Every year, on March 8, Romanian cerebrate the International Women’s Day (IWD), and Mother’s Day.

The celebration started as a Socialist political event in Russia, in 1965 when Lenin declared it official holiday, and spread across the entire Soviet block soon after. But keep in mind, that unofficially, a women’s day was already celebrated around the world, on different dates, since 1909.

Later, the popularity of the holiday inspired other countries, and today, March 8 is an official holiday in the following countries: Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Croatia, Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

In Romania, March 8 is not an official holiday, but it’s held nevertheless. Note that here, this day is also the equivalent of Mother’s Day, and there is no other official or unofficial day to celebrate motherhood other than this. The custom, similar to all customs in the countries that celebrate the day, is for men to give ALL the women in their lives flowers or gifts. Female teachers receive small gifts from their students too, whether boys or girls. The idea that the female teacher is the equivalent of a mother figure prevails.

Official or not, for Romanians March 8 is a national celebration. After work, women colleagues or friends often dine together, but the greatest joy is for mothers who receive that little special attention from their children. So while the world celebrates IWD, think of March 8 as Mother’s Day in Romania, and you will understand its significance.

International Women’s Day in Romania, and Mother’s Day – 8th March is a post from: Rounite

Few towns in Romania have succeeded in preserving their medieval charm and flavor; among the Transylvanian ones, Sibiu stands alone.

It played an important part in the economic, political, religious and cultural history of the Romanian provinces. Founded upon a Neolithic settlement, near the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Cedonia, whose traces are still preserved, Sibiu was first mentioned in documents as far in the XIIth century. Beginning with the year 1150, a massive Germanic colonization took place; the first colonists (Flanders, Francons, Saxons) came from the western regions of the Rhine, found the pastures of Heaven and settled here.

The 19 guilds, whose members practiced 25 crafts, already mentioned in the year 1376, carried on active trade relationship with the Romanian provinces and withe Europe.

In the Middle Ages, every major guild had built his own tower of defense, integrated in the fortifications of the city. The guilds have disappeared by the decree of 1872, when they were converted into handicraft cooperatives.

The tradition of traveling apprentices has been revived in Sibiu since 2007, the year the town was the Cultural Capital of Europe. In Sibiu, the apprentices have their house and even an association called “Casa Calfelor” (House of Apprentices, Gesellenherberge, Maison des Compagnons – Sibiu / Hermannstadt). To revive the traditional arts and crafts, the Evangelical parish made available for apprentices a building at no. 3, Huet Place, which was restored by them.

The tradition of traveling apprentices has been preserved in countries like Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Norway, Sweden.

Approximately 700 young people trained in trades of carpenters, masons, stone, potters, blacksmiths and sculptors have chosen to start on the road for three years and one day, wearing the apprentices’ uniform and hat, observe the rules imposed by their brotherhood. Thus, to be allowed to wear the apprentice uniform, the young are not allowed to be married, have children, debts or other obligations, must face with honesty and honor the commitments that they must take and follow the rules and traditions of their brotherhood. Both their presence in Sibiu since the Middle Ages and their tours have contributed in time to strengthen ties with European handicraft centers; from all points of view, they were a bridge unconventional but more vivid between Sibiu and Europe.

Before leaving, will be tailored for the apprentices special clothes in an old workshop, where the tradition of those clothes is kept. Apprentices’ costumes consist of splay trousers, jacket and coat of different colors – black, cream or blue -, white shirts, a special hat and black boots.

Being an apprentice not require a substantial material gain. Usually the apprentices goes out with moderate amounts and are forced to cope in the world, where they works to receive money, food and hosting, making it an opportunity to meet different mentalities and habits.

Tourists who visit the city of Sibiu during July 10 to August 6 have the opportunity to see working 17 journeyman from various European countries, gathered here for the third time, on Fortress Street, between the Potters Tower an the Carpenters Tower. During the workshops, the apprentices present their job; carpenters, potters, jewelers, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, builders of musical instruments, masons, sculptors, can be followed in exercising their profession. Visitors can admire also a photo exhibition, which reminds of different moments in years in which they began to arrive in Sibiu. The exhibition covers the history of craftsmen travel, the various journeyman associations, and the differences existing between the traditional traveling apprentices and the companionway of French craftsmen.

The Traveling Apprentices from Sibiu is a post from: Rounite

Easter is the most important Romanian holiday in the Orthodox calendar. I already covered a few traditions last year – and starting today I will write a series of articles that will present even more traditions, itineraries for those who would like to spend Easter in Romania this year, food recipes and more.

