In Russia, not a single New Year is complete without the Snow Maiden. This fabulous beauty is the embodiment of purity, youth, fun and makes the winter holiday brighter and more joyful.
Since childhood, we have been accustomed to seeing her next to Santa Claus at all New Year's events, but few of us have thought about where the Snow Maiden's parents are. Let's try to figure it out!
- Who is the Snow Maiden and where did she come from?
- Who are the Snow Maiden's parents and where are they now?
- Who is the author of the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden?
- Who is the Snow Maiden to Santa Claus?
Who is the Snow Maiden and where did she come from?
Folklore has long mentioned three fairy-tale characters who are directly involved in the New Year's festivities - Father Frost, the Snowman and the Snow Maiden. And if a kind old man has his prototypes in many other countries of the world, then such a prototype does not exist for a cute fair-haired girl either in mythology or in the legends and fairy tales of other peoples.
The Snow Maiden is an original Russian treasure, a kind of angel who can persuade even a shy child not to be shy in front of Santa Claus and tell a poem or sing a song.
There are several versions of the origin of the Snow Maiden. One of them is connected with the ancient Slavic rite of burial of Kostroma, a ritual character symbolizing fertility. According to another version, the origins of the appearance of the snow beauty go back to pagan beliefs about the mythological god of the waters and the night sky - Varun, who in some legends is the prototype of Santa Claus.
It is believed that the Snow Maiden is the embodiment of ice-bound river waters, concealing the onset of warm spring days.
Who are the Snow Maiden's parents and where are they now?
Although the Snow Maiden was known in folklore back in pagan times, she was first talked about throughout the country in the second half of the 19th century, when a fairy tale about a girl Snegurka, or Snezhevinochka, fashioned from snow, was published in Russia. According to this story, a peasant Ivan and his wife Marya once lived in a Russian village. Peace and love always reigned in their house, but they lived together until old age, never being able to have children.
One winter, a lot of snow fell in their village. Ivan and Marya went out into the yard and began to sculpt a snow doll. Suddenly, the Snow Maiden stirred, as if alive, and the couple accepted this miracle as a blessing from God, who sent them a child. The tale has a sad ending: jumping with her friends over the fire, the snow girl melted.
However, over time, her image took root in the popular mind, and from the end of the 19th century it began to be actively used in scenarios on New Year trees. Since Ivan and Marya were ordinary people, having grown old, they died, so the Snow Maiden is now an orphan.
Who is the author of the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden?
For the first time, the fairy tale about the Snow Maiden and her elderly parents was recorded in 1869 in his works “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” by the outstanding Russian folklore collector Alexander Afanasyev.
The author also has a pagan version of the appearance of the winter heroine, according to which the Snow Maiden is a snow nymph. It is born at the beginning of winter from snow, and with the advent of spring days it evaporates and takes with it the desires of the villagers.
In 1873, the playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, impressed by Afanasiev's stories, created the play The Snow Maiden, in which he described the winter beauty as a pale-faced girl with blond hair, dressed in a fur-trimmed fur coat, hat and mittens. In this work, the author presented Snegurka as the 15-year-old daughter of Father Frost and Spring-Krasna, who let her go to the people in the suburb of Berendeevka under the supervision of Bakula-bobyl.
As in the legend of Afanasyev, in Ostrovsky's play the Snow Maiden melted, but for a different reason - from the bright sunbeam that the vengeful and evil god of fertility Yarilo brought upon her.
Who is the Snow Maiden to Santa Claus?
If you believe Ostrovsky's play, then Father Frost is the father of the Snow Maiden, but in 1935, after they were officially allowed to celebrate the New Year in the USSR, they began to be mistaken for grandfather and granddaughter. In the teaching aids for holding New Year's events, the young beauty acts as an old man's assistant and his intermediary in playing with the kids on the Christmas tree.
