Our ancestors also liked to widely celebrate New Year. Do you know when and how they met him? What event was it dedicated to, what customs existed then, and why was it necessary to burn the log?

It is surprising that the tradition of celebrating the new year can be found among all peoples on all continents. Moreover, this holiday came to us from ancient times. And over time, he not only died, but also gained a global, world scale. And if now people of different cultures celebrate the new year in almost the same way, then before they celebrated it in different ways. Somewhere he was celebrated widely, but somewhere modestly, somewhere he had sacred meaning, and somewhere "civilian". And what significance did he have in the life of our ancestors?

When did you celebrate the new year?

In ancient times, people needed a calendar no less than we do now. All sowing works were carried out according to it. Knowing the time was also important for hunters and fishermen, for beekeepers and cattle breeders. True, the calendar was then kept not on paper, but in the head, and the dates were determined by natural signs. And, of course, it did not at all coincide with the calendar that we are now keeping.

In the most remote antiquity, our ancestors used lunar calendar. Proof of this is the very name of the 12 cycles in a year: months. But later, when the Slavs widely mastered agriculture, the sun began to play a big role in their life. The calendar changed, and all holidays were tied to the position of the daylight in the sky.

The arrival of spring, summer, autumn and winter were considered the days of equinoxes and solstices. That is, every 22nd of March, June, September and December. And the onset of the new year was celebrated in March and September. These two dates existed in parallel in different territories. The spring New Year was called the New Year, as this holiday marked the arrival of a new summer, that is, a new working season.

But most of our ancestors preferred the September date. Why? During this period, almost all field work, the harvest ripened in the gardens and in the gardens: it was time for rest and abundance. When else to arrange a holiday, if not at this time?

Slavic New Year

The Slavic New Year (both spring and autumn) has a longer history than the one we celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar. Remember, Tsar Peter the Great introduced it only in 1700, which means that we celebrate the holiday according to the new model only 317 times. Negligibly small is pure in comparison with the centuries-old tradition of our ancestors!

Many traditions, beliefs and customs are associated with the holiday of our ancestors. For example, it was considered not good to start the new year unforgiven, with grievances and debts. Therefore, on the eve of the holiday, it was necessary to settle all quarrels and repay debts (including dues and tributes). It was also considered good to move to new house just for this holiday.

On the last day of the outgoing year, the Slavs walked around all their fields early in the morning and sang incantatory songs that were supposed to help in the coming year to keep up with a good harvest. The detour was accompanied by cheerful jokes and dances.

In the evening last day the hostesses of the house extinguished the fire in the furnace, and then performed the ceremony of lighting a new fire. If it flared up quickly, then this meant that next year would be happy. And, just like we do now, our ancestors visited relatives and friends, and in the evening they laid a rich table.

In 1492, the state officially approved the date of the new year according to the Julian calendar: September 14th. This holiday was called the First day of the year, and the New Year began to be called religious holiday. Since then, New Year's festivities have been held everywhere in September.

Winter Slavic holiday

But even in the middle of winter, our ancestors had fun party, similar to our current New Year: Kolyada. What holiday is it?

It fell on December 22, that is, again, on the winter solstice. At this time, there is the shortest day of the year and the most long night. Therefore, apparently, the Slavs believed that it was on this day that the “old” sun dies and the “new” is born. The meaning of the most ancient, pagan carols was to glorify the newborn daylight and wish good to all your loved ones. On the night of December 23, it was customary to wear best clothes, guess, set the table for guests and sing special songs expressing the wish for good and happiness. Also, our ancestors made fires and burned a large log on them, symbolizing the "old" sun, the outgoing year and all misfortunes. The brighter the log burned, the more fruitful next summer will be.

With the advent of Christianity, a belief appeared that on this night from the other world the spirits of the dead and all evil spirits come to us. And the meaning of caroling - walking the streets and singing songs - has changed. Now young people and children dressed up and sang songs in order to drive away or scare evil spirits. But, basically, the traditions of the holiday remained the same, only they acquired a religious basis.

With the introduction of the new calendar in 1700, when the celebration of the New Year moved from September to January, the traditions of the Slavic New Year and Kolyada became intertwined. Isn't it true that ancient traditions resemble our modern ones?

Finally…

According to the Slavic calendar, the year 7525 is now coming - the year of the Crouching Fox. A good time for courageous and enterprising people to start new business, especially those related to the financial issue.

