"Weird" "Strange" "Unique" Polish Customs

Near the beginning I signed up, I posted a thread inquiring on "How to be Polish", but it did not get a lot of responses. I'm going to try again, using a new title, and a new format, to better explain what I'm looking for. What things do people in Poland do which are considered unique to, say, the West? Bear with me. Maybe not specifically in Poland, but Eastern Europe maybe. And my Filipina wife's culture, there's this traditional idea that unmarried couples should not flip cooked fish, otherwise they will never get married (don't mind the superstition). In Siberia, I hear that people tie ribbons to lower branches of trees as an act of prayer. Just recently, I was asking my grandfather where he got holding onto Silver for on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight came from, and he not only told me the origin being from his father, but also informed me of the importance of bread, butter, and whiskey/vodka as traditional elements an Eastern European tradition.

What other customs and traditions are common among Polish people and their neighboring countries?

I don't know, probably Śmigus-Dyngus is unique for Poland.

It's not, it is practised in a few other East European countries.

But I think Oplatek is unique to Poland.

No...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_wafer

OK.
I didn't know that but it is MAINLY Polish and only celebrated in parts of those other countries.
Are they perhaps regions that were formerly part of Poland?

Christmas Eve dinner is more festive than Christmas dinner -there are some customs connected with it as well like: hay under the table cloth, twelve dishes, no meat or starting the dinner when the first star appears in the sky. Also an empty plate on the table for a wanderer /deceased family members.

Easter Palms and blessing food on Easter Saturday.
Andrzejki - st Andrew Day.
All Saints Day.
Marzanna.
Demons from the folklore like Bobok/Bebok /Bobo, licho, Rokita or Boruta.
Kolednicy.
Welcoming people with bread and salt on important occassions.

What's quite fascinating is that there's hysteria against Halloween, but then the same people go dabbling with the occult at Andrzejki or they drown poor Marzanna.

I don't know those demons though Kaprys, so thank you for the heads up!

Traditionally a lot of Christian holidays can be divided into somber and festive parts, an interesting about the end of October beginning of November holiday is how Americans completely rid the holiday of its somber component (part of a general trend of secularizing holidays) while Poles kept _only_ the somber parts...

@delphiandomine
The same sort of people would go crazy about Andrzejki.

Drowning or burning Marzanna is not ecological now -which does make sense actually. She was the Slavic goddess of winter /death.
Check out also Utopiec, Poludnica or Skarbnik if you haven't heard of them.
As for Halloween I would rather compare it to Polish Dziady which kind of disappeared from the Polish culture except for Mickiewicz's books.
BTW, in the past there were both Katarzynki and Andrzejki that somehow merged into one.

How about the presence of mythical creatures like a dragon, a basilisk or a mermaid in our legends?

BTW, when I first read about the basilisk in Harry Potter books, I kept wondering why they didn't take a mirror to fight it. Duh; )

I remember a teenage girl being drowned on that day a few years ago. It had happened before too.


I once attended a Dziady night; they still happen, albeit discreetly. One of the people takes the role of 'Guslarz'. It was interesting.

Still, it mainly Polish, those are a cultural influences.


It is a foreign customs that is not needed ...

So is Christianity, unless Jesus was really called Przemysław and came from Rzeszów rather than Bet Lehem.

Christmas trees too, from Germany. Šw Mikołaj a Greek from what's now Turkey.

Every custom, every idea, every tradition has to start somewhere, only a few can truly be called home-grown.

And Halloween has been adopted wholeheartedly in Poland. As you may know, it's very big here now. Extremely big given all the celebrations, the merchandise, the special TV schedules. Bigger than in, say, the U.K. where Bonfire Night (and where I'm from, Mischievous Night) occurs at around the same time and also involves partying.

Kaprys you monster, now I'll be spending the whole night reading about them!

(thank you very much, I love this stuff!)

😲 the second attempt to collect Polish Customs to assimilate into my life seems to be going very well !
Thank you

Painting eggs in Easter, putting it in a basket (with some bread and sausage) then get it blessed with holy water at the church. It's a Polish-Catholic tradition

It is, but it's not entirely unique to Poland. I think it originates further east as they bless eggs at the Orthodox Catholic services in Russia. Painting/decorating eggs also is not unique to Poland. Polish Easter is lovely though, nicer than their Christmas I think.

@Mr Grunwald
Sausage? Like polish sausage right? Cooked or raw? Probably dumb question.

@Atch
It was the combination I was thinking about west+east you know :)

@OdrowazP
You wouldn't have to ask, if you knew the answer already. So there are no stupid questions in this regard

I haven't experienced them being cooked (kiełbasa)

@Atch
I know what the title here says, but I'm open to "neighboring" traditions as well, a bit, even though I am specifying Polish too.

Usually dry smoked sausage.

More info here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9Awi%C4%99conka

The picture shows the baskets on the table but just as often people hold their baskets (uncovering them) and the priests walking through the crowed sprinkling the baskes (and the faithful) with holy water, usually with a straw brush.

There are all kinds and variations, it could be made from a bear meat/ could be spicy or not, the best one are homemade ... by those who know what they are doing...


the best, garlicky and nice.. my grandfather made it wholesome but my father liked more more garlicy and spicy. I think I will make it myself I haven't had a decent one for years...

The beginning of May is a cluster of bank holidays in Poland. 1st May - Labour Day. 2 May - Flag Day. 3 May - Constitution Day.

We went to the shopping centre to get supplies. We delayed it till 8pm but there were still huge crowds. Meat shelves completely empty. Nearly the same problem with bread.

Luckily, we had purchased our grill stuff earlier. Tomorrow is going to be a big party.

@pawian
😁 maybe too late for me, perhaps I still
have a chance to produce a Polish flag.

So, I covered two unique Polish customs at one blow.
First - May bank holidays.
Second - Poles buying things out to make up for potential shortages in future. Heritage of communism.


It is very easy - take an Indonesian or Monegasque flag and turn it upside down to get the Polish one.

• 
  
  

@pawian
I just meant tomorrow is May and I'm short of funds

Oh, I see. We were also warned that our salaries would be transfered on 4th May. :):)

I am not sure if it is unique but in Poland angry or disappointed readers might send the authors their books back. By mail. It happened during martial law when some popular writers took the regime`s side and vowed support for its dirty actions. They received a lot of books in retaliation by anticommunist patriotic readers. :)

Recently it happened to Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk who had tated in an interview that sth must be done with the persecution of LGBT people in Poland. She received a few books but...... now I admire the way she dealt with the issue - she declared she would offer the books for a charity auction to help persecuted LGBT. haha

How clever!

ofeminin.pl/lifestyle/odeslijoldzeksiazke-noblistka-reaguje-na-akcje-w-mistrzowski-sposob/kkp7232

She is a dumb little idiot on par with other Soviets. Her talent went to waste paired with no brains.

hahaha funny things saying you are, mr luke.

But you clearly forgot this thread is about unusual customs, not people. Try to comment on the custom instead of on her. :):)

Why would anyone persecute the mentally ill? It's disgusting...