Who came up with the idea of calling the Snow Maiden the granddaughter of Frost is still unknown, but their first joint appearance took place in 1937 in the House of Unions in Moscow, and since then it has just so happened that the good old man is the girl’s grandfather.
Birthplace of the Snow Maiden
The legend says that the birthplace of the Snow Maiden is the Berendeyevo kingdom in the Kostroma region. In the Yaroslavl province, which borders on the Kostroma region, there is the village of Berendeevka. According to legend, this is where the Snow Maiden lives.
On New Year's Eve, almost everyone, from a child to a pensioner, is waiting for some kind of magic. Children are waiting for gifts under the Christmas tree from Santa Claus, and those who are older - from the authorities, the government, etc. But for some, Santa Claus is preparing something bright and interesting, and for others ... You understand. By the way, before Santa Claus was not very fond of.
Good Santa Claus was not always kind. They were afraid of him. Who is the real Santa Claus? How is it related to paganism? What did he carry in the bag? Below we will tell you who he is, where he came from and why the modern Santa Claus is very different from the legends.
The real Santa Claus is first mentioned where the winter is quite cold. It is believed that the Vologda region became the place where legends and the first legends about the gray-haired old man appeared. Santa Claus in paganism was a rather cruel deity. Children were told about him and passed on to each other in the works of folklore, they also talked about the observations of their ancestors.
In the pagan mythology of our ancestors, many could become its prototype. Consider a few examples of who invented Santa Claus and what are the origins of this "grandfather". For example, the god Pozvizd controlled the winter weather. The legends say that when he shakes his beard, then snow falls. The winter elements were his retinue, who accompanied him on campaigns.
The next deity was called Zimnik. It was a gray-haired old man with a beard. He did not have a headdress, his feet were without shoes, he carried a mace in his hands. People believed that if they see him in the village, then there will be a severe cold. They told the children about him so that they would beware. For example, he could draw patterns on glass and freeze water in ponds.
More ferocious is the evil spirit of Karachun. It was believed that he controlled the dungeon, disposed of the cold. He could freeze a person, take his life. In the past, it was believed that Santa Claus is associated with the world of the dead. The proof is that at New Year's time the spirits returned to the world of the living. There was a ritual during the New Year, according to which people presented gifts to spirits. These were traditional carols.
The youth dressed in turned-out sheepskin coats and masks, and one of them was not supposed to talk. They called him Grandpa. The rest asked for food for songs and wishes. The carolers considered themselves messengers who helped people appease the fierce Frost. Residents left jelly on the table as a talisman.
Frost was fierce - Crack. He formed crackling frosts and became the prototype of the real Santa Claus of our time. He also painted unusual drawings on glass, turned the surface of rivers into mirrors for the sky, and a place for children's fun.
Who is Santa Claus today?
In our time, since the 19th century, works with such a kind character as "Grandfather Frost" began to appear. The impression of a positive wizard began to take shape, who handed generous gifts to the children from his wide bag. By the way, we will talk about the bag a little lower.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of a kind grandfather fully entered life. The hero has become traditional for the New Year. Thus, the history of Santa Claus in the modern good sense begins in the 20th century, i.e. relatively recently. Today, any child knows where Santa Claus lives and are ready to ask for various gifts. Who would have imagined how much the view of an evil spirit can change over time.
Legends: who is the real Santa Claus
In ancient times, everyone was afraid of Santa Claus. They told a legend in which he was a thief of children, kidnapped them and carried them in a bag. Initially, a bag was needed for this purpose, and not for gifts.
who is the real Santa Claus
The tradition of giving gifts has been around for a long time. It is believed that the beginning of this tradition was laid by a certain Nicholas. His family was wealthy. He sympathized with the poor people and helped them. For good and disinterested deeds, he was canonized and elevated to the rank of Saints. By the way, now there is a separate day in honor of him.