Last year I wrote about the Palm Day, which is the Sunday before Easter each year; the Great Thursday, which is the last Thursday before Easter; Easter traditions, Painting Eggs; and traditional Easter food – including Romanian sweet bread and lamb haggis.

This year will take a look at Lazarus’ Saturday, the Great Friday, The Small Fountain and Good People’s Easter. Food recipes to follow: coliva, Romanian “Pasca” – Easter cake with cottage cheese; Easter lamb soup; and lamb roast – yes, the lamb plays a very important role in the Romanian Easter cuisine.

Lazarus’ Saturday – Saturday, 11 April 2009

On this day the dead are waiting at the gates of Heaven to be remembered and celebrated, with traditional drinks and dishes like “coliva.” Coliva is the food for the dead and it’s prepared traditionally by widows or close family members of the deceased. The dish is used in various death related occasions, to celebrate and honor the dead. The coliva is usually decorated with a cross motif, made of cocoa or nuts and sugar. The coliva is always blessed in the church by a priest before being consumed. The ceremony is long, but beautiful – the participants join their hands in a ritual “hora.”

Lazarus is Martha and Maria’s brother who was resurrected by Christ before He entered in Jerusalem, but this Lazar doesn’t have too much to do with the Romanian traditions.

A Romanian legend from Bucovina mentions a second Lazarus, whose brother (unnamed) was rich and lived a life of luxury and extravagance. (Legend slightly different from The Rich Man and Lazarus) Poor Lazarus was also ill, and the illness made his friends and wife to leave him. In his condition he could not get a job – his only chance to survive was to beg for food. Once he went to his rich brother’s gate, but the brother denied and family relationship with Lazarus and refused to feed him. Deeply hurt, Lazarus sat down and cried his pain away. Dogs from his brother’s yard noticed his sorrow and famine and brought him food remains from the rich’s man table, who that days was also marrying and had a wedding party.

Lazarus’ brother ordered the servants to chain the dogs. When the party ended, the fiddlers noticed Lazarus, and despite he couldn’t pay them for their effort, they sang for him. The rich brother didn’t like this either, he began making fun of the fiddlers, telling them that the only reward they might receive from poor Lazarus would consist of skin eruptions. When the fiddlers ended their singing, Lazarus indeed rewarded them this way, because, he said, the skin blisters were the only thing in his possession. The singers accepted the gift, only to notice later on that the blisters transformed into gold coins.

Not long after this “miracle” Lazarus found himself on his death bed. He called his brother for help, but the rich man replied that he had no fear of Death and God. When Lazarus died the angels took him to heaven. Soon, his rich brother died too, but the devils burned his fortune and took him to hell.

Another legend, which is also an Easter tradition, comes from Wallachia. In Wallachia Lazarus’ Saturday is called “Lazarica” (which is a diminutive of “Lazarus” or “Lazar”). In the morning of the day, young girls gather and choose the youngest to wear bride’s clothes and jasmine in her hair. The girls then go from house to house, dancing the hora around the “bride” and singing of Lazarus.

According to the Wallachian legend, Lazarus was a young man who asked his mother to bake him bread. As she refused, Lazarus went to the forest with his sheep. He climbed a tree to gather leaves for his sheep, but a branch broke and he fell and died. His sisters found him later, mourned him, bathed him in milk and buried him. The legend also says that Lazarus resurrected and changed into flowers. The connection between the “bride” and Lazarus is not very clear. Romanian folklorists speculate that the origin of the custom is in one of the rituals of Dionysus, who was also celebrated in the Spring. We can certainly see some similarities: a violent death, ritual bath, resurrection and the transformation of the hero in vegetation. Thus Lazarus is a prehistoric deity, like Flora, and they are both celebrated before Easter (Flora = Palm Sunday, celebrated this year Sunday, April 12.).

A third legend places Lazarus as a small boy, brother of Dargobete’s bride (a probable connection to the bride mentioned above). Dragobete’s mother, Baba Dochia, was always mean to Lazarus, giving him the most difficult chores. One Saturday Lazarus asked his mother to bake him pies and then when with his flock of goats to the forest. There he climbed an oak tree to gather buds for his animals. Remembering the pies, and anxious to get home faster to eat them, he fell to his death. His sister looked for him for months, but the young boy was only found on August the 15^th, Saint Marry’s day, covered by grass and flowers.

