Christmas holidays.
Christmas traditions are among the annual traditions and customs in the past closely related to the pre-Christian winter solstice festivals. Today they are considered one of the greatest church holidays. They were assigned great importance because by means of various magical acts they could define the most important events of the next year, concerning the economic prosperity, as well as the protection and health of the family. As an example, we will give you the customs and traditions of the village of Zámutov. Most of them focused on Christmas Day and Evening - Viľijovi večar. On this day, strict fasting was observed. From the early hours of the morning, the children and the Roma went to the houses to congratulate them.

Christmas Eve meals were prepared in every house from the morning. Particular attention was paid to baking cakes - kračunov - a symbol of prosperity and wealth. Two were baked in the village of Zámutov. One for the Christmas table and the other for pets, drenched in honey and sprinkled with poppy seeds. Another symbol of Christmas was the most beautiful sheaf from this year's harvest. Straw and corn were also to ensure abundance. We know from the village of Pavlovce that a straw tree was the symbol of Christmas. The Christmas customs in the village of Zámutov included nativity scenes from Bethlehem, which formed the central theme of the rural interior throughout the entire Christmas season. Just before Christmas Eve, the gazda would bring straw into the room as a sign of the birth of God's Child and put it on the ground so that the household would have a rich harvest for the next year - žebi maľi co mlacic ..

In the Ruthenian villages in the north-eastern part of Zemplín, it was customary to go to the stream before the Christmas Eve supper to solemnly wash. After the Second World War, this practice was gradually changing (washing only in the pelvis), and then it completely disappeared. Then people approached the Christmas Eve table. After the prayer, people would drink a glass of palinka or wine and sit down at the table. The hostess dipped her little finger in honey and made a cross on each forehead. Only then did the dinner start. The table could not miss garlic, wafers with honey, "roasters" - beans with honey, mushroom soup - goats made of jušek or made of sciranku, mushroom sauce - mačanka, whitened beans or peas, porridge cooked in milk with fried butter and sugar.

An integral part of Christmas was vining and caroling. In the village of Zámutov, it was customary to sing Christmas carols - to sleep under oblaki (singing to the window) after Christmas Eve and on the first day of Christmas. Celebrations with the Bethlehem spectacle were also popular in Upper Zemplín. Until recently, in the village you could meet a group of boys or bachelors - "Bethlehem" - jeśľičkarov performing a performance on the birth of Jesus Christ. The tradition of Bethlehem performances in Upper Zemplín began to disappear in the late 1950s. Their revival took place in the early 1990s.

New Year.
The first day of the new year had a special power. It was forbidden to perform certain activities, the non-observance of which was to adversely affect the functioning of the household. It was customary not to borrow anything from the house, so that during the coming year the household would stick together and that nothing of the house would be wasted. The first man was to enter the house, the tabernacle was to be neat and clean. It was meant to congratulate and sing carols. In the village of Zámutov, village servants were elected that day, the village council employed and chose a village servant - drummer, gamekeepers' communities, communal guards - keruľoch, night guards - bachtarochs and callers. The church community chose the bell ringer, the church one, and the gravedigger. Traditionally, for the New Year, bachelors in the village organized a dance party - a ball.

Three Kings.
The cycle of Christmas customs ended on January 6 - on the Epiphany. On that day, in Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic churches, priests sacrificed the water that the people took home to protect themselves from the forces of evil. The housewives were preparing a Christmas supper, similar to Christmas Eve. The priest walked around the village and consecrated houses. Then the initials K + M + B (Kacper, Melchior, Balthazar) were written with chalk on the front door, followed by the year of the house's dedication. These traditions are preserved to this day.

Carnival.
The carnival period began after the Epiphany and ended on Ash Wednesday, so forty days before Easter Sunday. Carnival was a kind of transition between winter and spring customs. At that time, the spinning was continued in the cauldron rooms. It was also a period of mirth, fun, pure folk humor, and especially weddings. "Mascaras walking" was typical - young people dressed up as gypsies, chimney sweeps, strigoi, beggars. Merriment and feasting would magically help the early arrival of spring and ensure a bountiful harvest. The peak of the celebrations, the last three fašengi, was on the last three days of this period. All the spontaneity ended on Tuesday at midnight, before Ash Wednesday - pred Krivu śtredu, when the bass was buried with crying and complaining. For the faithful Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians, the carnival ended in Lamanyans on the Sunday before Krivi pondzelkom. On Ash Wednesday, a forty-day Lent began, during which noisy games, singing, weddings and eating meat dishes were strictly prohibited.

