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<\/a>It is already winter\u2026 Holiday preparations start along with coming of December; and all are enveloped\u00a0by spirits of Christmas and anticipations for fairy tales. This comes to say that New Year is approaching.\u00a0The Armenians formerly used to celebrate New Year in spring, along with the equalizing of day and night in\u00a0March. By that time the holiday was called \u201cNavasard\u201d. Then people began celebrating the holiday in summer.
\nLater Navasard was being celebrated at the beginning of autumn during the harvest. The tradition of celebrating\u00a0New Year in winter was established in Armenia not long ago, when the Armenians began celebrating this holiday\u00a0on January 1 as in all Western countries.
\nIt should be mentioned that in pagan times the Armenians worshiped God Amanor whose name means New Year and who enjoyed great love of people. He was considered to be \u201cthe source of the new harvest\u201d. His worship coincided with the end of July or the beginning of August just when the fruits were ripening. All the feasts were solemnly celebrated in one of the ancient\u00a0Armenian centers of worship, in Bagavan.
\nHere is how New Year was being celebrating when it was transferred to winter. According to the tradition on the eve of the holiday the fire should have been bright in the hearth all night long until dawn. It was accepted to bring a big log to home, and the host of the house should have been watching that the fire was not put out during all the night. In the morning the ashes were sprinkled in the fields; this was considered to make the soil more fertile.
\nThe remains of the timber were kept to burn on January 5, on the eve of Christmas. Transition from the old to the new has always considered to be mysterious and full of secrets. People believed that during transferring to New Year all the flawing\u00a0waters take a moment to stop and change into gold, and those who witnessed that moment were surely considered\u00a0to become rich in the coming year. For that all boys and girls went to the river to fill the pitchers with\u00a0water and believed that it would change into gold. New Year was also considered to be the most\u00a0favorable time for various previsions. In the night of New Year the hostess used to tie red ribbons on a\u00a0sacred tree. This was done to provide the prosperity of the house in the coming year before the tradition of\u00a0decorating Christmas tree was adopted. New Year dishes also had magical goal. It was\u00a0accepted to eat the soup called \u201canushapur\u201d which means \u201csweet soup\u201d and Lenten dolma. The sweet soup was made from wheat, rice, corn, dry fruits, raisins, almonds and walnuts. Lenten dolma was being prepared from beans, lentils, rice and other components, the number of which should be at least seven.
\nDuring New Year celebration the hostess gathered all the relatives together making prediction for the coming year. For this, the hostess used to bake ritual biscuits which had various images to symbolize heavenly lights, fauna and flora. People were portrayed according to their professions. For example, the symbol of the merchant was a purse. The images of different tools had a special place in baking biscuits. And the hostess made predictions according to each ritual biscuit depending on how it was baked. If the biscuit was not swelled, the person was considered to lack success in the coming year. The hostess used to bake another cake. It was big round sweet bread called gata, which was also known as \u201cTari Bread\u201d (bread of the year). A bean was usually put in that bread to learn who will be the most successful person of the year. And the sweet bread, gata, was
\nbeing distributed to all the members of the family.
\nThe best traditions of New Year celebration are preserved to our days, and all people, both adults and children, prepare for the celebration of the holiday full of new expectations for happiness and New Year miracles.<\/p>\n