Yuletide fortune telling. Paintings by Russian artists.
The desire of people to look into the future has its roots deep in antiquity. This is evidenced by those that have survived to this day. archaeological artifacts Ancient Egypt, Greece, Chaldea, Ancient Rome. Even in sacred scripture - the Bible - fortune telling is repeatedly mentioned. Among the Slavic tribes, predicting the future has always been the responsibility of priests, healers, sorcerers, magicians and sorcerers. But on folk beliefs There are days a year on which everyone who dares to come into contact with otherworldly forces can see their fate in advance.
K. Makovsky. Christmas fortune telling.
In ancient times, in Rus', Christmas fortune-telling especially became widespread during the era of “terem seclusion,” when on long frosty evenings, boyars and hawthorns, hay girls, while passing the time, tried to look into the fateful future. While waiting for marriage, each tried, at least with the help of evil spirits, to find out who fate would send her as a husband, and what kind of life awaited her ahead with this future husband.And no matter how much the church condemned these rituals, insisting that fortune telling was unclean, it was impossible to eradicate this custom.
">
K. Makovsky. Christmas fortune telling. (Fragment).
All the sacraments of fortune telling were carried out under the cover of darkness, closer to midnight. And it was considered most prophetic on Christmas Eve, on the night before New Year and at Epiphany. For thousands of years, girls and women have been telling fortunes about the future, about their betrothed, about the harvest, about the outcome of affairs, using various magical objects and different methods, passing on this ritual custom from generation to generation. Christmas time was the most critical, most dangerous period, when evil spirits were especially strong.
Artist Konstantin Trutovsky. Yuletide festivities.
Yuletide evenings in Rus' began immediately after Christmas and continued until Epiphany, celebrated on January 19 according to the new style. And although they are located between two great Christian holidays, their history goes back far into the pagan past Slavic people. During the winter solstice, when the most long night and the shortest day of the year, from ancient times was celebrated by the ancient Slavs as the birthday of the sun.
Kolyada
And the sun has always been considered the luminary that rules God’s day, on which the future harvest, the offspring of livestock, and the fertility of the mother earth, and therefore the well-being of people, completely depended.These days were considered the right time to think about the future - and not only the harvest, but also about your personal life. To attract good luck, traditional festivities, funny pranks, games, dances and gatherings were instituted. As time passes, everything is festive story games and the songs, which originally had a magical meaning in their basis, became just entertainment.
Artist Konstantin Korovin. Yuletide festivities.Scary fortune telling in Rus'
It has long been believed that holy days - Christmastide - are divided into two periods: from January 7 to 13 - holy evenings, and from January 14 to 19 - terrible evenings.The sacrament of fortune telling was considered terrible because the other world was involved in the process, and evil spirits had a real opportunity to take the fortuneteller to the next world. Such fortune telling, rooted in pagan antiquity, was widespread in Russia a century ago. They were held when old year ended and a new one began, that is, in a “transition period”, where the new has not yet entered, and the old has not yet surrendered its powers.
To carry out such rituals, as a rule, appropriate places were selected - this is a crossroads, an ice hole, a bathhouse, and a barn. In a word, where evil spirits accumulated. Based on this, only brave and determined girls participated in such rituals. And when going to such places, they always took metal objects with them - a knife, a poker, a frying pan, which were considered a talisman against evil spirits.
Artist Y. Sergeev. At the fortune teller's. Christmas time.
As a rule, such fortune telling was carried out under the supervision of an older, experienced woman, who called for contact. evil spirits with the following call: “Retreat, angels! Retreat, devils! Gather, devils, great and small, from all the swamps and whirlpools and tell us how you will live this year...” - and called the name of the girl on whom they cast a spell.
Artist Y. Sergeev. Card reading. Christmas time.
In addition, this woman had to look after the girls in order to take timely measures to protect them, as well as bring them in and out of a state of prostration.
Artist A. Novoskoltsev. Svetlana.
Yuletide fortune-telling was considered the most terrible when the image appeared before the eyes of the fortune-telling girl with the help of mirrors, which, according to popular beliefs, have a connection with other worlds. Two mirrors placed opposite each other in reflection created a corridor from which the narrowed one should appear. And what’s interesting is that if the girl was not familiar with her future husband, then she saw the face of her betrothed, and if she was familiar with him, then the back of his head
Artist K. Bryullov. Fortune telling Svetlana.
There was also fortune telling based on listening, when a girl at midnight went to an ice hole or to a crossroads and listened to the sounds spreading through the village. The ringing of a bell or festive singing was a harbinger of an imminent marriage. The barking of a dog, which also foreshadows marriage, was also considered in different aspects: what part of the village the groom will be from, what kind of character he will have and what age he will be. But the worst omen was considered to be the sound of an ax and the sound of clapping boards, which meant death.
