Christmas Traditions in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Christmas festive days according to the Julian calendar, start on January 6th, Christmas Eve and ends with January 19th, "Jordan" or Epiphany.

In Ukraine we have Orthodox Christmas on January 7. Usually, we celebrate this holiday only with relatives. Many children buy cakes and go to visit their Godparents. In return, Godparents buy very good presents for them and treat the children with home made food and sweets.
The rituals of the Christmas Eve are dedicated to God, to the welfare of the family, and to the remembrance of the ancestors.

Holy Supper is the central tradition of the Christmas Eve celebrations in Ukrainian homes. With the appearance of the first star which is believed to be the Star of Bethlehem, the family gathers to begin supper.

Kutia (boiled wheat with honey or rice with raisins and nuts) is the most important food of the entire Christmas Eve Supper, and is also called God’s Food.

There are twelve dishes in the Supper, because according to the Christian tradition each course is dedicated to one of Christ's Apostles. According to the ancient pagan belief, each course was for every full moon during the course of the year. The courses are meatless because there is a period of fasting required by the Church until Christmas Day.

In old Ukraine the time between New Year and Christmas was a happy time for fortune telling in a variety of ways. It was a common practice to travel from house to house and sing Christmas songs known as kolyadki on Christmas Eve.

The custom of caroling is joyful and merry. Ukrainian Christmas songs or carols have their origins in antiquity, as do many other traditions practiced at Christmas time.

Caroling required extensive preparation. Each group had a leader. One member dressed as a goat. Another as a bag carrier, the collector of all the gifts people would give them. Yet another carried a six-pointed star attached to a long stick with a light in its center, which symbolized the Star of Bethlehem. In some places the people even had musical instruments.

Caroling was not a simple singing of Christmas songs; it was more of a folk opera. The carolers first had to ask for permission to sing. If the answer was yes, they entered the house and sang carols for each member of the family, even for the smallest child. Sometimes they even performed slow ritualistic dances. The custom of the goat accompanying the carolers has its origin in the pagan times when the goat represented the god of fertility. Caroling always ended with short well-wishing poems, appropriately selected for each home.

Now these Christmas traditions are observed in many rural regions.
Sometimes in the cities and towns you may see children or young people going from house to house singing carols and getting treat.

New Year in Ukraine

New Year in Ukraine

New Year is the principal winter holiday. The welcoming of the New Year is considered the most significant occasion of the winter.

The New Year's tree is identical to a Christmas tree. It is decorated in the same way, with ornaments, lights and garland. Stars are usually perched atop the tree rather than angels,

Grandfather Frost ("Ded Moroz ") is charged with the responsibility of delivering presents on New Year's Eve. He is a large, bearded and grandfatherly man resembling Santa Claus, although he has no saintly identity, nor sleigh nor reindeer. He is sometimes dressed in blue rather than red.
He appears on New Year's Eve with a sack of gifts and delivers them to each family. He doesn't come down the chimney, but it doesn't really matter how he gets into your dwelling. Perhaps through the front door, perhaps through the window - who knows?

Instead of elves to help him, Ded Moroz has his grand-daughter Snowy or Snowmaiden ("Snegurochka "), with whom he lives somewhere in the northern forest. Snegurochka is an attractive young blonde girl, often dressed in light blue or red winter attire and sometimes a cap of the same color.

Presents are also given on New Year. There is no requirement of waiting until the morning of New Year's Day to open them; they are usually presented and opened shortly after greeting the New Year at midnight.