Fighting Moon and Sun: New Year in Japanese

Of course, the fanatics of traditions still express dissatisfaction with this and stubbornly note their, "real" holiday on the end of the end of the twelfth moon. They are in an absolute minority, but in principle, the inhabitants of the rising sun would not have been, if they were completely forgotten, as their ancestors did in one way or another. In japanese "execution" New Year’s celebrations of the XXI century to the smallest things – as if historical "reconstruction" – Similar to the festivities of the century XIX and at the same time peacefully get along with grand christmas sales full of globalistic type. Yes, together with the Gregorian time account, the Japanese Islands penetrated Christian Christmas, but it lost its religious component, and is used today mainly in order to prepare to prepare for the beloved new year (it’s not true, in a similar way, things are?). In addition, in December, premium are traditionally paid for the entire year, which immediately fly to the furnace of the festive industry. Restaurants and others "enemy" Scheduled by companies, as a rule, colleagues gathered for a corporate party. Everything seems to be normal, in European, but you know how such an event is officially called? "Collection for the obligation of last year". Just forgetting this year, according to local ideas, you can implement a solemn act of transition to a new. Act – not loudly said. Here, a great winter holiday with all his symbols and signs is really perceived as a life-affirming and life-giving, "Mythological" essentially. By the way, about the attributes – like Europeans, the Japanese is the main role here to give an evergreen plant. Just did not eat, but exclusively pine. She is an older national system "iconic meanings" personifies eternal youth and longevity. No wonder in the diet of holy hermites, dew, literally literally lined with pine needles, – thus the body is filled "Physical" by the power of century nature. Unlike the hermits, simple peasants on the eve of the New Year went to the mountains, which are rich in all four main Japanese Islands to dig or cut down a young pine. Then it was supposed to put it right before the gate of his house, so that luck came to. Actually, in modern language, the New Year tree-decoration is called – "Kadomatsu", that is "Pine before gate".

The reputation of pine in the folk consciousness is stronger and inviolable, it enters the feeder together with the ancient poetry. The latter often sits this plant along with the Zhuravl, another famous symbol of longevity and good luck. It was believed that it was on the cranes traveling immortal timing saints. Back in the X century, a certain court lady wrote:

Crane
With a thousand-year-old SOSHOY,
What do you bring congratulations,
Know how to live forever to live under the shadow of your mercies!
(Translation A.A. Valley)

She ends two centuries later, the famous Sayga:
Each gate
Standing young pines.
Festive view!
In all at home without parsing
Today Spring came!
(Translation B.N. Markova)

Note – Spring came, not winter, as and naturally – after all, the Japanese had tied a holiday to change dates with "discovery" agricultural season and wires of cold weather just like now "Forced" associate it with their start. But – here I should repeat – the corresponding rhenium turned out to be indestructible in Japanese, "Oriented" just for rebirth, awakening from sleep, tide of energy.

It was believed that, for example, that on the top of the exhibited pine pine, the deity of the coming year is descended from the mountains and inhales fertility strength in the ground. And so that the hardworking creature is not tired, it was preparing a hearty treat: Round rice pellets Motes, rice wine (well-known Sake), persimmon, tangerines, dried and salty fish. Until now, it is customary to be treated for the new year and a cracking caviar: eating germs should ensure people fertility in every sense of the word. However, of course, in the current urban life, it usually comes simply about the success in career and affairs that are not related to land.

Carefully get ready for a meeting with ancestors

With the course of history in the conditions of Japanese, the whole pine in the door turned into a bunch of its twigs, and with the addition of bamboo shoots. They have long been worshiped for resistance to winds and ultrafast growth, that is, celebrating again emphasize them the desire to gain new vital energy. They got into a bouquet and plum branches, symbolizing the arrival of spring: Japanese plum blooms very early when it can easily fall out. New snow. It can be said that on this plant is the nation and "Learning" about the approach of the new year and met its indispensable poetic sessions. Representatives of all classes were seated with the chairs at the roots of the village and began:

Snow glitter, cleanliness of the moon, shiny of stars
Merged into plum bloom.
Oh gold wonderful night
And aroma colors ripped out the garden!

