Meet the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14. Once this day fell on January 1 and was called Vasiliev's day, and its eve - December 31 (which became January 13) - Vasiliev's evening. Belarusians and Ukrainians call this time - a generous evening, in the central and some southern regions of Russia - oatmeal. We will figure out how to celebrate the Old New Year, as it was celebrated before, and also find out what to cook for the Old New Year, what traditions should be observed, what signs to believe in.

On the night of January 13-14, Russians celebrate the New Year according to the old style, or, as the people say, the Old New Year. This amazing holiday has a lot of traditions and signs. We will understand the history of the Old New Year, how it was celebrated at different times in Russia, and also find out what to cook for the Old New Year, what traditions should be observed, what signs to believe in.

Old New Year - the history of the holiday

New Year in Russia, by decree of Peter I, began to be celebrated on January 1 in 1700, and they began to celebrate the Old New Year in 1918, when Soviet Russia switched from the former Julian to the Gregorian calendar adopted in Europe. The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year appeared thanks to believers. Due to the difference between the calendars in Russia, Christmas and New Year until 1919 were celebrated 13 days later than in Europe. But the Russian Orthodox Church did not obey the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of 1918 and did not accept the Gregorian calendar. With the official introduction of the new calendar, Christmas, as before celebrated on December 25 according to the old style, "moved" to January 7. And the Orthodox continued to celebrate the New Year as before - six days after Christmas, that is, on the night of January 13-14.

Interesting:

In 1918, when, during the transition to a new chronology, an amendment was introduced for 13 days, immediately after January 31, 1918, February 14 came in Russia.

The dissimilarity between the dates of the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases every century. In the XX-XXI centuries this difference is 13, and from March 2100 there will be 14 days.

On the night of January 13-14, the Old New Year is celebrated (among Belarusians and Ukrainians it is known as - a generous evening, in the central and some southern regions of Russia as - oatmeal). This tradition arose after 1918, when a new chronology was introduced in Russia. Once this day fell on January 1 and was called Vasiliev's day (the day of memory of St. Basil the Great, and his eve - December 31 (which became January 13) - Vasiliev's evening.

The evening on the eve of the Old New Year was popularly called generous. On the morning of January 13 (Melanie's (Melanka's) day), it was necessary to cook porridge cooked from whole grains of wheat. It could be seasoned with meat or lard, or sprinkled with honey, sugar or jam. In addition, the hostesses baked pancakes, prepared pies and dumplings with cottage cheese to thank the guests. Pork dishes were considered the most important dish for the Old New Year, by the way, St. Basil the Great was considered the patron saint of pig breeders. “A pig and a pig for Vasily’s evening”, “a pig is not clean, but God has nothing unclean - Vasily will sanctify the winter!”, Says the proverbs about this day. This animal symbolized fertility and prosperity. On this day, it was customary to generously set the table: a generous table on this day is prosperity throughout the year.

In the evening, people visited their neighbors to celebrate the New Year in peace and harmony. According to popular beliefs, it was considered important who would be the first guest in the house in the New Year. It was a good sign if the first was a young man from a respected large family with a good household. And on the morning of December 14, young people went to the crossroads to burn "Grandfather" or "Didukh" - sheaves of straw. Young people jumped over the fire, which symbolized the cleansing from wickedness.

Preparations were made for Vasily's evening in advance. They sewed or bought beautiful clothes for him. The hostesses put on the table all the best that was in the house: pies, kutya, meat, wine, beer, vodka. Traditionally, a pig was prepared for this evening. He was a symbol of the fertility of the earth and the fertility of livestock in the coming year. Our ancestors, like modern Russians, believed “as you celebrate the New Year, so you will spend it”: it was believed that an abundance of food on the first day of the year would bring prosperity for the whole year.

Another culinary custom is cooking porridge. The rite was performed before dawn; when the porridge ripened, the hostess took the pot out of the oven, and the whole family began to examine it. If the pot cracked or the porridge came out unsuccessful, this foreshadowed the worst. If the porridge turned out lush and tasty, they expected happiness for the whole house.

In some parts of Russia, caroling was performed on this day. For example, in the Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Tula, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg regions, the detour rite "oose" was popular. The tradition got its name from the song that was sung while going from house to house - "Fall". People went from house to house and sang songs. The participants of the round approached from house to house and asked permission from the owners: “Is it possible to click the oat?”, And they answered: “Call!” Then the ritual participants performed autumn songs to each member of the family separately. The most important “ovsen”, designed to ensure the well-being of the home and family, were addressed to the owner and his eldest sons. At the end, the generous owners of the house gave gifts to the performers.

Gardeners at midnight shake off the snow from the apple trees - for the harvest.

If at night the wind blows from the south - the year will be hot and prosperous, from the west - to an abundance of milk and fish, from the east - wait for the fruit harvest.

Vasily's night is starry - to the harvest of berries.

A lot of fluffy frost on the trees foreshadowed a good honey flow.

What to cook for the Old New Year

It is customary to spend the evening and night from January 13 to 14 with the family at the festive table. Our ancestors on the New Year's table always cooked a pig in their own juice, and made a dish of a hare and a rooster. All this was very symbolic:
the pig promised wealth and prosperity in the house next year;

Hare - speed and success in business;

Rooster - flying lightness and freedom.

