International Lifestyle Magazine Issue 52 | Page 65
On Christmas day, children and grownups alike wander around, singing
carols. They may come from all over the country, for instance from
central and southern Transylvania, Crisana and sometimes from Banat.
Traditionally, they perform their carols wearing masks. The mask stands
for a god in his zoomorphic instantiation, impersonated by the group
leader, who wears the mask while performing the carol. Turca (the stag,
BORITA) is born at the same time when the mask is made, and it revels
and makes merry with the group of carollers acting as its divine company,
dying violently, club-beaten, shot or drowned, so that it may be reborn
in the New Year. Quite often, the group’s leader has fun scaring women
and children with the mask; at the same time he may ask for his due, the
money’s worth he thinks he should receive for the ritual he performed,
being offered the most honoured guest’s seat at the group’s ceremonial
table. Tradition has it that the heavens open on Christmas night, so that
the spirits of the deceased may spend time with their beloved ones who
are still on earth. Several biblical characters, such as St. Nicholas, St.
Demetrius and St. George can be seen sitting at the princely feast.
During Christmas, a series of ritual deeds are performed, meant to
purify the space through lighting a fire and putting on the lights; in the
olden days, the Christmas log was sacrificed, whereby a fir-tree trunk
was cut and burnt in the hearth on the night of December 24th; the
ritual symbolises the Divinity’s death and rebirth, impersonating the
year to come. This yearly sacrifice is part of an ancient burial ritual
which has been replaced by the adorned fir-tree, laden with many gifts
brought to children by Santa Claus. This custom became pervasive in
the countryside, coming from the urban area, at the beginning of the
19th century, being also attested by the Romans, Serbo-Croatians and
the Latvians. Thus, the Christmas tree we know today and the native
custom of the blazing of the fir tree overlapped.
During the Christmas period until St. Basil’s Day
(January 1st ) in Maramures, the magical practice is known as “the tying
up of the beast in the forest”, which consists of laying a loaf of ritual
bread, named High Steward, on the table, which is then tied with an
iron chain. After 8 days, on New Year’s Day, the loaf of bread is cut into
slices eaten by children and animals, and the chain is put in front of the
stable, so that the cattle may step over it.
Join us here in and enjoy a Romanian Christmas, here on our magical
countryside.
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