This legend is the reason why women bake pies on Lazarus’ Saturday and give them to the poor and the children. The pies are also baked in the memory of Lazarus the Poor (from the first legend) who prays to God for the forgiveness of the sins.

In some regions, the girls plant flowers on Lazarus’ Saturday, believing that they will grow faster and bloom more beautifully. Trees are not planted today, because people believe they will only bloom but never make fruits.

Easter in Romania 2009 is a post from: Rounite

Related to Mihaela’s post, “Epiphany and Saint John Day“, I want to tell you about some ancient traditions, banned by the communist authorities, traditions that have rebirth and know today a new life.

“The baptism of the horses” – this practice is spread in many rural communities in the Southern part of Romania (Wallachia and Dobrudja) and happens in Epiphany Day.

The peasants who come to the Epiphany religious service bring their horses, rich decorated, to the churchyard and the priest blesses the horses with a bunch of basil and the holy water. The legend says that the one who “baptizes” his horse will have a good health and a rich harvest in the year to come, and the horse will be healthy, too.

After the religious service, all the horses participates to a race where is not allowed the use of whip or spurs, and the fastest and the nicest horses are awarded. I’ve heard about a similar custom (the blessing of domestic animals) in Sweden, but I don’t know details.

“The ice cross” – another interesting custom is the rise of ice crosses, 2-3 m high, in the churchyard, crosses who stand until they melt.

In Northern Moldavia the crosses are built by the volunteer firefighters brigade, wearing their specific uniforms and leading their flag; after that, the priest, the church choir and the fire brigade go to every village institution, the priest blesses them and the others say three times “Kyrie Eleison” (an expression in Greek meaning “Lord, have mercy”).

“The baptism of all young John” – in Talmacel, near Sibiu, I saw a very interesting custom: after the religious service for Saint John’s Day, the participants dance “hora” (a dance in circle specific to all Romanian regions) and then go to the village’s river, the young boys by foot, the young girls in chariots, following an allegoric chariot; all have rich decorated folk costumes.

At river’s banks, all the young named John are symbolically “baptized” in the river’s waters, a ritual for purification and prosperity. In the villages where this custom is kept, most of the people are named “Ion” or “Ioana”. The locals told me that this tradition is unique in Romania and every Ion or Ioana swear to continue it.

Boboteaza Traditions Come Back to Life is a post from: Rounite

January 6th and 7th are two special days in the Christian Orthodox calendar. The Epiphany Day (Boboteaza, January 6th) and Saint John’s Day (Santion, January 7th) are two of the most popular religious holidays, rich in meanings and symbols.

For the Romanians the Epiphany Day, also called Boboteaza or Teofania, is a day of purity and cleanness, both spiritual and physical. This is the day when Saint John baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. Thus, it is customary for people to wear clean clothes and go to the church to fetch holy water – or aghiasma.

There are a few special customs crowning the day. The day before the Epiphany day is a day of black fasting: no eating or drinking (other than pure water) from dawn till dusk. It’s believed that those who fast get special powers that allow them to bring on the rain and that bachelorettes who fast will eventually wed good men. In some parts of Romania, maidens also place a stem of basil under their pillow to dream of their future husbands. The basil used by the priest to bless the homes of the followers is believed to have magical powers.

The Orthodox priests travel from house to house to purify the homes with holy water and prayers. The priest dips a bundle of basil in aghiasma and then shakes it over people and their belongings, to let the holy water drops spread over as many things as possible. In many places the lady of the house opens all the doors and waits for the priest with a lit candle in her hand. The priest blesses first any religious representations people have in their houses (usually icons and crucifixes), then the children, then the men of the house and in the end the women.

The Epiphany ceremony takes place outdoors, usually near a large body of water that shall be blessed by the priest. In places without rivers or lakes the priest blesses large quantities of water, stored in wooden barrels, for example.

This is the day when the priest embodies Saint John. If there are frozen lakes and rivers on Epiphany Day it is customary for people to cut a cross of ice and to make the place of service. In the absence of ice a large wooden cross will mark the place. At the end of the ceremony this cross will get tossed into the waves and to get purified by all sins and wickedness young men will go into the water to search for the cross.

Peasants also believe that he who enters holy waters today will stay safe from illness and evil all year.

The day after Epiphany Day is Saint John’s Day – or “Sfantul Ion” (in short Santion) in Romanian. This is the last religious holiday in the Christmas chain. Christmas trees are taken down today. In some parts of Romania the gates of those named “John” (Ion) are decorated with Christmas trees. John is also the most widespread name in Romania.