There is a legend according to which Nikolai heard the conversation of a poor man about a hard life, about not being able to feed his daughters and therefore they would have to be given away. There was no way out because of their poverty. Then Nikolai decided to quietly enter the house, put a bag of coins. In the morning the girls were very pleased with what they saw, their shoes and socks were with gold coins. From that time on, the custom appeared to hide gifts for children in stockings and hang sweets on the Christmas tree. They used to call them gifts from Nikolai. Also, such "Nikolaychiks" are hidden under pillows.
A little about the Snow Maiden
In the West, Christmas is more valued. In Russia, the New Year is considered the main winter holiday. Santa Claus visits all children. With him comes the Snow Maiden, who was first heard about at the end of the 19th century. The works of many domestic writers created the impression of a kind assistant to grandfather.
In fact, the Snow Maiden was an independent image. The exact appearance of the Snow Maiden and Santa Claus, as a whole, is not known. Some people think that she is Kupala's sister. Her name was Kostroma. She always went in white, in her hands a branch of oak, she loved to dance. She resurrected and became a spirit.
Appearance of Santa Claus and the "company"
By external signs, it is not difficult to distinguish it. The real outfit of Santa Claus consists of: a warm fur coat in blue, red or white; a hat on his head, shining with crystals; carries a staff, as well as gifts in a bag. Memorable was the way of transportation. To do this, he used a trio of white horses with a sleigh. Grandfather did good deeds, the Snow Maiden helped him in this. It was in his power to fulfill a request, fulfill a desire, give a gift.
The modern outfit of Santa Claus includes: a warm hat with fur, without unnecessary decorations, a very long fur coat, thick and made of fur. The coat was white, then blue, now red. On the hands are large gloves. There is no belt on the belt, although it used to be. On his feet he wears warm felt boots made of wool. His nose is red, because it is cold in the north. The beard is long, white, fluffy in volume. He always carries a bag of gifts with him, it is assumed that he chooses them without looking, but he always guesses who he is intended for. The staff is carried in his hands to make it easier to get over the snowdrifts in order to freeze. He travels on horseback, sometimes skis through the forests and checks his possessions.
Santa Claus and Santa Claus
Now let's talk about the competitor of Santa Claus. Santa Claus has information about himself, he has been known for a long time. In this he differs from the New Year's heroes of other countries. According to the main features of the appearance, it is also unique. His beard has always been considered thick, gray and floor-length. Shirts, trousers were an ornament of geometric shapes. The fur coat is always long, embroidered with patterns with silver thread. The hat must be the same color as the fur coat. Three-fingered mittens. A belt is allowed but not recommended. White boots with silver patterns. A staff of crystal, or to look like their crystal. The horses were always wearing bells. Children were usually told a description of Santa Claus, how he moves. Children went outside, listened to the ringing of bells.
If compared with Santa Claus, then Santa Claus is strict, fair, on holidays he gives a chance to correct the actions of children and receive gifts, but Santa does not. He will put a gift in the stockings of good children, and coal for bad children. Santa does not perform his winter duties of icing up the rivers, does not paint patterns on the windows.
Santa Claus and Santa Claus - differences
Santa Claus almost entirely consists of the personality of a businessman, so this image is often removed in advertising. Santa Claus gives gifts to everyone. Leaves under Christmas trees. To receive gifts, children recite learned verses. On the one hand, the correct message of Santa Claus is that children strive to earn gifts. On the other hand, children are always mischievous.
Children know that Santa Claus is the lord of the waters, as he turns it into ice, snow, hoarfrost, fog. He knows how to freeze various reservoirs with ice, covers the forest, the field with snow. Hoarfrost uses tree branches as decoration. It also controls the change of day and night in winter, in the north the day is short, the night lasts longer. Since it was at that time that he did his deeds to take care of nature. The Moon and Stars obey, by his order they decorate the sky. With his swing of the staff, the Northern Lights appear. This is what makes a good wizard interesting for kids.
What about Santa Claus today?
