Christmas traditions – celebration or a relic? All Souls' Day nature
The relics should therefore be sought in behaviours that are not very clear to us, especially those justified by the need to nurture tradition. Therefore, any festive practice is an area where relics are particularly abundant. Full of mysterious behaviours that we indulge in for a while – why do we bring a tree home? Why do we prepare unusual dishes knowing that not everyone will like them? Why do we talk about a visit from a bearded gentleman (sometimes dressing up as one) and think about how to drop off a present to a child unnoticed – isn't that strange? Why do we expect our cat or dog speak in a human voice, like in a fairy tale? Finally, why do we put an extra place setting on the table when no guest is expected and we are even sure that the place will remain empty? Of course, some of us can or do attempt to interpret these behaviours. It is also hardly surprising that those who do not, find joy and meaning in the mere repetition of cultural practices. It also happens that we give up on what we do not understand.
If we interpret our Christmas Eve behaviours in terms of relics that allow us to reconstruct 'earlier states of culture', we will find that the Christmas Eve supper was originally a feast prepared by people, but not for them. Christmas, and especially Christmas Eve, is a liminal moment when the profane (the everyday) gives way to the sacred. The All Souls' Day nature of Christmas was its distinct feature – now somewhat forgotten. It was believed that, especially on Christmas Eve, we embrace not only the souls of deceased ancestors, but also other emissaries of the afterlife. The collection of behaviours that testify to the All Souls' Eve nature that were perceived and documented by ethnographers is vast.
Even before the first star appeared, when busying oneself around the house, people avoided excessively violent movements, handled sharp tools more carefully than on other days. Visitors from the afterlife may have already been among us and it was not appropriate to scare them away.
"Come to dinner Grandpa!" – an empty place at the table and an extra place setting
The tradition of leaving an empty place at the table and an extra table setting has a distinctly All Souls' Day nature. It is about the dead who can visit us precisely as a stranger wanderer, a homeless person, a beggar, with the belief that this place does not remain empty and it is even better for a ghost to sit there. This was encouraged by opening the door and shouting, for example, "Come to dinner grandpa!", even though there was no one behind the threshold.
Today it seems strange, perhaps even a little scary, but it stemmed from people's deep conviction that they were not alone on this evening. These ghosts were not necessarily dangerous. They could prove friendly and helpful if they experienced care and respect from people. This is because it was usually considered that in some way these entities were related to our ancestors.
Christmas Eve menu, mood at the festive table, the ritual of "Dziady"
Much has already been written about the Christmas Eve menu, emphasising its symbolic nature. Food containing grains, honey and dried fruit dominated the traditional Christmas Eve table. These ingredients were associated in the pre-Christian era with the cult of the dead. Mushrooms, on the other hand, came directly from the domain of spirits. The forest is an alien and dangerous space to humans living in an agricultural culture. Yes, man exploits the area, but even today, alone in a dark forest, we would not feel comfortable and our imagination would start playing tricks on us, inducing fear and anxiety. Fish also comes from an area which is inaccessible to humans. Water – especially backwater – was seen as a dangerous habitat for insidious powers. The poppy, in turn, a plant that induces sleep – a state that is akin to death – to humans, offered the possibility of ascending for a moment into the 'other' world. So, who are the mushrooms, fish and poppy seeds on the Christmas table for? For beings from there to feel properly hosted.
The mood during the meal was devoid of elements of customary politeness – interpreted to mean that excessive servility to one's neighbour at the table could make other beings sitting down to that supper feel deprived of that attentiveness. Experts emphasise that the Christmas Eve mood of our ancestors was closer to the sacrificial feast of All Souls, which is echoed by the customs practised in some places (on other days of the year) of holding a meal over the graves.
Leaving food behind after supper had a similar meaning. The table, or often the bench, was not cleared until the first day of Christmas. It wasn't about giving the insomniac member of a family a meal. It was uncertain whether the unseen visitors were satiated, and besides, on a dark night, more supernatural guests could join the supper. It seems, then, that the Christmas Eve supper is a continuation of the sacrificial feasts prepared and celebrated as a gift to the souls of the dead, who were to repay by protecting the house and its inhabitants from misfortune and ensuring fertility in the coming year. In this sense, the Christmas Eve supper is more reminiscent of "Dziady", a famous ritual with pre-Christian origins in late October and early November.
