Epiphany Holiday in Ukraine

 

 

 

Epiphany Holiday in Ukraine

            It was a cold clear night that produced a chill in the air from a temperature of minus five degrees Celsius. A bright starry night from a full moon made the pure white snow shimmer in the moonlight.  I was driving with my sister from our parent’s house where we had a wonderful time with our family and close relatives eating traditional dishes like Kutia, which is made from wheat, honey and poppy seed for Epiphany Night. We drank, sang, and danced all day long. This night was so calm we could hear the sound of the snow crunching beneath the tires. It was the perfect night to celebrate Epiphany by taking a dip in our favorite ice covered pond. As we walked across the frozen pond, I did not know that soon I would move to the United States.  It was last time I went ice swimming. Epiphany is a religious feast, popularly called “Blessing of Water” or “The second Holy Eve”, which completes the winter holidays cycle in Ukraine. My memories and amazing feelings from dipping in to the ice pond are very deep in my heart. After moving to the United States, I discovered that Epiphany Day on January 18 was not a major holiday, which means that the meaning of this holiday had been lost.                                  

 

          Ice swimming is one very important part of the Epiphany celebration that has disappeared from my life. It was very hard to get used to the idea that I am not going to go ice swimming anymore because the United States has its own holidays.  Epiphany is an annual event in Ukraine. The tradition is where people make an ice hole in the shape of a cross by using an ice cutter in lakes, rivers and ponds where the water freezes over.  This hole is usually around two meters deep. Fans of bathing in icy water are both religious and non-religious.   Orthodox Christians believe that their plunge into the ice will bring them health and happiness. My family used to go to church and we were given blessed water from the priest. Epiphany water was considered to be universal medicine from all diseases.  Bottles filled with it stood in our house all year round. My fiancé is my new family in the United States, but he is not interested in going to church to bless the water, so this experience the same like ice swimming is gone.
         

     When I was a little girl, I used to travel with a lot of kids from house to house in order to ask for pastries or candies by singing holiday carols.  Some people would give us money, which was my favorite part.   It was very difficult to adjust to  my new life where I am missing very important parts of my culture. Ukrainian Americans rebuilt their holidays on American holidays and American ways of celebrating them. Some Ukrainians still celebrate Epiphany day, but without the excitement, and those happy children’s eyes who sang holiday carols.  I have a lot of warm memories in my heart from those holiday carols.                                                                             

           Furthermore, I do not have any feeling of magic, or mystery when Epiphany day comes in the United States.  Children are not running around, and not interested in to predicting the future like we used to do with my friends, most Ukrainians believe that there is a lot of magic during the Epiphany Day. We could even see our future or find out the name of our future husband. There are a number of ways how this was done. In one example, we used to look through a wedding ring at the moon to see the future.  We would also, write the man’s name on pieces of paper, and placed them under our pillow, and then in the morning pick one. The name of that man would supposedly be the name of our future husbands.  It did not really work well, but we believed in it, and had a lot of fun playing this game. This part of my life is very deep in my heart.                                                                                                                                                                      

           My Ukrainian friends in the United States do not put a lot of effort, or creativity in cooking something traditional on any holiday. When we meet, everyone brings something in, but mostly it is precooked dishes, and that is why I miss the taste of Kutia that my mother used to cook on this holiday. I miss the beautiful countryside, and my special pond, where we would jump in and feel the cold rush throughout our bodies.  I feel like my soul is crying over this lost holiday which was part of me.  I am trying to get my Ukrainian and Russian friends in the United States to remember how special Epiphany was in both countries, so we can put a special trip together to Lake Delavan in Wisconsin, on January 19^th, and celebrate it as we did in back home.