Modern Santa Claus has collected everything in himself. From Nikolai he took what gives gifts. From the deities appearance, correspondence to the ruler of the winter kingdom. This is how his children represent him. They consider him the most powerful and the only wizard who comes to their house, reads their wishes, leaves a gift. They are amused by the search for ways to see him in their home.
In our time, since 1999, there has been a project in Veliky Ustyug called "Father Frost". Although the first home was Arkhangelsk.
On November 18, the project was founded. Now at this time they celebrate the birth of the winter wizard. The opening of the dwelling of Santa Claus took place in 1999, namely on December 25th. The city began to be visited by tourists from different cities of the country. Letters from children began to arrive. There are many people working on the project.
In 2004, a post office for letters to Santa Claus was built. Two years later, more buildings were erected, namely the path of fairy tales. A skating rink has been built for lovers of winter hobbies. The Botanical Garden has collected rare plants, and the tower of creativity, the tower of the Snow Maiden is open to inquisitive children.
In 2008, the residence received the status of a budget institution. Throughout the year, various festivals, concert programs, city tours, and craft master classes are held there. The greatest fun happens on New Year's holidays. Children participate in winter fun, admire the ice figures, visit the fairy tale trail, it is possible to ride snowmobiles, dog teams, deer, horses. You really get into a fairy tale where everything is possible. There is a magical atmosphere. You can see the real outfit of Santa Claus, consider the summer and winter image, visit his house. Tourists near magic will remember many fairy-tale heroes.
The historical appearance of Santa Claus.
Santa Claus was represented as a gray-haired old man with a beard to the floor in a long thick fur coat, felt boots, a hat, mittens, and with a staff with which he froze people.
Beard and hair - thick, gray (silver). These details of appearance, in addition to their “physiological” meaning (the old man - gray-haired), also carry a huge symbolic character denoting power, happiness, prosperity and wealth.
The shirt and trousers are white, linen, decorated with white geometric patterns (a symbol of purity).
Three-fingered gloves or mittens - white, embroidered with silver - a symbol of purity and holiness of everything that he gives from his hands.
The belt is white with a red ornament (a symbol of the connection between ancestors and descendants, as well as a strong amulet).
Shoes - silver or red, silver-embroidered boots with a raised toe. The heel is beveled, small or completely absent. On a frosty day, Santa Claus puts on white felt boots embroidered with silver.
The hat is red, embroidered with silver and pearls. Trimming (hall) with swan down (white fur) with a triangular cutout made on the front part (stylized horns). The shape of the hat is semi-oval (the round shape of the hat is traditional for Russian tsars, it is enough to recall the headdress of Ivan the Terrible).
Staff - crystal or silver "under the crystal." The handle is twisted, also in a silver-white color scheme. The staff is completed by a lunnitsa (a stylized image of the month) or a bull's head (a symbol of power, fertility and happiness).
Santa Claus has been with us for a very long time. This is a real-life spirit, alive, by the way, to this day. Once upon a time, even before the advent of Christianity in Russia, our ancestors believed that the spirits of the dead guard their family, take care of the offspring of livestock and good weather. Therefore, in order to reward them for their care, every winter people gave them gifts. On the eve of the holiday, the village youth put on masks, turned out sheepskin coats and went from house to house, caroling. (However, different regions had their own peculiarities of caroling). The hosts presented the carolers with food. The meaning was precisely that the carolers were the spirits of their ancestors, who received a reward for their tireless care of the living. Among the carolers there was often one “man” dressed the worst of all. As a rule, he was forbidden to speak. It was the oldest and most formidable spirit, he was often called simply Grandfather. It is possible that this is the prototype of the modern Santa Claus. Only today, of course, he has become kinder and does not come for gifts, but brings them himself. With the adoption of Christianity, pagan rites were, of course, “abolished”, and therefore exist to this day ;-) Carolers depict not the spirits of their ancestors, but heavenly messengers, which, you see, is practically the same thing. It’s already difficult to say who to consider as Grandfather, but there is an “older” even now.
