Generous evening: what is strictly forbidden, mystical items
Many Russians celebrate Old New Year on the night of January 13-14. However, not everyone knows that this is also the time of the folk holiday Generous Evening, which is also known as Vasilyev Evening or Malanya. Our ancestors believed that all the words spoken on this day have a special power, and the wishes made should certainly come true. Read more about the traditions of the celebration, as well as why it is necessary to set the most luxurious table and how to make the right cheeks - in the material "Izvestia".
Generous evening: what kind of holiday January 13
Generous evening - a holiday that existed in the folk calendar long before the adoption of the Christian faith. Initially it was celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1, welcoming the New Year. But with the transition to the Gregorian calendar in the XX century, the dates of the celebration shifted, and now it is celebrated together with the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14.
The main name of the holiday is connected with the fact that on this night everything was put on the table. The saying "Well, baba, sword everything that is in the oven" is well known. And this night was, indeed, a generous family feast. However, the celebration has many other names. For example, Vasilyev evening, Melanka, Malanka, Malanya, sometimes it is even called the day of Melanya the gastric giver or Malanya the fat.
Melania Roman
The history of the celebration goes back to pre-Christian pagan times. According to legends, Lada, the mother of all gods, had a daughter named Milanka, who was kidnapped and imprisoned in the underworld by a serpent. Bespalchik-Vasilchik, a rich hero, dared to save the young girl. He defeated the monster and married the girl. In honor of the feat of the brave warrior and the return of the beauty in Russia arranged noisy festivities with generous treats. People believed that together with them the gods and spirits of the dead celebrated the joyful event. Hence the name - Malanya.
After the adoption of Christianity, the customs of the holiday were mixed with church traditions. So, according to the church calendar, January 13 is the Memorial Day of Melania the Roman. As noted by Dr. Irina Shcherbakova, associate professor of the Department of Sociology, Management Psychology and History of GUU, Melania was born at the end of the IV century in Rome. The daughter of a wealthy senator Valerius Publikola, she followed in the footsteps of her grandmother Melania, who gave away all her property and founded a convent.
- Melania was forced into marriage at the age of 14 and insisted on continuing the lineage. After two infant deaths, her spouse, seeing his wife's suffering, took a vow of chastity and bequeathed all his possessions to her. The saint distributed all the money to the needy and freed many slaves. In the city of Tagaste (modern Algeria) Melania founded two monasteries and devoted the rest of her life to service and prayer," the expert said.
Then the family moved to Jerusalem. Melania founded a large monastery near the Mount of Olives and continued to help people, including ascetic desert people. St. Melania's monastery was destroyed in 614 during the Persian invasion, but her cave on the Mount of Olives is still honored by Christians today. Anticipating her imminent death, Melania went to Bethlehem to take part in the Christmas service, and quietly departed on December 31.
These days, on the day after the feast, January 14, believers honor the memory of St. Basil the Great - a famous archbishop, theologian and writer who lived in the IV century. He became famous as a zealous defender of the Christian faith, who openly preached during persecutions and was not afraid to enter into polemics with high-ranking officials. The evening before his celebration in Russia was called Vasiliev evening.
Folk beliefs gave Vasilyev evening a special meaning. It was believed that it divided Svyatki into two equal parts: "holy", that is, sanctified by Christmas, and "scary", when the unclean force was especially active. From that time on, the owners tried to lock the lock of the house earlier, and young people did not stay out too long. For protection, crosses were drawn on the walls of houses and prayers were read.
Traditions of celebrating the Generous Evening
The main tradition of the celebration remains a generous, abundant table, on which festive dishes must necessarily stand. It was believed that if everything is done correctly, the food will not be transferred in the house all year long, and the family will have peace and prosperity.
Not only people were treated, a bowl of something tasty was also supposed to housekeepers and other evil things. According to one version, it was on Generous Evening our ancestors decorated houses with fir trees and fir branches. They associated the holiday with the spirits of the deceased, and the fir tree was considered something like a guide between that world and this one.
