What are the pagan holidays?

Before you start talking about pagan holidaysour ancestors, probably, it is necessary to understand the very concept of "paganism". Scientists try not to give a single-valued interpretation of this term. Previously, it was assumed that the emergence of the concept of "paganism" modern society due to the New Testament. In which in the Church Slavonic language the word "iazytsy" corresponded to the concept "other peoples", that is, those who had a religion different from the Christian one. Historians and linguists who study Slavic culture, believe that the sacred meaning of this concept lies in the old Slavic word "yazhichestvo" which in modern language would have sounded like "uzychestvo", ie respect of kinship, family and blood ties. Our ancestors really with special trepidation related to related ties, because they considered themselves to be a part of everything, and consequently, were related to mother-nature and all its manifestations.

The sun

The pantheon of the gods was also based on the forces of nature,and pagan holidays served as an occasion for honoring and showing proper respect for these forces. Like other ancient peoples, the Slavs deified the Sun, because the very process of survival depended on the luminary, so the main holidays were devoted to its position in the sky and the changes connected with this situation.

Pagan Solstice Holidays

The ancient Slavs lived on the solar calendar,which corresponded to the position of the Sun relative to other astronomical objects. The year was calculated not by the number of days, but by the four main astronomical events associated with the Sun: the winter solstice, the spring equinox, the summer solstice, the autumnal equinox. Accordingly, the main pagan holidays were associated with natural changes occurring during the astronomical year.

The main Slavic holidays

Ancient Slavs started the new year from the daythe vernal equinox. This great feast of victory over the winter was called Komoditsa. The holiday, dedicated to the summer solstice, was called the Kupaila Day. The autumnal equinox was celebrated with Veresen's holiday. The main celebration in winter was the winter solstice - Kolyada pagan festival. The four main holidays of our ancestors were devoted to the hypostases of the Sun, which it changes depending on the pores of the astronomical year. Devoting and endowing the luminary with human qualities, the Slavs believed that the Sun changes throughout the year, as a person during his life. True, unlike the latter, the deity, dying the night before the winter solstice, is reborn in the morning again.

Kolyada, or Yol-Solntsevorot

The beginning of the astronomical winter, the great pagana holiday of the winter solstice dedicated to the revival of the Sun, which was identified with the infant born at the dawn of the winter solstice (December 21). The celebrations lasted for two weeks, and the great Jol began at sunset on December 19. To meet the Christmas of the Sun, all the relatives gathered, the Magi kindled fires to scare away the evil spirits and point the way to the guests gathered for the feast. On the eve of the birth of the renewed Sun, the forces of evil could be especially active, because between the death of the old Sun Svetovit and the birth of the new Kolyada stood the magical night of timelessness. It was believed that our ancestors could have resisted the otherworldly forces by gathering together for a common fun.

This night the Slavs kindled ritual bonfires,to help the Sun to be born. They cleaned the dwellings and the farmsteads, washed themselves and put themselves in order. And in the fire burned all the old and unnecessary, symbolically and literally getting rid of the burden of the past, in order to meet the revived Sun in the morning cleared and refreshed. Still quite a weak winter sun called Kolyada (caressing derivative of Kolo, that is, a circle) and rejoiced that every day it will get stronger, and the day will begin to increase. The festivities continued on our calendar until sunset on 1 January.

The Magic Night of Jules

The most fabulous and magical ancient Slavs, likeand modern people, considered the twelfth night of Yola (from December 31 to January 1) and celebrated her with amusing disguises, songs and dances. Until now, not only the tradition of having fun that night, but also many other things, has survived. The modern children with joy are waiting for the pagan god of Santa Claus, whom the ancient Slavs called on to visit to cajole and thus save their crops from freezing. Preparing for the New Year's holidays, modern people decorate the tree with luminous garlands, Christmas wreaths are fastened on the door, and cookies and cakes in the form of logs are often placed on the door, confidently believing that this is a Christmas Christian tradition. In fact, almost all the paraphernalia are borrowed from pagan Yola. In the winter period there were also pagan holidays - Christmas carols and Honoring women. They were accompanied by songs, dances, holy fortune-telling and feasts. During all the festivities, people praised the young Sun as a symbol of the onset of a better and renewed life.