Epiphany and Saint John Day is a post from: Rounite

Although cruel, the tradition of pig slaughtering is ancient and not many Romanians are happy to let it go. But the tradition is not a symbol of cruelty – it’s purpose is not “entertainment.” This is the way our ancestors used to sacrifice pigs to feed their families at Christmas.

However, it is somehow strange that people who enjoy light chose to celebrate the birth of Christ with such a dark sacrifice.

This Christmas, as the Christmas before, I will be in Germany – in Schweich, a nice little town on the Mosel.

For the past six years the longing for the Romanian traditions and spirit kept me somehow away from the simple joys of the Xmas. Germany is so different. Many traditions are similar – the Christmas tree is still a Christmas tree. The mulled whine tastes as good here as it tastes at home. But that’s about it. Somehow… there’s no real joy here. Not even at the Trier Xmas Market, so famous in the region…

Families get together, eat together, sing together. But the Christmas carols don’t have the beauty of a Romanian carol.

The traditional Christmas food in Germany is somehow plain. There’s nothing really special about it. Romania has its Christmas traditions that sometimes remind of pagan rituals: the pig slaughtering is cruel, yet it’s been a Christmas tradition for as far as I can remember.

As a child I was so scared every time I heard the screams of the dieing animals. Now I doubt I can ever watch another pig slaughtering without crying for the poor innocent animals that die to make our Christmas table reacher.

I remember my grandma sharing a tear for the dieing animals each Christmas. Things I couldn’t understand back then come back to me now and I cannot help but wonder: is this a tradition we should actually keep? Romanians are not cruel people. This tradition finds its roots back in the illo tempore – in ancient times no one really recalls.

Image credit Raluca Nicula.

With the admittance of Romania in the EU the slaughtering needs to go. Yet the EU will let Romania continue slaughtering pigs for Xmas in the traditional way. The reasoning behind this is simple: if killing bulls in the arena for entertainment purposes is legal, why should the Romanian tradition go, when its purpose is not as cruel as the corrida?

Modern, less cruel methods to sacrifice the animals have to replace it. And it will take time till they will find their way in all the Romanian villages and be accepted by the Romanian peasants who inherited this method from their ancestors.

Well, although a cruel tradition, I do miss being there when all my family gathered together to prepare the traditional pork food. The whole pig slaughtering ritual is special not because of the way the pig is actually sacrificed, but because of what follows after. All the members of the family work together to prepare the food for the Christmas meal.

The pigs are slaughtered on December 20th, the feast of St. Ignatius. Legends say that the pigs actually dream their death – that could explain why in the night preceding their sacrifice all the pigs in the village scream.

Image credit Milan.tobik

After the sacrifice, there are only four days left to prepare the meat, make sausages, melt the fat and so on. Each day ends with a little feast. This is what I miss: being home, at my grandma’s and preparing that food with all my family. Sitting by the fire and singing, telling stories, praying together, listening to my grandma’s voice blessing our meal.

The Cruel Xmas Tradition of Pig Slaughtering is a post from: Rounite

In times of drought, when the sun burns the fields and hope for rich harvests is lost, a young girl walks the dusty street of the village. She’s wearing willow leaves around her waist, she walks and dances with a graceful pace, yet sometimes her movements are daring, erotic almost as her arms reach to the sky and her voice sends an ancient calling to Paparuda, the goddess of rain:

“Paparuda, ruda,
Vino de ne uda
Ca sa-nceapa ploaie,
Sa curga siroaie”

(Come litle rain, come and make us wet. When you come with the sieve, let it be a barnful.)

The girl walks on every street and stops to dance her pagan dance at every house in the village. Sometimes she is followed by other villagers who dance and sing around her, sometimes she performs the ritual alone. She has to please the goddess, who in return will bless the thirsty fields with heavy rain.

I watched the dance as a young girl – I remember I was 12 years old. That summer was particularly dry so the people in my grandma’s village decided it was time to call the goddess of rain. A pagan incantation, an heresy if you want, but even the priest of the village believed… A young gypsy girl was chosen to dance. She started the ritual at the village’s public fountain then continued on every street… at every house, as the tradition required.

It was in incredible experience, one of the dearest memories from my childhood and sure one of the most extraordinary, unbelievable, incredible. Do you know why? Because it did rain a heavy rain that evening. It rained a storm, it poured and I remember hearing joyful laughters in the rain, happy cheers, but in the end… the people were all thanking God for the rain. The rain goddess was forgotten…

I don’t know if they still perform this ritual in the village of my childhood. There are probably villages where young girls still dance the dance that brings the rain, but I doubt that the belief is still there. Yet… I think it would be a pity for such a beautiful tradition to perish…

In areas where rains suffice the ritual was never not known. Originally the dance involved partial nudity, but this has changed in the last 30 years. When I was young the girls wore popular costumes under the willow skirts. But in the times when this ritual was common to every village affected by drought, partial nudity was common and necessary, as people would pour water on the rain callers. The rain callers were rewarded for their performance with corn, eggs, grains, milk, bread, fruits or money.

The text of the incantation varies from region to region, from village to village. It has an official version but the text is not known in its entire form everywhere. Only the first verse “Paparuda, ruda” seems to be common.

The ritual was performed originally by native Romanians, and later by gypsies. It’s still unclear why the change of actors. Folklorists believe that since the ritual is performed by gypsies a lot of its essence was lost. They are probably right, especially when we consider all the variations in the text of the incantation. On the other hand, since it is customary for the rain caller to be rewarded with gifts of all sorts for her performance it is possible that the gypsies misused the ritual for material gain. There are however other explanations: as the dance involved partial nudity it makes sense that only gypsy girls would dare to expose their bodies. The Romanian girls, educated in strict Orthodox spirit, wouldn’t expose themselves.

Paparuda and The Rainmakers is a post from: Rounite

In Romania, the sound of an angel’s song is absolutely unique, something you will never ever hear some place else. That’s because angels use the tulnic or bucium to deliver their musical messages.

The term “bucium”, derived from the Latin word “bucinum” (meaning curved horn or trumpet blast) is used n the Muntenian Carpathians of Arges and Prahova, and in the Moldavian Carpathians of Vrancea and Neamt. In Romania’s northern regions the name might be linked to the Slavic “trambica”, and may have been taken over from the Huţul populations. Other names of the same instrument are “trambita” in Bucovina and “trambita” or “tranghita” in Oas and Maramures.

Photo credit – Gandul

The tulnic is an instrument with origins lost in our Dacian roots, somewhere at the dawn of civilization. It resembles the Alpenhorn but the sounds of the two instruments are quite different. Their usage however is sometimes similar. Specific to mountain dwellers in particular, it is mostly used by shepherds for signaling and communication in the forested mountains, as well as for guiding sheep and dogs, and it also used to be way to signal military conflicts in the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. Although it’s a huge instrument, ranging from 1.5 to 3 meters, women in the Apuseni mountains are using it frequently, sometimes to call their loved ones, other times for more practical purposes.

Depending on the region of the country, communications through the bucium song happen in different times of the day and have different meaning. While the shepherds are those who mostly use it (in the evening to call their sheep and dogs, or in the morning to take the sheep out), it is also an instrument leading funeral processions in Oas, Maramures and other villages in the north of Neamt. In the Apuseni, where women are the patrons of the tulnic, it’s mainly a communication device for those living in the highlands, similar to how Scandinavians use their luur.

The tube is made of well-seasoned deal, maple, ash, lime or hazel wood which is conical or cylindrical bored, slit length ways, hollowed out and then glued together. In northern Romania, metals are added to the tube: it can be made of galvanized iron and folded like a trombone. As it does not have valves or finger holes it can only play the pitches in the natural harmonic series.

My memories of the tulnic involve groups of women from the Apuseni mountains being brought to Bucharest to play these marvelous instruments on folk shows aired every Sunday. They came with their folk costumes and where in a complete contrast with the show host or the popular singers using makeup and modern jewelries. They were simple women, extremely modest, and you could easily tell they would have preferred not to be asked so many questions. They were there to sing, nothing more and definitely nothing less.

On those shows I found out of all the love stories behind the tulnic. The sounds of this instrument still seem to me the best to express lost love, missing the one you’ve lost or who is far away. When those women started singing, everything else just stopped, no one could think of anything else, except the song and the eyes of the musicians. There was a special glow, one seeming to hide secrets from long ago. No doubt angels chose this instrument to announce the Judgment Day!

Voices of Angels Resounding from Bucium Tunes is a post from: Rounite

Once this was a sacred dance danced only in the spring by a chosen number of men. Today Calusarul is a form of entertainment and the members of the groups still dancing it probably don’t even know its mystic signification. The ancient rules behind it are no longer respected, but the dance, even in its commercial form, is still mysterious and stunning.

