Christmas B - New Year's Wassailers
Gvidon Birolla, Epiphany Wassailers, 1939
Wassailing was a very widespread tradition in Slovenia during the Christmas season and at the end of the old year and the start of the new one. The tradition involved groups of wassailers going from house to house and reciting greetings, singing wassailing songs or carols and even staging brief dramatic presentations as they offered good wishes for health, fortune and fertility in the new year to the inhabitants of the village or district. The wassailing tradition has its roots in medieval religious observances and is first mentioned in the context of Slovenia by Primož Trubar in as early as 1575. The tradition of wassailing at Christmas died out relatively early and gave way to or merged with Twelfth Night or Epiphany wassailing. The wassailers were usually men. There was also a social, charitable aspect to these processions from house to house, since wassailers were often members of poorer families and wassailing was an opportunity for them to receive gifts to help them survive the winter. The tradition of wassailing was widespread right up until the end of the Second World War. Since 1991 (the year of Slovenia’s independence) the tradition has begun to be revived and it is now possible to talk about a new phase in its development.
Christmas C - Front Door
Epiphany blessing of homes
One of the rituals or customs surrounding Christmas and New Year celebrations involves the blessing of homes. After the priest blesses a home with a prayer, incense and holy water, he traditionally chalks or otherwise inscribes the letters “GMB”, along with the number of the new year, on the gate or front door. These letters represent the names of the Three Kings, also known as the Magi or the Three Wise Men: Gašer (Caspar), Miha (Melchior) and Boltežr (Balthasar). The inscription may also be written up by the householder. Recent times have seen interesting innovations as regards this blessed inscription, with some priests simply attaching to the door or gate a sticker printed with a combination of the above three letters and the year. As well as on the doors of houses (or flats in the case of blocks of flats in cities), this blessing also appears on the doors of farm buildings (such as barns and stables) and work premises.
Janez Bogataj