If you want to set your festive table this evening according to ancient traditions, prepare a generous kutya or juicy. It is believed that the more varied the tastier and more satisfying the kutia, the greater the prosperity in the family next year. So try and cook it really generous and rich: do not spare nuts, raisins, halva, honey, etc. In previous years, kutya was cooked from buckwheat, wheat, barley, but ordinary rice will also be quite suitable. When choosing wheat, try the grain on the tooth, it should fall apart easily, hard grain is not suitable for kutya. All Sochi products have a symbolic meaning:

The grain symbolizes new life;

Honey - well-being and health;

Poppy - wealth in the house.

Traditional kutya recipe

Ingredients for traditional kutya:

Wheat - 2 tbsp, poppy seeds - 200 g, walnuts - 200 g, raisins - 150 g, honey - 3 tbsp.

How to cook traditional kutya:

Soak peeled and washed wheat grains overnight in cold water. In the morning, drain the water, rinse the wheat, pour hot water over it and cook until tender over low heat. Top up with a little water as needed. The porridge should be soft and crumbly. Cool the finished porridge and mix with a tablespoon of honey. Soak poppy seeds and raisins in boiling water for 30 minutes, each separately. Then drain the poppy, add 1 tablespoon of honey and grind on a blender until poppy milk is obtained. It is better, of course, to do it in makitra - for authenticity. Roast nuts until crispy. Drain the raisins. Mix all ingredients, add honey. If the kutya is thick, then it is supposed to be diluted not with water, but with a knot, the recipe of which we have given at the end of the article.

Generous rice kutya recipe

Ingredients for generous rice kutya:

1 cup rice, 100 g honey, 100 g nuts, 100 g raisins, 150 g poppy seeds, butter to taste, salt to taste

How to cook sochivo (kutya):

Prepare fluffy rice in the usual way. Nuts, if required, roast, peel and chop. You can use any, according to your taste. Rinse raisins and steam with boiling water. Poppy also steam with boiling water, let stand so that it swells. Drain the water and grind in a mortar or coffee grinder. Get poppy milk. Melt the butter and pour over the porridge. Send nuts, raisins, poppy milk and liquid honey there. If the honey is thick, it can be slightly diluted with water or cream. Mix everything and let stand kutya. The taste of this sweet porridge can be varied with homemade jam, vanilla, candied fruits, and so on.

Generous wheat kutya recipe

Ingredients for generous wheat kutya:

200 grams of wheat, half a glass of poppy seeds, 100 grams of walnuts, sugar to taste, sweets (raisins, candied fruit, marmalade) to taste

How to cook kutya:

Rinse the wheat well, pour the grains with warm water, let them swell a little and cook in a large amount of water into a crumbly porridge. Add water (or uzvar), sugar (honey), crushed nuts, raisins to the steamed and grated poppy, and combine all this with wheat. Ready kutya can be put on a small fire again and warmed up (5-7 minutes).

Vareniki with a surprise for the Old New Year

The Old New Year is a quiet, family holiday with its own traditions. One of them is to make dumplings with surprises. This is an old tradition that originated from the custom of divination during the holy week. The filling in dumplings symbolizes good wishes for the next year. Rather, the filling is made as usual - cottage cheese or potato, and when molded, "surprises" are added. You can not endanger the teeth of guests and stuff dumplings with oranges or cabbage - such fillings are also of particular importance.

Important! Be sure to warn guests if you put hard objects in dumplings!

Surprise dumplings recipe

If there is very little time, then you can use the purchased unleavened frozen dough and stick dumplings from it.

Ingredients for dumpling dough:

1 egg, 4 cups flour, 1 cup water, 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 2 tsp. sugar, salt

How to cook dumplings with a surprise:

Mix flour with sugar and salt, make a slide.

Make a well at the top and break the egg into it, pour in the water and oil.

Knead a stiff dough, knead until it becomes smooth, homogeneous.

Refrigerate for two hours, covered with clingfilm to keep warm. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Sprinkle the table with flour, roll out the dough with a thin layer, cut it into circles with a glass.

Put the filling in the middle of the mug, fold the dough in half, pinch the edges.

Boil - by throwing into boiling water.

The meanings of surprise fillings

Orange - to enjoy

Peanuts - for a love affair

Cherry - good luck

Peas - home peace

Walnut - health

Buckwheat - favorable and profitable news

Mushrooms - for a long and happy life

Big money - big win

Grain - to wealth

Raisins - to the great temptation

Cabbage - for money

Caramel - to love

Potato - to increase at work

Cranberries - to unexpected changes in life

Ring - for the wedding

Red pepper - to chagrin

Dried apricots - to joy

Bay leaf - to glory (career growth)

Honey - health

Coin - a prosperous year in material terms

Carrots - to new acquaintances

torment - to suffer

Meat - for well-being

White thread - long journey (long and long journey)

Green thread - the road abroad

Thread with knots - for a difficult year

Black thread - a short and not very long trip

Cucumber - to a strong man, good sex

Walnut - immediately to two fans (admirers)

Pepper - thrill

Ground allspice - to "hot", i.e. eventful life, serious changes

Button - for a new thing

Millet - futile chores

Rice - well-being in the house

Sugar - sweet life (easy, favorable year)

Seeds - to new fruitful plans

Salt - to quarrels and failures (tears)

Capsicum - to sexual pleasures

Cheese - to win

Cottage cheese - to new friends

Dough, beans, or fish scales - to replenish the family

Dill - for good health

Hazelnuts - to successful acquisitions

Bread - the year will be full, good

Chain - strengthening family ties

Black peppercorns - to friends (to new friendships)

Garlic - for a marriage of convenience

Apple - to a well-deserved reward

Divination for the Old New Year

Vasiliev evening was recognized as the most successful time for predicting the future. They said that everything guessed at this time will certainly come true. However, the Orthodox Church does not approve of fortune-telling.

