Happy Dyngus Day | Let The Leg Whippings Commence!
Dyngus Day is a big deal for the Polish, Slovak and Czech people. Dyngus Day, which is also known as Easter Monday or Wet Monday (Śmigus-Dyngus or lany poniedziałek in Polish; velikonoční pondělí or pomlázka in Czech; or Šibačka/Polievačka or Oblievačka in Slovak), is essentially a celebration of the end of Lent.
But what’s more important about Dyngus Day is that by tradition, boys wake up unwedded girls in the early morning by pouring a bucket of water of them. They also whip their legs with long, thin decorated tree branches, a nod to pagan antiquity that is the Śmigus part of Dyngus Day ritual. Modern times have seen the branches replaced with polka, Polish food, water gun fights and other things that don’t cause leg welts. Thankfully, the Wicker Man territory is no longer an issue with Dyngus Day. Payday loans won’t be a savior in this type of heated situation.
Dyngus Day – Why “Dyngus” and “Śmigus?”
According to Wikipedia, a pagan god of water and moist earth is what Dyngus is. His twin, Śmigus (from śmigać, to make a whooshing sound) represents thunder and lightning. While the act was an ancient spring cleansing rite, pouring water was an indication of fertility. This explains why boys pour water on girls. The striking with tree branches element comes from either some form of flagellant purification or was borrowed from the ritual slapping of Christian Confirmation.
Smigus, which tends to be forgotten, is quite similar and features striking prominently, as well. The difference is it’s the parents striking children on Good Friday while praying about “God’s wounds,” or in Polish, “Boze rany”. To help pay to dress our wounds and keep the ashes out, we can always obtain unsecured loans. In modern days, girls were given equal permission to chase boys with the switch when celebrating the Twin Smigus aspect of Dyngus Day.
Other Dyngus Day traditions
Another big thing is exchanging decorated eggs (pisanka). You better have your fertility symbols if you don’t want to get doused by Dyngus and struck by Smigus. There is a related Dyngus Day tradition of sprinkling ashes on people and their homes for consecration and cleansing for the upcoming year, particularly in areas of Poland like Mazuria and Masovia. It is done a few weeks before Dyngus Day and is referred to as półpoście.
