MAGIC ACTIVITIES, PREDICTIONS AND PROGNOSTICS DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF A FOLK WEDDING (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF THE POLISH ETHNOGRAPHIC ATLAS) (Zachowania magiczne, wrozby i prognostyki podczas wstepnych etapow wesela wiejskiego...)

The article deals with magical activities observed in preparations for a folk wedding in Poland. The peak of magical acts was connected with the belief that a young couple was in a critical moment - the interim, which was dangerous for them because of its liminality. On the other hand, if proper patterns of behaviour were followed, it guaranteed happiness of the bride and the groom. According to the common belief, it was possible to predict the future of the couple. That was the source of a great variety of fortune telling and predictions. The article presents selected magical acts accompanying the following stages of the wedding: inviting for a celebration, baking the 'korowaj' cake, the hen evening and predictions before the marriage ceremony. It emphasises many activities of protective and prognostic nature, during invitation for a wedding and baking the wedding cake. The examples presented in the article come from fieldwork conducted by research workers of the Polish Ethnographic Atlas in the second half of the 20th century (mainly in the 1970s and 1980s) in selected villages in the area of Poland.