Polish Easter traditions - Smigus-Dyngus Day - Wet Monday

[valpomike]

To the full group,


First, a Very Happy East to All, and many more, to you, and yours.

Next what will you be doing special for Dyngus Day, this year? What have you done in the past? Does your area, town, city, do anything for Dyngus Day.
What do they do in Poland? Does anyone have photo's of any of this to share?

In my area, you have to go to either Chicago, or South Bend for Dyngus Day, and either are around 60 miles away.


Michael Dabrowski

[Bonobo]

Mar 22, 2008 21:14:59 GMT 1 franciszek said:

yes very good photos i was quite amazed this would never happen in the uk

How about this one? Don`t they do it in Britain either? hahaha

Mar 23, 2008 18:31:25 GMT 1 valpomike said:

Next what will you be doing special for Dyngus Day, this year? What have you done in the past? Does your area, town, city, do anything for Dyngus Day. What do they do in Poland? Does anyone have photo's of any of this to share? In my area, you have to go to either Chicago, or South Bend for Dyngus Day, and either are around 60 miles away.
Michael Dabrowski

In our family we don` t do anything special. Splashing my wife and vice versa. We are not fanatics of this custom. I prefer to do it in summer on a hot day during vacations.

Kids have more fun, though. They are planning to run with water guns and have water fights.

We`ll see tomorow if I manage to take photos of some splashing in the street. The tradition slowly disappears because the police cracks on youngsters who go wild and splash everybody. The offenders even face the court.

Easter

For the time being - traditional Smigus Dyngus
















And modern




















Franciszek I can see that Poles are transferring their customs into Britain too:

[Bonobo]

Mike

[Bonobo]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyngus_Day

Dyngus Day or Wet Monday (Polish Śmigus-dyngus or Lany Poniedziałek) is the name for Easter Monday in Poland. In the Czech Republic it is called Velikonoční pondělí or Pomlázka. Both countries practice a peculiar custom on this day.

In Poland, traditionally, early in the morning boys awake girls by pouring a bucket of water on their head and strike them about the legs with long thin twigs or switches made from willow, birch or decorated tree branches (palmy wielkanocne); however, the earliest documented[citation needed] records of Dyngus Day in Poland are from the 15th century, almost half a millennium after Poland adopted Christianity.

Benedykt Chmielowski in Nowe Ateny cite after "Carolo Berthold" that this ritual was already in custom in 750, 250 years before Poland officially adopted Christianity.

Read also a description by Pip Wilson
www.wilsonsalmanac.com/eastmond.html

[Bonobo]

Smigus Dyngus - Wet Monday




Girls don`t want to leave the church grounds....


.. for a good reason.


Water splashers! They prowl the streets and attack mercilessly.

[Bonobo]

Sometimes it is Snowy Monday

[Bonobo]

Female vs male firefighters