How the Kolyada Stole Christmas (Maelinhon)

Peace. I heard traditional values are in vogue these days, right? Let’s truly delve into those authentically traditional vibes, especially in the context of Slavic heritage 😊 We are going to talk about spiritual bonds, and, without a doubt, explore the intricacies of morality and ethics… Are we, like, the odd ones out or something? It seems that’s all anyone talks about. A fantastic theme for the new year, I genuinely think so.

With a tiny nuance. To talk about something, you need to start by defining it, ’cause if you discuss a question without laying out the “obvious” theses and messages, it’s gonna end up as a mess. So let’s start with a definition: what are traditional values and spiritual bonds anyway? I get it’s become meme material for some. But has anyone ever thought that if you dig deep, this topic has a chance to blow your mind?

Spiritual Bonds

So, how do you feel about holidays? I think most people feel good about them: it’s about relaxation, feasts, gifts, and, importantly, carrying out rituals. People really like to perform all sorts of ritualistic actions and use symbols that everyone around them understands and shares. Why? It’s straightforward. Firstly, repetitive actions create a sense of stability and security. Every year at this time, we do this, eat like that, spend time more or less the same way—so, if this year we’re repeating all the social and festive rituals, then everything is going well. Everything’s ok, business as usual, life goes on! — that’s what our subconscious is sort of telling us. This is the first aspect, and it’s pretty soothing for the masses.

Second aspect — the sense of shared understanding and symbolism. If I tell you “Feel sorry for the bird”* or “Here comes the warmer water”* you’ll likely to smile because you get the context and the reference to that meme (*these are the widely spread phrases from soviet films). There are “broad” memes, like “Luke, I am your father!” that work in the USA, Poland, and South Africa.  You know what’s interesting about this? This is what spiritual bonds are all about 🙂 A bond, a kind of link — it’s something in the mental space that nods at you: you’re in on this. I said just one word, and you already understood what’s going on, and we both felt that mental connection. So memes — they’re bonding, like nothing else, and it’s tough to force them onto people intentionally. Only what people understand, share, and approve gets memed. At the very least, they’re interested and want to know, so in each country, there will be its own bonds. For the Spanish — Cervantes and potatoes, for the Russians — Pugacheva and olivier salad. Well, figuratively speaking.

What I’m all about… These things are crucial because people are a herd, orienting their actions, views, and feelings toward the majority. Sure, there are marginalized people like me, but on the whole, people feel more comfortable when they sense the camaraderie of their comrades. If there are people nearby who think like me, act like me, talk like me, and understand my memes — it’s easier for me; I’m not alone; I’m with my own. That’s the essence of all holidays, bonds, and traditions for you.

About Traditional Holidays

Now, let’s circle back to holidays (we’ll revisit bonds in the third part). All our ancestors (I mean ALL of them, no joke) structured their holidays throughout the year based on changes in nature and its elements. The Chinese, for instance, came up with a cool thing: they stuck a big stick into the ground and marked the end of its shadow on the ground every day. Eventually, they got two semicircles, which later became the symbol of Yin and Yang, but along the way, they also figured out the solar phases. And the whole calendar of any people on Earth, along with all their holidays, is tied to these solar phases.

How it works.

In our world, there are 13 elements, with 5 of them being dense. An element is the flow of a planet’s energy that courses through all available space, forming layers that then move along with the planet. Simply put, the planet generates particles (each with its own), and they arrange like building blocks in the fabric of existence. Bodies consist of elemental slices, objects are made of them, and these 5 elements also saturate the space itself with energy of a specific frequency. There’s wooden energy, earthy, and so on. The Chinese call it Qi. For visualization, imagine that all space is filled with 5 types of sounds, like mid, high, low, etc., and each season, one type sounds loudest. And each kind of “brick” responds to its wave.

The year is divided into 5 seasons, each dominated by a specific element:

— Spring resonates with the Wood element (Jupiter)

— Summer is the season of Fire (Mars/Sun)

— Autumn is the season of Metal/Air (Venus)

— Winter resonates with the Water element (Mercury)

— In between seasons, Earth (Saturn) is active.

Qi circulates in a cycle throughout the year, passing through 12 phases that form the Wheel of the Year and all the pagan holidays in the calendar. Qi moves along with the Sun (and vice versa), so the central object of worship has always been the Sun and its entourage. In essence, ALL Earth’s polytheists throughout history celebrated the same thing, on the same dates, but under different names. For example, Imbolc, Veles Day, and the Chinese New Year are one and the same. Essentially, it’s one system describing the movement of energy in space, tied to the Sun and its phases. Since everyone sees the same Sun in the sky, even with a drop of brains, one can figure out that Yarilo, Ra, Surya, and others are the same, representing the pea of the Sun. The rest — local flavor and linguistic intricacies. In simpler terms, people gave names and identities to the PHASES of solar activity and the movement of Qi, adapting it for clarity with myths and legends. So, Perun, for example, is this dude with an axe, a stern celestial guy, and so on. He changes throughout the year — from an infant to an old man, symbolizing the phases of the Sun’s growth and waning. And each phase has a name. It was more relatable for common folks, especially back then, but the focus is still on nature, not gods — a crucial point!

