5.1 ANNUAL RITES AND CUSTOMS

            Customs and folk rituals once covered all areas of life. Today they are mostly things of the past. We meet them mainly at various kinds of folklore events. We find their visual, theatrical form interesting. We do not reflect on their origins and significance in the lives of our ancestors. And this ritual often has a very complicated form and roots that are distant in time. Connected with the Christian tradition, it contains many elements of old, pre-Christian origins.

5.1.1 SPRING

1. Christmas caroling in spring

• „ŻACZKI”

This custom was best known in the vicinity of Leżajsk and Łańcut. „Żaczek” were school-age boys who walked from house to house in pairs. One carried a cross and the other a palm tree. This custom was also called "walking with a „pasyjka”". „Żaczki” was going on Palm Sunday. The boys delivered an oration that most often began with the words:

“It's already here for us

this April sunday

We will welcome you

Lord Savior "

Children were given eggs, which they hid in the basket. Anyway, the oration ended with pleading for gifts:

“Praised be Jesus

And on Thursday morning

Judas has sold the Lord

For thirty pieces of silver.

Jesus was little

He lost his diapers

And I can stand them for him.

And you, housekeeper

Egg please.

You're not gonna give me an egg

Give me a lump

We will praise

Holy Miss. "

Text quoted after Franciszek Zbójnowicz (born in 1879) - excerpt. an interview conducted in Gać in 1972 by Andrzej Karczmarzewski.

 

• WALKING WITH A ROCKET

This custom was known by both the Lasowiaks and the Rzeszowiaks. Initially, carols were probably carried out with a live rooster, then with a wooden or clay one (everyone did it as he could). It was carried in a wooden stroller resembling a child's. The boys were walking around the countryside singing and making noise. It was propably a courtship. When a boy - suitor liked the girl, he would get an egg or even an Easter egg from her. These pairs were to live happily ever after with a group of children. The rooster was a symbol of the Resurrection, but also of strength, masculinity, beauty and fertility. In another version, boys who walked around with a hen made Easter greetings and sang songs for which they received food.

  

• WALKING FOR „DROBSKU”

On Palm Sunday, adult men dressed up as grandfathers, walked around houses and collected eggs for Christmas. Their faces were veiled so that no one would recognize them. They said the poem: „Come on up, give me black hen.

Get on the „faska”, give me the sausage.

Come on, give me five eggs, I'll be your son-in-law.”

The drabys wore tall, pointed hats and were girded with ropes.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPRING CHRISTMAS:

edited by K. Smyk, J. Dragan, Kolędowanie na Rzeszowszczyźnie, Kolbuszowa-Kraków 2019.

2011. Karczmarzewski, Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów 2011.
      K. Ruszel, Leksykon kultury ludowej w Rzeszowskiem, Rzeszów 2004.
      K. Strycharz-Bogacz, Obrzędy, zwyczaje i śpiewy wielkanocne w życiu i pobożności ludowej mieszkańców Podkarpacia, Theological Annals

 

1. “TURKI”

            This is what the funerary guards are called. Initially, the Turks were married men, after the army. They are on guard in the church at the Holy Sepulcher from Good Friday until the Resurrection. The name Turki comes from the times of the Viennese relief. Writings from the vicinity of Radomyśl on the San say that men returning from the war came to their native villages on Good Friday and went directly to the church, taking a guard at the grave. They were dressed in captured Turkish clothes and hence the name Turki. In fact, this practice is much older and has arisen with the practice of arranging the Holy Sepulcher in churches. Its dissemination is related to the Order of the Holy Sepulcher (brought to Poland in the 12th century). The presence of the Holy Sepulcher was also recorded in the area of Lasowiaków, among others in Leżajsk, Giedlarowa and Gniewczyn. The custom became popular in the region through imitation. In many places, after Resurrection and after the Holy Mass, there is a ceremonial parade of Turks, and in the afternoon they visit houses and make wishes, present a drill, for which they receive refreshments and donations.

