Paper short abstract:

In my speech I discuss the role of ritual timeline and weather forecasting in climate change. Since it no longer is (or never was) parallel to weather occurrences I consider it in the context of identity, belonging, safety and stability that build the illusion of permanence and immutability.

Paper long abstract:

In the fall of 2022 I have started the project entitled "Analysis of the relation between anthropogenic climate change and local practices towards intangible cultural heritage", funded by the Polish National Science Center (Ref. DEC-2022/06/X/HS2/00741). The aim of the research is to analyze the impact of the climate crisis on Polish rituals and customs related to the growing season, annual snow retention cycle (Bolin 2009) and surface water levels. Polish ritual year, consisting of religious holidays and symbolic dates of certain weather phenomena, which designate the time of particular actions, expresses people's efforts to tame and organize the environment. The timeline and corresponding weather occurences are related to the beliefs of folk meteorology, crucial for gardeners and farmers. Weather forecasting stemmed from the need to plan and prepare for changing or adverse weather conditions generating crop losses and famine. Connections between observations and weather changes were fixed in the consciousness of generations in the form of specific dates and orally transmitted proverbs, though its meteorological verifiability remains undefined. Long-term agrarian and social predictions are based on mythological thinking and do not reflect the climate conditions. In my presentation I shall discuss the role of ritual timeline in the face of climate change. Since it no longer is (or never was) parallel to weather occurrences I consider it providing the feeling of identity, belonging, safety and stability that together build the illusion of permanence and immutability.