The evening that the Slavs call Christmas Eve is the time of preparation for the great Christian holiday Epiphany of the Lord Baptism. This holiday is associated with many national signs and rites, which were adhered to many centuries ago.
Instruction manual
1
"And on the table of food
". The Epiphany Eve has a strict fast, so the table is modest. The main course is juicy. In the old days, it was made from whole grains of wheat or barley. In modern kitchens, wheat grains are infrequent guests, so rice or diet sprout are the basis of many recipes. wheat. Mandatory is the use of honey. All the other ingredients - dried fruits, nuts, poppy hostesses put at their discretion. In ancient times, children, eating kuti, tapped on a plate with spoons, thereby saying goodbye to the fun winter by the builders.
2
On the table this evening served cookies in the form of crosses, lean cakes and donuts, oat and wheat pancakes, dumplings, cabbage, cabbage rolls, and lean borsch with beans. Bakles and ceremonial loaves-karachuny. Festive food was surely treated to pets and livestock. Mistresses left a little kutya, mixed the leftovers with flour and fed domestic animals. On January 20, a winter carnivore begins, which lasts until Pancake Week.
3
For two days, the Great Sanctification is held. Previously, holy water was collected in the river - a hole in the form of a cross was cut out in ice, the priest, reading a prayer, lowered the cross into the hole, after holding the sacred sacrament it was considered sanctified. The parishioners carried full vessels of water home and stored next to the icons in the Red Corner. It was believed that Epiphany water does not deteriorate and does not lose its properties.
4
Signs and fortune telling. In order to see Baptism, a bowl of water was placed on a table in the house. The sign was the rippling of water at midnight, having noticed a good sign, ran out into the street and, looking into the sky, prayed. What you pray for has come true.
5
On Epiphany evening, snow was collected from the stacks, old women used to whiten the canvas, and girls gathered to wash themselves. According to legend, Epiphany snow will retain water throughout the year, even in arid wells.
6
Since olden days, on the eve of the holiday, the hut floor was covered with fresh hay, and straw was laid on the table, covered with a snow-white tablecloth. Such actions were designed to attract good fortune and prosperity in the house. Young people went from huts to huts, singing carols.
7
If at Epiphany a blizzard, blowing snow or snow - it will be a fruitful year. The beekeepers rejoiced over the branches of the trees bent from the snow, since the omen indicated that the bees would swarm well.
8
"The bright stars will give rise to white bright, " said the old people. A clear sky promised the fertility of the lambs. A blizzard at Epiphany is a blizzard and at Shrovetide, and the southerly winds toward a thunderstorm.
