erasmus + youth exchange
4 SEASONS OF UNDERSTANDING
past and present traditions linked to the 4 seasons of the year from Poland, Hungary, Lithuania and North Macedonia
Dear Reader,
We invite you to a journey through the 4 seasons of the year in 4 countries: Poland, Hungary, Lithuania and North Macedonia. This journey is about culture, human nature, beauty of differences and tolerance. Have a look and compare to your country, region, family. Are there any customs that you are missing or you would like to adapt? What do they mean nowadays? What can we learn from our ancestors and from different cultures? Let's go!
About the project:
The main aim of the project "4 seasons of understanding" was to talk, exchange experiences and reflect on folk traditions related to the 4 seasons of the year from different countries and cultures, as well as to establish mutual understanding and understanding for cultures other than ours. For 7 days 35 young people with their leaders were dansing, singing, crafting together and sharing their thoughts and feelings with each other by the lake of Przywidz in Kashubia region, Poland.
Drowning of Marzanna aka Bye winter!
Each year, around the spring equinox, conventionally on 21st of March arriving to Poland you can see colourful pageants heading to the lakes, rivers or other water tanks. These processions are nowadays mainly consisted of kindergarten or primary school students and their teachers. They carry Marzanna with them. Who is she, you may ask. Marzanna is a human looking effigy traditionally made of straws, wood and dressed in old clothes, historically traditional clothes from a certain region. Moreover, the procession does not end happily for her.
Marzanna symbolises Winter, the season which people are fed up already, season in which all the supplies ended, the sun was hidden most of the time and the world looked quite dead. Marzanna, presumably personify Slavic goddess, lady of the death and afterlife. The name itself comes from Slavic ‘mar” or “mor”, which means death and suggests the connection with death and afterlife. The first written sources about Morena cult comes from XII century, back then the goddess was being compared to the well-known roman Hekate.
The effigy of Marzanna is supposed to be either burned or drown in the river which symbolises end of winter and welcomes spring time. The ritual dates back to preChristian era and as it happens with many as such, the Catholic Church has tried to eradicate it by replacing Marzanna with an effigy of Judas being thrown from either church tower or other high point. How did it turn out? Well, ask some Polish person if they ever seen Judas throwing. Surprisingly, in the past this ritual was performed by young adults and banned for children. Nowadays, children took over. The question of our times is how to ensure ecological safety and respect to the nature while drowning something in the river or burning specific fabrics. If we want to keep drowning Marzanna, the effigy should be made of disposable, environmental friendly materials, for sure. And you? Do you have such ritual in your culture?
Eastern Monday (sprinkling)
One of the most colorful Hungarian folk traditions is the custom of Easter. The most popular tradition is Easter Monday, which is really unique.
At Easter, girls paint or dye eggs to different colors (the most popular is red), and prepare traditional festive dishes (paprika sausages, cooked ham, hardboiled eggs, milk loaf and different dessers such as bejgli or zserbó).
On Easter Monday, they dress up in festive clothes, and wait for the boys to visit and sprinkle them. Back in the old days, men were allowed to throw a bucket of cold water over girls of marriageable age. Today, men still do the sprinkling, but instead of water, they mainly use some kind of perfume. Although there are villages where people still use water. to preserve the tradition. After the sprinkling, girls give painted eggs to the boys.
Nowadays, this tradition is popular only at the countryside, but if you want to take part in a traditional Easter celebration, make sure to visit Hollókő. This lovely old village was preserved in its old-world charm, and on Easter, locals always wear their colorful, traditional clothing, welcoming visitors to celebrate together.
“UŽGAVĖNĖS”
is a celebration of the end of winter. The focus is on rites and spells that drive out the demons of winter and awaken the frostbound earth from its sleep, giving it the power of fertility, and reviving the life force of spring. Unmarried people are specially made fun of (wooden blocks, ash bags, herring heads, etc. are attached to their clothes).
Hard work was not done on this day. It is said that if you work hard (milling, sewing, weaving) during Užgavėnės, you will not have rest during the whole year, and you will not finish your work.
Women used to prepare a lot of meat, baked pancakes, and buns because people would have to eat seven, nine, or even twelve times a day! The next day is called “ash day” (“pelenų diena”), you must not eat meat until Easter. It was believed that if you are full during Užgavėnės, you will be full all year round. There is also a ceremonial meal “šiupinys”. It’s a mixture of boiled peas, beans, grits, and potatoes with a pig's tail or head.
After a good lunch people would go around the village. Both old and young used to go around the fields, to other villages and as far as possible. And you could expect an even better harvest after falling off the sled and rolling in the snow. The more often you fall, the better.