Divination for the Old New Year on a ring, bread and a hook: the three things listed are put in a bowl along with pieces of bread, coals, pebbles and other small items. The vessel is covered with a towel, after which each young lady, without looking, drags the first thing that comes across (the pulled out is then returned to the vessel). If he pulls out bread, the husband will be rich, if the ring is handsome, if the hook is disabled or poor.

Fortune telling on the Old New Year on the bulbs is carried out as follows: all the girls take an onion and place them with their roots in the water, after which they observe - whose bulb will give green sprouts earlier, that girl will be married earlier.

Divination for the Old New Year by dogs. The girl remains alone in the room, after which the dog is let in. If the dog immediately runs up to the girl, then family life will be happy, if he starts smelling the floor first, then the husband will be angry, and family life will be unhappy, if the dog starts caressing, then the husband will be affectionate.

Divination for the Old New Year on the names of passers-by. You need to leave the house and call out to the first male person you meet, asking what his name is. What name he calls - that will be the name of the future husband.

Divination for the Old New Year on a comb. Before going to bed, the girl puts a comb under the pillow with the words "Narrowed, mummers, come and comb my hair." If in a dream she sees a man combing her hair, then this year to be married to the person who dreamed.

Divination for the Old New Year in conversations. They went to eavesdrop under the neighbors' windows and, by what they heard, judged the future marriage. If they scolded in the hut, then the husband will be angry, if they laughed - a merry fellow, if they drank - a drunkard, etc.

Divination for the Old New Year according to the book. To do this, a book is taken and each girl asks a question in turn, and then calls the page number and the line (bottom or top) containing the answer. The answer is in the book. The works of the classics of Russian literature are great for fortune-telling (just be careful with Dostoevsky! But Tolstoy or Pushkin are just perfect). It is better to formulate the question in such a way that it suggests a detailed answer, and not “yes-no”.

According to the Orthodox calendar, January 13 is the day of memory of St. Melania (Melanka), January 14 is the day of St. Basil the Great. Therefore, the people call the night of January 13-14 the meeting of Vasily with Melanka. According to an old tradition, a "generous" Vasiliev evening was celebrated on New Year's Eve. On this day, it was customary to richly, generously set the table. Pork dishes were especially valued, because St. Basil the Great was considered the patron saint of pig breeders.

On Basil, as well as on Christmas, they cook kutya, which is called generous. You need to cook it early in the morning, while carefully monitoring the process - in the old days it was believed that if kutya gets out of the pot or the pot itself cracks, it will be a disaster. Therefore, if kutya was successful, they ate it clean, but if one of the bad omens came true, they threw it away together with the pot, preferably into the hole.

By New Year's dinner, as at Christmas, it is customary for the whole family to sit down. It is very important that the clothes on this day are thoroughly laundered and clean. After dinner, it was customary to go to the neighbors and ask one for one for forgiveness for possible guilt before each other, so that they could celebrate the New Year in peace and harmony.

Melanka's holiday was popular among young people. For example, guys that evening could get a second chance - if the matchmaking for some guy was unsuccessful, and he was refused in the form of a watermelon, on the evening before the New Year, he had the right to try again. But the girls liked to guess at Melanka. "The red girl will think of Vasily - everything will come true, and what will come true - will not pass!" - said the people.

If at Christmas in Ukraine they carol - they go from house to house and sing ritual songs of carols, which tell about the birth of the son of God, then on the Old New Year, on the Generous evening, they are generous - they sing ritual songs of schedrivka, in which they wish the owners of the house all the best and prosperity in the new year.

Not the next day, on the first day of the New Year, they sow - they go from house to house and with special words of congratulations (vinshuvanny) they scatter grains of wheat or other cereals inside residential buildings and household buildings:

Some ancient rituals have been preserved from him.

"Cooking porridge". We got up before dawn. The mistress of the house brought cereals from the barn, and the owner brought water from the river or well. Cereals and water were placed on the table and did not touch them until the stove was heated. Then the whole family sat down at the table, and the hostess, stirring the cereal in the water, lamented: “They sowed, grew buckwheat all summer; buckwheat porridge was born and large and blush; called-called our buckwheat to visit Tsargrad, to feast on a princely feast; the buckwheat went to Constantinople to visit with the princes, with the boyars, with honest oats, with golden barley; they waited for buckwheat, they waited at the stone gates; princes and boyars met buckwheat, planted buckwheat at an oak table to feast; our buckwheat came to visit us.

