, Mazovian temple Within the framework of grandfather's rituals, the souls coming to "this world" had to be hosted in order to secure their favour and at the same time help them to achieve peace in the hereafter. The basic ritual form was feeding and watering of souls (e.g. honey, groats, eggs, forge and vodka) during special feasts prepared in houses or cemeteries (directly on graves). A characteristic feature of these feasts was that the people who ate them dropped or poured some of their food and drinks on the table, floor or grave for the souls of the deceased. In some areas, however, the ancestors also had to be given the opportunity to bathe (a sauna was prepared for this) and warm up. This last condition was fulfilled by lighting fires, whose function is sometimes explained differently. They were supposed to light the way for wandering souls so that they would not get lost and could spend the night with their loved ones. The remnants of this custom are contemporary candles lit on graves. However, fire – especially the one kindled on crossroads – could also have had another meaning. The idea was to prevent demons (souls of people who died suddenly, suicides, drowning, etc.) from being born, which were believed to have been extremely active during this period. In some regions of
Poland, e.g.
Podhale, in the place of someone's violent death, every passer-by was obliged to throw a sprig at the stake, which was then burned every year. A special role in suffragette rites was played by beggars, who in many regions were also called . This coincidence of names was not accidental, because in the folklore of itinerants, the beggars- were seen as mediation figures and connectors with the "other world". Therefore, people asked them to pray for the souls of their deceased ancestors, offering food (sometimes special ritual bread prepared for the occasion) or cash donations in return. The passing on of food to beggars as part of soul rituals is sometimes interpreted as a form of feeding the souls of ancestors, which is confirmed by the fact that in some areas they were given their favorite dishes of the deceased. During this holiday, there were numerous prohibitions concerning the performance of various works and activities that could disturb or even threaten the peace of the souls on earth. The following were prohibited: loud behaviour at the table and suddenly getting up (which could frighten souls), cleaning from the table after supper (so that souls could feed), pouring water after washing dishes through the window (so as not to pour over the souls staying there) smoking in the oven (this way – as it was believed – souls would sometimes get home),
sewing,
weaving or
spinning (so as not to sew or tie up a soul that could not return to "that world") or working on
flax.
Rite in literature The folk ritual of the became an inspiration for the
Adam Mickiewicz's , the central motif of which are the scenes of summoning souls during the village congregation, taking place in the abandoned chapel at the cemetery. The ritual is presided over by the
Guślarz (Koźlarz, Huslar), who preaches ritual formulas and evokes the souls of the dead in
purgatory. They are to tell them what they need to achieve salvation and to eat the food they have carried for them. Ethnological and literary studies clearly show that in Mickiewicz's work we deal with stylization. The author took numerous elements from Belarusian folklore, processed them artistically and created an original image. In fact, the rituals of the took place in christian times, either in houses, or in cemeteries by the graves of their ancestors, or in places connected archetypically (and often also locally) with former centers of worship – on hills, under sacred trees, in places considered sacred (sometimes actually by
chapels, which were often built on former places of pagan worship). Mickiewicz's references to terms such as "purgatory" and "
salvation" are the result of combining pagan and Christian customs.
Contemporary celebration To this day, in Belarus, Ukraine, parts of Russia, and some regions of eastern Poland, it is cultivated to carry on the graves of the dead a symbolic meal in clay pots. The majority of Slavic neo-pagan and
rodnover movements also cultivate the . Every year in
Krakow, a traditional is held, directly related to the ancient custom of spring ancestors' holiday. in 2009 In
Belarus, began to gain in importance in the late 1980s and were particularly important for
Belarusian Catholics, for whom this day became a symbol of memory of the victims of the communist regime. On October 30, 1988, the first mass gathering was organized, not by the authorities but by activists, to commemorate the victims in 20th century Belarus. The authorities of that time, which did not like it, dispersed the assembly with the help of the
militsiya. The ceased to be a day off in 1996, when the holiday began to be associated with the democratic opposition. Nowadays, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians are taking leave on demand to honor their ancestors on November 1 and 2. In 2017, the President of the
Episcopal Conference of Belarus,
Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, said that the should be a day off from work, instead of the
October Revolution on November 7. He also supported the Internet petition for granting the status of a day off from work to grandfathers, which has now collected over 2500 signatures. == and Christianity ==