Christmas Eve traditions
Christmas Eve traditions in Lithuania are unique in many ways. The majority of them survived through centuries and came (with some modifications of course) to us from the early pre-christian times, when people were bound tightly to the rhythms and ever changing seasons of nature.
Christmas (Kalėdos), like in the majority of other European countries, was the celebration of winter equinox, when the sun finally comes free from dark winter forces and revives bit by bit all nature again. Time begins to flow once more after stopping in the cold and dim days before that. The sun is carried back to Earth by the nine-horned deer.
To help the sun (witch was considered a goddess itself) to come back, there were a lot of people had to do in this magical and mysterious time of year.
Christmas Eve dinner was (and still is very important). It wasn’t a fun feast, but rather more calm, serious family members gathering. People used to remember their dead loved ones because this was the night when they came back to the land of living to visit their families. The plates were set on the table and empty chairs left for those who died that year. I remember my grandmother doing that, so I imagine the tradition is still alive in many families. The dinner started when the evening star rose to the sky.
The special dish Kūčia for the visiting souls was made with great respect and all family members had to try it by handing the bowl to each other. It consisted of various types of sprouted grain boiled with added honey.
On the table there had to be nine different dishes, all vegetarian, no meat, no milk, no eggs. Just the things people could gather from nature. Nine was the magic number symbolizing nine month of the year according to the old moon calendar. When the living started to get better and also when the calendar changed to 12 months, the number of dishes was changed to 12. But strictly vegetarian set of table came to us from those old times. Of course, now people allow themselves to add eggs and some dishes are made with milk.
The mane dish for Christmas Eve dinner in Lithuania is salted herring with various toppings, such as wild mushrooms, beetroot, or carrots and onions. In every family there is a traditional herring that’s made every year.
Another special dish is Kūčiukai (I couldn’t find a translation) little pastry bakes with poppy seeds and poppy ‘milk’. They usually are left on a table after everyone goes to sleep for the visiting souls and symbolizes the ancient dish Kūčia witch is now made maybe only in some very traditional families living in a countryside, as in the city it’s really difficult to get the ingredients.
After Christmas Eve dinner the evening is dedicated for future telling and magic. For example, everyone draws a straw from under the table cloth (a handful of hay and straw were placed there at the beginning of the dinner) the person who holds the longest straw will live the longest. Also, there were future telling from dropping hot candle wax to the bowl of water and weather guessing for the upcoming year from the weather that was that day. There is a myth that at midnight all the animals begin to talk and if you sneak up to them really quietly they might tell you the day you will dye (as if that would be a great thing to know from your cat for instance).
So the Christmas Eve night is a magical night, all the spirits — good and evil — are out there wandering among people, so it’s best to spend it at home surrounded with your loved ones, playing with your kids traditional Christmas Eve games or listening to the old stories and fairy tales that grandparents are glad to tell.
If you would like to read some of the old Lithuanian fairy tales — I put together a short book that you can get for free here:
