Dziady, Halloween, Zaduszki

Halloween (a Celtic festival celebrated lavishly in the USA and England) arouses considerable controversy in Poland. Those who criticize the festival most often use “hellish” arguments. The innocent “trick-or-treat” game is supposed to be the first step toward later Satanist masses, occultism and the worship of Satan.

The pagan Celts and pagan Slavs worshipped the spirits of the dead in a very similar way. It was believed that there were special days on which the dead descended to earth. They returned to their former places of residence and visited the living.

At this time, the Celts extinguished the fire beneath their stoves, as well as their lamps and torches, so that their homes appeared cold and inhospitable. Outside their homes, they put out food for the spirits. Anyone who failed to feed a spirit could expose themselves to its revenge.

The Slavs celebrated Dziady—the time when the worlds of the living and the dead were separated by a thin boundary. On the night of Dziady, they provided the spirits of their ancestors with food and drink, and above all with the warmth of bonfires. They also showed lost spirits the way to Nawia (today’s Heaven).

The Catholic Church accepted the autumn festival of spirits and assigned it a specific date in the calendar: November 2 (Zaduszki). Even before World War II, on All Souls’ Day, village farmers brought loaves of rye and wheat bread by wagon and distributed them to the poor in cemeteries. The condition was that the poor recite prayers for the souls of the dead identified to them by surname or first name.

In the 19th century, in the eastern reaches of Poland, a rite in honor of the dead called “Dziady” was performed. On that day, the folk imagination brought the dead so vividly to life that not only bread but also groats, honey and eggs were placed on graves, and a feast was held there, attended by the deceased’s relatives. On this one and only night, the spirits returned to the living. Gates and doors were left open overnight so that they could cross the thresholds of their former homes without the slightest hindrance.

All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day have their roots in ancient beliefs, whether one likes it or not. This is not merely a Catholic tradition. Worshipping the spirits of the dead is a tradition as old as humanity. For centuries, people believed in various gods and created different religions. The remnants of ancient beliefs can be respected, just like one’s own ancestors.

(information: Grażyna Hanaf)