From Pagan Roots to Living Heritage: Unusual Polish Christmas Customs

kolednicy_forum-0950252281.jpg, default, A carolling group visiting someone's home, Mała Huta, Suwałki region, 2004, photo by Andrzej Sidor / Forum

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Flirtatious carols, dziady’s processions, and little magical creatures: old Christmas and New Year traditions.

Gody – The Twelve Days of Christmastide – also known as the Generous Days, the period between Christmas and Epiphany – were among the most important celebrations in traditional rural culture. These 12 days symbolised the 12 months of the coming year. Many rituals associated with them have origins that often date back to pre-Christian times. As Jan Stanisław Bystroń stated: ‘It can be assumed that in pagan times, two great festivals were celebrated during this period, namely the rural festival, aimed at maintaining agricultural vegetation during the winter, and All Souls’ Day, which again had the task of establishing contact with the souls of the dead.’

Some customs are still practised today, although their symbolism is no longer clear – for example, those linked to the cult of the dead, such as an empty chair at the Christmas Eve table or certain dishes (like kutia) that were also eaten at wakes in the past. Other traditions faded into oblivion with the modernisation of the 20th century, which Wiesław Myśliwski described as ‘the end of peasant culture’.

Below, we present a few old traditions, cherished locally, which have endured to this day. All of them have been entered into the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Byśki & nowe latko

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Byśki, photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum

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The holiday rituals marking the start of the year were connected to numerous magical practices aimed at securing good fortune and prosperity. This was the case with byśki and nowe latko – these names refer to New Year’s ritual breads originating from north-eastern Poland. Today, they are mainly associated with the Kurpie region, but in the past, they were also known in Podlasie, Warmia, and Masuria.

In the centre of the bread, called nowe latko (its name clearly derives from the New Year), there was a figure of a shepherd, farmer, or farmwife. It was surrounded by figurines of domestic animals arranged in a circle of dough. The shape of the nowe latko was not accidental – according to Jacek Olędzki, it was linked to the ancient symbol of the magic circle. In this ethnographer’s account, we read: ‘According to folk beliefs, the magic circle protects everything that is brought within it from all evil.’

The breads were baked on the eve of Christmas, New Year, or (less commonly) Epiphany. Interestingly, men played the main role in making them. Nowe latko was kept until the end of the year. In many households, the rule was that the old nowe latko had to be destroyed before a new one was made. As ethnographer Jacek Olędzki wrote:

The immediate area around where the ‘nowe latko’ was hung was a privileged part of the room. No work took place there. It was a corner between the windows, decorated with paper cutouts, where a table stood with the Passion among bouquets of paper flowers.

Byśki, also known as stworzunka – tiny beings – were figurines made of dough shaped like forest animals (deer, roe, hares, and squirrels) and farm animals (cows, bulls, oxen, calves, horses, and birds). Like nowe latko, they were made from rye flour mixed with water. Animal figurines did not need to be stored as carefully as proper nowe latko, so they were given to children to play with and devour. The ethnographer quotes, among other things, the following statements: ‘The children tied the animals with strings, played with them, and then devoured them’. Or: ‘They mashed all the creatures and each child had to try them, they broke them up and put them in everyone’s mouth so that everyone had to eat them’.

Soaked in water, byśki were also given to domestic animals to ensure their fertility. ‘They would make cows, deer, and roe and give them to cows so that they would have good calves,’ said one of Olędzki’s interlocutors in the 1960s.

Celebrating New Year’s Day in the vicinity of the White and Green Forests used to involve baking fafernuchy – hard biscuits resembling potato dumplings in shape. They were made from wheat or rye flour and flavoured with grated carrot, honey, and pepper. In the past, they also played a magical role – Olędzki reports that on New Year’s Day, people would throw fafernuchy at the church ‘for good luck’. These biscuits were also used to reward carol singers – nowe latko was reserved only for the closest family members.

Szczodrowanie

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Szczodraki, photo: Michał Walczak /PAP

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Let us move to the Lublin region. Here, in the vicinity of the village of Karczmiska, there was an interesting Christmas carolling custom called szczodrowanie, also known as podłazy. The name derives from szczodraki – cones made of yeast dough with added sugar beet, believed to bring good luck and served as a treat for carollers. The singers also received dumplings with buckwheat groats and poppy seeds, money, and vodka. Szczodrowanie was celebrated on St. Stephen’s Day, New Year’s Day, or Epiphany Eve. During the day, children sang carols; in the evening, it was the turn of young people and adults. They would gather in front of the house and shout: ‘Kożcie śpiwoć! Kożcie!’ (Tell us to sing! Tell us!) and after being invited in by the host, who would respond by saying ‘Śpiwojta!’ (Sing!) – they would all enter the room. The repertoire included apocryphal carols, whose lyrics also contained direct requests for donations.

