+ Christmas Eve +

Christmas in doll scale (MSD).


The pics show how we celebrate a Christmas Eve in Poland ^^
Traditionally, the Christmas tree is decorated on the Christmas Eve day.
Everything that happens on Christmas Eve, including the weather, has an impact on the following year. So no one should feel anger or sorrow in this day. ^^
Some people say that if you ask for food on that day, you will be hungry throughout the year.
Much attention, for instance, is paid to the person who first enters the house and if it is man, he ensures welfare to all members of the family
When the first star appears in the sky, people take seat at the Christmas table.
There is always an empty place (dishes) for an unexpected and unknow guest, because no one should be left alone at Christmas. The table is covered with white tablecloth and hay is spread under it.
Straw is put under white tablecloth as a reminder that Christ was born in a manger. In some families people predict their future from the straw. After supper, they pull out blades of straw from beneath the tablecloth. A green one foretells marriage; a withered one signifies waiting; a yellow one predicts spinsterhood; and a very short one foreshadows an early grave.
The supper begins with the breaking of the “opłatek” (it’s a kind of white Christmas wafer: [link]) as a symbol of our unity with Christ. The wafers are embossed with Christmas related religious images, varying from the nativity scene, especially Virgin Mary with baby Jesus, to the Star of Bethlehem. We share a piece with each family member (each of us breaks a small part from each other's piece) and wish one another a long life, good health, joy and happiness, not only for the holiday season, but also for the new year and for many years to come.
After that, we all sit down and enjoy a christmas supper. A tradition exists among some families to serve twelve different traditional dishes at Christmas Eve supper symbolizing the Twelve Apostles, or perhaps, an odd number of dishes for good luck (usually five, seven, or nine). A traditional Christmas meal in Poland includes i.a.: fried carp and borscht (beetroot soup- on the pics) with ravioli.
In some families people share a pink, yellow/ green/ red -colored Christmas wafer with the household (and barnyard) animals because they were the first to greet the Baby Jesus at midnight. The animals also receive a taste of every course of the meal mixed in with their feed.
Unlike in most western households Christmas presents are exchanged after the meal on Christmas Eve, rather than on the morning of Christmas day. Many families finish off Christmas Day by attending a special Christmas mass called "pasterka" at midnight in the church.