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Tradition

Great Night Monday (Easter Monday)

On Easter Monday, in Slovakia, boys from the village would pour water over the girls and in Western Slovakia the boys would also whip the girls with thin willow branches. If the girls wanted to stay beautiful, healthy and full of life throughout the year, they would have to gracefully accept the water soaking [...]

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Slovakia Easter – Great Night (Easter Sunday)

On Easter Sunday, in Slovakia, all the food that had been prepared the day before was taken to church to be blessed.
The blessed food was then eaten at lunchtime. Crumbs from the meal were then mixed with seeds to help crops grow and also used for healing purposes. The crumbs were also mixed with [...]

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A Slovakia Easter – White Saturday (Easter Saturday)

In the past, White Saturday, another important day in the Slovakia Easter, was the day when the villagers would take the opportunity to light fires and burn everything old and harmful. This tradition was known as the “burning of Judas”. It was also thought that looking at the embers of these fires had magical protective [...]

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A Slovakia Easter – Great Friday (Good Friday)

The villagers believed that Great Friday was the day when warlocks and witches would come out. Legend had it that the witches would come and ruin gardens and steal the milk from cows. Meanwhile, warlocks were supposed to stroll around the village, causing harm to any people that they met. It was thought that the [...]

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A Slovakia Easter – Green Thursday (Maundy Thursday)

Green Thursday (Maundy Thursday) was the traditional day when people would cleanse themselves. They would always wash themselves with running water, as they believed that the running water was alive.
Girls who longed for beautiful skin, without freckles or spots, would bathe in a running spring, before sunrise on Green Thursday. The villagers also believed that [...]

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A Slovakia Easter – Flower Sunday (Palm Sunday)

The first day of the Slovakia Easter was Flower Sunday (Palm Sunday). On this day, the villagers would bring green twigs and branches called “bahniatka” to church. The priest would bless the twigs and branches with water and a prayer.
When the villagers returned home from the church they would then place them [...]

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Slovak Easter Traditions – A look at a traditional Easter in Slovakia

Easter is a very important time of the year in Slovakia, as you would expect from such an extremely Christian country. However, as well as being a religious festival, Easter in Slovakia is also a time of tradition.
The next series of articles looks at the 6 important days of Easter in Slovakia and the [...]

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Slovakia festival – The Three Kings

The Slovakia festival, the Three Kings is a holiday of obligation in Slovakia, on the 6th January, in honour of the Three Wise Men, who came to bow before the newly born, baby Jesus. In the past, this day was celebrated with people going round houses in the village, dressed up as the three [...]

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The Witches’ Days – St. Lucia

Before the Gregorian calendar, also known as the “Everlasting” calendar, came into use, St. Lucia’s Day actually fell on the shortest day of the year. It was the most significant day amongst the witches’ days and according to people’s beliefs at that time, it was the day when all the bad powers reached their climax. [...]

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Saint Mikuláš Day

On the evening of the 5th December, children across Slovakia are busy cleaning their boots – the bigger the better – in anticipation of a visit from Saint Mikuláš.
Bishop Mikuláš lived in the fourth century and was famous for his generosity, especially to children and the poor. The 6th December then became a holiday in [...]

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