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Svyatky
Svyatky (Kalyady) is a holiday period in honour of the winter solstice, the beginning of a new sun year and hence the agricultural one which lasted for two weeks: from January7/ December25 to January19/ 6 •.The holiday cycle had three culmination points: January7 / December25 (Christmas Day), January14/1 (New Year) and January19/6 (Epiphany) and the eves of these holidays. Around these dates of church and civil calendars a diverse set of customs and rituals was formed. On the first evening of Christmas mummers began to walk from house to house congratulating the hosts on the holiday and wishing prosperity for the entire coming year. Christmas-Kalyady rounds, the participants, requisites (masks, Christmas star, Batleyka) were very diverse in Belarus. The mask-character of the goat was considered the main symbol of wealth and fertility among Belarusians. According to people's views, New Year's Eve (the generous evening) is the time for the most accurate predictions of fate, so the girls were trying to tell fortunes on the future marriage, family life, the nature of their husbands. At Epiphany people consecrated water and this water was considered holy, it was kept in the family as a guardian throughout the year, it was used to treat diseases and get rid of misfortunes. The custom of Christmas (Christmas) trees had spread in Belarusian towns and in the twentieth century it came to Belarusian villages. In modern times, the main characters of the Christmas-New Year's cycle are costumed Father Frost and Snow Maiden.
© National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 2011
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