Holy Week and Easter.
The cycle of Easter customs began on Holy Thursday. On that day, in churches they 'tied' - zavjazovaľi bells, they stopped ringing. Women in onion shells or nutshells dyed Easter eggs - maľovanki. Later they decorated them with wax and various paints - farbuľki. This custom has survived to this day. There was strict fasting on Good Friday. During the day, the women prepared Easter dishes - they baked a bar, cooked ham - powders, sausages, they prepared sirec cheese from milk and eggs, and later also pulňin - a mixture of meat, bread and eggs. They baked an Easter lamb in ceramic molds, and then decorated it with a sweet filling. On White Saturday (Easter Saturday), housewives in a basket prepared and still prepare Easter dishes, which were then brought to the church for the consecration. Only with blessed food was it possible to sit at the table.

On Easter Sunday, church bells were opened and began to ring. Throughout the day, only the sacred dishes were eaten - śveceňini. In the afternoon, after the mass, the girls left the church and walked around the village, singing ritual songs and dancing processions. In the village of Zámutov, the spring procession games were called "Hoja Ďunďa, Na dzive buki" or "Šare huśi, Bránička, Na kraľovnu" etc. On Easter Monday, little waterers were walking around the village from early morning. The villagers believed that the water had a beneficial effect on the health and beauty of the girls. In later times, in addition to water, they also used perfume - parfin. For pouring, the girls gave them cake and egg, and then money. In the evening, young people gathered in front of the inn, played and danced together. A gypsy band played for them. The walking and dancing of girls around the village ceased in the early 1960s. Similar traditions and customs were maintained for a long time by the Ruthenians who lived in the villages of north-eastern Slovakia.

At Jerzy.
The traditions on George in the village of Zámutov were primarily aimed at ensuring prosperity. During this period, the cattle were driven out for the first grazing, and the spring agricultural work in the field began. Plants found on George were believed to have magical powers.

Pentecost.
The Church celebrations of Pentecost - Pentecost were green festivities. In the village of Zámutov they were called Rusadľe. In honor of these holidays, the people decorated their houses, entrance gates to the manor and farm buildings with green branches of linden or acacia, which had a protective meaning, i.e. they were to protect against unclean forces. At night, from Saturday to Sunday, bachelors gave their chosen ones home or to the fence - maje trees. It was also customary for bachelors to keep an eye on their majovas all night long. Later this practice was postponed to May 1. This May tradition has been preserved until now. Usually rusadeľna zabava took place on Sunday afternoon.

For John.
The custom of the summer solstice was primarily fire, which our ancestors considered a symbol of the sun. People have long attributed to him the function of magical purification. An important element of the St. John's customs was collecting medicinal herbs. People attributed magical powers to them and believed that all plants that bloomed on John had a magical effect. In the north-eastern part of Upper Zemplín, where the Ruthenians live, in the early morning, women spread the most beautiful towel on St. John's dew and put on it the collected medicinal plants, which were consecrated at the church. In the Christian calendar, June 24 is the day of the birth of John the Baptist. The customs of the solstice were also transferred to this holiday, for which a new name was finally adopted - Saint John's Day. On the Drina hill above the village of Zámutov on the eve of St. Jana, girls and youths lit St.John's fires, which they called sobutki. It was a fun occasion where fire was jumped. It was believed that if a bachelor with a girl jumped the fire holding hands together, they would marry within a year. Midsummer songs were danced and sung, "A na Jana, na Janeczka".

All Saints 'Day and All Souls' Day.
These holidays did not have originally designated days. It was only in the 8th century that Pope Gregory IV appointed them on November 1. In the 10th-11th centuries, the monasteries of Western Europe celebrated the feast of remembrance in honor of important members of the order. Gradually, this custom spread throughout the church, and then it was introduced into the Christian calendar on November 2 as All Souls' Day. It is an older practice to burn candles on graves, as opposed to placing wreaths and flower decorations, which are more recent phenomena.

Christmas: Christmas Eve (Viľijovi večar), baking cakes (kračunov), a symbol of prosperity and wealth, a sheaf from this year's harvest, Bethlehem nativity scenes, bringing straws into houses, coriander (sleep under oblaki), Bethlehem performances (jeśľičkarov) - are continued in the 90s of the twentieth century. A ritual bathing in the stream took place on Christmas Eve in the Ruthenian villages (it disappeared). They ate garlic, wafers with honey, toast, mushroom soup, mushroom sauce, porridge in milk.

The text comes from the study "Projekt Etnocarpathia Inventory of the sources of 3 ethnographic areas on the Slovak side / Šariš, Zemplin, Zamagur /" realized collective work for Mestský dom Kultúry, prísp. org.

Author: Mr. Štefan Kocák .