is named), the lord of every beginning and end - Janus seemed to have two faces, with one of his faces being young and the other old.

So, Santa Claus is coming to us . But what does he drive?

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 foreign things, but by the re-actualization of a mythological archetype: the deer is a conductor between worlds, especially associated with the path from the Lower World to the Middle World and vice versa (for example, let us point out the golden deer in the Indian Ramayana).

Gifts, like Santa Claus himself, come from another world. Children know for sure that there are enough gifts in Santa Claus's bag for everyone (here they are - innumerable riches). Where did the custom of giving gifts to each other for the New Year come from? Here we have an element of productive magic: gifts on a festive night magically provide an abundance of life's blessings that we hope to find in the new year.

Everything is ready for the holiday. And we turn on the TV and carefully (albeit for the tenth time!) watch some classic New Year's film - "Carnival Night", "The Irony of Fate", "Sorcerers". Why is it so important for us to watch this movie again and again? Celebrating 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 now New Year's Eve comes. The whole family gathers around the set table. The custom of putting a lavish treat on the New Year's table is now interpreted, if at all, within the framework of the “magic of the first day” - how you celebrate the New Year is how you will spend it. This subtext cannot be denied, but there is another behind it: this is not just a festive abundance of food, this 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”, common destiny. Let us emphasize this point once again: the purpose of the New Year's feast is not so much ensuring abundance as much as renewal and strengthening of connections between team members. Perhaps we, living in an era of tragic disunity among people, have something to learn from our “ignorant”, “superstitious” ancestors.

The last event of the outgoing year is the President's address to the people. Why does it have to happen exactly at these moments? 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 (no matter what specific title he bears) in the mythological consciousness is a mediator 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 turn to people. What do we want to hear from higher powers? - what the president will tell us: this year was difficult, but the next one will be good. Purely ritual speech!

And then the chimes strike, a bottle of champagne pops loudly, foamy glasses clink, and the anthem is heard from the TV. Sounds, sounds, sounds - they are the ones that accompany the transition from one year to another. Before us is a manifestation of the mythology “music as a means of opening the gates between worlds.” In both myth and ritual, song and melody are a magical bridge connecting 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, begging to return Eurydice to the world of the living - and Hades agreed (it was not God’s fault that Orpheus turned around and thereby violated the ban on meeting the gaze of a representative of the world of the dead). When Hermes, having kidnapped Apollo's cows, 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 visible in comparison with the Indian myth of cow theft: the demons of the underworld imprisoned them inside the rock, and the seven sages of Angiras came to free them together with the thunderer Indra, and the sages chanted sacred hymns - and with singing they broke through the rock, freeing the cows. In European fairy tales of Celtic origin, the appearance of elves is accompanied by the melodious ringing of bells or gentle music, and Altai shamans, on the contrary, themselves call the spirits by ringing bells. Not only are contacts between transcendental worlds carried out through sounding words or music, but the very creation of the world often appears as the first sound.

Thus, 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" Väinemöinen creates prototypes of various things by singing, which are then used by all people. Across the ocean, in the epic of the Quiché (Mayan) Indians “Popol Vuh” it is said: “In the beginning everything was in silence,” and then the Word descends from the god Huracan 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 existence without first receiving its name, pronounced loudly."

Against this background, all ritual songs and ritual music, especially loud and rhythmic ones, 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 in the last decade we have borrowed the custom of launching fireworks - not suspecting that the deafening noise of Chinese pyrotechnics is, from a ritual point of view, hardly anything more more significant than the lights.

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

Symbol of the new year 2013- is a black snake, which makes the year 2013 truly unique and unusual in some way. At first glance it may seem that this is a somewhat gloomy symbol, but in the east they believe that the snake is a symbol of the most important components of human life - health, happiness and success. Astrologers say that 2013 is the ideal time for the birth of your first child. The snake as a symbol has always been an indispensable attribute of imperial power. All people who are born under this sign embody valor, ambition, nobility, but they are not devoid of 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 extremely 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 misdeeds from your memory, try to reconcile with your relatives. This holiday is an excellent reason not to start everything from scratch, but to continue writing a “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 Snake will appreciate your originality.

Many people are seriously interested in the attributes and characteristics of each new year, because there is something magical and alluring about it. 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 should expect stability and order in the new year, but they need to be prepared for drastic changes. Thus, the Chinese advise being careful in the year of the snake, trying to plan all important matters and assessing them objectively. This year it is better not to neglect money, because snakes do not like it when they “throw away” their finances over trifles and thoughtlessly. In the year of the Snake, you can safely plan a wedding, as this is a favorable and very successful time for getting married. In addition, this year will be successful for those who work in the scientific field, as it will help make new and unexpected discoveries.

Other signs in the year of the Snake should actively mind their own business, not be afraid of passions, but always make only informed decisions. In general, the coming year will be quite good, but it’s up to us whether it will be really good and successful!

