Recently I saw a post that we lost touch with the roots and incorrectly celebrate the New Year. The author of the text lamented the general enthusiasm for oriental culture and the Chinese horoscope, advised to turn to the sources and start living in the spirit of the traditions of our ancestors.
The text, filled with righteous anger, made me think: what are the real origins? When to celebrate the new year to adhere to the spirit and letter of historical truth?
I will say right away that I do not blame those who will celebrate the onset of the Year of the Yellow Pig on December 31, I just remind you that he will come a little later, in February. But the general consciousness and attitude can no longer be altered: the advertising machine of the holiday has been launched. Shop counters are bursting with souvenir pigs, colleagues in the shop diligently write articles on New Year's signs.
Delving deeper into the study of New Year's celebration in Russia, I realized that we were somehow unlucky with this holiday from the very beginning.
Let's start with the fact that at different times in Russia the New Year was celebrated in different ways. There was a time when the holiday fell on the fall - September 1 or 14. In the spring of March 1 or 22.
Researchers-historians and folklorists say that in pagan times the New Year was celebrated in the spring - on the day of the Spring Equinox on March 22, at the same time our ancestors celebrated Maslenitsa and saw off Winter. And since winter has passed, it means that the new year has come.
Our ancestors - farmers and pastoralists - focused on seasonal work. In the spring, they celebrated the speedy sowing work, and in the fall they thanked Mother Earth for a generous harvest. And their calendar was appropriate: therefore, spring is the beginning of the year, the beginning of a new stage of life, the rebirth of nature, the flourishing of the forces of the earth.
After the adoption of Christianity, in order to comply with the decisions of the Council of Nicaea, it was decided to postpone the beginning of the year to September 1 - this is how it should be. And the point. No one asked the people, of course, they did not explain the reasons for such a decision, they did not take into account public opinion and did not pay attention to agricultural schedules of life.
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And this order of meeting NG existed in Russia until the end of the 17th century.
Tsar-reformer and fan of European culture - Peter - in December 1699 ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1 by his decree. Peter ordered to decorate houses with branches of pines, firs, junipers, to walk and have fun. She put up Christmas trees and decorated them exclusively for the nobility, ordinary people, the peasants did not celebrate this day. They celebrated Christmas and had fun on Christmastide. Gradually, Peter's reforms spread to all estates.
And further, further a little sad. After the Great October Revolution, they continued to celebrate the new year, but not for long. There were Christmas trees and festivities, even celebrating Christmas was not forbidden. It was during this period that our famous Santa Claus (analogue of Western Santa) appeared. But, literally a few years after the revolution, the concept changed. In 1927, total anti-religious propaganda began in the country of the Soviets. It is not clear how the New Year is connected with religion, because it is rather a pagan holiday of worship of the tree of life, which is symbolized by the fir tree. But the fact remains: along with the merry years of NEP, the celebration of Christmas and New Year has sunk into oblivion. No, the New Year was celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1, but this day was a working day, and there were no noisy festivities.
A period of timelessness has come.
After 10 years, the celebration of the New Year was again allowed. In 1937, the Council of People's Commissars established a holiday (ordered to rejoice). Dressed up fluffy beauties fell under the amnesty, and the day was again declared non-working.
The very first Christmas tree for children was held on January 1 at the Moscow House of Unions.
It was then that Grandfather Frost first appeared, accompanied by his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden. But one moment from the history of the celebration of NG remained unclear for me: from my childhood I perfectly remember another fabulous New Year's character - the New Year's Boy. On old postcards from the past, he accompanies Grandfather and Granddaughter. Each time in a new suit with the numbers of the coming year. At some point, this Boy suddenly disappeared, and it was in the distant days of the USSR. He disappeared from New Year's folklore so suddenly that I still wonder if he was, this boy! I have not preserved any postcards, but the picture is clearly in front of my eyes …
My peers were divided into two approximately the same camps: some remember this character, others categorically declare that he did not exist at all! As if we lived in parallel universes! Well, how can we not recall the famous "Mandela effect" and false memories! Apparently a boy in an astronaut suit with the inscription 1980 is the fruit of the collective fantasy of a group of people. In any case, I have no documentary evidence of his presence at the holiday.
To paraphrase Volond, we can say that people change little: just as our ancestors had fun at the Christmas tree after Peter's decree, Soviet children and adults were looking forward to the holiday. That 400 years ago a magnificent New Year's table was the lot of the elite, that in the USSR they prepared for the feast in advance. They "took out" scarce products, and the best gifts for children were sweets. The most valuable present is a colorful themed box from the "Kremlin" Christmas tree. I had several different ones, and when the candies ran out, the red plastic kept the smell of real chocolate from the Red October factory for a long time.
New times have brought new trends in the decor of green wood. The Christmas angels on the crown have been replaced by red five-pointed stars. Toys of that time are not as bright as those of today, but some of them still dress up their home-made fir trees in the style of "a la USSR". This decor does not cause tenderness or nostalgia for me, I believe that every time has its own accessories and there is no need to drag all the trash into a new life …