All kinds of frightening costumes and masks appear on this day in a joyful parade, dances, and competitions – animals (goats, bears, storks, horses), mythological creatures (witches, devils, grim reaper), brides, and grooms.
On Užgavėnės day people would build and burn a sculpture called “Morė” – the creature of darkness and winter. This tradition symbolizes the end of winter and all misfortunes.
There is a staged battle between two characters - “Kanapinis” (“hempen man”) personifying spring, and “Lašininis” (“porky”) personifying winter. Lašininis and Kanapinis usually wrestle until Kanapinis finally wins. This tradition symbolizes the struggle of winter, which does not want to leave, against spring, which is longed for by the people.
In Vilnius we also celebrate Užgavėnės. It changed the appearance, but the meaning remains the same.
Procka
For our spring workshop we presented about Procka (forgiveness day). Firstly we explained shortly about this holiday and then we proceeded with showing the traditions. The main purpose of Procka is that the younger family members are going to the older ones and asking for forgiveness. Afterwards we showed two traditions connected to Forgiveness day. We tied eggs with strings and attached them to a rolling pin (as we do traditionally) and came up to participants while swinging the egg so they could catch it with their mouth. After we were done, we explained why we do this and went outside to show another tradition connected to Procka. We lit a fire and every participant jumped over the fire. An explanation about why we do this followed and we summed everything up.
Kupala Night (Noc Kupały)
is a pagan Slavic celebration of the summer solstice, connected with fire, water and fertility.
After Christianity was introduced to Poland, the Church tried to eliminate the pagan celebration, but the attempts were unsuccessful. Instead, the Church set up a new Christian holiday - Saint John's Eve and absorbed some of the pagan rites.
Like every celebration, Kupa}a Night had a set of celebrations, including ritual baths, making bonfires, dancing and singing. Young couples could jump together over bonfiresif the jump was successful, it would be a lasting relationship. Unmarried girls made flower crowns and later threw it into waterthe trajectory of the flower crown predicted whether the girl would get married in the upcoming year. Boys could catch the flower crowns of the girls they were interested in.
Kupala Night was also believed to be the only day of the year when the fern flower bloomed - the flower was supposed to grant prosperity to the person who found it. Many people went into forests in hopes of finding the flower, or just in hopes of spending some time with their lovers.
Pentacos
On this Pentecost tradition we choose a Pentecost King. We organize a competition with different tasks for example carrying heavy trees. The King will be the most skillful person. Later he leads the other and should be invited in every marriage in the village. In the pubs he can drink freely. The period of this King status was from one week to one year depends on the region.
“RASOS”
is a Midsummer festival (or Kupolės, which became known as St John's Day after the introduction of Christianity), distinguished by its abundance of customs, beliefs, and ceremonial activities. They signify the highest rising of the sun, the longest day, the greatest flowering of vegetation and vital forces, and the harmony of nature and people.
Vegetation is given special importance. Herbs gathered on the longest day have extraordinary magical powers. The gathering of herbs on the eve of a festival or the morning before sunrise is known as “kupoliavimas”. Various writings refer to St John's wort, chamomile, and blue and yellow flowering herbs as “kupolės” in various writings. At Rasos festival girls weave them into flower crowns. Traditionally unmarried girls throw their flower crowns on a wooden pole with branches to see if they will marry this year. Later in the evening, everyone goes to the water (lake, river, or sea) and flows their flower crowns into the water.
The Rasos Festival ceremonies end in the evening around a bonfire. People sit around the bonfires until sunrise. Not only bonfires are lit - but it is also an old custom to build a tall pole, put a wheel or a hub on it and set it on fire. The wheel symbolizes the Sun or its chariot. Water is particularly important in the celebration of the summer solstice. On the eve of Rasos, or early in the morning before sunset, people go for a swim. In the old times, animals would also be bathed on this day. Farmers would round the crops that morning, while others would go out into the rye field to shake off the dew and increase the yield.
Galicka Wedding
As a country which is known for sunny days it quite doesn’t disappoint with its summer traditions. “The Galicka Wedding” is one of the most prominent and unique events in the whole world. Requirements to participate in this wedding is to be from Galicnik or to have parents who have lived there. Because of its historic significance we were curious about how people from other cultures perceive this wedding. That’s why we gave the participants 20 minutes to create a role-play using their imagination about how the whole tradition plays out.
Dziady
Dziady, sometimes translated as Forefathers’ Eve is a term in Slavic folklore. Dziady were celebrated on the night from October 31 to November 1. It means spirits of the ancestors and rituals dedicated to them. The point of the celebration is "communion of the living with the dead".
