The Image of the Unholy in the Days of the Christmas Holidays in Literature and Art The Christmas holiday period, stretching from Christmas to Epiphany, was perceived in the Slavic folk tradition as a time when the boundary between the world of people and the world beyond grows thin. This allowed not only the spirits of ancestors to visit the living, but also gave relative freedom to dark, chthonic forces. The image of the unclean in the Christmas holidays is not just a symbol of evil, but a complex folklore-mythological complex, vividly reflected in Russian literature and art. In folk culture, the unclean forces during the Christmas holidays manifested themselves in two ways. On the one hand, they were dangerous: according to beliefs, during this time, demons, devils, kikimoras, and other "nonsense" were especially active, capable of harming a person, misleading, frightening. On the other hand, their activity was structured and subordinate to certain rules, making it partly predictable and even allowing it to be included in ritual practices, such as disguise. By participating in carols and revels, people, wearing masks and skins ("dress up like devils"), temporarily embody these spirits, to, on the one hand, pacify them, and on the other - neutralize them through the ritual. In 19th-century Russian literature, the Christmas uncleanliness transformed from a folklore character into a powerful artistic and philosophical symbol. A classic example is Nikolai Gogol's story "The Night Before Christmas" (1832). Here, the unclean (the devil, the witch Solocha) is depicted with a comic, almost domestic tone. The devil steals the moon, retaliates against the blacksmith Vakula, but in the end is defeated by human cunning and the power of love. Gogol masterfully weaves demonology into the fabric of folk life, showing that although the unclean is active during the Christmas holidays, it is not omnipotent before simple faith and good. A more sinister and metaphysical image appear ... Read more