Discover Top Posts Tagged with #dozinky

Dug out a Slovakian piece I started earlier this year intended for the Harvest altar. It’s pretty close to being done.

#Slovakia #folk embroidery #western slavic #cross stitch #devotional embroidery #Marcy #marceline the vampire queen #dog #dozinky

A thrice blessed time period between mothers

“In Czechia the period between two important Marian feasts, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the so-called Mother of the Sower on August 15) and the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (the so-called Mother of the Sower on September 8), was in the past referred to in folk circles as thrice blessed and between Mothers. The aforementioned feasts were particularly associated with the now-forgotten custom of blessing herbs and grain seeds as the first fruits of the harvest.”

I’m planning on getting my Dožínky (harvest) wreathe ready during this time period. When I questioned one of my Czech Instagram friends (who works at one of their folk museums) if Dožínky had a set date (like Lammas or Michaelmas) she said that it was usually flexible, and somewhere between the second half of August or early September which falls right into this thrice blessed time period between mothers.

The harvest wreath was kept until Christmas or until the next harvest, hanging in a hall or a chamber. I’ve used mine in the past as an advent wreath.

I’m distraught because I can’t find my Virgin Mary icon anywhere. I’m trying to decide whether to set aside my Coptic embroidery, to do a second quick side project of a simple Mary cross stitch.

#dožínky #dozinky #wreath #harvest #Czech #assumption of the virgin mary #nativity of the Virgin Mary #folk catholicism #dual faith #folk witch #Slavic

“Golden lady, open the gate, we bring you a wreath of pure gold”

Czech Customs at the end of summer

The most important festive occasions were the village feasts or feasts at the turn of summer and autumn. In the Znojmo region, however, the colorful customs of winemakers also occupied an important place among autumn customs. In addition to the winemaking and feast customs, there were others that - except for the so-called domlatek - have survived to a certain extent to this day.

In the northern parts of the region, the harvest usually began on the feast of St. Margaret (July 13), who "threw the sickle into the rye". In the warm border areas, however, the reapers went out into the fields a little earlier. At the end of June, usually around the feast of St. Peter and Paul (June 29), rye began to be harvested from the fields. It was followed by wheat, barley and finally oats, which began to be harvested in mid-August, always closer to the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 15). The end of the harvest was originally accompanied by celebrations associated with giving thanks for the new crop, during which the last sheaves were carried from the fields to the yard and the reapers presented the farmer with a harvest wreath made of grain ears and wildflowers.

The origin of the harvest festivals, known in the Jemnica region as obžinky, is reflected in the ancient tradition and festivals of thanksgiving for the harvest associated with the bringing of sacrifices, usually the first fruits of the harvest and probably also a ceremonially killed animal.

When the last sheaves fell, joyful shouts could be heard from the foothill fields, and in some places there was even dancing. At first, the harvest was mostly done with a sickle, which persisted in the foothill regions of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands until the second half of the 19th century. Harvest time was celebrated when the last mandel or "panák" was erected. Then the farmer's daughter appeared in the field with a large wreath, went to the scythe who had cut the most grain. She took his hat off his head and wreathed it. The other women wreathed the hats of the other men. However, the harvest festival was not celebrated until the grain had been brought in from the fields.

The farmhand, the harvesters and the children decorated with flowers and rowan berries, planted a large sheaf of ears of corn among the straw and arrived home with the last sheaf decorated in this way. The cart entered the village to noisy cheers and stopped at the gate of the farm, where the harvest festival was being celebrated.

In front of the gate they sang: “Golden lady, open the gate, we bring you a wreath of pure gold”. The gate opened and the cart with the last sheaf drove into the yard. The harvest women surrounded the lady and wished her God’s blessing. Then they presented her with a wreathed sheaf of the most beautiful grain, which was to be especially large and heavy, so that the next harvest would be like that too. In the last sheaf of grain, the grain spirit, taking care of the harvest, was figuratively hidden, which explains why such attention was paid to it in folk tradition. The grain from it was saved for the next year's sowing and it was also the last to be threshed.

The harvest feast took place immediately after the harvest or on the nearest Sunday. The housewife led the chasa into the barn, where a feast had already been prepared, usually consisting of buns and doughnuts made from new flour, but also of the necessary alcoholic beverages. In some places, a rooster was ceremonially killed for the harvest feast, which is probably also indicated by the German name of this annual celebration, i.e. "Schnitterhahn". Roasted rooster meat was probably also part of the rich harvest feast in the Znojmo region. In later times, however, in our country, the harvest feast was celebrated only in the courtyards and estates of wealthy farmers who hired labor during the harvest period. On smaller farms, the celebrations were limited to a more festive lunch.

