Serbian Christmas traditions

The badnjak is an oak log or branch brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, much like a yule log in other European traditions. There are many regional variations surrounding the customs and practices connected with the badnjak.[1]

Early in the morning the head of each family, usually accompanied by several male relatives, selects and fells the tree from which the log will be cut for their household. The group announces its departure by firing guns or small celebratory mortars called prangija.[2][3] The Turkey oak is the most popular species of tree selected in most regions, but other oaks, or less frequently other kinds of tree, are also chosen.[1] Generally, each household prepares one badnjak, although more are cut in some regions.[3][4]

When the head of the household finds a suitable tree, he stands in front of it facing east. After throwing grain at the tree, he greets it with the words "Good morning and happy Christmas Eve to you", makes the Sign of the Cross, says a prayer, and kisses the tree.[4][5] He then cuts it slantwise on its eastern side, using an axe. The tree should fall to the east, unhindered by surrounding trees.[3] Its top is removed, leaving the badnjak of such a length that allows it to be carried on a man's shoulder, up to about 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) long.[5] Once in the home, each badnjak is leaned vertically against the house beside the entrance door.[3] In some areas, the badnjak is cut into three logs.[4]

In the evening, a man of the family brings their badnjak into the house. If there is more than one badnjak, the thickest of them is regarded as the main one, and is brought in first. Stepping across the threshold, right foot first, the man greets his gathered family with the words "Good evening and happy Christmas Eve to you." The woman of the house greets him back, saying "May God give you well-being, and may you have good luck", or "Good luck to you, and together with you for many years to come [may we be]", or similar, before throwing grain from a sieve at the man and the badnjak he carries.[3]

Upon entering the house the man approaches the fireplace, called ognjište ([ˈɔɡɲiːʃtɛ])—the hearth of an ognjište is similar to a campfire, in that it has no vertical surround. He lays the badnjak down on the fire and moves it a little forward, to summon prosperity for the household.[3] Any other logs are brought in by other males and laid on the fire parallel or perpendicular to the first.[5] The head of the household takes a jug of wine and pours some on the badnjak; in some regions, he may strew wheat grains over the logs.[2][5] He then proposes a toast: "Grant, O God, that there be health and joy in this home, that our grain and grapevines yield well, that children be born healthy to us, that our property increase in the field, pen, and barn!" or similar.[3] The head drinks a draught of wine from the jug, after which it is passed to other members of household.[6] When the log has burnt through, some families let the fire go out, while in others the men keep watch in shifts during the night to keep the badnjak burning.[3]

An Orthodox priest places the badnjak on the fire during Christmas Eve celebration at the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade.

Another type of the badnjak that has developed among the Serbs has mostly replaced the traditional log, whose burning is usually unfeasible in modern homes. It is a cluster of oak twigs with their brown leaves still attached, with which the home is decorated on the Eve. This cluster is also called the badnjak, and it is usually kept in the home until next Christmas Eve. For the convenience of those living in towns and cities, such little badnjaks can be bought at marketplaces or distributed in churches. In a common arrangement, the cluster of oak twigs is bound together with twigs of European Cornel and several stalks of straw.[3]

Since the early 1990s, the Serbian Orthodox Church has, together with local communities, organized public celebrations on Christmas Eve. There are typically three elements to such celebrations: the preparation, the ritual, and the festivity. The preparation consists of cutting down the tree to be used as the badnjak, taking it to the churchyard, and preparing drinks and food for the assembled parishioners. The ritual includes Vespers, placing the badnjak on the open fire built in the churchyard, blessing or consecrating the badnjak, and an appropriate program with songs and recitals. In some parishes, the fire on which to burn the badnjak is built not in the churchyard but at some other suitable location in their town or village. The festivity consists of gathering around the fire and socializing. Each particular celebration has its own specific traits reflecting the traditions of the local community.[7]

Immediately after the badnjak has been brought in, or immediately before in some places, an armful of straw is spread over the floor. The straw is usually brought in with the same greetings and throwing of grain as the badnjak. The person spreading it may imitate a hen clucking to call her chicks, "Kvo, kvo, kvo", with the family's children imitating chicks, "Piju, piju, piju", while they pick at the straw.[3] A common custom is to scatter a handful of walnuts over the straw.[6]

In Petar II Petrović-Njegoš's poem The Mountain Wreath, the plot of which takes place in 18th-century Montenegro, the holiday atmosphere on Christmas Eve is described through the words of Abbot Stefan, a main character of the poem:

