Christmas in Great Britain and Russia

It has to be said that Russia has been Christian since the year 980 A.D. (for over 1000 years) and traditions mean very much for every Russian Orthodox Christian. Nowadays, the Russian Orthodox still follows the old calendar and all Russian Orthodox believers celebrate Christmas on January 7th.

For the not-so-religious part of the society Christmas time is just a long holiday season. Many people start celebrating Christmas on December 25 (together with the Western World), then continue to observe New Year Eve with festive parties, enjoy New Year Day with their families and, finally, celebrate Russian Orthodox Christmas on January 7.

• How are Christmas/New Year holidays celebrated in Russia?

Most Russian families cannot imagine Christmas/New Year season without a Christmas tree in the house. If a family can afford a tree it will most likely buy it. Decorating such tree will the good fun for children and, perhaps, some adults. Gift giving is also very popular, although many people have become too poor to afford expensive gifts. The value of gifts varies from family to family and it is widely recognized that it is the full-heartedness of gifts (not the money spent) that matters. Such notion does not apply to the New Rich (so called New Russians, common characters of Russia's most favorite jokes). They can as well spend thousands of dollars on gifts...

Both New Year night and Christmas usually are marked by festive dinners. If you were to visit a family for New Year dinner, you would be surprised to see that even the poorest of families would have a beautifully set table with a lot of good food. Most Russians believe that the way you meet the New Year sets the tone for the whole of the year lying ahead. The menu of New Year dinner varies from family to family, depending on income, size of family, etc. New Year is commonly perceived as family holiday. It is mostly the young people who are likely to be at a party (rather than at home) on New Year night. Everybody else will be sitting at a nicely set table watching TV. While sitting at the New Year table it is customary to "bid farewell" to the previous year. People discuss how successful was the past year for them and expressly wish that the coming year treats them kindly. A toast is usually announced to such wish for the upcoming year. As the clock at the Spasskaya Tower of Moscow Kremlin strikes midnight people will raise their glasses and announce a toast to the New Year, after which the festive dinner continues...

Nowadays, Christmas is still only taking root as a major nationwide holiday. Until very recently most Russians were atheists, and those who were religious were not allowed to celebrate their holidays openly. Now, when all such bans are long lifted many people are in search for their spiritual identity. While many people have already found their church, others still remained out of church or, sadly, found their way to some totalitarian sects. Although Christmas is widely celebrated in Russia and leaders of the nation attend televised church services, a substantial part of the nation still treats Christmas as just another holiday, somewhat inferior to the New Year Eve/Day.

For the religious Russians Christmas is full of spiritual meaning and is celebrated both at home and at church. Christmas service is one of the most beautiful and important services in the year. Nowadays, Christmas church services are shown on TV, so that you can be part of the big holiday even if you are far away from a nearest church. Christmas services are held on the night of January 6 and are among the most beautiful services of the year.

New Year and Christmas season is a particularly enjoyable time for children. They enjoy decoration Christmas trees, enjoy somewhat hectic New Year preparations and receive the richest gifts of all members of the family. In big cities special New Year shows are organized for children every year and children receive tickets to such shows at school. 
 
 
 
 

CHAPTER 2 

2.1 Russian and English Christmas. The Difference. 

Unfortunately, most Internet sites describe non-existent traditions that either are not Russian to begin with, or had ceased to exist already by the late Middle Ages. No Russian would ever dream of doing some of the things listed by many English-language resources as "authentic Russian Christmas traditions". Here are a few tips to get you out of trouble.

The traditional Western Christmas of December 25 is not an official holiday in Russia, although Russians -- who never miss the opportunity to party -- consider it the unofficial opener of the festive season. The Russian TV gives a graceful nod to the foreign tradition by showing a few seasonal flicks, but Christmas trees (or New Year Trees, as that's what they are called in Russia) are usually put up just before the New Year's Eve. Russian kids never receive gifts on December 25, unless they belong to a family of practicing Catholics or Protestants who, naturally, recognize and celebrate the holiday.

Russian Christmas and New Year: When to Give Gifts to Russian Children

The main Russian winter holiday is New Year. This is when the New Year Tree is put up, lavishly decorated and lit up, and Father Frost, the Russian analog of Santa Claus, delivers surprise gifts to Russian kids, arriving invisible in the middle of the night to hide the presents under the tree or children's pillows.