New Year's holidays can be confidently called the most beloved and fun ones. The change of one year to another is an excellent reason to start a new life, change it for the better, take up a new business that you will like and can generate income, make new friends, acquaintances, relatives, in the end. Why on this day? Because from the 1st century AD from the reign of Julian Caesar, this day was considered dedicated to the two-faced Janus - the god of beginnings and choice. What celebration traditions and modern signs should be observed on the New Year in order to attract good luck and make a good start to any business?

History of the celebration

New Year is a Russian holiday, traditionally celebrated on the night from December 31 of the previous year to January 1 of the next year. In pre-Petrine times, the change of one year to another occurred on March 1, then on September 1 (from 1492), and from 1700 the celebration was moved to January 1 according to the Julian calendar, in contrast to all of Europe.

Since 1897, according to the law on the distribution of working time, it was decided to make January 1 a day off, but this decision was revised in 1930, but in 1947 justice was restored, and since then the first day of the new year has been considered a holiday and a day off. Moreover, since 1919 in Russia, the New Year has been celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar.

New Year traditions

Celebration traditions evolved over many centuries and inherited pagan and Christian rituals, to which modern ones were added. The result is a mix of beliefs, traditions, signs, symbols, rules, which are by no means constant and can change depending on the wishes of anyone who wants to brightly celebrate and celebrate the New Year. What can be called current New Year traditions these days?

New Year traditions. Spruce or any coniferous plant.

This is an old symbol of Christmas, which in Russia since 1935 has become a symbol of the New Year. Decorated with toys and lights, it stores gifts and surprises under its branches.

New Year traditions. Father Frost and Snow Maiden.

Characters who were united and became inseparable companions and symbols in 1937. Santa Claus is a collective image that became such thanks to the unification of the ancient beliefs of the Eastern Slavs and the Christian faith, in which St. Nicholas is present. The features of this particular saint can be discerned in Grandfather Frost. Other traditions can vary as much as you like, but three symbols - spruce, Father Frost and Snow Maiden have remained unchanged for 80 years.

New Year traditions. New Year's address from the head of state.

A five-minute appeal to the citizens of the country on the eve of the New Year 1970 was first made by L. I. Brezhnev. Since then, it has become a rule, which was violated only twice, when in 1991, instead of the president, the floor was given to the satirist M. Zadornov. In 1999, B. N. Yeltsin first addressed the country with congratulations and in the same address announced his resignation, and after him his successor, V. V. Putin, took the floor and congratulated the citizens of Russia.

New Year traditions. Making a wish with the chimes striking.

This is a relatively new sign, which suggests that wishes made on New Year's Eve while the chimes are striking (which is 20 seconds) will definitely come true.

New Year traditions. New Year's concert.

Bright shows, songs, dances, performances by famous people have become a good tradition and an integral element of any television program. Since 1975, the TV programs of many channels have included the comedy by E. Ryazanov, beloved by Russians, “The Irony of Love, or Enjoy Your Bath!”

New Year traditions. Firework.

This tradition comes from China, where, according to belief, on New Year's Eve evil spirits seek new refuges. To scare them away, you need to make a lot of noise and light as many lights as possible, which fireworks and fireworks do well.

How to celebrate New Year

There are as many options as there are traditions, habits and opportunities. Some people like delicious food and watching TV shows, others would prefer to go out of town with a group of people for round dances around a live spruce tree, active snowball fights, skating and mulled wine. Enjoys

The new tradition of celebrating the New Year while traveling and in other countries with very different climates and traditions is becoming popular. In order to diversify the holiday and fill it with pleasant adventures, not much needs to be done: break the usual way of thinking and life and, for example, go to the city center, to a bus-party, to hitherto unfamiliar neighbors.

Symbol of the New Year 2018

The dog, a symbol of the coming year, carries with it many warm and positive epithets: sunny, yellow, earthy. This set of characteristics guarantees people an increase in energy and creative potential, filling their lives with pleasant emotions and adventures.

The coming year, compared to previous ones, will be calmer, with less intensity of negative passions and the mandatory inclusion of logic. For those who love to work, who are honest and proactive, the sunny dog ​​will provide support in the form of successful startups, attention and help from friends and strangers.

How to set the table

The dog will love a rich table set with simple, tasty and satisfying dishes, among which meat and fish (from sea fish) must be present. Vegetables are the best companions for meat, and therefore there should also be a lot of them in any form - boiled, steamed, fried or baked. The sunny dog ​​requires that desserts and salads contain vegetables and fruits with the appropriate color, that is, citrus fruits. If products made from dough are provided, then you should give preference to any type of dough except yeast.

So, what to serve? As cold appetizers: assorted meats and fish, jellied, stuffed, baked fish, stew, sauté, vegetable rolls, pickled vegetables and pickled pickles, stuffed eggs. Hot appetizers: julienne, potato nests, mushrooms, etc. Salads: the usual “Olivier”, “Herring under a fur coat”, vinaigrette. Stewed, fried and baked beef, lamb and pork are what an earth dog will most like. The best side dishes on the New Year's menu will be potatoes, turnips, onions, and carrots. Apples, oranges and tangerines, both fresh and as ingredients, are the most suitable dessert. The choice of drinks is determined by the menu, but in the coming year the most appropriate ones will be cranberry juice, homemade grapes, and infusion.

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