In the Moravian Krumlov region, the harvest was done while the reapers and reaping girls sang, for example, to the popular song "U Dukovan na kopečku*. On the last day of the harvest, the reapers deliberately left only a small piece of the field, so that there was more time for the early evening celebration. When the work in the field was over, the reapers brought the farmer and the housewife a wreath of grain. It was usually carried by the most beautiful and eloquent reaper, while singing the best wishes that were supposed to bring abundance and prosperity to the farmer's household:

How many grains in this wreath,

so many measures next year,

how many flowers in this wreath,

so many healthy children for our farmers.

Good evening, farmers, we come to you! We bring you this wreath, woven.

Just accept it out of love and don't be ashamed for us, it will give you a lot of blessings in this world!

This wreath is woven from field flowers, from all kinds of herbs, oats, rye, wheat too.

And the harvest wreath, woven from the last ears of all kinds of grain, decorated with wildflowers, poppies, hazelnut “corns” and embellished with paper roses and ribbons of various colors, was the core of the entire celebration. It was most often circular in shape, but we also have records of wreaths in the shape of royal crowns or inverted baskets. The harvest wreath was kept until Christmas or until the next harvest, hanging in a hall or a chamber.

In our region (Znojmo), it was hung in the hall of the house, where it remained until Christmas Eve, when the farmer hung it on a tree for the birds, or the housewives gave it to the poultry. After the harvest, the king and queen often took place in the Moravian Krumlov region, usually associated with Pentecostal customs. The young man and the girl were dressed in white clothes, the queen also had a silk scarf. Both had wreaths on their heads. They sang while turning crosswise:

“The doll stood humble, like that little red rose, an angel of the Lord flew to her, gave greetings to the virgin.

The virgin was frightened by the greetings from the angel.

Do not be afraid, pure virgin, you are to give birth to the Lord Christ. "

In German villages, the harvest festival was known as “Schnitterhahn” or “Schniderhahn”. After the harvest, the harvest women wove a harvest wreath or “Ertenkranz” from grain and wildflowers, which one of them then presented to the owner of the farm with a verse speech. The wreath then hung above the door of the house until the next harvest. The harvest workers rejoiced at a feast called “Schitthahn”. The feast of St. James (July 25) stood on the threshold of the summer of Annen and opened the gates of autumn. On this day, ducks would stop laying and bees would fly to the forest, and the beets would begin to be dug up. It was said: “On St. Elijah’s day, summer in the morning, autumn in the afternoon; on St. James’ day, summer in the morning, winter in the afternoon”.

Roasted rooster was also an indispensable part of the feast at the domlatku, in German "Drescherhahn", and hence, for example, in Vedrovice "trešón". It was eaten in both Czech and German environments, but in German communities, domlatku celebrations were given greater importance even at the beginning of the 20th century.

This is where the more precise information about their course comes from. The man who struck the flail last was called the king of the threshers or "Dreschkonig". They put a straw wreath on his head, dressed him in a woman's blouse, wrapped the flail in straw and had him strike it three times in front of the farm door. A farmer was waiting for him, who welcomed him with a bucket of water as a reward. In other places, immediately after the threshing was done, the youngest of the threshers was sent to the housewife with a bundle of straw on a stick, which was called a "Krapfenholz". He tried to hand it to her as unnoticed and jokingly as possible. If the boy was caught in time, the woman sprinkled him with water. Of course, all the hired threshers were rewarded with money and the grain they threshed after the harvest, and the housewife also prepared a rich feast for them, which was said to be comparable to even the wedding one.

In addition to the obligatory roast rooster, doughnuts were also served for the festive dinner and wine, beer and spirits were drunk. In larger estates, buns were also baked for the threshers on this occasion, and potato or meat soup or pork roast was also present on the festive table. The domlatku celebration, accompanied by singing and drinking, often lasted until the morning.

The most complete report on domlatku in the Czech environment comes from Vedrovice, where farmers hired threshers in the spring. The reapers usually came from the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands and headed to Vedrovice from Lower Austria and German villages in the fertile Podyjí region, where the harvest ended a little earlier. However, when reaping machines appeared on the farms, these people gradually lost their income. The threshers threshed by the “tall” or half of the “tall” (from the German “TeiP” or part). Every thirtieth measure of threshed grain belonged to the threshers, who divided it up. After threshing and clearing away the grain and straw, the farmer set up a “trešón” for the threshers. Meat soup, meat with a side dish, cakes, beer, wine and brandy were served for dinner. The threshers brought a bouquet in return and wished the farmer: “Dear Mr. Farmer, we wish you happiness and health, so that we may meet again next year, thresh a lot and have a big harvest.”

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Text Source (translated to English using google translate):