Koliada: Blessings and Good Tidings for the New Year

As previously mentioned there are many holidays celebrated at this time of the year, making for a convincing argument for why people say “Happy Holidays” at this time of year.  Last week’s blog post was dedicated to discussing the Latinx holiday of Noche Buena, and today’s blog post will introduce you to yet another holiday celebrated in December: Koliada, a Polish holiday that has rich pagan roots but has been modified to meet the needs of Catholicism that is widely practiced among modern Poles.

 

Figure 1: Carolers who participated in the Kolędowanie in the 1930s

 

Koliada has its roots in pagan traditions that were practiced not only in Poland but throughout Europe.  Traditionally, it was a holiday celebrated in the early Springtime.  Its purpose was to usher in new warmer weather associated with the changing seasons, as well as to bring about new life and chase away death and the dead.  Unlike what many (North, Central, and South) American cultures believe (wherein the spirits are livelier in the Autumn) Poles believed that the veil between the living and the dead was thinnest in the winter time.  This makes sense when you consider that the winter is a time when plants and animals go dormant and food becomes scarcer, leading to an increase in death among all living populations.  As such, Poles would celebrate the warming of the seasons and the abandonment of death for new life through the celebration of Koliada.

 

Koliada is observed through various rituals.  The most prominent was that of the Kolędowanie, the caroling tradition.  This involved a group of men who would don various homemade costumes.  They would dress as various farm animals, spirits, demons, and even the Grim Reaper, each of which represented a different aspect of the holiday (Figure 1).  Farm animals represented fertility and new life, whereas spirits, demons, and the Grim Reaper were meant to appease the spirits of the dead and pay respect to death.  The carolers would go from house to house reciting poetry and singing various carols.  Their poems and songs were meant to bring blessings of a fertile crop and bountiful harvests to the inhabitants of the household, who would pay the carolers in food, drink, or money (if that was available).   

Figure 2: 1926 image of a caroler dressed as Turoń

 

The carolers would also be accompanied by various other important symbols.  One or several carolers would be responsible for carrying a large, colorful paper sun or series of suns.  These originally represented the sun and the warmth of the springtime, and the sun was carried alongside the carolers to usher in the warmer weather.  One caroler was also bestowed the honor of dressing as Turoń, a half goat, half bull creature (Figure 2).  The Turoń is believed to represent the Aurochs, ancestral cattle species, that were imported from Africa and the Middle East when agriculture was first adopted across Europe.  Aurochs were incredibly large and formidable beasts of burden who were domesticated to help plow fields, which they did efficiently, but they later became extinct as smaller, more docile species of cattle developed.  The Turoń was included in the festivities as it represents fertility.  As part of the caroling ritual the Turoń would “drop dead” at some point of the procession, requiring revival by women and children who would provide it food and drink.  This, too, encouraged the fertility of spring, and women who were interested in becoming pregnant may have been invested in paying homage to Turoń to receive his blessing and increase their chances of conceiving a child sooner rather than later.

 

As Catholicism spread across Europe and throughout Poland the purpose of Koliada changed.  It was no longer celebrated in the Springtime but alongside the Christmas holiday.  The caroling continued but their purpose was the bring good tidings for the new year.  The sun was rebranded a star, and it represented the Star of Bethlehem, a symbol of the birth of Christ.  As Polish cultural values continued to change the make up of the carolers changed, and today both men and women are permitted to carol.  In urban areas Koliada is no longer celebrated to the same degree in the past, being relegated to Christmas pageants in schools, but it continues to some degree in rural areas as part of the community celebrations.

 

Works Cited

Bajić, Pavle. "Koleda - Slavic Winter Solstice Festival." 23 December 2020. Czech Center Museum Houston. Electronic. 17 January 2022.

Middleton, Ciara. From Koliada to Kwanzaa: Let's celebrate the holidays! n.d. Electronic. 17 December 2022.

Postcard Poland. Kolęda: An (Old) New Year Tradition in Poland. n.d. Electronic. 17 December 2022.

Tryfanenkava, Maryna A. "The Current Status of Belarusian Calendar-Ritual Tradition ." Belarusian Folklore (2001): 1-10. Print.