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Orthodox New Year: on the night of 13th to 14th January reading the future and congratulate everyone
Orthodox New Year: on the night of 13th to 14th January reading the future and congratulate everyone
Russia has adopted the Gregorian calendar only in 1918. But even when we began to use the same calculation of the year, as in Europe, the New Year by the old calendar still being celebrated. In addition to the habits and prejudices to everything the reason was that the Orthodox Church did not follow the Soviet government and continued to follow the Julian calendar, by which New Year’s day was on the night of 13th to 14th of January.
And on 14th January we have the Orthodox celebration of St. Basil – patron of rural residents, farmers and ranchers.
It was believed that a hearty meal will appease St. Basil for a year ahead. The peasants had a tradition for the New Year to serve the buckwheat made on the broth of pork legs, rich-ones covered tables headed with roasted pork with buckwheat porridge. After the Orthodox Christmas post it was a real delicious. Fish dishes were not appropriate for the dinner this day. Russians preferred tinctures and fruit liqueurs.
With the consolidation of the new time the habit to celebrate that day has not faded from the memory of Russians. The famous Soviet Book about tasty and healthy food of 1952 year was published with an amount of half a million copies that were bought in a few days, starts with the famous Baltermants photo of the Soviet festive table, where the central place took a dish made of pork. And there were three recipes for preparing the pork dish: roasted, jellied and cold with horseradish.
However, January 14, 2019 will certainly be an exception to the rule: in Russia adore the Chinese symbolism of the New year, and despite the fact that the Chinese New year comes only on 5th February, the Russians are touched by the frills mini-pigou on the Internet for a month in a row and unlikely to represent the pork on your table in the Old New year: after all, a pig is a symbol of 2019 according to Chinese tradition.
The main feature of the New Year according to the Old Style is fortune-telling. On the night of 13th to 14th, you can read the future with anything, to whom and how you want!! People usually use old valenki, books, mirrors and wax for it. According to ancient usage, after midnight people go out and have to congratulate everyone who they meet on their way.
For reference
24 February 1582 Pope Gregory XIII changed the Julian calendar to the Gregorian, entering a new counting of calendar time, which eliminated 13-day-long difference of the Julian calendar against the solar year. Cause of reform was getting the actual day of the vernal equinox on March 10, while the Julian calendar attributed to this day another date: March 21st . Leap years, when in February, not 28, but 29 days, was also calculated less frequently (according to the Gregorian calendar were not leap years that are multiples of 100 but not multiples of 400, for example, 1700, 1800, 1900).
