Światyj Weczer, Russian Christmas Eve, wełyja (Christmas Eve).
Early in the morning, on the day of Christmas Eve, the village was wandered by sandpipers, and sandwiches - boys making wishes. It was believed that if a woman was the first guest on Christmas Eve, she would bring misfortune to the house. For this reason, it was called a leaky porch and was not allowed into swiftly (the Ruthenians called their huts this way). In 1935, on the basis of ethnographic research carried out in Żernica and Wołosaty, J. Falkowski wrote about the special role of the ceremonial bread called kraczun inside which a head of garlic was baked (intended to scare away evil powers). Kraczun was tied crosswise with strands of linen yarn. In addition, four breads (palanita) were also baked, and in Wołosate, two additional cakes and a smaller bread of brother Kraczuniw. Falkowski also wrote about the old custom of wrapping the table at which the Christmas Eve dinner was held with a chain. This procedure was supposed to protect against leg pain. It was believed that if the plate stuck to the tablecloth, it bore good luck for the next year. In the corner of the room, an oatmeal called did was placed to bring abundance in the coming time. It was said that whoever spit into the fire would scab his tongue. Christmas Eve was full of fortune-telling. One of them was burning a candle. After the flame was extinguished, the household members watched the smoke. If it spread around the room - it would be good if it rose towards the door, it would be a sign of death for the gaze (host), while the smoke heading towards the stove announced the death of the host (house) in the coming year. Food was also used for divination. Bobalki (oblong noodles with poppy seeds) were prepared by young girls and then placed on the bench. Which bobbins were first kidnapped by a cat or dog, the owner of which was to be married first. After the meal, the young ladies listened at the door from where the dog would bark - because from there the future husband was to come. Since it was believed that the course of the whole year depends on the Christmas Eve, the hosts made sure that "nothing was empty". Thus, straw was put into carts and sledges, and a handful of grain was thrown into the querns and on the stove. Before supper, the host would take two sheaves of oats to the Kraczun stream, which he dipped in the water, and then took a bath himself. On the way back, he took with him washing water for other household members. Before entering the vault, a ritual was performed on the threshold. Gazda said three times "Pomahaj Bih" (God help!), To which the household members replied three times "Zdorowi bud'te" (Be healthy!). After entering the house, the farmer was rolling on the floor. If it turned upside down, it meant misfortune and poverty (e.g. death of a household member), if with the flat side down - on the contrary - happiness and fertility. Before supper, the hostess would take a bit of each dish and distribute food to the animals in the stable, wishing them luck. An interesting practice noted by Falkowski in Żernica Above was divination using onion peels. For each month, one peel was removed from the onion, put on the table and a little salt was sprinkled on it. The next day, when you woke up, you had to look at the shells. If there was water in one of them, that meant that the month would be wet. Before supper, people prayed for the dead and spread prosfor - a kind of ceremonial bread. Garlic, known as a Christmas carol, which had to be eaten with bread (eg oat) "in order to be healthy for the whole year". The basic Christmas Eve dishes at Bojki were fasting dishes: boiled cabbage stuffed with linseed oil, potatoes (barabole), beans with plums, barley and buckwheat groats, oat (or rye) borscht with mushrooms, stuffed cabbage stuffed with potatoes, broad beans, mushrooms, jelly , kutia. The festive Christmas Eve dishes were dumplings and dumplings with plums.
Carols were sung after supper. The lights were burned all night "so that the dead would be seen in that world." The inmates would lie down to sleep on the straw spread on the floor, leaving a bed and benches for the souls of the deceased, who were believed to have participated with their relatives at the Christmas Eve.

Christmas.
On Christmas Day, just before dawn, the household washed their hands in water into which money was thrown to bring happiness and prosperity. As on Christmas Eve, there was a custom of turning the krraczun. Sheep was brought into the house, which the hostess fed from her hand, and then the animal was led out. Swampers and carollers wandered the villages wishing the household members happiness by singing Christmas carols. The host invited them to his home and offered them to their homes. The second day of Christmas began with a service in the church and the blessing of oats.

New Year.
On New Year's Day, krraczun was eaten, and the garlic it contained was kept at home. It was supposed to treat a sore throat. Falkowski describes the fortune-telling with coals that took place on the New Year: They take out as much coals from the stove as there are adults in the hut. They mean which coal is intended for whom. Whose coal will first be covered with white ash (and also the next ones), it is good, whose coal will turn black, it will die. They bode the same for six days. Whichever coal of one day becomes ash, they begin plowing later that day. This fortune was to be treated very seriously by Boykos: wuhel maje gully of truth.

