#gaik

[theancientgod]

GAIK - święto

Gaik, the Polish/Slavic “May tree”

This custom was a part of Slavic spring celebrations, appearing during various festivals and rituals throughout the spring season in Poland

This custom was a part of Slavic spring celebrations, appearing during various festivals and rituals throughout the spring season in Poland and in many other Slavic countries. Gaik usually appears as a small tree or a branch (most often a local type of a conifer tree, or a birch tree) decorated with colorful ribbons and other adornments, depending on the occasion (for example trinkets, flowers and bells, or colorful pisanki made on emptied eggshells hanging from the branches). Gaik is known under many different regional names in Poland, and you can find it under numerous names such as: gaj, goik, gaiczek, maj, maik, mojik, sad, nowe lato, nowe latko, turzyce.

Depending on the region, gaik was appearing on many different occasions. It was very often carried in a procession for the celebrations of the spring equinox: the rite of burning and drowning of Marzanna. It appeared as a form of a theatrical rite: after burning and/or drowning of Marzanna (a symbolic funeral of the old winter goddess), the following appearance of a gaik symbolized the first arrival or birth of the spring. Gaik was carried back to the village, announcing the new season and the rebirth of the nature.

[lamus-dworski]

Hello there! :) I was wondering if you could tell us if there's any kind of feast day/celebration day in Polish/Slavic beliefs that could be considered an equivalent to celtic Beltane?

Oh dear, I know only a range of overall informations about Beltane (never researched it in details) but I believe there are a lot of pararels in various Slavic spring festivals and customs that Beltane is similar to.

Firstly, and generally speaking, the Slavic festive calendar is much more spread across the season: there are lots of different customs around the spring that Beltane seems to ‘accumulate’ as one festivity, if I may say so.

The most important to look at would be the feast mentioned in Polish late medieval manuscript as Stado (here’s a link to Wikipedia article about it - sadly only in Polish). Stado is believed to have lasted for a few days, and included singing, dancing, and sport games. A similar festivity was mentioned in a Czech chronicle, adding that it was celebrated in honor of the spirits of ancestors.

We don’t know a certain date range when it was celebrated but we believe it was in May due to similarities with customs that survived over the centuries syncretized with various Christian celebrations (as it was usually happening with the Slavic customs).

So, I just looked at the informations mentioned in the Wikipedia page describing Beltane, and here are a few things worth looking at:

Zielone Świątki, often called a “Green Week” in English (link to my article about it focusing on Poland and mentioning Stado + link to Wikipedia article about the Green Week)

Locally: festival Rękawka in the city of Kraków (link to my article + link to article on Krakow Post + link to Polish Wikipedia article)

Gaik, a custom related to the ‘maypole’ (link to my short text about it on tumblr + link to Polish Wikipedia article)

Spring blessing of cattle (link to my article)

Sobótki, bonfires prepared for various celebrations around the spring and summer, including the Green Week and the Kupala Night (link to Polish Wikipedia article)

That’s all that comes to my mind in relation to Poland right now.

If anyone wants to add informations to my reply, please do! :)

[lamus-dworski]

Walking with gaik in Poland

This custom is a part of Slavic celebrations dedicated to welcoming of spring in Poland. It is celebrated on Wednesday after Easter or during the Green Week (depending on the region of Poland), sometimes also at the beginning of May. Apart from that, in many parts of Poland it accompanies also the celebrations of the spring equinox: the rite of burning and drowning of Marzanna, where it appears in a theatrical rite where burning of Marzanna means a symbolic departure of winter, and the following appearance of Gaik means the arrival of spring.

Needless to say, gaik is an important element appearing throughout the celebrations of spring. In other Slavic countries it is also known, appearing primarily for the celebrations of the Green Week.

Gaik itself is a symbolic young tree, made of pine branches (or a whole small pine tree) decorated with colorful ribbons, trinkets, flowers and bells. On top of it, an effigy symbolizing the spring was sometimes fastened. It is held by girls or young women (rarely by boys or young men) who walk around their neighbouhood and sing songs, announcing the arrival of spring.

The word gaik in the Polish language is a diminutive form of the word gaj - grove. It originates most likely in pagan rites of designating a forest area for a sacred grove. In the old-Polish language there was also a verb gaić, which was originally used as a term for enclosing an area of a forest to determine extent of a grove. The sacred groves used to be fenced or marked, and it was forbidden to enter the sacred area by unauthorized people from outside of the community. The verb was later used to describe process of planting a young forest, and some documents from Renaissance era show that it was also a term for paying for the use of forested lands. 

In Poland gaik is known also under names of: gaj, goik, maj, maik, sad, nowe lato, nowe latko, turzyce.

Photos via JolkaS, naludowo.pl, swojacy.osw.pl, piekaryslaskie.naszemiasto.pl