Comedian

Vernal Equinox Day (March 20-21)was a holiday dedicated to the beginning of the New Year, the meeting of spring and victory over the winter cold. With the advent of Christianity was replaced and shifted in time to the beginning of the year according to the church calendar, now known as Maslenitsa. The pagan festival of Komoditsa was celebrated for two weeks, one before the vernal equinox, and the other later. At this time, the Slavs celebrated the stronger and growing sun. Having changed his children's name to Kolyada on Yarilo, the sun-god was already strong enough to melt the snow and awaken nature from winter sleep.

The Meaning of a Great Holiday for Our Ancestors

During the celebration our ancestors burned a scarecrowwinter, because it was often not only cold, but also hungry. With the coming of spring, the fear of the personification of the cold death in winter was gone. In order to appease the spring and ensure that its crops are favored, in the thawed fields, pieces of pie were laid out as a treat to Spring-Mother. At the festive feasts the Slavs could afford a substantial meal in order to gain strength for work during the warm season. Celebrating the spring New Year holidays pagan, they conducted dances, had fun and prepared for the solemn table sacrificial food - pancakes, which in their shape and color resembled the spring sun. Because the Slavs lived in harmony with nature, they revered her animal and plant world. Bear was a very respected and even deified beast, so on the holiday of the coming of spring he was offered a sacrifice in the form of pancakes. The name Komeditsa is also associated with a bear, our ancestors called a lump, hence the proverb "the first pancake to comas", and hence intended for the bears.

Kupaila, or Kupala

Day of the summer solstice (June 21) glorifiesthe sun-god of mighty and full strength Kupaila, who gives fertility and a good harvest. This great day of the astronomical year is leading pagan summer holidays and is the beginning of the summer according to the solar calendar. Slavs rejoiced and had fun, because on that day they could rest from hard work and glorify the sun. People led dances around the sacred fire, jumped through it, purifying themselves in this way, bathed in the river, whose water on this day is especially curative. The girls guessed at their wives and threw wreaths of fragrant herbs and summer flowers. They decorated the birch with flowers and ribbons - the tree because of its beautiful and magnificent decoration was a symbol of fertility. On this day, all the elements have a special healing power. Knowing what pagan holidays are associated with the magic of nature, the Magi on Kupala harvested all kinds of herbs, flowers, roots, evening and morning dew.

Magic of the magic night

The Slavic Magi performed many rituals,to get the location of Kupaila. On a magical night, they walked around the spitting fields, chanting conspiracies from evil spirits and calling for a rich harvest. On Kupala our ancestors wanted to find the magic flower of the fern, which blooms only on this fabulous night, is able to work miracles and helps to find the treasure. A lot of folk tales associated with the search for a blossoming fern on Kupala, therefore, carried something magical pagan holidays. Of course, we know that this ancient plant does not blossom. And the glow, taken by the lucky ones for the magical flowering, is caused by phosphorescent organisms, sometimes present on the leaves of the fern. But would the night and the search become less fascinating from this?

Veresign

The holiday dedicated to the autumn equinox (21September), the end of the harvest and the beginning of the astronomical autumn. The festivities lasted two weeks, the first until the equinox (Indian summer) - during this period the harvest was calculated and its expenditure was planned for the future. The second is after the autumn equinox. During these festive days our ancestors celebrated the wise and aging Sunlight, thanked the deity for the generous harvest and performed rituals so that the next year would be fertile. Meeting the autumn and seeing off the summer, the Slavs burned bonfires and drove round dances, extinguished old fire in their dwellings and lit a new one. They decorated houses with sheaves of wheat and baked various pies from the harvested crop to the festive table. The celebration was held on a grand scale, and the tables were bursting with food, people thanked Svetovit for their generosity in this way.

Our days

With the advent of Christianity, the ancient traditions of ourancestors practically disappeared, because often the new religion was planted not with a kind word, but with fire and sword. But still the memory of the people is strong, and some traditions and holidays the church could not destroy, so it simply agreed with them, replacing the meaning and name. What pagan holidays merged with the Christian, undergoing changes, and often a shift in time? As it turns out, all the main things: Kolyada - the birth of the Sun - December 21 (Catholic Christmas after 4 days), Komoditsa - March 20-21 (Shrovetide - cheese week, shifted in time to the beginning of the year because of the Easter fast), Kupaila - June 21 (Ivan Kupala, the Christian ceremony is tied to the birthday of Ivan the Baptist). Veresen - September 21 (Christmas of the Most Holy Theotokos). So, despite the centuries past and the change of religion, the primordially Slavic holidays, albeit in a modified form, but continue to exist, and everyone can revive them who care about the history of their people.