On January 30, the holiday is celebrated - the day of Santa Claus and Snow Maiden. Without these fabulous good characters, modern adults and children do not represent the winter and celebration of the New Year. On the history of the holiday, folk traditions, as well as interesting facts about the holiday - in the material 24cm.
history of the holiday
Custom to celebrate this day is rooted during the times of pagan beliefs. Ancient Slavs on this day honored the deity, a peculiar hypostasque and a sample of God Veles, called frost. The God of Winter Veles, which brings cold and snow to the ground, led the world in motion and pointed to the periodic change of day and night, the time of the year and taught people to life basics, understanding that joy comes for sadness.
Veles near the pagan tribes also symbolized wealth, well-being, consistency, happiness and good luck. In order to delete the harsh god of winter, people presented gifts to the patron of the cold and organized the rites of the ranks, preserved to the present day: sang songs and gathered gifts for the hero of the celebration in a special bag. Over time, the harsh and evil width of the winter was transformed into a good gray old old man in a red fur coat, with a staff and a bag, which hears gifts, and himself distributes gifts to children.
During the time of ancient Russia with the arrival of Christianity, the tradition of giving gifts, arrange festivities and folk festivities in honor of Claus on January 30 preserved and acquired popularity. The holiday has become one of the important and long-awaited dates for the people. On this day, adults told the children of fairy tales and legends about the good wizard and his young granddaughter-assistant.
Slavs believed that the Lord of the Winter and Cold had a wife - the Snow Queen, which was a daughter of evil won. The spouses born the daughter of the snowball, which later renamed the Snow Maiden and began to consider the granddaughter, and not the daughter of the gray old old man. The image of granddaughter is closer and clearer to children - a kind girl comes to visit, along with the grandfather and helps the wizard.
Also in one of the fairy tales it is narrating on the love of the Snow Maiden and a person and that the Snow Maiden's arrival did not fly to the north, but melted in the sun. Some folk tales are devoted to the Slavic God of Morlak, who also consider the parent of Santa Claus. The cloth was considered an evil deity, a meeting with him meant. The cloth symbolized the Slavs and delusion. It was also accepted to task with gifts and treats.
In modern Russia and the countries of the post-Soviet space, the holiday is unfamiliar to the most population. Santa Claus and Snow Maiden's Day are no longer celebrated, as in ancient times, and do not suit the massive festive events. But some people this day still recalls the imminent approximation of the carnival festivals, meaning the arrival of spring, and that time does not stand still.
Interesting Facts
Santa Claus - a character and the main symbol of winter and new year, lives in the traditions and fairy tales of many countries and peoples. But the image of the Snow Maiden exists only among the Russian-language peoples of the planet and has no analogues in the culture and folk work of other countries.
In 1999, Santa Claus and his assistant Snow Maiden officially became citizens of the Russian Federation. In the city of Great Ustyug, the Vologda region is the residence of Santa Claus, where children from all over the country send letters to a good wizard with their cherished desires. Also for those who wish organize excursions to the post of a good wizard and in his fabulous terme, where you can meet with your favorite grandfather and the Snow Maiden and plunge into the fabulous atmosphere.