Calusarul is probably the most famous Romanian folk dance. It’s believed to be inherited from the Dacians, Romanian’s ancestors.

Its primordial meanings are lost in time, but folklorists and historians believe that the dance was either a fertility ritual or a ritual performed to cure off delirium caused by possession by “iele” (fairies).

Judging from the meanings of the word “calusar” the costumes and the movements in the dance, we could safely conclude that Calusarul was all of the above and more. The secrets of the dance are probably lost in time, but what’s interesting to know is that the original dance had a deep mystic course.

Members of the calusari, regardless of marital status, were bound in the group for 3, 5 or 9 years and also bound to refrain from any sexual contact with women during the ritual dance period. Luckily the ritual period was limited to Spring.

The calusari group has a very clear hierarchy: vataful din coada (the overseer at the tail end), ajutorul de vataf (overseer’s helper) and the vataf (overseer). Modern forms of the dance include the presence of the “fool” or the “mute” – character who wears a mask, carries a sword and a red wooden phallus. His presence on the stages of the modern folk dances is however rare. The leader of the group is responsible for selecting and training new members and for passing the secrets of the group orally to his successors.

It’s hard to say what “calusar” means – there are many definitions of the word, each derived from other beliefs.

• Some say the word comes from Latin “collosium” meaning a dance group and a secret society.
• Others relate the Romanian word “calus” which means a small piece of wood placed in the mouth to prevent talking.
• The word calus could be also seen as a diminutive of the Romanian word “cal” (horse) derived from the Latin caballus.
• Last but not least, it’s believed that “calusar” is derived from “Salii Collini” – Roman priests of Mars whose duty was to keep Rome safe in battle. There are of course similarities between “calusarii” and “Salii Collini”, but the number of differences almost excludes the possibility that they are related. It is however interesting to know that the word “saliens” means dancing and that the Salii Collini, 12 in number, were performing their rituals (including singing and dancing) in March and October.

Unlike Salii Collini, the calusari need to gather in odd numbers (7, 9 or 11, although you’ll see more today, probably because the dance looks even more spectacular if performed by perfectly synchronized larger groups) and their attested role was to “cure” and “protect” from evil spirits. Although members of a ritual group, the calusari were not priests, despite their “healing” powers. They had to perform their duties as calusari for nine years and only after these nine years were they allowed retiring from the group and still being under the grace of the spirits. Early retirement would result in sickness, possession, paralysis, misfortune and other “curses from the spirits.”

The dance spread abroad in Bulgaria and Serbia and it is also believed to be closely related to the Morris dance. Speculations suggest that the dance was borrowed from Dacia by the Celts. The dance originated in the south of Romania, specifically in the region of Oltenia, but there are variants of the dance in other regions too: Trilisesti and Tantaroiul in Moldavia, Barbatescul and De Sarit in Maramures, Fecioreasca in Transilvania, etc.

More information about Calusarii:

• Wikipedia article
• Morris and Calusari Dancers Meet in Vancouver
• Calusari Dance History

The Mystic and Tradition of a Folk Dance: Calusarii is a post from: Rounite

Horezu is one of those many Romanian heavenly locations, where people are genuine and traditions are still preserved. The Monastery of Horezu, foundedin 1690 by Wallachian Prince Constantin Brancoveanu, is an official UNESCO World Heritage monument

What made Horezu so popular around the world is not this incredible Christian monument, but the pottery.

The Horezu pottery has its roots in the dawns of the time. This craft becomes art in the hands of the villagers, who keep the tradition from generation to generation.

The pottery is shaped using the traditional kick-wheel. Usually men form the objects and women give the finishing touch, decorating them. The clay pottery is first decorated with simple symbols and motifs, from which the most popular being the Horezu Rooster – Cocosul de Hurez.

Other popular motifs include the spiral, the star, the house’s snake, the tree of life, the lost way and ripple motifs.

The colors are natural and the tools used are conventional too: cow horns and the quill (goose feather). The most common colors are brown, red, orange and green. After decoration the pottery is burned in traditional kilns made of clay bricks and twigs. At last, the pots are covered with a special enamel material and backed for the second time.

The color of the pottery is given by special clays brought from hills in the village (white earth) and from hills in the neighbor villages (red and brown). They clay is prepared through a traditional technique and not used immediately. The clay needs to yeast for a while – big clay balls are broken into small particles through a wetting-drying process.

Wallachian Destinations: Horezu is a post from: Rounite