Through the eyes of a child and the voice of animals
The special attention paid to children constitutes further evidence of the presence of messengers of the hereafter. Today, we say it's "their Christmas" because the children are the apples of our eyes, but we know it used to be different. They were loved, that's for sure, but their social roles were different and their upbringing stricter. However, on Christmas Eve, children always enjoyed a special treat. It was not just a matter of analogy and additional prominence for the figure of Jesus born in a stable. It should be emphasised that children are traditionally intermediaries between the worlds and the hereafter. They see what adults do not. They are often the direct recipients and witnesses of revelations. The motif has permeated mass culture. In horror films, it is usually the child who sees the demonic danger first. So maybe behind the old tradition of preparing presents for children on Christmas Eve, there is a desire to gift someone else?
Animals that speak with a human voice also count as beings not of this world. After all, an ox, horse, sheep or other livestock with human characteristics is some entirely new entity that is visiting the human seat and just stepping into an animal skin for a while. Also, the trees are coming alive. In many regions, after the Christmas Eve supper or the shepherd's supper, the hosts would go to the backyard orchards and talk to the trees, affectionately urging them to bear abundant fruit, or threaten them with the penalty of being cut down if they did not. However, these conversations were always accompanied by the tying of a bundle of straw around the trunk as a sign of care and concern
Christmas sheaves, Christmas tree, “turoń” (aurochs), Santa Claus – Christmas symbolism
Certain characters were created by the people themselves. Christmas Eve sheaves appeared in homes. They were placed in a corner of the room where supper was sat, whether in a peasant's cottage or a nobleman's manor. It is for a good omen of fertility – Stanisław Wyspiański, in his drama “Wesele”, brought to life the straw Chochoł, which heralds a procession of phenomena. Likewise with the tall Christmas tree, which we 'dress up' by wrapping in a shawl of chains. A coniferous tree placed on the floor is a 19th century aesthetic breakthrough in Polish culture, but symbolically it is nothing new.
For hundreds of years, on these days, twigs of juniper, spruce, pine or the top of a coniferous tree have been stuck between the beams of the house or hung from the ceiling. Even today, many homes hang mistletoe from the ceiling. According to ethnographers, it is a symbol of life, and by ourselves, today's Christmas tree is described as 'alive' if it is brought from the forest. Are these not relics of the past that explain the original meaning of various actions behind the metaphors that we commonly use?
Eventually, creatures – not humans – emerged from the darkness. The most archaic ones are the aurochs, the bear, the goat and the stork. But the ones inspired by Christian ritual were also very impressive – Herod, the pilgrim, the beggar, the gravedigger and, above all, death, the angel and the devil. They are, of course, the carol singers and various costumed people who have appeared since Christmas Eve. In several regions of southern Poland, the carol singers were called "Father Christmas", because there was a Saint Nicholas among them, dressed like a southern bishop, with a mitre and a pastoral. Again, a recurring theme is present. When the children were watching the performance, it was possible to unobtrusively place sweets for them in the hay under the tablecloth. The carol singers asked for food and drink and got what they wanted. Once again, we gain confirmation that the Christmas Eve supper is a gift to visitors from another world.
Non omnis moriar – the real dimension
For 200 years we have been instilled with the need to think rationally and with common sense. Today, we look for traces of life in the universe, apparently recognising that we have got to know and inventoried all the entities accompanying us on earth. Our ancestors believed that there were beings beside us that we could not see, but who had an impact on human affairs. In certain circumstances, these characters are so close that we can make contact with them. Sometimes they take on human or animal form, and sometimes they incarnate as objects. The sentence non omnis moriar (I shall not wholly die) had a real dimension. Let's think about this when leaving an extra place setting at the table.
Text: Dr Damian Kasprzyk, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Lodz
Edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz