Travel.LovePoland December 2020

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PLACES AND CUSTOMSby Katarzyna SkóraKatarzyna lived almost all her life in the Low Beskids. She is particularly interested in everydaylife in the former Lemko region. The imagination plays an important role in her life, helping tofeel the atmosphere of the visited places. She is into handicrafts, and specifically crocheting.Working on various projects allows you to relax, in a sense it has become a way of life. She isalso passionate about photography. She tries to capture in her frames inanimate nature,landscapes and the transience, in the broad sense of the word. Weekly photo trips havealready become a tradition.Old Lemko traditions and Christmas Customswww.magurskiewyprawy.plLiving in their mountains, the Lemko community was often cutoff from the world by snow or rain. Due to limited interactionwith outsiders, their old rituals and customs were more easilypreserved for longer and in a fuller form. The most importantamong all Lemko’s holidays was Christmas, called Rizdwo. It isrecognized as one of the twelve great holidays. Preparations forthis holiday began well before January 7th (Christmas in theEastern rite is celebrated then, due to the use of the Juliancalendar). In the period preceding this great feast, duringAdvent, people used to gather to spin flax together. Thesemeetings were called weczirky. As a precursor to the holidayitself, there was a game called Łomanyk. According to the rulesof this game, boys used to join the girls gathered at the flaxspinning, dressed as Jews, Gypsies, bears, and rams. The youthhad fun in such a way that the boys grabbed the girls lying onthe floor by their legs and dragged them back and forth. Aparticularly important day was Christmas Eve, or Światyj Weczir.There were many traditions associated with this day and onehad to be careful not to omit any. It was believed that thedisregard of the prohibitions and orders would cause fate totake revenge on people or the entire household the followingyear.First, Lemkos used to fast on this day, just like we do. It wasforbidden to eat fresh vegetables and fruit as they werebelieved to cause ulcers. Particular care had to be taken whenlighting the fire, as blowing on the fire could cause pimples inthe coming year. Some would go to the forest or to theirneighbours to steal wood. It was not about stealing in the literalsense, but about bringing at least a stick hidden, so that no onewould notice it on their way back home. It was also believed thatborrowing money from a Jew on that special day was aguarantee of happiness.While cooking Christmas Eve dishes,women made sure that their children did not steal anythingfrom the pots, as it was believed that wolves would snatchsheep in the summer. When the bread was put into the oven, thehostess took out a few coals and assigned the names of grainsto each of them. The piece of coal with the thickest layer of ashwas regarded to be a forecast of the abundance of thatparticular grain in the upcoming harvest season.When it was getting dark, the whole family would go barefoot tothe river or stream to wash in it, "to be as healthy and as swift asthe water current". Sometimes they even went naked during suchdips! Consider the fact that in the past, the winters were harsh andcold, not like today. These days, if someone decided to take such abath that was supposed to bring health, they would most likely getsick! Then, from the cold deluge, people used to hold water in theirmouths on the way back home, and after entering the house, theyspit it out on the stove. All of that was to avoid suffering from atoothache during the coming year! To protect the animals’ health,they were given bread with garlic to taste in their stable.Whilepreparing for the supper, an unthreshed oat sheaf was placed inthe corner of the room. The host would spread hay on the table,then sprinkle it with oats, so that there would be a lot of money inthe house. Then, a tablecloth would be put on the table prepared inthis way. There had to be a few loaves of bread on the table, salton the plate, garlic, and a pot with all kinds of grains and a candle.Under the table, the host put a scythe, an axe (so that the legswould not hurt) or other objects. The items under the table weresupposed to bring good luck. For example, the flail was there toensure abundant crops to thresh next year. Twelve dishes werethen cooked for the supper. Three spoons of each dish were placedin the milk pail (dijnyczok) and later given to the cows, so that thewitch would not take the milk from them. The hostess would cut alot of bread and place it on a plate in a pyramid so that the host,sitting on the other side of the table, would not be seen throughthe bread slices. He would say, "May nobody see me in our crops inthe fields."During Christmas Eve, the Lemokos would first eatcloves of garlic dipped in salt and then the family members drank aglass of vodka for all the present and absent ones. Next, theyserved cabbage, noodles (called bobalki) with poppy seeds, cabbagerolls with mushrooms, whole potatoes, potatoes with yushka(Lemko dried fruit compote), baked apples, peas, broad beans,beans, pearl barley, groats with plums, and Lemko sour soup calledkiesełyca (made of oat leaven). The dishes were served with homemadeoil and, of course, they were eaten from one bowl. Therewere also a few rules to follow. First of all, it was not allowed to sitdown at the table with unpaid debts, and one could not lean on thetable so that the grain would not "collapse".60 TRAVEL.LOVEPOLAND