A generous day, a good day

Give us scodrocki for all the weekdays

Ah, welcome, welcome, our Jesus

It’s time to start the scodrocki festive

We’ve been waiting the whole year

To get scodrocki from thee

Appropriate chants were also dedicated to hosts who could not boast of generosity. For example: ‘They gave us nought, they gave us nought, may they be taken to hell on a shovel’.

Dunajowanie

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Dunajowanie, Łukowa commune, Zamość region, photo via Facebook

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This name refers to another carolling tradition from the Lublin region. In this case, so-called ‘wishing carols’ were performed – flirtatious secular carols sung by bachelors to maidens of marriageable age, wishing them a swift marriage and happiness in love. This custom was practised in Łukowa and the surrounding area (Biłgoraj County). Carol singers visited homes on St. Stephen’s Day (26 December). The tradition of dunajowanie may date back several hundred years – according to researchers, the ritual has survived for so long in an almost unchanged form because Łukowa is the easternmost Catholic village in the area. Dunajowanie was therefore one of the defining features of a distinct identity, as it was not practised in the neighbouring Orthodox villages.

The name of the custom comes from the phrase na dunaj (to the danjoob), which appears repeatedly in song refrains, such as ‘Little Kasia went in the morning to fetch water, na dunaj’ or ‘In my little garden, there under the window, na dunaj’. This does not refer to the specific river flowing through Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade, but to an imagined great and swiftly flowing water that symbolises youth, love, and life-giving powers, into which maidens were to cast their wreaths. That is why carollers were called dunajniki, and the local dialect also contained the phrase wydunajować – to match someone off.

A little river flows here, with swift waters,

Under the vine, hey under the vine, under the green periwinkle.

And what will you redeem yourself with na dunaj, little Mary, under the vine...

In each household, as many carols were sung as there were maidens of marriageable age. For their benevolent singing, the bachelors received a so-called zapłatejka, or remuneration – bread, dumplings, vodka, or money. The refreshments were collected by a boy with a sack on his back called a ‘mare’, who imitated the neighing of a horse. If the carollers did not receive any payment in a particular household, which was extremely rare, things would turn unpleasant. They would then sing, for example: ‘She gave us nought, she gave us nought, may you sit here until you get buried and never get married.’

Jukace

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Carol singers from the Bucki spod Snozy group, photo by Joanna Mrówka / Forum

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Parades of people in fancy costumes played an important role in Christmas traditions across Poland – let us mention the Kashubian gwiôzdka and gwiżdże, wilijarze from the Kalisz region parading in outfits reminiscent of those from the Napoleonic era, or the custom of walking with a goat, practised in Kujawy at the end of carnival. Particularly interesting is the custom still practised today in the Żywiec region, known as jukace or simply Żywiec Dziady.

This ritual takes place at the boundary between the old and new order – it begins on New Year’s Eve and continues until the afternoon of New Year’s Day. It involves masked groups of people in elaborate costumes, numbering several dozen (in the past, only unmarried men were allowed to participate, but this rule is no longer observed). They approach passers-by they meet along the way, play pranks or offer their wishes. The Żywiec Dziady follow a strictly defined sequence – they start with a custom called ‘chasing dziady’. The carol singers take on various roles, including Devils, Nobles, Jews, Death, Macidule, and Chimney Sweeps. The groups have an internal hierarchy – some roles are deemed more prestigious than others.

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Review of Carol-Singing and Ritual Groups ‘Żywiec Gody’, Milówka, photo by Joanna Mrówka / Forum

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Jukace wear conical hats called ciaki on their heads – each one has a pompom on top and is inscribed with the date of the coming year. The group is accompanied by an orchestra comprising a heligonist (a musician playing the heligonka, an instrument resembling an accordion but with a deeper bass sound and buttons instead of keys), a drummer, and a violinist.

The centre of events is Zabłocie, a district on the left bank of Żywiec, which was a separate village until 1950. In the past, there was a rule that jukace did not cross the bridge over the Soła River, but today they also reach the city centre. The custom is also practised in the surrounding towns located south of Żywiec, including Cięcina, Koniaków and Zwardoń.

