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Ethnographer: In Armenia, they have completely forgotten the traditi

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  • Ethnographer: In Armenia, they have completely forgotten the traditi

    Ethnographer: In Armenia, they have completely forgotten the
    traditions of New Year turning it into a holiday of gluttony

    arminfo
    Friday, January 4, 11:42


    Armenians have completely forgotten many good traditions of New
    Year, ethnographer Asya Apoyan told ArmInfo.

    `In ancient time New Year symbolized awakening of the nature,
    therefore New Year was celebrated on March 21. Kurds and Persians
    still observe this tradition. New Year was called differently
    throughout its history: Kaghand, Taremut, Tareglukh, Navasard
    (celebrated in October 11). Armenians began celebrating New Year on
    January 1 since late 19th century, in some areas - since early 20th
    century,' she said.

    The ethnographer recalled that New Year has been a family holiday for
    centuries. `Our predecessors used to keep the home-fire burning on
    that day as it symbolized the spirit of the dead ancestors. They were
    superstitious and used to tell fortune on the New Year night. They
    believed in `the symbol of the first guest' and hoped that it would be
    a positive and easygoing person and the New Year would be positive and
    easy as well. Those days Armenians tried not to use bad language,'
    she said.

    The ethnographer said that the New Year festive table of our ancestors
    was completely different from nowadays. `Everyone now tries to have
    luxurious festive tables with meat dishes and gourmet items. New Year
    has become a holiday of gluttony. In the meantime, our ancestors were
    eating the dishes that were symbolizing something. The criterion of
    successful year was not the luxurious table but the symbols announcing
    a successful year,' she said.

    In addition, the ethnographer said that in ancient time Armenians were
    eating Lenten dishes on New Year holidays, because it coincided with
    Christmas and starting from Dec 30 up to Jan 5 people must observe
    Lent. Unlike today's pork, honey was an important attribute on the New
    Year tables in ancient time as honey symbolizes `honey days' in the
    coming year, she concluded.


    From: Baghdasarian
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