TY - GEN N1 - 24 cm N2 - The article draws on preliminary research results of a research project on the history, migration, and cultural heritage of the Vlach minority inhabiting the areas from Albania to the northern Carpathians, which I have been conducting since 2015. This text is a discussion of one aspect of this topic, which entails the studies of the everyday life and rituals of the Highland pastoralists on the Polish side of the Carpathians. The article describes the issues concerning the organization and the time-space symbolism of a modern pasturage, especially the related to the ritual beginning of the grazing season as well as the shepherds’ topographical imagination. The research was conducted in the selected huts of Spiš, Orava, Podhale, Żywiec region, and Silesian Beskids in Poland in 2015–2018. In all cases, I applied qualitative research methods, mostly structured and unstructured interviews with senior and young shepherds working in the huts, as well as participant observation conducted during selected pastoral holidays and meetings in various spaces: in churches, during Highlander’s and Vlach conventions, shepherds meetings, and in the huts. I supplement these techniques with the analysis of the visual material that I gathered during the field research, received from the enthusiasts of this topic, or found on the Internet. The research has shown that modern pastoralism oscillates between two poles: the traditional, which has made it possible to retain many elements from the past derived from the Vlach law, and the modern, thanks to which shepherds introduce modern solutions to their huts L1 - http://www.rcin.org.pl/Content/73422/PDF/WA308_94432_P326_Powroty-do-tematow_I.pdf M3 - Text J2 - Returning to pastoralist themes. Customs and beliefs connected with the start of the pastoral season on the Polish-Slovak borderland in the 21st century J2 - Etnografia Polska 62 z. 1-2 (2018) PY - 2018 IS - 1-2 EP - 105 KW - cultural heritage KW - Carpathians KW - huts KW - the beginning of the shepherding season KW - the Polish-Slovak borderland KW - Vlach tradition A1 - Kocój, Ewa PB - Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk VL - 62 CY - Warszawa SP - 85 T1 - Powroty do tematów pasterskich. Zwyczaje i wierzenia związane z rozpoczęciem sezonu pasterskiego na pograniczu polsko-słowackim w XXI wieku UR - http://www.rcin.org.pl/dlibra/publication/edition/73422 ER -