I sow, I sow, I sow
Happy New Year,
With cattle, with a stomach,
With wheat, with oats!
Carolers were invited into the house, seated at an elegant table and treated to treats. The grains scattered by the carolers were all gathered together, stored, and in the spring they were the first to be thrown into the ground, hoping that they would provide a good harvest.
In the evening, teenage girls, alone or in a group, went around the houses of neighbors and relatives in order to donate. It was a separate New Year's event in which only girls participated:
I'm a little girl
I have a little boyish dress.
I don't know either "az" or "beech",
Therefore, give something in your hands!
They came to your house to be generous.
Generous evening, good evening!
The master lives here - the owner of wealth.
Generous evening, good evening!
And his wealth is golden hands.
Generous evening, good evening!
And his joy is good children.
Good evening, good evening.
Carols and Christmas carols were extremely popular ritual songs among the people. Carols are sung from December 25 to January 7. They were timed to Christmas. And donations - before the New Year (according to the old style - January 14).
Christmas carols are the oldest folklore genre. They preserve the memory of the old tribal era and are associated with the winter turning of the sun into summer, which was called the holiday of Kolyada. It was celebrated on December 25 (old style), when the night was the longest. Nature seemed to freeze at this time. It was believed that the sun was eaten by the evil Korochun - a dark Slavic deity. The goddess of the sky Kolyada was giving birth to a new sun, a little Bozhich.