GEORGIAN SYMBOL OF THE OLD YEAR

Abstract

The paper discusses the New Year (Christmas) traditional customs still observed in a number of parts of the highlands and lowlands of Georgia, as well as among the peoples of the Caucasus and Europe, related to so-called New Year (Christmas) large log. It is thought that this ritual is a staging of an archaic myth according to what in order to overcome the chaos created on the border of the old and new years and to establish a cosmic order the deity of thunder pierces with fire the snake, which opposes world harmony. According to Georgian data, there is no doubt that the Svan New Year log ჴuli and the Eastern Georgian logs – beberaj and satari are the symbols of the old year.