Old New Year: rites for wishes and money

A few minutes before Old New Year (the night of January 13th to 14th) arrives, ask the Lord God for health and success in your own words, however they come. Then, at exactly midnight, light seven church candles and read the prayer “Our Father” seven times, followed by this prayer:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God. For Thou hast said with Thy most pure lips: Amen, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask, ye shall receive from My Father who is in heaven: for where two or three are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Thy words are unfailing, O Lord, Thy mercy is boundless and there is no end to Thy love for mankind. Therefore we pray Thee: grant unto us, Thy servants (name them), who have agreed to ask of Thee (state the request briefly), the fulfilment of our petition. Yet not as we will, but as Thou wilt. Thy will be done for ever and ever. Amen.”

Performed only on Old New Year. Melt down the wax of a candle and shape it into a small flat cake. Write your name on one side of it and your code number on the other. The number is found by adding up all the digits of your birth date. For example, if you were born on 6 March 1981, add up each part: 6 (day of birth) + 3 (month of birth) + 1+9+8+1 (year of birth). The result is 1, and that will be your code number. Then press into the wax cake coins you have carried on your person for a day. Keep this charm where you keep money: in a safe, a wardrobe, a wallet.

Send two envelopes with money: one to a church (find out the address in advance), and in the second send money to yourself, any amount. This is done for New Year or Old New Year — on December 31st or January 13th. Money will then be “born” to you out of nothing. As you send the money, speak the Lord's words:

“To whom the Church is no mother, to him God is no father.”

On Old New Year, come to work earlier than everyone else and read aloud:

“As the dead gnash no teeth and curse with no tongues, as they rush at none in anger, raise no hands against the living, stamp no feet, and cry out at me, so may no person for ever and ever — neither senior in rank nor junior, neither the one who counts nor the one who sweeps, nor the one who sits in the armchair — look sternly upon my face or scold me. As I have read, as I have spoken it all, so shall it be, and none shall break my spoken charm. Amen. Amen. Amen.”

If you were unable to read the New Year prayer, or ran out of time, you may read it on Old New Year:

“O Lord God, Creator and Maker of all things visible and invisible, who hast made times and seasons, bless Thyself the New Year beginning this day, which we reckon from Thine incarnation for our salvation. Grant that we may spend this year and many after it in peace and harmony with our neighbours; strengthen and spread the Holy Universal Church, which Thou Thyself didst found in Jerusalem and hallow with the saving sacrifice of Thy holy Body and most pure Blood. Exalt our homeland, keep it in peace and glorify it; grant us length of days, health, abundance of the fruits of the earth and wholesome air; keep me (name), Thy sinful servant, all my kin (their names), my neighbours and all Orthodox Christians, as our true supreme Shepherd — guard us, protect us and confirm us on the path of salvation, so that walking it after a long and prosperous life in this world, we may attain Thy Heavenly Kingdom and be granted eternal bliss with Thy saints. Amen.”

If you are unlucky in love and fortune-telling brings no comfort, you may perform what is known as the “love rite”. It is done both at Epiphany (the Blessing of the Waters) and on Old New Year (on the night of January 13th to 14th). Burn an undergarment of yours, take a little of the ash, pull three hairs from the left side of your head and roll it all into a small wax ball. At midnight, throw the ball out of the window, saying:

“I sweep away suffering and loneliness, and draw love closer to myself.”

On January 12th, without bargaining and without taking change, buy one item of underwear. Make a wish as you do. At the moment the shopkeeper hands it to you, hold your breath and say once silently to yourself:

“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit! Grant, O Lord, that this time what I (your name), prayerful, baptised, God's own, have set my mind upon may come to pass for Thy glory. Amen!”

Put the purchased garment on at sunrise and wear it when circumstances suggest your wish is about to come true.

Performed at Epiphany and on Old New Year. At midnight, take off the garment you are wearing and burn it, saying:

“I burn this garment, and drive sickness away from myself for ever.”

