Masks and disguisers in the Lithuanian and Polish calendar feast traditions : analogues and differences

Winter- and Spring-time calendar feasts have old time sources and they are well-known both in contemporary Lithuanian and Polish living folk life traditions. One of the most featuring relics in such feasts we know the disguisers traditions, containing anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, ornithomorphic and mythologic personages, with their open space performances, parades and house-visiting traditions. Christmas and Shrovetide feasts-time traditional disguisers have similar personage features, as well as their differences in particular Lithuanian and Polish ethnic regions. All such analogues and differences are put as comparative research objects of this article, and results of actual investigations are reflected in the conclusions hereby. It is important to note, that all disguisers are well-known both in Christmas and Shrovetide feasts in Poland, and mostly in Shrovetide feast-time in Lithuania. They have many common features from ancient (pre-Christian) times, and also many different masks with particular their functions, coming from the historical times up to present times, because of different cultural life, world-look experience, and regional people creativity in real localities. Those ethnic culture proclamations are still in process - some masks still are well-known and popular, some masks are on the way to be forgotten, and some masks are as innovations from the contemporary modern times. Anthropomorphic masks in Polish Christmas-time and Shrovetide feasts reflects: some national minorities, such as "Gipsy people", "Jews"; some social groups, such as "beggars", "bear-masters", "Jewish rabbi", etc; military people - from "soldiers" up to "officers"; some historical an even biblical personages, such as "king Herod", "queen Herodiade", etc. Zoomorphic masks are well-known here as "horse" ("horse-rider"), "sheep", "calf", "piggy&And the most important we know some black and ugly-dressed bull-shape or aurochsshape (turoń) personage here. Ornithomorphic masks are the same both in Poland and Lithuania. We know "goose", "crane" and "stork" in Polish Christmas and Shrovetide feasts, and in Lithuanian Shrovetide feast. Mythological masks also are similar. We know "devil", "death" ("the Reaper") both in Polish Christmas and Shrovetide feasts and in Lithuanian Shrovetide feasts. And "witch" is known in Lithuanian Shrovetide feasts, and it is unknown any time in Poland. Some masks are known especially in Polish Shrovetide feasts. It is "Harlequin- style" costume, "Bach-Deity" personage, as well as pre-Christian "Lent-God" (Lith. - Gavėnas; Pol. - Księc Zapust). And "a Professor with donkey head" is known in Polish Shrovetide feasts only. Some masks are known especially in Lithuanian Shrovetide feasts. It is "hempen-man" and "lardy-man" (Kanapinis and Lašininis), symbolising in going Spring and out-going Winter. And "doctor" as "Hungarian-nationality- man" is also known in Lithuanian Shrovetide feasts only. Zoomorphical masks in Lithuanian Shrovetide feasts are more various. In addition to mentioned above Polish Christmas-time masks (all of them are known in Lithuania as well) we know (enough rarely) "mutton", "monkey", "wolf", "deer", "rabbit", "fox" and "ox" in addition.The modern masks, such as "photographers", "camera-men", "business-men", "bikers", "Zombie-men", are out of research area in the article. All last-time disguiser innovations in Polish and Lithuanian Christmas-time and Shrovetide feasts have to be investigated and discussed in the separate article