 

SOURCE:

2011. Karczmarzewski, Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów 2011.
      F. Kotula, Folklor słowny osobliwy Lasowiaków, Rzeszowiaków i Podgórzan, Lublin 1969.
      K. Ruszel, Leksykon kultury ludowej w Rzeszowskiem, Rzeszów 2004.

 

 

1. CUSTOMS OF EASTER

• PALM SUNDAY

            Celebrations related to Easter start on Palm Sunday, otherwise known as "flower" or "willow", because palm was usually made of willow twigs. There was a custom that the first person who woke up on Palm Sunday could "beat" all the sleeping people with a palm tree. Later, also on the way to church, palms were often hit one another. It was supposed to add strength, health and beauty. After returning from ordination, the palm tree was placed above the entrance to the house or placed behind a holy image - this was to protect the farm from fire and lightning. The practice of sticking palm branches into the corner of the field is still known to protect the crops from all disasters and to ensure fertility.

• GREAT SATURDAY

            On Holy Saturday, virtually no work was carried out. The practices of that day were related to food, water and fire, ordained during the liturgy. The host, after returning from the church, went around the house and the entire farmyard three times, sprinkling them with holy water. It was popular to throw blackthorn from the fire in front of the church into the water. It was also customary to wash in rivers and ponds on Good Friday, which was to ensure health and beauty.

• BLESSING FOOD

           On Holy Saturday, the blessing of food took place just like now. In the past, however, more often the priest traveled around the village blessing food, less often the ordination took place in the church. Various items were put in Easter baskets depending on the town, but all the baskets had to contain: eggs, bread, cold cuts, lamb, cheese, salt, butter and horseradish. What was in the basket and the colors of the Easter eggs made a difference.

 

• PAINTING EGGS

            Painting and decorating eggs was popular. Among them there were “kraszanki” - boiled, monochrome painted eggs, scratched and richly decorated Easter eggs - written with wax. The paints for coloring them were made of natural ingredients, such as onion shells, green oats, oak bark, blueberries. The pattern on “batik” eggs was applied, for example, with a needle or a stick dipped in the melted wax, then the egg was put into light paint, even several times until a mosaic was obtained. This is how herringbone, windmills, twigs and suns were created on the eggs. Easter eggs were also a kind of gift, the girls handed them to the boys who liked them.

 

• EASTER

            In the morning people went to the Resurrection Mass, during which the church was celebrated three times in a solemn procession. In the places where there were grave guards, a parade drill took place after the Holy Mass. Then everyone returned home for the Easter breakfast, where everything that had been sacrificed the day before was eaten. The sour rye soup was also compulsorily cooked. At the very beginning, people prayed and shared an egg.

 

• „WET” MONDAY

            On „Lany Poniedziałek” (Monday), it was common to pour water on each other. From the morning, bachelors poured water on girls, it even happened that they threw them into ponds or streams. This testified to the success of the bride and a quick marriage. In return for being poured with water, the girls presented the bachelors with Easter eggs. The boy who had the most of them was envied by the girls' sympathy.

SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT EASTER CUSTOMS:

2011. Karczmarzewski, Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów 2011.
      F. Kotula, Folklor słowny osobliwy Lasowiaków, Rzeszowiaków i Podgórzan, Lublin 1969.
      K. Ruszel, Leksykon kultury ludowej w Rzeszowskiem, Rzeszów 2004.
      K. Strycharz-Bogacz, Obrzędy, zwyczaje i śpiewy wielkanocne w życiu i pobożności ludowej mieszkańców Podkarpacia, Theological Annals,

  

1. Devotions in May

            Chapels, statues and wayside crosses were places of prayer for various intentions. They were offered as thanksgiving for favors, for a happy return from war or for a miraculous recovery, they were supposed to protect against misfortunes (epidemics, wars, fire, floods). They were also a kind of penance for committed sins. Chapels and crosses in villages where places of worship for the local community. Next to them, on Holy Saturday, food was blessed and the dead were said goodbye.

