While tourists are engrossed by the lights and stalls, there is a revival of ancient popular superstitions in Czech homes
Christmas in Prague is not only magical for its atmosphere of lights and perfumes from the various markets that have invaded the city, but also for a variety of secular traditions that evoke magical powers to predict the future.
In the past, the festivities used to start at Advent, when various “wandering” figures brought presents to children and cheerful processions began around the country. Nowadays, Santa Barbara does not distribute baskets of apples and nuts anymore, but the tradition of cutting Barborky cherry twigs is still alive, due to their magical powers. To the days that passed from felling to blossoming, which determined the months of happiness the owner could expect. According to other versions, every girl used to cut a number of twigs and give them the names of the boys she particularly liked. They would get engaged to the one whose twig was to bloom first and if it was still in blooming on Christmas Eve, it meant that the marriage was imminent. Still being celebrated everywhere today, is Saint Nicholas, who on the night between 5 and 6 December – accompanied by angels and devils – anticipates the coming of the Infant Jesus. The day of Santa Lucia, which is now an ordinary day, used to be very important, because she protected against magicians and witchcraft.
After Santa Lucia, people spent their time preparing for Christmas, the biggest festivity of the year. In the pre-Christian period, those were worshipped the sun, used to celebrate winter solstice, because the night was shorter and the forces of evil were driven away by daylight. The returning sunlight, brought expectations for a good harvest, and magic acts were performed to ensure prosperity to the land and the family. Farmers would place twelve apple seeds into a bowl full of water, and according to the number of seeds that rose to the surface, they would estimate how many dry months lay ahead during the new year. A similar custom was done with onions; twelve layers, arranged in a row with a little bit of salt on top, represented the number of months. The next morning, the ones on which the salt had dissolved, were believed to correspond to the rainy months ahead and, if they were just slightly moist, that meant that normal months would ensue, and if nothing happened, there would be drought. A fundamental element in order to ensure fertility, was straw: it was laid under the hens, and was used to wrap trees and burnt on the wheat fields. Simple objects made with straw or simple corn ears intertwined with ribbons, and products from the earth, were hung up in homes.
Christmas Eve was the most important day and there was complete silence all around – and you could not work or throw out any rubbish, so as to avoid happiness from leaving the home. Interrupting this atmosphere of peace was considered a lack of respect. A few days before, women used to tidy up things and on the morning of the 24th, were busy preparing dinner and later involved in entertaining the children, while their husbands decorated the tree. Gifts were put into parcels as soon as the first star appeared, in order to celebrate the Star of Bethlehem, which announced the birth of Jesus. The first star also indicated the end of the fasting period, and after lighting a candle, everybody sat around the table. Fasting started at dawn in order to see the “golden piglet”, because spotting its shadow, running along the wall, meant plenty of food and a good harvest for the year to come.
The table had a symbolism of its own and bread was placed on the four corners of the table, so that the whole family would always have enough to eat, various products from the field for a good harvest, money for one’s well-being, and a bowl of food for the cattle and chickens. The table legs were surrounded with a chain or rope as a sort of protection for the flock against the attack of wolves and the property from thieves – and also to keep the family together. If the number of people at the table was not an even number, the table was laid for a possible guest. According to popular superstition, death went from house to house and whenever it noticed an uneven number of people sitting around the table, it would return to take away someone during the year.
The menu itself had its own symbolism. First they served peas, which joined the guests for good or evil, followed by soups, which afforded strength, lentils for money and meat or fish for joy and peace. The scales had to be hidden under the plate, to afford wellbeing to the house, which were then placed into one’s wallet, so that the magic spell would last the whole year. Nowadays, a typical dish consists of fried carp, but it is a new tradition that once could only be afforded by the rich bourgeoisie, and that spread to the countryside only in the twentieth century. The remains of the dinner were divided among the cattle and trees in the garden, so that they would bear fruits, including the well, to provide pure water. The number and variety of food varied according to region, but there was always vánočka, a sweet type of bread with raisins and almond-shaped braid. And we must not forget that it’s bad luck to leave the table before everyone has finished eating!
