Internet about Crazy Russian Christmas
May be you've seen this article. Plenty of sites use this text to describe Russian Christmas. But don't believe them! And don't try "to make clucking noises" when you celebrate Christmas with russians. They will think you are nuts! :)
In Russia the religious festival of Christmas is being replaced by the Festival of Winter (Масленница, что ли?) but there are some traditions that are still kept up in some parts of the country.
In the traditional Russian Christmas, special prayers are said and people fast, sometimes for 39 days, until January 6th Christmas Eve, when the first evening star in appears in the sky.
Then begins a twelve course supper in honor of each of the twelve apostles - fish, beet soup or Borsch :lol: , cabbage stuffed with millet :o , cooked dried fruit and much more.
Hay is spread on the floors and tables to encourage horse feed to grow in the coming year and people make clucking noises to encourage their hens to lay eggs. (clucking noises?! May be they were drunk? :lol: )
On Christmas Day, hymns and carols are sung. People gather in churches which have been decorated with the usual Christmas trees or Yelka (елка в церкви? у нас не ставят, а у вас?), flowers (yeah, flowers in winter are cheap enough to decorate anything you like) and colored lights.
Christmas dinner includes a variety of different meats - goose and suckling pig are favorites.
Babushka is a traditional Christmas figure who distributes presents to children. :o :o Her name means grandmother and the legend is told that she declined to go with the wise men to see Jesus (Bubushka and Magi?) because of the cold weather :) . However, she regretted not going and set off to try and catch up, filling her basket with presents. She never found Jesus, and that is why she visits each house, leaving toys for good children. :lol: :lol:
