Lifting the Maypole is an adventurous Czech spring tradition. The pole has to be lifted, guarded and cut down and should your maypole get stolen, shame will fall upon your village…
Czech Easter: Easter Monday
Easter Monday (Velikonoční pondělí) or also Red Monday (Červené pondělí) is the culmination of all the folk celebrations around Easter.
Czech Easter: Easter Sunday
The Easter Sunday is called Velikonoční neděle or also Boží hod velikonoční (“God’s Easter Time”). It is a time of great celebration after the long Lenten period.
Czech Holy Week: White Saturday
Bílá sobota (White Saturday) is the last day of the Lenten period and here are some of the Czech traditions connected to this day.
Czech Holy Week: Great Friday
Holy Friday or in Czech Velký pátek (Great Friday) is the peak of the Lent period. In the Czech Republic it’s a day of Christian as well as folkloric traditions.
Czech Holy Week: Green Thursday
The Holy Thursday is actually called Green Thursday or Zelený čtvrtek. And the traditions on this day are connected to food!
Czech Holy Week: Ugly Wednesday
The Wednesday of the Holy Week before Easter is called škaredá or sazometná. The first one means “ugly” while the second word would be translated as “on which the soot is swept out.
Czech Holy Week: Grey Tuesday
There’s not much known about the traditions of the Grey Tuesday. Compared to the later days of the Holy Week Tuesday – just like the Blue Monday – is an outsider.
Czech Holy Week: Blue Monday
Holy Week is called pašijový týden or also svatý týden in Czech and it’s the last week of the 40 day fasting period. Each day of this week was given special names because of the very specific traditions. Let’s learn more about Blue Monday.
St. Agata’s Day and the Fire Protection Ritual
To our ancestors, St. Agata was the one that protected them from fire. Her day was February 5 and it was the day to perform the ritual to secure protection for the upcoming year.