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Polish customs, especially at
Christmas time, are both beautiful and
meaningful.
The
preparations for Christmas
begin many days before the actual celebration. Nearly everywhere women are
cleaning windows in apartments and houses just before Christmas. The
insides of the houses are also cleaned thoroughly. It is believed that if
a house is dirty on Christmas Eve, it will remain dirty
all next year.
Weather-forecasting is quite popular during Christmas. Everything that happens on Christmas, including the weather, has an impact on the following year. The weather on Easter and throughout the next year supposedly depends upon the weather on Christmas (snow, rain etc). Only a white Christmas is considered a real Christmas; therefore, everybody is happy when there is fresh snow outside.
Some
ceremonies take place before the Christmas Eve supper. Among farmers, a popular
ritual is the blessing of the fields with holy water and the placing of crosses
made from straw into the four corners. It is also believed that
animals can speak with a human voice.
Straw
is put under white tablecloth. Some maidens predict their
future from the straw. After supper, they pull out blades of straw
from beneath the tablecloth. A green one foretells marriage; a
withered one signifies waiting; a yellow one predicts spinsterhood; and
a very short one foreshadows an
early grave.
Poles
are famous for their hospitality, especially during Christmas. In
Poland, an additional seat is kept
for somebody unknown at the supper table. No one should be left alone at
Christmas, so strangers are welcomed to the Christmas supper.
This is to remind us that Mary and Joseph were also looking for shelter.
In Poland, several homeless people were interviewed
after Christmas. Some of them were invited to strangers' houses for
Christmas; others that were not asked inside the homes but were given lots of food. It
is still strongly believed that whatever occurs on Wigilia
(Christmas Eve) has an impact on the coming year. So, if an
argument should
arise, a quarrelsome and troublesome year will follow. In the
morning, if the first visiting person is a man, it means good luck; if
the visitor is a
woman, one might expect misfortune. Everyone, however, is glad when a
mailman comes by, for this signifies money and success in the future. To
assure good luck and to keep evil outside, a branch of mistletoe is hung
above the front door. Finally, old grudges should end. If,
for some reason, you do not speak with your neighbor, now is the time
to forget old ill feelings and to exchange good wishes.
Christmas Day, called the first holiday
by the Poles, is spent with the family at home. No visiting, cleaning, nor cooking
are allowed on that day; only previously cooked food is heated.
This is a day of enjoyment, for Jesus was born. On Christmas Day,
people start to observe the weather very closely. It is believed that
each day foretells the weather for a certain month of the following year.
Christmas Day predicts January's weather, St. Stephen's Day impacts
February's,
etc. St.
Stephen's Day is known as the second holiday.
This is a day for visiting and exchanging Christmas greetings. When
night begins to fall, you can hear stamping and jingling, followed by
Christmas carol singing outside. Carolers begin their wandering from home to home.
Herody, a
The
Breaking of the Oplatek The
oplatek is a thin wafer made of flour and water. For table
use, it is white. In Poland, colored wafers are used to make Christmas
tree decorations. In the past, the wafers were baked by organists or by
religious and were distributed from house to house in the parish during
Advent. Today, they are produced commercially and are sold in religious
stores and houses. Sometimes an oplatek is sent in a greeting
card to loved ones away from home. On
Christmas Eve, the whole family
gathers and waits impatiently for the appearance of the first star. With
its first gleam, they all approach a table covered with hay and a snow-white tablecloth. A vacant chair and a place setting
are reserved for an unexpected guest, always provided for in hospitable Polish homes. The
father or eldest member of the family reaches for the wafer, breaks it
in half and gives one half to the mother. Then, each of them breaks a
small part from each other's piece. They wish one another a long life, good
health, joy and happiness, not only for the holiday season, but also for the
new year and for many years to come. This ceremony is
repeated between the parents and their children as well as among the |
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