Let’s explore the European names of the Wheel of the Year (+-modern, Wiccan):

At Imbolc, Qi energy infuses the atmosphere.

In Ostara, it solidifies and is sown.

At Beltane, it starts to grow.

To Litha, its growing ripe.

At Lughnasadh/Lammas, it ripens.

To Mabon, we reap the harvest of events and lines.

At Samhain/Halloween, energy in space freezes and begins to decline. Remembering the dead.

At Yule, it halts and begins to exit the atmosphere, like spent, dirty fuel. And at Imbolc, fresh, pure Qi arrives.

The Slavs celebrated all the same, neatly tying the cycle of holidays to the solar seasons:

– February 4 — Velesova Strecha, the beginning of spring and an influx of energy into the world.

– March 22 — Yarilo’s Festival, the young sun gaining strength.

– May 5 — Strecha of Dazhbog, the start of the summer season, the peak of the Fire element.

– June 22 — Kupala, the summer phase of Surya.

– August 1 — Beginning of autumn. Quite like the Chinese, noticed? Strecha of Perun, the autumn sun.

– September 22 — Day of Avsenya, the sun begins to wane.

– November 1 — Strecha of Mokosh, the beginning of winter.

– December 22 — Kolyada. The sun died and was reborn anew. Kolyada is the name of the newborn sun, that eight-pointed star you’ve all seen with the carolers.

In between, there is a sea of minor holidays, specific dates, special weeks, and such. But all of them are tied to nature and its cycles.

For nerds: these are just examples; there are hundreds of variations and dozens within one region. Each people had its own names and identities, and it’s impractical to list all variants. I want to describe the essence of the phenomenon; you’ll see why below.

I’m talking about something else. Do you see the logic here? I do. Throughout the year, something in nature is happening: snow starts melting, daylight increases and decreases, the harvest ripens, the Sun “dies and is reborn”… In short, people noticed that on the days of seasonal shifts, when the cosmic fuel starts to change/flow/fill, everyone feels a bit off. Because the space itself undergoes a slight change, and the fragile human body reacts with headaches, weakness, various apathies, and so on. That’s why, firstly, people appointed the holidays on these days, when you don’t have to work, and secondly, they tied to these days the desire to do all sorts of ritual stuff that most people find endearing. In other words, nature and the gods don’t really need these ribbons, buns, wheat bundles, calendar songs, praises of the solar… sorry, Kolyada and Yarilo. Astronomical phenomena don’t need songs about them.

But they are necessary for people.

Life is tough for people; they often feel lonely, detached from everything (correctly so!), somewhat isolated. That’s why it’s crucial for them to have these “traditions” that give them a sense of “I’m not alone, I’m part of a community, these are MY people, we sing the same songs and celebrate the same dates.” It’s a sense of having a shoulder, I would say. And no, it’s not bad; it’s beautiful. It is living human culture. Taking this away from people is impossible; otherwise, the concept of a community will crumble, the mental field will start glitching.

Plus, this whole system is closely tied to REAL, tangible things! Look, the Sun is in the sky, flowers are blooming, ladybugs are giving birth. A person looks at the sky and UNDERSTANDS what they are celebrating. They understand the simple logic of what’s happening: we harvest — we perform rituals for the harvest, treat the local spirits with pastries.

You know what’s the coolest? In this system, there are no gods 🙂 Meaning, we celebrate events in nature, assuming that numerous gods and goddesses also celebrate these events. We are part of nature, and gods are part of nature. In nature, there is no supreme, highest, most… We are all its children. It’s very simple and, at the same time, very profound.

But what happened next?…

Emmanuel, the Son of Yahveh 

In the early centuries of the Roman Empire, an extremely marginal and essentially terrorist sect emerged, advocating death and suffering. It was a super-strange and very grim cult that urged its followers to die as soon as possible, preferably in the most painful and torturous way. They incited sectarians not only to suicide and self-harm but also to such actions that the authorities (maximally loyal to various cults, by the way) were forced to execute them in the most brutal manner. This included the murder of priests and the desecration of temples.

The sect didn’t appear by chance; it was a massive project of a god named Iye Enkitakht, better known to people as Yahveh or Jehovah. Initially, his son Emmanuel decided to incarnate and have a good time among humans, but due to limited intellectual abilities, he quickly ran into problems with Roman authorities and promptly buggered off back home. Such incarnations were common in the ancient (and even modern) world, and there was nothing noteworthy about this fact. Monya himself had rather mediocre involvement in this story, which is interesting. But Iye decided to use this story to conduct another experiment on humans.