Jordan Feast, Baptism of the Lord (January 19).
The Jordan Festival commemorates the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. They are preceded by a second, solemn Christmas Eve (Szczodry Wieczor). On the day before Jordan, young girls sang under the windows of brats for which they got a glass of vodka and bread. On January 19, the followers of the Eastern Rite go to the church in the morning for a Christmas service, followed by a solemn procession over the nearby river with banners and lighted candles . The procession is led by a priest in liturgical vestments. If the winter is frosty, a cross-shaped hole is previously cut in the river. During the ceremony, the priest blesses the water by immersing the cross in it. Thus it becomes "Jordanian water". In the area of the former Boykowszczyzna, there was a custom to immerse young girls in ice-colds by bachelors. To this day, Orthodox and Greek Catholics, in some parts of the world, bathe in "Jordanian water", which is supposed to bring health. Once, after returning home, the Boyko hosts sprinkled blessed water, while the rest was kept as medicine, usually behind icons. Nowadays, church members also take "Jordanian water" with them, but it is the priest who visits more houses (apartments) to consecrate them. Falkowski wrote that once a special type of bread was baked among Boykos: pałanycii zakusowanyky. Cried before supper, they were given to cattle. It was believed that the animals talked to each other then, and only a "sinless" person had the privilege of overhearing the conversation.

Carnival / Shrovetide (release).
The carnival in Boyko region lasted until the beginning of Lent in spring. During the Shrovetide period, games were organized, women met for weavers, where they spun threads and weaved canvases. Such meetings were often crowned with fun, because where the virgins were, bachelors would quickly appear with music and spirits. As Falkowski wrote in 1935, in Teleśnica Sanna. At the end of the carnival, they cut large boiled eggs, share them and talk, and I nygda boiled eggs.

Lent (Wełykij pist).
The forty-day fast began the cycle of spring rites. At that time, people refrained from eating fried foods, which were only poured with linseed oil. During the fast, people consumed, among others, oat sour rye soup, dried fruit, baked potatoes (sauerkraut kvass). They refrained from drinking alcohol, consuming dairy products or meat. During this time, milk was put into barrels, which was then used to make cheese. There were no games. This time was a period of reflection, prayer and confession.

Holy Week.
Palm Sunday opens the celebration of Holy Week. On that day, in the Bojkowszczyzna region, reed palms, willow bases, and juniper twigs tied with thread were prepared. Palms were blessed in the church. Brought to swiftness, they were supposed to protect the house from misfortune (e.g. a thunderbolt), it was an element of many magical procedures. During Holy Week, preparations for Easter were prepared both in spiritual terms (church services) and in practice. Eggs began to be written from Easter Wednesday, and on Thursday ceremonial bread was prepared - a strip. The round roll was about 80 cm in diameter and it was carried until blessing: When they make a dough of rye flour for it, they put three cut twigs of young willow on it, cover it with linen and leave it to grow (Wołosate). Good Friday was a day of refraining from work and strict fasting. In the morning, the villagers were washing themselves in the stream, which was supposed to bring health. At that time, a mantle was also erected in the church, which symbolized the tomb of Christ. Both fasting and church rituals are still practiced by the followers of the Eastern rite.
On Sunday, dishes were celebrated in front of the church. In the Easter basket used for sowing grain, a strip, sausage, horseradish, painted eggs, bacon, salt, vinegar and cheese were placed. The meal was eaten on a table covered with a white cloth. The ceremony was started by the host by sharing the whole family with a sliced egg and a stripped egg, and by expressing wishes to all members of the household. In Ruthenian villages, on the first or second day of Christmas, people used to visit the graves of the dead.

St. George's Day (Rusal).
St. George's Day was an extremely important moment for Boyko - shepherds. The rites related to the first grazing were especially popular in the Boyko region and practiced in the western part of the Ukrainian Carpathians until the 1970s.
On Saint Jura's Day, cattle were driven out for grazing for the first time. The first grazing took place on the best grass. On that day, the hostess was cooking scrambled eggs, which the herdsmen ate on the pasture. The event was accompanied by smoking watra and singing. Bread and cheese were eaten, and a glass of vodka (which was also served to children) was obligatory. Young shepherds and older shepherds took part in the celebration. In order to ensure the health of the animals and protect them from the undesirable influence of witches, the horns of cows and calves (and sometimes also oxen and bulls) were decorated with wreaths of herbs consecrated in the church. It was believed that wreaths protect farm animals from predators.

St. Jana (sobitka, kupało).
Sobitki celebrations, like Christmas, are associated with the summer solstice of the sun. This day was an opportunity for the shepherds staying in the meadows to meet with family members. It was in the meadows above the villages that the fun was organized. Preparations for the Christmas wattage took place a few days earlier. At that time, wood and fragrant branches of juniper, spruce and fir were collected. During the game, songs were sung to associate the young, and when the flame was dying out, the young people jumped over the fire. The next day, the cattle were driven across the ash. 55 After Saint John's Day, intensive field work began.

Harvest Festival (dohrabok, dograbek) on September 10.
The celebration is celebrated in manors. For this occasion, an oatmeal wreath was woven, decorated with viburnum, asters and georgini. The wreath was brought to you by a team in which participated a young man, a bridesmaid, two women (who weaved and dressed a bunch), a farmhand and a groomsman. Mołoda carried a wreath on her head, besides the farmhand and the best man brought a small sheaf decorated with viburnum, called the kril (king). The follower was accompanied by singing. A harvest festival with dances was organized in the manor.

The text comes from the study "INVENTORY OF CULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE BORDERLAND - THE ETHNOCARPATHIA PROJECT" realized by the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University for the District Museum in Rzeszów.

Author: Mrs. Helena Urbanczyk.