2. Like his western competition, Ded Moroz will not visit the homes of children who are still awake or those who have misbehaved throughout the year. 3. Children in Russia will also leave out goodies such as milk and cookies for grandfather Frost to feast on during his rounds.
Maybe it is a good thing for the rest of us that Russia celebrates Christmas on January 7. Because all the kids leave a generous shot of vodka for Santa – and with 57.5million homes in the country, he'd be too sleighed to get round the world on December 24.
The Russian Santa Claus is named Ded Moroz, or Father Frost. On New Year's Eve, he places presents for children under the New Year tree (as opposed to a Christmas tree). Snegurochka accompanies him, a snow maiden said to be his granddaughter.
Unlike the bloated, red-coated father Christmas of the West, Russia's Santa Claus, known as Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), is slender with a wizard-like flowing beard and he wears a long robe that comes in different colors, such as blue and white.
Some families in Russia exchange gifts at Christmas, and some choose to continue the tradition of doing so on New Year's Day instead.
Cheap gestures such as stationery, low quality wine or vodka, and candles are rarely met with much success. Colleagues for example might exchange good quality chocolate, coffee, tea, or flowers. Note that, though it isn't frowned upon as a broad gesture, flowers are typically reserved for females on Women's Day.
In some areas, children will go carol singing round the homes of friends and family and to wish people a happy new year. They are normally rewarded with cookies, sweets and money. To people in western Europe and the USA, one of the most famous things about Christmas in Russia is the story of Babushka.
Santa Claus goes by lots of names, depending on where you are in the world. In Australia and other English-speaking countries, he's usually called Father Christmas, Santa Claus, or sometimes just “Santa” for short.
Ded Moroz or Grandfather Frost is a Russian counterpart of Santa Claus. Both bring presents and are much expected by the kids but there're a few things that make them different. 1.
Christmas in Russia (Russian: Рождество Христово, Rozhdestvo Khristovo), called Е́же по пло́ти Рождество Господа Бога и Спа́са нашего Иисуса Христа Yezhe po ploti Rozhdestvo Gospoda Boga i Spasa nashego Yisusa Khrista) in the Russian Orthodox Church, is a holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ.
In Russia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. Many Russian Christmas traditions originated with the pagan culture that predated Christianity in Russia. Long-standing Russian Christmas customs include caroling, fortune-telling, and following a strict Nativity Fast for forty days leading up to Christmas Eve.
During the celebration, we can still observe such ancient elements of Russian holiday as fortune-telling on Christmas Eve, koliada, and singing carols (kalyadki), while worshipers follow a strict fast, which ends when the first star appears in the sky on the night of Christmas Eve.
His coat was also made blue so as not to be confused with the red-coated, Coca-Cola drinking, capitalist pig Santa Claus. And, of course, Ded Moroz is slender and manlier than Santa. Basically, the new Soviet Santa was made to represent a good spirit who inspires hard work in Soviet children.
Australia. Australian children set out cookies for Santa, but instead of milk, they leave him an ice-cold glass of beer. After all, December is summer in the land Down Under. The children leave carrots for Santa's reindeer to munch on, too.
Traditional Santas wear bright red fleecy suits, lined with white fur and big black boots to fight off the northern winter. In Australia, it's summer at Christmas time so you're much more likely to see a boardshort wearing Santa on a surfboard.
The difference in dates has got to do with the difference between the 'Gregorian' and 'Julian' calendars. The Russian Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar, in which Christmas is celebrated on January 7.
In the Russian Christmas tradition Father Christmas is always accompanied by his granddaughter. Her name is Snegurochka a snow maiden.
In East Slavic cultures, Ded Moroz is accompanied by Snegurochka (Russian: Снегурочка, Snegurochka; Belarusian: Снягурка, Sniahurka; Ukrainian: Снігуронька, Snihurońka; "Snow Maiden"), his granddaughter and helper, who also wears long silver-blue robes and a furry cap or a snowflake-like crown.
Icelandic children get to enjoy the favors of not one but 13 Father Christmases. Called the Yule Lads, these merry but mischievous fellows take turns visiting kids on the 13 nights leading up to Christmas. On each of those nights, children place one of their shoes on the windowsill.
The song, popular with school-aged kids, explains that Santa's reindeer get a rest while six white boomers (boomer is Aussie slang for a male kangaroo) lead Santa's sleigh through Australia! After all the toys are delivered, they even help a little joey (a baby kangaroo) find his mommy.
Santa Claus in Australia
The children in Australia believe in Santa Claus. However, since it is summer, it would not be unusual to see Santa dressed in a lighter, cooler version of his red and white suit. Shorts can even be seen! Santa does use reindeer to pull his sleigh when delivering gifts to children in Australia.
According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (19th edn, 2012), Father Christmas is considered to be "[a] British rather than a US name for Santa Claus, associating him specifically with Christmas. The name carries a somewhat socially superior cachet and is thus preferred by certain advertisers."
White is used by most churches as the color of Christmas, when the altar is covered with a white cloth (in the Russian Orthodox Church Gold is used for Christmas).
Thus, Christmas had become one of the major festivals in Russia. Many people do fast at Russian Christmas traditions, many do not eat meat, egg as their customary belief system. The great festival of Christmas includes decorating trees, singing carols, greeting people and enjoying the eve to the fullest.