Unmarried girls on the night of Vasily's Day necessarily guessed at their fiancé. After that young people gathered in noisy companies "to lead Malanka", or "mankovka". This was the name of the rite, for which they chose the most beautiful girl, dressed her up, decorated her hair with a star and took her around the houses. It was believed that to whom Malanka would knock at the house, the new year would be lucky. However, in order for everything to come true, the guests had to be treated to something tasty.
In addition to Malanka, this performance was attended by other impersonators, such as the King, Grandfather Serpent, the Month and other creatures taken from pagan beliefs. At the same time, special short songs were sung on Generous Evening, and the process itself was called generosity. Groups of young people came to different houses, knocked on the gates, and when the owners welcomed them, began to sing humorous songs, begging for treats. It was considered a bad omen to drive the generous people away or to leave them without an offering.
Many people confuse Generous Evening with the ancient tradition of caroling. Carols are not a holiday, but a custom of singing short songs with wishes for good luck, health and wealth. As a rule, they are sung from Christmas Eve on January 6 to Epiphany on January 19. But with chiddrovki go home on the night of Generous Evening. These songs are only one part of caroling, along with others: oatsenkaniye, grapes, etc. For our ancestors, carols were rather a magical action that symbolized the birth of the sun god - Kolyada.
Today carols are almost forgotten, they are occasionally sung in remote villages. To remember the old traditions, Izvestia prepared simple examples of simple chants:
Shchedrik-Petrik,
Give me a dumpling!
A spoonful of porridge,
On top of the sausage.
That's not enough,
Give me a piece of lard.
Take it out,
Don't freeze the kids!
***
Good evening, generous evening,
Good evening to good people.
What did you make, auntie?
What have you baked, auntie?
Bring it to the window.
Don't pinch it, don't break it,
Give me a whole one.
***
Good evening, good evening,
Good evening to good people.
A falcon flew in,
Sitting on the window,
He was cutting cloth.
And the leftovers for hats for the owners,
And the leftovers for belts,
Hello, happy holiday!
In the morning of the next day, before going to work, it is necessary to carry out the rite of sowing. Only teenage boys can take part in the rite. In order that in the coming year the owners managed to collect a good harvest, it was customary for young men entering houses to scatter wheat grains, symbolizing fertility and abundance.
Generous dinner: what to cook for the holiday
The evening was called generous for a reason - the tables were bursting with food, since the day marked the end of the fast. On the table was to be a lot of treats, and the obligatory dish was kutya - sweet porridge with honey, nuts and fruit.
The porridge was taken out of the barn on January 13 at two o'clock in the morning. It was not allowed to touch it, so as not to change the future. If the porridge "ran away" from the pot during cooking, it was considered a harbinger of misfortune, so such porridge was not eaten. It was considered the worst omen if the pot burst: it promised illness. A lot of foam on top - to empty troubles.
In addition to kutya, housewives baked pies, pancakes and other traditional dishes. In Russia, pancakes were considered a symbol of prosperity, so on this holiday they were made with hearty fillings - with apples, poppy seeds, cottage cheese or meat. The most important place on the festive table was occupied by a dish of pork. According to Irina Scherbakova, this tradition is partly due to the fact that St. Basil was the patron saint of pig farmers.
- The New Year's meal included kutya, special Vasily's porridge and "Caesarean" pig (or any pork dishes). Eating these dishes from ancient times had a ritual character and was aimed at ensuring a rich harvest and fertility of livestock in the coming year," the expert adds.
Some traditions have survived even in our time. The most famous is dumplings with a surprise. The hostess put a different filling inside each dumpling. With its help it was possible to predict the future:
- A dumpling with cabbage - for money;
- Varenyk with a ring - for marriage;
- Varenyk with coins - to riches;
- Varenyk with a thread - to a long journey;
- Varenyk with a cherry - to temptation;
- Varenyk with a button - to renewal;
- Varenyk with sugar - to sweet life;
- Varenyk with salt - to grief, problems;
- Varenyk with pepper - to sharp sensations, bright events;
- Varenyk with beans - to additions to the family.
