Russian Holidays and Customs

By M.C.Parsons

My Valentine

Appendix 9.

Auld Lang Syne

Appendix 8.

“Auld Lang Syne” has been one of the world’s most popular songs for almost two centuries. It is sung not only on New Year’s Eve and at the close of reunions but also at many other social gatherings. The custom originated in Scotland after Robert Burns, Scotland’s national folk poet, wrote those lyrical words of the song in 1788. The melody is believed to be a Scottish ancient folk dance. The printed version of the song first appeared in the year of the death of the poet in 1796. Since then on different festive occasions people join hands, dance and sing this popular song. Here are its words:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And days of auld lang syne?

CHORUS

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,

We'll take a cup of kindness yet.

For auld lang syne.

We two have run about the braes

And pulled the gowants fine,

But we’ve wandered many a weary foot

Since auld lang syne.

By the way, in ancient Rome, people worshipped the good Janus and held festivals of the New Year in his honour. They believed that he had two faces, one looking back at the old year and the other looking forward towards the new. The first month of the year, January, is named after him.

Cupid – Roman god of love

Eros – Greek god of love

Venus – goddess of love

Vulcan - Roman god of fire

St. Valentine’s Day

1. The rose is red, the violet blue,

Lilies are fair and so are you.

2. February the fourteenth day,

It’s Valentine, they say,

I choose you from among the rest,

The reason was I loved you best.

3. Sure as the grape grows on the vine

So sure you are my Valentine.

4. Lilies are white,

Rosemary’s green,

When you are king,

I’ll be your queen.

5. Round is the ring that has no end,

So is my love for you, my friend,

Again do take this in good part,

Along with it you have my heart.

But if you do the same refuse,

Pray burn this paper and me excuse.

I have a little Valentine

That someone sent to me.

It’s pink and white

And red and blue, and pretty as can be.

Forget-me-nots

Are round the edge,

And tiny roses, too; and

Such a lovely piece of lace

The very palest blue.

And in the center

There’s a heart

As red as red can be!

And on it’s written

All in gold, “To you,

With love from Me”.

Appendix 10.

Our ancestors had a lot of holidays and traditions connected with different parts of the year. The majority of them are connected with Christianity.

At the end of the year people celebrated Christmas. Nowadays we celebrate this day on the 7^th January. The day before Christmas is Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve no one sits down to the table until a star appears in the sky. This star symbolizes the one that predicted Christ’s birth to the Three Wise Men. Other symbols also remained. Thus, remembering that Christ was placed into a manger immediately after his birth, our ancestors covered the floor of their houses in the evening with hey.

On Christmas Eve people went form house to house carol-singing and wishing each other happiness and good fortune. On Christmas Eve they also predicted what the yield would be. If the day was warm than there would be a rich harvest, if the night was starlit there would be many berries.

In the morning, after fasting, people ate pork dishes of which there were often up to 12. They also baked biscuits for the children in the shape of cocks and cows. It was believed that this helped to keep the cattle healthy.

During this period relatives visited each other. Boys went form one house to another with a puppet-show box and a star.

The second day of Christmas was traditionally devoted to women in childbirth. This day even has a special name – ‘babiny’ (form the Russian word “baba” – woman), and form this day up to Shrove-tide, match-making and weddings took place.

Naturally, not all folk customs were welcomed by the church and not all religious holidays coincided with folk ones, which have their roots in paganism. Yet both remain intact to this day.

Thus, fortune-telling has always been condemned. But at Christmas-tide everyone tells fortunes. At this time imagination has no limits. Practically everything is used for this purpose: shoes, horses, gate, logs, wax, rings, eggs, beans, mirrors, candles, combs, etc. To say nothing of the interpretation of dreams.

One of the biggest holidays is Shrovetide – the coming of spring. Each day of the Shrove-tide week has its own name. Monday – meeting. Tuesday – flirtation. Wednesday – gourmand. Thursday is the main day, it is also called Wide Thursday or the Shrove-tide break. Friday is the mother-in-law’s pancakes, Saturday is the sister-in-law’s sit-round gathering and Sunday is the Shrove-tide’s seeing off. They celebrated it with songs, round dances, games, going for a drive by troika (three horses harnesses abreast) decorated with bells. And, of course, no Shrove-tide could do without pancakes, symbolizing the Sun! Even five pages would be not enough to enumerate all the types of pancakes made in Russia. Through the streets they carried a doll, which symbolized Shrove-tide and then they burned it. Good bye, winter!

Do not forget that the last day of Shrove-tide is the day to forgive all wrongs and repent before the beginning of Lent in order to clean your conscience.

Palm Sunday is the celebration of the return of the spring. In old times they said that Russian willow carries the same significance as the palm branch of Palestine.

Then, shortly after, follows Easter – the Holy Week. It is celebrated very solemnly everywhere. Without fail people bake Easter Cakes and paint eggs, which symbolize the beginning of life. “Christ has arisen again!” is heard form every house.

And immediately after comes the Krasnaya Gorka (literally Red Hill). “Krasnaya” is derived form the word “krasivaya” (beautiful). And “gorka” comes form the appearance of small isles, “gorki”, which occur during the overflow of rivers, and in which youngsters play. This is the best time for weddings. At this time the call for spring begins – the first actual spring holiday. Only then appear the first leaves, the warm weather and round dances.

There are places where they celebrate Semik or Mermaids’ week, but this custom has almost gone now.

Yet up till now Ivan Kupala (John the Baptist’s Day), one of the most beautiful summer holidays, is widely known. Kupala is a pagan god of the earth fruits. Therefore, bonfires lit on this day are, first and foremost, in memory of the sacrifice made to Kupala form the grass stems. People dance around the bonfire as if expressing joy for acceptance of the sacrifice. It is known that bathing was also offered as a sacrifice to Kupala, that is they poured water on one another. It is believed that on this night fern blossoms and shows the way to hidden treasures. Girls and boys jump over the bonfire, holding each other’s hands. If they do not unclasp hands – be sure, they will marry.

Then come Petrovki with their night celebrations and meeting the sunrise. Petrovki was known in Russia as a “hungry” period because by this time all the food supplies had been eaten up, and the new crop was not ripe yet. After this is the time to prepare for autumn.

There are places where peasants celebrate many other agricultural holidays. It’s worth mentioning at least some of them: Opashka, Kapustnitsa, Ilyin den, the First Spas (Honey Spas), the second Spas (Apple Spas), etc. At present some of them are still celebrated, some has been revived, some forgotten. So the task of our generation is to keep the heritage of our ancestors for our children and grandchildren.

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