Dancing Souls & Vampiric Daemons: Polish Folk Beliefs About Trees
While ancient Slavs believed trees to be sacred, Poles historically have also attributed various magical and medicinal powers to these plants. In Polish folklore, trees were believed to provide the cure for aching legs or contain… dancing souls! Let us take you for a whirl around some of the most surprising Polish folk beliefs about trees.
The 2016 book Rośliny w Wierzeniach i Zwyczajach Ludowych (Plants in Folk Beliefs & Customs), edited by Monika Kujawska, Łukasz Łuczaj, Joanna Sosnowska and Piotr Klepacki, is a fabulous source elucidating the role of plants in Polish folklore. It is based on the thorough research of the noted Polish folklorist and ethnographer Adam Fischer, conducted during the Interwar period and spanning centuries of Polish history. You can read more about this outstanding publication dealing with a multitude of various plants such as herbs, shrubs and trees in our Witches, Love Potions & Turtles: Polish Folk Beliefs About Herbs article. A curious selection of historical convictions revolving around trees awaits you below, all which were described in the aforesaid book.
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A 400-years-old oak named Dunin in the village of Przybudki, photo: Agencja Wschód / Forum
First up, one of the most prevalent trees in Poland – the oak. Since oaks were revered in Poland, shrines and pictures of saints were hung on them. Old and well-grown oaks were seen as especially significant. Therefore, some believed that harming these trees could bring one bad luck. For example, cutting down an old oak was considered a possible cause for the appearance of pestilence.
In addition, the leaves of an oak had astonishing magical powers. A loaf of bread baked on large oak leaves would give anyone who ate it the strength of an oak. As if that wasn’t enough, oak leaves had the power to… raise the dead! You had to apply them to the forehead and chest of the deceased and the chances of the corpse resurrecting rose dramatically. Oak leaves were also believed to be utilized by witches. If a witch practicing black magic wanted to cause the residents of a certain household to fall ill, she would stick dried oak leaves inside the crevice of its wall and utter the following (rather macabre) spell:
Text
Just as these leaves have withered, so shall the man of the house and his children wither along with this entire home.
Author
From ‘Plants in Folk Beliefs & Customs’, trans. MK
If you wanted to find out what your future held, you could do so by looking at the seed of an acorn. A hard seed was a harbinger of a bountiful cereal harvest but also of a legion of… werewolves. A damp seed meant that the upcoming year would be rainy and that floods would transpire.
Additionally, the bark of an oak tree was believed to be helpful against hair loss. A concoction of bark and spirit alcohol could prevent hair from falling out (it’s unclear whether this folk medicine was used as a balm or drink). Also, if you had a pimple under your tongue, you could use an oak tree to get rid of it. What you had to do was dig a small hole beneath an oak and spit into it three times. Afterwards, you needed to walk around the tree thrice and return by walking in the opposite direction from which you came. Thanks to this ritual, the illness would be transported beneath the oak.
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A birch forest in autumn, photo: Marek Bazak / East News
Like the oak, the birch is also one of Poland’s most prevailing trees. It’s linked to an intriguing belief about the souls of young women who had passed away. Such souls resided inside birch trees, leaving them only in February and March in order to dance in the moonlight. Those unlucky enough to find themselves among the prancing souls were danced to death by them.
Also, a solitary birch – one growing in a field – had deathlike connotations. It was believed that in the ground, beneath such a tree, the body of a slain person lay buried. The deceased was there to do penance for their sins, and instead of sap circulating within the tree – it was their blood.
Speaking of (regular) birch sap, otherwise known as birch juice, it was considered a cure for tuberculosis and strong coughs. Poles also held the belief that birches aid in relieving shivering from fever. In order to make this affliction go away, you had to go to a birch forest and shake a couple of birch trees, repeating the following words:
Text
Shake me as I shake you, and then stop.
Author
From ‘Plants in Folk Beliefs & Customs’, trans. MK
A birch also plays an important role in a charming Polish folk tale. One time Jesus was walking down a road when he met a birch and a poplar. Unlike the poplar, the birch bowed to greet him. Since then, the branches of the birch have been spread out and the wind has been rustling them. The poplar, on the other hand, has been standing straight, reaching toward the clouds.
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Aspens, photo: Paul Edmondson / East News
Next up, we have another tree that appears in beliefs about the dead – the aspen. Poles considered its wood to be particularly useful against undead daemons. If a deceased was seen as a potential upiór (a mythical being similar to a vampire), their heart was pierced with an aspen stake. In some cases, the precautions taken to neutralise the daemon took on an even more morbid character – the head was severed from the suspected corpse and an aspen stake was used to pin it to the body. A more temperate method of protecting against a possible upiór was to simply place their corpse in an aspen coffin.