After that, everyone got up from the table, and the hostess, with a bow, put the pot of porridge in the oven. When the porridge ripened, the woman took it out of the oven with a sentence: “We ask you to come to our yard with your good.” If the porridge crawled out of the pot, it foreshadowed trouble. The pot cracked - also a bad omen. Having removed the foam, they carefully examined the porridge. If it is large and red, it is fortunately for the harvest. If small and white - not good. Good porridge was eaten for breakfast, bad porridge was thrown into the river.

"Sowing grains". In the Tula province, children scattered grains of spring bread on the floor with the sentence: “God, freak out every living thing according to the bin, that according to the bin, and great, and there would be life for the whole baptized world.” Then the hostess collected grains from the floor and stores them until sowing. In the Ukraine, before mass, peasant children went to their neighbors' houses and "sowed" various seeds from their sleeves or sacks. At the same time, they sang: “Ilya goes to Vasily, wears a puga of life. De swing - zhito growth, zhito wheat of all arable land. The field has a core, but the house is good.

Or they said: “For happiness, for health, for a new summer, give birth, God, live, wheat and all kinds of arable land” or: “God grant him, give birth to God, so that rye is born, she falls into the threshing floor, from an ear of octopus, half-grain pie - with an ax handle of the valley, with a width of a mitten! It was customary to give something as a gift to those who performed this rite. The grains scattered by them were carefully collected and, according to their type and quantity, they concluded what kind of bread for the next summer would be born. Sometimes they fed them to chickens. Which grains are pecked more - those breads will be born. The remaining grains were stored until spring and planted together with spring grains.

"Walking home". This ceremony is very similar to traditional carols. In the Kostroma province, on the eve of Vasilyev's evening, pork legs were cooked to distribute them to neighbors who came under the windows, saying: "Give a pig and a boletus for Vasilyev's evening." In the Ryazan province, crowds of young people begged pies under the windows. Ahead was one of the girls - the so-called mahanoska - she carried a purse, where they collected refreshments. Young people used to say: "Intestine and legs in the upper window." After the harvest, the mahanoska was in charge of the division of the booty.

What is the meaning of all these ancient traditions? Most likely, they expressed the concern of the peasants about the future harvest. Bread will be born - there will be prosperity and well-being in the family! Also, according to magical laws, every offering is returned to you, so they handed out gifts to carolers. Vasiliev's day fell at a turning point, the eve of the onset of spring. Nature was awakening, and there it was not far to the sowing season ...

It is interesting that recently these rituals have been revived, and not only in rural areas. And the townspeople in many areas willingly “conjure” and carol in a modern way, perhaps poorly understanding the meaning of the rituals, but sincerely believing that this will bring good luck in the new year.

Folk omens for the Old New Year

If the sky is clear and starry on the night of Vasily, there will be a rich harvest of berries.

A snowstorm on Vasiliev's evening - to a large harvest of nuts.

Fog on the day of Vasily - to the harvest.

On January 14, gardeners are encouraged to shake fruit trees, because St. Basil the Great, according to popular belief, also protects gardens from worms and pests. On the morning of January 14, you need to walk through the garden with the words of an ancient conspiracy: "As I shake off (name) the white-furred snow, so St. Basil will shake off the worm-reptile of every spring!"

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Old New Year is an unofficial, but unusually warm, joyful and magical holiday, which is celebrated on the night of January 13-14. This additional New Year was the result of a change in the order of the chronology, so it can be considered a cultural-historical phenomenon.

Where did this holiday come from?

The confusion with the celebration of the Old New Year began in 1918, when the Gregorian calendar was introduced instead of the Julian calendar, and the concept of "old" and "new" style entered our lives. At the same time, the day that for centuries was considered the first of January, “moved” in the calendar to January 14th. For those who did not want to change their habits, he remained a holiday.

In addition, celebrating the New Year from January 13 to 14 turned out to be more logical for Orthodox believers, who are used to celebrating it 6 days after Orthodox Christmas. But they tried not to celebrate the holiday from December 31 to January 1, because it fell on the Advent, when you can’t set the festive table, you can’t drink wine and you won’t have fun. And in general, in the public mind since the 19th century, the New Year was considered a cheerful and violent holiday.

“The New Year is the same as the campaign of mummers in the village,” writes in his essay historian Lev Lurie. - This is the time when people can behave as if indecent. After the New Year, the time for girl fortune-telling comes at all. They guessed, of course, about the suitors - they let the rooster peck oats, drowned the wax, put papers with the names of potential suitors into the pelvis, used a mirror. The traditions of divination are pagan, they were not only not welcomed by the Orthodox Church, but also prohibited. Of course, during the fast it was clearly inappropriate to do all this.

Why do we still celebrate it

By the way, there is no scientifically based date for the beginning of the new year. This is the subject of a social contract. It is simply more convenient for people to unify the calendar and assume that in all countries the calendar new year begins on the night of December 31 to January 1.

So, why not stop at this beautiful date? After all, now even Orthodox believers do not refuse to celebrate the New Year together with everyone. However, the annual Polls of the Levada Center show that the tradition of celebrating the Old New Year in our society not only does not die out, but only grows stronger from year to year. The number of people who celebrate this holiday is growing and in recent years it has been from 43 to 47% of the respondents.

