January 26, 2020

Russians Celebrate Epiphany in Ice-Cold Water


Russians Celebrate Epiphany in Ice-Cold Water
Would you want to take a dip here? RIA Novosti archive, image #550903 / Vitaliy Ankov / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

More than two million believers took part in Epiphany Day celebrations on January 19. This holiday is dedicated to Jesus Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River.

There are many ways to mark this holiday, but they all involve water. Priests bless water, which is believed to then maintain special properties; for example, the water allegedly won’t go sour when it’s stored for long periods. In addition, it is said to heal bodily and spiritual diseases and drive away evil spirits.

There’s also a folk tradition of being immersed in ice-cold water to symbolize Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. The night before or the day of Epiphany, thousands of believers dunk themselves three times in icy water to embrace their faith. Doctors recommend no more than 30 seconds in the water, to avoid hypothermia, and suggest going in only up to one's chin, without dunking your entire head underwater. Other experts aver that there are some benefits from the cold, such as strengthening the immune system and developing the cardiovascular system.

In the week following Epiphany, many cities organized volunteer clean-up opportunities for locals to help pick up cups, slippers, towels, and other trash leftover from the celebrations. For example, in the Chelyabinsk region, around 102 baptismal-style dunkings were organized, with over 40,000 people participating. The region had a  large-sale volunteer clean-up day yesterday.

Tags: epiphany
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Murder at the Dacha

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955