Everyone has been familiar with carols since childhood - funny refrains chanted on Christmas Eve. However, not everyone knows where this name came from and what was originally understood by Christmas. Let's talk a little about what Kolyada is.
The Birth of the New Sun - Winter Solstice
From the school curriculum in environmental science, even children know that the Sun passes four important points in its annual cycle:
- the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year;
- days of the spring and autumn equinox, when day is equal to night;
- the summer solstice is the longest day of the year.
In antiquity, our Slavic ancestors understood Christmas as the birth of a new Sun after the longest night and said about this day: "Increased by a passerine gallop." So they celebrated Kolyada at the winter solstice, when the baby-sun began to arrive.
What is Kolyada? This is the newborn Sun. According to the legends of the ancient Slavs, the snake Karachun on the shortest night, December 21, strives to swallow the baby Sun. To drive him away, people changed clothes in animals: bears, goats, rams. Mummers in masks and skins (fleece sheepskin coats) walked from house to house, carrying in their hands the symbols of the Sun and the first evening star.
The owners joyfully opened the windows and doors to them, throwing a treat in voluminous bags. These festivities are very colorful and lively depicted in the film "The Night Before Christmas", staged based on the work of the immortal Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol.
The origin of carols
Today everyone knows what Kolyada is - a fun winter holiday. The name of the holiday carols is "carols" and came from the name of the new Sun. Couplets of these kids sang under the windows all the Christmas time, from December 24 to January 5, for which they received gifts in honor of Kolyada.
It is customary to let all the singers into the house and treat them, because with them the hosts let Kolyada himself and his blessing into the house. Kolyada loves poems shorter and more authentic, songs are funny and provocative, and festive games and ceremonies are unforgettable and vibrant, truly fabulous.
Here are the usual “barkers” who call the owners, calling them out the door and offering to treat the carols who came:
- Kolyada, Kolyada!
Are the owners at home?
- At home!
- Kolyada, Kolyada!
Did they bake cakes?
- Bakley.
- Kolyada, Kolyada!
Are the pork legs cooked?
- Varenna.
- Kolyada, Kolyada!
Ready to regale?
- Ready!
What is Kolyada for children?
The holiday of Kolyada is very fond of both large and small, but for children it has a special charm. Kolyada is a kind of magical world where good fairies live, where Santa Claus gives presents, and the Snow Maiden fulfills her cherished wishes.
At present, these holidays also coincide with the days of the long-awaited winter school holidays, so for schoolchildren this is a double joy. And although the pragmatic generation of the 21st century doesn’t really believe in fairy tales, somewhere in the depths of children's hearts it is on New Year's holidays that an expectation of a miracle appears.
Now the New Year is preceded by Christmas time - this is due to the translation of the calendar into the so-called new style. Until 1917, the New Year came immediately after the winter Christmas time. With any calculation, winter days at the junction of the outgoing and coming years turn into one unforgettable whirlwind of fun, fun, songs and treats - how not to love them?
To this day, for the children of Kolyada, it is an opportunity to learn funny couplets and go home, collecting rich treats, sweets, smiles and laughter. Both girls and boys in bells ring and knock on the door, calling the owners a question: "Can I eat some?"
Almost no one will refuse young guests, except perhaps the driest and most unsociable people. Even grandmothers taught us that carols should be allowed into the house and a tribute to the born Baby, in whose honor they sing. Now Christ is meant by a baby, but this symbolism is very similar, because the sun is also a male symbol, a beginning giving life and warmth, like Jesus of Nazareth.