Slavic New Year is one of ancient holidays. As the name implies (a combination of the words "new" and "summer"), it means the onset of the New Summer according to the ancient Slavic calendar. The essence of this holiday is the completion of one time cycle and the beginning of another. Recall that since ancient times, the Slavs calculated time not in years, but in Lets. So, almost all chronicles that have survived to this day (Joakhimovskaya, Ipatievskaya, Radzwillovskaya, The Tale of Bygone Years, and so on) tell about events that occurred, for example, “in the Summer of seven thousand five hundred and four ...” Yes, and such words as “chronicle” , "chronology" unambiguously indicate this. We still wish each other many years, longevity, we are interested in how many years (and not years) have passed.

The Slavic New Year is celebrated on the day of the autumnal equinox (in different years falls on September 21, 22, 23 or so). That is, this holiday has an astronomical reference. The equinox is the equality of day and night, from this moment the daytime hours begin to decrease, and the night hours begin to grow, up to winter solstice, after which the night will begin to wane. By the spring equinox, the length of day and night will again be equal, after which the night hours begin to decrease.

On the first day of each New Summer, one of the main events of the ancient history of the Slavs, the Great Feast of the Divine Beginning, is celebrated. In honor of this holiday, the first calendar month, Ramhat, is also named. This event has its roots in the deep past, perhaps more than one hundred millennia. Ancient legends say that just over 13 thousand years ago, as a result of a planetary catastrophe, the Earth changed the tilt of its axis, which was the beginning of a new chronology - from the Great Frost - known in science as the Great Cooling, the Ice Age. This new reckoning was timed to the day of the autumnal equinox. Then, five and a half millennia later, on the same day, the next Slavic chronology was introduced - from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple (SMZH).

The Proto-Slavic Ancestors had several such systems. This Vedic tradition (indicating several reference points of time) continued in a modified form until the not too distant past. It is enough to cite an excerpt from the "Memorial book of the Kyiv province for 1894":

"Chronological index for 1894

From the Nativity of Christ -1894,

From the Creation of the World - 7402,

From the foundation of the Russian State - 1032,

From the baptism of the Russian people - 906,

From the beginning of the Muscovite State - 567 and so on.

We observe the continuation of the tradition in 1900:

After the introduction of the new calendar system, for quite a long time they continued to indicate the date according to the previous chronology.

We add that the celebration of the New Year in the fall in Russia continued until 1700 AD. (This year, Peter I canceled the ancient Slavic calendar, crossing out at least five and a half millennia of the glorious history of the Ancestors and instituted to postpone the celebration of the New Year to January 1).

However, the old holiday was preserved among the people, despite the decisions and decrees.

In fact, the Slavic New Year has nothing to do with the current New Year. On this day, they glorify the ancient Ancestors, speaking not so much about personal well-being, but about the peace and prosperity of the entire Family.

Yes, and the time itself is fertile, the harvest is harvested, stocks are in the bins. It's a fertility festival family well-being. At this time, bride-to-be was often arranged, weddings (Lyubomir) got along, and the rites of Naming were timed to coincide with this day. Until the very night they led round dances, kindled bonfires, arranged noisy festivities, valiant fun. It all ended with a meal, songs, dances, fist fights.

It was believed that at this time the Gates between the worlds open a little and the Souls of the Ancestors descend to Earth. Therefore, special attention was paid to the veneration and glorification of the Ancestors.

The Slavic New Year is a time not only for summing up, but also for starting everything new. A loaf was baked from the grains of the first compressed sheaf - it was tried by the whole village. And another loaf was dedicated to the Ancestors - it was sacrificed to the Fire.

It was believed that it is best to start any new business in the first days of the New Summer.

The ancient Slavs lived in harmony with Nature, so most of the rituals were associated with an understanding of the laws of transition from one natural cycle to another. The days of the equinox were considered one of the best for establishing internal balance, they were the most important reference points in the system of worldview of the Slavic Aryans.

The tradition of meeting the New Year is rooted in ancient times. In ancient times, the holiday symbolized the beginning of a new life cycle. As civilization developed, sacred rituals were gradually woven into the fabric of official festivities. Modern new year traditions have come down to us almost unchanged from antiquity.

On the day of the New Year, prayers were offered to the patron God of the born month and the most revered Gods. Moreover, each asked to grant not only personal well-being, but also peace and prosperity to the entire state.
On the day of the New Year, all the people were excited: everyone went to visit each other, exchanged gifts and wishes.
The New Year of the Slavs was timed to coincide with the days of the autumn equinox (September 22-26) and its meeting began on September 14. After the harvest, people knew that the main harvest was already in the barns, and in the clans of the Slavs they decided to celebrate weddings, arrange brides and festive festivities.

