CHRISTMAS IN POLAND
Christmas Eve is celebrated in Poland on the 24th of December. This is the most important night of Christmas. Contrary to the Canadian tradition, Poles receive presents on this night as well, instead of on December 25th.
In a Polish home, as it is done in my family every Christmas Eve, before supper is served, the family shares an Oplatek (Holy Bread similar to those used for Holy Communion). The Polish family breaks the Oplatek and shares it with each person present. During the exchange, good wishes are expressed. This is an emotional time of the Holiday because feelings are shared between each person. Those members of the family who have passed away and cannot be present are particularily remembered at this moment.
The traditional Christmas Eve supper in a Polish home consists of twelve dishes, representing the twelve months of the year. No meat is served during supper, only fish (usually herring, carp or pike). Other traditional dishes that are found on the table include mushroom soup, red barszcz, sauerkraut with wild mushrooms or peas, kompot (a juice made out of cooked fruits) and a cake for dessert (usually poppyseed cake). Pierogi (for the Christmas Eve supper, they are usually filled with sauerkraut and mushrooms), and Polish dumplings with a wide variety of fillings are among the most popular Polish dishes.
Christmas Superstitions
For Poles, Christmas Eve is a time of family gathering and reconciliation, but it's also a night of magic. Animals are said to talk in a human voice and people have the power to tell the future. Today, few treat the old traditions seriously, but some survive as family fun. Maidens interested in their marital future and older people, who try to predict next year's weather based on the sky's aura between Christmas Eve and Twelfth Night, sometimes cling to past superstitions. Polish rural residents are among the few who still keep up the old Christmas Eve customs. In eastern Poland it is still believed that girls who grind poppy seed on Christmas Eve can hope for a quick marriage. After dinner, they leave the house, and the direction of the first dog bark points to where their future husband will come from. Another fortune-telling trick is eavesdropping on the neighbors. If in a casual conversation, the girl hears the word "Go" it means she will get married in the coming year. A loud "Sit" announces long-lasting maidenhood. From the small hours on Dec. 24, women were found cleaning and sweeping the entire house. An ancient belief had it that forces of evil would dwell in all things left dirty on that day. If the first person to enter a house on Christmas Eve was a woman, it was a bad omen, meaning that only heifers would be born in the farm in the coming year. It was a good sign when a man was the first to cross the threshold of the house.
Today, few people are familiar with Christmas Eve fortune telling, especially urban dwellers. Yet some old traditions can still be found among village people who tend to lead a more old-fashioned lifestyle, closely connected to nature and its cycles of death and rebirth.