ainian Unity Day has been amended by Presidential decree to honor the participants of the Euromaidan revolution. As such, Ukrainians take the opportunity to also reflect on sacrifice, dignity, and human rights.
The celebration of Ukrainian Unity Day in 1990, on the 71st anniversary of the Unity Act’s signing, is credited with inspiring Ukrainian independence the following year. 300,000 Ukrainians linked arms to form a human chain connecting the cities of Kyiv and Lviv, 300 miles apart. Today, Ukrainian Unity Day has been amended by Presidential decree to honor the participants of the Euromaidan revolution. As such, Ukrainians take the opportunity to also reflect on sacrifice, dignity, and human rights.
For most Ukrainians, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, in accordance with the ancient Julian Calendar. Though some Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Ukrainian Greek-Catholics opt to celebrate according to the Western date of December 25th, the ethnic customs surrounding the holiday largely remain the same.
Before issues in the calendar’s timing arose, the date of Christmas was intended to correlate with the winter solstice, and incorporated many Ukrainian pre-Christian customs in the celebration. The Christian symbolism around the solstice involves the looking forward to days getting longer, or light being born out of the darkness. A major hymn sung in church for Christmas refers to Christ as the “Sun of Righteousness,” which was born out of the stars to be a “Light of Wisdom.”
Similarly to Pascha, Christmas is also preceded by a 40-day period of fasting. However, instead of the feast happening at the end of the fast, it is held during, on Christmas eve. Twelve meatless and dairy-less courses are served at the appearance of the first star in the sky. The number of courses corresponds to both the number of months in the year and the number of Jesus’ Apostles, and the star represents the star over Bethlehem.
The meal is steeped with other symbolism too, like the empty plate which is kept out for the spirits of ancestors to celebrate alongside their living relatives. But, heaven forbid those spirits might be evil, otherwise they would be vanquished by the garlic hidden under the four corners of the table, symbolizing four corners of the Earth!
Hay is also kept under the dinner table, a reminder of Christ’s birth in the manger and the dependence of Ukrainians on a good harvest. A special buckwheat porridge is also thrown on the ceiling to predict the coming year’s harvest — if it sticks, the year will be prosperous, if not, the homemakers should begin preparations for a difficult year.
Like Kupalo, Malanka has pre-Christian origins, but has take on deeply Christian symbolism. While originally the holiday emphasized the interplay between the merciful moon goddess, Mylanka, and mischievous earth-dwellers, today, it has become an extension of Christmas, the star of Bethlehem, and St. Mylania the Younger, a 5th century Christian known for her love and mercy.
Malanka happens to fall on New Year’s eve, and the customs associated with Malanka—caroling, pageants, dancing—are often synonymous with New Year celebrations. When the Russian government moved state affairs thirteen days back onto the internationally-accepted Gregorian calendar, many religious and folk holidays like Christmas remained on their own calendar. Suddenly, the celebration of the New Year was almost two weeks after the rest of the world celebrated the New Year. When the Soviet Union forced state-mandated atheism, the holiday was stripped of all folkloric or religious meaning, and became known as “Old New Year,” a name which sticks today.
In the Diaspora, Malanka is a chance for Ukrainians to dress up in their ball gowns and tuxedoes to celebrate a more formal iteration of the ancient feast at the hometown’s fanciest ballrooms. Many Ukrainian community organizations organize Malanka balls as fundraisers for everything from educational development to medical care in Ukraine. Sometimes, Malanka balls also include a presentation of Debutantes, young women, who are