Winter Day (Winter Nights) (29/10)

The Scandinavian New Year takes place at the end of the preparation period for the winter season. The elements stopped wasting their vitality. The time has come when people should turn their thoughts to spiritual values.

The holiday is also sometimes called «Winter Nights», or Windshield — (according to the Icelandic calendar), that is, the Holiday of the beginning of winter.

Initially, like many others, it was celebrated over several nights. All this marked the transition to the night time of year, when in the northern latitudes of Finland, Iceland, and Norway the sun sets below the horizon quite early.

The holiday itself was formed in ancient times and symbolized the point of transition to a difficult period of life, when the life of entire cities depended on the people themselves and not on nature.

The ancient rituals of this time involve training in concentration, the ability to take strong-willed actions, exercises in strength and dexterity, as well as acquiring new skills. Their meaning is to feel the accomplishment of something (I did it) and feel the joy of the embodied plan.

A spontaneous element of this period and rituals — Fire. Accordingly, at this time people burn fires, hold Viking competitions and more.

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