As a world traveler the biggest joy I get in the places I've encountered is learning about the local customs, practices, and rituals. The world is such a large place and to see things up close rather than through a television screen is the way I want to experience things. I've been living in Armenia as a Peace Corps Volunteer for nearly 2 years now and been able to see most aspects of the traditions here. The dominant religion practiced in Armenia is Apostolic Christian and it is practiced quite strongly here. Last year, on New Year's Eve, I went down to the major church in the Gyumri downtown area to observe the church services and that was quite a site to see and you can read and see pictures on that from my previous travel blog too. This year, one of my friends from the local tour company invited me to come with them take part in an old pagan ritual on New Year's Eve.
My friend Anna, a local tour guide let me know that her colleagues would be going to Hatsik, a small village just a few minutes outside the city of Gyumri. They would be visiting an ancient religious site and taking part in some old pagan tradition so of course I jumped at the opportunity to witness this. Since I wasn't sure what would happen I just wanted to be surprised at what I saw.
So once we got to the area I saw the men got a fire pit assembled. The area was quite hilly and lots of picnic tables in the vicinity. I imagine that in the spring and summertime the place is quite beautiful and relaxing. As of now, it was just cold and partially filled with snow. After a few minutes, the do-it-yourself torches were lit and we walked a few minutes towards a massive rock. Along the way, we passed by many trees that were decorated with rags and plastic bags. I've seen this before at many Armenian religious sites and it represents granting a wish if you tie a piece of it to the branches. Eventually we arrived at the large rock which was named Tsak Kar (meaning hole in the rock). As you can see, there's a big hole through the rock. There's a larger hole in the back than in the front.
From here the participants took turns going through the hole. As it turns out, if you make a wish and are able to squeeze through this then it will come true! Winter jackets had to be removed to do this to have any chance of going through. The men and women took turns doing this and there was a lot of fun in their eyes and lots of laughs all around. I didn't attempt to do this because I was cold and didn't want to take off my winter coat. Afterwards, small candles were lit and placed in small mason jars. We slowly made our way back to the fire pit area where they placed candles at ever 120 degrees of the fire pit forming a triangle.
Once the fire was lit, cognac and hot tea were served to all to help them keep warm. Afterwards, they locked hands and began to dance in a large circle around the fire. It was a great spectacle to watch and this went on for quite a few minutes. They brought portable speakers too so music was blasting throughout the hills while they danced. The entire ritual took a little over an hour and it was quite an experience to witness. Since I wasn't able to see this aspect of the Armenian Christmas ritual last year it was great because I thought I had all there was too see already.
Happy traveling!