So Poet Sugavara Mitidzane spoke (845-903). In his verses, those who were then found, in Chinese, plum crashes to heaven – but only blooming. "The present" Decchanus plum is only bare branches. The villors of the old days say that even the plants for the new year have now become no one ..

Anyway, pine, bamboo and plum together make up a classic Triad of the Winter Holiday. Small "sheaf", Replaced in the stone jungle rural trees, it is customary to hang out in front of the apartments today. Yes, still – it will certainly be necessary to bandage the harness from rice straw obtained when collecting the last harvest. Such a harness serves as an excellent guard, in the Shinto temples with thick ropes from the same material the most sacred places.

Well, the persimmon with Mandarin will not damage the New Year’s still life, although not necessarily ..

All, you can sit at the table. As in Northern Europe, the new year has always been considered a purely family holiday in Japan, and it is even more important to comply with this tradition, because the souls of the ancestors, which members of the family are required to receive and honor to celebrate. The presence of outsiders at the same time was strictly prohibited, and now, who would have believed, the Japanese did not work out the habit of walking towards a visit at this time.

However, the deities and souls will not want to appear everywhere, the unclean place they will cost – therefore, general cleaning is arranged on the eve of celebrations, and evil spirits are expelled with special rites. Each Japanese knows what these enemies of the genus of human – pea and beans are most afraid of. We just need to scatter them before the new year on the floor in all rooms, saying: "Happiness – To the house, devils – Won!"

We now discuss the festive menu – it is easy, as the same products are perfect for people and gods. Main dish – Mentioned Motes. Before placing a cake in boiling water boiler, the dough is needed long "Half" Special wooden beasts resembling hammer. In the old days it was a collective action with the participation of all family members or even several neighboring families – alternately. Moti again lives the spirit of rice. So the more people it is there "settle", and then they will eat, the healthier will heal the whole district.

Bon Appetit! But be careful: Motions have an extremely viscous consistency and they are easily suppressed. Every January newspapers report accidents – very often slices of pellets fall into the respiratory throat of citizens. But they are very tasty and full of magical values, which many young people are not remembered about, but still intuitively feel. On the New Year’s table there should be nothing casual. Ask them – what are designed to portray "Kagami Mothi", Special "Mirror" Motion round form? Most likely, do not answer. But prepare because. In fact, a reminder of the full moon and "complete" Life.

In addition to the Moti, the sacred meal includes a porridge from the red beans (she was once purified by the cleansing meaning), sobbing from the healing herbs and noodles of soba from buckwheat flour – happiness and well-being in the house are obliged to be the same long (endless) like noodles.

And now the most pleasant – gifts

The first thing comes to the Japanese mind: clay, paper, drawn, metal, plastic – any images and figures of the corresponding animal from a twelve-year zodiac cycle. In the case of 2006 – the image of a dog that protects the house and drives thieves.

In second place in the ritual scale of New Year’s values, oddly enough, money. Previously, they gave exclusively the discovered coins, since their name – Gian – Omonimously, the word denoting strong family bonds. But today they will not buy anything to five yen, and therefore it is usually attached bills in a beautiful white envelope.

And, of course, greeting cards – the Japanese are recognized world champions by writing them. Even in a recent era, when we in Russia found the time to send messages to friends and relatives, the exchange of New Year "Brushes" on elegantly decorated blanks never had such a scale, as in Japan. The average resident of the country of the rising sun, this hive and the epicenter of fevering business activity, every time you approach deadlines, sends more than a hundred New Year cards! Parents, brothers, sisters, chiefs, colleagues, neighbors in the previous and current place of residence, random acquaintances – to all those who had to deal with last 365 days. Moreover, it is surprising not only by the commitment of customs with all temporary costs, it is associated, but also the fact that the Japanese is most popular not at all multicolor pictures of high printing quality, as in the rest of the world. Here in the course the most ordinary postal cards without a single artistic fringe, the monopoly on the release of public post. Their advantage is only one, but it turns out to be decisive: on each printed strictly individual, the only number in the country, which is simultaneously and the number of the nationwide lottery. That is, the more people in the New Year’s correspondence partners, the more he has chances to win some solid prize.