Now for the Old New Year Russians mostly prepare the same dishes as for the usual New Year - olivier, herring under a fur coat and so on.
Magical items and fortune-telling on January 13: how to know the future
According to beliefs, the Generous Evening has a special energy force, so after dark it was customary to guess. Girls traditionally conducted magical rituals on the betrothed, using different types of fortune-telling - on wax or on a thrown boot.
It is worth remembering that the Orthodox Church treats any kind of predictions extremely negatively. Theologians say that any attempts to look into the future, especially on Christmas Eve, - a great sin, because they have a connection with the unclean force. Archpriest Eugene Svidersky draws attention to the book of Leviticus, which says: "Do not conjure or fortune-telling" (Lev. 19.26). According to him, if we talk about fortune-telling on Christmas Eve, it can't be called anything but a sin or an impudent challenge to God.
If you still want to take a risk and look into the future, you should follow some rules. First of all, you should dress up in the lightest clothes, remove all unnecessary things: jewelry, belts, ribbons and laces. Hair should be loose. According to the general opinion of experts, it is best to arrange divination in a separate room. However, if the light goes out in the process, the ritual should be stopped immediately - it is a bad sign.
Divination on a wish
To conduct this ritual, several people are needed. Take an ordinary deck of cards, preferably a new one, and shuffle it. Each in turn asks aloud a question - whether his desire will come true. After that, a random card should be drawn. If the suit will be red, the wish will be fulfilled, in the case of black - in the near future you should not wait for luck.
Fortune-telling on a comb
A young girl can see the future husband in a dream. To do this, you should take a comb and before going to bed comb your hair. In this case, a few hairs must necessarily remain on the teeth of the comb. During the ritual you should say: "My soulmate, my cassock, come and comb my hair in a dream".
It is important after that until the moment of falling asleep not to talk to anyone. Then a girl in a dream will appear to a man, destined to her fate. However, it is worth being careful: if in a dream narrowed will hurt, then the marriage will be difficult and full of problems.
Fortune-telling on threads
To participate in this rite you need several girls. All of them are given threads of the same length. Threads simultaneously set on fire, and the girl who will burn faster, the first to marry. And the one at whom the thread will go out, while matchmakers can not wait.
Fortune-telling on cups
This type of divination needs more careful preparation. It is necessary to take several cups and in each put a certain object. Then each of the participants of the ritual with closed eyes chooses a favorite dish - on its contents and judge what to expect this year.
A ring heralds a quick marriage, a coin - unexpected wealth, a piece of bread - prosperity in the house, and sugar - a cheerful life. However, the onion is a harbinger of tears, and salt warns of impending trouble.
Folk omens for Generous Evening and Malanya
According to the weather on a generous evening, you can approximately assume what the coming year will be like. For example, if the south wind blows all day long, the year will be warm and the summer will be hot. In case of a westerly wind there will be a lot of fish in the rivers.
A thaw on the holiday - to a warm and wet summer, frost - to the failure of the mushroom crop, and if the day was snowy, the spring will be late. Frost on the trees meant a good harvest of honey and grain crops, icing on the trees meant a harvest of vegetables, and blizzard meant a harvest of nuts.
Get sick on Old New Year - a bad sign, the disease will be long treated. Dreams dreamed on January 13 will definitely come true. On this day you can not count the change, otherwise there will be trouble. If a child was born on St. Basil's Day, it was said that he will live in luxury all his life, and will also be very wise.
After the meal, you should not hurry and wipe the crumbs off the table. The tablecloth should be taken outside and there shake it out properly, saying: "How many crumbs on the tablecloth, how much wealth and happiness to our house!".
