Merry Christmas!

Dear readers, dear subscribers, dear friends,

Especially in today's rather crazy times, it is so important that we don't let ourselves be driven mad by the whirlwind of events. And today is the time to exhale and pause. Cherish this time, spend it with your family, your friends. Give each other the most important thing — your time, your attention, your warmth.

We wish you all the best!!!

(There is a minimum of news today.)

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The History of New Year in Russia. From Peter I to Today

The first Russian Emperor and the first Russian New Year... How this amazingly bright, beloved festival since childhood has changed, faded, and continuously resurrected in a new interpretation in Russia.

The first true New Year in Russia was in the year 1700. In more than three hundred years, much has changed, but the tradition of celebrating introduced by Peter I remains to this day.

On 20 December 7208 (1699), the ruler of "all Great, Little, and White Russia," Peter Alexeyevich, signed a significant decree that laid the foundation for the most popular festival in Russia — New Year. The innovative Tsar proposed — no more and no less — to switch to a new system of timekeeping. The years were no longer to be counted from the creation of the world, as had always been the case in Russia, but from the birth of Christ, as was customary in other countries.

"To him, the great ruler, it became known — not only that in many European Christian countries, but also among the Slavic peoples, who align with our Eastern Orthodox Church in all respects — like the Wallachians, Moldavians, Serbs, Dalmatians, Bulgarians, and the subjects of his, the great ruler, the Circassians, and all Greeks, from whom our Orthodox faith was adopted — all these peoples count their years from the birth of Christ..." — thus begins the text of the decree.

Another important novelty — the date of the beginning of the year. In the timekeeping from the creation of the world, 1 September was considered the start of the year. Peter I changed the centuries-old tradition with a stroke of a pen: The start of the new year was moved from September to January. The decree states: "And now, from the birth of Christ, the year 1699 is reached, and in the coming January on the 1st day, the new year 1700 will begin, along with the new century".

Peter's Decree No.1736: Main Points

• Begin timekeeping not from the creation of the world, but from the birth of Christ.
• Consider the first month of the year as January and not September.
• Celebrate the New Year: decorate houses, congratulate each other, hold fireworks and cannon shots.

The decree of the first Russian Emperor is still joyfully followed by Russians today!

Peter I's decree also prescribed celebrating the New Year: preparing for this date and then celebrating from 1 to 7 January. Specifically, the ruler ordered "to make some decorations from trees and branches of pines, firs, and junipers", "on 1 January, as a sign of joy, to congratulate each other with the New Year... to shoot three times and fire some rockets, as many as each has" and "in the main streets, where there is space, to light fires from wood, brushwood, or straw at night from 1 to 7 January..."

According to Peter's decree, coniferous trees or their branches should decorate houses not inside, but outside. Besides the fir, it was also allowed to use pine and juniper.

After Peter the Great, during the times of palace revolutions and until the 1840s, New Year and coniferous trees were forgotten in Russia. People lived according to the Orthodox calendar, divined during the Holy Nights... And only in the mid-19th century did they remember the fir again: In Russia, as in Europe, it became a symbol of Christmas. The custom of holding Christmas parties for children also emerged.

After the revolution, in 1928, the fight against "religious prejudices" began, and Christmas as well as New Year were no longer celebrated in the Soviet Union. The holiday only returned to the people at the end of 1935 in a changed form: The two holidays were united into one — New Year. And the tree became the New Year's tree, as it is perceived in Russia today.

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Magic Tree – Fir Tree

The cult of the tree was widespread among many peoples of the world. It was believed to have a soul, was revered, prayed to, and hoped to provide protection from evil spirits and adverse weather phenomena. The type of tree was chosen according to the geographical and climatic characteristics of the region. "Particular attention was usually paid to evergreen plants: pine, spruce, juniper, cypress, and others, as, according to widespread beliefs, the abundance of eternal power in them is more pronounced than in deciduous trees that shed their leaves in winter."

The tree was used for various rituals: In some cases, people came to pay homage to it at the place where it grew, in other cases, it was cut down and taken with them.

People have always regarded the tree as a bearer of life energies that connect the world of humans, nature, and the cosmos into a whole. The fir – an evergreen conifer from the pine family with a conical crown – was considered sacred in ancient Greece, Northern Europe, among the Celts, and the Finno-Ugric peoples.

The cult of the fir as a symbol of immortal nature arose from two factors. Firstly, the evergreen foliage – the needles – allows this tree to be used as a magical symbol all year round, even in winter. Secondly, the shape of the crown, which seems to strive towards the sky, is appealing.

Needles and young branches of the fir were used by many ethnic groups to treat various diseases, heal wounds, and ulcers. However, among some peoples, this type of tree evoked rather gloomy associations. As early as the 1st century, the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder called the spruce the "funeral tree." In Russia, the fir did not find special admiration or reverence; the Russians preferred the birch – a bright tree that radiates positivity. Fir wood was used in everyday life as fuel for stoves and as building material.

The Eastern Slavs and later their descendants, the Russians, also used the fir for ritual purposes. Fir branches were used during various rituals, many of which are still practiced today. By no means are all of them festive or associated with the New Year.

Today, the fir, primarily thanks to the colourful and festive New Year's celebration, retains a festive and bright image. "Winter beauty" – this is what the festively decorated fir tree is called on New Year's Eve in Russia.

Dance circles around the tree, garlands, and New Year's decorations – all these modern New Year traditions have their roots in the distant past. Some peoples have always revered the fir as an object of worship on the first day of the New Year, which was associated with the day of the winter solstice. For example, the Khanty offered sacrifices to it and considered it a "sacred pole." The Udmurts performed offerings and prayers in honour of the lord of the forest Nyulésmurt alongside the fir. They turned to him with requests and hoped for his help in honey gathering, hunting, and livestock farming.

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