Polish Herbs, Flowers & Folk Medicine: Revised Edition

CHAPTER 1

Herbs and

Flowers in

Everyday Life

"Tradycja jest jak lustro, w którym odbijają sie wieki. Tradycja jest jak drzewo, które korzeniami swymi sięga głęboko w grunt rodzimy. Zdarzało się nieraz że konary tego dzewa uschły, a pien poorany zmarszczkami starości przez wiele lat nie zdradzał utajonego w nim życia. Aż oto spod jego ne pozór martwej kory wychiliły się ku świata pączki, które rozwineły się w zieleń i kwiaty. To własnie odradzanie się tradycji świadczy o jej sile żywotnej."

Tradition is like a mirror which reflects the centuries. Tradition is like a tree whose roots reach deeply into the native soil. It happens sometimes that the branches of this tree wither, and the trunk furrowed with the wrinkles of aging does not betray its latent life for many years. And yet, from under its pretense of dead bark, buds emerge to the world, which bloom into greenery and flowers. It is this revival of tradition that testifies to its vital force.

—Tadeusz Seweryn, Polish folklorist and ethnographer

In 1933, Polish archeologists unearthed the remains of an ancient settlement that provided much information about Poland’s early development. It was called Biskupin and is located in the Bydgoszcz province. Careful reconstruction dated the civilization back to 550-400 B.C. From these discoveries, it became clear that farming and raising cattle were the chief occupations of the inhabitants. They grew wheat, barley, rye, and beans. The archeologists determined that these early peoples of Poland used herbs not only to flavor foods but also as medication. Twenty different herbs were identified at the site. Among those listed were mullein, asarum, burdock, wormwood, coltsfoot, mallow, and tansy. There was also no doubt that these early Slavs had cults revering plants, animals, and trees and attributed great magic, strength, and power to them. Trees were worshipped as divine. The forests were considered the dwelling place of the gods. Worshipers laid offerings before the trees and used their branches in rituals throughout the changing cycle of the seasons.

In 966, Polish King Mieszko accepted Christianity for the people of his lands. The old pagan practices of worshiping plants and trees were not eradicated but rather became intermingled with the new religion and persisted throughout the centuries. Even as late as the 16th century, the authorities were still attempting to put a stop to the custom of stripping the forest to celebrate the onset of spring without much success. By the late 1800’s, when folklore scholars were documenting the folk life of the peasants, they found that very ancient practices tied to primitive beliefs about plants and trees, were still abundantly evident. It was a continuous cycle that began in early spring which saw groups of young girls parading through their villages with a budding young tree called a maik or gaik as a symbol of the emergence of new life. There were celebrations with the erection of May poles decorated with flowers and boughs of greenery while the rest of the community sang and danced around its perimeter. Men took their cattle out to the fields for the first time, touching them with a green branch and weaving wreaths made of flowers and herbs around their necks and horns. Blessed and dried herbs were mixed with the seeds to be planted into the awaiting earth. In winter, life giving sheaves of grain were placed in the four corners of the main room during the Christmas Eve meal called Wigilia. The gifts of the earth were a never-ending source of celebration interwoven within the continuing ancient cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Cow decorated with maidło from Wisła.

(Miesięcnik Georgraficzny-Etnograficzny, 1902)

Ethnographers have recognized five major holidays through the calendar year where plants and herbs played a singular role in the activities of the Polish people.

PALM SUNDAY

In Catholic liturgy, Palm Sunday celebrates the day on which Jesus, riding on an ass, entered Jerusalem with his disciples. He was met by cheering crowds who threw palm and olive branches before Him. In Poland, one of the names for Palm Sunday was, and still is, Niedziela Wierzbowa, or Willow Sunday. Lacking the palms that were indigenous to Jerusalem the Polish people looked for the first harbinger of spring. Among the first to blossom were the furry catkins of pussy willow (Salix). The willow branches became a symbol of spring, of renewal, of Christ’s death and Resurrection, and also became firmly embedded in the customs, traditions, and beliefs of the people of Poland.

If Palm Sunday fell very early on the calendar, the willow branches would be cut and brought indoors to be placed in warmth and water to encourage them to blossom in order to have a palm to take to church to be blessed on that day, something the Poles had been doing since the blessing of palms was introduced in the Catholic liturgy. Writing at the turn of the century, historians and anthropologists note: The role of the palm as we know it today was something of a later date during Christianity but it really hasn’t changed much from its original meaning. The blessing of the palms is a remnant of the ancient cults worshipping trees and offering them up to the gods.

