Dec. 31, 2025, 6:47 p.m.
(PHOTO: Intent / Natalia Mikhaillevska)
Ukraine is in the middle of the so-called "sviatky" (winter holiday cycle).
Most Ukrainians will now celebrate Christmas and related holidays according to the New Julian calendar. The confusion with the dates is gradually disappearing, but the question of when to go carolling and when to give carols remains relevant. Ethnographers and church representatives remind us that all the dates have shifted back 13 days. Now the Generous Evening coincides with the secular New Year, and sowing is done on the first day of January.
Read more about New Year's traditions in Ukraine in an article by Intent.
When winter comes, the first snow falls and frost sets in, we immediately start waiting and preparing for the New Year and Christmas holidays: we prepare gifts in advance, think about how and with whom we will celebrate.
And there are really a lot of holidays in winter. And each has its own customs and rituals. Some appeared in ancient times, others a little later, under the influence of Christianity.
The folk tradition of celebration in Ukraine is closely connected with the cycle of important economic affairs, as the basis of life in ancient Ukrainian society was field work. Economic activity had a calendar periodicity.
The church had its own separate calendar, and it recorded the most important events in a person's life. In addition, before the introduction of Christianity, Ukraine-Rus already had a rich and distinctive culture.
The overlap of church and folk traditions, their rather organic and peculiar merger, resulted in unique and original customs, traditions, and rituals, i.e., the worldview, outlook, and relationships between man and nature, between man and man, which have survived to the present day.
PHOTO: !FEST
On winter evenings in Ukraine, girls used to organize so-called vechornytsi. Boys had the right to come to a joint meal without invitations. They were supposed to sit at the table in pairs. During dinner, young people had fun and sang songs.
Vechornytsi were something like modern clubs and discos, perhaps their "prototype." Young people met there, became closer, and soon got married. In addition, if young people stayed up until midnight, it was called a veschornytsia, and if they stayed up until three roosters, it was called a dosvitka.
Vechornytsi lasted until the beginning of Lent.
The girls chose a house to hold their vespers. A good option was considered to be the house of a widow, a "soldier," or, as a last resort, a childless couple.
The hostess was called panimatka by all the visitors. She ensured that traditions and folk customary law were observed during the evening meals, and kept order. There used to be a saying about this: "A panimatka is like an owl, but her eyes are like a vulture's."
The premises were not provided free of charge, but for a fee. It was rarely paid in money, more often in bread or flour, millet, cloth, etc. "Money," our peasants used to say, "is something only the tavern keeper takes!
Only unmarried young people attended the parties. Every part of the village, and even every street, had its own house for the parties. Even small farms had at least two houses, because it was believed that it was not good for siblings to go to the same party, so they tried to go to different houses.
The girls were the first to gather, followed by the boys. If the party was on a weekday, the girls had to do everyday tasks, such as sewing, embroidery, etc. Boys' "duties" were much easier and more interesting: singing songs, telling various stories, fairy tales, dancing, courting, and generally preventing girls from working as much as possible.
In general, the best jokes, folk tales, songs, dances, legends, stories, jokes, proverbs, riddles, and other types of folk art were born at evening parties and dawns.
In addition to the usual vespers, there used to be a "słodchyna" that was held only four times a year: on the third day of Christmas, Easter, before Pelypivka, and Lent. The name comes from the fact that girls and boys would "get together" and have a joint party with dinner, music, and dancing. The girls would prepare dinner, and for this they would take what they had to the panimatka: one would bring flour for dumplings, another would bring cheese, another would bring butter-everything they needed. The boys also contributed, but not with food, but with money. With that money, they bought wine or vodka, as well as sweets for the girls: candy, honey, marzipan. Sometimes they hired musicians.
When it was time to sit down to dinner, each girl sat down with her boyfriend. Only the older girl, the ataman, and the older boy, the ataman, did not sit down. The ataman would take a bottle and a glass, and the atamaness would bring treats to the guests in turn. When everyone had eaten and drunk, the older girl said: "Don't be angry, good people, if someone was in trouble, for the richer the house, the happier the better!" Everyone left the table, thanked the ataman and the ataman, danced a little more, and then went home.
When Lent began, the party would stop - it was a sin. In the summer, there were no evening parties, they were replaced by the "street".
The first to take up the baton are carolers. According to the new style, Christmas falls on December 25. Caroling begins on Christmas Eve, on the evening of December 24, as soon as the first star appears in the sky. The ritual continues throughout the day on December 25. The main goal is to bring the news of the birth of Christ.
The biggest shift in the consciousness of Ukrainians occurred with this holiday. We used to sing carols on the "Old New Year" (January 13), but now the Generous Evening (Malanka's Day) falls on December 31. On New Year's Eve, in the evening of December 31.
