Ukrainians are not exactly a frost-proof nation. They wrap themselves up in furs the minute they see November on the calendar. But on Jan. 19, in celebration of the Epiphany holiday, old spirits call on the living to take dips in freezing water.
Immersions are encouraged by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, which associate the custom with washing away sins.
Jesus Christ is believed to have received the Holy Spirit after baptism in the Jordan River. The same hope of clearance drives many ordinary people, and sometimes even politicians, to the rivers and lakes across the country. They are followed by cameras. Then articles like this one spring up in the media.
The day starts with an early church service, after which people take away buckets of blessed water home with them. It’s believed to have healing powers both for the body and soul. Ardent custom followers insist that this water does not go off or stink for a year, but that you’ll have to check yourself.
Back in the day, before the age of washing machines, Ukrainian women avoided doing laundry in ponds and lakes thinking that the devil hides in the water. For the same reason women would not fetch water from a well. Young girls would put red berries from snowball trees in their blessed water for washing the face in the morning to make cheeks look rosy.
Despite an icy bath, Ukrainians had to restrain from food on Epiphany. However, after the fast there was a feast, which included fish, varenyky, or dumplings stuffed with cooked cabbage, pancakes, kutya, a sweet wheat porridge and uzvar, a juice made from dried fruits.
Epiphany was especially popular with single girls because this was another good day in the pagan calendar, which preceded the Christian tradition, for fortune-telling. They would go outside and ask passers by their name, which was believed to be the name of their husband to be.
At night, some would also go to the church to listen if there are any noises inside the locked premises. Bells chiming was the sound dreamt of by all of them because it meant a wedding; a hollow knock though was interpreted as death.
After these extraterrestrial frolics though, fortunetellers had to bathe in the icy water to wash away their sins for trying to predict the future. These days, however, Epiphany customs are rarely observed in full and the message of the holiday often gets lost the minute January 20 pops up on the calendar.
See photostory Washing sins away on Epiphany
Kyiv Post staff writer Tetyana Boychenko can be reached at [email protected]
