Ukrainian Christmas: how ancestral traditions are preserved and revived
Kyiv • UNN
From pre-Christian beliefs to modern customs - how caroling rituals, didukh symbolism, and other traditions have changed.
Christmas is one of the most beloved holidays of Ukrainians, with deep traditions and symbolism. It combines pre-Christian beliefs, Christian rituals and modern customs adapted to the challenges of the times.
UNN talked to folklorist Yaryna Zakalska to learn more about the origins, changes and revival of Christmas traditions in Ukraine.
The origins of Christmas traditions in Ukraine
“In general, the entire calendar cycle in the Ukrainian tradition is an interweaving of pre-Christian pagan beliefs and Christian beliefs. Today, when we talk about Christmas, we are talking more about the birth of Jesus Christ, but our ancestors celebrated it on December 22, January 21, or January 1. December 22 is the day of the winter solstice, the day when the sun is born, when the days become longer and the nights shorter. And after December 22, the nights became shorter and the days longer. It was just the turn of the new year, the new day, the new sun. It was even the day when the Romans honored this deity,” the folklorist said.
She noted that Rome began celebrating Christmas in accordance with Christian traditions in the 330s. And it was on December 24-25.
“That is, the fact that Ukraine has now switched to the New Julian calendar was not only a political step, but also a natural process. These changes were also supported by pre-Christian beliefs, which we can trace to this day,” said Yaryna Zakalska.
What remains unchanged
Despite the challenges of the time, many traditions have been preserved. For example, didukh still decorates homes, and straw "spiders" are increasingly made in cities during master classes. The rites of caroling and generosity also remained.
"One of the main Christmas attributes is didukh, the first or last obzhinok, which remained unmolested. He was called differently in different regions-grandfather, kolyadnik, sheaf, King. What is its function? In addition to symbolizing the harvest, didukh is also a commemoration of our ancestors. Straw is associated with the cult of deceased ancestors. Didukh was placed in a place of Honor, in the Red Corner, near icons. It was solemnly brought in before dinner," the folklorist said.
Yaryna Zakalska added that in some regions, the grandfather was even symbolically fed, with a plate of apples or water to honor the dead ancestors and “let these souls be fed.
At the end of the holidays, the grain was threshed and stored until the first sowing. And after the holidays, didukh was burned because it absorbed the negative energy of this intermediate period when the souls of the dead came to earth.
So every year a new didukh was prepared.
“Today, even this tradition is being revived. Although it's not easy to make didukh in urban environments, I know of cases where it is kept not for one year, but as an attribute of Christmas for several years,” the folklorist added.
Ukrainians try to adhere to traditions or restore something, but sometimes this is simplified.
"My colleague said that, as I have already said, didukh is burned, but before that it is separated, threshing, as I said, separating grain from spikelets. And here in one restaurant, as if they wanted to revive this tradition and burn it, as if they had already done everything right, but they burned all the didukh, that is, not only straw, but also grain. This should not be done, because the grain was stored until the first sowing, so that there was a good harvest," Yarina Zakalskaya said.
So, even when such a simplification occurs, they often do not think about actions, do not comprehend them, and do not understand how to do it correctly.
"Another of the attributes that is being preserved and that I see is now being revived again is straw spiders. They were not available in all regions, but they existed, they were made by girls on the eve of the holidays. A spider in the pre — Christian sense is a symbol of the universe, because a spider is a three — dimensional structure consisting of various small parts connected to each other. To make one small spider, it took 12 straws, which were cut into pieces and then tied together. Then these spiders were combined into one structure, forming a three — dimensional spider," the folklorist shared.
If we talk about the Christian version, it is as follows: When Mary, Joseph and Jesus fled from the soldiers of Herod, they found a cave where they hid, and spiders wove a web.
“And thanks to this, Herod's soldiers decided that the cave was abandoned because it was covered with cobwebs. That's why the spider has a respectful attitude in the Ukrainian tradition,” the folklorist said.
The spider was hung to the ceiling, now usually to the ceiling or chandelier. And because of the constant movement of air, when the door in the House opened, the spider began to move. If the Spider stopped, it was considered a bad sign for the owners.
Another custom was to watch the Spider move: either to the left or to the right. This also made a difference.
If the spider moved to the right, it was considered a good sign, indicating harmony, positive energy in the house, and the well-being of the family. And if it moved to the left (counterclockwise), it could be a warning of negative changes.
As for the spider's prevalence, now, thanks to workshops and the popularization of traditions, it has become known in many regions. According to the folklorist, this custom was not everywhere before.
If we talk about didukh, then, for example, in the Carpathians, where Rye does not give birth so well, they could not put it. Similarly, kutya did not always prepare in all regions.
Despite the common features, each region has its own characteristics, but there is nothing unambiguous.
The Importance of preserving traditions
In the context of a full-scale war, the issue of identity has become extremely important. There is a great interest in traditions, in their national identity.
