The Spruce in the Culture of the Podhale Shepherds

Abstract

In this article I tackle the issue of the worship of spruce trees in the culture of the shepherds in Podhale, a region in southern Poland. This is an issue related to the particular significance of the spruce. It has played a great role in the culture of the whole Podhale region, and es-pecially in the pastoral culture of this area. The spruce was elevated to the rank of a symbol of good luck, prosperity and well‑being. All ac-tivities carried out in the work of shepherds were connected with the ceremonial treatment of spruce trees. It should be noted that these ac-tivities were religiously and magically motivated, as spruce twigs were blessed in the church beforehand. However, this does not change the fact that the rituals were magical. An example would be the custom according to which shepherds would pin spruce or fir twigs to their hats, believing that this would keep them and their sheep were safe. Nowadays, shepherding culture enjoys great interest among research-ers, as well as among Polish and even foreign communities, who apply for participation in shepherding courses organized today. The magic associated with pastoral culture was also reflected in Polish litera-ture and dialect poetry. Readers can refer to the works of such poets and writers as: Seweryn Goszczyński, Kazimierz Przerwa‑Tetmajer, Władysław Orkan, and Stanisław Witkiewicz or dialect poets Wanda Szado‑Kudasi kowa and Roman Dzioboń.