Traditions - are elements of culture, transmitted from generation to generation and preserved for a long time. Ukrainian nation is famous for its rich culture and ancient traditions. Many of them have survived to today. I would like to talk about winter customs and traditions that are passed to us from our ancestors.
When I was a child, my favorite holiday was the feast of St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas in his life on earth loved to help secretly the needy. There are many legends about his miraculous rescue of people. And we most entrenched tradition that St. Nicholas brings his gifts to polite children. I think we should do everything possible to provide this tradition of educational content. Distribution of gifts should be linked with appropriate sketches, recitation and singing children. It is important to accept and honor the Holy One, not only to receive gifts. His gifts must have educational value, too. Power of gifts should not be in the magnitude or expensive price, but in that children are well deserved them. Therefore we must also eliminate adopted this habit that children received gifts as soon as possible and without destroying any attention. Therefore we must also eliminate adopted habit that children destroy received gifts as soon as possible and without any attention.
Christmas in Ukraine is celebrated January 7 according to the Gregorian calendar as in most of other Orthodox Christian countries. There are numerous Christmas traditions here. They vary significantly at the different parts of Ukraine.
In most parts of Ukraine on the Christmas Eve people create so-called ‘. These are scenes from Bible of Jesus birth. They show little Jesus in manger, Mary, strangers offering their gifts and Bethlehem star in the sky. Those verteps are exhibited at public places, usually near or inside churches. At night candles are installed inside verteps for people who come to church for the night service can observe them.
The Christmas Eve is called in Ukraine Holy Evening sometimes also called Holy Supper. People usually cook some tasty foods for this evening. There should be at least 12 different foods on the table. Those should mandatory include ‘Kutia’ -- the ritual food which is prepared from cooked wheat and special syrup containing diluted honey, grated poppy seeds, raisins and sometimes walnuts.
For this evening people install and decorate Christmas trees in their houses. Another tradition exists in some regions of Western Ukraine to decorate the table with ‘Didukh’ -- a sheaf of oats or wheat of special shape: with four legs and numerous little bundles. It symbolizes prosperity for the next year.
Next day in some villages in Western Ukraine people organize some folk performances which obviously were inspired by ancient pagan habits. They dress up themselves as monsters with pelts and horns and run through the village trying to scare people. After that they run to the special place on the outskirts of the village and there happens the main act: they fight with all people of the village and finally are defeated. The scarecrows are burned in the big fire. And all people are dancing around this fire. This symbolizes the fight of Good and Evil and that Good defeated Evil for the whole next year.
Also one of my favorite holiday is New Year. There are many traditions of celebrating of the New Year in Ukraine and they changed, as the century changed. Most of them are borrowed from western culture. A symbol of the New Year in Ukraine is Ded Moroz – American’s Santa Claus and his granddaughter, Snow Maiden. Santa rooted in the tradition of New Year celebrations in Ukraine and is now everyone's favorite kind grandfather, from whom millions of children across the country expect New Year presents.
One prepares by the New Year in advance. There is prepared a festive table, decorated the Christmas tree toys. New Year is a family celebration, because all the relatives gather around the table to see off the old year, wishing all bad to be left, and the New Year to bring only good things and waiting for midnight. At midnight comes the new year and all congratulate each other after its arrival, and on city streets one could hear laughter and see the fireworks.
There is another interesting feature of New Year celebrations in Ukraine, it is connected with the fact that Peter I shifted its date. So far, 13 January is still celebrated by people of Ukraine, but it is called old New Year. Old New Year - a rare historical phenomenon and an additional holiday for the Ukrainian people. It is celebrated though with smaller celebrations. It is significant that on this day, according to ancient traditions, boys and girls should go into the house to change into different costumes and masks, sing holiday songs. For that the owners should give them gifts. That evening after dinner it is necessarily to go to the neighbors and to apologize for the possible guilt to each other, to meet the New Year in peace and harmony.
These winter holidays were and still are my favorite today. They remind me about childhood, bringing some magic and fairytale. Even now, when I’m not a child any more, I'm waiting impatiently these holidays and diligently preparing for their celebration.
