I was attempting to continue my story about the Ravenna trip but I decided to allow myself a slight digression due to today’s celebration in my home country: for us, and other Orthodox believers that follow the Old Style Calendar, 14th of January means the beginning of a new year. I have to admit that is rather strange being among the majority of people who do not even know that the Julian calendar still exists, while my family and friends are solemnly waiting for the New Year to come. However, some people who were aware of this event asked me rather interesting questions that made me realize the actual connotation and context of the Orthodox New Year in Serbia. The questions were of the type:
Is it now the 1st of January in Serbia? Is it a holiday for you now? Do you celebrate only your New Year but not the “common” one?
As a matter of fact, all the answers were negative! Thus I became aware that Orthodox New Year in Serbia does not have a meaning that one would expect. In fact, for the majority, it is rather just an “excuse” for one more celebration. Even the way we call this event (SERBIAN New Year) is evidence that it has lost its religious meaning and became just a cultural practice.
In addition to this, I would like to mention one opposite example, where a cultural habit was engaged with a religious practice.
It was this winter when I realized that I could not find an appropriate word in English for one custom we do every Christmas Eve. Even the explanation did not help. It was because other cultures do not have the ritual of gathering around a fired log of young oak on Christmas Eve. The most similar ritual would be called Yule log but it has a totally different origin and it is common only for certain European traditions. Thus, I have assumed that, so called Badnjak is perhaps just an Orthodox custom. However, what I found out later is that the same ritual is common for all South Slavic people and also that scholars are claiming that it has a root in the old Slavic religion. This rather interesting fact that Serbian (Orthodox) religion has more in common with the Croatian (Catholic) one, clearly shows the relevance of the factor of culture shaping our lives and beliefs.
Moreover, the festive firewood of the Badnjak commemorates the fire that (according to Serbian folk tradition) the shepherds of Bethlehem made in the cave where Jesus was born, in order to warm it up. The warmth of its fire symbolizing the salvation and its shinining light represents God as the Light of the world.
Dijana Milenov, Serbia