Initially, he was called Grandfather Treskun and was represented as a little old man with a long beard and a disposition as harsh as Russian frosts. From November to March, Grandfather Cracker was the sovereign master of the earth. Even the sun was afraid of him! He was married to a despising person - Zima. Grandfather Treskun or Father Frost was also identified with the first month of the year - the middle of winter - January. The first month of the year is cold and cold - the king of frosts, the root of winter, its sovereign. It is strict, icy, icy, it's time for snowstorms. People say about January like this: fireman and jelly, snowman and cracker, fierce and fierce.
In Russian fairy tales, Santa Claus is portrayed as an eccentric, strict, but fair spirit of winter. Remember, for example, the fairy tale “Morozko”. Good hardworking girl Morozko froze, froze, and then bestowed, and evil and lazy - he froze to death. Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, some northern peoples are still coaxing old man Frost - on solemn nights they throw cakes, meat, pour wine over the threshold of their dwellings so that the spirit does not get angry, does not interfere with hunting, and does not destroy crops.
It is difficult to say unequivocally where the Russian Santa Claus lives, since there are a lot of legends. Some say that Santa Claus comes from the North Pole, others say - from Lapland. Only one thing is clear, Santa Claus lives somewhere in the Far North, where it is winter all year round. Although in the tale of V.F. Odoevsky “Moroz Ivanovich” Frost red nose in the spring moves to the well, where “it is cold even in summer”.
Later, Grandfather Frost had a granddaughter Snegurka or Snegurochka, the heroine of many Russian fairy tales, a snow girl. Yes, and Santa Claus himself has changed: he began to bring gifts to children on New Year's Eve and fulfill their innermost desires.
The image of the Snow Maiden is unique for Russian culture. There are no female characters in Western New Year and Christmas mythology.
As you can see, the origin of the Russian Santa Claus is fundamentally different from the European Santa Claus. If Santa Claus was a real historical figure who was elevated to the rank of saints for good deeds, then the Russian Santa Claus is rather a pagan spirit, a character of folk beliefs and fairy tales. Despite the fact that the modern image of Santa Claus was already formed under the influence of the European New Year's character, most of the characteristic Russian features remained. To this day, Russian Grandfather Frost walks in a long fur coat, felt boots and with a staff. He prefers to move on foot, by air, or on a sleigh drawn by a frisky troika. His constant companion is the granddaughter of the Snow Maiden. Santa Claus plays the game “I'll Freeze” with children and hides gifts under the Christmas tree on New Year's Eve.
Santa Claus and the Russian Orthodox Church
The attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to Santa Claus is ambiguous, on the one hand, as a pagan deity and magician, and therefore contrary to Christian teaching, and on the other hand, as a Russian cultural tradition. In 2001, Bishop Maximilian of Vologda and Veliky Ustyug announced that the Russian Orthodox Church would support the project "Veliky Ustyug - Fatherland of Father Frost" only if Father Frost was baptized.
mythological image
Who is he - our old friend and good wizard Russian Santa Claus? Our Frost is a character of Slavic folklore. For many generations, the Eastern Slavs created and kept a kind of “oral chronicle”: prose legends, epic tales, ritual songs, legends and tales about the past of their native land.
The Eastern Slavs have a fabulous image of Frost - a hero, a blacksmith who binds water with “iron frosts”. The Frosts themselves were often identified with violent winter winds. Several folk tales are known, where the North Wind (or Frost) helps lost travelers, showing the way.
The Belarusian brother of Santa Claus - Zyuzya, or the god of Winter - is presented as a grandfather with a long beard who lives in the forest and walks barefoot.
Our Santa Claus is a special image. It is reflected in the ancient Slavic legends (Karachun (
Karachun(Korochun) - the day of the winter solstice - December 21.), Pozvizd(
Pozvizd - according to the sources of the end of the XVII century, the Slavic god of the wind, good and bad weather. Brother Dogoda.