Once the badnjak and straw have been taken into the house, the Christmas Eve dinner may begin. The head of household makes the Sign of the Cross, lights a candle, and censes the whole house. In some regions it is a custom that he then goes out into the yard, calls pest animals by name (e.g. wolves, foxes, and hawks) and his personal enemies, inviting them, "Come to dinner now and again in a year, God willing." This is intended to protect the household from them for a year.[3]

Until the beginning of the 20th century in the Pirot District, south-eastern Serbia, the head of household would go out to his woodpile,[note 3] where he would invite German (pronounced [ˈɡerman]) – a male mythological being associated with bringing rain and hail. He would take with him a loaf of bread called good luck, prepared particularly for this ritual, rakia, wine, and a wax candle. At the woodpile, he would shout three times, "German, German, wherever you are, come to dinner right now, and in the summer do not let me see your eyes anywhere!" He would then light the candle, take a sip of rakia, taste some bread, drink wine, and go back into his house. Asked what happened with German, he would answer, "He came, so we dined and drank amply of rakia and wine, and then we parted." This ritual was intended to prevent summer hailstorms.[10]

Before the table is served, it is strewn with a thin layer of straw and covered with a white cloth. The family members sit down at the table. Prior to tucking in, they all rise and a man or boy among them says a prayer, or they together sing the Troparion of the Nativity in Church Slavonic language:[11]

Christmas Eve being a fast day, the dinner is prepared in accordance with that, but it is copious and diverse in foods. Besides a round unleavened loaf of bread called badnjački kolač, and salt, which are necessary, this meal may comprise roast fish, cooked beans, sauerkraut, noodles with ground walnuts, honey, and wine.[13] It used to be served in some villages on a sack filled with straw, with the family seated around it on the floor.[3] In the north Dalmatian region of Bukovica, a part of food that remained after the dinner used to be put on a potsherd, and taken to the rubbish heap.[note 3] Wolf was there invited for dinner, "My dear wolf, do not slaughter my sheep, here you are groats! Here you are yours, and leave mine alone!"[14]

Following dinner, young people visit their friends, a group of whom may gather at the house of one of them. The elderly narrate stories from the olden times. Christmas songs are sung, in which Christmas is treated as a male personage. The Serbian name for Christmas is Božić, which is the diminutive form of the noun bog "god", and can be translated as "young god". An old Christmas song from the Bay of Kotor has the following lyrics:[5]

The following song is sung in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the evening before Christmas Day:[15]

It is a custom in the region of Banat that, after Christmas Eve dinner, groups of children go from house to house of their neighborhood and sing to neighbors. This custom is called korinđanje, and the children who participate in it are called korinđaši. They knock on a neighbor's door or ring the doorbell; when the neighbor comes out they greet him, and ask if they are allowed to sing. If the answer is affirmative, they sing a children's ditty or the Troparion of the Nativity. As a reward, the neighbor gives them candies or even money; more traditional gifts include walnuts, prunes, apples, and cakes. Not only can Serbian children be korinđaši, but also Romanian and Hungarian ones.[16]

In central Serbia, once the household members have gone to bed, an elderly woman of the family sticks a knife into the house door from the inside. Alternatively, she puts a hawthorn stake by the door, hanging a wreath of garlic on it. This is done as a protection against curses, witches, and demons. For the same reason, children are rubbed with garlic on the palms, armpits, and soles before going to bed. In some regions, the men keep watch in shifts by the fireplace during the night, to keep the fire burning.[3][6]

A polažajnik, položajnik, polaženik, polaznik, or radovan, is the first person who visits the family on Christmas Day. This visit may be fortuitous or pre-arranged. People expect that it will summon prosperity and well-being for their household in the ensuing year. A family often picks in advance a man or boy, and arranges that he visit them on Christmas morning. If this proves to be lucky for the family, he is invited again next year to be the polažajnik. If not, they send word to him not to come any more in that capacity.[2][6][17]

A polažajnik steps into the house with his right foot first, greeting the gathered family, "Christ is Born, Happy Christmas." He carries grain in his glove, which he shakes out before the threshold, or throws at the family members. They respond with "Truly He is Born," and throw grain at the polažajnik.[2] He then approaches the fireplace, takes a poker or a branch, and strikes repeatedly the burning badnjak to make sparks fly from it. At the same time he utters these words (or similar):[17]

