Oral narratives of Russian old residents of Buryatiya about celebration of Christmas and Yuletide

The article deals with the oral narratives of Russians of Buryatia about the traditions of Christmas and Yuletide celebration. The analysis of the narratives shows that until the middle of the 20th century the tradition of Christianity and caroling have been actively practiced in the Baikal villages. Today the tradition of caroling revives, but loses its magical function, caroling becomes a kind of entertainment. According to the oral narratives, the tradition of Mummers' Plays still exists; it includes ritual laughter and ritual silence. One of the most important ceremonial actions of Yuletide is a fortunetelling in order to predict the future. In general, the semantics of the oral narratives of the Russian old residents of Buryatia about celebration of Christmas and Yuletide is a description of fragmentarily preserved or reviving traditional ceremonial actions associated with the Christmas-Yuletide complex.