Koliada or Koleda () is a

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

pseudo-deity, a personification of the newborn winter SunБългария, славянски богове
in Bulgarian and symbol of the New Year's cycle.Мифы народов мира (второe издание)/изд. "Советская Энциклопедия"/Москва/1987, том 1/стр.665 The figure of Koliada is connected with the solar cycle, (the Slavic root ''*kol-'' suggests a wheel or circularity) passing through the four seasons and from one substantial condition into another. In the different

Slavic countries The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and No ...

at the koliada winter festival people performed rituals with games and songs in honour of the deity, such as the koleduvane. In some regions of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

the ritual gifts (usually

bun A bun is a type of bread that is round and small enough that it can generally be eaten hand-held. Whether a bun is considered sweetened or unsweetened differs between countries: it is considered sweetened in the United Kingdom, a savory bread in ...

s) for the

koledari Koliadari or koliadnyky () are Slavic traditional performers of a ceremony called ''celebration of Koliada'', a kind of Christmas caroling. It is associated with Koliada ( Calends), a celebration incorporated later into Christmas. This type ...

are also called . In the lands of the

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

, a doll called Koled symbolized Koliada.Мифологический словарь/Гл.ред. Е.М. Мелетинский - М.:'Советская энциклопедия', 1990 г.- 672 с. Koliada is mentioned either as a male or (more commonly) as a female deity in various songs.

Holiday

There are many traditions that recall both the deity and the ritual of Koliada. All of them occur on or around Winter Solstice: * Koleduvane is a ceremony with pagan roots that is still performed on Christmas Eve in many Slavic countries. *Koleda is the modern Bulgarian word for Christmas. *

Koliadka Koliadka are traditional songs usually sung in Eastern Slavic, Central European and Eastern European countries during the Christmas holiday season. It is believed that everything sung about will come true. History Koliadka have been sung si ...

, Koliada or Kaleda is a traditional song usually sung in Eastern Slavic countries (

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) only on Orthodox Christmas holidays, between the 7 and 14 of January *Crăciun is the

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

and Karácsony – the Hungarian word for Christmas. They are both derived from Korochun/Krachun - one of the names of the pagan holiday Koliada, although neither Romania nor Hungary are Slavic countries. *Kalėdos is the

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

word for Christmas. There are Slavic neopagan communities in most of the Slavic countries whose goal is to popularize ancient pagan belief and practice in present-day society.

In music

Some Slavic

pagan rock Pagan rock is a genre of rock music created by adherents of neopagan traditions. It emerged as a distinct genre from gothic rock in the 1980s. Bands in this genre will often use pagan and occult imagery and deal with pagan themes. In some cases ...

and

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

bands have songs about Koliada: *Song of the Ukrainian black metal band Nokturnal Mortum called Kolyada *Song of the Russian folk band

Ivan Kupala Kupala Night (also Kupala's Night or just Kupala; Polish: , : , Russian: Ива́н Купа́ла: , Купала: , Ukrainian: Іван Купало: ) is one of the major folk holidays in some of the Slavic countries that coincides with the C ...

, called Kolyada *Song of the Russian pagan metal band Arkona, called Kolyada *Song of the Belarusian pagan metal band Kolo Pravi - Goy Kolyada *Song Kolyada of the Russian band Veter vody *Song Kolyada of the Ukrainian female singer Iryna Fedyshyn *Song Kolyada my of the Ukrainian female singer Iryna Fedyshyn *Song Kolyada-kolyadka of the Ukrainian female singer Iryna DolyaKolyada-kolyadka Iryna Dolya
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References

External links

Koliada
Russian mythological calendar
Kozlov, M.М. God–baby Koljada in pagan consciousness of east Slavs
{{Slavic mythology Slavic gods Slavic Christmas traditions Slavic culture Slavic holidays Winter deities Solar gods Slavic pseudo-deities

Holiday

In music

See also

References

Further reading

External links