In the beliefs of the Polish people, the blessed willow had strong healing and protective properties. The buds, called baży or kotki, were often swallowed in the belief that they protected against sore throats as far back as the 15th century. It was also thought that the willow helped with headaches when a blessed branch was touched three times to the head.

The end of a pussy willow branch was inserted in holy water and used to bless the house, farmyard, and barn. They were tucked behind holy pictures and a small piece was nailed above an entry way where it stayed all year long in order to bring God’s blessings and protection to the house. It was also believed that the blessed willow branches protected against fire and lightning strikes. To insure this, the pussy willows were also tucked into rafters and during storms a branch was placed next to the burning gromnica, the special thunder candle blessed on Candlemas every February 2, that was lit during times of thunder and lightning.

Pieces of the willow branch or the catkins were placed in the nests of geese and ducks, in the eaves of beehives, plaited into fishing nets, and placed under the blade of plows when they went out for the first plowing in the spring. Cows were touched with a blessed branch when they went out to pasture for the first time in the spring to protect them against witches who would steal their milk. Branches were also placed in the barn when the first sheaves of grain were brought in as protection against mice and other insects that could ruin the grain.

During Easter week activities, the willow branches were made into small crosses and then struck into the earth to protect the fields from the destruction of crops by hail, and were placed at the corners/boundaries of fields in order to assure a good crop. On Easter Monday in an ancient fertility rite called dyngus, young men either doused young unmarried girls with water or playfully hit them with branches of early blossoming pussy willows or the evergreen branches of juniper or birch. It was done to assure against illnesses and to expel the winter doldrums by saying:

Nie ja biję, Wierzba bije,

Bądź zdrów do roku i po roku!

I don’t strike you, the willow strikes you,

Be healthy all year and beyond the year!

Throughout the year the blessed willow branches were used in all aspects of home life until the approach of Lent when the old branches were burned and the ashes used to make the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the faithful on Ash Wednesday.

It must be noted that the plants used and brought to church on Palm Sunday varied according to region and weather conditions. Ethnographers have documented other plants brought to church on Palm Sunday. In the Śląsk region (Silesia) they included: English yew, birch, Scot’s pine, common juniper, boxwood, periwinkle, arborvitae, mistletoe, forsythia, stag horn’s club moss, and cornelian cherry dogwood. The branches of birch, forsythia, or any flowering tree or shrub were placed in water in a warm room to accelerate the budding process but in the absence of anything flowering, the people brought branches that had remained green throughout the winter months.

In the northern Kurpie region, where vast tracts of forests covered the countryside, the palms for Palm Sunday were made of long wooden poles, covered with club moss, heather, willow, and billberry. Flowers were made from the white center of the bullrush plant and attached along the length of the pole. An evergreen branch was fastened at the top.

Palms from Kadzidło in Kurpie region of Poland.

PENTECOST

Pentecost, also known as Whitsuntide, is a Christian festival. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek pentecostē, meaning fifty days. On the seventh Sunday after Easter, fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus. In descending on the apostles with tongues of fire that gave the apostles the ability to speak in foreign tongues, the apostles could go forth and preach the message of Christ to the world. In essence, it marks the beginning of the Catholic Church as we know it and is one of its most important holy days of the year. In Poland the official church name for the holy day is Zesłania Ducha Swiętego (the Descent of the Holy Ghost).

There are many aspects to the celebration of Pentecost in Poland. In Polish folk tradition, this time of year celebrated the blossoming and greening of nature and was called Zielone Świątki, the Green Holidays. In very ancient times it marked the end of spring (Pentecost ends the liturgical Easter season) and the beginning of summer. It was connected with many agricultural beliefs, customs, and ceremonies that date to ancient pre-Christian times and the pagan cult of trees, water, and fire. The most important among them was the triumphal greening of the world once again. The newly budded branches symbolized the revival of life, fertility, and the promise of a harvest. It was believed that the green branches also protected from spells, plagues, and all evil, which accounts for their widespread use in the festivities that centered around the home, barnyard, and fences. Of May, writes Jakub Haur in the 17th century, not only man but all animals and birds are joyful and take pleasure in the greening of the fields, groves, orchards and meadows with the flowers and beauty that decorates the earth, giving joy and sustenance. All the churches and cottages, both inside and out, were decorated as were altars, entryways, and porches. The tree branch that played one of the most important roles was that of the birch tree. It comes up consistently in the celebration of the Green Holidays in various parts of Poland. It was thought to have the power to protect against witchcraft and the evil eye. Branches were not just tucked behind holy pictures and placed in vases, etc., but most often they were nailed around windows and especially the door, the entrance to the house, as well as tucked into the thatched roofs of cottages.