Artist Y. Sergeev. Fortune telling for the betrothed. Christmas time.
Desperate girls went alone to the bathhouse and, wondering about their betrothed, were supposed to feel someone's touch. If this happened, it means that the girl will be married this year, but if not, she will be stuck as a girl for another year. In addition, if the hand felt smooth, then the groom will be poor, if shaggy, he will be rich.
Artist Y. Sergeev. Night fortune telling. Christmas time.
Sometimes, when fortune telling on mirrors, a rooster was used, the cry of which was supposed to scare away the evil spirits that appeared in the mirror. So, seeing something terrible, the girl squeezed the bird tightly and it let out a scream.
Artist O. Kiprensky. Christmastide.
Christmas and Yuletide fortune-telling before Epiphany remains a popular custom today. Single girls still they want to look into the future and find out about their betrothed, using, perhaps, less extreme methods of fortune telling than before. They're on the move coffee grounds and tarot cards, wax and rings, matches and shoes, as well as seances.
Artist S. Kodin. Christmas fortune telling.
Two weeks - from Christmas to Epiphany, in the past (and not so much) were filled with festive festivities, feasts and fortune telling, songs and dances, carols and visits. And this entire period was called Christmastide, and foreigners called the festivities on these days the Slavic carnival. Well, let's continue to "carnival"!)))
Solomatkin Leonid Ivanovich (1837-1883) Mummers. 1873
Vyacheslav Lyuko (Kazakhstan, born 1963) Christmastide. 2011
Hertz Yuri Dmitrievich (Ukraine, born 1931) Christmas in Verkhovyna. 1997
Roldugin Igor Nikolaevich (born 1959) Christmastide.
Chizhevsky Yaroslav (Ukraine) Christmas. 2014
Christmastide
The month is a gentle magician -
He stood up and is clear and handsome,
And in the village - revelry and songs, -
The youth were leaving!
Snow crunch... Fuss and jokes,
Sprinkling snow dust...
- What's the name?.. - The name is Zovutka!
- And you? - I am Bova!
Won't you give me a ring?
- I’ll give it to you, but not in front of everyone!..
The mummers came out dancing, -
Oh, it's hilarious! Squealing and laughter!
Moon, gentle wizard,
Begins a spell...
And in the village - revelry and songs
And fortune telling about fate...
Alexander Shiryaevets
1916-1922
Aksenov Yuri Alekseevich (born 1950) Christmastide. 2013
Danilich Taras Fedorovich (Ukraine, born 1945) Carolers.
Ilko Ivan Ivanovich (Ukraine, born 1938) Christmas Eve. Carolers.
Sipovich Tatyana Mikhailovna (born 1957) Mummers (New Year's Eve).
Christmastide
The blizzard swirls in the winter waltz,
The days are getting shorter!
Closer to Christmas time... and to leisure
Turn back time.
The year passed in labor, worries -
Life's a carnival!
Thank God, not bankrupt...
What did he give us?
We will live, love, laugh -
Let's just live!
To be amazed at the world of God -
Sin less, friend.
Let's spin in music -
Christmas is coming!
Winter waltz... Let it all come true
Fairy tales are magic!
Dalkevich Mechislav Mikhailovich (1861-1941) Christmastide in the village. Drawing from the magazine "World Illustration". 1881
Shamota S. Christmas. Driving a goat through a Polish village. Drawing from the magazine "World Illustration". 1882
Tkachenko Nikolai Ivanovich (1866-1920) Mummers in Little Russia. Drawing from the magazine "World Illustration". 1896
Ploshinsky Sergei Fedorovich On Christmas night.
Yuletide ditties
For Christmas time
The day is almost a breeze...
I'll play hide and seek with my darling -
He hasn't grown up to love!
Who knocks on our door during Christmas time?
And how does a madman scream?
He came to us to sing carols
Your friend, your mother is vigorous!
I have a lot of cuties
On Christmastide we ask you to love everything!
The wife strictly promises
Something for me to chop off!
Polovnaya-Vasilyeva Elena (Ukraine) Carols.
Kalinina Irina Pavlovna (born 1948) Christmastide. 2003
Muravyova Daria, participant of the folk Studio of decorative Petrikovskaya painting (DOEC) Christmas. 2013
Vera Vladimirovna Pavlova (1952-2015) Illustration for the book “Russian Holidays” by E. Levkievskaya. 2008
***
The New Year has already matured,
Christmas time passed briskly,
The moment of fortune telling has flown by,
All the carols have been sung.
There's no better time to find it
Passions have boiled over
Epiphany night is on the way!
We've been waiting for the hot tubs!
Lyudmila Egorycheva, 2014
Christmas painting "Kolyada".
Author: Kapitonova Olga Fedorovna. Teacher of MBDOU No. 1 "Rucheyok" GO "Zhatai" Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) city of Yakutsk village "Zhatai".Let me present to your attention a master class on making a Christmas picture for children preschool age.
