Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Badnjak (Serbian)

Badnjak (Serbian)

 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page unless you are renominating the article at TFAR. For renominations, please add   to the top of the discussion and   at the bottom, then complete a new nomination underneath. To do this, see the instructions at TFAR nom/doc.

The result was: not scheduled by - Dank (push to talk) 01:22, 2 December 2023 (UTC)



The badnjak is a tree central to Serbian Christmas celebrations. It is felled on Christmas Eve morning and placed on a fire later in the day (pictured). The felling, preparation, bringing in, and laying on the fire are surrounded by rituals and prayers with regional variations. The log burns on throughout Christmas Day, when the first visitor strikes it to make sparks fly. The badnjak tradition was celebrated more publicly in the early 20th century and the Serbian Orthodox Church has organized public celebrations for these rituals since the early 1990s. The badnjak commemorates the fire that—according to Serbian folk tradition—the shepherds built where Jesus was born. The badnjak and its warmth may also symbolize the crucifixion of Jesus which made salvation possible. The tradition was inherited from the old Slavic religion, interpreted as an incarnation of the spirit of vegetation, a divinity who dies by burning to be reborn, and a method to secure the sun's power.
 * Most recent similar article(s): I went back a year and couldn't find an article about a religious festival.
 * Main editors:
 * Promoted: September 27, 2009
 * Reasons for nomination: Christmas Eve (Old Julian Calendar). TFA re-run from 2010.
 * Support as nominator. Z1720 (talk) 15:15, 29 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Coord comment: long story short:, you suggested another rerun that I couldn't use for October, Supernova. That one looks really good to me ... and January 6 (Epiphany (holiday)) would be a good date for it, since one theory about the Star of Bethlehem holds that it was a supernova. Objections, anyone? - Dank (push to talk) 17:04, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Not too bothered by whichever is chosen. Badnjak can always be used in future years. Z1720 (talk) 17:06, 27 November 2023 (UTC)