The Polish Halloween: All You Need to Know about Dziady

[JustJohn or JJ]

The Polish Halloween: All You Need to Know about Dziady

Culture.pl
2016/10/28

Dziady, Halloween’s Polish counterpart, has a rich tradition dating back to old Slavic times. Rather than Jack-O’-Lanterns, it’s linked to Karaboshka masks, the great literature of the Romantic era and, by some, to the Greek god Dionysus. Read on to find out what this grave custom is about and what place it holds in the universe of Poles.
Forefathers’ Eve

There’s milk, cake, sweet rolls
And fruit and berries
What is it you need, soul
To enter heaven?

The above is a fragment (as translated by the editor) taken from one of Poland’s greatest literary works of the Romantic era, Forefathers’ Eve. The original, Polish title of this dramatic verse by Adam Mickiewicz is Dziady (pronounced: Jah-dyh), making it a namesake of the ancient Slavic and Baltic tradition of honouring your ancestors. Perhaps it can be seen as somewhat similar to Halloween, though it’s certainly not supposed to be quite as humorous.

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