Polaznik

In Poland, polaznik visited homes and gave residents green twigs decorated with tissue paper, called podłaźniczka.[2] Podlaznik also wished the residents well. This bypass custom was called połazy[3] or podłazy.[4] In Cieszyn Silesia second day of holidays is called podłazy.[3] In southern Poland polaznik used to come on St. Stephen's Day.[5] Priests often forbade podłazy during Christmas.[4] Men who came to visit relatives and neighbors sprinkled oats on the house and all those present, wishing them.[4][6]

In Slovakia, the visit of a polaznik in the home is a form of koledari. The arrival of young, healthy children with green fir branches means that the person who sent them on St. Thomas' Day (December 21) wishes the household members to be happy, healthy, and young as children. At the same time, the elderly and sick polazniki were feared, as it was supposed to herald death and illness. In Slovak villages, it was forbidden for women to be polaznik because it was believed to bring bad luck. In central Slovakia, the polaznik came to the house with a green branch, which he stuck behind the ceiling beam to make the bread and flax grow as high as possible. The first guest who entered the house on Christmas Day was given bread so that the cattle could graze well in the summer. In the Zvolen region, also winemakers were polazniki.[7]

The shepherd could also be a polaznik who came on the first day of the New Year with two branches – spruce and birch. Then he flogged the household members with the branches, which was supposed to bring them health. The homeowners kept these twigs until spring, until they first drove their cattle to pasture.[7]

In the Moravian Slovakia region of the Czech Republic, the most coveted polaznik was a boy or a small animal. Wishes were made in the form of poems (polazné vinše). It was believed that a substitute must come to the house from the opposite direction in which the river flows (from the bottom to the top, against the current), otherwise the household members would "fly down like water". It was believed that the appearance of a boy-polaznik foretold the birth of a bull, and a girl-polaznik foretold the birth of a heifer. The polaznik was given specially baked bread in the shape of a cow, duck, or bird.[7]

Lemkos used to call the host the polaznik, who, returning from the river, brought home a sheaf of oat straw (didok) and a bundle of hay and put them in the corner of the house; to the hostess's question, "Where are you from, Polaznik?", he replied: "From the cheerful, from the bright, from the good and from the happy."[8]

In Serbia, the polaznik was not chosen, but was the first person to cross the threshold of the house on Christmas Day. The polaznik and the host exchanged greetings, and then the polaznik was planted by the hearth. He would move a log (badnjak) in the hearth to bring good luck to the house (in the Šumadija area), then hit the coals with the twigs he brought with him, and at the same time he would say a wishing formula – he wishes the household as many sheep, money, family, and livestock as the sparks caused by the twigs. The hosts put a white, woolen rug on the polaznik, then he was supposed to sit on the stool, but at the last moment the hostess took the stool and the substrate fell to the floor. This was to kill all the birds of prey or, according to other versions, make the house fortunate. Sometimes a shoe was hung on the pole from the right foot of the polaznik, which was supposed to make the hemp grow high.[9]

In western Bulgaria, families often had their own, traditional polaznik, who was invited year after year at Christmas to prevent misfortune. The polaznik should be a person of good character, polite, wealthy, healthy, etc.; these qualities were passed on to household members. The polaznik should not be blind, deaf, sick, hunchbacked, with mutilations, dwarf, a child born out of wedlock. A polaznik should not come empty-handed or with an empty vessel, but should wear a fur coat so that no one would get sick or die. The guest would also take branches or straw from the yard, spread them by the fire in the house, then sit on them and pretend to be a hen, which was supposed to make the hens diligently lay eggs and keep the chicks safe. In the Rhodope Mountains, the fire stoker stoked the fire so that chicks and babies would be born quickly and easily, like sparks in a hearth.[8]

In northern Bulgaria, the polaznik would light the fire in the bonfire with a branch of an oak, pear or plum tree and make a wish for all the people, according to which the people were to have as many chickens, goats, lambs, calves, foals, babies, honey, oil and wheat as sparks. The hostess sprinkled the polaznik with wheat, beans, nuts and dried fruit, which was supposed to induce fertility. Male polazniki were preferred, but they could also be women and children; the arrival of the male polaznik foreshadowed the male offspring and animals, and the arrival of the female polaznik foreshadowed the female offspring. In some places women were preferred – their arrival predicted the growth of cattle and poultry. Sometimes a family member was the first to leave the house and bring straw. Sometimes the hardest-working member of the family would also be a polaznik, and on St. Ignatius' Day (December 20) he would light a fire in the hearth and bring a green branch (southwestern Bulgaria).[8]

In Slovenia, children were the polazniki. They would bring home a log and kneel on it to make rhyming wishes. They were given gifts to ensure the happiness of their household. In Styria, after receiving the bread, the polaznik would give a piece of bread to his household to ward off bad luck. Often they also agreed with a neighbor, who would warn against an unwanted guest. In Lendava, the polaznik wished girls a husband (k moži, к moži) and boys a wife (k ženi, k ženi). In some parts of Styria, the polaznik was obliged to come early on St. Lucy's Day (December 13), when everyone was still asleep, and give fodder to the cattle, for which he received bread (lucijžčak).[7]