Can you completely replace the mental field with yourself? Squeeze into every nook, substitute any meaning, and make everything revolve around yourself? So that even your name doesn’t need to be spoken because everyone understands “who’s the daddy here.”

And the marginal sect got SUCH a magical pendulum, as if they had attached a rocket engine to their backsides. It’s very convenient to conquer the world when you have behind you the head of Yggdrasil and unlimited powers and resources. I would gladly take on something with such a background myself 🙂

The problem was unexpectedly with people. People love specifics and positivity, but they react poorly to abstractions and negativity. They look out the window — there’s the sun, it’s warm, everything’s good, that’s clear. But understanding that somewhere out there, some invisible spirits demand something for your intangible soul… Well, there’s no time to explain, just go die in agony! It didn’t sound great. The guys tried really hard to preach this stuff wherever they could, but it didn’t catch on, so they didn’t achieve much success at first. They were mainly popular among local masochists.

The thing is, the religion of Yahweh is very concise, even stingy; there’s nothing in it except the idea. There are no wreaths, songs, and social rituals, so dear to everyone’s heart. In short, it doesn’t build bonds at all; people have nothing to attach their lives to. You are born in sin, you don’t control your life, and you must die as soon as possible to atone for this incomprehensible sin. What about Easter cakes? What about carols? And such a concept doesn’t go well; there’s no field for uniting and something good, bright, or at least UNDERSTANDABLE.

But then someone (including Saint Justin, damn him) had a very successful idea: change the angle of persuasion! Firstly, focus on something more pleasant (then they came up with paradise and all that), secondly — don’t fight with meanings, but replace them. Many gods? No, you’re mistaken, there’s only one god, the rest are the machinations of Satan, it’s deception and a trap! At worst — they all serve the main one. People need something to celebrate? Okay, let them celebrate, weave their ribbon crap, but you know, it recently turned out that it’s not the Summer Solstice, but on this day, Saint Eusrachius did something there. It’s not Kolyada, it’s Emmanuel’s, the Son of Yahveh, birthday. And so on and so forth.

This approach worked better! Because the rituals didn’t stop.

Then something terrible happened: this crap went down with a bang to Emperor Constantine, who decided to make this concept state-approved. And during the development of replacing meanings, he decided to start shifting TRADITIONAL holidays to the new ideology. The main deity of the Roman Empire was Mithras, the Sun god (well, who would doubt it…), and when is the birth of Mithras/Kolyada for us? Exactly, on December 22, the winter sun. It was necessary to identify Emmanuel Enkitakht as a variety of Mithras, ideologically linking these two. And Constantine appointed the celebration of Emmanuel’s birthday on December 22. Then, due to the inaccuracy of the Julian calendar, the winter solstice shifted by three days and began to be celebrated on December 25. When masochists worldwide celebrate you know what.

Actually, Emmanuel was indeed born during a solstice, but the spring one 🙂 According to Ayalett, he incarnated on the night of March 22. If you remember the biblical narrative, he is always lying in a manger with hay, and around there are many little calves, lambs, and other offspring. You know when villages tie up cattle? In spring. Not in December! Because in spring, there is more vegetation, which serves as food for the livestock. And the Magi could hardly travel through the desert in winter, during the rainy season; caravans travelled in warmer times.

So, over the centuries, gradually, this religion has turned into a predatory mental parasite that tries to inscribe itself into every available cell it can find. That is, to replace names, holidays, meanings, names, traditions… Everything it finds in the mental space — to reduce it to itself. They even appropriated the ancient symbol of two crossed lines. Thus, syncretism emerged. It reminds me a lot of the monster in Carpenter’s The Thing, which didn’t eat people, but spliced them together into one meaty mess. Now, when you open Wikipedia, an article about some pantheon starts normally — gods, goddesses, the sun. The second paragraph — holidays, traditions. And in the third, it inevitably staaaarts… That every pimple on the local variety of Surya’s butt is ASSOCIATED with Emmanuel, his mother, his father, their followers, and all that. The sun doesn’t rise on its own in the morning; Monya personally turns the handle, no doubt.

And all the lovely folk traditions suddenly began to fill with alien names and meanings. The Apple Festive, Spas (or Apple Save), you go to gather apples: here are the trees, here are the fruits, here is the harvest. Everything is clear. But then comes some Saint Fofoodya, who is somehow connected with apples, and the meaning shifts from the normal to the extraneous. Carols, logically and even semantically associated with the newborn Sun — Kolyada, suddenly started to be sung in praise of the son of Iye. Maybe then sing jesusols or christols, why are they specifically carols? Because the parasite has no body of its own; it can only parasitize on others and on ready-made meanings. There is nothing under their ideology; it is empty. If you remove the pagan, solar foundation from it, it will crumble to dust.

