Cultural letter #13 Easter
Dear friends,
The kids are working on
schoolwork at the moment. I encouraged them to finish quickly since Polish
school has out Thurs, Friday, Mon, and Tues.. They make a big deal out of Easter
Break. Having almost a
week off leads to a feeling of play.
I told the kids that they had
to do their English schoolwork during this time, though, since we already had
so much time off. :) Slave driver, I
know.
This is the Easter season. The
Poles take it seriously...though it seems to me, it
has more to do with eggs, chickens and spring flowers like tulips than
anything. The kids learned what each
thing represents, at least according to their school textbook writer.
I thought I'd share with you
what this person says about their symbols.
(From what I understand...The
people gather certain things together and take them to the priest in a basket
on Saturday morning to get sprinkled with holy water.... I suspect that they are all placed in the
front of the church and the priest throws water at the whole bunch....not
individually like I used to think. They
then eat them on Sunday morning at a special breakfast together. If they each
eat part of what is in the basket, they get a special blessing for the year.)
From the kids' school book...
Eggs (uncolored) they are a sign of new life. They remind
us that Jesus rose.
Salt protects against spoilage. Sprinkled, it has the
power to protect against evil and spoilage of our spirits.
Palm branches (sorta...they are
homemade)...they remind us yearly of the travel of Jesus to
Certain plants...boxwood,
myrtle, and bilberry... these are signs of the peace which Jesus
brings. In
Colorful Easter Eggs roll on the holiday table, so that they can crash or
clatter and roll around. Whichever one
hits the table first loses. You color them so that you can tell which is
which. (I guess they have a "twist
the egg" type game, like we might play spin the top...they play spin the
egg.)
Ram...the Jews ate for their last passover before their flight from
Rabbits...remind us that not only people are happy that Jesus
arose from the dead, but also the animals are.
(I'm not exaggerating...this is really written in their textbooks.)
Around the Easter table it is
tradition that there are various cakes.
The person who puts a cake in the oven to bake, for the whole time of
baking, can't sit down, or else the cake will fall and will have a "sad
cake".
Dumping
water on each other on "Easter
Monday" (the day after Easter).
It is known that water has the power of cleaning...They dump water to avoid bad
works.
(My comments are in
parenthesis...the other is translated from their school book. I didn't try to
"clean up" the translation too much...)
I'm going to attach a picture
of their school book so you can see the pictures that they have drawn. It'll give
you a better picture of the palm branch, ram, etc.
-
As I've understood it,
traditionally they have some no-no's during this time...no working outside, or
even inside like cleaning after Thursday.
Shopping is fine. Apparently the
work they mean, is yard work, etc NOT work in the
kitchen. (It is so hypocritical to me...means the men don't have to work
outside doing their farm work, so they can sit in the house while their wives
fix special cakes, etc....at least that's my take on it. It is always funny to me, who didn't grow up
here, the specific taboos on certain things.)
However, I know that is an exaggeration, as most places of employment
are still open today...including bricklayers, etc.
We're having a special meeting
tonight, showing a film, and then on Sunday we'll be having a special dinner at
GK. I'l fix a turkey. I'm
not big into Catholic tradition and taboos, so I'm trying to be kind of
sensitive, but at the same time realizing that this is a free country and not
everyone is bound by the Catholic church...
So, I need to go clean my
bathroom and get some flowers planted this weekend! :)
Oh yes...they do sell candy
eggs, and such here, but it isn't to the extent of what it is in the
states. Seems like people are saving
"Happy holidays..Enjoy
those eggs." (Personally I don't care that much for hard boiled eggs.) And
no, we didn't get new Easter dresses...
I also heard that the dumping
water originated with a pagan fertility rite...
They have the liberty to throw
water on each other on the Monday after Easter, which they call Easter Monday
up until
Once again, that's
"my" take on it.
After Easter, they are free to
go back to their "parties" (meaning drunken times) like wedding
receptions, so you see weddings on Easter, and after. The time of "constraint" is
gone...they are "free" again.
I told Milena, with whom I have a Bible study,
that I disagreed with the whole idea of lent and carnival, etc,
because I didn't believe that God had certain expectations from us at certain
times of the year. I told her I believed if it was wrong to get drunk before
Easter, then it's wrong after Easter...God didn't give
special allowances in the Bible for behavior at certain times of the year. Our behavior should be dictated by the Bible,
not tradition, or some church rule.
:)
For now,
Becky
PS. If you can't get pictures through, please let
me know and I can send you emails without pics. I'll put you on a special list.