Scientists believe there are several reasons for this. The first is that our culture traditionally welcomes everything that confirms the idea of ​​the mystery of the Russian soul. “Our people generally like the idea that Russia has its own unique third way,” says expert of the Center for Political Technologies, social psychologist Alexei Roshchin. - Therefore, we have our own specific holiday - the Old New Year. This allows us to feel that we stand out against the backdrop of globalization.” However, in fairness it should be said that the Old New Year is celebrated not only in Russia, but also in most CIS countries, as well as in the former republics of Yugoslavia.

The second reason, according to psychologists, lies in the fact that our long cold winter and lack of light provokes us to seasonal blues. And the holidays are the best way to deal with it. Festive garlands, multi-colored lanterns, cheerful mess, a feast, a desire to treat yourself to food and alcohol. So we grab every opportunity not to fall into winter depression. How else can you defeat her

The third source of why we so want to extend the New Year holidays follows from the previous one. “The fact is that the New Year holidays are best suited to feel like children and pamper our “inner child”, which is hidden in the soul of each of us,” says psychologist Oksana Poleshchuk. - A Christmas tree, tangerines, snow, a skating rink, a cafe, a cinema, the opportunity to just have fun, be reckless, push the burden of daily responsibility, relax, sit in front of the TV, eat what you want, not counting calories, and finally, just do nothing. Many of us, in fact, do not have enough of this, and after the holidays such a lack is felt most acutely.

There are even wonderful poems by Yunna Moritz about this, which Sergey Nikitin set to music, and the result was an unusually lyrical, wonderful song:

He's old, he's old, he's not new at all,

And still we are children, we are on the Christmas tree,

And we fly for this ghostly additive,

For the irrevocable and unique,

Add us at least the Old New Year.

Make your dreams come true

Finally, an important reason for the growing popularity of the Old New Year is that in our fragmented world, people are increasingly experiencing a lack of human understanding every decade. And so we are increasingly in need of warm unhurried fellowship. Best of all - at the festive table, in the circle of the closest and most understanding people. Maybe that is why the holiday from December 31 to January 1 remains violent and cheerful, with shooting and dancing until the morning. But the Old New Year is now assigned, rather, the role of a quiet, sincere, warm and magical holiday.

So if you feel that you celebrated the New Year not the way you would like, but “like people do”: with reckless shopping and bowls of salads, then you still have a chance to realize your hidden desires and celebrate the Old New Year like this as you wish. Or just dream, release your dreams into extraordinary distances, believe in miracles and return at least for a while to such a wonderful world - the world of childhood!

Tatyana Rubleva

January 14 is a real triple holiday in Ukraine. In addition to the "Old New Year", on this day Orthodox Christians of the Eastern rite celebrate the Circumcision of the Lord and celebrate Basil the Great.

A somewhat confusing situation with the "double" celebration of the New Year in our country is due to the fact that the Orthodox Church lives according to the Julian calendar, the Catholic Church - according to the Gregorian. Jesus Christ lived at a time when it was the Julian calendar that was in force and its discrepancy with the new, Gregorian calendar is 13 days, therefore Orthodox Christians celebrate the New Year not from December 31 to January 1, but from January 13 to 14.

The Gregorian calendar was first introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in Catholic countries on October 4, 1582 to replace the former Julian and is now used in most countries of the world. When they want to show the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the expression “old style” is applied to the first, and “new style” to the second. In Soviet Russia, the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar took place on February 14, 1918. Then, exactly 110 years ago, the Soviet government decided to introduce an amendment of 13 days into the calendar in order to bring the chronology in line with Western Europe.

Also on January 14, according to the folk calendar of the Slavs, Basil's Day is celebrated, the name of which comes from the name of St. Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia, who lived in the 4th century AD). The Church honors Basil the Great as an ascetic, theologian and scientist, the author of the code of monastic life. And among the people, Basil the Great was revered, among other things, as the patron of agriculture, and that is why on this day it was customary to “sow” dwellings with grain. There is also a version that this tradition has been preserved since pre-Christian times, when the New Year was celebrated not in winter, but in spring, and therefore the sowing ceremony is associated with hopes for a good harvest.

According to the established tradition, the sowers should be boys, young guys, or men who sowed housing generously with rye or wheat while singing special “sowers”. The owners had to generously thank the sowers by giving them sweets and money. The people believed that a man was supposed to enter the house first on New Year's Eve, this promised good luck and prosperity to the family for the whole next year. No matter how indignant supporters of gender equality, but until now on the morning of January 14, many of our compatriots do not want to be the first to let a woman or girl into the house, since it is believed that girls do not bring happiness, so it’s not good for them to sow.

The evening on the eve of the Old New Year is popularly called Generous Evening, less often - Vasiliev Evening. This day coincides with the Ukrainian folk holiday Malanka. According to tradition, on this evening, children walk around the yards and “generous”, that is, the owners sing generously and receive money or something from the festive table for this.

