Ethnologist, professor Libertas Klimka told the news portal tv3.lt about the origins of this day, its significance and why beekeepers used to watch the weather on this day.
St. Stanislaus is the heavenly patron of Poland
According to the church calendar, May 8 is St. Stanislaus Day. St. Stanislaus was the bishop of Krakow in the 11th century and is now considered the heavenly patron of Poland.
A lot is known about him from the descriptions of Jan Dlugoš, a famous 15th century Polish historian who also described the Battle of Žalgiris.
“Remembering the historical events of the 11th century, St. Stanislaus became famous for his conflict with the ruler. Then Boleslaw was the first to rule Poland, who was very concerned about foreign policy, was very concerned about expanding Poland’s borders, but did not care at all about the internal life of the state – he would go on military campaigns somewhere in the lands of Kyiv, and there was disorder in Poland itself, the land was abandoned.
This was severely criticized by the bishop and thus they had a very bitter conflict, the king was formally removed from the throne, and the bishop paid for it with his life – the king brutally killed him.
This is such an interesting historical excursion that deals with the conflict between spiritual and civil authority, which is more important in the life of the state. Maybe that’s why this day is so important and St. Stanislaus is praised as a person who promoted the supremacy of the spiritual beginning”, said the ethnologist.
Nevertheless, the professor emphasizes that this day is a heritage of the times of the Republic of the Two Nations, a holiday related to common life and history: “It is interesting that the name Stanislovas, Stasys is very popular in Lithuania, it is probably also a legacy from the times of the Republic of the Two Nations.
And even Vilnius Cathedral is St. of Stanislaus, and on the top of the cathedral, next to King Kazimierz, St. Stanislaus.”
On this day, ancestors planted onions
However, let’s return to the Lithuanian countryside, where this day is called differently – Cibulini. Such a name is not accidental, because now is the time for sowing and planting vegetables, there is enough heat, so it is a great time to plant onions.
“The history of onions is also interesting. The vegetable itself came to our region from the South, and the name is Tatar, although we can’t imagine Lithuanian cuisine without onions – both a source of vitamins and a spice,” notes L. Klimka.
And in order for the harvest to grow well and to have supplies for the entire cold season, the ancestors used to cast spells, as the ethnologist says, strict rules for planting onions:
“First of all, you can’t plant onions, so that they don’t turn into blue bulbs, when the Moon is visible in the sky, and the Sun has not yet set, as they used to say in the village, two lights in the sky – a bad time, the onions will turn into blue bulbs and the heads will grow small, then there will be nothing to store for the winter.
That’s why they did all sorts of spells so that there would be no Jews. First of all, they poured onions through the hub of an old wheel, which smelled of all kinds of resin, then after planting a bed, they stuck a broom at the end of it – they said that the onion leaves would grow very well.
And the husks that remain in the basket after planting must be poured onto the public road so that everyone drives over those husks and it must be done in such a way that no one can see them – then the onion harvest will close very well.”
There was also another saying that the hostess should plant onions only when she is in a good mood, otherwise the onions will grow very “angry” – spicy. And the time for planting was chosen taking into account nature – when the plums bloom, but before the rowanberries bloom.
He watched nature and the weather
Nature was significant not only when choosing the time to plant onions – this day is of great importance to beekeepers, because in ancient times it was used to decide what kind of honey would be produced.
“I look at the blue and sunny sky and remember – beekeepers used to say that the weather on Stanislaus Day will show what kind of honey will be in the summer, so to speak, what kind of summer for bees.
If it’s sunny, like today, there will be a lot of honey, well, if it’s cloudy and, for example, cloudy, then the honey production would be completely poor and you’d have to leave all the honey to the bees,” said the professor.
The ethnologist smiles that today beekeepers have something to be happy about. In addition, the importance of this day to beekeepers suggests that it was once a celebration of the goddess Austėja, who protects the bee colony.
Looking at today’s weather, it looks like a busy summer for bees, but what kind of weather can we expect in late spring and summer? The ethnologist notices that nature has become very unpredictable, so it is difficult to guess what, however, he provided a few insights:
“Nature is very contrasting and very difficult to predict, but many signs from the predictions of the previous days indicated that the cold weather will last throughout May, the heat will not be in a hurry to come to Lithuania and maybe the second half of the summer will be a little warmer, more beautiful and more stable.
However, there are many factors that work – this night I kept looking at the sky, hoping to see the Northern Lights, because the Sun is very active these days, the flashes keep rising and they are unpredictable – when they will be, how.
There are other natural phenomena and also the war in Ukraine, where ballistic missiles fall every day, disrupting the atmospheric layers, burning oil reserves, polluting the atmosphere, and the constant, constant paths of cyclones, even from the Black Sea, are clearly distorted, so that it is very difficult to be more precise to tell the forecast according to the observations of our elders.”