Having said that, he moves the log a little forward and throws a coin into the fire. The woman of the house puts a woolen blanket on the polaznik's back, and seats him on a low stool by the fireplace. At the moment when he sits down, they try to pull away the stool beneath him, as if to make him fall on the floor. The polaznik goes out into the yard, and throws grain inside a circle made with the rope with which Christmas straw has been tied, calling chickens. When they gather in the circle he catches a rooster, whose head is then cut off by him or the head of household on the house's threshold. The rooster will be roasted on a wooden spit as part of Christmas dinner. The polaznik usually stays for dinner with the family. He receives a gift in the form of a round cake with an embedded coin, and a towel, shirt, socks, or some other useful thing.[17]

A custom to use a domestic animal as a polaznik was kept in some regions until the first half of the 20th century. A sheep, ox, swine, or calf was led into the house on Christmas morning.[17] In the west Serbian region of Rađevina, centered on the town of Krupanj, the head of household would place a sheep between himself and the fireplace, and pronounce the aforementioned words while striking the badnjak with a branch cut from it.[4] In the region of Bihor, north-eastern Montenegro, a round loaf of bread with a hole in its center was prepared; four grooves were impressed into its surface along two mutually perpendicular diameters of the loaf. After an ox was led into the house, the loaf was put on his horn, and some grain was thrown on the ox. Yanking his head, the ox would throw off the loaf; having fallen down, the loaf would break into four pieces along the grooves. The pieces were picked up and distributed among the family members. This custom was preserved up to the 1950s even in some Muslim families of the region.[22] Ethnologists consider that the animal polažajnik is more ancient than the human one.[23]

A girl or woman goes early in the morning to a resource of water, as a well, spring, or stream. After she puts by the water an ear of maize and a bunch of basil which she has brought from home, she collects water with a bucket, and takes it home to her family. This water collected on early Christmas morning is called the strong water, and is believed to possess a special beneficial power. Each member of the family washes the face with it, and drinks it before breakfast; infants are bathed in it. On her way back home, the girl who carries the strong water picks several cornel or willow twigs, with which children are lightly struck that morning. This is intended to strengthen their health.[note 5][17]

An indispensable part of Christmas dinner is the česnica, a round loaf of bread. The preparation of this bread may be accompanied by various rules and rituals. The dough for it is sometimes prepared with the strong water. A widespread custom is to put a coin into the dough; regionally, little objects made of cornel wood may be inserted, representing chickens, oxen, cows, swine, bees, etc.[6][17]

In Vojvodina a different, sweet cake/pie variety of česnica is made, using walnuts, honey and special pie breading.

In addition to the česnica, other kinds of Christmas loaves may be baked, each with its specific name and purpose within the celebration. The božićni kolač is a round loaf with a Christogram impressed with a wooden seal on its upper surface. For each male member of the family a round loaf named ratarica may be prepared – the biggest one for the head, and the smallest one for the youngest boy. For each female member a pletenica may be baked, a loaf shaped like a three-strand braid[17]

On Christmas Eve, the men of the family build a fire in their house yard, and roast a pig, or a sheep in some areas, on a long wooden spit. The whole roasted pig or sheep, called pečenica, is a traditional part of Christmas dinner. People who raise their own swine dedicate one for the pečenica a month or two before, and feed it with better fodder. It is traditionally killed on Tucindan, the day before Christmas Eve, by hitting on the head with a lump of salt. Its throat was then cut, the blood being collected and mixed with fodder. Feeding cattle with this mixture was believed to make them thrive. The name Tucindan is derived from the verb tući "to beat". The roasted pečenica may be brought into the house with a ritual similar to that of bringing in the badnjak.[4][6][24]

Family members break a česnica at the beginning of Christmas dinner.

An example of a Christmas table in Serbia; grilled pork, olivie salad (also called Russian salad), dzadziki salad, red wine and Bajadera sweets

Christmas dinner is the most celebratory meal a family has during a year. About noon, or even earlier, the family members sit down at the table. When the head of household gives a sign, all rise. He lights a candle, censes his family and house, and prays the Lord's Prayer. After that, the family members kiss each other on the cheek saying, "The peace of God among us, Christ is Born."[11] The head and another man of the family hold the česnica between themselves, rotating it three times counterclockwise. The česnica is then carefully broken among the relatives, so that each of them gets his or her own share of the loaf. The family member whose share contains the coin hidden in the česnica, will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year. The main course of Christmas dinner is roast pork of the pečenica. During the dinner, the head of household proposes a toast to his family with a glass of wine, several times.[6][17] A traditional toast from parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina goes like this:[25]

After Christmas dinner, the remaining food should not be removed from the table – only the used tableware is taken away. The food is covered with a white cloth, and eaten in the evening as supper.[17]