"Just the other day I saw a master class on making a spider near the Metro, which few people heard about 10-15 years ago. museums hold master classes on making a didukh, a Christmas star with which carolers go, fairs, folklore groups, which have recently appeared a lot," the folklorist said. There is also a lot of literature on this topic, although, however, not always of high quality," Yarina Zakalskaya added.
There is also a noticeable revival of interest in traditions and cooking. Maybe not everyone cooks 12 courses, but families still gather at the festive table.
“At the same time, I recently attended a lecture at a school where I was talking to children about caroling. I asked them if they went carolling, and they looked at me a little surprised. At most two children said they go because their grandfather gives them money. It's not like before, when they went from house to house. Now there are such cases, but it's not as widespread as, say, I would like it to be,” said Yaryna Zakalska.
caroling and giving: from the past to the present
In addition to the attributes and preparation of the festive table, caroling occupies an important place in the celebration cycle.
Carolers are considered messengers from the dead, they are like pendulums between the living and the dead. When a caroler enters the house, he sends greetings from deceased ancestors to us, the living.
“The carolers usually started caroling by standing under the windows, because the window is a boundary space in traditional culture. They would ask their hosts if they could come in and carol. The caroling ritual consists of several stages. The first stage is the arrival of the carolers to the house. If the owner allowed it, the carolers would come in. They came to wish the owners good and prosperity for the whole year, from Christmas to Christmas,” says Yaryna Zakalska.
When carolers were invited, they would perform carols, and after that there was always a Christmas wreath, a wish from someone from the group of carolers. After the wreathing, the carolers would be given gifts. These were sweets, gingerbread, nuts, and apples. “Even one of the carols says: “Apples and nuts are my treats.” This all went on, and of course, carols often asked for a reward, just like a child's carol: “Koliad, koliad, koliadnytsia, a good cake with honey, but without honey it's not so good, give me a nickel, auntie.“ If the owners were stingy, the carolers would write humorous poems in which they would mock them for not wanting to give them a generous gift,” the folklorist said.
Previously, mostly Bachelor bands caroled. The girls were generous, and the boys were caroling. The group chose a leader, who was called "Birch", who was responsible for the entire group, for the repertoire.
Today, this tradition, in particular in the Carpathians, is preserved, but in general it has already died out.
Children went to caroling separately, and there was a separate topic for them. There was also such a character as Mikhonosha, who was responsible for treats and for the "cash register" — in our time, this can be compared to a cashier.
"Today, when we talk about carols, many people remember the birth of Jesus Christ, but carols are not limited to this. There are secular carols and Church Carols. Social carols were often performed for each family member separately," Zakalskaya said.
There were separate cycles of carols for each person in the house: for the owner, hostess, for guys, for girls, in whom their features were glorified. For young people, there were often marriage motives when they wanted a good couple for marriage or marriage. Separately, they could caroling for those who died during the year, or for soldiers who were in the service.
And already during the war, these carols, thanks to Cultural Archives, records of folklorists, came to life, they were actually reanimated.
“I know of cases when carols were sung in families where a man was at war. In addition, they could even sing carols for animals, such as oxen and bees, because bees are considered to be God's creatures,” the folklorist said.
Also, many carols were recorded that tell about the creation of the world.
Children's carols are such that children who can't sing well yet can just talk. They are simple in form, not sung, but more pronounced. And, of course, they often focus on getting rewarded.
And, of course, there are well-known Christian Church Carols, which are the most popular and well-known. These are, for example," a new Joy has become"," heaven and Earth", which are familiar to the general public. But there are also lesser-known recordings of texts, such as the carol about St. Barbara.
"Also, as I have already mentioned, a mandatory element is congratulating the family, owners. Many carols usually had named texts, where the name changed depending on the name of the girl or guy in the family. Vanechka, Nikolai, Mikhail, Peter, Galya, Elena — these were very common options," Zakalskaya said.
The folklorist added that today, when carolers enter the house, knowing this layer of ancient carols, not only for popular motifs, they ask what the name of a girl or a guy is, and caroling them with wishes to find a couple or get married.
“When you ask people about folklore, many say that it's something archaic and outmoded. But in fact, folklore actively responds to all the challenges of society. And there are many newly created carols. This is not a novelty of our time alone. In fact, it has always been like this: folklore responds to events in society,” Zakalska said.
In particular, there is a whole cycle of insurgent carols that are being actively reactivated today in the context of war. A well-known insurgent carol is “Sad Holy Evening,” which was popular in 1946 in western Ukraine. Now it takes on new meanings related to the war.
And there are already many options for" sad holy evening " from 2016, 2022. In the original text, it was about the owner who was in Siberia, and the family had dinner without him. Now this image has been changed to the owner, who is at war.
