What do you know about Orthodox Traditions?
No, I’m not crazy?
Which were your first thoughts when you saw a girl in a swimsuit, walking into freezing water?
Maybe she’s lost the bet? Or maybe she participates in some weird kind of sport? Or maybe that ice is not real and what we see is a thermal pool?
Oh, no, my dear friends. I assure you that water is terribly cold.
But what could force me to do that?
Well, to explain that, we have to go back in time a bit.
Actually, I hate cold water. Even in summer, having vacation at the seashore of Thailand I may just lie on a beach if water isn’t warm enough for me.
But one April day, when I was in Cyprus, I saw kids who were swimming, jumping and laughing in the sea. One more time, April – not the best time to bathe. But those little energizers didn’t mind breezy weather at all!? Children always amaze me. No, seriously, how do they do it? ? What’s the secret? Sometimes it seems to me that at some point of our lives this skill is being erased from the hypothalamus and sinks into oblivion, like mysteries of ancient civilizations. Indeed, remember yourself as a child – we all swam till our lips turned blue because of the cold, and we cried if parents told us to come ashore. So, when does these changes appear? Why? Give my walrus skill back ?!
That idea stuck in my mind for years.
After coming back from China in January, all stars were aligned. I remembered about one ancient Slavonic tradition that is rare to be followed nowadays, but if it was easy to walk over the hot coals (that’s another story), why not ??
Orthodox Christians celebrate a holiday/feast of baptising on January 19.
Our ancestors believed that this day water in lakes, rivers and seas becomes healing. So, no matter which weather greets you outside – just go and get your blessing ?!
Hmm… To overcome your fear and pay tribute to old traditions on such a day is not the worst decision, isn’t it?
Every year some particularly brave people break the ice and bathe in the Dnieper river, and in 2018 I joined the adventure.
So, how was that?
Actually, it’s not so scary as it seems. And it was much colder to stand on ice with bare feet waiting for our turn (yes, there were dozens of people?) than to bathe.
First few seconds it is super freezing, as if thousand of needles stick into your body, but then you feel relief and after having a dip you simply relax, both physically and mentally.
P.S. I neither got a cold nor fell sick. Only excited with energy I received.
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1 Comment
Crazy