Wielkanocne zespoły obrzędowe w Opoczyńskiem

Abstract

Easter is not only a time of intense religious experiences, where Christ’s resurrection and His victory over the sin and death are contemplated. Easter, which in our geographical zone falls in the spring period, is connected with many spring customs and matrimonial and agrarian rites. At the beginning of spring, the ritual shows devote much attention to the customs associated with fertility, which was in this way supposed to influence good crops. Those customs were practised both individually and in groups. One of those customs was the old Polish tradition of dousing womenfolk on Easter Monday. The genesis of that custom is hard to explain. In Poland it was joined with the Easter time and it functions under German names. Nowadays, there is a conviction among the people that dousing with water is performed to commemorate Christ’s resurrection and to disperse the crowds which gathered in Jerusalem having heard the good news. On the other hand, the young men took advantage of that tradition, in this way showing their matrimonial intentions to their beloved ones. For some, the custom of dousing contained a certain amount of magic, used in order to ensure the desirable rainfalls which were so necessary for the proper growth of crops. In this case, the custom of dousing would be associated with the care about the earth’s fertility. In the Opoczno region, one could also come across young non-married men who were walking about with a rooster. The custom of walking with a live or artificial rooster was not always bound up with Easter. It probably goes back to the tradition of walking with a figure of a „spring” bird, which was observed in north-eastern Europe. While walking about with a rooster, the young men kept the existing manners kept in that area. The men sang appropriate songs in which they expressed their wishes meant for the members of a given family; they sometimes hinted at some Easter gifts like food products or even money. Those songs also contained some religious elements with reference to Easter and the Passion. In the families where there were some young non-married girls the tradition of walking around with a rooster was more of an entertainment. The second day of Easter in the Opoczno region was connected with walking about with a green tree. It was usually a green spruce or only its top, from 100 to 150 cm height. The tree was decorated in different ways: using goose feathers, coloured paper ribbons, etc. The tree was carried around by girls aged between 10 and 15. Walking around the village they were invited to the houses, where they performed the appropriate rites. Usually they sang songs in which they asked for some gifts. According to ethnographers, that tradition of carrying a green tree or a green tree branch made referred to magic practices, which were meant to arouse the spring nature together with its vegetation and fertility. At present most of the traditions of Easter Monday have disappeared. Difficult financial situation of many families in the past drove them to walking around the households in order to collected some food products for the family. Nowadays, this kind of problems do not take place within the rural community. The only tradition that has remained is that of dousing girls on Easter Monday. However, this tradition does not have the character of a rite any more, it is rather of an individual dimension.