The first day of Christmas, or Rizdwo, started the weatherforecast for the whole year. Each subsequent day was supposedto forecast the weather for one month of the year. Interestingly,in the foothills area, the elderly still practice such weatherforecasting. Every year my grandmother writes down the weatherfor 12 days after "Russian holidays". Does the forecast cometrue? Maybe in a small part, but what matters is the tradition andthe willingness to continue it.On the first day of Christmas, Lemkos washed their faces withwater, into which they had previously thrown small coins.This custom was to ensure wealth. There is also such a tradition inPogórze, but this ritual is performed on Christmas Eve. In somevillages, the farmer would bring a sheep or a horse into the roomin memory of the adoration of the new-born Jesus by animals.Among Eastern Rite Catholics, carollers are very important on thefirst day of Christmas, they used to visit homes early in themorning.The second day of Christmas was called wymitny (which may betranslated as "swept") because on that day, for the first time sinceChristmas Eve, it was possible to sweep the floors. This wassupposed to be done very early in the morning. Girls threw garbagefrom the floor in the least frequented place in the orchard andthere, while pouring it out, they used to cry out in a special way,used by shepherds (which was called hiłkanie). The echo wasbelieved to indicate the direction from which her future fiancé wouldcome. It is difficult for me to say what the Lemko holidays look likenow, but their Christmas tree is certainly a little more modest thanours. There must be lights, candies and nuts on it. There is nonativity scene in the church, but an icon of the Nativity of Christ.Each believer bows in front of it and kisses it as well. Such icons arealso hung at homes.After the appearance of the first star, the headof the family begins a prayer and then shares prosphora witheveryone, which is an unleavened kind of bread, blessed in thechurch, which serves as the Christmas wafer that we know.www.magurskiewyprawy.pl61 TRAVEL.LOVEPOLAND
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M E D I A P A R T N E RLOVEPOLAND.O
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DecemberDecember 6thDecember 21st24
Page 9: photo: fotolupaphoto: emicristeapho
Page 13: St. Mary's BasilicaThe Church of th
Page 17: Motława river embankmentvisit: www
Page 21 and 22: Motława river embankmentvisit: www
Page 24 and 25: Collection of Old Polish MastersPho
Page 27 and 28: Photo: Mariusz Cieszewski / www.pol
Page 29 and 30: a book for childrenGET YOUR COPY AT
Page 31 and 32: ELKS IN MARSH MARIGOLDS.WHAT IS BIE
Page 33 and 34: story and photography by: Magdalena
Page 35: story and photography by: Magdalena
Page 41 and 42: WINTER SKIRMISHESTHE PEARL OF THE P
Page 43: WINTER BIRDSMost of the birds that
Page 51: photos: M. Ciszewski, polska.plAt t
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Page 62 and 63: www.magurskiewyprawy.plThe custom o
Page 65 and 66: Tylicz TOURIST ATTRACTIONSText: www
Page 67: photo:Konrad RogozinksiTourist Sett
Page 71 and 72: photo: Konrad Rogozińskiwww.odkryj
Page 73 and 74: Tatra Mountains differ from the Alp
Page 79: Near Kasprowy Wierch - wavesŁukasz
Page 82: view from Kasprowy WierchŁukasz So
Page 85 and 86: in Poland, we encourage you to visi
Page 87 and 88: Tatra OUTDOORPhoto: Mariusz Cieszew
Page 89 and 90: Walk: Chochołowska Valley to the S
Page 92 and 93: In both periods, Zakopane had its o
Page 94 and 95: "Ecce Homo"Hermitage St. brother Al
Page 96 and 97: BrotherSaintAlbertTrue culturalconn
Page 99 and 100: PHOTO GALLERYC H R I S T M A S S T
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photos: KAMILA ROSIŃSKAwww.faceboo
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BOŻONARODZENIOWE OPOWIEŚCI - CZYT
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PHOTO GALLERYC H R I S T M A S S T
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traditionsChristmas hay and plant e
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Christmas kitchen KUTIA
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photo: Magdalena Tomaszewska-Bolał
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Wrocław6. Szklarska Poręba9. Bia
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Travel.LovePoland December 2020

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