January
2 is the Day of Destiny in Georgia – called Bedoba.
On
Bedoba a guest comes to people’s homes (usually a close friend or relative is
chosen to be the guest), bringing candies and a good omen of luck, prosperity,
and happiness. This guest is called The Mekvle. In return he or she is given a
basket of foods and/or sweets.
The
tradition is that The Mekvle has ‘happy feet’ – a good sign for the future
year. Also, Georgians believe that the following year will turn out the same
way as people spend the day on January 2 – the Day of Destiny. For example, if
the time is spent celebrating with friends and relatives, then the year will
pass with lots of social contacts and happy times. Hence Bedoba is also a day
of celebration.
And
for them the Day of Destiny – also called the Day of Luck – comes before the
Georgian Christmas. The Georgian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on 7 January
and their New Year is celebrated on 14 January (in accordance with the Julian
calendar unlike the Gregorian calendar of other cultures). However, Georgians
still celebrate the global New Year’s Eve on 31 December, so they celebrate the
advent of the year twice – because they love celebrations and fireworks!
The
image is a photograph taken at the Georgian National Museum of ‘Dancer with
Castanets’ by an unknown artist, dated during the period 1798-1834.
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The
Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012),
Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse
(2009).
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