In general, as in all white light, the New Year’s gift in Japan is a kind of prosperity. That you can wish near? Talking briefly – happiness. So before the cherished night everywhere in the country there are special "Fair of happiness". There you can purchase, say, a boat, which floats seven gods of good luck with reasonable treasures on board. Or – toy bamboo rakes, in the new season they will be very convenient every happiness to rush. Or – the same decorative arrows and rackets for the game. Their destination – to drive and scare off evil spirits. For the same fan. Traffic "to yourself" cattons wealth and prosperity, "Push" – eliminates unwanted fluids. As a side dish, the Japanese are bought at fairs and "Healing" food – fruits, tea, sake, – based on the reasonable postulate that the longevity is provided primarily with the correct diet. And, imagine alcohol in moderate, that is, microscopic, doses – an indispensable element.

However, every person himself knows best that it is useful for him. Following this logical dogma, the sellers put in their showcases figurines from papier mache or wood. They depict Darumu (Boddhidharma) – the legendary founder of the Zen school in Buddhism. About his unsurpassed holiness is evidenced by the lack of legs: they hated off after endless meditations in "Lotus pose". As a result, it turned out a pretty cousin of our nevala: the center of gravity is dismissed down the book, daruma can not be tipped over. And such a not baptability is very important quality, which in the new year will help everyone to remain, to make faithful decisions, listen to his own heart and mind. And besides, Daruma has no eyes – or rather, pupils. And this is no accident: Immediately upon receipt of the figurine as a gift, you should draw a black circle in one of the white empty Eyeballs and make a desire. If it is fulfilled, you need to make a saint truly moant, depicting the second pupil. If not, in a year it should be burned as not justified expectations. Well, those who are not so committed to superstitions, you can recommend a set of pieces of smell soap. Only after all and soap – if it is a little "Cut" – It turns out to be tightly related to the tradition. Indeed, the eve of the new year is strictly obligatory not only the general cleaning, but also the livestock "Washer" all family.

Believe other people’s snakes to the ground

108 bell strucks in all Buddhist temples are announced on the onset of the Great Moment. Of the 108 same beads are made up. 108 temptations and sins, according to the teachings of the Buddha, are susceptible to the person – under the sounds of the bell, all sins, one by one, should go into the past. And the Japanese, waiting for dawn, the crowds rush to their sanctuary – for the first time this year. It is important to have time to meet exactly there the sunrise, so that in the next 12 months it all happened safely and joyfully. Before the entrance to the temple, the arrived washes off the first New Year’s water from the brush old "dirt" From face and arms, freezes for a second before the statue of the founder, throws a coin into donation boxes, claps in your hands to attract the attention of these deities and mentally prays about the performance of dreams. This prayer is proposed to fix and writing: on wooden planks, posted on a special "Board of announcements", Higher Forces.

And then everyone goes to run "connected between land and sky" – Aerial coils, it also needs to be done in the first days of January. Today, whole serpentine battles are arranged on the streets of Japanese cities. To intimidate the enemy with his "pets" paint the growing faces, and wins the one who managed to plunge "stranger" to the ground. To do this, you need to either confuse the slings, or cut them with a sharp object that is fixed on the plots of your snake.

All this is the exotic celebration of ceremonies associated with the purification force of fire ends. In the giant bonfires, which are bred in the temples, burn and Christmas decorations, and wooden plates with prayers. All this resembles the Venetian carnival. Celebrations are over, the deity of the year spoiled from the pine and returned to the place of his permanent stay in the mountains, and life continues. Continues with new and clean after the forgotten sheets.