            The shrines were also an important place for the May Holy Mass. It was both a religious experience and a cultural event. According to sources, as early as in the mid-nineteenth century in Polish villages, people met at the chapels to sing "majówki" and to pray together in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. „Majówki” were devoid of liturgical celebrations, but they were an expression of popular piety.

            People went to „majówki” in the evening, usually after finishing work on the farm. Many people gathered at the chapels, mainly women and children. Men, and most often bachelors, usually showed up only towards the end to escort the virgins home. „Majówki” was usually led by one person, the best singer. The Litany of Loreto and Marian Songs were sung. The shrines were always decorated with flowers in spring - live or made of tissue paper.

SOURCES:

Półtorak M.: Tradycja nabożeństw majowych pod kapliczkami
Ozdoba P.: Historia nabożeństwa majowego
Langiewicz K.: Krzyże i kapliczki na obszarach wiejskich – świadkowie historii, wiary i dziedzictwa kulturowego.
Kaźmierczak M.: Nabożeństwo majowe

1. PUT UP A „MAJÓWKA”

In the area of the Sandomierz Forest, especially in the vicinity of Leżajsk and Kolbuszowa, it was common to put up a „majówka”. It was seen the longest in Wola Zarczycka. They were placed on the last night of April, less often on the first Saturday in May or at Pentecost. A debarked tree was brought to the village in large numbers, with the top left behind and adorned with ribbons and flowers. The tree was placed in the center of the village and there was party. It happened that the floor was even ruled and there was party, e.g. in Rakszawa.

Another form of putting up a „majówka” was putting a panicle for a virgin. It was a very tall herringbone, also with a decorated top. A boy put her at the house of a girl he liked. In a way, it was tantamount to a proposal. It was placed at night so that no one would see it. When the picnic was already there, the bachelors who were setting me up made noise for the girl to leave. She invited everyone for a treat, and the bachelor took out vodka.

SOURCES:

2011. Karczmarzewski, Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów 2011.
      F. Kotula, Folklor słowny osobliwy Lasowiaków, Rzeszowiaków i Podgórzan, Lublin 1969.
      K. Ruszel, Leksykon kultury ludowej w Rzeszowskiem, Rzeszów 2004.

 

2. SUMMER
3. HABITS

• Harvest Wreath - Harvest Festival

Harvest festival or coronary. The peasant harvest festival was usually held after the last ears of grain had been harvested from the fields, and the more ceremonial ones - on August 15 at Our Lady of Herbs - were held at the so-called court harvest festival. The main difference between them was the form of the harvest wreath. Two basic shapes dominated. The first was a sheaf made of oats - the grain that was mowed last. The second is the crown - made of two crossed arches, formed by bending the hazelnut rods, which were then attached to a circular base. The crown was usually made of all kinds of cereals. For quite a long time, the Lasowiaks were given sheaves instead of wreaths - which may indicate their long tradition.

Peasant harvest festivals took place at the Lasowiaks' farm right after the harvest. The prettiest grain was left and mowed at the end, after which the most magnificent sheaf was made and decorated with flowers. Then they went with him to the farm along with singing, starting with the song "Serdeczna Matko". The wreath was carried by a forewoman, and the rest of the women followed. The handing over of the wreath had a specific, symbolic course. We know from sources that in Wola Zarczycka, when handing a sheaf, the sheaf first put it on the head of the hostess, and then to the host. It was also customary for her to dance with the host after putting the sheaf on the table. This dance was probably later replaced by the purchase of the wreath by the hosts.

The heir's harvest festival was usually held on August 15. After blessing the wreath in the church, the harvesters went to the manor and there, just like at the peasant harvest festival, they handed the wreath to the farmer. As a thank you, he arranged a snack with dances for them.

SOURCE:

Ruszel K., Lasowiacy. Materiały do monografii etnograficznej, Rzeszów: Regional Museum in Rzeszów , 1994.

