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Christmas day challenges that no longer exist today
The ethnologist L. Klimka stated that then, as now, Christmas Eve was a family holiday, so nighttime traditions are designed to be together, to communicate in the closest circle. However, there were two important traditions that are not so popular now: On Christmas day, before dinner, people tried to give up debt and reconcile.
“It was a tradition to reconcile with our neighbors, to apologize to those who offended you, to do something wrong, to apologize. A person would take Christmas, go to a neighbor’s house or send a child with Christmas and an apology, ”says the ethnologist.
The two miracles of Christmas Eve and the attempts to summon love
The spells, according to the ethnologist, took place only after midnight. There are around 200 registered spells left and they were mostly used by girls to know when they will meet the chosen one and what their character, work, etc. will be like. straw through which boiled peas are cut. This was expected to ensure a good apple harvest next year. The hunters in the yard with a rifle were angry at the top of the fir tree so that the hunt was successful all year round. “
In this turbulent period, the ethnologist investigates the spells and customs that the ancestors believed to bring health. “Before Christmas, everyone was going to the sauna. The sauna procedure was very important. The girls would be the last to come out of the sauna and sprinkle the track with sand, and then come back and see if they could find a trace: if the barefoot was a sign, the man would be a farmer or a cultural worker. If you can see a trace of the shoe, your loved one will be a banker or a great businessman “, says L. Klimka about the magic that ends in the search for love.
The ethnologist says that at that time a lot of attention was paid to nature: what kind of weather on Christmas Day, from which the wind blows or the dogs bark, it was believed that all this had a prophetic meaning for the air and the harvest next year, but in time the spells for health and harvest were forgotten. , because they simply became obsolete: medicine improved, the comfort of life appeared. Meanwhile, the desire to meet a loved one, to predict what it would be like, lasted longer.
On Christmas Eve, it is believed that two miracles happen: the animals in the stable begin to talk and the water from the well turns to wine, but according to L. Kimka, people knew that it was better not to listen to the animals, because they might be unpleasantly surprised by what they would hear. He said this is a strict rule to follow. “Many stories remain. One of them is that once the horses in the stable talked about how hard work awaits them, they will soon have to be transported to the cemetery by the owner’s coffin. The host, who went up to the podium, listened the conversation, he fell from the ladder scared and the terrible prophecy came true “, the ethnologist related to the legend.
Why did the Christmas tree appear in Lithuania and when should it be decorated?
L. Klimka says that the tradition of the Christmas tree in Lithuania is not that old. 1853 The Christmas tree was first mentioned by the poet and bishop Antanas Baranauskas: when he was a young scribe in Samogitia, A. Baranauskas was invited as a guest by the czar’s official. There, the poet first saw a decorated Christmas tree and wrote about it on his blog.
Later, during World War I, German soldiers popularized the idea of a Christmas tree: they decorated their outdoor hiding places with Christmas trees and invited the village children. Finally, around 1920, the Ministry of Education wrote a circular on the need to introduce a pan-European tradition in schools and decorate Christmas trees. Then Christmas trees became popular, because until then the house was decorated with straw ornaments – birds, snowflakes. Even later, children’s sizes became popular.
With the appearance of various decorations (rugs, knitwear, pineapple products), the preparations for decorating the Christmas tree did not begin on Christmas Eve, but a little earlier. “It just came to our knowledge then. The first gift was a candy from a Christmas tree. People also hung apples on the Christmas tree, because in Churches, playing ecclesiastical mysteries, the Christmas tree represented the tree of the paradise ”, says the ethnologist about the traditions that are still considered today.
Decorating a Christmas tree, says L. Klimka, is common in those days, as it is now, during the Feast of the Magi: Although normally there were only three papers left until the Magi. “
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