And the table this evening, according to tradition, should simply burst with all sorts of culinary delights. The main "queen" of this culinary feast is kutya, which the hostesses cooked generous, fatty, seasoned with lard or cream. Hence the name of the evening - Generous. In addition to kutya, they tried to put as many different dishes on the festive table as possible. It was believed that the richer the treat, the more generous the next year would be to the audience. Along with traditional dumplings, pancakes, porridges, pastries, pickles and other pickles, pork dishes must have been on the table: sausages, pork ham and lard. Perhaps the symbol of the coming year, the Pig, will not like it very much. But when these traditions were born, our ancestors did not yet know about the existence of the Eastern calendar and were happy to eat a cup of moonshine with a piece of lard.

Also at this time, it was customary to follow nature in order to predict the degree of generosity of the next year. So the blizzard that broke out on Vasiliev's evening could somewhat complicate the process of "generosity", but promised a large harvest of nuts. The starry night promised an abundance of berries in the forests. The fluffy hoarfrost that settled on the branches of the trees hinted that this year the bees would work hard and provide the owners with honey supplies. Well, the dense fog that wrapped the surroundings was considered an accurate omen of a rich harvest.

If you plan to walk around your friends on the morning of January 14th and sow them at home with a wish for good, then we suggest learning a few original “sowers” ​​in Ukrainian

This, this, I sow,
With New Rock you are blown!
For good luck, for health, on that New River,
Schob more beautifully gave birth like a second,
Hemp under the bed, and lyon on the knee,
Shchab you Khristiyani Head did not hurt!
This, this, I sow,
With New Rock you are blown!
Christ is born!

Saint Basil sent us
sow in note,
and gave a special order,
so that they shone in you!
Another learned how to say this:
On the kohannya I'm poppy,
I live for good,
and for smіhu the axis is pshono,
hello to you oats,
shob buv krіpky rіd uve.
A vіd zadrіsnih osіb
we'll give you wheat-bread!
Sієm, sієm, zasіvaєm,
with Novim Rock you are welcome

Living, living from the valley,
By dolivtsi, by osloni,
I sow in your hut -
Be good and rich!
Schob zbulosya all nіvroku -
With new happiness, with New rock!

What dishes should be on the table for "Generous Evening"

The main treat for the Generous evening is kutia. Only unlike Lenten Christmas, before the Old New Year, a generous kutya is put on the table. However, the rest of the dishes that evening are significantly different from those that the hostesses prepared for the first Holy Evening. They should be fatty and nutritious. On the Generous Evening, kutia is prepared from wheat, generously flavored with raisins, dried fruits, nuts, poppy seeds, honey and butter. Kutia is a ritual dish and each of its ingredients carries a deep meaning. Since time immemorial, wheat has been considered a symbol of a good harvest, and hence well-being, honey guaranteed health, poppy symbolized a clear starry sky, nuts were a symbol of abundance, and raisins - love.

Be sure to have pork dishes on the table on the Generous Evening. And this is not accidental either. The fact is that on January 14, Orthodox Christians of the Eastern Rite celebrate the day of St. Basil the Great. Therefore, the evening of January 13 is also called Vasiliev evening. And since St. Basil is considered the patron saint of pig breeding, it is impossible to do without pork this evening. If possible, our ancestors tried to cook a roasted pig for the festive table. This exquisite dish symbolized the fertility of the land and the good fertility of livestock in the new year.

According to tradition, before eating, the owners of the house raised the dish with the piglet three times, saying “So that the pigs are farrowed, the cows calve, the lambs lamb.” But if you can’t fry the whole pig, then be sure to put other pork dishes on the table: various types of bacon, sausages and aspic. Aspic (jelly) was prepared from pork legs and was called "drygulya". Moreover, this dish was prepared not only to eat deliciously, but also with the hope that the people who tasted this dish would not have sore legs in the new year. Our great-grandmothers cooked pork entrails, and then they told fortunes about them, determining what the harvest would be like.

The next traditional dish of the Generous Evening was dumplings. Experienced housewives could make up to a dozen different types of dumplings: with meat, with cottage cheese, with cabbage, with potatoes, mushrooms. Very often, for the purpose of divination, dumplings were prepared with an additional inedible, but iconic filling. From the filling, they learned what awaits one of those gathered in the coming year: if a coin came across in a dumpling, it promised material well-being, dried apricots hinted that the next year would be full of joyful events, wheat grains promised wealth, bay leaf foreshadowed promotion , and the ring - traditionally remained a symbol of the wedding, caramel - love. Also on a generous evening, thin pancakes were baked and pies with a variety of fillings were fried. Historical documents mention that that evening the hostess cooked so many pies that the father of the family even hid behind them from the children at the table.

Be sure to find a place on the table this evening for the traditional rich Ukrainian borscht with donuts. Although it is considered an everyday dish, it also needs to be given its due during the holiday.

The indispensable ritual drink of this evening is uzvar, which is a symbol of fertility and health. Suffice it to say that our ancestors used uzvar as a medicinal drug in the treatment of various colds.

Uzvar is mistakenly called dried fruit compote. Although its recipe is different from the recipe for regular compote. If you decide to make this drink, as our ancestors prepared it, then for this you will need the following ingredients: 200 g dried pears, 200 g dried apples, 100 g dried plums, 100 g dried cherries, 100 g raisins, 200 g honey and 4 liters of water. Dried fruits should be thoroughly washed several times. Dried pear is poured with cold water and simmered for 30 minutes. Then you should add apples, plums, raisins and cherries to the drink and then simmer for another 30-40 minutes. After that, honey is added to the hot bowl. The resulting drink should be infused for 1-2 hours, and then it must be put in a cold place to cool down. Uzvar should be served cold.

