[1] The water for the dough is in some areas collected on Christmas Day before sunrise from a spring or a well, into which a handful of grain is thrown.

In eastern and southern Serbia, after they kneaded the dough for the česnica, the head of household or the woman of the house take hold with dough-stained hands of the fruit trees, beehives, and cattle to make them more productive.

In some regions, little figures carved from cornel wood, representing chickens, oxen, cows, swine, bees, and the like, are also put into the dough.

[3] In other areas, the inserted objects include grains, broad beans, walnuts, tufts of wool, twigs, and splinters from various wooden buildings.

[1] In Semberija, families insert a piece of the first splinter produced in felling the badnjak; this is done "because of bees", as the reason is traditionally termed.

[4] Before baking, the upper surface of the loaf may be inscribed with various symbols,[1] such as a Christogram, or stars, circles, and impressions of keys or combs.

The head makes the Sign of the Cross and lights a candle, before censing the gathered relatives and saying a prayer, after which they all kiss each other while saying, "Peace of God, Christ Is Born.

[1][6] Up to three pieces of the loaf may be set aside: one for the absent relatives (if there are such), one for a stranger who might join the family at the dinner, and one for the polaznik, their first visitor on Christmas Day (if he is not present).

[1] In Jadar, western Serbia, the number of embers of the badnjak equal to the sum of grain and livestock sorts grown by the family are taken out of the fire and placed on the česnica.

Saxo Grammaticus described, in the Book XIV of his Gesta Danorum, the festival of Svantovit which was held annually after harvest in front of that temple.

In one of the rituals, a round loaf of bread covered with honey, with the diameter equal to a man's height, was held vertically in front of the statue of Svantovit.