Why do Serbs burn oak branches near churches on the eve of Christmas?
Serbs are an Orthodox people who celebrate the Nativity of Christ (Božić in Serbian) according to the Julian calendar, that is, January 7th. Christmas Eve among the Serbs is called “Badni Dan”, and is full of folk traditions that have pagan roots, reports the PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to tradition, on the morning of January 6, before dawn, the owner of the house and his eldest son must go into the forest and get “badnyak” - young oak branches with dried leaves. In the evening of the same day, they are symbolically burned, including at Orthodox churches after the Christmas liturgy.
Everyone is carefully watching how many sparks the flaming tree will produce: the more sparks, the more money the family will have in the New Year. In some regions of Serbia, two branches of "badnjak" are left, one of which is burned at Christmas, and the other for the "Serbian New Year", which is celebrated on January 14th.
Actually, the word “badnyak” itself comes from the verb “to watch,” and the current tradition dedicated to the Nativity of Christ dates back to pagan times, when on the longest night of the year the whole family kept vigil by the fire so that it would not go out. This was a symbol of eternal life, which, in fact, is very close to Christianity.
The table at Badnyi Dan is Lenten; the housewives bake traditional bread for it - chesnitsa, in which they put a coin. It is believed that whoever finds it will be rich and happy. Unlike Russia and Ukraine, Serbs do not eat kutya (kolivo) on Christmas Eve. But the main course of the Christmas breakfast is meat dishes; many people prepare the traditional Christmas pig or roast pork.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, Serbian slivovitz is included in the UNESCO list of intangible heritage.
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