Polish Christmas Tradition

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Christmas in Poland is known by the name Gwiazdka or little star. Consequently, starlets predominate over all other decorations used during the season. In the oldest tradition the stars were made of straw or goose feather glued together with candle wax.

The Christmas tree choinka, usually a spruce, is seldom decorated before Christmas Eve, which is the biggest event of Christmas activities. The tree is decorated with: stars, painted egg shells, nuts, candies, and painted cookies. The egg symbolized the miracle of birth, star is a symbol of light.

The most solemn moments of Polish Christmas season comes during the celebration of the Wigilia (the family oriented Christmas Eve with the traditional supper). When the first star appears at the sky, the whole family gets together. First the head of the house takes holly bread or oplatek, pronounces the words of love and sharing, and then breaks and distributes the wafer to all participants.

People in Poland are famous for their warm hearted hospitality. A good example of their hospitality could be having an extra set of plates and silverware for a stranger. If that person is alone, she/he will be warmly welcome to have a supper with a Polish family.

The table is covered with a beautifully embroidered, white table-cloth. Under the table-cloth, there is a bunch of hay as a symbol of Christ's manger. Usually, there are 12 dishes with accordance of number of Christ's disciples. The dishes are meatless. The typical Christmas Eve supper include: any kind of cooked or fried fish (mostly carp), marinated herring, barszcz -- soup wild mushroom, sauerkraut, noodles, and lots of pierogi -- dumplings that are stuffed with mushrooms, cabbage or some fruits. For desert: kutia -- macaroni baked with poppy seeds, makowiec -- baked poppy seed role, and cooked dry fruits.

Crèche szopka scenes and nativity plays, part of Roman Catholic tradition, are the integral part of Christmas activities. The most elaborate and most highly developed crèche are in the ethnic museum in Krakow.