The aim of the rituals was to win the favor of the dead, who were considered to be caretakers in the sphere of fertility. The name "dziady" was used in particular dialects mainly in Poland, Belarus, Polesia, Russia and Ukraine, but under different other names (pomynky, przewody, radonitsa, zaduszki) there were very similar ritual practices, common among Slavs and Balts. Within the framework of grandfather's rituals, the souls coming to "this world" had to be hosted in order to secure their favour and at the same time help them to achieve peace in the hereafter. They were feeding and watering souls with for example honey, groats, eggs, forge and vodka. The folk ritual of the dziady became an inspiration for the Adam Mickiewicz's Dziady, the central motif of which are the scenes of summoning souls during the village congregation.
Nowadays we celebrate this holiday on November 1st(All Saints) and 2nd(All Souls).
Nowadays we put light on the graves of our ancestors on those days.
Grape harvest in Hungary
The harvest is a hard work and a celebration at the same time. This is when the time of winemaking arrives. People collect the bunches of grapes, filter the grape juice, prepare for further work. Harvest used to be a social event that families remembered and prepared for a whole year. At the time, it was a celebration of a whole communityvillages, vineyards - closed by ball at the end of the day. Most traditions are still alive today.
The date of harvest is tied to some famous day, from the day of St. Michael (Sept. 29) to the day of Simon-Judas (Oct. 28). This date varies from region to region, taking into account weather conditions, typical grape varieties and other factors.
Traditionally, harvesting started with noise, rioting, or gunfire. Only then did the work begin. It was the girls, the women who picked the crop, and then the men gathered it and pressed it down. It was natural that the countryside was loud with cheerful vocals and jokes during the work. The host, the owner, hosted the harvesters with food and drink. Schools were closed during the harvest, judgments were paused, and soldiers were given time off. It was an unmissable event, an important part of social life and one of the traditional one of the traditional opportunity of dating. This was followed by a parade as people walked around the village with vintage wreath, they went around the village on horseback and in horse-drawn carriages, with the judge in their lead, proclaiming the holiday with singing and loudness. The tiring work went from early in the morning until late in the evening, after that the ball began when people were drinking wine, dancing, and having fun.
Although nowadays the harvest is more focused on family and friends, the tradition of harvest parade and ball moves the whole village in the same way, makes community and gives good experiences.
“VĖLINĖS”
or All Souls Day is an autumn tradition in Lithuania. As the holiday approaches, people go to visit the graves of loved ones. On All Souls' Night, all the cemeteries are alight with candlelight. The fire that burns in honour of the dead is the desire of the living to reconcile with those who have passed away. As we gaze into the flames, we momentarily forget ourselves and merge with the past. We feel the fragility of this world, we become better. Warmed by the flame of our spirit and heart, souls of our loved ones also calm down, knowing that they are still alive within us. Our ancestors also celebrated All Souls' Day in pagan times. We know from surviving written sources that Lithuanians used to celebrate a big feast at the end of October, and beginning of November, where the dead were especially remembered. People gathered in the cemetery with food and feasted for several days. Later, All Souls' Day was celebrated at home.
People used to make a sauna to honour for the deceased, and after the sauna, the souls were invited to a feast. All kinds of food and drink were put on the table. The food and drink were then taken to the cemetery. The drinks were poured on the graves and the food was left behind. The custom of feasting in the cemetery and putting food on graves gradually disappeared. Today, we are trying to revive these customs by going to the village of Dvarčiškiai, where there are ancient burial mounds. We light candles on the graves of ancient soldiers, sing songs to them and leave food for the souls of our ancestors. Then we visit a stone wall in the forest. In the village of Dvarčiškių, it was a tradition to come to this stone wall on All Souls' Day and, after leaving food on it, to have lunch with the ancestors. On one side of the wall are we, the living, and on the other are our ancestors.
Ajvar making
Autumn in Macedonia is the period where people mostly prepare for the cold weather and snow which the winter brings. The way Macedonians get ready is by making Ajvar and Rakija. Ajvar is a bread spred (but used also in so many different contexts!) made of special type of roasted pepper, eggplant and seasaoned with spices, Whichever Macedonian city you happen to be around September and October everywhere smells like dried paprika. The process itself is so much more than making food!
Carnival traditions
Winter time in Poland can be very charming and picturesque, however there are also many gloomy, dull and cold days. And my guess is that this is why the carnival traditions were invented, to light up our Polish faces during the time of darkness. Few of them are described below:
· Fat Thursday, the last Thursday of carnival, the day when calories do not count. People eat doughnuts, traditionally filled in with rose marmalade and faworki or chrust, which are similar to angel wings sweet. They are deep fried, crusty sweet snack. In the past, doughnuts (pączki) were salty, deep fried on animal fat and filled with meat.
· In some regions Fat Thursday was just a beginning of something bigger called Zapusty or Ostatki (leftovers in Polish). While gentlefolk and royals were organising Kulig (sleigh ride) with food, music and dances in different households, the peasants had their own “carnival”, same loud, fun and cheerful.
