The tradition of celebrating the Old New Year comes from the discrepancy between the Julian calendar (or otherwise the «old style calendar») and the Gregorian calendar — of the one according to which almost the whole world now lives. The divergence of calendars in the 20th and 21st centuries is 13 days.
Old New Year — is a rare historical phenomenon, an additional holiday that resulted from a change in chronology. Due to this calendar discrepancy, a number of countries celebrate two «New Years» — in the old and new styles. Thus, on the night of January 13-14, everyone can afford « to celebrate» their favorite holiday. After all, for many Orthodox believers, the Old New Year is of particular importance, since they can celebrate it from the bottom of their hearts only after the end of the Nativity Fast.
Interestingly, the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases every century, when the number of hundreds per year from the Nativity of Christ is not a multiple of four, by one day. Therefore, from March 1, 2100, this difference will be 14 days.
In addition, in the ancient Russian calendar this day was dedicated to Vasily the Great, Vasilyev Day was called and was considered very important from the point of view of its influence on the entire subsequent year. The evening of this day was called generous. The housewives prepared a lot of food to treat all their friends and neighbors. There was a belief that a rich table would provide the owner with income for the whole year. And this time was popularly considered ideal for fortune telling, because the Old New Year coincided with Christmastide. They said that everything that was guessed at this time would certainly come true.
Today, the popularity of the Old New Year is growing from year to year, and Russia is no exception. More and more people treat it as an independent holiday, which prolongs the charm of the New Year or allows you to feel this charm for the first time... After all, this holiday is calmer, it is unusual for vanity, which is an inevitable companion of the New Year's celebration. This is also a reason to congratulate everyone who did not have time during the New Year holidays, to take advantage of the last chance to give a New Year's card or give a gift.
Postcard «January 14 — Friendship Day of the Old with the New» Articles:
«How to celebrate the Old New Year so that you are lucky in the New?»
«Dishes for the Old New Year: dumplings and kutia» Story «Old New Year»