… The article analyses the features of the pre-Christmas and New Year season that begins
on the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Using this holiday as a starting
point, the study examines the development of the folk religion in the traditional Ukrainian
calendar rituals of the pre-Christmas and New Year season, particularly on the example of
the Polaznik tradition. Notably, the traditional folk religious ideas and beliefs common for the
early-winter period (the start of a new economic year, etc.) can be traced back to as early as …