On September 22, 2013, a significant summer of 7522 SMZH will come or without reduction - 7522 years from the Creation of the World in the Star Temple! This act of Peace was created in the Star Temple of Arkaim. September 22 according to the Christian calendar - the Day of the Victory of our ancestors over Ancient China (Arimia) 7521 years ago.
The Great Race was returning from Dravidia (Ancient India), after the First H'Aryan Campaign. The Rasichi walked for a long time past the rare villages that met in Arimia. So Rasichi called the country of dark-skinned people (in comparison with representatives of the Great Race), Ancient China. Great Glory was about this country, and the Gods were in the country of the Middle Kingdom. This figurative name of their country is still used by the inhabitants of China.

The ruler of China decided to unleash an aggressive, predatory war against the Great Race. The Great Dragon was defeated in this war and this event was immortalized in ancient history. The White Horseman (God-Knight), spearing the Dragon (the ancient snake), was depicted on the frescoes and bas-reliefs of the ancient temples and various buildings of the Great Race. Sculptures with this plot were sculpted from stone, cast from noble metals and carved from various types of trees. This victory was imprinted on images (icons) and minted on coins. At present, this plot is known as St. George the Victorious, striking the Dragon (snake) with a spear.

Probably everyone remembers Russian folk tales, in which Ivan Tsarevich defeats in turn the three-headed, six-headed and, finally, the nine-headed Serpent Gorynych in order to free Vasilisa the Beautiful.

Each of the Russian fairy tales ended with the line: "The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it, a lesson for good fellows." What is the lesson in this tale?
In it, under the image of Vasilisa the Beautiful, the image of the Motherland is hidden. Under Ivan Tsarevich - a collective image of Russian knights liberating their homeland from enemies: the Serpent Gorynych - the Great Dragon - the troops of Arimia, in other words, China.

This tale immortalized the victory over China, the symbol of which was a warrior piercing a dragon-serpent with a spear. No matter what this symbol is called now, its essence remains the same - a great victory Russian (Slavic) weapons over the enemy 7522 years ago. But, unfortunately, everyone unanimously “forgot” about this victory. Let's use the Book of Veles. A sharp cooling and climate change throughout Siberia and the Far East forced a huge number of ancient Slavs to leave the metropolis and move to the unoccupied and inhabited lands of Europe, which led to a significant weakening of the metropolis itself.
This was what the southern neighbors tried to take advantage of - the Arims, the inhabitants of Arimia, as in those days the ancient rasichs called Ancient China.

The war was hard and unequal, but, nevertheless, the Great Rasseniya - that was the name of our state - defeated Ancient China - Arimia. This event happened 7521 years ago.

The victory was so significant and difficult that the Day of the Creation of the World - the conclusion of a peace treaty (September 22 according to the Christian calendar), our ancestors chose a new, turning point in their history.

According to this Slavic calendar, now is summer, 7521 from S.M. (Creation of the World).

And the great Chinese wall was erected after this victory in order to forever separate itself from the invincible Russeniya.

Hanuman (Asur, i.e. Prince of Rasseniya), who ruled in Belovodye and Ahriman (ruler of Arimia, i.e. ancient China) "Created the World", i.e. concluded a peace treaty between the Great Race and the Great Dragon, according to which the defeated Arims (Chinese) built a wall (with loopholes in their direction!) To mark the border of Russenia. The wall was built by the Chinese as a contribution. The wall was called Kiy-Tai, which in ancient Slovenian means Kiy - a fence, a hedge; Tai - the completion of the peak, great, that is, "the final, limiting great fence (wall)".
In ancient times, "China" was called a high fence or fortress wall. For example: Kitay-gorod in Moscow is named so because of the high wall that surrounded it, and not at all because of the Chinese. From that great event began new countdown Years with our Ancestors.
Our ancient system of measuring time intervals was simple, public and clear, as it was based on well-known astronomical phenomena.

The Slavs in ancient times had several calendar forms of reckoning, but only a few have survived to this day ...

The creation of the World in ancient times was called the conclusion of a peace treaty between warring peoples. Thus, we have a “new frame of reference”.

This most peaceful treaty between the Great Race (ancient Slavs) and the Great Dragon (ancient Chinese) was concluded on the day of the Autumnal Equinox, or on the 1st day of the First month of Summer 5500 from the Great Cold (Great Cooling). The victory was then won by the Great Race, which was displayed in the form of an image - the White Knight on horseback strikes the Dragon with a spear.

