St. Barbara is a Christian saint said to be the protector of sudden death. As the story goes, St. Barbara’s tower overlooked the ocean, putting her in a position of monitoring tides and observing the moon to protect sailors. When gunpowder was invented, artillerymen and miners called on her for protection on the battlefield and in mines as sailors did on their ships.
In the 12th century, St. Barbara’s Feast was included in the Tridentine calendar to be celebrated on December 4th. Now, that day is celebrated as Barborky. Barborky is a commonly practiced Czech tradition around the holiday season. On December 4th, it is customary to cut a branch from a cherry tree and put it in a vase inside the home of an unmarried woman. According to the folk tradition, the branch must be from a tree at least ten years old, and must be cut with the first ray of sun. If the branch blooms before Christmas Eve, it’s said the woman will marry in the coming year. With Barborky being celebrated early in Advent, it has a Christmas spirit to it. The cherry tree twigs are regarded as pre-Christmas decorations before putting up the Christmas tree later in the month.
While cherry tree twigs are the most typical practice of Barborky, there are two lesser known traditions that are still followed in smaller towns and villages. The first are the women in white. On December 3rd, women dress themselves head to toe in white. In some regions, the women wear only white veils over their face. In other regions, they add flower crowns. In the scariest versions, the women comb their hair over their face and scare misbehaving children, similar to the tradition of Mikuláš.
Lastly, the most niche tradition of Barborky is the passing of the light. As mentioned, St. Barbara is regarded as the protector of sudden death and patron of sailors, miners, and artillerymen. To commemorate this, a light called Barborčino Světlo is passed around mining villages to signify her protection.
If you find yourself in Czechia on December 3rd and 4th, you’ll now know why hordes of women are dressed in white veils or cherry trees seemingly missing all their twigs. However, you may see a couple more Advent traditions taking place such as Mikuláš walking around with Anděl and Čert, or young girls carrying lights for St. Lucy’s Day.
“History of Saint Barbara.” Old Spanish Days | Fiesta Santa Barbara, Old Spanish Days | Fiesta Santa Barbara, 5 July 2024, www.sbfiesta.org/history-of-saint-barbara.
Ježek, Zahrada. “Rozkvetlé Vánoce - Barborky: Zahrada Ježek.” Zahradajezek.Cz, 28 Nov. 2017, www.zahradajezek.cz/rady-a-tipy/rozkvetle-vanoce-aneb-nezapomente-na-barborky/.
Petra. “Barborky, the (Not so) Well Known Czech Tradition.” Czechology, 4 Dec. 2023, www.czechology.com/barborky/.