intangible cultural heritage

HOLIDAYS IN DIFFERENT CULTURES

area : Podkarpackie
category : oral traditions
The phenomenon of multiculturalism of the region can be easily observed especially when you compare the calendar of holidays - folk, church, and local ones . Many of them are common to Christians from both East and West, also in terms of the hierarchy. The most important festivals are Easter and Christmas, though celebrated on different days because the Eastern Church still follows the Julian calendar, in which Christmas falls on the 7th of January.
Despite the differences, Christmas Eve remains the most special occasion. While preparing the house for Christmas, inhabitants of the region have always attached great importance to appropriate decorations – before Christmas trees became popular, people used straw, paper or crepe paper. Decorations made of wafers or autumn fruits were equally popular. Nowadays traditional decorations have become fashionable again. People decorate Christmas trees with them- especially during organized Christmas stays, where it is sometimes easier to learn about Christmas traditions than at home.

On Christmas Eve, which was a day first of fasting, then of feasting, people used to have a very ceremonial supper in the evening. It consisted of a fixed number of dishes. All the dishes had to be vegetarian but their choice depended on various factors. Even in the same village people would prepare different dishes, although many of them were common for example: sour rye soup (kisełycia in Lemko), borscht, Kutia, dumplings, peas, cabbage, noodles with poppy seeds and prune compote.

Interestingly, while in the Polish tradition twelve dishes were preferred, in many Lemko villages the odd number was considered to be the prophecy of a failure on the farm. That is why Lemkos used to prepare five, seven or nine dishes. However, the custom of covering the Christmas table with white cloth was universal, as well as the custom of spreading beneath the tablecloth bit of hay (or oats) or leaving an empty place setting for a lonely wanderer. The supper began with the breaking of a Christmas Eve wafer in the Roman Catholic homes or a prosphoron in the Eastern tradition. Everyone at the table broke off a piece and then shared a piece with each family member wishing them all the best.

It is Easter, though, not Christmas that is the most important holiday in all Christian religions. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon. Sometimes the holiday falls on the same day in both calendars. It is not only a celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus but also
a symbol of the rebirth of nature – therefore in all Christian religions baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. A traditional basket contains a sugar or leavened lamb, Babka (a sweet yeast cake) or \"Paska\" - huge bread, sprinkled with poppy seeds. The food is then eaten during the Easter Sunday breakfast and Easter eggs are used to share greetings on this occasion.

The strongest tradition is associated with decorating eggs. There are various types of Easter eggs, from classic ones - painted or created by drawing on an egg shell covered with a layer of molten wax, by kraszanki –made by boiling an egg in a decoction of natural products to oklejanki - decorated with petals of elderberry and nalepianki decorated with scraps of colorful paper or with patches of cloth.



There is another practice common for both the Roman-Catholic Church and the Eastern Church – it is the preparation of ornamental palms on Palm Sunday, known also as Flower Sunday. The palms are made from willow or hazel twigs, dried flowers and crepe ribbons. Lemkos used to add catkins to their palms as well – later on they served as a medicine for both humans and animals. Customs associated with Easter Monday were (and still are) similar in both cultures too. Young boys used to pour a bucket of water on young girls. The wetter the girl, the happier she was supposed to be - after all, it meant popularity with men.

Another corresponding custom is decorating houses with green twigs during Pentecost. They were almost everywhere - in windows, doors, walls, fences. This was to ensure fertility and protect people against the charms of evil demons. Churches perceived it as an inappropriate pagan tradition and wanted to get rid of it. Unsuccessfully – today people decorate the temples as well.

Certainly, an old custom of Sobótka (Kupala Night) must have been even less acceptable to the official Christianity. As Zygmunt Gloger, a nineteenth century Polish scholar wrote: “Sobótka is undoubtedly an old-fashioned bonfire celebration in honor of the sun, which as
a source of life-giving energy and light used to be worshipped by all ancient people”.

Sobótka called also Midsummer Night, is celebrated on the shortest night of the year, falling between 21st and 24th June. This is a multi-dimensional festival - the celebration of fire and water, the Sun and the Moon, harvest and fertility, joy and love. The best-known rituals associated with Sobótka are dancing around and jumping over the flames of bonfires and floating wreaths of flowers often lit with candles on rivers by young girls.
No to mention, an obligatory search of a magical fern flower.


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