In my work I use mixed media visual arts– gouache, pastel.
Purpose: Christmas decoration for group, New Year's craft, the picture can be hung on the wall, decorated in a corner for parents in the hallway, given as a gift for Christmas, or for a competition.
Description: This master class is intended for educators, teachers additional education, methodologists and for parents.
According to church tradition, on the night of January 7 (December 25, old style), Jesus Christ was born. The holiday of Christmas is considered the greatest, universal and joyful. Christmas is preceded by a forty-day fast, which ends with Christmas Eve, or Christmas Eve. And since the reign of the Roman Emperor Justinian, winter Christmastide has also been celebrated, which begins a week before Christmas and continues until Epiphany. It has long been customary to call the first week of Christmastide Holy Evenings, and the second evening Scary Evenings or called Kolyada. As soon as the first Christmas day of the Terrible Evenings arrived, little dressed-up girls appeared on the street, teenagers dressed up at dusk, and by nightfall the adults were already dancing, singing and introducing themselves. Girls loved to dress up in men's clothes, and boys in women's. Their faces were painted over with soot, homemade “cow hair” was put on their heads, teeth cut from turnips were inserted into their mouths, and ox horns were attached to their hats, sometimes turning the mummer into a creepy devil.
Kolyada is the god of the ancient Slavs, who brought a calendar to people. The name “calendar” consists of two words: Kolyada Dar. This means that it was a gift to the people of Kolyada himself. Also, the god Kolyada taught people to look at the stars and see their patterns, from which the science of astrology was subsequently formed.
The time of winter holidays and Christmas in our time used to be a time when people glorified Kolyada and sang little songs to him in order to receive other happy gifts from him. At this time, children and adults used to walk around their neighbors' yards and simply sing songs glorifying the onset of a new year, a new life, and songs of thanks to the gods.
During Carols, it was customary to greet carolers with joy, and after singing Carols, give various Christmas gifts and sweets - mainly candies, cookies and other Christmas sweets. Not only poor people went to caroling, but also many rich city and country people loved to sing Christmas songs on these holidays. Some relatives organized a kind of competition to see who would bring the most gifts received for Christmas caroling - this was considered good good sign for the coming year. If a caroler received many gifts in response to his songs, this meant that he would have a rich and prosperous year. It was also considered good sign to give gifts to carolers at Christmas - in this case, God himself will take care of the giver and give him his gifts, which in all respects are superior to the gifts people gave during Carols. In this case, God will generously return to the donor all the benefits that he will need in difficult times - either health, or a happy occasion, or a necessary meeting.
Target: Drawing the theme of the Christmas holiday "Kolyada" in mixed media execution.
Tasks:
Educational – teach children to draw figures, distinguishing their characteristic features; paint different ways painting; introduce the history of Russian traditional holiday"Nativity".
Developmental - to develop creativity, imagination, and the ability to embody themes of festive mood in drawings.
Educational – to develop interests in traditions native land, evoke an emotional response to the plot picture.
For work we will need:
Whatman white format A-3, A-2 – 2 pieces;
Gouache;
brushes No. 2, No. 3;
oil crayons (pastel);
Simple pencil;
eraser;
black felt-tip pen;
cotton pads;
double sided tape;
stationery knife;
ruler 40 cm;
palette;
scissors.
Painting "Kolyada".
Stages of work1. Preliminary work: Choose a drawing from a children's anthology on a Christmas theme.
2. On whatman paper, A-3 format with a simple pencil draw silhouettes of children on the left side of whatman paper.
3. On the right side of the Whatman paper we draw a church.
4. After the silhouettes of the children and the church are drawn, outline the drawings with a black felt-tip pen so that the contours of the drawing are clearly visible.
5. Then we paint the silhouettes in different color shades.
6. After the silhouettes are painted, we draw stars and paint them with gouache blue.
7. We make a background for our picture, take crayons of blue color and color the entire drawing.
8. Then rub the entire picture with cotton pads.
9. The result is an almost finished drawing, but in order to make the picture more beautiful, I make a mat.
10. To do this, I take whatman paper in A-2 format and cut out a frame for my picture; on the back side of the whatman paper, make marks according to the dimensions of the future mat. Using a simple pencil and ruler.
11. Using a ruler, draw a square and connect the corners of the square diagonally with straight lines. We make cuts using a knife along the drawn lines.
12. Cut out the inner square. We bend the edge inward so that the edges are even.
13. After our frame is ready, I decorate it in the same way as the background of the picture, but I just select light colors, since the subject of the picture is evening, the frame should be brighter so that it is not too dark. We choose colors according to the picture, I chose bright yellow.
