| Śmigus-dyngus | |
|---|---|
 A postcard showing youth dousing each other with water onŚmigus-dyngus | |
| Also called | Dyngus Day |
| Observed by | Poles,Hungarians,Slovaks |
| Type | Christian,cultural |
| Significance | Commemorates theBaptism of Poland and the arrival ofEaster Monday[1] |
| Observances | Service of Worship /Mass, the throwing of water on one another, family meals and visitation |
| 2024 date |
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| 2025 date |
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| 2026 date |
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| 2027 date |
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| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Eastertide |
Śmigus-dyngus[a] (Polish pronunciation:[ˈɕmigusˈdɨnɡus]) orlany poniedziałek[b] (Polish pronunciation:[ˈlanɨˌpɔɲɛˈd͡ʑawɛk]) is a celebration held onEaster Monday acrossCentral Europe, and in small parts ofEastern andSouthern Europe. The Eastertide tradition is widely associated withPoland in English-speaking countries and is observed by Polishdiaspora communities, particularly amongPolish Americans who call itDyngus Day. Customs surrounding Śmigus-dyngus celebrate thearrival of Christianity in Poland.[2][1] The tradition also exists inHungary, calledlocsolkodás (sprinkling) and inSlovakia, calledoblievačka (the pouring).
On Śmigus-dyngus, Polish families traditionally visit or call relatives, gifting themPaschal eggs.[3]Mass is well attended byChristians on Śmigus-dyngus.[4] Traditionally, boys throw water over girls on Easter Monday. This is symbolic of the "cleansing of one from sins and marking the end of Lent with a day of feasting and merrymaking".[5] The custom may derive from a commemoration of theBaptism of Poland, when the Polish people became Christians and receivedbaptism en masse.[6][1] Additionally, certain scholars trace the custom toJerusalem, in which water was used to disperse crowds who were gathering to discuss theresurrection of Jesus.[6]
In some regions males gently strike females withpussy willow branches obtained fromPalm Sunday church services in the previous week.[2] This is accompanied by a number of other rituals, such as making verse declarations and holding door-to-door processions, in some regions involving boys dressed as bears or other creatures. The celebration is described in writing as early as the 15th century. It continues to be observed throughout Central Europe and also in theUnited States, especially among Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican traditions.[4]
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The origins of the worddyngus are obscure as it may come from the GermanDingeier ("owed eggs", theEaster eggs that are to be given to children[7]) orDingnis, Dingnus (ransom paid during the war to protect against pillaging).[8][9] The celebration has been traced back to the 14th century of the Christian era, though it is claimed that it may have earlier pre-Christian origins involving the celebration of theMarch equinox.[10]
Certain academics have suggested that the use of water is an allusion tothe baptism ofMieszko I, the Duke ofWest Polans (c. 935–992) in AD 966, uniting all of Poland under the banner of Christianity.[11]The New Cambridge Medieval History, however, suggests that it originated far to the west of Poland and was adopted under German influence.[12] Originallyśmigus anddyngus were two separate events, withśmigus involving symbolic whipping with willow twigs and the act of throwing water (oblewanki) anddyngus bribing people withpisanki to escape fromśmigus; later both traditions merged.[13]
Attempts have been made to curtail certain customs associated with Śmigus-dyngus; in 1410 the Bishop of Poznań issued an edict titledDingus Prohibetur, which instructed residents not to "pester or plague others in what is universally called Dingus".[14]
The festival is traditionally celebrated by boys throwing water over girls they like. Sometimes they also strike them withpussy willows. Deborah Anders Silverman writes that "The Easter whipping custom still exists in Central Europe; Laszlo Lukacs cites variants in Poland, Hungary, and Germany. Whipping and other Dyngus Day customs are seldom observed in the older Polish communities of the United States, some of which date from the 1880s. Water splashing, however, is still done as a joke in southern Ontario, where a more recent group of Polish immigrants has settled."[15] Boys would sneak into girls' homes at daybreak on Easter Monday and throw containers of water over them while they were still in bed.[14]
After all the water had been thrown, the screaming girls would often be dragged to a nearby river or pond for another drenching.[14] Sometimes a girl would be carried out, still in her bed, before both bed and girl were thrown into the water together.[16] Particularly attractive girls could expect to be soaked repeatedly during the day.[11] The use of water is said to evoke the spring rains needed to ensure a successful harvest later in the year.[16] In some regions, girls could save themselves from a soaking by giving boys "ransoms" of painted eggs (pisanki), regarded as magical charms that would bring good harvests, successful relationships and healthy childbirths.[14] In the past the girls were supposed to wait until the following day to get their revenge by soaking the boys, but in practice both sexes throw water over each other on the same day.[16] The nowadays custom turns usually into a regular water fight.
Pussy willows appear to have been adopted as an alternative to the palm leaves used elsewhere in Easter celebrations, which were not obtainable in Poland. They were blessed by priests onPalm Sunday, following which parishioners whipped each other with the pussy willow branches, sayingNie ja bije, wierzba bije, za tydzień, wielki dzień, za sześć noc, Wielkanoc ("It's not me who strikes, the willow strikes, in a week, holy day, in six nights, Easter"). The pussy willows were then treated as sacred charms that could prevent lightning strikes, protect animals and encourage honey production. They were believed to bring health and good fortune to people as well, and it was traditional for three pussy willow buds to be swallowed on Palm Sunday to promote good health. As with the water-throwing, boys would whip girls with pussy willows on Easter Monday and girls would do the same to boys on the following Tuesday.[17]
The celebration would traditionally be accompanied by declarations in verse, in which a young man would climb on the roof of a building in the village, beat on a tin pan and announce which girls were to be doused along with how many wagon-loads of sand, how much water and how much soap would be used on each girl. The girls would also respond in verse, announcing that there was someone who would save her. For instance,
From the tavern roof would come the announcement that Zośka, because she dressed badly, kept her house untidy, and quarreled with everyone, will have adyngus of a hundred barrels of water, a hundred cartloads of sand and a hundred lashes. Then from a window would come the reply that Zośka is not frightened because Jasiek stands beside her with a bottle of whiskey to buy off all assailants and ransom her off from the penalty.[18]
A dyngus procession would also be held, either on Easter Monday or Tuesday. A parade of boys would take part in a march known aschodzenie po dyngusie – "going on the dyngus" – orz kogutkiem – "with the cockerel", a reference to the use of a live bird, usually taken without permission and stuffed with grain soaked in vodka to make him crow loudly. (A decorated and carved wooden rooster was sometimes used as an alternative.) The rooster was a symbol of fertility, carried on a small two-wheeled wagon which had been painted red and decorated with ribbons and flowers, to which was often also added small puppets representing a wedding party. This would be pushed from door to door by the boys, who would crow like roosters and sing dyngus songs conveying good wishes and requests for gifts and food.[19] Their objective was to encourage the inhabitants to give them food from their Easter tables, such as Easter eggs, ham and sausages.[20] A typical dyngus song went:
Your duck has told me
That you've baked a cake
Your hen has told me
She's laid you a basket and a half of eggs
Your sow has told me that you've killed her son
If not her son then her little daughter
Give me something if only a bit of her fat
Who will not be generous today
Let him not count on heaven.[20]
In some regional variants ofpo dyngusie, the boys would march through the village with one of their number dressed as a bear with a bell on his head – either wearing a real bearskin or a stand-in made of pea vines. The group would go from door to door collecting "gifts for the bear" before "drowning" the bear in a nearby stream or pond. This was probably an adaptation of a traditional ceremony to drown a straw figure ofMarzanna, the spirit of winter.[21] The "bears" were often invited in as they were believed to ensure that there would be a good harvest, reflecting a very ancient belief in the power of the bear to prevent evil, encourage crop growth and cure diseases. In the historical regions ofMazovia andLesser Poland, boys wearing bearskins would also chase girls.[20] A similar custom is seen in theSiwki Easter tradition.
Girls had their own version ofpo dyngusie in which they would go from door to door carrying a freshly cut green branch orgaj, seeking food and singing songs welcoming the "new year" that followed Easter:
Our green little tree, beautifully decked
Goes everywhere
For it is proper that it should
We go with it to the manor house
Wishing good fortune, good health
For this new year
Which God has given us.[20]
Families would also visit each other on the same day to deliver presents of Easter eggs or rolls, receiving in return gifts of food from the Easter table.[9]
In Hungary, this Easter Monday custom is known aslocsolkodás (sprinkling). It is common between continental Hungarians andHungarian Americans. Traditionally, young men splashed young women with a bucket of cold water (usually at dawn, when the girls were still in bed). Fifty years ago, it was still common to see girls thrown into the trough, dressed in their finest for the noble occasion. It is no longer common, it was a rural form offlirting. In return, women are expected to provide men with either painted eggs or a drink ofpalinka.[22]
When these eggs were cooked in the juices of consecrated ham, it was calledkókanya. There is an interesting parallel in the name of the tradition,locsolás oröntözés, which means "watering" because the girl is allegorically compared to a budding flower.
It was one of the most important folk festivals in Hungary. It was afestival of love, where man came together with their ladies. It played an important role ingrowing up, because the young people only went to the neighbourhood to celebrate, while thestags (legény) went as a group.
Nowadays (since theInterwar Period)perfume is sprayed instead of water, and young boys often organise musical parades for the ritual, but sometimeswater guns are also used. While chocolate eggs from the West are more common in Budapest, most towns still paint their eggs. The Easter bunny came from German influence, in Hungary children build a nest for the bunny to lay chocolate eggs in. This is one of the most popular folk traditions still in use today. It is also covered in various forms of media, from tabloids to TV shows.
Vesszőzés or sibálás is a custom similar to šibať. In Hungary, it was believed that a whip made from awillow's twigs would make girls healthy. After it, the girls would give the boys a bundle or a bokreta and treat them to wine. Common shapes are kígyóhátú "snakesback", gömbölyű "rounded" and négyszögletes "rectangular", which can be made anywhere from 4 to 9 strands. In Hungary, thepussy willow was also thought to have magical properties, such as hail divination and lightning protection, but it was not associated with the holiday.
Making the Hajnalfa (Dawn Tree) is also an important festive ritual. The lads bring a tree to the girl's garden (or use an existing tree) and decorate it like aChristmas tree (karácsonyfa) or a Maypole (Májusfa), usually with ribbons. It was considered a disgrace if there was no tree in the morning. A dawn tree meant that the occupant of the house was to undergolocsolás. It was also calledJakob-fa after since in Christian tradition the day was also called Philip-Jakob's day (Fülöp-Jakob napja).
In Hungary, it was customary to water not only the female members of the family, but also the young girls of the village, showing attraction. Before thelocsolás, most of the time, they ateszalonna and scrambled eggs and threw the eggshells under the window of a girl they were offended by.
Sometimes thelocsolkodás is done in costumes, inGalgamácsa for example, the youth would wear white masks whilecircle dancing (maskurázás), though this tradition is more common onShrove Tuesdays.[23]
The "locsolóvers", an often humorous short poem in connection withlocsolkodás, has developed into a separate genre. There are many well-known poems the man is expected to know, but improvisation is also common. It is usually recited before the locsolás in which the girl is asked to allow the locsolás or to be given a kiss.
The text of the poem was often a playful threat.
Ajtó megett állok
Piros tojást várok,
Ha nem adtok lányok
Mind a kútba hánylak.
Which roughly translates to:
I stand at the door
Waiting for Red eggs,
If you don't give them to me, girls
I'll throw you all in the well.
In Hungary it is also a common custom for young boys togamble with the eggs they receive. There were many forms of this, one of the most common being to roll your own egg and try to break the other's. The locsolkodó (sprinklers) usually got 8-9 eggs per house. Alongside the eggs, they were offered ham, aspic, kalach and wine. In the evening they had a ball.
The eggs were given to escape the locsolás or to thank it. These were also sometimes hanged on the Hajnalfa to protect from hex. On the third day of Easter, the girls water the boys. Gifts were also traditionally given this day.
"It would spoil the will to work of a young bride, girl or boy, for a whole year, if her husband or her mother did not buy her new boots for Easter, and for a girl, mostly red or yellow. "
These red boots have also become a symbol of the festivity. Within the family, it was mostly given by the godparents. The girls only wore it inside the church, walking barefoot there and back so it would never get muddy.[24][25][26]
The Wet Monday custom in Slovakia calledoblievačka closely follow the general customs described above. In recent years, diaspora Slovakians have made feminist complaints, regarding the dousing as a "stressful" reinforcement of gender roles.[27]
Bands of young men and boys earn chocolate and "something for their piggy bank"[28] by whipping – šibať – and pouring water – oblievať – on young Slovak women. These customs, "once believed to purify the soul and body, are the remnants of a complex system of Slovak folk traditions based around the seasons of the year." The holiday is celebrated the Monday following Easter as "a day of folk traditions".[27]
The occasion is celebrated as Drenching Monday (Обливаний понеділок;Oblyvanyi ponedilok) in Ukraine, where, in the week after Easter is known as "Bright Week,"[29] with water celebrations subsequently occupying Monday (men splashing women), Tuesday, (women splashing men) and Wednesday (everybody splashing everybody). Monday is a day for visiting neighbors, wishing them health and fortune, and exchanging Easter eggs.[30] In Ukraine cultural importance of this holiday is more emphasized with secular festivals at cultural organizations likeKyiv'sNational Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of Ukraine.[30]
