{"id":509,"date":"2009-03-21T02:58:44","date_gmt":"2009-03-21T06:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=509"},"modified":"2009-03-21T02:58:44","modified_gmt":"2009-03-21T06:58:44","slug":"vernal-equinox-and-old-slavic-traditions-topienie-marzanny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/vernal-equinox-and-old-slavic-traditions-topienie-marzanny\/","title":{"rendered":"Vernal Equinox and Old Slavic Traditions – Topienie Marzanny"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday was pierwszy dzie\u0144 wiosny<\/a><\/strong> (first day of spring). Or is it today? But only theoretically, because you wouldn\u2019t know it from looking outside. And that\u2019s the problem with spring \u2013 it ignores the calendar and shows up when it feels like it (much like Anna she\u2019s supposed to be somewhere at a particular time)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Yet despite those shortcomings, the first day of spring is my favorite day of the year. I don\u2019t care much for the season itself (too unpredictable with too much rain), but its first day sure makes me happy. Why? You see, I\u2019m not a fan of darkness, and I don\u2019t mean the band here. Though the band I actually quite like.<\/p>\n

The first day of spring is the glorious point when the night finally gets to be the same length as the day. And it will get even better when we switch the clocks at the end of the month. I don\u2019t even mind that we will lose an hour \u2013 anything that shortens the night and increases the hours of daylight is fine by me. And I\u2019m sure that all SAD sufferers feel exactly the same way.<\/p>\n

But the first day of spring is also an occasion to celebrate the fact that winter is finally over (at least in theory). Back in the olden days, the Slavs did it in all sorts of pagan ways. Some of those pagan ways survive in modified versions even now, like topienie Marzanny<\/a><\/strong> (the drowning of Marzanna<\/strong>, Marzanna<\/strong> is in genitive in the Polish phrase) for example. Though ask anyone about the significance of this custom, and they are likely to say: \u201cdunno, this is something we used to do in school.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Though it sounds like a human sacrifice (actually, I wanted to check if it USED to be one originally, but it doesn\u2019t seem so, those pagan Slavs were pretty tame when compared to other ancient cultures)<\/em>, in reality, it involved the drowning of a straw representation of the goddess Marzanna<\/strong>. Marzanna<\/strong> symbolizes winter (researchers can\u2019t agree on whether she was the goddess of death and rebirth, or something else entirely) and as such needed to be banished at the right time. The right time was of course the day when the sun told ancient Slavs \u201cwell, hello down there, I\u2019m baaaack.\u201d<\/p>\n

And because these people really respected nature, they would make a straw doll and chuck it down the nearest river, as a sort of \u201cgoodbye winter, welcome spring\u201d pagan rite. From what I read, there were other seasonal re-birth customs involved in this ritual, but since this is a PG blog, I will leave those to your imagination.<\/p>\n

Topienie Marzanny<\/strong> is still done today. And because it involves a field trip, it\u2019s a favorite school activity for kindergarteners or elementary school kids. First, you get to make a large doll on a stick, dress it up, paint its face, and then you get to drown it in a river. Whoa! What seven year old wouldn’t like it?<\/p>\n

Though traditionally made out of straw, these days Marzannas (plural in Polish would be: Marzanny<\/strong>, same as singular genitive) can be constructed of other bio-degradable materials – papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9 seems to be popular. However, as one of my teacher friends said, some ambitious souls actually provide straw for their students.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s an activity for the young ones. Older students prefer to dress up in silly outfits and skip school. I normally practiced just the skipping school part.<\/p>\n