Aspen wood was also seen as useful against another type of an undead daemon – the wieszczy. A person who after their death became a wieszczy would rise from their grave in order to ring church bells. The sound of the bells rung by the daemon brought death to those who heard it. Also, similarly to a vampire, a wieszczy could suck the blood of the living. When a deceased was seen as a potential wieszczy, three crosses made of aspen were placed on their chest to prevent them from rising out of their grave.
While aspen stakes and crosses were helpful against vampiric creatures, simple aspen branches and sticks had the power to ward off evil spirits and devilish influences. Generally speaking, aspens were regarded as being potent and magical. Consequently, they were believed to draw lightning during storms.
The magical powers of an aspen could be used against a thief, too:
Text
[…] If you drill a hole in an aspen and stick into it an item from the site of a robbery, the thief will get the shakes.
Author
From ‘Plants in Folk Beliefs & Customs’, trans. MK
What’s more, the aspen was believed to be a remedy for warts. In order to get rid of them, you had to treat them with aspen ash or with juice flowing from a burning aspen branch. Applying aspen ash was also seen as an effective way of curing ganglion cysts.
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A maple in the village of Stabieńszczyzna, photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum
While aspen wood was used to make coffins for vampiric daemons, maple wood was considered good material for ordinary coffins. The reason was that maple boards were believed to ward off malevolent spirits. This conviction may have been linked to the sacredness attributed to maples by ancient Slavs.
Maple was useful not only against evil ghosts, but also against witches. Polish fishermen would place maple branchlets in the bottom of their boats so that such supernaturally powered women wouldn’t be able to get on board.
Then again, young women used maple trees for divination. This curious practice is referenced in the lyrics of an old Polish folk song:
Text
In a maple’s shade
An augur with a ring, a maid
Will my love, she asks,
Come quickly down this path
Author
From ‘Plants in Folk Beliefs & Customs’, trans. MK
Maple trees also played a role in the foretelling of weather. If they started shedding their leaves quicker than usual, it meant that a harsh winter was coming. And maple leaves were considered to have protective properties and as such were used to adorn shrines and pictures of saints. Also, boiled maple leaves made into a compress were seen as a cure for vein inflammation in the extremities. A compress of maple leaves was also viewed as a remedy for burns and whitlows.
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A spruce forest, photo: East News
Like maples, spruces were also considered helpful in predicting the weather. You could tell that an early winter with plenty of snow was coming when the cones of spruces were growing mainly in the trees’ lower parts. If the cones were chiefly in the middle areas, it boded an average winter. When most of the cones appeared at the top, a late winter was expected. It was also believed that if spruces flowered abundantly, the crops of potatoes and fruits would be large that year.
Interestingly, spruce resin was seen as beneficial for some aspects of health. For example, highlanders chewed on it in order to clean their teeth. Also, an ointment made of spruce resin, wax and rue that had been sown in the spring was used to treat wounds.
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An old beech in the Wolin National Park, photo: Marek Kosinski / Forum
Another tree that was used to foretell what the winter months would be like was the beech. When beeches produced plenty of blooms in the spring, it meant that the upcoming winter would be harsh. On the other hand, having few blooms was a sign of a light winter.
The beech was also said to have the power to induce love:
Text
[…] The beech is used for love spells. In order to do that, you search for a beech in the forest, which grows nearby a fir and brushes it when the wind blows. From the place where the two trees touch you need to scrape off a little, burn it and make a drink from it. After your chosen one will imbibe this drink, they’ll feel great love.
Author
From ‘Plants in Folk Beliefs & Customs’, trans. MK
Whereas the burning of beech scraps was employed in magic, the ash from burning beech wood was viewed as a remedy for aching legs. For the legs to get better you had to soak them in a solution of ash and water.
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Polish Academy of Sciences’ farm in Kosewo. Animals seek shelter from the heat of the day in the shade of a pear tree, photo: Marek Skorupski / Forum
The final tree on our list is the pear. According to an old Polish superstition, people harvesting from a pear tree were supposed to leave (at least) one fruit on it. Thanks to that, the following year the tree would bear plenty of fruit.
The pear was also linked to a peculiar conviction about malaria. If you suffered from this disease – which used to occur in Poland – you could supposedly cure it by drilling a hole into a pear tree and breathing into it three times. Afterwards, you needed to quickly seal the hole with a peg. In consequence of, the malaria would stay locked within the tree and you would be cured of it. It’s worth adding that this procedure was also believed to work with apple trees.
Medicinal powers were also attributed to pear wood. Putting a plate made of such wood over the chest of a person afflicted by colic was seen as a way of relieving the pain.
Written by Marek Kępa, Mar 22
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