In cities likeLviv (prior to events ofFebruary 2022) theLviv City Council recognized the holiday with the creation of special zones with ongoing access to water in the city's famousRynok Square, the event having evolved into a secular celebration of spring, emphasizing playful rather than focusing on the historical religious significance of the event.[31] City Councillors describe it as "first of all a merry holiday," invigorating its participants, and an "inseparable" element of post-Easter celebrations.[32]
Dyngus Day is observed in many Polish American communities, includingBuffalo, New York.[11] The Buffalo dyngus celebrations started in 1961, introduced by the Chopin Singing Society, a Polish-American organization led by married judges Theodore and Ann Mikoll.[33] The introduction was an effort by the Polish-American community in the city to find a new focus for its identity. It proved hugely successful, to the point that a local newspaper claimed that "everybody is Polish on Dyngus Day."[34] Buffalo comedian and former television personality "Airborne Eddy" Dobosiewicz is credited with establishing the city's Dyngus Day parade in 2006 and turning the holiday into a major Buffalo event.[35][36] It has become a fusion of Polish and American traditions, withpolka bands, a parade, consumption ofkrupnik,[37] and Polish food accompanying American patriotic songs sung in English.[38] Party-goers dress up in the white-and-red colors of the Polish flag and carry balloons saying "Happy Dyngus Day" in English.[39]
Dyngus Day inCleveland is celebrated with a parade, polka, and the crowning of Miss Dyngus. Large celebrations are centered on several West Side neighborhoods, includingOhio City,Tremont, andDetroit–Shoreway.[40] The epicenter of the celebration is held atGordon Square.[41] A notable local leader of the celebration isDJ Kishka, playing mostly polka andCleveland-style Polka.[42] Relatedly, Cleveland is home to thePolka Hall of Fame. Cleveland contains a strongPolish American community, including five churches in the city limits who continue to sayMass in thePolish language-St. Stanislaus,St. Casimir,St. Barbara,Immaculate Heart of Mary, and St. John Cantus.[43]
Recent years have seen annual events of Pierogi-eating contests and theMiss Dyngus Day contest. Several local breweries make special releases of Polish and Dyngus Day beer.[44]
Dyngus Day inMacedon, New York, and its sister villageHoosick Falls, is celebrated with a town festival and folk dressed along Appian Way. Local celebrations are often held as well as festivals where local residents wear bright, green colors.[45]
Dyngus Day is also celebrated annually inSouth Bend, Indiana and thesurrounding region, including in LaPorte, Indiana. In South Bend, the day marks the official beginning to launch the year's political primary campaign season (particularly among Democrats) – often from within the West Side Democratic Club, the M.R. Falcons Club, Z.B. Falcons, the South Bend Firefighters' Association and local pubs and fraternal halls. Notable politicos who have celebrated Dyngus Day in South Bend includeRobert F. Kennedy; former GovernorJoe Kernan; SenatorEvan Bayh; former Congressman and New York University PresidentJohn Brademas; former Maryland Lt. GovernorKathleen Kennedy Townsend; former Congressman, 9/11 Commission member and former Ambassador to IndiaTimothy J. Roemer; former PresidentBill Clinton; the famous philanthropist Thomas A. White; and the late Aloysius J. Kromkowski, a long time elected St. Joseph County public servant, for whom the "Al Kromkowski polka" is named.[46][45] Visitors in 2008 included then–senatorsBarack Obama andHillary Clinton.[45]
Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 appearance was marked by his downtown rally attended by a crowd of over 6,000, his participation in the Dyngus Day parade, and his leading of the crowds at the West Side Democratic Club in the traditional Polish well-wishing song Sto Lat (phonetic: 'sto laht') which means [may you live] "100 years". Indiana was RFK's first primary and first primary victory, which set in motion momentum and victories that may have led to his nomination as the Democratic Party candidate for president had he not been assassinated.[45]
At theCalifornia Institute of Technology, theBlacker House celebrates Dyngus Day. As they already have a long-standing tradition of waiters[47] at dinners "dumping" attendees who act out of order, Dyngus Day provides an additional excuse for the waiters to dump attendees of the opposite gender. Dumps are accompanied by light slaps by a twig from the courtyard tree, and a volunteering Senior reads a Dyngus Day poem (as songs are banned during dinner).
In the Polish-American community ofPine Creek, Wisconsin, when throwing water over the girls, the boys would chantDyngus, dyngus, po dwa jaja; nie chcę chleba tylko jaja[48] ("Dyngus, dyngus, for two eggs; I don't want bread, only eggs").[49]
Dyngus Day is once again celebrated from its Polish roots that go back as far as 966 when the country embraced Christianity with mass baptisms.