Karczmarzewski A., Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów: District Museum in Rzeszów , 2011.

            5.1.3 AUTUMN

1. ANDREW’S DAY

Andrew's Day were celebrated on the eve of St. Andrew. According to tradition, this night was magical and you could know your future. The girls could learn the secret of their future marriage. St. Andrew's fortune-telling was treated very seriously. St. Andrew's traditions attached great importance to the meaning of dreams. It was believed that the girl might dream about her future husband. The girls cut, for example, cherry twigs, which they placed in the water, and if the twig bloomed on Christmas Eve, it was a sign of a quick marriage for the girl. One of the most famous divinations of St. Andrew's Day was pouring wax. Formerly, tin or lead were used for this. After melting, they were poured into water through the key hole. The resulting shapes were divined and had specific meanings.

SOURCES:

2011. Karczmarzewski, Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów 2011.
      K. Ruszel, Leksykon kultury ludowej w Rzeszowskiem, Rzeszów 2004.

5.1.4 WINTER

1. CHRISTMAS

According to tradition, the Christmas Eve supper begins with the "first star". It began with a prayer, then everyone broke the wafer and wished each other wishes. The table, or more often a bench, was covered with a white cloth under which hay was placed. They all ate from one bowl. Often, straw and an iron object were placed under the table, which was to guarantee durability. A sheaf of grain was also placed in the room, which was to guarantee the harvest. Singing Christmas carols was an important Christmas Eve custom. Instead of a Christmas tree, a substrate was hung from the ceiling - that is, the top of the tree. It was believed that the day of Christmas Eve had extraordinary power and that is why it was full of superstitions.

Although the Christmas Eve dishes were often different, usually all the fruits of the earth appeared on the Christmas Eve table, and there should be twelve dishes. You had to try them all, as it was supposed to ensure good luck. The table was mainly cabbage with peas, various kinds of dumplings, groats, peas, borscht, cabbage rolls or dried compote. The dishes had to be meatless.

1. PRODUCTION OF LIGHT „SPIDERS”

Spiders belong to traditional ornamental forms and are closely related to rituals. They were made of readily available raw materials, such as straw, beans, peas, feathers or colored tissue and papers. They were made in the form of spheres, hedgehogs, harmonica, stars and prisms.

Spiders also had a decorative function. They were usually hung in the middle of the ceiling. They were hung at Christmas and at Easter (often decorated with egg shells), and were always made anew. They were a symbol of fertility and happiness.

1. CAROLING

In the period from St. Stephen, carol singers used to visit houses. In the village of Leżajsk, caroling with "Turoń", with "Szopka", with the Goat, with „Bożki”, with "Herod" and "Paradise" was widely known. The composition of each carol singing group was different, as was their repertoire. Some of the caroling scenarios were passed down from generation to generation and were carefully guarded, as they were often a "treasure" of the family caroling for generations.

Caroling - a folk rite in which groups of carol singers visited individual farms with wishes for good luck, for which they kept gifts from the hosts in the form of food or small donations. Carolling had various functions, e.g. religious and cultural, magical, matrimonial, economic or social. The essence of caroling was the exchange of gifts. The host, in exchange for good luck and good luck from the carollers, gave them treats and small donations. The form of making wishes (singing, reciting, shouting) as well as the costumes of the participants of the rite were usually very diverse.

• CAROL WITH „TURON”

An important element of the carol with „turoń” was his death and "resurrection". It was a symbol of a good start for the coming new year. This was to ensure prosperity and fertility. „Turoń” is a mascara whose head is made of a wooden block with horns. It has a movable mouth that moves with a string. Usually it is also covered with fur, and the whole thing is attached to a stick. Such a puppet was held by a caroller, who was folded in half and covered with a sheet or a sheepskin coat - the hair turned upside down. „Turoń” was accompanied by a grandfather and a "Jew" and quite often musicians - a violinist and a drummer. The grandfather was driving a „turoń”, and he was dressed in an old coat with a stuffed hump. Its attribute was a rosary, usually made of wood or nuts. The Jew also had a characteristic hump on his back, he was disguised as a Hasid - he had a black knee-length coat, white, long socks and a cap trimmed with a fox's tail. When he came home, „Turoń” was disturbing (he danced, jumped, accosted the householders, and made horns). The grandfather was saying a prayer on his rosary, which, however, had little to do with religion. They wished the household members and sang Christmas carols for which they received refreshments and payment.

