феед

 

"Shedryvky" are ritual songs performed on a generous evening, the evening on the eve of the new year. They usually began with the words of greeting: "Generous evening, good evening." In the distant past, this type of song differed from other holiday songs, today it differs in that it is sung in Ukraine and in Ukrainian-speaking villages of the region. At the time when we now celebrate Christmas, once upon a time, even before Christianity, in Ukraine there was a holiday of the winter solstice. It was the time of divination for the coming year; and that is why we still have a whole series of pre-Christian elements in Christmas customs, whose purpose was to call for a good harvest in the following year, wealth and prosperity in the house of the master, lucky catches for the hunter, a wedding for a girl and a happy journey for a young man - a prince's wife or the prince himself. All the natural forces of nature are appeased and called upon not to harm people and livestock.

One of the beliefs leads us to the cult of ancestors, which is prominently featured in Christmas rituals. On "Holy Eve" (Christmas Eve), the evening dinner, consisting, in the Lubensk district, mainly of kuti and uzvar (dried fruit decoction), has a family and, in particular, memorial character: kuti is left for the night for deceased relatives; according to popular belief, vague reflections of small, doll-like people descending to the table can be seen on the wall. The ancient Slavs met the New Year with songs, dances, jokes of the dressed-up people, funny pranks. This cycle of rites received the general name - carols. Caroled in Russia since December 25. They dressed up in leather, put on scary masks, went from house to house, sang songs. It was still dark, on the early New Year's morning, there was a knock on the door or window. The owners already guessed who was knocking and opened the door hospitably. Guests entered the house, scattering bread grains around the house and chanting:

"At a time when there was neither land nor sky, only one blue sea - in the middle of this sea there were two oaks, and two doves sat on the oaks; the doves went down to the bottom of the sea, got sand and stone, from which the earth was created, the sky and heavenly bodies". The mythological plot reflected in this ancient carol existed even in the days of the Scythians: on the bronze relief from the Scythian mound there is a tree with birds, and the sun and the moon. Similar subjects can be found on Ukrainian embroidered towels up to the beginning of the 20th century. Investigate