„Dym pióra”
The Smoke of the Pen

Summary/Abstract: Smoke can have various symbolic meanings. It may relate to sacred, magical and psychological realms. It may also play an important role in social communication. According to Eliade, smoke means transcendence and freedom because it represents the exceeding of earthly boundaries and the reaching of the sky. Marcin Kuropatwa notices that numerous cultures have beliefs related to smoke being the “road of souls”. The human soul can free itself from the body and “rise to heaven in order to return after fulfilling its purpose”, although there are cases when daemons might use such a spiritual journey to take possession of these unguarded bodies. Polish folk culture used to have many practices related to magic and smoke. One example is the burning of incense around cattle in order to protect them from diseases and evil spirits. In China incense was burnt in temples to protect souls from approaching death. American Indians have important smoking rituals which enable agreement and making peace. This has been to a certain extent taken over by “white” societies, who often use smoking as a bonding ritual. In a psychological respect smoke represents a nostalgia for the past and “relates to oblivion and mystery”. These features are often used in the theatre, the cinema and in music for creating a specific atmosphere.

• Details
• Contents