The end of dinner, was the most awaited moment for the children. The landlord of the house used to bring a tree that had been adorned with apples and dry prunes, sweets and lumps of sugar all wrapped in colored paper, nuts and small chains. The family got together to unwrap the gifts that the Infant Jesus had brought – a mysterious figure that is firmly rooted in Czech Republic traditions, although it has to compete with Santa Claus. Then the candles were lit and Christmas carols were sung around the tree, a custom which was then repeated every night until Epiphany. In the past, according to medieval tradition and mostly in villages, the children used to sing Christmas carols from house to house, wishing everybody a Merry Christmas in exchange for sweets.
An integral part of Christmas Eve consists of Christmas magic rituals from which one might expect to obtain good omens.
The best-known one is that of cutting an apple at an angle. If the seeds in the center form a five-pointed star one may rejoice because it is a sign of good luck and health. However, finding the shape of a cross is a bad omen. The same applies to nuts: a dark interior foretells misfortunes and sadness, a healthy one means joy, health and fortune. Interesting is also the tradition of the seven cups, under which, you insert a symbol: money as a sign of wealth, coal for disease, a ring for a marriage, a comb warns of one’s faults, a dress means a journey, a pacifier the arrival of a child and bread being a sign of good luck. The cups were then mixed up and with your eyes closed you had to choose one. Or you had to prepare a number of small notes, mostly containing positive words, such as happiness, health, which were placed into a receptacle, with the table guests drawing lots so as to know their fate.
The most typical tradition that still fascinates the young and old alike, is that of using walnuts, whose empty shells with a candle in the center, are turned into boats. Everyone puts his nut in a bowl of water and tries to guess its direction, like a sort of metaphor of one’s life. A flame, which remains lit for a long time, foretells a long and happy life, a blown out candle means a betrayal or illness. If the nut remains on the edge, the person will remain at home and if it tends towards the center, the person will abandon home. The nuts gave information on the relationship of the couple or the group. If they sail close together, their bond is strong and harmonious. One that sinks the other foretells of quarrels or divorce, if the candle is blown out, this act will cause the loss of the beloved, or see the refusal of a favor . If it gets close to the others that means that love or a work collaboration is to be expected. Questions may also be asked to predict how a particular purpose will develop. A nut that just keeps going around implies indecision, if it reaches the other side alone, you will achieve your goal without any help, if it reaches it after a certain amount of indecision, the owner, after an initial bit of confusion, will eventually find the right path. If it arrives with a blown-out flame, then you will reach your goals with great sacrifice, but if flips over, it is a sign of bad luck. If a nut causes the other nut to sink, then you will be willing to pass over everything and everyone just to reach your goal. The nuts are not preserved and must be burned on the last day of the holy period to enhance the positive sides of the prophecy and weaken the negative ones.
Many rites were done for young girls, who were eager to know if they would find a husband. These included, the launching of a shoe: a girl, with her back towards the door, would throw a slipper behind her shoulders and if it fell with the tip pointing to the door, this meant she would leave home, otherwise she would remain with her parents at least for another year.
To find out the name of the chosen person, you simply peeled an apple to obtain a long spiral, which you had to spin over your head three times before launching it. From the shape that formed on the ground and a little bit of imagination, you could make out the initials of the future groom. The peeled apple came in handy also for another ritual: many slices were cut, according to the number of people present, and each one was given a slice to eat. If during the year they actually or metaphorically got lost, it would be sufficient to remember who you had eaten the apple with to find your way.
The young men who wished to get married, threw a stick onto a pear tree and jumped to try and get it back. If the attempts were numerous, so would the numbers of years before the marriage. Another ritual was to knock on the hen house and if the cock answered first, the young man would get married within the year, but if the hen were to reply first, then he would have to wait longer and be patient. After dinner the girls ran into the garden to shake a Sambucus , followed by the barking of a dog and, according to the direction of the barking, it pointed to where the groom would eventually arrive from. One last custom consisted of pouring molten lead into a bowl full of water. The girls had to guess from the shape that formed the name of the future groom, with symbols that also allowed you to guess his profession or even his facial features. These beliefs may seem rather scary, but nobody is able to resist the temptation of envisaging the future.
by Sabrina Salomoni