The calendar-based holidays are divided by the four seasons. Winter is designated as the season of rest, gatherings and spiritual expressions. Spring represents the rejuvenation of nature and the beginning of the farming season. It is the season of birth and blooming. Summer is dominated by the busy farming season. Fall is the season of wealth, the harvest and beginning preparations for the long winter ahead.
Among all of the religious holidays, Christmas and Easter are the most beloved. The Christmas celebration starts with a six-week fast prior to the holiday. The orthodox fasting pattern excludes from the diet any animal product such as meat, eggs, fish, milk or cheese. The celebration of the Christening of Jesus occurs on January 6--a date commonly considered to be the coldest day of the year.
Another important date is December 6, when St. Nicholas brings small gifts to the young children who have polished their shoes and placed them in front of a window in their home. Christmas carols, traditional foods and decorated trees are part of the Christmas traditions. Children start to sing carols during a ceremony in which a white newborn lamb is carried by a child, thus symbolizing religious faith and purity. Three days before Christmas, one may detect a heavy aroma of freshly baked walnut and raisin cakes. Two days prior to the celebration, the main cooking activities begin. Pigs-in-the-blanket and beef salad are two favorite dishes. Christmas Eve is reserved for decorating the tree, to be followed by the Christmas Eve dinner. This dinner is usually celebrated within the family. Christmas carols are sung and Santa is expected to leave presents under the tree; families with small children are likely to receive a visit from Santa in person. Christmas Day is celebrated among friends and family. In Moldova, the Christmas and New Year celebrations become merged, and elements of the Christian faith are blended with hopes for a prosperous New Year. Some of the many traditions or symbols include: the singing of carols as organized by young men or children; the plow; the skin-covered barrel through which a tuft of hair is pulled, thereby imitating a bull's roar; the sheep's skin or the goat dances; the mask plays; the walking of the star; folk theater.
Regarding the traditions and symbols listed above, the carol singers arrive during the afternoon of and evening on Christmas Eve. The well-wishers are expected during the afternoon of New Year's Eve--these are groups who extend wishes for a happy life, prosperity and fertility in the coming year. The children, who symbolize purity and hope, usually receive apples, nuts and home-baked bread. The old fertility rite is a poem describing, in a mythical manner, the labors to be performed by the plowman--ranging from seeding to bread making, and including reaping of the harvest.
New Year's Eve is one holiday that is celebrated throughout the country. It is an occasion for night-long parties. On this night, the traditional turkey is served. It is believed that no person should spend the night alone, as it is the night when the new year, represented by a baby, is born--and the old year, represented by the tired old man, is replaced. The first day of the new year is celebrated through songs and dances. The songs mostly symbolize the desire for a prosperous new year as characterized by fair weather, good crops, health and happiness. Some of the above traditions also involve the use of masks and costumes. Wheat often appears as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. One particular folk tale suggests that during the New Year's night, the sky opens for an instant. At that moment, God is visible to observers as he oversees all below the heavens.
During the long winter nights, young girls and women will gather at a certain house in order to sit together, spin or embroider--as they are known to do with extraordinary talent. In Moldova, however, an important part of the population celebrate the Christmas and the New Year according to the old-style Calendar, therefore one can see a duplication of the holidays, although, Moldovans explain this inevitable luxury of the year as a sign of prosperity.
