Holidays and Observances III

There are holidays I will not be here for but it is interesting to read about how they are celebrated in Armenia! This is from a combination of Culture Smart and Lonely Planet:

New Year’s is the start of the winter holiday season, which continues through Armenian Christmas on January 6. On New Year’s Eve, there are feasts, and apples and coins are traditional gifts. At midnight, lights are extinguished, the family recites the Lord’s Prayer together, and then the home is made as bright as possible. On New Year’s Day people visit each other and welcome guests and there’s a flurry of phone calls and text messages. On the doorsteps you will see pomegranates lying about the pavement, a symbol of hope and abundance for the coming year. The more food there is and the more guests eating it, the better the year ahead will be.

Pomegranates hold a special place in Armenian culture as symbolic of the cycle of life and renewal. Legend has it that a whole pomegranate has 365 seeds, one for every day, and if you eat one seed a day, it will bring you good luck. This in contrast to the Moroccans, who said each seed is a little piece of heaven. They are also red, a color revered by the Armenians, symbolizing all the blood that has been shed.

On Christmas Eve, there is either a quiet celebration with family or a church service. Traditional families light lanterns or attend church; they bring home a church candle to fill their homes with divine light. On Christmas morning, families attend church again. A large basin of water is put in front of the altar and a cross is submerged in it to symbolize Christ’s baptism. Then everyone approaches the basin and takes home some holy water. For the next week, through January 13, every day is still considered part of the celebration. Families and friends visit each other and not a lot else gets done!

Weddings are big celebrations here too – they can last for days and the entire family – or the entire village – participates. Armenians are encouraged to marry not only other Armenians but local ones – though they cannot be related, going back seven generations. Generally, the groom’s family pays for the wedding while the bride’s family pays for a more limited engagement party. The church ceremony is short but filled with ritual. The couple approaches the altar and the priest puts crowns on their heads. They stand forehead to forehead as they receive the blessing. Then they drink wine from a shared goblet and are pronounced married. A godfather, chosen by the couple for this honor, leads the wedding and provides guidance throughout their married life. There is dancing and toasting for hours. Unmarried friends are given small gifts by the wedding couple as good luck tokens to wish them to be married soon; if one puts it under one’s pillow, his or her future wife or husband appears in his/her dreams. Some wedding superstitions – it’s a bad sign if two brides see each other on their wedding day. Getting married in May may bring sadness later in life. And the bride and groom are supposed to ward off evil spirits by breaking two decorated plates upon entering their new home; the plates must be broken on the first hit for this to be effective.