#gwiazdka

[jun-hug]

🌼🦋🐈🌼

print! | kofi ♡

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[mask131]

It was through "Lovecraftian inspirations from the real-life" that I discovered the existence of the old Polish Christmas figure of Gwiazdor. Not a saint Nicolas, not a Father Christmas, but a "Star-man"/"Man of the Star" - because he is named after how Christmas carolers used to go around with a star on top of a stick, representing the Bethlehem Star. (In alternate spellings he is Gwizdz apparently closer to a verb for whistling, still related to the idea of the "carolers" going around making noise to "scare away the winter" ; sometimes he is more simply called "The Star-Bearer")

It is quite interesting how he reunites in himself the Saint Nicolas/Hans Trapp ; Père Noël/Père Fouettard ; Weihnachtsmann/Belsnickel divide. Like the traditional Father Christmas he gives gifts to nice children and has a beard (white or made of straw), boots and a hat (a high hat of fur, leather or straw) ; but like Knecht Ruprecht figures his fur-trimmed coat is dark (other times he has a straw coat, fitting the whole straw motif ; other times yet the coat is covered in bells, other times it is a sheepskin coat worn inside-out), he beats up naughty kids (he always has some rods ready to use) and he has his face either covered in soot or hidden by a mask. [Apparently straw was a big part of old pagan rituals and folk-magic in Polish regions? But I don't know enough about it to say more]

Also interesting is how the Star-Man usually assesses if kids are good or bad not just by asking them about what they did throughout the year - but also by asking them to recite a prayer or sing a song, reflecting how he is born of the tradition of Christmas carols (what some call the "Slavic carols").

Speaking of Slavic, the Star-Man is in an aspect similar to the Ded Moroz and Snegurochka of Russia by also having a younger, female side-kick/counterpart. Not frost/snow themed, but still star-themed: Gwiazdka, which is usually translated as "Star-Woman" or "The Little Star" (her name literaly means "star"), though she is sometimes merely called "The Beautiful Lady". She has some saint Lucy thing going on, being a woman in a long white dress, crowned with flowers and ribbons, often reinterpreted as a bride or angelic figure (sometimes Gwiazdor had by his side people costumed as an angel or a devil - with the Gwiazdor seemingly taking more of the devil attributes down to his hat sometimes having horns). But she has been noted to be much creepier, because usually her face is veiled and she is not supposed to say a word at all. In the regions where she is not present a similar tradition exists of a veiled woman giving gifts to kids before Christmas, but here a parallel with the Christkindl should be rather made because this entity is called "The Little Child", "The Infant" or "God's Child".

Ancient Polish Christmas celebrations were apparently very big on stars, down to the tradition of the festivities only starting when someone spotted the first star appearing in the sky on the night of the 24th - and the person who spotted the first star would become the luckiest one of their family for the whole next year.

[alutka2000s]

Who brings your Christmas presents? In Poland, it depends where you're from

Szymon Pifczyk The differences reflect Poland's complex history and regional diversity.

(Picture by @paszosky on wykop.pl service).

[moon6668]

Byłaś moją gwiazdką na niebie

Błyszczałaś najjaśniej ze wszystkich

I me czarne myśli rozświetlałaś za każdym razem

[katatonicimpression]

When you're online on the 24th:

[zakochana-w-cytatach]

"Matka uczyła ją, że święta są ważne i nie można ich lekceważyć. Trzeba je obchodzić z tymi, których kochasz, bez względu, czy masz ochotę, czy nie. Bo nigdy nie wiadomo, kiedy pozostaną ci tylko wspomnienia."

- Luanne Rice, "Sklep 'Pod dziewiątą chmurką'"

[linie-papilarne]

[jun-hug]

Made a gif of my recent art

Blinks at you ⭐️

❗Do not reupload anywhere❗