Please keep in mind that the supposedly "Russian" legend of the so-called Babushka has never existed in Russia. She never brings gifts to Russian kids: the "Russian Babushka" story is a literary invention by American author Edith M Thomas and has absolutely nothing to do with Russian folklore. Father Frost is the only character who brings gifts to Russian kids. If you ever speak to a native Russian person - whether a child or an adult -about Babushka, they won't know what you're talking about.

Why does he bring gifts on New Year, and not on Christmas? The reason for this holiday mix-up is in the country's history. In the first Soviet years, there was no winter holiday in Russia at all, as Christmas had been banned and New Year's Day wasn't a public holiday yet. In 1935, Joseph Stalin announced the New Year's Day a new holiday for children and simply moved the Chistmas traditions (mainly the tree and the gift-bringing Father Frost) to New Year's Day. More than a decade later, in 1949, New Year's Day finally became a public holiday for everyone.

This is how it happened that New Year, and not Christmas, became the most popular winter holiday in Russia. It is celebrated by everyone in Russia just like Christmas is celebrated in the West, with tons of shopping, cooking, and armfuls of greeting cards, and naturally all the family and numerous guests (the more the merrier) gather at the groaning table by the New Year tree and happily overeat to the sounds of TV variety shows as they wait for the clock to strike midnight. So, How to Celebrate a Traditional Russian Christmas?

Once all the partying is over and done with, the Russian Orthodox Christmas of January 7 is a very intimate and pious experience. The Russian Orthodox church still sticks to the ancient and inaccurate Julian calendar which by now is 13 days behind our "normal" Gregorian one. That's why Russian Christmas is celebrated on January 7, which is December 25 according to the Julian calendar.

By Christmas Eve of January 6, all practicing Russian Orthodox Christians have been fasting for 40 days (yes, even on the New Year's Eve), eating nothing but vegan food like plain bread, porridge and vegetable stews. Vegetable oil and fish can only be used on certain very rare occasions, and all alcohol, dairy and meat are banned outright. Christmas Eve should be spent on an empty stomach, in prayer and meditation, until the last vegan meal before going to the midnight church service.

These days, of course, no one throws porridge (kutia) to the ceiling to see if it sticks, and no one eats "cabbage stuffed with millet" (millet? Today's Russians wouldn't know where to shop for it). Many Western sites quote a mysterious word "pagach" that they claim to stand for some equally mysterious "Russian Christmas Eve bread", but both are non-existent in the Russian language or tradition.

And trust me: no Russian can be heard making clucking noises "so that their hens lay more eggs". The tree is usually still up (many Russians won't take it down at least until the end of winter school vacations on January 11), but Father Frost doesn't visit Russian kids again for Christmas because he's already given them their gifts on New Year's Day.

How to do it right: even if you're not a practicing Orthodox Christian, it never hurts to say a few prayers, although it takes a non-Orthodox Christian some fervor to stand through at least some part of the hours-long Christmas service (there are no pews in Russian churches and no one, apart from the pregnant and elderly, is allowed to sit down).

In days of old, Russian Christmas Eve could be great fun for guisers, young and old, who dressed up as various animals, devils and picturesque ethnic characters (Gypsies, Hindus, Turks, Africans, etc.) and went door to door singing Russian carols in return for treats. Again, this tradition is not common these days, but today's Russian revelers enjoy some quality street fun with groups of guisers, amateur singers and dancers and the inevitable bayan – the Russian button accordion.

The Difference Between Santa Claus and Russian Father Christmas (a.k.a. Father Frost, or Ded Moroz)

Although both characters stem from the Huns' pagan god of New Year, there are certain differences. The image of Santa Claus was heavily influenced by the Dutch tradition of children's party on Nicholmas (December 6), while the Russians stuck to their own legends about the ancient Slavic god of winter, Father Frost.

