The Orthodox Christian Celebration Of Epiphany In Russia

The word Orthodox is derived from the Greek word orthos and doxa. In Greek, Orthos means straight, upright, right, and correct and doxa means teaching or worshipping. This would make the direct translation of Orthodox Christianity to be the “correct teachings” of Jesus Christ. The Orthodox Church is directly tied to the early church. The early church was founded about 30 or so years after Jesus was Crucified and Resurrected.

To be an orthodox Christian is to be someone who faithfully follows the beliefs, practices and teachings provided to them by the early church through the first seven ecumenical councils.

These councils were meetings held by the bishops of the early church to discuss the creed of the church.

Orthodox Christianity, like other Christian denominations is founded by Jesus Christ and guided by his teachings. However, what sets the orthodox church apart from other denominations such as the Roman Catholic church is that the orthodox church believes Jesus to be the supreme power in the church while the roman catholic church believes the pope is the supreme power and ultimate authority in the church.

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Today, most Orthodox Christians reside in Russia. Russian Orthodox is one of the largest autocephalous or “self-governing” orthodox Christian churches. In this essay I will be interviewing my coworker Dayan about what it is like growing up in Russia as an orthodox Christian. But more specifically, on what it is like celebrating Epiphany also known as Theophany in Russia and the symbolic significance of water.

Before we get into the interview with Dayan, I want to give a little background on Epiphany in the orthodox church.

Epiphany is considered to be a periodic ritual. According to Rebecca and Philip Stein, a ritual in terms of religion, is the use of religious symbols such as prayers, offerings, and readings of sacred literature. A periodic ritual is a ritual in which an important event in history is commemorated at the same time every year. In the text we talk about, the significance of time and space as symbols in rituals. So, every year on January 19 according to the Julian calendar, Russian Orthodox Christians celebrate Epiphany by taking a swim in ice holes in subzero temperature. This ritual is symbolic for the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan river when he was revealed as the son of God and savior of the people. Many describes the experience as electrifying and sometimes trance-like where for 20-30 seconds the enter an altered state of consciousness. Dayan told me he couldn’t agree more.

Dayan is a 36-year-old man brought up in St. Petersburg Russia which is the former capital of the Russian empire and one of the world’s major cities. Dayan’s family are devout Orthodox Christians, however, although he was familiar with the basic tenets of the religion, he did not take much interest. With that in mind, I began to question him on what epiphany is and its significance. Dayan proceeded to tell me that Epiphany is a celebration and in which we celebrate the religious myth of Jesus Christ’s baptism by john the Baptist in the Jordan river. Dayan also mention that Epiphany is also recognized as “three kings’ day” in which three wise men visit baby Jesus and reveal him as the messiah. One thing that is clear between the two, is the central focus of Jesus being revealed as the father, the son and the holy spirit.

I then asked Dayan how him and his family celebrated Epiphany and what rituals they participated. Dayan told me that when he was younger, around 7 or 8 he remembered going to these very long prayers in which people including his family would draw water and have it blessed by the bishop and then brought home. He vaguely remembers, his parents having him drink the blessed water whenever something big was happening. Such as the first day of school or when he was sick. When he got older and started paying attention more, he started asking questions for example what it meant when the bishop blesses the water? Dayan’s parents explained to him by blessing the water it becomes the water from the Jordan river in which as we know now is the river Jesus was baptized in. Drinking the water is a way of cleansing oneself. As Dayan got older, he felt that the blessing of the water did not turn the water but instead it was symbolic for the Jordan. He never shared that realization with his family because to them it was real just like when they received and body and blood of Jesus Christ for communion which again his understanding is that the bread and wine symbolizes the body of Christ.

Aside from the feast, every year on January 19, him and his brother would wake up bright and early to go to the lake by his brother’s friend’s house and they would all start chiseling the ice to form a hole and then they would all jump in and see who could stay in the freezing cold water the longest. Dayan knew it was dangerous but in hindsight, neither of them lasted very long and by the end of it they were shriveled mess lying next to the fire at the house.

As Dayan and his brothers got older, their dad would take them to a lake with the church and they would stand and wait for the religious specialist, which is the bishop, to bless the water. Once that was done, they were instructed to dip into the water three times. I started to notice a pattern. Dayan had mentioned the number three quite a few times. I asked what the significance of dipping in the water three times was. He referred back to “three kings’ day” and told me that each dip was to symbolize a king and in the same way each dip symbolize the trinity. From there, Dayan began to tell me his recent experience in turkey. He and his wife took a trip to Turkey to visit his in-laws. They decided the best time to go would when his kids were on Christmas break. His in laws were also Orthodox Christians so around this like him and his family would. They went to the prayers and draw water to have blessed for the year. He found it interesting that they shared the same religion but had many differences. For example, before you jump in the water and after the bishop blesses the water, he also blessed a small wooden cross. The practitioners were then tasked to retrieve the cross and whoever finds the cross first will have a year of blessings.

One question still remained unanswered... why? Dayan laughed and told me he had no idea. When he did it with his brothers at the friend’s lake, it was just for fun and to be boys. They had seen the adults do and wanted to do it. When he was older, he was told it was to cleanse him of sins and to be blessed and good luck and such and such and such but he felt no different from the day before, besides the fact that he was freezing his tails off.

I asked Dayan if he still considered himself to be orthodox because I noticed his answers were nonchalant and he said yes. However, he believes he has a more realistic approach. For example, he recognizes that celebration like epiphany are symbolic to a myth. And Rituals such as the ice baths were just to build morality and strength not because it will bring you blessings and luck because things like luck doesn’t exist. And what about the trance like state? I asked. He said that is very real, but he also gave an answer similar to the text by the stein’s which is that with a certain level of pain or extreme physical conditions, you are bound to experience what feels like an altered state of consciousness. I asked why he is skeptical about everything else and he says that altered states of consciousness is scientifically proven and he felt myths weren’t.

My interview with Dayan was interesting. As someone who does not have a religious faith, I found we were similar in some ways. For example, the skepticisms, the lack of definitive answers and the will to question everything and anything. From this interview, I learned that Epiphany is symbolic for the three kings and also the baptism of Jesus. Which is where the significance of water comes into play. The blessing of the water is symbolizing the water of the Jordan river. Which has healing and restorative powers that lasts the whole year when bottled. I learned that the ritual of taking an ice bath is to strengthen faith and reach some state of consciousness where things like sin, guilt and regret are washed away and, in a way, you are reborn into a better version of yourself.