Typically, Polish festivities have a connection with Christian traditions and/or various heathen ceremonies, resulting in a unique mixture of heathen and Christina traditions.
Advent - is the time of the fasting, prayer and focus on divine service, and lasts four weeks. This is the period which leads up to Christmas and during this time there are no parties or festivities. It is a a time of devotion and prayers for those who have died, as it is believed that those who have died can also harass the living. In the time of Advent there are treats early in the morning in all churches (the so called Rotary or Jutrznie) along with prayer to celebrate the Advent of Christ.
Holy Evening (24th December) - is the most festive evening of the year and the beginning of Christmas, which belongs to the family feasts of the year which is full of traditions, atmosphere and excitement!
The Holy Evening typically includes dishes which are prepared from the ingredients of the field, the orchard, the garden, the forest and the water. A festive menu must contain: soup from red beets, mushrooms or from fish. A central dish would be herring or carp which could be prepared in several ways. On the table it is not be permitted to miss cabbage-dishes, compote from dried fruit, noodles with poppy seed, sweets, poppy seed cakes or poppy seed with dried semi-tropical fruit - the so called “Kutia” -. Various Christmas cakes can be served including honey-cakes, biscuits and curd cheese cakes. And no Holy Evening table would be complete without nuts, fruit and various assorted sweets.
The birth of J.C. - Christmas (25th of December) - in the colloquial language “Christmas Day”, formerly called Godami, Godnimi or Godnymi (dignity-festivity-day). Christmas Day commences with the participation in an early mass. On this day no one works and in earlier days, it was a day of rest without social gatherings or guests with the exception of family. Nowadays people have moved away from this attitude and do socialize however it is low-key and spent with immediate family.
Holy Szczepan (26th of December) - The day after Christmas Day. The patron saint of the day is the “Holy Szczepan”, the first Christian martyr. Traditionally, mainly in the villages, people consecrated oats, or other corn-sorts, during the divine service in memory of the first Christian martyr, who was stoned to death. At home the whole family, neighbors and acquaintances enjoy the various corn-sorts. The Holy Szczepan also signals the beginning of carnival, ad time of festivities and the tours of the balled-singers.
Christmas - keeps man from the IV century and during the centuries formed the premise of the majority of folk-customs and religious ceremonies themselves. Some of these rituals are slowly disappearing, while others maintain a rich and meaningful form.
Also attached man Christmas with many traditions. For example the next one, which means that there must always be an even number of people at the table, otherwise it is believed that a family member or a person close to the family would go away for ever. Each person must taste every dish. In former days people enjoyed the Christmas dinner in silence, and no one was allowed to leave the table early or put their spoon on the table, before everyone was finished. If it was necessary, people would hold the spoons between their teeth. After dinner, it was not allowed to clear the table and everything would stand there until the next morning. It was also tradition to place a bottle of vodka on the table for the souls of the dead. After dinner, Christmas carols would be sung and afterwards off to church to celebrate Christmas mass.
While the traditions have changed, many disappeared altogether with only a small few remaining. Nowadays people will share wafers before dinner and make a wish out loud before eating them. All dishes must be tasted and there must not be more than one empty spot at the table – the logic behind this being that no one must be alone on this day. Ceremonies such as singing Christmas carols and attending mass at the church have always been observed. On Holy Evening presents are also given, and in former times only the children received presents and even then this was mostly practices among the wealthier city dwellers who could afford to do so. In several parts of Poland the houses are visited by people who are called “little stars” or simply put: Christmas carolers.
New Year’s Eve (31st of December) / New Year (1st of January) - still in the XIX century the New Year’s Eves were almost exclusively celebrated in affluent families. Nowadays the dancing, festivities and parties are considered a time-honored tradition. New Year’s Eve- and New Year’s festivities are spent mostly among family or with close friends at a private party, disco, in a restaurant or some other location where people reserve their place far ahead of time. However, it is not compulsory to celebrate this as big as possible. Many people prefer to spend the evening sitting snugly in front of the television or at home, but the fact remains that no one is supposed to be alone on this day. On this day it is appropriate to wish someone, in the old Polish language, “do siego roku” which means “I wish you well” but the most fun is had drinking champagne and at midnight ringing in the New Year with fireworks in the European way.
Carnival - after an old Polish habit called “zapusty”, is the time from New Years up to Ash Wednesday. This is a time of pleasure, feasts and dancing which takes place right before the long fasting period.
All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day (1st and 2nd of November) - are days sacred to the memory of all deceased people. The first of November was considered “All Saint’s Day”, and was a cheerful and festive day which was reflected in the liturgical dress that was worn by the clergy on that day during mass. The second of November “All Soul’s Day”, was a day for memorial feasts honoring the deceased. The festival started with the church-liturgy in the X century and at that time there was a memorial service for the souls of the deceased. The former traditions have now evolved and are replaced by placing flowers and candles on the graves of the deceased. Burning candles are a symbol of memorializing those who have passed on, and are also symbol of Christ and the eternal light.
Andrzejki (30th of November) - is the time of predictions for young ladies throughout Poland, regarding love and marriage. Although this ritual is widely known and practiced, there is uncertainty as to how this particular tradition came about. Regardless of it’s true origin, people agree that the signs have developed a Christian connotation. According to the Catholic calendar, the day of the holy Andrzejki ends the church-year, after which Advent begins.
In Poland the tradition of Andrzejki has survived ages, and throughout it’s practice it’s never been allowed that older or married woman, nor boys are invited to participate. The most well-known and frequently used form of obtaining a prediction makes use of pouring heated wax or lead onto water through the opening of a key, and watching the thus formed silhouettes on the wall, you could see ghostly images of what the future would bring. A prediction of the same form was to burn paper and to observe the movable shadows on the wall. These and many other forms of making predictions were locally developed and depended on the needs and imaginations of the young ladies. The traditions have sustained until now and are still popular, although nowadays they are used primarily as a form of entertainment.