It represents the remnant of a pre-Christian custom that coincides with the day of St. Melania on the Christian calendar. The New Year's Eve has a third name: Generous Kutia. Because, unlike the fasting Christmas Eve, its table is very rich in meat. Housewives prepare a lot of delicious dishes: jellied meat, sausage, roast, pies and kutia, and others. In the pre-revolutionary village, there were many families that were malnourished all year round, but they saved everything they needed for the New Year's table.
Folk beliefs say that on these holidays, the heavens are open to human prayer - you can ask God for the most intimate things.
On this evening, people sing "Shchedryk" to wish their hosts prosperity and a "generous evening." Often people perform "Kozu," a theatrical performance with people dressing up as folklore characters. Since December 31 is also a secular holiday, carols are a perfect addition to the New Year's table. Mostly girls and mixed groups of children sing carols. Because Melanka was considered a women's holiday, and Vasyl was considered a man's holiday.
Shchedryk. IMAGE: Prykarpattia Information Corporation
Traditionally, our ancestors celebrated the New Year in the spring with the first spring appearance of the "new moon" - the young moon. That's why the rituals and songs of this holiday remind us of spring. With the advent of Christianity, the official New Year began to travel - first to September, then to January, and the holiday traveled with it. As a result, the New Year stopped on January 1, and the Generous Evening falls on December 31.
It is also customary to give sweets and money to carolers, just like to carolers.
New Year's Eve is filled with magic and enchantment. All of this is an attempt to unravel one's future and ensure happiness and prosperity for the next year.
For this evening, the hosts were in a hurry to pay off all their debts and make peace with those with whom they had quarreled. There was a belief that one shouldn't swear on the Generous Evening to ensure a quiet and peaceful life throughout the year.
In order not to become poor the next year, it was forbidden to go to someone for a loan. Women were never allowed to borrow anything because they could "take away the wealth from the household where they borrowed." If there was an urgent need to ask for something, they would send a young boy.
The main cycle of winter greetings is completed by the sowing rite, which now falls on the morning of January 1 (St. Basil's Day).
St. Basil the Great was a theologian and was considered the patron saint of farmers. This is the origin of the main rite of this holiday - sowing houses. Grain is a symbol of new life, so when you enter a house, you sprinkle it with grain. By sprinkling grain on the house, the givers "sowed" it with goodness and prosperity. Boys do this because girls are not allowed to do it. They would say: "We sow, we sow, we sow, we wish you a happy New Year! Sow, give birth to rye, wheat, and all kinds of arable land!"
The grain that is sown symbolizes life and wealth, so it cannot be swept away before sunset. The sower was asked to sit down for a few minutes: "Sit down on the bench, let all the good things in our house sit down: chickens, geese, ducks, swarms, and elders, because we have an adult girl!" It is customary to sow before noon.
According to folk beliefs, a man (polaznyk) should be the first to enter the house on New Year's Eve to bring good luck. Therefore, only boys and men go to sow. Girls are not allowed to participate in this ritual. It is customary that in the morning, boys under the age of 14 sow their own house with rye and wheat (symbols of fertility and prosperity), and then run to their neighbors to sow, greeting them with "Happy New Year, Happy Vasyl!" The hosts, in turn, present the sowers with pies, nuts, candy, and small change.
After the sowing, the grain is harvested and given to the chickens "to make them lay well."
Infertile trees are "scared" by hitting the trunk with an axe and threatening to cut them down if they do not continue to produce. After this "scaring" the tree was tied with a weight. Sometimes the tree was slightly chopped down.
It is strictly forbidden on Malanka and Vasyl:
To give money to the sowers, as this way you can give away the prosperity from home. It is also not recommended to lend money on this day;
In memory of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan River, the Feast of the Epiphany is popularly called Epiphany, or Jordan. It is one of the 12 largest Christian holidays of the Christmas and New Year cycle.
When Jesus Christ was thirty years old, he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Christian legend has it that when the Son of God came out of the water, the heavens opened and at that very moment a dove landed on his shoulder. It was the Holy Spirit. This is where the tradition of baptism in water came from, and the holiday is called Epiphany. With his baptism in the Jordan, the Savior initiated the Sacrament of Baptism, one of the seven main church sacraments, through which a person is born again to live in Christ.
Our ancestors honored the goddess of rivers, Dana, on this day. It was believed that the water on this day became magical, girls washed themselves with it to be beautiful, it cured diseases and protected them from evil spirits.
Epiphany in Odesa. PHOTO: Intent / Natalia Dovbysh
The celebration of Epiphany begins the day before. On January 5, all believers observe a strict fast - they do not eat anything. You can sit down to dinner when the evening star rises. This day is also called Hungry Kutia. Kutia, uzvar, and several meatless dishes are put on the table: fried fish, buckwheat pancakes, and dumplings with cabbage. After dinner, the children would "chase away the kutia" by knocking on the table, the door, and the gate with spoons or a makohon. When the kutia was chased away, the father would shave the children's bangs "so that they would not be afraid of the wolf."