), Zimnik), Russian folk tales, folklore, Russian literature (A.N. Ostrovsky’s play “The Snow Maiden”, N.A. Nekrasov’s poem “Frost, Red Nose”, V.Ya. Bryusov’s poem “To the King of the North Pole”, Karelian - Finnish epic "Kalevala").
Pozvizd - Slavic god of storms and bad weather. As soon as he shook his head, a large hail fell on the ground. Instead of a cloak, the winds dragged behind him, snow flakes fell from the hems of his clothes. Pozvizd rushed swiftly through the heavens, accompanied by a retinue of storms and hurricanes.
In the legends of the ancient Slavs, there was another character - Zimnik. He, like Frost, was presented as an old man of small stature, with white hair and a long gray beard, with an uncovered head, in warm white clothes and with an iron mace in his hands. Where he passes - there expect a cruel cold.
Among the Slavic deities, Karachun stood out for his ferocity - an evil spirit that shortens life. The ancient Slavs considered him an underground god who commanded frost.
But over time, Frost changed. Stern, in the company of the Sun and Wind, walking around the earth and freezing to death the peasants who met on the way (in the Belarusian fairy tale “Frost, Sun and Wind”), he gradually turns from a formidable into a fair and kind grandfather.
Kolyada - a festival winter solstice (December 21-25), solstice.
It was believed that on this day a small bright sun is born in the form of a boy - Khors. The new sun completed the course of the old sun (old year) and opened the course of the next year. While the sun is still weak, the earth is dominated by night and cold inherited from the old year, but every day the Great Horse (as mentioned in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign") grows, and the sun grows stronger.
Our ancestors celebrated the solstice with carols, wore Kolovrat (an eight-pointed star) on a pole - the sun, put on the guise of totemic animals that were associated in the minds of people with the images of the ancient gods: the bear - Veles, the cow - Makosh, the goat - the cheerful and at the same time evil hypostasis of Veles , the horse is the sun, the swan is Lada, the duck is Rozhanitsa (the progenitor of the world), the rooster is a symbol of time, sunrise and sunset, and so on.
Shrovetide isholiday,
dedicated to the farewell to winter and the joyful greeting of spring.
In fact, it was a meeting of the New Year, only in early spring on March 23 - until the 15th century. Since this holiday saw off the winter and met the new summer, hence the chronology and the New Year. That is, Shrovetide met the actual new year, the arrival of a new summer. And Kolyada met the birth of a new sun.
The northern peoples still celebrate the meeting of the new sun, the holiday of Heiro.
Heiro is a holiday of the northern peoples, associated with the appearance of the sun after a long polar night. The duration of the polar night at the latitude of Dudinka is one and a half months. It ends in mid-January, when the disk of the sun appears above the horizon. On the traditional holiday of the end of winter, people express gratitude for the winter they have lived, ask the spirits for fertility and well-being in the family. The holiday symbolizes the beginning of a new life. On this day, people gather near the ritual fire and, holding hands, dance in circles. This is how the northern peoples met the luminary hundreds of years ago, and this is how they greet it now.
And among the Slavs Horse, it is consonant, isn't it?
History of Russian Father Frost December 26th, 2013
It seems that the New Year with Christmas trees, gifts, Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden has always been ... But no matter how! It turns out that the beloved New Year's character, every year awaited with trepidation by every Russian child, was born not so long ago. However, first things first...
young grandfather
I already wrote about the New Year and the Christmas tree a year ago () and talked about the fact that in our country the tradition of the Christmas and New Year trees, as well as the New Year's holiday itself, arose in a familiar form quite recently ...
But it turns out that Santa Claus is even younger! He is only 100 years old. That is, until the beginning of the last century, there was no Santa Claus ... There was a stern and evil Treskun, a cheerful and fair Morozko was, in Europe all the children already knew Santa Claus, but our own Grandfather Frost did not exist.