Bones from the festive table are not thrown away on Old New Year; in the morning they are buried in the earth beneath a tree, with these words:

“As this tree grows and grows strong, so may the health and material wellbeing of our whole family grow and grow strong.”

When all the dishes have been cleared from the table, take the tablecloth, shake it out three times and say:

“As many crumbs as lay upon this table, so much happiness may there be in our family.” It is best to shake the crumbs out outdoors.

On January 14th, slip a five-kopeck coin into the natural cracks and crevices of your home, saying as you do:

The first coin to the east side, the second to the south, the third to the north, the fourth to the west side of your dwelling.

Read lying in bed, the moment you wake on Old New Year morning. On January 13th, take spring water, pour it into a cup and set it at the head of your bed overnight into Old New Year. In the morning, wake and, without rising, take the cup in your left hand and read these words:

“From my soft bed to the clear lake, with my parents' blessing I shall draw water from the heavenly well. That water is dearer than rings of gold, lovelier than chambers of stone and cups of silver. And that water is beauty. I shall wash my fair face in it and seem lovely to young lads, old men, men in years, aged grandmothers, young maidens and widows in years — lovelier than the bright sun, the shining moon, the morning ray. May my beauty be seen by all and everyone at every time, every minute and every day, and may it sink into their hearts and eyes. Amen.”

This remedy helps a man draw beauty to himself for a whole year, and it is read only once a year. Take spring water, pour it into a cup and set it at the head of your bed overnight into Old New Year. In the morning, wake and, without rising, take the cup in your left hand and read these words:

“I, the servant (name), born of my mother, baptised by the Church, denied beauty, call upon charms to aid me, so that all may praise me and all may love me. Lord, bless me. I shall walk along the path, along the road, and there, along the path, along the road, stands a shop, and in that shop merchants trade in all manner of goods: calicoes, crimsons, silks and velvets — and I, the servant (name), have taken a liking to them, set my eyes upon them. I have wrapped myself in the bright moon, my face is the fair sun, I am strewn with the stars of heaven. And may I be so fair, beautiful, sweet and beloved, and may I be pleasing to old grandmothers and old grandfathers, to young men, young wives and fair maidens. And may I please and be loved every day, every hour, every minute, every second. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Then drink down half the cup of water at once. Pour the rest over yourself from head to foot. You must not wash that day.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I shall not open the door, I shall not lift the hook, I shall not unbolt the latch, I shall not draw the curtains, I shall not open the window, but slip out as grey smoke through the stovepipe. In the unclean field stands an unclean hut. It stands not on posts but on chicken legs. Inside the hut is a cold stove, and upon that stove, upon the devil's horns, sit a dog and a cat. They sit, scratching and clawing at each other. As they scratch and claw, spit at each other and never come peacefully to hand, so may (names) fight and spit, never come peacefully to hand, call each other names day and night in every way, spit, snarl and hate. Whatever word I have spoken or left unspoken, may the dog bark it out, the cat screech it out, and bless their parting. Key, lock, tongue. Amen. Amen. Amen.

On the night of January 13th to 14th, between ten and eleven in the evening, sit at a table in clean, preferably new clothes, with your hair loose. Bind three candles — red, white and gold — together in a bunch with red thread (measure the thread's length three times by winding it around your left wrist). Stand the candles in a glass (ideally crystal, but any will do) of water set upon a round mirror, light them and repeat these words until the candles go out:

“Power of fire, turn my beloved's love toward me. May his love be hot as flame, pure as water, and deep as a mirror. When the flame reaches the water, my labours shall be crowned with success. My word is firm.” Within a month of the rite you will meet your man — so on Valentine's Day, February 14th, you will no longer need to send hearts to an imaginary love.

That is, of course, if before performing the rite you were able to forgive all your former loves whom you still resent, to release them, and to release all your fears and doubts and the weight of your loneliness. Then all will work out. The rite holds power only once a year — on Old New Year.