They would also burn Didukh in the yard, saying:
"Go, kutia, from the kutia,
And uzvar - to the market,
And Didukh - for a warm spirit,
To make us take off our cloak!
Together with kutia and the smoke from the burnt Didukh, the souls of the ancestors who were staying in the house for the holidays flew away, so it was necessary to chase away the kutia and burn the Didukh so that the ancestors would not forget to fly away and stay in our world. The ashes from the burnt Didukh were usually scattered around the garden for a good harvest.
On the morning of Epiphany, a church service is held, followed by a procession to the river or pond, where the priest blesses the water in the ice hole. The ice hole is often carved in the shape of a cross and an ice cross is placed next to it, a custom that has been preserved since pre-Christian times when the cross symbolized the sun. Another short festive service is held on the riverbank near the ice cross. The priest blesses the water in the ice hole by dipping the cross into it while the choir sings. From that time on, the water was considered consecrated. The consecrated water is taken home because it retains its properties throughout the year. Daredevils bathe in the ice-holes. It is said that baptismal water works miracles, so it is impossible to catch a cold on this holy day. On the contrary, the water gives health for the whole year.
Epiphany in Odesa. PHOTO: Intent / Natalia Dovbysh
The festive dinner on Jordan begins with the blessed water. Baptismal water should be consumed on an empty stomach. It is believed that under this condition it has the greatest power. The magical properties of holy water include the ability to quench passions, drive away evil spirits from the home, and grant a patient recovery, often even from incurable diseases. The priests emphasize that God does not perform miracles where people expect them simply out of curiosity, without a sincere intention to use them for their own salvation. For holy water to be beneficial, one must take care of the purity of one's thoughts and actions.
The master of the house sprinkled holy water on everyone in the house, saying: "God grant us to wait for that year!" Then he sprinkled everything in the house and around the house, as well as the livestock, except for pigs and chickens. One of the children, a boy or a girl, would follow the father. Wherever the father sprinkled water, the child would follow him and write a cross with chalk. In the house, crosses were painted on doors, windows, on the table, chest, dishes-everywhere. After these magical actions, the family would sit down to dinner. Leftovers from dinner were given to domestic animals. Kutia, which was left over after dinner, was taken out to the chickens "so that they would breed well."
After dinner, all family members would put the used spoons in one plate and put bread on top of them for a good harvest.
On Epiphany, they finished caroling and organized "rozkolyada" or "rozshedrivaniya" or "rozmelanka"-festive parties of all carolers, where they recalled how they celebrated, played, and danced. The feast was organized with the money left over from caroling.
The most severe frosts usually come on Epiphany. They are called Epiphany frosts. After that, the frosts are no longer scary. That's why they say, "Don't crack, don't crack - Epiphany has passed."
The first Monday after Epiphany is a holy day. On this day, you can only eat lean food.
This is one of the 12 biggest Christian holidays, which completes the Christmas cycle. People say that it is the meeting of winter and spring. But in reality, the holiday is about something else entirely. On February 2, Jesus Christ, at the age of forty days, was brought by his parents to the Jerusalem temple, where the righteous elder Simeon had a miraculous meeting with the Infant Jesus Christ. Traditionally, on the Feast of the Presentation, the church blesses the "water of the Presentation" and the "thunder candle," which is kept at home and lit during a thunderstorm to protect against lightning, fires, and war.
On the day of the Presentation of the Lord, when people came home from church, they lit a "thunder candle" "so that the spring flood would not damage the crops and the frost would not break the trees." They tried to bring the "passionate" candle home lit and soot the cross on the door "so that evil spirits would pass the house." A hromnica candle is a signpost; it was also lit during childbirth to show a new person the way, and was put into the hands of the dead for the same purpose.
The cult of fire is an indispensable feature of the holiday. Boys would light bonfires, thus calling for spring, and girls would sing the first spring songs. They also began to paint Easter eggs on the Feast of the Presentation. This is a very old tradition associated with the ritual of the spring awakening of nature.
When the water was blessed in church, the villagers would collect the water in a new - not yet used - vessel, bring it home, and keep it carefully. This water was credited with magical powers. It was considered healing water. People rubbed sore spots with it and believed that it would help, and they also believed that it helped against the "evil eye" and other evil spells. Not only people could be treated with this water, but also cattle, poultry, and bees. Beekeepers kept this water all year round and sprinkled it on their hives every "first" Sunday-the first Sunday of the new moon. When a son was going to war, his father would bless him and sprinkle him with Stretna water and say: "God save you!"
The Church does not prohibit the observance of the old style (Koliada on January 7, Shchedrivka on January 13, Sowing on January 14) if the community has made such a decision. However, at the state and church-wide level, the official dates are December 25, December 31, and January 1. So get your candy ready - tomorrow you might get a visit from the sowers<span><span><span><span><span>.</span></span></span></span></span>
Володимир Шкаєв