msswimming

 A tradition in Poland, that is not taken seriously is one where old people predict the next year’s weather on what they see outside on January the sixth. In Poland the climate is very icy and it almost always snows on Christmas Day. Some Polish people believe that if Christmas sees no snow, then Easter certainly will, or if the Christmas tree sinks in water then an egg will roll on ice. Other beliefs include that the star that shines on Christmas Eve will make the hens lay more eggs. Some Polish girls believe that if they blindfold each other and touch fence pickets a straight smooth picket would portend a resourceful husband while a crooked and rough one was an indication of a clumsy and awkward husband. There are three types of Polish carols - religious, legendary and imaginative. The religious carols are among the most profound and beautiful of all Polish hymns. The legendary ones are based on the book of the Apocrypha containing many legends and details for which strict historical truth can’t be assumed. The third kind owe their life to people of humble birth, who in relating the story of the nativity used familiar surroundings taken from their own homes. ||
 * || **__ Christmas in Poland:  __** || ** [|Click here]  to go back   ** ||   ||
 * **  [[image:http://www.rochedalss.eq.edu.au/xmas/polandmap.gif width="223" height="236" align="right"]]In Poland, Christmas Eve is a very quiet time and has a twenty- four hour fast which ends with a huge feast. The feast can’t start until the first star appears at night. The feast contains twelve courses and is completely free of red meat. It contains fish, cabbage, dumplings, potatoes and a type of thin bread that is like holy bread. The fish that is used is usually herring, carp or pike. For the Polish people their twelve courses can also consist of fish soup.   **

__**Christmas in Poland**__ // **"Boze Narodzenie"** // In Poland Christmas is often called //Gwiazdka// which means "Little Star". Polish people celebrate Christmas when the first star appears in the sky on Christmas Eve which is called "Festival of the Star". All that day the family have to wait until the first star appears to eat - then the feasting starts! A place is always set for the Christ Child. Straw is put under the table cloth to remind them of the stable in Bethlehem. What a feast it is! Their Christmas dinner is soup, fish, honey and noodles with poppy seeds, dumplings with sauerkraut and mushrooms. For dessert they have cakes, fruit and nuts. At midnight they are summoned to the church by the bells. Most of the Polish people like to go to //Pasterka// or "The Shepherd's Mass". The church is brightly lighted and decorated with Christmas trees and an elaborate creche. Christmas creches with Mary, Joseph and others around the crib of baby Jesus at the Bethlehem stable are a tradition in Poland. Every year during the Christmas season, in Krakow, creches shaped like the church of St. Mary are made by artists and amateurs, and entered in an annual competition. They are a marvellous sight.