Dziady: Difference between revisions

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Dziady" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Polish. (August 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Polish article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 310 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Polish Wikipedia article at [[:pl:Dziady (zwyczaj)]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|pl|Dziady (zwyczaj)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Belarusian. (August 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Belarusian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Belarusian Wikipedia article at [[:be:Дзяды]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|be|Дзяды}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. (Learn how and when to remove this message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Lithuanian. (August 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Lithuanian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Lithuanian Wikipedia article at [[:lt:Ilgės]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|lt|Ilgės}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography). (August 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography) article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Belarusian (Taraškievica orthography) Wikipedia article at [[:be-tarask:Дзяды]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|be-tarask|Дзяды}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Latvian. (August 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Latvian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Latvian Wikipedia article at [[:lv:Veļu laiks]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|lv|Veļu laiks}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Dziady (Belarusian: Дзяды, tr. Dzjady; Russian: Деды, tr. Dedy; Polish: Dziady; Ukrainian: Діди, tr. Didy; Lithuanian: Ilgės; Latvian: Veļu laiks) is an ancient Baltic and Slavic feast that commemorates dead ancestors. The Polish, Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian word means "grandfathers" and is sometimes translated into English as Forefathers' Eve.

The commemoration took place twice every year (in spring and in autumn), but nowadays it is usually held around end of October. During the feast the Slavs perform libations and eat ritual meals, to celebrate the living and the souls of the forefathers who joined the dziady after dark.

In Poland the tradition was supplanted by the Christian Zaduszki feast^[1] but original Dziady celebration continues among Rodnovery.

In Belarus, Dziady (Дзяды) usually took place on the last Saturday before St. Dmitry's day, at the end of October/beginning of November (Dźmitreuskija dziady, St. Dmitry's Dziady). There were also Trinity Day Dziady, Shrovetide Dziady, and some other dates. Today, it is celebrated on November 2.^[2]

Lithuanians and Latvians have a similar feast, called Ilgės or Veļu laiks. It has roots in pagan times^[3], and differs slightly from the Slavic Dziady.

In 1988 the newly founded Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) initiated the revival of the tradition in Belarus. In addition, on this day a rally to Kurapaty on the outskirts of Minsk is arranged, in the memory of the victims of Soviet political repressions. The communist administration of the country at that time strongly opposed the initiative. The BPF and other movements in Belarus have continued the tradition.^[4][5]

Much of the second part of Adam Mickiewicz's verse drama Dziady (published in 1823) depicts the Dziady feast organized in what is now Belarus, and popular among Ruthenians and Lithuanians during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

• Lithuanian mythology
• Belarusian mythology
• Latvian mythology
• Slavic paganism

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