One of the traditions, which remained until today in many regions of Poland were Maszkary zapustne, which translates as monsters, frights. Dressed as bears, horses, goats and other creatures (various from region to region) Maszkary were visiting housholds with songs, funny poems, wishes and kind of treat or trick approach. They were loud with the aim to bring back spring and awaken the nature. All the doors should be open for them, because they bring abundance and wealth. It was very important in the past to celebrate zapusty somehow. The ones who did not do that were doomed to misfortune in the upcoming year.
· Comber babski was a custom popular in Silesia and Lesser Poland regions which nowadays is least present and this is because it was banned by police in the times of Austrian partition (1846). It was the day of the feminine energy and women reign led mostly by tradeswomen from the city Main Square (Cracow). Legend says that the name Comber comes from the surname of Cracow commune head living in XVII. The man was rigid and evil especially for the tradeswoman, so when he died the crowd welcomed this news with jolly and this continued each year in the anniversary of his death. Married women were choosing the Marshal among them who was leading the whole show, there was dancing, drinking, singing and most importantly tricking men. Poor gentlemen needed to either pay with kisses (young and handsome ones) or pay in cash (rich and older) in order to avoid being “robbed” of clothes, forced to dance long hours or mocked in other creative ways. That was the pay off for the wicked commune head. Rumour says it that some of Comber celebrations lasted from Fat Thursday to Ash Wednesday, so almost a week! And the most popular ones, at Cracow Main Square were sometimes so big that the chain of dancing people were surrounding Sukiennice (Cloth Hall)! Were the Austrians scared of such feministic celebration?
St. Lucy's Day
Another important tradition was to make Lucy’s chair. Men have to make it from Lucy’s Day to Christmas Eve. At the midnight stake on December 24th, somebody has to stand on the chair and he will see who is the witch. This chair made from 9 different trees. These trees are: hemlock, juniper, pear, dogwood, elm, acacia, fir, rosewood.
Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the festive season are a whole swarm of customs and accompanying experiences. At the Christmas Eve table, the past year is remembered and the coming year is looked forward to. Ancestors are remembered, and festivities evoke thoughts and feelings. The traditions of this period are still well remembered by our parents and older people. The Winter Solstice is considered to be the most Lithuanian festive period. Christmas Eve is celebrated on the winter solstice. Different religions use different symbols to signify this situation. For Christianity, it is the birth of the Saviour Christ. The Baltic faith, which sees the manifestations of the sacred in nature itself, celebrates the return of the Sun. The beliefs of many peoples say that during the major festivals, the boundaries between the planes of the world we have always imagined - the celestial, the terrestrial and the subterranean - disappear. The deceased relatives return to our homes. We leave them plates, spoons and left-over treats on the Christmas Eve table.
“KŪČIOS”.
In the room, we put up and decorate the Christmas tree. Although the custom of decorating a Christmas tree in Lithuania is a recent one (it is believed to have come from Western Europe in the late 19th century), the very image and the original idea of this reality may have been linked to the mythical image of the Tree of Life as the one that connects the above-mentioned spheres. The spruce tree is also a symbol of a tree that is green all year round, of life that does not fade away, and in funeral customs it is associated with death and what lies beyond our existence.
One of the main ceremonial dishes on Christmas Eve is cereals (wheat or barley) with poppy seeds, covered with honeysweetened water. It is called “Kūčia”. Eating Kūčia promises fertility, the awakening of the life of the grain, without which our life is impossible. And poppy milk, a very archaic, also ceremonial dish, takes us back to that seemingly otherworldly place. The making and eating of these dishes is apparently a sacrificial custom, hoping for a good harvest next year, but also for the support of our ancestors.
Vevcani Carnival
“The Vevcani Carnival”, which is held in Vevcani – small town in Macedonia. People make themselves different types of masks, they go outside the streets and dance. People from other cities too, and sometimes even from abroad are coming to see our tradition. Also, we have smaller carnival where small group of males called “Babari” go to every house in the neighbourhood and you have to give them some money and they will dance for you, otherwise they will come in to your room and scare you. We also celebrate the day before Christmas that we call “Kolede”. For Kolede, groups of kids in the morning go together in the neighbourhood and sing some carols and get some food such as: fruits, candies and some money. And then in the evening, all people make a gathering where they light a big fire and dance around the fire and eat some traditional food. Then the next day, for Christmas we go to our closest family members house for a dinner night and celebrate this day all together. So, we made a role play for the participants so they can really see how it is going and sang some Kolede carols for them.
The project “4 seasons of understanding” is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Project number: 2020-3-PL01-KA105-094994.
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