While most of the world is putting on costumes, dressing up, and getting ready for Halloween, Poland spends the weekend getting ready for All Saints' Day. Even though this is a holiday observed in many countries across Europe, Poland is unique in the whole-hearted way that it celebrates this holiday. The holiday is observed on November 1st, every year.
During this weekend, Poles will travel all across Poland to visit the graves of their families and close ones. They clean the graves, add some decorations, lay flowers, and most importantly, light candles to bring remembrance to the spirit of those who have already left us. In the rest of the world, Halloween is a joyous festivity giving a reason to party and celebrate, but All Saints' Day in Poland is a rather somber holiday where we reminisce about the lives of our passed loved ones and spend time at the cemeteries to show respect to those who are no longer with us. Today, a Christian holiday, All Saints' Day reaches back in Slavic culture before there was even Christianity in Slavic countries.
Why is the holiday so special in Poland?
I mentioned earlier that this is a holiday celebrated in most countries
in Europe, so what exactly is it, and why is it so special in Poland? All Saints' Day is a Catholic holiday celebrated even by some Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches, so basically all European countries with a Christian majority observe this holiday. Though this is today a Christian holiday, the observance of All Saints' Day in Poland extends back to ancient Slavic times, before there even was Christianity in Poland. The holiday has Pagan roots and many of today's traditions observed in Poland are of Slavic pagan origin.
Before there was Christianity in Poland and before there even was an All Saints' Day, around this time of year the Polish people held a feast called Dziady. Dziady, an old Polish word, can be translated into English meaning "forefathers", or better put in modern English, our relatives. This feast was one where food was prepared to welcome the souls of our "forefathers" who have passed away. The most common food prepared for this feast was a type of bread called powałki which would be offered to the spirits coming back home. Other than creating a feast to offer food to the souls of our passed relatives, the Polish people would also light fires around their towns to help guide the souls back home and to give them a place to warm up. Similar to modern day Halloween, it was also a slavopagan tradition to carve frightening faces into wood masks this time of year to scare away any evil spirits which may be trying to hide within the spirits of our relatives. Such carvings were called karaboszki (seen below).
The celebration of All Saints' Day extends early into Polish history, long before Christianity ever reached the country. This tradition was not one celebrated only by the Polish ethnicity, but it was celebrated by all Slavic ethnicities, all those countries originating from the native Slavic faith. Even in today's celebration of All Saints' Day, many of the modern traditions extend from this old Slavopagan feast. Today, most of Europe observes All Saints' Day, but the holiday was adopted from the slavopagan feast of Dziady as a way to assimilate the slavic people into the Christian faith. With the church adopting the tradition, it is now observed all throughout Europe.
Current traditions and celebrations
Today, the holiday is celebrated by gathering with your family at the cemetery, placing decorations on your family graves, and most importantly lighting candles at the graves. While these traditions are practiced throughout most of Europe, they are exaggerated in Poland where the decorations are ten-fold more and the graves light up like small cities which can be observed even from the a plane. On this day Polish families drive all across Poland to visit their passed relatives in the cemeteries and pay respects to their familial roots.
These traditions extend from the old Slavopagan feast. The decorations and flowers which are laid on the graves are in place of the food which was once prepared for the spirits of our relatives, the masses of candles lit are in place of the bonfires which were once lit to guide our relatives back home. The day is somber where we reminisce about the lives of close ones that we lost, but it can also be a merry occasion where Polish families get together after not seeing each other for long periods of time as well as explore old familial history. On this day many Polish people also attend special masses in church where the ceremony is dedicated to praying for the spirits of our relatives. Typically after this mass the family will come together in one home for some kind of small meal. except this time it is for the living family members, not the dead.
The holiday creates for a beautiful site at Polish cemeteries as the entire cemetery is lights up. It actually reminds me a bit of Chinese lantern festivals, but except for the lights in the sky, they cover Polish tombstones and create a truly unique atmosphere. If you have time this evening, make sure to go out and visit a Polish cemetery, it will make for an unforgettable site.
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