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Olga Jarrell
- Dec 28, 2015
Свя́точные гада́ния | Christmas Fortune Telling
January in Russia is the most magical and joyful time, full of hopes and expectations. At all times it has been treated as a border zone between the Old and the New, between winter and spring. The ancient belief states that unearthly powers and spirits become available for contact during this time. In the past, people tried to use this opportunity to foretell the future by interpreting secret signs. This was carried out during the two-week period straight after the Russian Ch
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Olga Jarrell
- Dec 28, 2015
Коляда́ | Pagan Christmas Ritual
'Kolyada' is an ancient pagan winter ritual, which was later incorporated into Christmas. The word is still used in many modern Slavic languages such as Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Czech, and Serbian. One theory states that “kolyada” is the name of a cycle of winter rituals derived from the Latin word calendae (“calendar” - календа́рь). Some claim it was named after Kolyada, the Slavic goddess of winter, who brings up a new sun every day. In modern S
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Olga Jarrell
- Dec 28, 2015
Свя́тки | 12 Days of Christmas: January 7 - January 19
The Twelve Days of Christmas (Svyatki – Свя́тки) begin after Christmas and last until January 19, Epiphany Day. This period of Christmas festivities includes a few pagan traditions. Image: Денисова Дарья. Рождественские колядки One of them is visiting homes and singing carols– ‘kalyadovaniye’. People in Christmas costumes and animal masks took kutia (кутья́) to homes and asked the owners to try some. Sometimes, they would simply sing hymns of praise to Christ or carols (коля́
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Olga Jarrell
- Dec 28, 2015
Соче́льник | Christmas Eve: January 6
On Christmas Eve (Sochelnik – Соче́льник), the Christmas service in Russian Orthodox churches starts and lasts until early morning. On Christmas Eve, the entire family fasts until the first star appears (до пе́рвой звезды́). That's when they sit at the table which features 12 dishes in honor of Jesus's 12 apostles. The feast begins with a sweet porridge called 'kutia' (кутья́) with honey and poppy seed They then proceed to the main customary foods, which in Russia are traditi
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The American Russophile
- Dec 11, 2015
Щелкунчик" Петра Ильича Чайковского. The Nutcracker by Peter Tchaikovsky
How could America get through the holiday season without the sparkling romantic music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" (Rus. Щелкунчик / Schelkunchik)? Tchaikovsky based his ballet suite on Alexandre Dumas père's "The Tale of the Nutcracker" (1845) a re-working of the original E.T.A. Hoffman tale "The Nutcracker and the Rat King" (1816). The Nutcracker ballet premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1892. The ballet, with choreography by Marius Petipa
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