• A CAROL WITH A GOAT

The New Year was celebrated with a goat carol. It was very similar to carols with „turoń”. The goat was prancing, jumping and thrusting and then pretending to be dead. The goat mask itself was made similar to that of the „turoń” - although it was smaller, and the caroller was less bent. The symbolism associated with it was also the same. Similarly to the „turoń” carol, the carolers came, made New Year's greetings and presented the advantages of the animal, which kept playing until it was starving. It is a situation analogous to "turoń", where the climax of the performance is "resurrection". After that, there were carols again: for the hosts (wishful) and for their daughters (Christmas carols).

• CAROL WITH A HORSE

The most popular form of caroling with a live animal is carol with a horse, which is still present in the area of Lasowiackie until the 1960s. This custom has been noted, inter alia, in Jastkowice, Dzikowiec, Kamień, Łowisko, Werynia and Mazury. The foster horse was brought into the house and led around the room. If a horse had defecated during this ritual, it was a good sign for good fortune and prosperity.

•   CHRISTMAS FOR ST. THE STEPHEN, OR „HERODY” AND „PARADISE”

Both the carol "Paradise" and "Herody" have several centuries of tradition. They come from mysteries. In the area of Lasowiackie, these were very popular carols, although their texts were probably not disseminated until the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and were printed in the interwar period. Carol singing groups went around the houses with one or the other carol or a compilation of both, then the carol with paradise was a kind of introduction to herods. The group also included musicians - most often violinists, and in very few cases the entire band consisting of violins, basses and cymbals.

First, carolers would come to the house and sing carols under the window - the so-called window carols - waiting for the invitation. After going inside, first they sang carols for the host and hostess, then there was a carol with paradise, with herod or both.

• CAROL WITH „PARADISE”

4-5 people took part in the carol with „paradise”: Eve, Adam, Angel and Devil, sometimes also the Lord God. It represented the temptation and the expulsion of the first parents from paradise. The devil tempted Eve to pick an apple from the forbidden tree. She succumbed to him and together with Adam they ate the fruit, and then they realized that they were naked. Then the Angel appeared and drove them out of Paradise. At the end of the cutscene, the carol "From the paradise of a beautiful city" was sung.

• „HERODY”

This carol was more elaborate. It was attended by figures such as: Herod, Hetman, Jew, Angel, Devil, Death, and Soldiers. Some versions also featured the Magi, and sometimes even Herod's wife and his little son. It depended on the regional variants. The scene began with Herod's entry. Here, depending on the variant, there were three kings and a Jew - a rabbi who was to read from the Bible where Jesus was to be born. First, the Jew tells where the bean and beech were born, and only the third time, where God was born. The King then orders the soldiers to kill all the little children, including his son. The highlight of the carol was the appearance of Death and the killing of Herod, which the Devil enjoyed, and the Jew sat on the empty throne.

After the performance, the music was playing, one of the carolers took the girl to dance, then sat her on a chair in the middle of the room, and everyone sang her special secular carol for girls. This was how all the maidens were handled.

• Christmas carol with a nativity scene

The Christmas carol with a nativity scene has a tradition of several centuries. Initially, it was a carol presented in strictly religious churches. Over time, however, secular content began to dominate the religious, which led to the ban on displaying them in churches.

