Baltic Christmas Day 21 - Winter Solstice!

Today is winter solstice: the ziemas saulgrieži, shortest day of the year, heralding the arrival of winter! It is also Yule (in Estonia jõulud), the winter festival with roots in the pagan solstice celebrations and the precursor to modern Christmas. Jõulud and the winter solstice were of great importance to the Baltic peoples, as many of the pagan traditions and rituals are the foundations of the modern day Christmas celebration.

As Daina wrote in her post on the winter solstice, “Latvian winters are traditionally cold and - most of all - dark. In Riga on December 21, the sun will rise at 9:00am, and set at 3:43pm, which calculates to a mere six hours and 43 minutes of daylight. Before Latvians were converted to Christianity, they celebrated winter solstice on the year’s shortest day with festivities that included songs, food, fire, and various traditions. After all, if you are experiencing 17+ hours of darkness on a daily basis for several weeks, it seems only natural to create a celebration to look forward to.”

Imanta wrote about one of those celebratory traditions in her post Čigāni. The tradition of čigāni, budēļi, ķekatnieki (the name depends on the region in Latvia and the time of year) “all symbolize the procession of noise making, dressing up in costumes, visiting homes and making a ruckus for others. Some might find it similar to the American tradition of Mummers, but the costumes are far less extravagant... These months of winter are very dark and dreary in Latvia, so, for the most part in the past it was a way to keep entertained. It is also believed that evil spirits roam the dark months and so, by being visited by budēļi, čigāni or the like, you scare away the evil spirits. This is also why it’s important to make a lot of noise when going on these costumed travels. By making noise, you scare away the bad energy. These special guests also are believed to bring good luck, good health and fertility. So, you better let them in and you better have something ready to give them! In addition to inspecting your house and your quick wit, budēļi expect to be given food and drink. This is to give them energy in their continuing quests.”

This year the students of Krišjāņa Barona Latvian School of Chicago will be donning handmade masks at the annual Christmas event, “KBLS Ķekatas.” In addition to a well-attended market there are also a Christmas lunch and bake sale, but the central event is always the pageant. This year artist Lāsma Maher led the students in preparing paper mache masks that will be worn for the performance; they started their preparations in October/November, and over the weeks carefully added layers of newspaper, paint, and later raffia, string and other accents to create their masterpieces.

Lāsma writes “Masku gatavošana, pārģērbšanās un svētku svinēšana ir daudzu tautu tradīcija visa pasaulē. Latvijā sena tradīcija ir rīkot gājienus ar pārģērbšanos lielā grupā, kas apciemo vairākas mājas pēc kārtas. Maskētos gājējus sauca dažādos vārdos, atkarība no Latvijas novada, piemēram: ķekatas, budēļi, bubulnieki, spokstiņi utt.

Vistipiskākie masku tēli bija: Dzērve, Kaza, Zirgs, Lācis, Nāve, Garā sieva, dažādi mistiski meža gari, gadalaiki, dārzeņi utt. Čikāgas latviešu skolas bērni vairākas nedēļas pēc kārtas gatavoja sejas maskas no papīra. Katram skolniekam bija iespēja izvēlēties kādu konkrētu dzīvnieku vai putnu, kā ari izdomāt pašam savu mistisku tēlu.

Sestdien, 21. decembrī skolā ir Ziemassvētku priekšnesums, kuŗā bērni pārģērbsies pašdarinātās maskās un ies rotaļās.”

Dzērve (crane), lapsa (fox), vilks (wolf), garā sieva (tall woman)... who or what will we meet next?!

A big thank you to Lāsma for the photographs of the students’ creations and her apraksts! I’m inspired by the results, and am already planning how we could have our own ķekatas here in South Carolina next year... Hopefully we will be able to post some photographs from today's KBLS Ķekatas on the 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas Facebook page, where you will also find links to other articles about the Baltic winter solstice traditions and videos of budēļi.

With Christmas fast-approaching, we are winding down the series. However, make sure to take a break from your holiday preparations tomorrow on Day 22, when Nikolajs Timrots returns with his impressions of this year’s Vilnius Christmas market!