The koleda was a custom that a group of young men, masked and costumed, went from house to house of their village singing special koleda songs and performing acts of magic intended to summon health, wealth, and prosperity for each household.[26] The members of the group were called koledari. The koleda was carried out from the Feast of Saint Ignatius Theophorus (five days before Christmas) up until the Epiphany.[27] This custom was best preserved in the upper Pčinja District, and in the region around the River South Morava in the Jablanica District, southeastern Serbia. Regarded as pagan and discouraged by the Serbian Orthodox Church, the koleda ceased to be performed among most of the Serbs during the 19th and 20th centuries.[28]

Koledari prepared themselves during several days before the start of the koleda: they practiced the koleda songs, and made their masks and costumes.[26] The masks could be classified into three types according to the characters they represented: the anthropomorphic, the zoomorphic (representing bear, cow, stag, goat, sheep, ox, wolf, stork, etc.), and the anthropo-zoomorphic.[29] The main material from which they were produced was hide. The face, however, could be made separately out of a dried gourd shell or a piece of wood, and then sewn to hide so that the mask could cover all the head. The moustache, beard, and eyebrows were made with black wool, horsehair, or hemp fibers, and the teeth with beans. Zoomorphic and anthropo-zoomorphic masks might have white, black, or red painted horns attached to them. The costumes were prepared from ragged clothes, sheepskins with the wool turned outside, and calf hides. An ox tail with a bell fixed at its end was sometimes attached at the back of them.[26]

The leader of the group was called Grandpa. The other koledari gathered at his house on the eve of koleda, and at midnight they all went out and started their activities. Walking through the streets of the village they shouted and made noise with their bells and ratchets. Most were armed with sabers or clubs. One of them, called Bride, was masked and costumed as a pregnant woman. He held a distaff in his hand and spun hemp fibers. The koledari teased and joked with Bride, which gave a comic note to the koleda. Some of them were called alosniks, the men possessed by the demon ala. There could have been other named characters in the group.[26][28]

The koledari sung special songs, in which the word koledo, the vocative case of koleda, was inserted in the middle and at the end of each verse. Vuk Stefanović Karadžić recorded in the 19th century the lyrics of a number of the koleda songs, including the following one, which koledari sung while entering a house:[30]

In the following song, also recorded by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, the badnjak and Christmas were referred to as male personages. An opposition was made between the former, described as old, and the latter, described as young. Koledari sung it to the household head in whose home they came:[30]

Besides the singing, the koledari also chased away demons from the household. First they searched the house to find out where the demons hide. They looked everywhere, at the same time shouting, dancing, jumping, knocking on the floor and walls with sticks, and teasing Bride. When they found the demons, they drove them out of the hiding place, and fought with them swinging their sabers and clubs. After the demons were chased away, the koledari briefly danced the kolo, and then blessed the household. As a reward, they received a loaf of bread which the family prepared specially for them, and other food gifts.[26][28]

On Christmas Eve and Day, a group of boys dressed in variegated costumes goes from house to house of their village carrying a vertep—a litter constructed as a wooden model of a house or a church. The name vertep comes from the Church Slavonic вєртє́пъ [ʋerˈtep] "cave", referring to the cave that housed the manger in which newborn Jesus Christ was laid. There are two dolls inside the litter: one represents the Theotokos, and the other, laid in a model of a manger, represents the Christ Child; the floor is spread with straw.[16] This custom is called vertep, and the boys participating in it are the vertepaši. In front of each house they sing Christmas songs, and recite poems that praise the birth of Christ. Similarly to koledari, vertepaši are armed with wooden swords and fence with each other in front of houses.[27] Vertep could be regarded as a Christianized form of the koleda. This custom is mainly present among the Serbs of Vojvodina.[31]

See also: Vertep in Ukrainian tradition

Christmas is celebrated for three days. On the second day of Christmas, neighbors visit each other. On the third day, Christmas straw is taken out of the house. Little bundles are made with it, and hung on fruit trees to make their fruit better. A bigger bundle may be stored in a dry place: it will be burned on St. George's Day, as a protection of fields against hail. Another bundle is taken away across the nearest stream – a symbolic elimination of all the vermin that may be present in the house. Men make crosses from the remnant of the thicker side of badnjak, and stick them under eaves, on fields, meadows, vineyards, and apiaries. It is believed this will help that the ensuing year be happy and fruitful. A good sign that this will be the case is when there is a lot of snow on Christmas Day.[17]

The third day of Christmas coincides with St. Stephen's Day, which is the slava of many Serbian families. In this way, many Serbs celebrate two important holidays, Christmas and slava, within three days.[17]