Zielone Sẃiatki (Pentecost), Wojciech Piechowski (1849-1911) from periodical titled Kłosy, 1875. (Photo courtesy of laboratory stock National Museum of Krakόw)

PLANTS ASSOCIATED WITH JESUS CHRIST IN POLAND

cottongrass (Eriphorum vaginatum) ~ Lord Jesus’s hair

cudweed (Gnaphalium sylvaticum) ~ rye of Lord Jesus

fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) ~ God’s grass

fleabane (Pulicaria dysenterica) ~ herb of Jesus Christ

Sometimes young green birch trees were placed in pots at the entrance to a cottage as well as at another entrance—the gates to the yard. Other greening branches were used as well to decorate fences, church altars, and roadside shrines, such as maple, linden, and hornbeam.

The second most important greenery to be collected for the home on this holiday was the fragrant sweet flag, known in Latin as Acorus calamus. In Polish it is known as tatarek pospolity, ajer, and kalmus. Growing in wet, marshy areas near rivers and streams, it was placed in vases on a home altar or in the corners of the main room of the cottage. There was a saying: Zielone Świątki tatarek w kątki (The green holidays-calamus in the corner). The most preferred method of having sweet flag in the house was to cut or chop it into smaller pieces and scatter it on the floors of the house. Whether a humble, hard-packed floor of a cottage or the wooden floor of a manor house, the sweet-smelling herb (which many say smells like cinnamon) was indispensable. In the mid-19th century Polish ethnographer Oskar Kolberg described it thus: On the day [Pentecost] they sweep the porch and the front of the house, and sprinkle the place with calamus. It was a day celebrated by shepherds and farmers who could begin taking their animals out to pasture. Some farmers walked the boundaries of their land, singing and carrying images of the Blessed Mother.

In the city of Warsaw, Pentecost was also a much-celebrated church holiday. The most enduring tradition was a trip to the woods and forests of Bielany, outside of the city. Bielany is the site of a monastery of the Camoldolese order of monks. In 1638, King Władysław IV (reigned 1632-1648) brought them from the original Bielany near Kraków to the newly founded monastery on Polkowa Góra near Warsaw. Due to the similarity to the original location, this place soon began to be called Bielany as well. According to the monastery records, the custom of celebrating was derived from 1673, when on the second day of Pentecost, a painting of St. Boniface was donated from the Warsaw collegiate church of St. John to the monastery. It was done with a great deal of pomp and ceremony and with countless faithful in attendance. In 1766, on the occasion of Pentecost, after mass and prayers, a great party took place in the surrounding region of the Bielany monastery, arranged by Stanisław August (reigned 1764-1795) who was crowned king two years earlier. Alleys and squares were marked out, stairs were built from the side of the Vistula, tents with buffets were set up. Folk games and a feast were organized, followed by dances. After dark, the area was beautifully illuminated, and the crowning event was the fireworks show. After that, Stanisław August went to Bielany every year in the company of magnates, nobility, and sophisticated ladies. One of the oldest and perhaps most enduring traditions was born. Rich or poor, by foot or carriage or water, Warsovians go to Bielany to celebrate Pentecost and the new greening of the year.

FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI

The feast of Corpus Christi, Boże Ciało in Polish, is the day the Catholic Church commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist. It is celebrated with great pomp and solemnity throughout all of Poland. There are three important rituals associated with this day. The first of the important rituals is the erection of four special, portable altars away from the confines of a church building such as at the four corners of a market square or on side streets surrounding the church. Each altar is specially decorated with abundant greens and flowers, banners, and various statues or pictures of saints. The tree branch that figures strongly in decorating the special altars as well as churches and individual homes on this feast day is the birch tree (Betula alba and Betula verrucosa / in Polish, brzoza). From writings of the Middle Ages, it is mentioned very frequently as having great importance in the lives of the people of Poland.

Corpus Christi procession, Kadzidło, Poland, 1993.

Another ritual on the Feast of Corpus Christi is the weaving of wreaths as small as the palm of the hand made of different herbs. The preferred number is nine different herbs. In the Podlasie area, which runs along the Narew River, people wove nine small wreaths, each made from a different herb: thyme, hazelwort, stonecrop, lady’s mantle, sundew, mint, rue, daisy, and periwinkle. Other plants that were also used included lovage, salvia, and linden. The wreaths are hung on the monstrances where they stay for the week following Corpus Christi. In some parts of Poland, the herbs and flowers were formed into a wreath and attached to strips of paper on which excerpts from the gospels were written. When the eight-day celebration of Corpus Christi is over, the wreaths are taken home and hung on the walls above holy pictures. They also often served in various capacities in the home throughout the centuries. Some were placed under the foundation of a newly-built house to ward off evil spirits and protect the home from natural and manmade disasters. Some of the herbs from the wreaths were crumbled and burnt as a form of incense for those suffering from dropsy, an early term for edema. The smoke from thyme and stonecrop was believed capable of dispersing hail clouds and lightning, thereby saving grain crops from destruction.