Only by the beginning of the 20th century did the familiar image of Santa Claus take shape - a kind wizard with a snow-white beard in a long fur coat and a boyar hat, who brings gifts to children. However, that Santa Claus was an exclusively Christmas character, because it was Christmas that was considered the most significant winter holiday.
The death and rebirth of Santa Claus.
After the revolution, the image of Santa Claus, along with all Christmas (and Orthodox) traditions, was persecuted. His final exile took place on the eve of 1929, when Christmas was declared a working day, and special patrols walked the streets and looked into windows, not allowing even the slightest hint of preparations for the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ.
But, fortunately, these bleak times passed, and already in 1935 the first New Year tree was organized. This happened after December 28, 1935, a member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR P.P. Postyshev published an article in the Pravda newspaper, where he proposed organizing a New Year celebration for children. And now, throughout the country, they begin to organize New Year's events, using albeit Christmas, but still greatly rethought, paraphernalia. And already in 1937, Father Frost first appeared before the guests along with his granddaughter Snegurochka.
Santa Claus prototypes
The modern image of Santa Claus has more than one predecessor. He certainly absorbed the features of the infinitely kind and merciful Archbishop Nicholas (the prototype of Santa Claus), who lived in the city of Mira (Turkey) as early as the 4th century and after his death was canonized. Until now, Saint Nicholas the saint is revered not only in Christian countries, but almost all over the world.
Our Santa Claus is similar to his pagan Slavic great-grandfather - the spirit of winter, the lord of frost. It was this pagan god who showered the earth with snow, froze rivers and lakes, and often saved people from enemies by freezing them in the harsh Russian winter.
Where does Santa Claus live
The first homeland of Santa Claus is Arkhangelsk, it was there that in 1991 the "House of Santa Claus" and the "Mail of Santa Claus" were created.
In 1995, the leadership of the Lapland Reserve on the Kola Peninsula launched the project "Fairytale Lapland - Father Frost's Domain", according to which the residence of Father Frost was located in the Chunozero estate.
Lapland Reserve
Since 1998, on the initiative of the former mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, the Vologda Oblast has been running the state tourism project "Veliky Ustyug - Father Frost's Homeland". As part of this project, since 2005, the "official" birthday of Santa Claus has also been celebrated: November 18th. This date was chosen due to the fact that just on these dates in Veliky Ustyug the first severe frosts usually hit the day.
Grandfather Frost's residence in Veliky Ustyug
December 25, 1999 in Veliky Ustyug, the grand opening of the "House of Santa Claus" took place. Tourist trains go to the city from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda and other Russian cities.
In 2011, a new fabulous residence of Santa Claus was opened in Murmansk.
Since the beginning of the project, children from different countries have sent more than a million letters to Santa Claus. These letters are carefully kept in the "treasury". Letters are distributed among our Santa Clauses, so that not one of them sits idle. So, for example, if the Lapland Reserve is not indicated in the letter, then it is sent to Veliky Ustyug.
So it turns out that we have several national Santa Clauses in Russia ... But, in fact, the whole point is that Santa Claus is a wonderful wizard, so he can easily be in several places at once!
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
My world will never be the same again... If you are afraid of being disappointed in the most important holiday of the year, then do not read the text under the cut. I'm serious.
Fairy-tale New Year's characters were invented a long time ago and not in Russia - the vast majority of secular rituals and traditions are based on ancient sinister rituals.
For example, elegant Christmas trees, which have become a symbol of the new year. Among the early Celts, spruce was considered the abode of a forest spirit that demanded bloody sacrifices - the entrails of people and animals, which the Druids regularly hung on the branches of a tree. When the strengthened Christian church forbade sacrifices, the peoples of Europe replaced the internal organs with wooden balls, which later became glass, and the intestines with rag and paper garlands. And here she is, elegant, came to us for the holiday ...