But no matter how hard you try to make your table richer this evening, some dishes should still be discarded. We recommend following the example of our wise ancestors, who did not cook fish and poultry on this day, so that happiness “does not fly away” or “does not float away” from their home.

New Year in Russia, by decree of Peter I, began to be celebrated on January 1 in 1700, and they began to celebrate the Old New Year in 1918, when Soviet Russia switched from the former Julian to the Gregorian calendar adopted in Europe. The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year appeared thanks to believers. Due to the difference between the calendars in Russia, Christmas and New Year until 1919 were celebrated 13 days later than in Europe. But the Russian Orthodox Church did not obey the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of 1918 and did not accept the Gregorian calendar. With the official introduction of the new calendar, Christmas, as before celebrated on December 25 according to the old style, "moved" to January 7. And the Orthodox continued to celebrate the New Year as before - six days after Christmas, that is, on the night of January 13-14.

Interesting:
in 1918, when, during the transition to a new chronology, an amendment was introduced for 13 days, immediately after January 31, 1918, February 14 came in Russia.
The dissimilarity between the dates of the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases every century. In the XX-XXI centuries this difference is 13, and from March 2100 there will be 14 days.

January 13 - Vasiliev evening

On the night of January 13-14, the Old New Year is celebrated (among Belarusians and Ukrainians it is known as a generous evening, in the central and some southern regions of Russia as oats). This tradition arose after 1918, when a new chronology was introduced in Russia. Once this day fell on January 1 and was called Vasiliev's day (the day of memory of St. Basil the Great, and his eve - December 31 (which became January 13) Vasiliev in the evening.

The evening on the eve of the Old New Year was popularly called generous. On the morning of January 13 (the day of Melania (Melanka), it was necessary to cook porridge cooked from whole grains of wheat. It could be seasoned with meat or lard, or sprinkled with honey, sugar or jam. In addition, the housewives baked pancakes, prepared pies and dumplings with cottage cheese, to thank the guests. The most important dish for the Old New Year was pork dishes, by the way, St. Basil the Great was considered the patron saint of pig breeders. “A pig and a pig for Vasily's evening”, “A pig is not clean, but God has nothing unclean - Vasily winter sanctify!", - the proverbs say about this day. This animal symbolized fertility and prosperity. On this day, it was customary to generously set the table: a generous table on this day is prosperity throughout the year.

In the evening, people visited their neighbors to celebrate the New Year in peace and harmony. According to popular beliefs, it was considered important who would be the first guest in the house in the New Year. It was a good sign if the first was a young man from a respected large family with a good household. And on the morning of January 14, young people went to the crossroads to burn "Grandfather", or "Didukh" - sheaves of straw. Young people jumped over the fire, which symbolized the cleansing of evil spirits.

Preparations were made for Vasily's evening in advance. They sewed or bought beautiful clothes for him. The hostesses put on the table all the best that was in the house: pies, kutya, meat, wine, beer, vodka. Traditionally, a pig was prepared for this evening. He was a symbol of the fertility of the earth and the fertility of livestock in the coming year. Our ancestors, like modern Russians, believed “as you celebrate the New Year, so you will spend it”: it was believed that an abundance of food on the first day of the year would bring prosperity for the whole year.

Another custom associated with cooking is porridge. The rite was performed before dawn; when the porridge ripened, the hostess took the pot out of the oven, and the whole family began to examine it. If the pot cracked or the porridge came out unsuccessful, this foreshadowed the worst. If the porridge turned out lush and tasty, they expected happiness for the whole house.

In some parts of Russia, caroling was performed on this day. For example, in the Tver, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Tula, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg regions, the detour rite "oose" was popular. The tradition got its name from the song that was sung while going from house to house - "Fawn". People went from house to house and sang songs. The participants of the round approached from house to house and asked permission from the owners: “Is it possible to click the oat?”, And they answered: “Call!” Then the ritual participants performed autumn songs to each member of the family separately. The most important “ovsen”, designed to ensure the well-being of the home and family, were addressed to the owner and his eldest sons. At the end, the generous owners of the house gave gifts to the performers.

Noticed :

• Gardeners at midnight shake off the snow from the apple trees - for the harvest.
• If at night the wind blows from the south - the year will be hot and prosperous, from the west - to an abundance of milk and fish, from the east - wait for the fruit harvest.
• Vasily's night is starry - to the harvest of berries.
• A lot of fluffy frost on the trees foreshadowed a good honey flow.

What to cook for the Old New Year

It is customary to spend the evening and night from January 13 to 14 with the family at the festive table. Our ancestors on the New Year's table always cooked a pig in their own juice and made dishes from a hare and a rooster. All this was very symbolic:

• the pig promised wealth and prosperity in the house next year;
• hare - speed and success in business;
• cock - flying lightness and freedom.

