Christmas and New Year in Ukraine

Anya wrote and sent this email about Christmas and the New Year in the Ukraine so I wanted to post it so my family could read about some of the Ukraine traditions.  Maybe we'll have to implement some of these next year....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

The first winter holiday that Ukrainians (and most countries of former USSR) have is New Year, not Christmas! As well as in other countries, New Year is celebrated on the 31^st of Dec- 1^st of Jan. J Though celebration here goes on at least for couple of days. After New Year we celebrate Christmas. Ukrainian Christmas is on the 7^th of January. The 6^th of January is considered to be the Holy Day (night). Then, you will probably be surprised to find out that there is also such a holiday as Old New Year. J (only people with great love to celebrations could have that many holidays, right?) JJJ Old New Year is just a New Year under the old calendar. The difference is two weeks, and pretty much, that’s the difference we have between your Christmas and ours. We call 25^th of Dec Western Christmas, as people in Europe celebrate their Christmas also on the 25^th.

Winter holidays here are very traditional and they are fun for children! The equivalent of Santa Claus here is Ded Moroz (means Father Frost)! Unlike your Santa Ded Moroz has one very special helper- his granddaughter Snegurochka! (means Snowgirl) and lots of forest creatures that help to pack all the toys and do Christmas ornaments and such. Forest creatures include not only bunnies and hedgehogs, bears and squirrels, but also different kinds of birds. As a rule in old cartoons wolves and cunning foxes are always the animals that try to steal some toys and candy from Ded Moroz, so “such evil animals” will not be helpers in the house of Ded Moroz at all. Ded Moroz lives in the forest, he often walks there and sees that the trees are always covered with snow. He and his granddaughter use sledge with deer or three white horses or sometimes skies to come to the city to visit all the children. How our Ded Moroz gets inside the house is unknown!!! But he is always there when children are asleep and all the presents are left under the New Year (Christmas) tree. (not in the Christmas stockings or shoes, etc). Ded Moroz and Snegurochka often come together to put presents, but as a rule it’s considered that Ded Moroz does it himself, Snegurochka only helps in the house to pack all presents.

Ded Moroz is dressed usually into a long red or blue coat and has a big stick (crystal or wooden, white or silver in color) in his hands that helps him do the magic (such as start snow, or put lights on the New Year tree, etc (see on the picture). Snegurochka can be either a very little girl or a teen-ager. She can have either blue, white or red dress (long or middle length) or a nicely done winter coat. Also on her head she has either a winter hat, or a nice crown. (see pictures). They both have winter boots to match the outfit, boots should have also very nice design done with gold and silver or simply with hand-made designs. (plus their outfits are also hand-made with a lot of wonderful things like snowflakes or glass beads, etc). Ded Moroz carries a big sack, there one can find all the presents. He takes out a present and can always guess who wants what! J

All children celebrate New Year at schools, (orphanages, too, of course!) also in palaces of culture (they come to see a big New Year tree and a fairy-tale about Ded Moroz and Snegurochka! They always dress in different costumes (like you do for Halloween!) Children have fun dancing around the New Year tree, reciting by heart the poems about Ded Moroz and his granddaughter or winter holidays or winter. Children get presents from Ded Moroz for telling a good poem and also for having very nice costumes!

Ded Moroz comes both for New Year and Christmas (in some families only for New Year). But Christmas is more traditional and more of a family holiday. For Christmas everyone gets to visit their relatives and friends with a special dinner that is called “vecherya”! It’s an old tradition. People bake a lot of pies and cakes for Christmas, and also cook a special sweet kind of soup -“kutya”! Kutya is made of well-boiled wheat, poppy seeds, honey and walnuts. It’s a very old recipe and very tasty (even though it’s unusual as we don’t use wheat in every day’s cooking and poppy seeds we only use to put on bread or into some pies). Kutya and pies are always nicely packed and taken to parents, grandparents and all friends and relatives. So for the 6^th and 7^th people end up going from one house to another all the time J It’s a lot of fun! Beside that, children come for the 6^th and 7^th and do what you would consider “trick-or-treat” for Halloween. Children or teen-agers go from one house to another, they recite poems or sing a song that wishes a host and a hostess of the house and the whole family only good things: well-being, good harvest, always good health, long years of life, etc! For this they get candy and small money (about one or two hryvnas, which is around 20-40cents)! J Each day we have about 5-10 children coming! It’s a good sign, so all people let the kids in! Such going from one house to another is called “kolyadovat”.

As for the Old New Year, it also has a lot of traditions involved. For the 13^th (late in the evening), children again go from one house to another and ask to be admitted to “posevat” (sing songs or recite poems again, throw wheat). Children always bring some grain with them, it should be wheat or wheat and rice together! While they recite poems or sing a song they throw wheat on children and parents in the house! They wish them health and well-being, and also they throw seeds on the floor. One shouldn’t sweep the seeds away at least for 1 or 2 days! J They will bring luck for the upcoming year. Such goes on to the morning of the 14^th. BUT! Starting 12 midnight from the 13^th and all the day of the 14^th, women are not allowed into the houses! They would bring bad luck! Man should be the first to step into the house early morning of the 14^th! Man is supposed to bring luck. So, only boys go reciting poems early in the morning, and again they throw wheat, too. Of course, it’s a very old tradition, some people still believe in it, some don’t, but mostly all people do it, just to keep the custom of the holiday!!!

In any case, our winter holidays are very interesting and traditional. I wish you Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! Maybe Ded Moroz and Snegurochka will come to your house this year, too??? JJJ

 С Новым Годом и Рождеством!

 (Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!)