Good Santa Claus and his western prototype Santa Claus originated from an ancient and evil Celtic deity, the Great Elder of the North, the lord of icy cold and snowstorms. He also went from house to house with a canvas bag, but did not distribute gifts, but collected sacrifices, which he had not received during the year. The visit of the Elder with the bag did not bode well: as a rule, after his departure, only icy corpses remained in the house. In order to protect their village from a terrible visit, the Druids made a common sacrifice to the fierce deity - in the cold they undressed and tied a young virgin to a tree. It was her frozen, frost-covered corpse that became the prototype of the cheerful Snow Maiden accompanying Santa Claus.
In our usual guise of a kind and handsome old man, Santa Claus appeared only in 1840 in the story of Prince Vladimir Odoevsky "Moroz Ivanovich". It was a literary adaptation of the folk tale “Frost” - that’s where it was about an unkind old man, very reminiscent of the Celtic Great Northern Elder, who froze a lazy girl who didn’t like him to death (in the softened version of the writer, the sloth gets not death, but everything just a necklace of icicles). The people also represented the character "Morozko" in the form of an old man who controlled the death of all living things with his staff. On the winter solstices, this grandfather had to be propitiated. They gratified him with the same young virgin, who was tied to a tree (not necessarily to spruce) and left to freeze in the wild frost.
If during the day the "Snow Maiden" froze, then the sacrifice was accepted. And the bag of Santa Claus was also at first intended for collecting offerings. And with his staff, the vile old man beat naughty children or intimidated them with terrible tales. If we analyze the fairy tale "Morozko" for compliance with ancient pagan rites, then everything is confirmed. With careful reading, in this short tale, you can learn a lot of interesting things - the tale clearly shows the ceremony, akin to what the Celts performed, sacrificing virgins to the Elder of the North.
And here are the heroes of the fairy tale: the “typical set” of many Russian fairy tales. Grandfather, daughter, stepmother and half-sister. Why stepmother and not mother. Rather, this is a later transformation, and in the beginning it could have been a mother. The fact is that, based on the Christian worldview, it is difficult to explain how a mother could send her child to death, and a stepmother is very capable! And here comes the winter. Crackling frosts. Time of the Elder of the North. Grandfather grieved, but he took his daughter, he knew about such things, he didn’t ask unnecessary questions. He brought the girl to the forest and left it under the tree.
The Christmas tree ... well, it’s not for nothing that it was introduced into the plot. Spruce is a sacred tree among the Celts. Evergreen. A tree in which spirits or gods live. Our New Year tree is the same sacrificial tree where the Celts also performed human sacrifices. So the victim was left to freeze by the sacred tree. And the old man calmly went home. Regarding the conversations between the girl and Morozko, this is already a quick literary embellishment in order to somehow explain the happy salvation. Another thing is interesting. The stepmother is celebrating a feast for the sacrificed girl, why is it all of a sudden, she loved her? Fries pancakes, an indispensable attribute of the commemoration. And the order for the old man to go to the forest for the second time, to pick up the "remains" looks completely illogical. Well, they’re lying on their way, wild animals will drag them away and there will be no traces left. So it is necessary, and it is necessary.
The Celts have the answer! They visited the victim, looked after a certain period of time whether she was alive or not. If she is still alive, then God did not accept the sacrifice and a new girl could be presented to him. This is what we see in Morozko's fairy tale, when a stepmother, instead of a stepdaughter, sends her daughter, whom God has already accepted. Of course, the people gave some literary character, explaining the salvation by one kindness, and the death of the other by "disrespect for the elders." But this is centuries later, when, probably, this ceremony was forgotten, but the fairy tale remained.
By the way, why, as a rule, a girl acts as such a messenger, this is easily explained. The land allotment, according to tradition, was measured by the number of men in the family, a female mouth in a hard time could be superfluous, and therefore they sacrificed first of all those who were of the least value for the family. Alas!