If you want to set your festive table this evening according to ancient traditions, prepare a generous kutya or juicy. It is believed that the more varied, tastier and more satisfying the kutya is, the greater the prosperity in the family next year. So try and cook it really generous and rich: do not spare nuts, raisins, halva, honey, etc. In previous years, kutya was cooked from buckwheat, wheat, barley, but ordinary rice will also be quite suitable. When choosing wheat, try the grain on the tooth, it should fall apart easily, hard grain is not suitable for kutya.

All Sochi products have a symbolic meaning:

• grain symbolizes new life;
• honey - well-being and health;
• poppy - wealth in the house.

Traditional kutya recipe

Ingredients for traditional kutya:
Wheat - 2 tbsp, poppy seeds - 200 g, walnuts - 200 g, raisins - 150 g, honey - 3 tbsp.
How to cook traditional kutya:
Soak peeled and washed wheat grains overnight in cold water. In the morning, drain the water, rinse the wheat, pour hot water over it and cook until tender over low heat. Top up with a little water as needed. The porridge should be soft and crumbly. Cool the finished porridge and mix with a tablespoon of honey. Soak poppy seeds and raisins in boiling water for 30 minutes, each separately. Then drain the poppy, add 1 tablespoon of honey and grind on a blender until poppy milk is obtained. It is better, of course, to do it in makitra - for authenticity. Roast nuts until crispy. Drain the raisins. Mix all ingredients, add honey. If the kutia is thick, then it is supposed to be diluted not with water, but with a knot, the recipe of which we give at the end of the article.

Generous rice kutya recipe

Ingredients for generous rice kutya:
1 cup rice, 100 g honey, 100 g nuts, 100 g raisins, 150 g poppy seeds, butter to taste, salt to taste.

Prepare fluffy rice in the usual way. Nuts, if required, roast, peel and chop. You can use any, according to your taste. Rinse raisins and steam with boiling water. Poppy also steam with boiling water, let stand so that it swells. Drain the water and grind in a mortar or coffee grinder. Get poppy milk. Melt the butter and pour over the porridge. Send nuts, raisins, poppy milk and liquid honey there. If the honey is thick, it can be slightly diluted with water or cream. Mix everything and let stand kutya. The taste of this sweet porridge can be varied with homemade jam, vanilla, candied fruits, and so on.

Generous wheat kutya recipe

Ingredients:
200 grams of wheat, half a glass of poppy seeds, 100 grams of walnuts, sugar to taste, sweets (raisins, candied fruit, marmalade) to taste
How to cook:
Rinse the wheat well, pour the grains with warm water, let them swell a little and cook in a large amount of water into a crumbly porridge. Add water (or uzvar), sugar (honey), crushed nuts, raisins to the steamed and grated poppy, and combine all this with wheat. Ready kutya can be put on a small fire again and warmed up (5-7 minutes).

Vareniki with a surprise for the Old New Year

The Old New Year is a quiet, family holiday with its own traditions. One of them is to make dumplings with surprises. This is an old tradition that originated from the custom of divination during the holy week. The filling in dumplings symbolizes good wishes for the next year. Rather, the filling is made as usual - cottage cheese or potato, and when molded, "surprises" are added.

Important! Be sure to warn guests if you put hard objects in dumplings!

Surprise dumplings recipe

Ingredients for dumpling dough:
1 egg, 4 cups flour, 1 cup water, 4 tbsp. l. vegetable oil, 2 tsp. sugar, salt
How to cook:
Mix flour with sugar and salt, make a slide.
Make a well at the top and break the egg into it, pour in the water and oil.
Knead a stiff dough, knead until it becomes smooth, homogeneous.
Refrigerate for two hours, covered with clingfilm to keep warm. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
Sprinkle the table with flour, roll out the dough with a thin layer, cut it into circles with a glass.
Put the filling in the middle of the mug, fold the dough in half, pinch the edges.
Boil by dropping into boiling water.

The meanings of surprise fillings

Orange - to enjoy
Peanuts - for a love affair
Cherry - good luck
Peas - home peace
Walnut - health
Buckwheat - favorable and profitable news
Mushrooms - to a long and happy life
Big money - big win
Grain - to wealth
Raisins - to the great temptation
Cabbage - for money
Caramel - to love
Potato - to increase at work
Cranberries - to unexpected changes in life
Ring - for the wedding
Dried apricots - to joy
Bay leaf - to glory (career growth)
Honey - health
Coin - a prosperous year in material terms
Carrots - to new acquaintances
Meat - to well-being
White thread - long journey (long and long journey)
Green thread - the road abroad
Thread with knots - for a difficult year
Black thread - a short and not very long trip
Cucumber - to a strong man
Walnut - immediately to two fans (admirers)
Pepper - thrill
Ground allspice - to "hot", i.e. eventful life, serious changes
Button - for a new thing
Millet - chores
Rice - well-being in the house
Sugar - sweet life (easy, favorable year)
Seeds - to new fruitful plans
Cheese - to win
Cottage cheese - to new friends
Dough, beans - to replenish the family
Dill - to good health
Hazelnut - to successful acquisitions
Bread - the year will be full, good
Chain - strengthening family ties
Black peppercorns - to friends (to new friendships)
Garlic - for marriage of convenience
An apple is a well-deserved reward.

Enjoy your troubles, a generous feast and happy holidays!