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The Awanturnicy from Nieledew, photo by Joanna Mrówka / Forum

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Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origins of this phenomenon. As Barbara Bazielichówna and Stefan Deptuszewski wrote:

In Zabłocie near Żywiec, which appears to be the main centre of the ‘dziady’ tradition, several versions explaining the celebration’s origins are popular among the local people. Some believe it is a remnant of Wallachian shepherds who, beginning in the 14th century, migrated from the south along the Carpathian trail to this region, and before settling here and assimilating with the local community, inhabited neighbouring mountain pastures where they grazed their cattle. During winter, when poverty and hunger plagued them severely, they would suddenly descend into the valleys, looting and stealing whatever they could, and harming the local population. Others link this tradition to the Swedish invasion, during which the invaders, spreading terror and violence, only reached the Soła River, as Żywiec fiercely defended itself and ultimately repelled them. Lastly, the third version relates to the period of serfdom – members of the ‘dziady’ group carrying whips are thought to represent stewards, while others with flails, scythes, and pitchforks are believed to symbolise serfs.

According to ethnographers, the tradition most likely commemorates attacks by Wallachian shepherds. This is suggested by the name of the custom – jukac means juhas, i.e., sheepherder. Another researcher, Jan Kurek, pointed out the similarities between the characters in Żywiec Dziady and those from Italian commedia dell’arte – known in Silesia and Lesser Poland since at least the 18th century, partly thanks to travelling Viennese puppeteers.

Światy – Worlds

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Światy, Christmas wafer ornaments, photo by Mikołaj Kamieński / Forum

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Sharing the Christmas wafer (opłatek) is now a nationwide tradition, although at the beginning of the 20th century, it was unknown in Pomerania, Warmia, and Masuria. The name derives from the Latin oblatum, meaning ‘sacrificial offering,’ and the tradition of breaking consecrated bread relates to the rituals of early Christians. In Poland, this custom was established in noble manors during the 18th century and quickly spread to peasant cottages. Christmas wafers were believed to possess magical properties; for example, a crumb of wafer thrown into a well was thought to ensure the health of the household.

Christmas wafers were used to create światy (worlds) – spatial decorations in the form of orbs or more elaborate shapes made from spherical elements. This symbol most likely entered folk tradition through church paintings and sculptures: an orb topped with a cross was called a world, which, in iconography, is held by Christ as a symbol of sovereignty over the world.

'Światy' – Christmas decorations made from straw, tissue paper, and Christmas wafers, Tenczynek, photo by M. Lasyk / Reporter / East News

At the beginning of the 20th century, this decorative tradition was still widespread across much of Poland; it was especially popular in southern Poland (in the Lesser Poland region, Podhale, and Cieszyn Silesia), but it was also practised in central and eastern parts of the country. Outside areas inhabited by Poles, the custom of decorating rooms with these ornaments was unknown. Światy were typically made on Christmas Eve (less often on the day when the Christmas wafer was received from the priest). Barbara Ogrodowska wrote:

The process of creating decorations from Christmas wafers began in the evening after supper, once they had been distributed to people and animals, and before it was time to attend the Shepherd’s Mass. The leftovers of Christmas wafers from supper were not to be thrown away or treated disrespectfully.

Various shapes (stars, crescents, crosses, circles, and triangles) were cut from the Christmas wafers and then glued together with saliva. The shapes constructed in this way were hung on a podłaźniczka – a cut top of a fir or spruce tree, decorated with apples, nuts, and other items, and placed beneath the ceiling. Over time, światy became decorations for the first Christmas trees when the custom of setting up a Christmas tree in the home arrived in Poland from Prussia in the 19th century. In the second half of the 20th century, the tradition of creating światy in homes gradually began to decline – wafer decorations were replaced by mass-produced baubles. Nevertheless, the tradition of wafer cut-outs was still upheld by folk artists – the most renowned contemporary artist crafting these worlds is Małgorzata Pepłowska from Ruchna near Węgrów.

Translated by: Agnieszka Mistur

_Sources:

_{Bazielichówna, B.; Deptuszewski, S. (1959) – ‘“Nobles” and “Dziady” – ritual spectacles’,}_{Polska Sztuka Ludowa – Konteksty}_{, vol. 13, nos. 1–2.}

_{Kurek, J. (1973) – ‘Attempts to establish the origins of annual rituals – “Mikołaj”, “Nobles”, and “Dziady”, currently performed in villages of the Silesian and Żywiec Beskids’,}_{Polska Sztuka Ludowa – Konteksty}_{, vol. 27, no. 3.}

_{Kusto, A. (2023) – ‘The field site then and now. A reconnaissance study based on the custom of dunajowanie’,}_Muzyka_{, vol. 4.}

_{Ogrodowska, B. (1988) –}_{Christmas wafers and wafer ornaments in Polish tradition}_,_Konteksty_{, vol. 42, nos. 1–2.}

_{Olędzki, J. (1961) –}_{Annual ritual breads of north-eastern Poland}_,_{Polska Sztuka Ludowa}_{, nos. 1–2.}

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