Have your women from Ukraine ever told you about Kolyadki?

Kolyada is a Slavonic holiday of winter solstice. This holiday is celebrated from Christmas to Epiphany and it resembles western carol singing. Your ukrainian women may tell you that Kolyada symbolizes New Year’s cycle. It lasts from Christmas to Epiphany. Kolyada is an Old Russian holiday that is symbolized worship of the Sun, which gives joy and fertility; kolyadki songs were about nature phenomena, like moon, sunshine or thunderstorm, and wished good harvest and happy marriages. Traditionally people should dress up in costumes of such animals as bear, horse, goat or cow as these animals symbolized fertility in old times and people visit homes of others and sing kolyadki in which they wish happiness, peace and joy to the family. In return for their songs, the singers receive coins, cookies and candies. This time the heavy frost is observed in Russia and according to old superstitions concurring with evil spirits and witches revelry. Kolyada celebrations have been always accompanied with merriment and joy and it expressed Old Russian pagan’s belief in inevitable triumph of the good over evil forces. In order to help Kolayda to drive off evil spirits, people including your russian mail order bride burnt fires that day, sang songs and danced.

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