* Christmas time is still the most important holiday celebrated in Estonia. For Estonians, Christmas is a mixture of the traditional, the modern, the secular, and the religious. Like in other Nordic states, Estonia's celebration of Christmas mostly falls on Christmas Eve, however, Christmas season starts from Advent with people buying Advent calendars or lighting Advent candles. Each year on December 24, the President of Estonia declares Christmas Peace, which is a 350-year-old tradition in Estonia.
Folk traditions
In Estonian folk-tradition, Christmas has a double meaning: on the one hand, it is marking Christ's birth, on the other, it marks the whole period of mid-winter holidays. In Estonia, Christmas with its simple and pagan character of the festivities, the magic and mysticism combined with the sacred and spiritual. In the traditional folk calendar, Christmas tide began with St. Thomas's Day on December 21, and lasted until Epiphany on January 6. On the islands and on the coast, the holiday continued for another day until St. Canute's Day on January 7.
Christmas Holidays were celebrated between December 25 and 27, the most important event being the festive Christmas Eve on December 24.
The Estonian word jõulud (Christmas) is of ancient Scandinavian origin and comes directly from the word Jul and has no real connection with Christianity. It is interesting to note that Scandinavia, along with Estonia, form the only area in present Europe where the birthday of Jesus Christ is still marked by the pre-Christian word of jul - jõulud. Despite this, in some places in South Estonia, talvistepüha (winter holiday) is also used to mark the Christmas holidays and it is considered to be a direct influence from the neighbouring Latvia where Christmas is known as Ziemas svetki (winter fest).
For thousands of years, nations have celebrated winter and summer solstices, which in Estonian folk-tradition are known as Christmas and Midsummer Night (June 23/24). The word näärid, also used to mark winter holidays, is of German origin and was the only official seasonal holiday in the atheistic Soviet Union. To some extent, the words jõulud and näärid, marking the festive events of the turn of the year, had the same meaning.
Jõulud as the winter solstice, when the day is the shortest and the night the longest, is celebrated between December 21 and 25. According to folk-tradition, "the sun was laying in the nest" and the day was celebrated as the Sun's birthday. From that day on, the Sun started to rise and move slowly to the north again.
At the same time, Christmas was the culmination of the late autumn celebrations, which began with the harvest bees and continued with All Souls', St. Martin's and St. Catherine's Day celebrations. The connection with Jesus Christ, compared to the ancient local pagan Christmas traditions, is relatively recent and had not gained prominence until the last few centuries. At the same time, according to the local Christmas traditions, these celebrations, especially Christmas Eve, reflect everything connected with the habits and most necessary needs of the local peasantry.
The Christmas season, in connection with its special tasks and bans for different work, began on St. Thomas's Day (the first day of the winter solstice), following the three to four week preparation period. During winter, the peasantry had enough time to celebrate long holidays. Pigs were slaughtered and ale was brewed in preparation for St. Thomas's Day. Some activities like grindering in the mill, spinning, quilling, and horse-driving were banned because they were noisy and could disturb the good ghosts.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Night were the most sacred times of the season, often characterised by fortune telling. With the help of the stars and the frost, the weather for the coming year was predicted. Christmas food had to remain on the table (as part of the cult of the ancestors) and the fire burning in the fireplace (probably as sun worship) for the whole night. It was believed that both good and bad forces were on the move on Christmas Night and that ancestors would visit the house. The next year's harvest was also predicted.
In terms of Christmas and New Year's Eve traditions, the habit of taking a bath in the sauna is a very old and important tradition. It was a custom to go to the sauna on Christmas Eve after preparing the house for the festive evening celebrations. Going to a steam bath was widespread all over the country and was similar to the same habit on Midsummer's Eve. The sauna was traditionally visited before the Christmas Eve service in the local village church. As the first Christmas surprise, the children were offered festive new clothes and shoes to dress in for the evening church service.
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