How did the custom of shouting "Bitter!"at weddings appear?
The wedding cry "Bitter!" has been heard at Russian weddings for more than one century. Everyone is so used to it that no one has any questions about its meaning. For us, this is a traditional cry, under which the newlyweds kiss, and the guests once again drink. But, as it turned out, there are interesting and very ancient customs behind this tradition.
You will not find a clear explanation of where the wedding cry came from anywhere. There are three main versions of the origin of the exclamation, and all of them are quite plausible and have their roots in pre-Christian times.
You will be surprised, but once the Slavs shouted not " Bitterly!", but " Gorka!". The Slavs played weddings in late autumn or winter, when the main peasant affairs related to the harvest were completed. For the ceremony, an ice slide was built near the bride's house, on top of which the bride and her bridesmaids were placed.
The task of the second team, which, as you may have guessed, included the groom and his comrades, was to climb up the icy slopes. While the guys were overcoming the obstacle, the guests watched the process with interest and encouraged the test participants with shouts of " Slide!"
After reaching the top, the groom kissed the bride, and his companions-girlfriends. After that, the whole company rolled down the hill with laughter and then the wedding went on as usual. Over time, the ice slide disappeared from the rite, but the cry remained, although in a somewhat modified form.
The second version says that the purpose of the exclamations "Bitterly!" used to be the deception of all kinds of evil spirits, in which our ancestors believed. It was believed that many spirits gathered at weddings to do mischief there and prevent people from having fun. In order to mislead the evil spirits and make it clear that nothing pleasant is happening at the moment, the guests shouted "Bitterly!" at the most crucial moments when the newlyweds were kissing.
Our ancestors believed that the damage and the evil eye from the bride and groom can be removed in such a simple way. Some authoritative sources also claim that a long time ago, "Bitterly!" was shouted not only to the young, but also... to the bride and guests. The girl had to go around with a tray of all those present and they threw her money, and after that they drank a glass of alcohol to shouts of "Bitter!" and kissed the bride. Over time, this custom, hardly pleasant for the groom, was abolished, and the custom of shouting remained.
The third explanation is the most romantic. Some experts on the rituals of the Slavs believe that the exclamation " Bitterly! "was supposed to remind the newlyweds of those" joyless " times when they were not yet a couple and did not illuminate each other's fate with their presence. It was necessary to kiss in order to leave all the sad memories in the past, the bitter is gone, and only sweet and pleasant things remain in life.
A real Chechen wedding is completely different from a Slavic one — this people have many unique and interesting customs of their own.
Keywords: Groom | Bride | Ceremony | Custom | Russian | Wedding | Slavs