As we draw closer to Dziady (our Samhain equivalent), we dive deeper into the shadow and the things past. While we celebrate this day exclusively on the transition between October 31st and November 1st, the original Dziady was performed multiple times a year on prominent liminal days such as new and full moons, showing just how interwoven the dead were with the living. There was no end and no beginning in the eyes of the Slavs.
With harvest season at a close, this new spoke in the wheel of the year is dedicated to the ancestors. Dziady means “forefathers” after all. In Pagan times, a żerca or Slavic priest invoked the souls of the ancestors so that they may be offered food and gifts in exchange for their protection and guidance in the seasons to come.
Older wise women were also known to lead these ceremonies as the Slavs were very superstitious about their contact with the spirits. This liminal space was no place to mess around in. These conjurers knew the specifics of how to let these spirits cross over safely and then return them to the spirit world once again.
Much like the Mexican Day of the Dead, a portion of the Dziady festivities were held at a cemetery. Once night falls, candles are lit on the graves of those who have passed. A path of lit candles is also placed from the cemetery to the center of the Dziady feast (which was also held at the cemetery). These grave candles called znicze in Polish, were traditionally placed on clay platters as they burned throughout the night.
In the early days, bonfires were also list in the cemeteries where they were fed sacrificial blood. These fires were meant to warm the benevolent ancestors who had made their journey to the physical world. They were also meant to keep certain spirits away, such as those who had been murderers in life.
Part of the festivities included donning kraboszki, or Slavic ritual masks made out of wood. These masks were often worn during rituals that involved spirits as they were meant to confuse and scare away evil entities. These rituals often took place at a crossroads, where the physical and spiritual converged or under holy oaks, the Slavic world tree.
If you want to celebrate Dziady yourself, consider making a feast of your loved ones who have passed favorite foods. Light candles for them. Leave a chair open for them at the table. Keep their pictures nearby. You may also want to bake kasza, a traditional symbolic Dziady offering, which is essentially a type of porridge. Eggs, honey and herbs such as rosemary, juniper and mugwort were also offered on this day.
There were of course some no-no’s to such a feast. No water should be poured out to prevent wetting the spirits. No cabbage should be kneaded to prevent stomping on the ghosts. No banging a fist against the table so the spirits are not scared off. Windows and doors were left cracked so the spirits could enter. During these feasts, the stories of passed loved ones should be the only topic of conversation. The dead were as much a part of life as the living.
There’s milk, cake, sweet rolls
And fruit and berries
What is it you need, soul
To enter heaven?Trans. MK from the play Dziady,
{one of the most important literary works in Polish culture}
It is also interesting to note that it was also custom to pay beggars on this day with food or coins. It was believed that there was a connection between beggars and spirits. Beggars were actually also called dziady. Folks believed that by paying beggars to pray for their passed ancestors, the connection between them would be stronger. During this transitional time, it was also believed that spirits or the gods themselves could appear at a home as a beggar so much care was taken to pay them respect. Veles in particular was honored on this day as the god of the underworld.
An important aspect about Dziady and honoring the ancestors to note is the strong Slavic believe in the bloodline or ród. It was believed that ancestors could return or be reborn in a kind of reincarnation, so their veneration was paramount. Perhaps it was more than genetics that the new baby has the same demeanor and look of his great grandfather. Or the young girl’s voice and mannerisms has a ring of her grandmother in it. They also prayed on this day for the lost spirits who had no one to pray for them any longer.
So as the veil thins, take a moment to reflect on your own relationship with your lineage, your ancestors and your own ties to the veil. The most profound way of diving deeper into this season is to seek out stories from other relatives about those who have come before, and be sure to pass those stories on once again.
Kasza
Ingredients
1 cup toasted buckwheat groats
1 3/4 cups filtered water
1-2 Tbsp butter, to taste (I used unsalted butter)
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste (I used sea salt)
Directions
Rinse and drain buckwheat well.
In a medium sauce pan, combine buckwheat with 1 3/4 cups water, 1 Tbsp butter and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer then cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer on low for 18-20 min. Just like with rice, you should hear hissing while cooking and it will get quiet when done. Stir in additional 1 Tbsp butter if desired.
Be sure to leave a bit of the finished dish in front of the empty chair overnight as an offering before composting in the morning.
*Note* You can make this dish a bit more tasty by adding mushrooms, onions and greens. Or go for a sweet dish by adding honey, fruit and poppy seeds.