This carol is a kind of puppet theater, and only two carolers are enough to perform it. Sometimes the carolers were also accompanied by harmony. The nativity scenes could have various looks. Usually, however, they were houses with a gable roof, covered with straw or boards, some of them had two towers. In the central place there was a nursery with a Child and statues of Mary and St. Joseph. On the sides were animals and angels. The whole thing was usually stationary and constituted the background of the action. There were holes in the floor of the crib that allowed the movement of other figurines - dolls attached to sticks. The number of characters depended on the content of the show, which was taken from pastorales, but also enriched with secular content. Characters such as: Herod, angel, devil, grandfather, witch, Jew.

• A CAROL WITH A STAR

The carol with a star was also very popular. The star was made of colored paper, illuminated from the inside and movably attached to the spar. The star was usually covered with colored tissue paper or parchment, various types of cutouts or holy pictures. Carol singers wished the household members and sang Christmas carols.

• „DRABY”

„Draby” went to the New Year's carol - they were boys and young men who were growing up. They were dressed in upturned sheepskin coats, wrapped with straw ropes and in high straw hats. They wore masks decorated with large red noses or smeared with soot. Their boots and sheepskin coats were wrapped with straw ropes, and they carried wooden "swords" in their hands. It happened that they had hedgehog skins sewn on to their masks or other parts of their outfit. Girls in particular were deterred by this disguise. They were often accompanied by a grandfather or other character, as well as a band.

After coming home, they asked for permission to enter, and then they made New Year's wishes and demanded payment in the form of various treats. Their texts were often comic, sometimes malicious. They would run all over the house and mess up whatever they could get their hands on - it was usually food. They felt unpunished because it was believed that they brought home happiness. According to sources, the „draby”, apart from ritual dances and bustle, also made occasional greetings in the form of poems or songs, for example:

    "Fortunately, bless you, for this New Year,

    That you would have cabbage and peas,

    Potatoes like stumps and broad beans like clogs,

    That it would be good for you in the cowshed, in the chamber,

    God give it to you! ”.

 

• „SZCZODROKI”

 A group of children's carollers, mainly boys, who walked from house to house during the New Year, recited or sang New Year's greetings to their hosts and household members. Instead, they received a carol in the form of sweet rolls called "szczodrakami".

1. SHROVETIDE („ZAPUSTY”)

Shrovetide fell on Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The fasting period was coming, therefore on that day various kinds of dumplings were eaten, and from the beginning of the 20th century, pancakes and donuts also became popular. K. Ruszel in his book "Lasowiacy" states that at the end of the nineteenth century, in the northern part of the forks of the Vistula and San rivers, there was a habit of three teenage boys walking around the houses, giving a performance about what the end of a drunkard awaits. One was dressed as the devil, the other for death, and the third - wrapped with pea ropes - for Shrovetide - a drunkard. Shrovetide is also associated with the custom of jumping married women "on flax and hemp". For Shrovetide, the housewives met in the cottages, and the men met in the tavern. Often, young married women came, who were supposed to buy into a group of women, bringing a bottle of vodka. After the snack, the women started dancing on flax and hemp, it was jumping as high as possible - as high they jumped, so high was the flax and hemp to grow. It was supposed to produce them. The magical nature of the dance was important "In the carnival games of women and their dances for harvest (...) there were very clearly visible relics of archaic magical, translational practices, the essence of which was the belief that similar does similar. In this case, the high jump and the natural reproductive forces of the women were to stimulate the plants: flax and hemp to high growth. " All the games ended at midnight.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT HABITS:

Ruszel K., Lasowiacy. Materials for an ethnographic monograph, Rzeszów: Regional Museum in Rzeszów, 1994.

edited by K. Smyk, J. Dragan, Kolędowanie na Rzeszowszczyźnie, Kolbuszowa-Kraków 2019.

2011. Karczmarzewski, Ludowe obrzędy doroczne w Polsce południowo-wschodniej, Rzeszów 2011.
2012. Kotula,  Folklor słowny osobliwy Lasowiaków, Rzeszowiaków i Podgórzan, Lublin 1969.

Ogrodowska B., PPolskie obrzędy i zwyczaje doroczne, Warsaw: Sport and Tourism MUZA SA, 2006.