What’s Dyngus Day?

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Dyngus Day, sometimes spelled Dingus Day, is a holiday celebrated in Poland and some Polish communities in the United States. This holiday always takes place on Easter Monday and is meant to be a fun and light-hearted holiday. It is also called Wet Monday as Dyngus Day tradition has males douse females with water from buckets, pipes and the like. Traditionally, females are supposed to take revenge on Tuesdays by throwing dishes, but now most females just douse men with water on the same day.

The history of the holiday dates back to the Easter Monday baptism of 966 AD of Polish prince Mieszko I. This was a significant baptism because it was interpreted by the Polish people to mean that all of Poland was Christian. Since baptism is thought to be related to purification, purification, and fertility, the idea has somewhat adapted to Dyngus Day and boys dousing girls with water. Water traditions also refer to Lithuanian mass baptisms that took place after the wedding of Lithuanian Duke Jagiello and Polish Queen Jadwiga.

Dyngus Day is intended as a fun holiday after the serious period of Lent. The actual Easter Monday act of dousing a person with water and/or hitting them with willow breakers is called Smigus Dyngus. Originally, Smigus Dyngus referred to a kind of trick-or-treating tradition that has mostly died out in urban areas. It consisted of the use of a special cart and a rooster brought to each house to collect food and drink. The rooster was real or carved from wood.

Yet another legend associated with Dygnus Day is one that recalls a Polish princess named Wanda. The use of water to bathe females is said to recall Wanda as she chose to drown herself in the Wilsa River rather than marry a man she did not love. Religiously, Dyngus Day marks the beginning of Polish Catholicism.

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