In ancient times, the life of any people was strictly subordinated to cycles. It was not so much the specific dates that mattered, but the change of seasons and annually repeating events that marked the end of a certain period and the beginning of the next. Therefore, speaking about when and how the New Year was celebrated in Russia, it makes little sense to mention specific dates. Researchers do not know for certain how it was customary to celebrate this event in pre-Christian times (some mention of this is found only in the sources of foreign authors), but since pagan traditions did not disappear with the reign of the church, some customs were recorded in chronicles and other documents .
How the New Year was celebrated in Russia before Christianity
There is an opinion that the Slavs celebrated the coming of the New Year on March 22, that is, on the day of the vernal equinox. This holiday was dedicated to the end of winter and the awakening of nature. On this day, pancakes were baked (they symbolized the sun) and burned a scarecrow of Pancake week, arranged folk festivals and various ritual games, went to visit each other.
Later, holidays such as Shrovetide and New Year were divided. This was due to the adoption of Christianity.
Kolyada: traditions
But all the peoples of Europe (including the Eastern Slavs) had another holiday, from which the modern New Year holidays took place. It began in the twentieth of December (by solstice) and lasted 12 days. In Scandinavia it was called Yule, and in Russia - Kolyada. This holiday did not signify a change of seasons, but the birth of a new Sun (since just from that moment the daylight began to lengthen). The symbol of the god Kolyada was the star worn by the mummers.
Dances were held in honor of Kolyada (which symbolized the movement of the sun across the sky), bonfires were burned (it was believed that these days the dead ancestors come to warm them). The traditions of the New Year in Russia are closely related to the traditions of Kolyada. Subsequently, Christmas customs were added to them, and all of them got along quite peacefully.
Ritual dishes
The concept of a new sun was associated with new life and fertility. Among the Eastern Slavs , Veles was the god of fertility (and, therefore, livestock). It was in his honor on Kolyada that it was customary to cook a loaf (originally a cow, a ritual bread replacing a sacrificial calf) and roe biscuits — cookies in the form of goats, sheep and poultry.
New Year in Ancient Russia was celebrated on a grand scale: the main dish on the table was a pig. On his insides they wondered what the winter would be and what to expect from the new year. It was not without kutia - a prefabricated porridge, the main component of which was wheat grain - and a Uzvara (boil) - a compote of dried berries. Of course, not every family could afford a pig, but kutia was considered an indispensable attribute of a meal (the Slavs were primarily farmers). On the eve of Kolyada, they also brewed beer, baked pies with various fillings. An abundant joint meal was considered the key to fertility and prosperity next year.
Ceremonies
The history of the New Year holiday has always been closely associated with miracles - both joyful and terrible. After the baptism of Rus, Kolyada was replaced by Christmas time. The notion of Christmas and Vasiliev Day (January 1) appeared, but the traditions themselves remained the same.
The first six days of the holiday were considered holy, and the next six were terrible. People believed that after Vasiliev’s day all evil comes from the lower world and roams the earth unselected. It must either be lavished or driven away. They sprinkled evil spirits with porridge, the pots with which were exposed under the door, and drove them out with bonfires and noisy festivities with ritual songs - carols. Children and adults put on birch bark masks and fur coats with their fur outside and walked from house to house, wishing the owners happiness and wealth and sprinkling grain. The owners were supposed to treat the mummers with pies or cookies - roe.
Fortunetelling
The “Winter” New Year in Ancient Russia was a holiday of the revival of the sun, so it was necessary to meet it in everything new and clean. People wore a still-worn dress, swept huts, performed cleansing rituals, and cattle started talking. Fortune-telling was an obligatory component of the holiday. They survived to the present day, although the church fought with all their might. Women wondered on wax, mirrors, threads, animal insides, dreams, shadows, maps, bulbs and rings. At all times they were interested in the same things: wealth, happiness, harvest, prospects for marriage in the coming year. As a rule, fortune-telling took place in a bathhouse, which since pagan times was considered a sacred place.
How the New Year was celebrated in Russia during the period of early Christianity
Thus, by the time the new faith was adopted in 988, the Eastern Slavs celebrated two large-scale celebrations - Maslenitsa and Kolyada, each of which could be identified with the New Year. But in the first case, the New Year was associated with the end of winter and the beginning of agricultural work, and in the second, with the return of the sun to the earth and victory over evil forces. Which holiday was more important is difficult to say.
Since the 10th century, the history of the New Year holiday has been constantly influenced by the church. With the advent of Christianity, it began to be celebrated on March 1, as was customary in the Roman Empire. From there, the names of the months and the chronology (from the creation of the world) were borrowed. The date shift was not so strong, and the innovation was perceived without resistance. Pancake week traditions, such as going to visit pancakes, funny fights and various competitions, burning the stuffed Winter, were preserved.
Church New Year: September 1
Years passed, Kievan Rus collapsed. New Year's Day was still celebrated on March 1st. But everything was changed by the Council of Nicaea: in the 14th century, the celebration of the New Year (New Year) was postponed to September 1. In the 15th century, John III ordered that this day be considered the beginning of both the civil and church years. The change in date was associated with the strengthening of the position of the Russian state and increasing the prestige of the local Orthodox Church. According to biblical legend, God created the world in September. In countries with milder climates, agricultural work was completed this month, and a period of "rest from everyday worries" began, but in Russia the situation was different. However, the church hierarchs did not care much. September 1, the day of Simeon the Stolpnik, taxes were collected and payable taxes were paid. It was possible to submit petitions to the king. Celebratory services were held in churches; in the capital, the king addressed the people. In the evening, families gathered for a meal, treated to mead and beer. Autumn New Year in pre-Petrine Russia was celebrated as eagerly as the Christmas time and Pancake week.
Peter's transformations
Incidentally, the church New Year is still celebrated on September 1, although not all believers know about it. But the civil date again changed thanks to Peter, who in his reforms was oriented not only towards Western Europe, but also towards the Balkan Slavs. All of them celebrated the New Year in winter.
Peter also introduced a “progressive” chronology — from the Nativity of Christ, and not from the creation of the world. The onset of January 1, 1700, was celebrated in European cities - with the installation of a festive conifer, decoration of houses, fireworks and a cannon fire, gifts and parades. The holiday has become secular.
About the same how the New Year was celebrated in Russia, celebrate it now. Of course, many rituals and the significance of certain actions were forgotten, but in general the traditions turned out to be very tenacious, and not surprising, because during the dark and long winters people feel an increased need for a fun and noisy holiday.