How to say in English.The name of Easter custom.

13.03.06, 22:07
Does anyone knows how to say in English "dzielenie się jajkiem"?
It reffers to this Polish Easter custom:
The blessed eggs, the symbol of life, are sliced into pieces, and each person present takes a piece of egg and wishes each other good health, prosperity, and happiness for the coming year.
I must use this term to explain that custom to the English language teachers.
I would be VERY grateful for any ideas ...
Thanks in advance,
Asia
    • viking2 Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 14.03.06, 02:48
      You may describe it as "sharing a symbolic egg" but you'll need to add an
      explanation on what this is all about - this custom doesn't exist in the
      Anglo-Saxon world, so there is no term that would make it clear to most people.
      (Unlike, say, Christmas, where just one word gives most everyone at least a good
      idea on what's happening). You'll have a similar situation with wafer-sharing
      during the holiday of Wigilia, a.k.a. the Eve of the Christmas Day. Many may
      know about wafer sharing during the holy communion in Church, but, again, they
      describe it as a "communion wafer". Sharing this wafer with all guests at home,
      at the solemn moment during the reception on the Eve of the Christmas Day, is
      still unknown - but it would at least give foreigners some idea about the
      importance and symbolism of these traditions.
    • usenetposts Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 14.03.06, 13:50
      I'm tempted to call it "the sacrament of the testicle" but people might get me
      wrong and think I was being irreligious.

      There's more than a modicum of truth in it though, seeing that it must stem
      from an Old Pagan fertility rite.

      Certainly there's nothing in the Bible about it.
      • varsovian Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 14.03.06, 16:14
        It's just so gratifying to say the word "testicle" in public in a quasi-
        intellectual discussion.
        • usenetposts Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 14.03.06, 16:21
          varsovian napisał:

          > It's just so gratifying to say the word "testicle" in public in a quasi-
          > intellectual discussion.

          If this is a test i cleverly decline.
        • viking2 Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 16.03.06, 03:39
          varsovian napisał:
          > It's just so gratifying to say the word "testicle" in public in a quasi-
          > intellectual discussion.

          What do you mean, "quasi-intellectual"? Can't you see that we are so
          intellectual that it's actually spilling out of our ears? Forget MENSA - they
          aren't worthy of shining our shoes...
      • ianek70 Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 14.03.06, 16:18
        usenetposts napisał:

        > I'm tempted to call it "the sacrament of the testicle" but people might get
        me
        > wrong and think I was being irreligious.
        >
        > There's more than a modicum of truth in it though, seeing that it must stem
        > from an Old Pagan fertility rite.

        It does.
        Almost all Christian ceremonies in Europe were stolen from our original local
        religions, which is why they're different in different parts of Europe.
        Eggs were a feature of all traditional European celebrations of Spring (for
        obvious reasons). In Scotland we still have the ancient Celtic custom of
        rolling eggs (although the Christians now claim this represents the brightly-
        coloured egg-shaped stone being rolled away from Christ's tomb), and the
        English have their big Germanic willy, known as they Maypole.
        The word Easter itself is derived from the name of the Germanic Goddess Eostre.
    • mmerx1 Re: How to say in English.The name of Easter cust 14.03.06, 19:25
      You call it breakfast. I like mine hard-boiled with salt thank you very much.
    • ianek70 Grumadki & Other Traditions 17.03.06, 13:38
      Michał from Janowiec was a priest who lived in Poland in the late 15th century.
      In a shocking display of religious intolerance and disrespect for our European
      traditions, he wrote:
      "W Wielki Czwartek należy upominać, aby nie palili grumadek jarzących wedle
      obrządku pogańskiego na pamiątkę dusz swoich bliższych, a kłamią ci, co
      twierdzą, jakoby dusze do tego ognia przychodziły i przy nim się ogrzały, bo
      kto tam raz wszedł, stamtąd już nie wychodzi."
      Father Michał also warned against wearing masks and pretending to be deer or
      horses during religious ceremonies.
      Call me old-fashioned, but I think we should be proud of our native customs.
      What are grumadki, and where can I get some?
      • kylie1 Re: Grumadki & Other Traditions 17.03.06, 20:05
        >bo kto tam raz wszedł, stamtąd już nie wychodzi."

        That's quite the sobering statement. It gives me the heebie jeebies. Let's have
        gumadki on ice instead.

        ps. ianek, you gave me a good chuckle!
        • viking2 Re: Grumadki & Other Traditions 18.03.06, 04:00
          kylie1 napisała:
          > >bo kto tam raz wszedł, stamtąd już nie wychodzi."
          >
          > That's quite the sobering statement. It gives me the heebie jeebies. Let's have
          >
          > gumadki on ice instead.

          You're damn right! All that "Abandon all hope, you who enter" business is
          downright scary.
          What in the Devil's name are "gumadki"? I'd love to have one on ice (although
          I'd prefer on the couch instead. I hope it wouldn't be too awkward, now, would it?)
      • ms.jones Other Traditions 17.03.06, 22:49
        celebrating birthdays - uRODziny - goes back to the cult of Rod, the first god
        in Slavic mythology smile

        en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_%28god%29
        • ianek70 Slavic mythology 18.03.06, 10:15
          This is a good site:
          www.mythinglinks.org/euro~east~panSlavic.html
          But nothing about grumadki there, either.
          And the link probably won't work because there's that funny little symbol and
          most links I give don't work anyway.
          • ianek70 Found grumadki. 18.03.06, 10:24
            free.of.pl/r/rugiewit/stronaslowian/pisma/text9.htm
            But again it just says they were something you burned for the dead.
            Some kind of candle? Most sources say the custom of lighting candles for the
            deceased has continued unchanged since ancient times.
            • ms.jones grumadki identified 18.03.06, 12:27
              Copied from somewhere:

              Słowianie nie obchodzili święta zmarłych tak jak to czynią Chrześcijanie.
              Słowianie obchodzili Dziady, podczas których wywoływali dusze zmarłych.
              Słowianie urządzali stypy na cześć zmarłych, a co roku na jesień spotykali się
              na grobach, aby odprawiać obrzędy. Istniało też wiosenne święto zmarłych,
              podczas którego taczano na grobach pisanki, ucztowano i pozostawiano jadło. Na
              Wielkanoc palono na grobach ogniska z chrustu (grumadki)

              fire made with
              chrust = bundles of straw, twigs, small branches
              drewniane polana = logs

              cool, they had kind of Easter time Halloween smile
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