• Ded Moroz (Father Frost) wears a floor-length fur coat of red, blue or white (traditionally, it used to be red but blue and white are also very popular as they're associated with snow and frost). The coat is trimmed with white fur (or ideally, swans' down) and embroidered with ancient Russian pagan symbols: silver crosses and eight-point stars.
• Ded Moroz wears a color-coordinated winter hat trimmed with white fur or swans' down while Santa has a fur-trimmed conical cap.
• Santa has a short beard while Father Frost's beard has to be waist long.
• While Santa wears gloves, Father Frost wears very special mittens: warm and white, they are embroidered with silver and have three fingers. In pagan Russia, having three fingers was a sign of Godlike nature.
• Father Frost always appears with a magic staff in his hands. He uses it to turn into ice whatever he touches with it, so kids should steer clear from it!
• Santa has a leather belt while Father Frost has a white, silver or color-coordinated sash.
• Santa wears a pair of trousers with his short coat while Father Frost wears a linen shirt and trousers embroidered with white pagan patterns (eight-point stars, crosses, etc) under his long coat: white linen being the ancient pagan symbol for purity.
• Santa wears black boots while Father Frost wears traditional Russian felt boots in white or alternatively, medieval Russian leather boots with red heels and curling pointed toes.
• Santa is often portrayed wearing glasses while Father Frost never wears them.
• As Santa lives in Lapland, he uses reindeer to pull his sleigh. Father Frost, being Russian, uses three horses (a troika) for the same purpose, although he can travel by foot, too.
• Santa employs elves as his helpers, while Father Frost has his granddaughter, Snegurochka, to accompany him in his travels.
• Father Frost is tall and athletic while Santa is, er, Santa.

This is how it happened that New Year, and not Christmas, became the most popular winter holiday in Russia. It is celebrated by everyone in Russia just like Christmas is celebrated in the West, with tons of shopping, cooking, and armfuls of greeting cards, and naturally all the family and numerous guests (the more the merrier) gather at the groaning table by the New Year tree and happily overeat to the sounds of TV variety shows as they wait for the clock to strike midnight.

Once all the partying is over and done with, the Russian Orthodox Christmas of January 7 is a very intimate and pious experience. The Russian Orthodox church still sticks to the ancient and inaccurate Julian calendar which by now is 13 days behind our "normal" Gregorian one. That's why Russian Christmas is celebrated on January 7, which is December 25 according to the Julian calendar.

By Christmas Eve of January 6, all practicing Russian Orthodox Christians have been fasting for 40 days (yes, even on the New Year's Eve), eating nothing but vegan food like plain bread, porridge and vegetable stews. Vegetable oil and fish can only be used on certain very rare occasions, and all alcohol, dairy and meat are banned outright. Christmas Eve should be spent on an empty stomach, in prayer and meditation, until the last vegan meal before going to the midnight church service.

These days, of course, no one throws porridge (kutia) to the ceiling to see if it sticks, and no one eats "cabbage stuffed with millet" (millet? Today's Russians wouldn't know where to shop for it). Many Western sites quote a mysterious word "pagach" that they claim to stand for some equally mysterious "Russian Christmas Eve bread", but both are non-existent in the Russian language or tradition.

No Russian can be heard making clucking noises "so that their hens lay more eggs". The tree is usually still up (many Russians won't take it down at least until the end of winter school vacations on January 11), but Father Frost doesn't visit Russian kids again for Christmas because he's already given them their gifts on New Year's Day.

How to do it right: even if you're not a practicing Orthodox Christian, it never hurts to say a few prayers, although it takes a non-Orthodox Christian some fervor to stand through at least some part of the hours-long Christmas service (there are no pews in Russian churches and no one, apart from the pregnant and elderly, is allowed to sit down).

In days of old, Russian Christmas Eve could be great fun for guisers, young and old, who dressed up as various animals, devils and picturesque ethnic characters (Gypsies, Hindus, Turks, Africans, etc.) and went door to door singing Russian carols in return for treats. Again, this tradition is not common these days, but today's Russian revelers enjoy some quality street fun with groups of guisers, amateur singers and dancers and the inevitable bayan – the Russian button accordion.

Religious information

Two international surveys were conducted during 1991 and 1993 by the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). This is currently located at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

A comparison beteeen the ISSP survey and common Gallup polls on religion is instructive. The ISSP seeks information on the level of strong beliefs in God and other religious topics. When the Gallup Poll conducts a poll on belief in God, they seem almost to design a question to obscure the results. They ask for belief in "God or a universal spirit." Like the ISSP survey, Gallup does not differentiate between belief in monotheistic God as defined in Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, and other religions, and the creator God in Deism who has since disappeared, polytheistic pantheons of deities, the Goddess and God of Wicca, etc. Futher, Gallup does not differentiate between any of these deities and some vague notion of a supernatural entity who is perhaps impersonal.

