inadequatedreamer

Happy New Year, my dear SG people, !

I'll start with gifts. My debut Set comes out in almost a month, and I and @aonbheanach am already preparing a new one for you! The future Set will be dedicated to the feeling of home, simple things warmth...and to my little friend as well, as you can see from the picture :) He is a big part of my heart, he is my little monster and my sweet sunshine.

Also, before starting my New Year's story, I want to mention some people here in order to express my gratitude and appreciation to them. I may miss someone, but trust me, I am so glad for each of you to be here with us! Thank you especially, @jacleric , @nickstone , @kaskelot and @direwolff , for your enormous support and spreading your love to so many people here! You helped me believe in myself much more, you are always near. Hope to see you for a long time on SG. Thank you @robertbluesman , @timmy70 , @lonesomewolf , @freakme , @fullfeeling , @ferkixlll , @bronepoe , @oldernow , @onespeed , @oldun65 , @arroezze , @a_enigma @metalfreak and to many more of you, not only for your very presence here, but also for your unique being, tender soul, deep mind and touching life stories. And also special separate thanks to @lucifer - your nickname isn't offered to be chosen after writing it here somehow, but I'm sure you'll see it; I appreciate your way to share your preferences here, they may sometimes be, emm, debatable, but they are really precious and important; and yes, I know about the DM, I just don't chat a lot here, but maybe the situation will change :D
And a special thanks to @rambo , @missy , @teal and all the girls who helps SG live and develop. You are the best, ladies!
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It so happened that in the post-Soviet countries the tradition of celebrating the New Year is still higher than the one of Christmas. I believe that the main reason for this phenomenon is the pressure of the Soviet regime on religious movements in general, therefore, a trace from such a phenomenon still remains. My parents told me stories about the propaganda of atheism, about entire university departments dedicated to this, about the slogans "There is no God," the destruction of churches and religious communities, and so on. In particular, the question of faith is individual for each; on the whole, such propaganda had a great influence on the culture, life, and customs of people.
By the way, for many years the Soviet government did not complained about both winter holidays. Christmas was pursued as a "religious relic." The New Year was more fortunate: it was considered a “bourgeois remnant” only at the beginning of the 20th century. Closer to the middle of the 20th century, New Year celebrations began to take place in Russia, later this holiday was again celebrated in other countries of the USSR. Then the main character of the holiday, Father Frost (Ded Moroz), appeared. The image of a kind fairy-tale old man was clearly borrowed in the West, where Santa Claus or St. Nicholas gave his presents to obedient children. Granddaughter of Father Frost, Snegurochka (a.k.a. Snow Maiden), owes her appearance to the story of the same name by Alexander Ostrovsky, according to some historians and analysts. Meanwhile, in modern post-Soviet countries (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, etc.), Christmas has become an official public holiday, but it has not replaced the New Year, the New Year tree, Father Frost and Snegurochka. Our fellow citizens, most of whom with nostalgia recalls their Soviet childhood, still prefer the secular New Year. In addition, due to the change of dates by about two weeks, there is a tradition to celebrate the New Year according to the new Gregorian and the old Julian calendar, 31.12. - 01.01 and 13.01 - 14.01. Thus, as you can see, the post-Soviet New Year celebration took a lot from traditional Christmas celebrating in other countries :) I would only add that although Father Frost and his granddaughter appeared only under Stalin's reign, they managed to “naturalize” and became like they had always existed to people; it even came to the point that Veliky Ustyug was declared the birthplace of Father Frost, and Kostroma became the cradle of our Snow Maiden.
My native country, Ukraine, being at that time part of the USSR, also fell under the influence of such traditions. And even now, since religious issues have become freer in their own way, different beliefs are not under the yoke of the past as they used to be before, for many Ukrainians, the New Year is a priority holiday. However, if during the Christmas holidays you visit western Ukraine, especially Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk and neighboring cities, you will see a completely different picture ;)

I hope I was able to open the veil into the world of the customs of our country and the reasons for their occurrence. Of course one may find out much more information and read lots of sources, from books and newspapers articles to Internet websites, but still I hope I could help :) I guess I'll continue doing it sometimes, and I believe more people here will do the same, too, as there are so many of us, different people from different parts of the world, and that would be nice to share our stories, traditions and souls :)

Happy New Year to all of you. May it be bright and sweet.
See you in 2020!
Love,
I.D.