Drowning of Marzanna
One of the most vital pagan customs in Poland is “drowning of Marzanna”. Marzanna is usually a straw effigy of a well-dressed woman symbolizing winter and death. To end the winter the effigy is usually setting on fire or drowning in a river (or both). Nowadays the ceremony is held on the first day of the calendar spring. In past centuries before drawning Marzanna was carried through the village then soaked in every puddle. After throwing her into the water touching the puppet was forbidden as it could bring unhappiness! In present Poland the Marzanna ceremony is usually held by the younger kids but still brings joy to adults!
by ragehotX
16 comments
No. We ran out of Marzannas.
I’ve never heard of that, it’s probably done mainly in the rural parts of the east.
I remember doing this in primary school in Toruń in the 90s. Loved it. I hope the tradition is still practiced somewhere in Poland!
Yes! I passed a large group of kindergarteners with little tissue paper and ribbon Marzannas on their way to presumably some lake today
Kujawsko-pomorskie uskuteczniało ten zwyczaj gdy ja byłem w szkole, 15 lat temu, dziś tocbym musiał podpytać znajomych mających dzieci w tym wieku. Dla mnie bomba, przedkatolicki zwyczaj któremu nie zmieniono nazwy i nie dorobiono znaczenia z jakimiś pierdołami z bliskiego wschodu. I piszę to jako ateista, antyklerykał, ale po prostu nie cierpie zimy nawet rozumiejąc że dziś to śmieszna wersja jej samej 😁
Edit: tranaslation
We did it when i was in elementary school 15 years ago. Central-north Poland. I love this activity, even tho i’m an atheist.
It was definitely still a thing in the late 2000s / early 2010s when I was in elementary school, no idea if kids still do it nowadays though
Jak bylemw przedszkolu ( 2009- 2012) to co roku był konkurs na marzannnę
Yeah! My highschool is holding a Marzanna drowning this month actually
Mieszkam na wsi i co roku dzieci z przedszkola i podstawówki witają wiosnę paleniem Marzanny, dzieci robią w szkole dużą kukłę i potem z nauczycielami przychodzą nad rzekę tam jest przygotowane palenisko gdzie wrzucają kukłę, śpiewają jakieś piosenki i potem wracają się bawić do szkoły 🤠
Yes
We still did it around 2010, bit we threw it into the trash to not throw stuff into the river.
These days we just burn actual witches.
I remember that it was practiced at my school.
Actually in Warsaw this weekend https://facebook.com/events/s/pozegnanie-marzanny-nad-wis%C5%82a-/1575631023245220/
BTW I do not get the ecological reasons for abandoning this tradition. Can’t we just make ecological Marzanna, of wood, linen, hemp, straw and natural dies? There is nothing unnatural in a bunch of plant material falling into the river.
We have something quite similar in Spain, it’s called “the burial of the sardine”.
Where I live, children build it and walk with it around a town or city, but it’s not longer burnt or drowned, because it’s basically littering public spaces; so basically, schools talk about that custom, but also use it as a way to teach about not destroying public property and trashing the environment.
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