On Christmas Eve, Kuclos, the first star in the sky signals the end of Advent and the beginning of the Lithuanian Christmas celebration. The traditional Lithuanian Christmas, named Kaleos, is celebrated for several days and is the most important religious celebration after Easter.
Although Lithuanians living in the United States no longer adhere to all of the old customs, many folk-peasant traditions still shape the character of the Christmas celebration among Lithuanian Americans.
Like other traditions, the celebration of Christmas has evolved over time and is believed to be a combination of at least two separate events. On the one hand, Christmas is the religious festival celebrating the birth of Christ, the "Christ Mass." It also retains many of the characteristics of Yule, the mid-winter festival of the pre-Christian northern people rejoicing in the return of the sun with winter solstice.
Lithuanian traditions are rooted in Lithuanian peasant society, many dating back to pre-Christian times. In order to understand and manage the world they live in, people living off the land celebrate and ritualize nature's cycles, insuring the return of abundance. The Christmas celebration is no exception, and some background on the beliefs and structure of that peasant society will help shed light on today's customs.
Lithuanians were among the last Europeans to embrace Christianity--partly because of their geographical isolation from the rest of Europe--and their Christmas tradition, although steeped in Catholicism, retains some of its pre-Christian character.
For Lithuanians who came to the United States, the process of acculturation led to a modification of many of the old peasant ways. For those who settled in rural communities, that process was slower and less drastic than for those who moved to cities.
A dish for each apostle
In Lithuania, the Advent, the time of waiting for the birth of Christ, is marked by special prayers and fasting, a period during which people consume less dairy products and meats.
Christmas Eve day is spent in preparations for the evening feast, Kucios, and little other activity is allowed. Some activities are even considered bad omens, such as spinning, mending, or chopping wood. Grinding flour with a hand mill is believed to incur the wrath of Perkunas, the god of thunder, who will wreak havoc on the crops in the summer.
Christmas Eve is still a fasting day, and no animal by-products, except fish, are allowed at the Christmas Eve meal. Various dished made from smoked or marinated fish are served: in the United States, herring or some other type of fish; in Lithuania, most often pike.
The festivities traditionally begin with the appearance of the first star in the night sky. A festive table is set. An immaculate white tablecloth conceals a layer of straw or hay that is placed on the table to commemorate the birth in the manager. This hay is fed to the animals on Christmas Day to guarantee their productivity in the year to
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