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Szczodre Gody or Święto Godowe - Slavic feast celebrated in Poland during and after the winter solstice.

It’s commemorated by modern Rodnovers in Poland as a triumph of the light over the darkness (days growing longer), also known as festivities dedicated to the ‘new Sun’ and a symbolic start of a new year. It’s one of the most joyful feasts in the Slavic calendar, spanning over even several days, and an occasion to rest after the whole hardworking year.

The main part of the celebrations can last for a few days, opened during a lavish feast prepared for the evening of the 21st or 22nd December. It is also dedicated to the spirits of ancestors, who are ‘invited’ to the feast as well: either one extra set of bowl with a spoon is placed on the table for them, or the whole festive table is left with the remaining food overnight so that the spirits could feast when the family is asleep (in the distant past small feasts with food offerings and bonfires were organized near cemeteries or in sacred spots dedicated to ancestors).

Various customs typical for Szczodre Gody were incorporated into the Polish Christmas traditions over the centuries [see my earlier posts about: Wigilia in Poland, the Wigilia meals, the decorations called pająki and podłaźniczki].

Examples of traditional pająki (’spiders’), via Żywa Pracownia.

Example of a podłaźniczka. Along with the pająki, they were incorporated into the Christmas decorations in Poland, nowadays rarely in the regular use. Image via Sadeczanin.info.

The evening of Szczodre Gody was seen as particularly powerful for predicting events for the whole upcoming year, for example weather forecasting important in the agricultural planning.

Dishes served during the feast consist of certain food products important in the Polish/Slavic symbolism, for example:

honey - joy and abundance

milk - cleansing powers, hope, love, and fertility

poppy seeds - connection with the outerworld, fertility and immortality

nuts - mystery, wealth, wisdom and fertility; they were also believed to protect from the toothache

prunes - protecting from the evil forces, ensuring happiness and bringing a long lifespan

apples - good health, also protecting from headache

pears - attracting wealth and life

grains of barley or wheat - symbolizing goods of the Mother Earth and the cyclic process of rebirth

beans and peas - health, fertility and abundance

mushrooms - outerworld, mystery and a sudden growth

beetroots - blood of Mother Earth ‘given away in a gesture of love’, bringing a long lifespan, beauty and general wellness

cabbage - strenght, life-giving powers, protection from illness (often used in traditional healing methods, along with beetroots)

fish - fertility and a new life

bread - in the Slavic rituals it’s the main component of the food offerings for the ancestors, symbolizing food in general (notion of ‘daily bread’ as a daily meal), abundance, prosperity, and fertility of the cultivated land

Literal meaning of the name Szczodre Gody is a ‘Generous Feast’, and the word ‘gody’ alone meant simply a festivity in the old-Polish language (it originates from the proto-Slavic root ‘godъ’ meaning time or a year, which survived for example in the Polish word ‘godzina’ meaning an hour). Name of Gody was so deeply rooted in the Polish rural culture that still in the 18th and 19th centuries the people in some regions were refusing to call the Christmas (Boże Narodzenie in Polish) differently than just ‘Gody’, what was noted by ethnographers and concerned priests at that time. Varieties of that word were common in many Western Slavic languages, and the name of the old festivities has survived for example in the Kashubian language, where the Christmas is called Gòdë up until now. In some parts of Czech Republic and in Sorbian languages the name Hody / Hode is also still in use.

The feast is connected closely to the custom of kolędowanie (koliada / koleda, also known in English as the ‘Slavic caroling’) that is celebrated in various similar forms in all Slavic countries. During these rituals groups of friends dress up in various symbolic costumes and stroll from house to house to sing carols in exchange for sweets, drinks or small money. The loud songs (often accompanied by bells, reels, drums, etc) and symbolic costumes are remnants of ancient Slavic rites acknowledging the cycles of nature and its hibernation during winter. These joyful rites were meant to celebrate the days growing longer and prepare the communities for the later celebrations of chasing the winter away before the arrival of spring. Feast of Szczodre Gody was opening the season of kolędowanie (nowadays it’s the evening of the Christmas Eve). The word 'kolęda’ meant originally a joyful New Year’s song.

Modern group of kolędnicy with a symbolic figure of a turoń. Images © stylowanowahuta.blogspot.com

On the first image: vintage postcard with a podłaźniczka drawn by Maria Orłowska-Gabryś.

Oh, no, my friend, @aceyuurikatsuki . It’s not just that. It is so much more. Settle down and let your friendly neighborhood x-ray tech explain you a thing.

Throckmorton’s Sign, otherwise known as Throckmorton’s Principle, does in fact have to do with dicks. Because it is fairly normal for a dick to show up on a hip or pelvis x-ray. But the thing about Throckmorton’s Sign is, it’s not just that the dick is visible. It is a legitimate diagnostic tool.

Let me explain: let’s say a person equipped with a penis is in a car accident and has right leg and right side hip/pelvic pain. Their doctor will order x-rays. Unfortunately, sometimes fractures are so small that they can be missed, or, because the patient is in such bad shape and the images obtained aren’t the best quality, the radiologist can’t be sure for one reason or another if what they’re seeing is actually a fracture.

So what do they do? They look for the dick.

You heard me correctly. The dick.

Throckmorton’s Sign is when “the penis points to the area of pain.” So if the above-mentioned AMAB patient’s xray aren’t displaying a clear, obvious fracture, but their dick is pointing to the right side, 9 times out of 10, the injury or fracture is on the right hip or leg area, so then the radiologist will focus on that side while reading.

Now I know what my non-radiology followers are thinking. “Ace, this sounds like bullshit. This can’t be true. You’re lying through your teeth.” But I swear to you, it is 100% accurate. I have seen a positive Throckmorton’s Sign multiple times with my own eyes over the course of the past 7 years. Ask any x-ray tech, and they will probably agree with me.

Your dick is good for at least one thing, and that thing is helping a radiologist diagnose your upper femur, hip, or pelvic fracture.

Throckmorton your skateboarding cousin:

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