There are also author's texts that have become famous, for example, the Christmas Carol in Bakhmut "there in Bakhmut". It is an author's song, but due to the fact that its theme and content are very close to society, it quickly adapted and became performed by various groups.
Local peculiarities of the celebration
As for the traditions of caroling in different regions of Ukraine, it starts differently in each region. In many, but mainly in western regions, caroling is still performed on Holy evening, but this usually happens in the family circle.
In most regions, caroling lasts until January 7 and continues until the end of the festive cycle, until Epiphany, or even before schism. Rozkolyada is a period when they say goodbye to carols and want to have a good year until the next one.
But between these periods, when carols are performed, there is also a generous evening, which now falls on December 31, when people go to be generous.
"As for the gender difference, girls usually went to be generous, but boys — not very often. There are still disputes about this, but, unlike Kolyada, this tradition does not have such a clear consistency," the folklorist said.
She noticed that some people say that carols are for Christmas, and shchedrivki is for a generous evening. Someone explains that shchedrivki is a wish to live a year generously, and carols are a glorification of the birth of Jesus Christ.
"Although, as I have already noted, this is not only about the birth of Jesus Christ, if you look at archaic texts. There is also an opinion that shchedrivki is purely Ukrainian, and carols are known among many peoples of the world. But this is not entirely true, because shchedrivki is also common in Belarus and in some regions of Poland," Zakalska shared.
It also happens that the text remains the same, but the refrain changes: instead of "holy evening" it can be "generous evening". There are also many children's shchedrivki.
Now there are different options for shchedrivok: children's and adults. However, for the most part, they are performed by children.
"There is an opinion among scientists that the tradition fades when carols and shchedrivki pass exclusively into the children's repertoire. And in some regions, this is true: at best, only children, and sometimes there is no such tradition at all. Although there is an interest, a revival of interest in traditions, but there is still a lot of work to preserve them," the folklorist said.
As for the influence of European traditions, no development would have taken place without it. Migration processes are absolutely natural phenomena, says Yarina Zakalskaya. And while we often like to talk about our uniqueness, without this influence, our traditions wouldn't be what they are.
The Christmas tree is not a Soviet invention
For example, the Christmas tree, which, as they often say, is a "Soviet heritage", actually appeared in Ukraine in the XV century. The custom of putting up a Christmas tree for Christmas came to us from the Germans during the Reformation, around the XVIII—XIX centuries. The first mention of Christmas trees in Ukraine dates back to the beginning of 1811 in Odessa.
At first, Christmas trees were placed only in the squares of cities. At first, they were decorated with colored ribbons, vytynanki, apples, gingerbread, nuts. With the advent of factories, they began to make the usual balloons and other jewelry. Instead of candles, garlands appeared on the Christmas trees.
"After reading the letters of Ukrainian writers, such as Hrushevsky and Lesya Ukrainka, you can find out that Christmas trees in cities were put up already at the beginning of the XIX century. The Christmas tree was considered a gift for children, and parents said that the Christmas tree was brought by an angel or Jesus Christ himself," Yarina Zakalskaya said.
And on Christmas morning, parents removed sweets, gingerbread, apples from the Christmas tree and distributed them to their children as gifts. The Christmas tree symbolized the tree of paradise, giving children joy and blessings for the new year.
"If you look at the color and the Christmas tree, then in our tradition the Christmas tree is a symbol of Evergreen life, and we can also say that it can be associated with the cult of deceased ancestors. Green color in this case is ambivalent: on the one hand, it means life, and on the other — it can be considered as one of the symbols of the other world," the folklorist added.
However, recently we have noticed that in Ukraine they do not practice hanging wreaths on the door, as it was before.
"This is probably the result of a lack of understanding of traditions, and perhaps it is not the fault of people, but rather of those who should explain and promote these cultural features," Yarina Zakalskaya said.
Christmas gifts and gingerbread – the spirit of the holiday
Gifts were placed not only under the Christmas tree, but also on the table near it, they could even put them in Boots. Yes, this was also the case in Ukraine, and not just the Western tradition. Gifts were also given at Christmas. In some regions, in particular in Polesie, children on St. Nicholas Left Socks for gifts instead of under their pillows.
"Although most people will think that this is a Western tradition, and it was also characteristic of some territories of Ukraine," the folklorist added.
She also added that we have our own gingerbread cookies.
"For example, in the Poltava region, special gingerbread was made in Kotelva, which became part of festive rituals. These traditions have come to life in recent years. Gingerbread men are young ladies for girls, and grasshoppers are Horsemen for boys. They were baked for Christmas and given to carolers. In many regions, these are honey cakes
And the Western tradition is different little men, also honey cakes.
But what is interesting: the Western tradition of making gingerbread in the form of men in Ukraine also exists.
"However, why borrow someone else's when you have your own traditions, and they are no less interesting and significant for our culture?",- summed up Yarina Zakalskaya.
