Orthodox Christians have Christmas Eve: traditions, omens and divination

Orthodox are preparing to celebrate one of the main church holidays – Christmas. Today, January 6, Orthodox believers have Christmas Eve.

This is a day of especially strict fasting, when, according to the church charter, it is allowed to eat only sochivo – soaked and boiled grains of wheat or rice, as well as beans, peas and vegetables.

The Nativity fast ends after dark, or after the appearance of the first star in the sky. It symbolizes the star that rose over Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus. According to the Gospel, upon seeing her, the Eastern sages came to worship the Infant Christ and brought Him gold, frankincense and myrrh, which became the first Christmas gifts in history.

On this day, believers must attend evening worship. Then they came home and had a festive dinner. The main dish on the table on this day is kutya. It is cooked in different regions of Russia in different ways, from different cereals: wheat, barley, rice, pearl barley. Grain means the rebirth of life. Honey, nuts, raisins, vegetable oil are added to the finished porridge. In addition, there were 11 other dishes on the table. They were served in strict order. After sochi we tried appetizers, then first courses with pies and donuts. The meal was completed with desserts and dried fruit compote.

This day should be spent with family, among relatives and friends. It is not customary to invite many guests to the house. It was customary to spend the day without too much fun, for sincere conversations.

Also on this day they caroled. Most often, young girls and boys caroled, sometimes a company of guys and men gathered separately, and girls separately. They put on carnival costumes, chose the chief, they gave him a pole with a star at the very top. The same person acted as a negotiator between carolers and the owners of the house. He went first, asked permission and negotiated gifts. Bypassed the noisy, cheerful company all the houses. There was a strict rule – they did not go into the houses where a family member had recently died. And there was one more rule: those who did not let carolers in were considered to be bringing disaster upon themselves.

There are a number of other clues. So, going to bed on a festive night is a bad omen. They say that on Christmas, grace descends from people, you can’t miss it.
You can not skimp on treats on the festive table. How rich the table is, how happy life will be next year. In addition, you can’t quarrel with anyone that evening, and don’t keep bad thoughts. If it snowed that day, this is a good harvest. The starry sky also speaks of a rich future harvest.