Holidays on this day
- Christmas Catholic
- Christmas according to the New Julian calendar
- Nardugan
- Memorial Day of Saint Spyridon of Trimifuntsky, wonderworker
- Christmas Ball Giving Day
- Day without the letter “L”
- Pumpkin Pie Day
Significant events in history
1759 Physicist Joseph Adam Braun obtained solid mercury.
1926 Crown Prince Hirohito became Emperor of Japan.
1979 The war in Afghanistan has begun.
1991 Mikhail Gorbachev announced his resignation from the post of President of the USSR.
2016 A Tu-154 plane crashed over the Black Sea.
Persons
On December 25, 1709, the French philosopher and physician Julien Aufret de La Mettrie was born.
On December 25, 1878, an American racing driver, auto designer, and one of the founders of the Chevrolet company, Louis Chevrolet, was born.
Soviet and Russian satirist and screenwriter Arkady Khait was born on December 25, 1938.
Folk calendar
Spiridon Solstice
On this day, the memory of Saint Spyridon of Trimythous, who lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries in Cyprus, is celebrated.
This day in Rus' was nicknamed Spiridon's turn, or simply the Solstice: from this time the night began to decrease and the day began to increase. The peasants said that from this day on the sun turns to summer, and winter to frost. According to legend, Spiridon himself turns the star and makes sure that it does not hide from people. “After Spiridon, at a sparrow’s leap, let the day come,” people said.
On Spiridonov’s day, the sun itself, as they said, dresses in a festive sundress, gets into a cart and travels to warm countries. “The red sun will dress up and brighten up, and the cow will warm its barrel on it,” people noted. In the forests, bears tossed and turned in their dens, lying down on one side, then on the other.
It was forbidden to work for Spiridon. The peasants could only guess about future fertility. To do this, they watched the wind: if it changed direction during the day, the year promised to be fruitful.
On this day, various magical rituals were performed. Immediately after the solstice, the housewife stuck a sickle into the lintel, and the owner wedged an ax into the threshold so that the power of these tools would be transferred to the house and protect it from evil spirits.
Spiridon was supposed to feed the chickens with grain from the right sleeve so that they would lay eggs better. The gardeners shook the apple trees, saying: “Spiridon day, rise up.” People also conjured the sun: in the morning they went out to high places and met the dawn, and in the evening they burned bonfires in honor of the luminary. They also paid attention to weather signs. If sparrows began to collect fluff and feathers and drag them to their nests, this foreshadowed severe frosts.
The direction of the wind was also noted: it was believed that it would remain unchanged until the Soroki. People also knew: if the sun shines on Spyridon, then Christmastide will be clear; if the sun came out in the morning, it foreshadowed a cloudless sky for the New Year.
Name day on this day
Alexander, Spiridon.
Source: Calend.ru.
