As some of you might have noticed, I moved to Wordpress which is much more comfortable to me personally. I'm slowly moving there my old articles, and all the new ones will keep appearing only on there. Feel free to take a look:
Here's a list of articles available to read over there, divided into theme sections:
ELEMENTS OF FOLKLORE IN THE PRESENT-DAY POLAND:
FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE YEAR
(this section includes the customs that CAN count as widespread across Poland)
- Candlemas Day and gromnice - 'thunder candles' (February 2nd)
- Drowning and burning of Marzanna (around March 21st - first day of spring)
- Palm Sunday and the symbolic 'Easter palms' (last Sunday of Lents before Easter - usually late March or early April)
- Pisanki - the decorated Easter eggs in Poland (March/April - connected to Easter that is a movable feast)
- Śmigus-Dyngus, also called Lany Poniedziałek - Wet Monday (Easter Monday)
- Zielone Świątki, so-called Green Week (on Pentecost, movable: usually in May)
- Corpus Christi, and Polish folk rites and beliefs (movable: 60 days after Easter)
- Midsummer celebrations in Poland (around 21st June)
- Symbolism of bread and rituals of the harvest season (July/August)
- Day of the Divine Mother of Herbs (August 15th)
- Dziady / Zaduszki / Pominki - the Forefather's Eve (November 1st - 2nd)
- Andrzejki - feast of love divinations (November 29th/30th)
- Mikołajki - St Nicholas Day (December 6th)
- Wigilia - Christmas Eve (December 24th)
- 12 Dishes served during the Wigilia (December 24th)
VARIOUS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS
(this section includes a mix of: general customs that can't be pinpointed on the calendar, the customs that are rather only regional - not known in the whole country, and the customs that might be called forgotten - no longer commontly known)
- Short list of old superstitions
- Ritual bread called 'kukiełka', given to a newborn's family (from Nowy Sącz area in southern Poland)
- Protective symbols drawn on the floor with sand (from the region of Kujawy in north-central Poland)
- Protection of houses in the region of Mazovia
- Pająki - protective decorations made of straw
- Wianki (wreaths) and Polish folk beliefs connected to summer solstice
- Bridal flower crowns and a few words about wedding rites for a bride
- Star symbolism and Christmas gift-bringers from folklore traditions
- Straw as a 'magickal barrier', and other Christmas decorations
- Holy Mother of Gromnice (Thunder Candles), or the Divine Mother with Wolves
- Rękawka, a Slavic spring festival in Kraków (first Tuesday after Easter, celebrated only in Kraków)
- First spring blessing of cattle (around May)
- Siuda Baba. How the informations about a 'pagan' Slavic Priestess survived in Polish folklore (from region around Wieliczka in southern Poland)
- Night of the Witches (from southern and eastern parts of the country)
- Painted cottages
TRADITIONAL FOLK CLOTHING:
- Quick overview of folk costumes from Poland (warning: picture-heavy)
- Patterns of Polish embroidery
- Gallery of processions in Polish folk costumes for the feast of Corpus Christi
[For more of Polish folk clothing check my educational gallery of Polish folk costumes]
ELEMENTS OF FOLKLORE IN THE PRESENT-DAY POLAND:
- Growing trend: handpainted wedding dresses from the region of Podhale
- Slavic tattoos by Polish artists
OLD tales and legends:
- Lech, Czech and Rus, the white eagle and founding of Gniezno (first Polish capital city)
- Warsaw Mermaid
- Wawel Dragon, legend from Kraków
- King Popiel and the Mouse Tower
- Mr Twardowski
- A city turned to stone - legends from Stone City Nature Reserve
- Legends from castles on the Trail of the Eagles' Nests in Polish Jurassic Highland
- Wołogór, Mountain Spirit's helper (legend from Silesia)
- Magickal Fern Flower blooming on the nights of summer and winter solstices
- Witches' sabbath and old-Slavic religious centre on Łysa Góra (Bald Mountain)
Polish/Slavic mythological creatures:
- ogniki (błędne ogniki) - demons comparable to ignis fatuus
- płanetnicy - supernatural beings called 'shepherds of the clouds'
- zmory - demons feeding on human vitality during sleep
- boginki - female spirits / demons connected to childbirth
- latawce - demons of the wind forces
- biesy - primeval spirits, evil forces of nature that hide in untouched parts of nature
- południce - midday ladies, demons of betrohed women who died before wedding
- strzyga - a demon similar to a vampire, often travelling in a form of a bird
- bieda - a shapeshifting demon bringing misfortune and poverty
- biali zimni ludzie (white cold people) - demons being a personification of illnesses
- Kashubian mythology: Slavic mythology from northern Poland
SLAVIC NATIVE FAITH:
- List of resources about the pre-Christian beliefs in Poland
- 3 'specializations' of Slavic spiritual leaders in Slavic Native Faith