So when I hear from some out-of-their-minds people, “to hell with your Halloween, we will celebrate our traditional holidays!” I hasten to disappoint them. What you are celebrating are non-traditional holidays. And the values are non-traditional because there are no traditions behind them, except lies and appropriation of others. These are the holidays of the Inquisition and those who invented it. You have forgotten and betrayed your true, traditional calendar dates. Lying is an unethical, disgusting, and harmful thing, and the fact that in the list of sins according to Iye there is no lying is an alarming bell. A bell ringing loudly.

Jesuit homework question: Can you name something from monotheistic religions that would be perceived by worshipers as a meme? In a friendly, everyday way, something that would be discussed at the table? Have you ever encountered such a thing? Something theological being discussed while people are sitting around? I haven’t. Everyone discusses food, feasts, parties, trips, purchases… How all this is related to Emmanuel, who died 2000 years ago — science is unaware. This is the normal theme of a pagan holiday, as needed to be proven.

“So that you, lad, could sleep on the stove in captivity”

You know what I think? People still need all these things. The sense of celebration, a feeling of belonging, connections with others, visits to friends… But here’s the question: do they even realize that another meaning, like a foolish hat, is forcibly placed on the primary one? Excessive, alien, incomprehensible, but forcibly attached to the head. Can they separate them? I believe they can. And no, there’s no need to get into arguments and disputes with those who don’t understand this; my intention is entirely different. Just be yourselves and don’t stay silent. So that there’s no feeling that the world is divided into atheists and Christians/Muslims, and there’s nothing else.

Look, people are herd animals; they have herd instincts. In simpler terms, they are largely governed by archaic, even biological patterns. The primary one being, “where is my herd?” What does the majority think and do within it? Most people base their convictions (whatever they may be) on this, not on logic or rationality.

People are inclined to change their beliefs not because someone convinced them with arguments. They change their views when they see other options, notice that “not everyone is running,” see that half the herd is heading in a different direction. In other words, by observing others, they get drawn into what the majority or at least a significant part of society is doing.

And the problem with all the neopagans, Buddhists, polytheists, and others is that they remain silent. They always remain silent! And individually, each one of them feels like they’re alone against everyone else, thinking there’s no point in saying anything, getting involved… Aunt Masha sends a Passover card, and they mutter “yeah, thanks” instead of clearly and unequivocally saying: NO. I am different. I don’t belong to this; I have these beliefs. Say this to Aunt Masha, to the entire family, to friends, write it on the internet, write it in the media… Everywhere. Create a real celebration, argue with someone about oppression, stir up a wave! There are many polytheists, but for some incomprehensible reasons, they remain silent and don’t build the connections that influence the mental. It’s like they don’t exist.

If aunt Masha sent 100 messages on Viber with angels on the card, and she received 60+ responses saying “go to hell,” an archaic (lol) ALARM would light up in Aunt Masha’s head that the herd is going somewhere she isn’t. She would start thinking. But they remain silent. They’re embarrassed, don’t want to argue, consider it useless, think they’re alone, etc. Why aren’t you ashamed to have their propaganda shoved into your ears? They are NOT ashamed, NOT afraid to say all this because the mental field has been bent to them by people like them, and they feel a shoulder nearby. But you don’t.

So, don’t present arguments to them; present yourself. Look, I exist! I’m alive, I have different views and beliefs, and there are many of us: here are our holidays, our sacred places, our names! Traditional, mind you. The loud ones need to be reckoned with. And this, by the way, works not only with religion but also with political and social ideas. Unite, build broad connections, be loud! Celebrate your own, real, alive. Let yourselves be seen, heard, and let the mental field absorb your ideas, people will be drawn to you.

Listening to lectures on biblical studies, I was struck by one moment. How monotheistic beliefs were preached in the first centuries. Passionate followers of these movements were ready to tell everyone who could listen, even to an audience of one person. Someone preached to birds in the forest when there were no people around. Funny? Not at all. It’s like a DDoS attack on the mental field! When information is thrown in tons from all sides, everyone hears it, can’t help but hear it. Whether they believe it or not is irrelevant; the main thing is that the information EXISTS, it’s visible, audible, it’s present around, and people can feel it. Here’s the key to any revolution in everyone’s minds. Take it, use it, I’m giving it away for free 🙂

Happy holidays, everyone. Happy birthday to the new Sun!

(c) Mylene Maelinhon \ Material from the project Marginal Metaphysics

Reposts of this material are welcome only with the author’s name and the source of the material specified. Information theft, text or its parts, is severely punished, and I’m not talking about lawyers. Observe honesty and respect other people’s work, and that respect will come back to you twofold.