What kind of holiday is the Epiphany of the Lord?
A person far from religion may ask: How can Jesus Christ be baptized if newly converted Christians are baptized in his name (in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit)? Moreover, he accepted this at the age of 30, at the very beginning of his preaching work and long before his death on the cross, from which the word “baptize” comes.
In fact, this tradition goes back a long way and is older than Christianity itself. In Judaism, symbolic bathing (ablution) has existed from time immemorial to cleanse from ritual impurity, without which in ancient times it was impossible to participate in worship..
John the Baptist approached this ritual in a new way and preached the importance of repentance in life even before Jesus preached. The saint dipped people in water as a sign of cleansing from sins. It was he who baptized the Son of God in the Jordan River. At that moment, according to the Gospels, the Holy Spirit descended on Christ and he began his earthly messianic path.
It is interesting that the use of the word “baptism” to designate this sacrament is a feature of Slavic Orthodox terminology. In the original Greek it was called βάπτισμα, which sounds like and means “vaptisma.” water immersion.
Folk tradition of diving into an ice hole
In honor of the baptism of Christ in Jordan, a tradition of folk ritual bathing arose. The Orthodox feast of Epiphany is celebrated on January 19 or January 6 according to the old style. Since the weather is cold in most of Russia in January, this tradition in our country is diving into the ice hole. In southern countries such as Bulgaria, Epiphany bathing is done in open water. It is important to remember that this is a folk tradition, not a church service.
Since the Middle Ages, the official church has held a water consecration prayer over a hole carved in the ice on the feast of the Epiphany. (clear water area in the ice cap) in the shape of a cross called Jordan. An important part of the ritual was the immersion of the cross in water, which sanctifies it. A portable chapel was placed above the Epiphany ice pit and a religious procession was held around it.
At this point the religious part of the event ended and the folklore part began, which the church largely condemned. Thus the Orthodox thinker Sergei Bulgakov thoughtthat the custom of swimming in an ice pit was an attempt to seduce God.
For an unprepared person, diving into cold water is dangerous, and consciously taking risks in the hope that God will perform a miracle and save a person in honor of the holiday is a sin in itself.
But the Slavic folk tradition existed separately from the official church and named this holiday. Vodokreşçi. People gave this day a special, largely pagan content, supposedly at this time “the sky opens” and the water in the Epiphany water bowl can spontaneously mix if you look at it with faith. According to legend, bathing in holy water allowed the sick to heal and the healthy to get rid of spiritual pollution.
What is Doctor saying
As Lyudmila Salatinatina, cardiologist and functional diagnostician at the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Central Epidemiological Research Institute of Rospotrebnadzor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, explained to socialbites.ca, the folk tradition of diving into an ice hole is remote. It is harmless, so most doctors do not support it. It is they who face an increase in inflammatory diseases and exacerbation of chronic diseases after such baths.
“Those who love epiphany baths experience exacerbation of sinusitis (inflammation of the mucous membrane of the paranasal sinuses) and laryngitis appears (inflammation of the laryngeal mucosa). In men, cystitis and prostatitis worsen (the treatment of which then takes a very long time), and in women – adnexitis (inflammation of the fallopian tubes and ovaries). Rheumatologists see inflammation flare up in the joints. It can take up to six months or longer to get rid of them,” warns Salamatina.
When immersed in icy water, the body experiences severe stress – cold shock. And the reaction to shock is a typical pathological process.
The doctor emphasizes that diving is especially undesirable for unprepared people if they have not hardened their body before.
“When immersed in cold water, a sharp constriction occurs in the superficial vessels of the skin and subcutaneous fat, as the body reflexively tries to reduce heat transfer. In addition, at the initial stage there is a sharp release of adrenaline, which causes an increase in positive emotions. And then negative reactions to blood redistribution and adrenaline develop. First of all, blood pressure rises sharply and heart rate accelerates, vessels experience tremendous hemodynamic stress. And if they have a defect, they are destroyed or even ruptured and blood clots form.. This is a direct path to hemorrhages and thrombosis: the risk of stroke and heart attack in any organ increases sharply. From here it becomes clear that swimming in icy water is life-threatening for people with chronic cardiovascular diseases,” explains Salatina.
According to him, it is extremely undesirable for those who have problems with the immune system to dive into the ice hole: those who often suffer from colds, cancer patients, those with allergic and autoimmune diseases, chronic diseases of the respiratory system and those infected with HIV. Additionally, swimming in an ice pit is contraindicated for people suffering from coronavirus infection. For them, Covid-19 is a serious blow to the immune system, and there is absolutely no need to further damage the immune system by diving into an ice hole.
“Those who think that swimming in the ice pit will help restore immunity after Covid-19 are mistaken; the body cannot cope with such a load,” says the cardiologist.
The second danger of cold shock for an unprepared person is a sudden reflexive stop of breathing.As a result, the person loses consciousness. This happens at the speed of light. As consciousness turns off, the person begins to go underwater. Therefore, you can drown in an ice hole.
There is still a group of people who can afford an Epiphany bath. These are the so-called walruses – people who swim in winter – a special type of hardening, after which the body is ready for this type of shock. According to Salatinatina, it is in them that immunity is strengthened. This really happens, but only under the condition that a person is constantly engaged in swimming in winter.
If you decide to dive into the ice hole despite all the warnings, you must follow a few rules.
- The stay in icy water should ideally be 30-60 seconds, no more.
- You need to undress slowly and immerse yourself in the font.
“First you have to take off your trousers, then your hat. Take off your jacket, then your shoes and socks. It is not recommended to wet your head and face, especially the back of the head, where the brainstem is located – the heart and respiratory centers are located here.
- “After diving, you should immediately go to a warm room, dry your body, quickly put on woolen and cotton fabrics and drink warm liquid,” says Salatinatina.
It is also important to remember that drinking alcohol after such a cold shock is strictly contraindicated.