Christmas date paradox and very odd Russian traditions
My son just casually destroyed my sleep with a very spot-on observation:
He said:
“So… Christians created the Gregorian calendar based on Christ’s birth and before Christ / after Christ eras…
They somehow knew the year…
…but couldn’t align the date?!
WHY December 25?!
WHY January 7?! If YOU literally invented the calendar and the numbers. Why not make the Christ Birthdate as January 1st? That would be the only logical option.
Right?”
And now I’m lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling… thinking… WHY???
But it made me think about our strange, almost alternative-timeline New Year celebrations:
As a child of the Soviet Union, I do not celebrate Christmas on December 25th. I celebrate it, but I don’t really get it. It’s not my day - no anticipation, no magic... nothing. I can easily forget about the date.
All the Christmas movies and Santa Claus magic in my mind are attached to New Year’s Eve. That’s where the magic happened - because of the date. But we also have another tradition called the Old New Year. Yes, you heard that right.
If you say to a 40+-year-old Russian, “Happy Old New Year, my friend!” before January 14, they will be shocked by your knowledge of our culture. I never questioned it - why we celebrate the OLD NEW YEAR. It was natural.
But now I understand my parents and grandparents stubbornly celebrating this strange date even more - on completely different personal level from my own experience. Because I cannot accept the “new” Christmas date (December 25th) even after 20 years of living in these traditions.
Okay. Let’s dive in:
Despite the fact that Russians celebrate Orthodox Christmas (which is today) on January 7th - and celebrate, more than anything, New Year’s Eve - I want to tell you the story of the Old New Year, which I wrote for my son to help him understand my culture and our traditions (if he even will read it 😂)
Also, the Old New Year on January 14 is the peak of a strange “calendar legacy system” - and very Russian in spirit 🙂
Here’s what it is, where it comes from, why it refused to die for more than 100 years now, and how to shock your Slavic or Eastern European friends with your knowledge of post-Soviet culture.
What is the Old New Year?
The Old New Year is New Year’s Day according to the Julian calendar, which Russia used for centuries:
- Julian New Year: January 1 (Julian) - now falls on January 14
- Gregorian New Year: January 1 (Gregorian) - January 1
- Difference today: 13 days
- Result: January 1 (Julian) = January 14 (Gregorian)
Where did it come from?
1. Russia used the Julian calendar for a very long time
Until the 20th century, Russia followed the Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. Western Europe switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1582, and eventually the rest of the world followed through colonization.
But Russia said:
“Nah, we’re good.”
For another 300+ years.
2. New Year itself was already a very late upgrade for the Russian Empire
Before Peter the Great, Russia didn’t even celebrate New Year on January 1.
- Until 1492: New Year was… September 1
- In 1700, Peter the Great said:
“We’re doing January 1 now. Like Europe.” No one liked it.
So New Year (January 1) started in Russia in 1700 - about 300 years later than in other European countries - but still on the Julian calendar, which now falls on January 14.
Bear with me. It will get clearer 😂😂😂
3. The big switch: 1918
After the revolution, the Bolsheviks finally switched to the Gregorian calendar. But it didn’t happen before December 31, which created an 11-month period filled with poverty, revolution, civil war, Red Terror, the last year of World War I, and famine.
Not really the year you would want to introduce new traditions or celebrations, right?
In 1918, Russia jumped:
- from January 31
- straight to February 14
Boom. Thirteen days deleted.
Official life moved to the Gregorian calendar.
But traditions… didn’t.
So when did the Old New Year start?
Right after 1918.
People suddenly had:
- an official New Year (January 1)
- a habitual New Year (January 14)
Everyone used old calendars. Ninety-nine percent of the population lived in poverty and famine. No one cared.
A lot happened after that — Stalinism, WWII — and through all that time, instead of choosing, Russians kept both.
So why did it survive all these years?
1. Because Russians don’t throw away good holidays
But seriously.
Lenin installed radio equipment in villages across the country to spread revolutionary propaganda, because most of the population was illiterate and couldn’t read or write. And what is a calendar? Just a piece of paper.
Churches, priests, and Christmas were outlawed for almost 70 years after that. And when you have the only celebration that is not ideological, not religious, and unites all nationalities…
If the calendar gives you two New Years —
you don’t argue.
You just accept it gratefully.
Because you have something to celebrate.
2. Because religion and culture lag behind the law
The Russian Orthodox Church stayed on the Julian calendar for religious dates. But remember: the Church was underground, and almost no one was religious in the Soviet Union until the 1990s.
Most people didn’t even know how to celebrate Christmas on January 7.
So the clear pathway became:
- Major celebration: New Year’s Eve and New Year
- Very strange date called Christmas: “Some guy was born on January 7… hmm. Okay.”
- Old New Year: January 14 — grandparents had warm, cherished memories of it as the real New Year, closer to old pagan traditions remembered for no clear reason at all
The rhythm stayed intact for centuries.
3. Because of the Soviet paradox
Remember: the USSR was officially atheist —
but New Year became the main winter family holiday.
The Old New Year turned into:
- unofficial
- cozy
- no pressure
- “leftover salads but better conversations”
A holiday without speeches, obligations, or ideology.
A truly old-generation, quiet celebration.
Cultural meaning (this is the important part)
The Old New Year is:
- quieter, more family type of celebration
- ironic (now)
- deeply domestic
- rooted in older generations and small villages
- emotionally warm
- connected to childhood memories with grandparents
It’s a truly human holiday based on old traditions.
History, tsars, and governments tried to clean up the timeline.
People decided: “We’ll keep the old traditions, even if it’s a duplicate.”
That was probably the most human calendar decision ever.