14. The last step remains - to connect the mat, drawing and frame. First, using double-sided tape, stick the image onto a sheet of whatman paper the size of a mat so that it is just inside the “window”. Along the perimeter on inside passe-partout, stick double-sided tape, cutting it into 1 cm pieces. You need to glue the tape strictly in the middle of the passe-partout.
15. Then carefully glue the picture to the mat. It is best to secure the horizontal sides first, then the vertical ones. Carefully bend the paper and remove the protective strips from the tape.
16. After the picture has been glued, we glue tape to the corners of the inner passe-partout, glue a frame around the perimeter of the passe-partout, then add more pieces of tape to the sides.
17. Align the picture. But if the inner light frame of the passe-partout could not be made identical on all sides, take a knife or scissors and very carefully correct these unevenness - trim the inner passe-partout.
Christmastide is Slavic folk holiday which occurs during the winter period. Yuletide week for Orthodox Christians it lasts from January 7 to January 19, from the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany. The Catholic holiday falls from December 25 to January 6.
Story
This event began to be celebrated in ancient times. In the 6th century there was a scripture that spoke of holidays when it is not necessary to celebrate a wedding and bow down. In 567, the Second Turon Assembly celebrates the days from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany with holidays.
In the Roman Empire, the unspoken law on caroling and fortune telling was often violated during this period, despite the rules of the Ecumenical Council. In Rus' there was even a law prohibiting ancient idolatrous traditions, various superstitious games and dressing up in the outfits of idols to imitate. Also in Rus' during Christmastide it was forbidden to organize grand festivities with songs and dances.
Traditions and customs
Despite the law, people celebrated Christmastide in their own way. On the first day of the holiday, it was customary to visit loved ones and relatives, as well as to pay attention to the poor, deprived and beggars. Many families in Rus' helped the disadvantaged by feeding them. We also visited orphanages, shelters, and hospitals. Even kings, disguised as commoners, visited prisoners in prisons and gave alms to those begging on the street.
There was a tradition of giving gifts that came from paganism - it echoed the offering of gifts to the Gods. People gave gifts to acquaintances and friends, ranging from cheap souvenirs to expensive presents.
The key moment in the celebration of Christmastide was considered a family meal. Women got up early in the morning to cook and clean the house. They prepared various dishes: kutya, sweet pancakes, cookies with nuts, sbiten, makovnik, oatmeal jelly. The table was set for all those present, adding additional cutlery for relatives who had died in the past year.
The end of Christmastide was preparation for Epiphany. Tall men from all over the village gathered together and went to the reservoirs. They cut a hole for the upcoming ablution. This was usually done on the last two days of Christmastide.
Celebration
Fortune telling was an invariable attribute of Christmas time, when young girls gathered and found out their future. The rituals were different; each village had its own rules of fortune-telling and its own attributes necessary for the ritual. They guessed mainly about the grooms, wanting to know the name of the betrothed, his age or appearance. Sometimes they guessed at the date of marriage and the number of children. Adults limited themselves to signs by which they tried to determine the wealth in the family in the new year.
Carols, where young people frolicked, were also an obligatory element. Guys and girls dressed up in new clothes, which they had previously made before the holiday. During the day they walked the streets, bawling carols or singing church hymns. They also looked into neighboring houses, where they received treats from their hospitable hosts for singing songs. During Christmas time in Rus', there was a belief that the well-being of the family in the coming year directly depended on gifts to carolers. Therefore, the owners did not skimp on treats for uninvited guests: they gave sweets, homemade pies, cookies, and pastries. When night fell, they organized gatherings where they told each other stories and played the balalaika or accordion.
There were other activities during Christmas time, such as dressing up. Women sewed beautiful sundresses, men prepared soldiers' uniforms and polished boots. On Christmas night, the great dressing up began - the men put on women's clothing, and the girls are in shape. The action was relevant for a trip to neighboring villages, where it was possible to fool simple-minded guys or lure romantic people. Often, girls in military uniform managed to seduce gullible young ladies from a neighboring village and even persuade them to marry. The jokes ended the next day, but for a whole year the young people then remembered their achievements and successes in dressing up during Christmas time.
Single women often rented out their huts to young boys and ladies who wanted to have fun during the festivities. To prevent teenagers from running amok, older people were sent to such houses, whose task was to keep order. But the youth dodged it, gave the elders something to drink and had fun to the fullest, with songs and dances until the morning.
The Church never approved of such fun, but it was useless to prohibit it. She fought against excessive fun, recalling humility during the period between the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany, but she could not completely eradicate folk festivities.
However, there were also “good” traditions - fasting and subbotniks. The fast took place at the very beginning of Christmastide, then it was customary to pray with the whole family and prepare kutya, grain porridge, as the main Lenten dish for a meal whose grain symbolizes eternity. Subbotniks are ordinary viewings for unmarried girls and free youths. All young people not burdened with marriage gathered in one hut. Many people met there, started relationships and even got married after the cleanup.