Legends of Kashubian Mythology

1. Key Action 2 Nr. 2016-1-CZ01-KA219-023883This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.“This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein."

2. Kashubian mythology Folk Poems: Kashubian mythology

3. Kashubian mythology The early Kashubian beliefs, Slavic patterns, have not survived in such abrilliant form as Roman or Greek mythology. This does not mean that Kashubians and Slavs have no beliefs, deities, pantheons or mythical characters. So what about Kashubianmythology? There is little you can do aboutwritten sources, because these, like Slavic ones, do not exist. There are, however, customs and rituals whose remnants have intertwined into Christian life, and which in no way derive from Christianity.

4. Kashubian mythology All you have to do is appealing to Kashubian sayings to get some gems out of them. Kashubian, when he does not know something, says „Devils knows". Kaszub, if he does not want to explain something, declares „The devil with that". At the crossroads of the Kashubian roads we will encounter a statue of Christ or a statue of the Virgin Mary while the unruly children(krośnięta) they put to sleep stories about Kashubian ghosts. Kashubian boys make a great whistle, Kashubian girls, if they can, it's just a spell. Why? Because when the girl in Kashubian whistles, the devils dance on the fence. The Kashubian lakes are full of sneaky Aquarius, ghostly ghosts, haunted fields, naked squares galloping on horseback, bald mountains in the moonlight sparkling fires where witches sit , and in the valleys murmuring murky stories from peat bogs.

5. Legends – In Powiostkowim World There is a legend in Kashubianareathat tells us that when God created the earth, he completely forgot about theKashubs.... Fortunately, he was reminded of an angel who was supposed to watch over this land. He looked at God in his deep sackcloth, and there was little at the bottom there. So he gave her everything that remained: deciduous birches, pine forests, lakes, rivers, seas, dunes, cliffs, sandy beaches, hills and valleys. Everything was a little bit. He looked at the creator for his work and smiled. Then the sun shone, and in his beams all the beauty of Kashubianareaappeared. Quiet here, however, was deserted, so God made the clay animals of all kinds and of the people and revived them. But these people were stubborn, and especially one of them. He still demanded some kind of clothes and tortured God with a question A kaSzuba? "Hemadethe Creatorimpatientin the end and gave him the shabby ... Perhaps from this hut was the name Kashubia.

6. Devil's Stone According tothelegend, the stone was brought to this place by the devil. The bishop who lived in Mechowo was disturbed by the services celebrated in his church, so he decided to destroy the temple. For this purpose, he chose one of the huge boulders he had once seen in Sweden. But the road was long, and the stone was very heavy, tired, so he laid the boulder on the ground, trying to repair the damaged shoe at the same time. At dawn it was found. Hearing the hen, he got angry and started scratching the boulder, because he could no longer lift it from the ground. These cracks and crevices left by its claws up to today can be seen on the boulder.

7. God's Foot Legend with the stone The mounds were build by two brothers who reconciled here by an angel whose footprint or hand was carved on stone.The mark on the boulder is the footprint of the missionaries.At this place they fought with Stolm and Stoller with the Boża Stópka and Diabelskim Kamieniem.

8. Stolem and Stolemka From the Kashubian legends, the whole truth about thestolems Before Kaszuby completely took over man, the masters of this land were stolemy. The shape was reminiscent of people, but their height was several times greater than their height. They also had enormous strength. The trees were like grass blades. They threw large boulders like peas (...).

9. Wieszczy i Łupi... The most frightening hero of the Kashubian beliefs was the prodigy, sometimes identified with another "mortal person": a pawn, or a phantom. He could have appeared in the world when a baby born in a cap (born in the intact membranes of the fetus) came to the world. In the culture of the Slavs it was considered a sign of future happiness, but in Kashubia it bore something quite different. In order to prevent the future incarnation of a new member of the family in the sire, the cap was burned, powdered and fed to the baby together with the milk of the mother, said specter was supposed to eat his own body. Right after death he rose from the dead and devoured his corpse and then his living relatives.

10. Monstrous strangler The only woman who haunted Kaszubówwas mora, also known as a nightmare. With her identification there were not many problems - if there were seven daughters in the family, the youngest or the oldest was morale. The girl could also have become her due to the godmother's fault, if this, holding the baby to baptism, she thought inexplicably of the ghost. Worst thing, the girl was never aware that she was a moron and races at night in the countryside. This was because just after falling asleep, mora left the body and transformed into whatever she wanted. When the mora hit man, she sat on his chest and choked him, and if she was a betrayed woman she sucked life out of an unbelieving lover. It was also believed that moorings were responsible for the weakening of animals, such as horses and cows.

11. Empty Night An empty night is a ritual of vigil at the deceased on the night before the burial, during which the congregants sing the funeral songs. In some parts of Kashubia, the family of the deceased was supposed to entertain the mourners at least one meal. To show respect for the deceased, to keep him calm, and to protect the mourners from possible waking up, the open coffin was placed in a separate room.

12. The Ghosts At night in Kaszuby, ghosts of the dead were also found, but they were not dangerous because they did not harm people. Kashubians believed that the soul of the deceased comes out of the body through the mouth and sets out in the world in the form of a dove, a mouse, or a body of ice. If the dead were to repent their faults, their souls had to do so at the place where they sinned. What was important was not to be helped in penance. There are also legends about the ghosts of the dead, which haunted the people encountered - such stories can be found in theDobro zwycięża, for example. Legendy z Kaszub i Pomorza.

13. Santa Claus ... and Father Christmas Kashubiansare an extraordinary group attached to the traditional rhythm of time, living according to the cycle of the calendar year and celebrating the seasons and festivals that have for centuries marked the rhythm of life on earth. The cyclicality of important days, activities, customs has created a tradition that has been cultivated by successive generations. The Kashubian ritual starts in early December. December 6, St. Paul's Day Nicholas, the children visit the saint, who leaves the gifts in the cleared - in flash - shoes. Of course, the gifts are getting nice children, rude can only count on charcoal or potato peels.24 December Kashubian children visit the Gwiazdor. He asks the toddlers from the devotions, the carol - and gives away presents.

14. Prepared by Gracjan Jaffke