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Beheading the Kite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beheading the Kite (Kashubian: Scynanié kanie, Polish: ścinanie kani) is a Kashubian Midsummer Eve custom of ritually beheading a kite, a bird which in the Kashubian region used to symbolize evil.[1] Since mid-19th century the ritual has become a part of Midsummer Eve, Whit Sunday or Corpus Christi celebrations. After all the residents have gathered, the village elder and village council publicly condemned the captured kite, blaming it for evil deeds, and sentenced it to death by beheading.[2] Whenever a kite could not be captured alive, a hen or a crow could be used instead.[1]
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