At different peoples who lived in Europe had different systems for counting days. This great variety of calendar systems sometimes introduced great confusion into the definition of “big trading days” ... therefore, in 45 BC. e. By decree of Emperor Julius Caesar, a "new" calendar system was introduced, which was required to be observed throughout the entire Roman Empire.

Christian missionaries who went to "enlighten" the pagans of Europe faced serious problems...

Even if they introduced someone to the new faith, they immediately faced problems of not understanding when to celebrate holidays or at what time to observe fasts ...

A different calendar system did not allow Christian missionaries to correctly determine which date of the local calendar corresponds to the Julian calendar, because local calendars were more difficult for Christians to understand, and besides, comparable dates constantly “floated”.

Only one way out was found. Ban the old calendar and introduce a new one - Julian.

The same picture was observed during the baptism of Russia ... The people did not accept the introduced Julian calendar. Because it was not clear to the people why an alien calendar was needed on Russian soil, with three more numbered months in Latin, and besides, it still began not on the Day of the Autumn Equinox, but at the beginning of spring.

But the Christians found a way out of this situation: they came up with Slavic names for the Julian calendar - and instead of numbers in Latin, the months received Slavic names: Berezen, Kviten, Traven, Cherven, Lipen, Serpen, Veresen, Zhovten, Leaf fall, Gruden, Sichen, Lyuty.

Only in this form did the Christians succeed in imposing an alien calendar on the Slavic peoples. In other Slavic countries, the same reconstruction of the Julian calendar was carried out, and the months received their Slavic names...

Our calendar - or, as we say, Kolyada Dar - was banned by Peter the Great. In Summer 7208 (1699), he issued a decree on the abolition of all the old calendars that simultaneously existed on the Russian lands, and introduced the Western European calendar from the Nativity of Christ, while he moved the beginning of the calendar (New Year) from the Autumn Equinox (among the Slavs-Old Believers ) and September 1 (for Christians) on January 1, and designated the starting date - 1700:

“Because in Russia they consider the New Year in different ways, from now on stop fooling people and consider the New Year everywhere from January 1, Summer 1700 from the Nativity of Christ. And as a sign of a good undertaking and fun, congratulate each other on the New Year, wishing well-being in business and prosperity in the family. In honor of the New Year, make decorations from fir trees, amuse children, ride sleds from the mountains. And for adults, drunkenness and massacre should not be committed - there are enough other days for that.

The date of the beginning of the new calendar was not chosen by Peter the Great by chance. On December 25, the entire Christian world celebrates Christmas. According to the Bible, on the eighth day, the baby Jesus was circumcised according to the Jewish rite, that is, on January 1, the Christian church celebrated the Circumcision of the Lord.

This date was chosen by Peter the Great... by his decree he ordered all his subjects to mark the beginning of the new calendar and congratulate each other on the New Godom.

The Slavic year began at the point of the autumn equinox (in modern September), which was easily determined on the horizon by periodically observing the place of sunrise or sunset of the Yarila-Sun. The points of the autumn and spring equinoxes on the horizon coincide and lie strictly between the points of the summer and winter solstices. Therefore, having once determined the winter and summer solstice and the point between them, and then placing the corresponding three landmarks on the horizon (mounds, dolmens, etc.), it is possible to quite accurately fix the new year, as well as the turn of the day to decrease and increase.

It can be said with regret that very few people now know what it is about. What calendar is being talked about? Yes, and the concept of the word “New Year” can hardly remind anyone of something sensible, not to mention the fact that this concept will rarely cause associations with the onset of the new year. By the way, in some European countries the end of summer ( summer period) is still considered not the last day of August, it is the day of the autumn equinox - September 22.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people do not know that in reality this date does not mean the end of the summer period, but the end of Summer, i.e. calendar year. But, nevertheless, this is also a fact that says a lot ...

The word New Year itself carries a rather simple meaning and consists of such words as new and summer, which, having united into one word, began to sound like a new year, and at the same time the new word began to denote the onset of a new summer. Summer, in the understanding of the year, as we are now accustomed to call it, was written from ancient times, as SUMMER.

Unfortunately, the letter “yat”, which sounded like “ye” and carried the figurative meaning “Truly Is”, was ruthlessly thrown out of the Russian primer during the reform of the Russian language carried out by Lunacharsky and Lenin, after the October 1917 seizure of power in Russia. Continuing the theme, let's consider what is Summer in the understanding of our ancestors?

