You're reading: Plunging into ice cold water on Epiphany isn’t that bad after all

I’ve noticed many foreigners grow pale when they discover how Ukrainians traditionally celebrate the Epiphany – a Christian festival that in the Orthodox tradition marks the baptism of Jesus.

According to custom, Ukrainian believers plunge into ice-cold water in rivers and lakes on Jan. 19, a time of year when temperatures are usually below freezing.

It is believed that on Epiphany all water areas symbolically become the Jordan, the river in which Jesus was baptized. The celebration also completes the cycle of Christmas holidays. On this day, the water is believed to gain miraculous qualities – it can bring happiness and health for the whole year. That is why, on Jan. 19 the banks of rivers and lakes in Ukraine are crowded with half-naked people – a scene that can bewilder those unfamiliar with local traditions.

Having been born and grown up in Ukraine, I never found this tradition shocking, although I had trouble understanding why people would voluntarily plunge into ice-cold water. Nine years ago I got a chance to try it myself while on vacation in western Ukraine.

We dropped by the St. Anna spring at St. Anna Monastery in Rivne Oblast and took a plunge into an ice-cold well there. Even though I was not prepared for winter swimming at all, I liked the experience. I dried myself with a terry towel and immediately felt warm. With the heat came a feeling of lightness, as if I had lost some sort of burden.

The fact that I didn’t even get a head cold from the experience impressed me. Even so, when several years later my friends suggested that I take a plunge in the Dnipro River on Epiphany I saw the idea as a challenge. The idea of walking on the snow bare footed and changing wet clothes in the cold air scared me. So I decided to prepare by taking cold showers in the morning.

At first it was hard, but this practice, which turned into a habit, had some benefits. First of all, I became less sick with the flu and cold during the autumn and winter seasons. Second, the cold water helped me wake up and show up for work almost on time. Finally, it’s the best preparation for those planning to swim in winter. It seems to me that the Dnipro water on Epiphany is never as cold as the cold water in my bathroom.

In fact, the cold water in a river or a lake won’t chill you to the bone, and fears of getting a cold are only in our minds. Panic is the greatest obstacle and the most difficult part of plunging into cold water. And the most pleasant part of the experience is the awareness that you have won a small victory over your own fears.

I’m going to take the plunge again this year, as small victories add up to bigger ones in the end.

Where to plunge into ice water, or watch the others do it, on Jan. 19 in Kyiv:

Obolonska Quay near St. Pokrov Cathedral (5 Pryrichna St.) at 12 p.m.
Hydropark, near the Epiphany Chapel at 2 p.m.
Feofania park, (37 Akademika Lebedeva) at 8 a.m.
Mamayeva Sloboda ethnographic village (2 Mykhayla Dontsya St.) at 12 p.m.