In 1991, subjects were asked to agree or disagree with each of the following seven statements: God: "I know God exists and I have no doubts about it"

      Afterlife: I definitely believe in "life after death"

      Bible: "The Bible is the actual word of God and it is to be taken literally, word for word." A yes answer probably implies that the subject believes in the inerrancy of the Bible and that its authors were inspired by God.

      Devil: I definitely believe in "the Devil."

      Hell: I definitely believe in "Hell."

      Heaven: I definitely believe in "Heaven."

      Miracle: I definitely believe in "religious miracles."

Results are shown below. Appended to the list are: the results of a survey showing the percentage of persons who said yes to the following question: "In your opinion, how true is this? ...Human beings developed from earlier species of animals.." The results are a measure of belief in human evolution, and disbelief in creation science.

Some observations All numbers are in percentages.

Since 1944, the Gallup Poll has been asking Americans whether they "believe in God or a universal spirit." The answers have always been 94% or more affirmative. These numbers have been so widely reported in academic articles, and the media that they have been almost etched in stone. However, the ISSP results are under 63%. The wide gap is probably due to the different wording of the question asked. The ISSP requires a degree of certainty of belief in God that is not present in the Gallup Poll. This shows that many Americans who believe in God are not very certain about their conviction. An additional difference is caused by the term "universal spirit" that Gallup has introduced into the question. Many Americans believe in some vaguely defined supernatural entity, but do not refer to him/her/it/them as "God."

A similar drop is seen between the Gallup Poll and the ISSP poll over belief about life after death. American results are typically 75% and 55%. Again, the degree of certainty expected for a positive answer to the ISSP question is probably responsible for the difference. Many Americans seem to hope for life after death, but are not that certain that it exists.  

Americans, Irish, Filipinos, and Poles together form a group of Christian cultures with a much higher degree of traditional religious belief than the other predominately Christian countries shown.

The results on the evolution question may reflect the strength of a scientific, secular world view in the society. The results on the existence of God might reflect the strength of traditional religious belief. The two seem to be inversely related.

A comparison of data from East and West Germany is interesting. Presumably, at the end of World War II, the two populations would have held similar religious views. But the East Germans were exposed to almost two generations of Communist rule, with its oppression of religion and the active promotion of Atheism. The East Germans have lost much of their traditional religious belief. Some of the results dropped to less than one third of the values for West Germany. It will be interesting to see whether residents in the eastern part of Germany can recover their old levels of belief, and at what rate.

Many of our current American ideals about the way Christmas ought to be derive from the English Victorian Christmas, such as that described in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The caroling, the gifts, the feast, and the wishing of good cheer to all - these ingredients came together to create that special Christmas atmosphere.  

The custom of gift-giving on Christmas dates only to Victorian times. Before then it was more common to exchange gifts on New Year's Day or Twelfth Night. Santa Claus is known by British children as Father Christmas. Father Christmas, these days, is quite similar to the American Santa, but his direct ancestor is a certain pagan spirit who regularly appeared in medieval mummer's plays. The old-fashioned Father Christmas was depicted wearing long robes with sprigs of holly in his long white hair. Children write letters to Father Christmas detailing their requests, but instead of dropping them in the mailbox, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draft carries the letters up the chimney, and theoretically, Father Christmas reads the smoke. Gifts are opened Christmas afternoon.

From the English we get a story to explain the custom of hanging stockings from the mantelpiece. Father Christmas once dropped some gold coins while coming down the chimney. The coins would have fallen through the ash grate and been lost if they hadn't landed in a stocking that had been hung out to dry. Since that time children have continued to hang out stockings in hopes of finding them filled with gifts.

The custom of singing carols at Christmas is also of English origin. During the middle ages, groups of serenades called "waits" would travel around from house to house singing ancient carols and spreading the holiday spirit. The word "carol" means "song of joy." Most of the popular old carols we sing today were written in the nineteenth century.

The hanging of greens, such as holly and ivy, is a British winter tradition with origins far before the Christian era. Greenery was probably used to lift sagging winter spirits and remind the people that spring was not far away. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe is descended from ancient Druid rites. The decorating of Christmas trees, though primarily a German custom, has been widely popular in England since 1841 when Prince Albert had a Christmas tree set up in Windsor Castle for his wife Queen Victoria, and their children.