The calendar of our ancestors was formed from the very beginning of their appearance on our Earth, by the way, whose name is Midgard, which means the middle earth. And the very word "calendar" carries information about its origin and is associated with the name of God (the bright Hierarch), who developed a calendar for our ancestors. And the Hierarch's name was Kolyada, so it turns out that the Gift of Kolyada or "Kolyada Dar" began to be called a calendar. Everything is very simple when you understand Russian.

There is also another name for the Calendar - Krugolet Chislobog, which essentially means the principle of the calendar device, namely the word Krugolet means a circle of years, i.e. indicates that our ancestors considered summer to be circles, but more on that later. In the process of settling our ancestors on the continents of the planet, many peoples lost contact with their mother empire, they began to be called differently, but they all used the same calendar - Kolyada Dar, the same language - Russian, the same letters are runes.

Subsequently, the “scientists”, in order to somehow justify the fictional past of all European peoples, composed their own myths and legends for them, wrote their own history for them, but they were all similar, like two drops of water in their essence, and originated at the origins of our culture. ancestors. Thus, such concepts as the Scandinavian or Celtic calendars appeared, which for enlightened people should mean only this and nothing else. Both the Scandinavians and the Celts are Slavic-Aryan tribes who, in search of pastures, developed new lands and moved from East to West of the mainland, and thus settled all of Eurasia, America and North Africa. Most often, the tribes received their names on behalf of the prince or king who led them. So the Sarmatians appeared - the people of Prince Sarmat, the Scythians - the people of Prince Scyth, the Scandinavians - the people of Prince Skand and many others.

The ancient Chinese calendar is well known in the world, according to which this moment the year is 4693; the ancient calendar of the Jews, who on September 17, 2012 already celebrated their 5773 year. The well-known Gregorian calendar, which we use now, is approaching the mark only in 2013, and there are many other calendars and high-profile dates, except for one and the most important for us.

For some reason, official historians and scientists are silent about the Slavic calendar. They are also silent about the surprisingly high-profile date that gave birth to a new chronology of our ancestors, which took place 7521 years ago. But where did the Rus suddenly come from 7521 years of known and explored past? Where did the ancient Slavs, who supposedly "lived in dugouts, in the forest on trees or in swamps," get their ancient calendar, and even older than all the ancient calendars of civilizations known to us? And everything is not so scary at first glance, as it seems, if you only want to know the truth about the true past ...

In 1700 A.D. Peter I issues a decree on the abolition of the old calendar that existed in Russia, and introduces the Western European calendar from the Nativity of Christ. At the same time, he transfers the beginning of the calendar (New Year's Day) from the day of the autumn equinox (among the Slavs-Old Believers) and September 1 (among Christians) to 1 Genvar (January). He chooses 1700 as the starting date. The date of the beginning of the new calendar was not chosen by Peter the Great by chance. On December 25, the entire Christian world celebrates Christmas.

According to the Bible, on the eighth day, baby Jesus was circumcised according to the Jewish rite, i.e. On January 1, the Christian Church celebrated the Circumcision of the Lord. This date was chosen by Peter the Great. By his decree, he ordered all his subjects to celebrate the beginning of the new calendar and congratulate each other on the New Year. Why a year?

At the court of Peter the Great, they hardly spoke Russian, because it was considered the language of the common people. Basically, all communication was in German and Dutch. So the word God (God) in these languages ​​means God. Those. By his decree, Peter forced his subjects to congratulate each other on the New God, on the day of his circumcision. This Peter's joke still exists, and people, having lost their original meaning, continue to congratulate each other on January 1.

But among the Old Believers, the reckoning is still conducted from the autumn equinox (September 22-23). Unlike January 1st, this date is somehow tied to astronomical events. So Peter didn't just change the old calendar for the new one. He stole 5508 years of the Great Legacy from the people and ordered foreigners to write a History instead of him, which did not exist before.

Now, few people remember that earlier in the dates of the Chronicles they were written with the letter of the Old Russian language, and not with the numbers that were introduced on the orders of Peter. Before the introduction of the new calendar, people celebrated 7208 New Years and the dates were always written in capital letters. This tells us that writing existed among the Slavs long before Cyril and Methodius. It was not for nothing that Empress Catherine II said: “The Slavs had their own writings for many thousands of years before the birth of Christ.”

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!

The Slavic New Year was not celebrated on the first of January. Our ancestors timed the onset of a new calendar cycle to days that were much more important for their lives and work. Nevertheless, disputes about when exactly this holiday was celebrated, as well as about the methods of celebration, are still going on between researchers of Slavic culture.

