Highland Saintliness – a Tale of Kundusia from Siwcówka

Abstract

A simple highland girl, who lived until the mid-20th century in one of the Lesser Poland’s villages, namely Stryszawa, has become a permanent element of the local iconosphere. Stryszawa has always been an important centre of folk sculpture and toy-making. Nowadays, the village is famous for an autochthonic mystic, Kunegunda Siwiec (diminutive: Kundusia). Websites connected with Stryszawa, apart from advertisements for agrotourism and multi-coloured birds for sale at the Beskid Centre of Wooden Toy, provide information about the mystic. Memories of her, both those written down and those that can be heard from local inhabitants, point to the increased interest in Kundusia and positive changes in people’s attitude towards her.