January 14 – relax as you want

January 14 – the old New Year and Vasilyev’s day or the day of Vasily the Pig. New Year in Russia from the time of Peter the Great and before the transition to the Gregorian calendar began to be celebrated on the night of the current January 14 and celebrated after the whole day. Now we are celebrating the old New Year, but more often than not, everything ends with nightly gatherings. Meanwhile, there are many folk signs and traditions for this day.

January 14 (January 1, old style) was not only the first day of the new year, but also, according to the folk calendar, the day of Vasily Svinyatnik. Therefore, pork dishes were always served on the table, the main of which was a roasted suckling pig – it symbolized prosperity in the house.

On Vasily’s Day in the villages, anyone could visit a neighbor who had a roasted pig served at the table and taste the main dish of the day. For this, it was customary to give the owner money, as much as they could. On January 15, the money collected for the treat was necessarily given to the church as a donation.

According to tradition, gingerbread in the form of animals was baked on this day and presented to relatives, friends and neighbors – it was believed that then domestic animals would not get sick all year.

We tried to spend the whole day in a good mood, without quarrels and scandals, despondency and sadness. We went to visit each other, walked in our favorite places, ate our favorite dishes – in general, we did everything we wanted to do in the new year.

We tried to make peace with those with whom we quarreled, but would like to continue communication. By the way, according to signs, on this day you can’t refuse those who want to fix damaged relationships – otherwise you can lose your luck both in business and in your personal life. Also, you can not refuse to help, especially relatives and friends. That’s just not worth borrowing money – you can give away your wealth.

To attract profit in the house, they tried to have at least a small supply of money, preferably cash, by the new year.

Also, according to popular beliefs, if you meet and spend this day in new clothes, you will be able to update your wardrobe all year round.

You can go to the store – it is believed that all purchases today will be successful. If you go shopping, buy a broom at the same time: there is a sign that it will serve as a talisman against poverty.

Among the prohibitions that our ancestors tried to observe were the following: you can’t take on hard work, do household chores and needlework, pronounce or write the number 13, count a trifle.

In the evening, you can do fortune telling. According to popular beliefs, fortune-telling is most reliable on this evening, since Vasily’s Day divides Christmas time in half – until this day they are considered “Holy Evenings”, and after – “Terrible Evenings”. Our ancestors believed that from St. Basil’s Day until Baptism itself, there is a high probability of communicating with the souls of deceased ancestors, and some fortune-telling contributed to this.

Girls often these days guessed at the betrothed. But fortune-telling using mirrors was carried out only at home – it was believed that if you look in someone else’s mirror that day, you can give your beauty to its owner.

Folk signs on January 14 are as follows:

– if the thaw has come – the summer will be cool;

– if it snows in the morning – spring will come late;

– if the snow falls fine and light – to improve the weather;

– if the wind blows from the east – to a hot and dry summer, the west wind portends a damp summer, the north wind is cold, the south is moderately warm.

Dreams that occurred on the night of January 15 are considered prophetic. In addition, they show what the person is most worried about now, and make it clear how the problem can be solved, if it exists.

Alena Bodrienko.

Photo by Alexander Avilov / Moskva Agency