Apples, wafers dipped in honey, walnuts, poppy seed, wheat, garlic… So many houses, so many customs - especially at Christmas. In the old days, people placed fruits and legumes on the festive table in a kind of ritual way that would influence and predict the coming year. Let's see what the meaning of each of these:
WALNUT: symbolizes wisdom, in addition it prepares us for the coming year, providing vitality, protecting and energizing. It is also believed to ward off abuse and we can even use it for fortune telling. Everyone took a walnut in their hand, and whoever got the one with rotten inside was predicted to catch an illness in the new year.
ALMA: the first thing that comes to mind is Adam and Eve, Paradise and the forbidden fruit, that is, the original sin. But apples also symbolize unity, beauty, health and love. The head of the family cut the apples into slices corresponding to the number of people sitting around the table, everyone got a slice of it to make the family cohesive and whole, like an apple.
HONEY: In many houses, the first course of Christmas dinner is garlic and walnuts dipped in honey, and wafers flavored with honey. Honey was believed to sweeten life.
GARLIC: Garlic symbolized vitality. It’s beneficial effect is well-known, so it symbolized health.
WHEAT: A large bowl was placed in the middle of the dinner table or under the Christmas tree, into which wheat was also sprinkled to make the next year’s harvest good.
BEJGLI (roll): should be mentioned at least for its filling: walnuts symbolize wisdom, poppy seed symbolizes abundance, and bejgli is an indispensable part of the Christmas menu.
FISH: There is no Christmas without fish and fish soup. In addition to its religious aspect (the story of Jesus and the fishermen), the fast-moving fish was believed to stimulate the family members sitting around the festive table to progress and fast work in the new year, and the fish scales promise abundance to the people of the house for the next year.
PINE: Even in pre-Christian times, evergreen pine trees were considered magical because they do not freeze in the cold of winter, and neither do they lose their green leaves. According to Christians, the pine is a symbol of eternity, its triangle shape refers to the Holy Trinity and to the purpose of human life, to ascend to heaven.
