When animals talk

A man was perching quietly near the cattle-barn. He was aware of the belief and wanted to hear whether it was true or not. As midnight struck, he heard his two horses talking:
- "What do you think of our human?" - asked one of them.
- "He's a good man, too bad we'll soon be riding him to the graveyard..." - replied the other one.
The man heard it, got scared shitless and died right there near the barn. 

 On the old-style New Year's eve (the 13th of January) domestic animals are believed to talk to God about how their humans treat them. They start after midnight and humans shouldn't overhear - see above. :D 

In order to make animals say good things about their humans, people feed them well in the evening on the 13th of January. As my mum says - "until they feel like puking". XD Watch your carpets if you live in the city. :D
Of course I wanted Hrytsia to stay silent about all facts of my poking her, kissing on the nose without her will, shouting at her for climbing the fabric I was sewing, getting her out of her kitty house... I'm such a sinner when it comes to pets. :)) So I decided to bribe that furry ass:

She accepted the gifts, but I didn't dare to try overhearing her opinion about us. ))

The candy turned out to be too big for her mouth - the kitty bit them into pieces and then ate.

Hrytsia started playing with the mouse at once - it has turned grey by now. :D

There are lots of other traditions related to the holiday of the old-styled New Year. But they'd better be told about with pics - I hope I'll make them next year when I go to the mountains again.

One of the most interesting rituals for girls is magic aimed on getting to know when you'll get married. The cats in the house are well-fed again on the 14th. Then small varenyky (dough pieces with potatoes inside - this time) are made, and each is labeled with a paper with a name of a girl who isn't married. And after this the kitties are let in - the girl whose name is on the varenyk the cat grabs first of all will be the 1st one to get married. 


One year I was lucky to take part in these celebrations at my aunt' place in the Carpathians. We made the varenyky, and my nephew Roma who was a toddler at that time tried to eat them instead of the cat. LOL ) I forgot to mention that varenyky for this ritual are placed on a washing board - a ribbed plank of wood used for washing clothes many years ago. The board is on the floor so that the cat would reach the food easily. :D


The 2nd LOL of that day was when my uncle came home from some party already being drunk. he almost stepped on the board with varenyky, and aunt told him in a stict voice: "Hey you, bear!" ))) 


The cat ran to the board and grabbed a varenyk he ate...together with a paper. We managed to find out whose name was there, and - believe it or not - that girl, my uncle's daughter with is 1st wife, got married the same year! 


My cousin knew I had a crush either on one of my current friends, then a famous newsreader, or on the local long-haired guy. So he forced the kitty eat the varenyk with my tag. :D After that it was turn for the humans to eat the normal-sized varenyky. I had so many that felt sick for a week after the holiday. But that was definitely worth it. ))

The other curious tradition is called "Melanka"  - when kids and teens dress up as certain characters and perform a small traditional play in their neighbors' homes. But this should be shown, not told about. Next year I'll do my best to show you. :)

Christmas 2012 - away from home

This time we didn't have a chance to go to the mountains for Christmas. Still we celebrated it with all traditions we have there. Of course these were adjusted to completely un-romantic city conditions, but this turned out cool too.

Couldn't help photographing the tree :)

 12 dishes are traditionally cooked for Christmas. They contain no meat since the 6th of January is still the fasting time. The main one is called "kutya" - boiled wheat grains with poppy seeds, honey, nuts and different kinds of dried fruit. It's the first dish to be eaten during the Christmas dinner - the oldest family member is always the 1st one to take it. If one of younger family members tries to take it first - they get hit on their forehead. With a spoon. :D
I didn't risk and let dad be the 1st one, ending with giving some to our kitty Hrytsia who is just 1 year old. ))

Just the beginning of serving the table. Kutya in the bowl and mushrooms in the pot.

In the Carpathians the man who lives in the house does a ritual: he is given bread with a candle in it, and the bowl with kutya, and goes around the house 3 times, greeting his family members who are sitting near the windows. It would be hard to do in the city, so dad only had to go to the kitchen and back to the door of the room while mum and I greeted him from the sofa. :)

Families sit down to eat as soon as the 1st star appears in the sky. It's also common to mark it with shooting a gun if the household has it. When in the Carpathians we often run out to check the stars out. )) This time we heard about that on the phone from relatives from the countryside.

The dinner starts from a prayer to thank God for everyone's being able to live long enough to be there on Chrustmas Eve. Then everyone sits down and shouldn't stand up before they've tried every dish of the 12 available on the table.


Of course Hrytsia had her own small plate.

She wasn't very excited about the fish we gave her, but the mushrooms made her lick the plate to the shiniest condition ever. :D What a weird animal... Having everyone around, she fell asleep after a good meal. So cute! Check it out:

The following post will have pics from actual carpathian celebrations and even a video with a funny tradition. Stay tuned! ^___~
...while I will get another slice of honey pie in the meantime. :)