After watching another American Christmas movie, the thought occurs to me that, strangely enough, Christmas is what distinguishes nations that have managed to preserve their cultural heritage from those that have adopted fast food from global corporations as a substitute.
Ukraine is one of the few countries that has managed to preserve the original Christian (and also a bit of our pagan, Slavic) essence of Christmas. The Christmas that was banned by the communists in the last century. The Christmas that migrant workers want to unify and replace on holidays now.
For example, take an average American Christmas movie. It’s a day when families are supposed to get together, wear reindeer sweaters, buy each other presents from the tree, and eat something. And the children are waiting for a made-in-Coca-Cola fat old man with reindeer. Even in movies from 30 years ago, you can see some carolers standing and singing in the street. Now there is no such thing.
And what is the main problem for the characters? The absence of a family, a loved one, a coveted gift for a child, conflicts with relatives, psychological problems. Substitute some other holiday for Christmas, replace the Christmas tree with a bouquet, and the essence will not change.
Perhaps it’s the banal commercialization of the holiday, or the fact that the films are made by non-Christians, or an attempt to make a universal holiday where a little bit of everything from all over the world is mixed. But this is not Christmas.
And what about in Ukraine? We also try to gather as a family around the table. But… The table still has a sacred and even pre-Christian meaning. Twelve dishes represent the twelve months/apostles. Kutia is a connection with the ancestors (greetings to the pagan Slavs). The fish is Jesus Christ. Uzvar – purification of the body and soul. And these dishes are prepared almost unchanged every year. For generations.
Vertep – biblical characters and plot. Of course, with Ukrainian peculiarities and unique and often non-biblical characters. Carols about Jesus, not about a sleigh with bells.
It is in this that the spirit of Christmas has lived and been passed on for more than a thousand years. And it is worth preserving. Despite globalization and commercialization. Our traditions are one of the things that distinguish us from the gray mass around us.
Author: Natalia Maidaniuk