In the article:

Slavic New Year and Kolyada - is there a connection between them

The closest in time of celebration and cultural traditions for the modern New Year, Kolyada was a celebration. This day was dedicated to the good personification of winter and the patron saint of children. To this day, in many villages, the approach of New Year and Christmas days is celebrated with caroling. Children dress up in costumes of different animals, pick up a star on a stick, symbolizing the harbinger of the birth of Christ, and go from house to house. In exchange for their visit, carolers receive various sweets and treats. After that, in the evening, the youth compares the amount of "booty" of each company, and then all this is merrily eaten together. The subsequent ones were also popular with our ancestors.

Of course, the ancient Slavs did not have Christianity, but the traditions of carols themselves come from pagan roots. The symbol of the twelve-pointed star was an important sacred sign even before the Baptism of Russia. Perhaps the connection of this sign with the Kolyada holiday was both in the “welcome” of 12 months, and in the fact that it was on this day that there were most stars in the sky, and they themselves were the brightest of the year.

Kolyada fell on the winter solstice - the shortest sunny day of the year. The winter holiday saved people from all the troubles - there were too few household duties, so people could devote their free time to festivities. Similarly, the Scandinavian-Germanic peoples have the most sweeping. It was believed that during the longest night of the year, any witchcraft has a special power.

Nevertheless, most modern historians, based on various Old Russian calendars, are sure that For our ancestors, the day of Kolyada had no connection with the New Year. It was certainly an important and solemn day. But most research confirms that the New Year is like pagan holiday for our Slavic ancestors it began at a different time of the year.

New Year among the Slavs - when did it begin

Most of all, the celebration of the New Year in September was preserved in the memory of people - the Orthodox Church only relatively recently transferred the beginning of the year to the officially accepted principles of chronology. According to the church tradition established in Russia since the adoption of Christianity, The New Year among the Slavs who became Christians was not celebrated, but its date was set for the first of September.

Various archaeologists and culturologists note the extremely close correspondence of Christian holidays to pagan counterparts. Therefore, they assume that the celebration of the New Year before the arrival of Orthodoxy also fell on September. Most suitable date, according to the general opinion, should be considered September 21-22. It is on this day that autumnal equinox. Such solar holidays were widespread before the advent of Christianity among most peoples of the world.

Many followers Native Faith, or neopaganism believe that the beginning of the new year really falls on this autumn day. This is also argued by the fact that in the autumn, people can finally take a break from all their work. No wonder there was a saying in Russia that any business should begin with rest. It seemed the same every new year. It is noteworthy that the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree and giving gifts was also inherent in this holiday and Kolyada. Moreover, trees were dressed up by our ancestors for every solar holiday, but they were not specially cut for this. The Slavs preferred to decorate living trees and celebrate important dates under their canopy.

New Year among the Slavs

It is worth noting that the word "year" in the everyday life of our ancestors appeared relatively recently. It was brought into the Russian language after the reforms of Peter the Great. Before that, in all sources the word "summer" was used to designate the year. Therefore, as a holiday, one might say, the Old Slavic New Year did not exist. Instead, the Slavs celebrated the new year.

And although there are still disputes about the day when our distant ancestors, before the advent of Christianity to Russia, celebrated this holiday, it is definitely known that it was called the new year. A very popular point of view is that the New Year was the day when summer began. That is - March 21-22, the day of the vernal equinox, another important solar holiday, called Komoyeditsa. Many of its traditions have survived to this day, turning into Maslenitsa.

However, a deep study of the semantics of the Russian language in pre-Christian times and existing early Christian sources refutes such an opinion. First of all, due to the fact that our ancestors did not have a separate name for the summer season. For them, there was only spring, autumn and winter. From spring to autumn, work went on, from autumn to winter - festivities, and in winter - rest and, in the case of hungry years, the struggle for life.

However, this does not prevent many different Slavic communities from celebrating Slavic new year just in the spring. There are also traditions of celebrating the Old Slavic New Year and on, or rather, June 21-22, during summer solstice. There are those who celebrate the New Year closer to the now generally accepted celebration, that is, during Kolyada.

In general, it is still impossible to name an unambiguous date when our ancestors celebrated the New Year, based on archaeological finds. From the point of view of culture and religious traditions, most likely, this celebration fell on one of the solar holidays. And about which of them marked the change of years, neither historians nor followers of the ancient Slavic faith have yet come to an unequivocal consensus.