Kurpie girl ready to spread rose petals before the monstrance on the Feast of Corpus Christi.

No matter what greenery is utilized, every altar is prepared as beautifully as possible in anticipation of being the resting place of the monstrance and the Holy Eucharist during the procession from altar to altar. The procession to the four altars is the third important ritual of the day and is at the heart of the Feast of Corpus Christi. For the participants walking in the procession, it is a public declaration and celebration of their faith, with the Holy Eucharist at its core. The processions begin within a church and flow out into the streets with the priest carrying the Holy Eucharist in a monstrance. Flowers are strewn on the road on which the priest and Holy Eucharist will pass by young girls carrying baskets of rose petals.

One of four altars for Corpus Christi in Kadzidło, 1993.

In his poem, Na Processja Bożego Ciała, Francisek Karpiński (1740-1825) wrote: Zróbcie Mu miejce, Pan idzie z nieba … Uścielanjcie Mu kwiatami drogi, którędy Panskie iść będę nogi … (Make room for Him, the Lord is coming from heaven, cover the road with flowers, on which His feet will pass.") The faithful sing and pray as the priest winds his way to the altars, stopping at each one where prayers and excerpts from the Gospel are read aloud and benedictions are given. After the fourth altar the faithful gather together in church where a mass is joyfully celebrated and the faithful receive the Holy Eucharist.

In Zygmunt Gloger’s Rok Polski we have this depiction of the Feast of Corpus Christi in Kraków during the times of the Piasts:

"The procession approached the final altar. The reverence of the faithful entered into the deepest quiet. The celebration of Corpus Christi is perhaps the most beautiful of all church celebrations. It is carried out under the dome of the heavens itself, showered by flowers at the most beautiful time of the year. Brought to Poland not so long ago, most homes fight for the privilege of having an altar in front of their home and plunder their home of all hidden goods to decorate the altar, fences and even the street on which the procession would pass.

There wasn’t one inch of area in Kraków on which the retinue with God did not pass, because throughout the entire week, each day there is a different procession to other churches, so that no part of the city would feel hurt. It’s easy to imagine how all the districts tried to outdo each other in splendor and in the most beautiful ideas, just to outdo their neighbors. But what was already known was that they would all be overshadowed by the last procession to St. Mary’s (known as Mariacka) which on the second Thursday afternoon circled the Market Square. On the Market Square lived the richest, and thus the last procession had an addition that the previous ones were missing; after the service, it was customary to hold a great religious mystery play in the market square. This spectacle is much anticipated and awaited in Kraków throughout the year. Costumes are sewn three months ahead of time and roles handed out and the priests in charge are unable to control the interested spectators.

But at the moment all thoughts and eyes were turned to the altars shining on four areas of the Market Square. And there really was something to look at not only with the eyes of faith, but also with the eyes of human curiosity. The whole square looked like one giant festive room. On homes hung extremely huge placards, very common at the time, though only canvas, with various scenes painted on them Old and New Testaments. Flowers were everywhere. On roofs, on chimneys, turrets, especially also on the Cloth Hall and on the unfinished gables of the St. Mary’s, fluttered colorful flags, heraldic shields heavy with inscriptions and emblems. …The whole market was littered with scent of herbs, and the roads where the procession had already passed were so scented from crushed rose petals that you could smell it on the neighboring streets. A multi-thousand crowd kneeled on these herbs and flowers, because during this holy week, immense crowds of local peasantry from surrounding countryside are drawn to Kraków … cheeky, mischievous young boys, holding red hats in their hands—girls with round faces, in ribbons, beads and coral (so beloved by Krakovians) with embroidered vests and bright flowered skirts. Here and there it was possible to see—keeping a bit apart—a bunch of górale highlanders. What is hard to imagine is the townspeople’s outfits, these long clothes, oddly cut and strangely trimmed, these hoods folded under the chin, hats as if rolled up like towels … and the headwear of the women in various comical shapes or outfitted like thick ears …

Admittedly, the procession was deprived of part of its splendor, because Prince Leszek (called the Black) getting involved with the battles