SOME RUMANIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3443, 9 March 1920, Page 59

SOME RUMANIAN CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS.

(By R. Cabnegie.) In no country of the world, perhaps, is superstition so rife as in Bumania. This may be on account of Rumania's geographical positfon, "not quite far enough east, not quite far enough west," as'one writer hath it. Through Rumania, in earlier times, ran the most direct landroute to and from the Orient, and - consequently many superstitions have, from, time to time, been introduced, for no disease is so \contagious as superstition. The majority, however, seem to be of home origin. From the moment a Rumanian enters this world until he finally leaves it he suffers from this ailment. It is the. first Muty of the midwife to attach to the infant's hair a piece of red ribbon or tape, according to the social status of the parents. Red is always supposed to guard against evil. Nor is it only in the case of -humans, as our cousins across the Atlantic would say, that this custom is practised. Every horse displays its red rag in the hairs of its tail or mane.--., Foals and calves, when not similarly decorated, wear the bowl- of a' wooden spoon suspended .round their neck, though whether this is merely for luck or as a safeguard against the evil eye the. writer \ has , not been able to discover. Indeed, it may here be remarked that Rumanians of all classes show a curious indifference as to the origin of their many' most interesting superstitions 3nd customs.

In the Dobrudja blue beads in the form of necklaces and collars are often worn instead of animals and persons alike, this custom having been imported by the Turks and the Tartars, who constitute a large portion of the population of this district. At the christening the mother must not be present; she retires to an adjoining room during the ceremony. <■ . A general custom or superstition (it is difficult at times to know under which head to classify such* things) is to avoid speaking too well or complacently of anything or anybody, lest conditions be changed thereby for the worse. A stranger within the gates may quite unconsciously bring odium on himself on this account. It is for this reason that the invariable reply to the greeting, "How are you?" is a simple "Thank you."" To say that you or yours are well might., easily bring about the very opposite. The response, to inquiries as to the health of friends or relations is a species of grunt, or the word "Asa," which is best translated by our expression "So so." When you speak to a baby you call it uritului ("little ugly"), and when you look at qne an imitation of a spit is made, all to guard against evil results.| Indeed, in an otherwise highly educated family of good social standing, the writer was witness of the performance of "heap big medicine" when a child was somewhat peevish on returning from its daity outing. The cook, versed in such rites, officiated. Cloves were burned over a glass of warm water and dropped into it whilst an incantation was chanted. The spluttering of some of the burning cloves on contact with the water was taken as proof that the child had been "evil-eyed" by some passer-by. No one thought of holdinor the intensely hot sun responsible for the child's condition. Finally the boy was given a little of the water to drink.

On any one's sneezing, everybody present choruses, "S'anatate!" (Good health), for which thanks are politely returned. This superstition may be borrowed either from East or West; it is very common in Germany, and has (or had in the, writer's early-Victorian childhood) its counterpart in nurse's "Bless vou!' when a child sneezes.

Household superstitions are very numerous, and some of them are most amusing. At table, on no account may a loaf be laid on its back. It is unlucky to spill wine or coffee—unless the liquid falls straight towards the spiller, which betokens tha best of fortune. To hold the bottle from underneath or away from one

in pouring out its contents is very terrible. The writer first learned this by seeing two women and one man dash at an unfortunate Britisher, who, for want of elbowroom at a crowded table in a station restaurant, was pouring out wine in this manner for a companion. One of the ladies, a stout and perspiring Jewess, presented the much-mystified Englishman with a pin, so that no evil should result from his rash act!

Tuesday is generally considered the unlucky day in Rumania. This is undoubtedly borrowed from the Greeks, and had its origin among them on account of Constantinoole being said to have fallen on a Tuesday. On no account will any one commence any business undertaking on this day, nor must a betrothal or a marriage take place on a Tuesday. It is most unlucky to sew on a loose button for any one unless he removes it himself. The sewer may, indeed, go blind! The sure antidote, which„, eye specialists at home might note, is to eat a bit of the cotton employed. To sew on a button for one's self with the garment on will cause the sewer to forget all he has ever learned. A certain charm against being struck by lightning is to think immediately of seven male acquaintances who are bald. Hens are never put to sit on an even number of eggs, nor must one speak whilst a hen is being placed on eggs, otherwise no chickens will be the result. It is very bad to hand any one a piece of soap. It must be placed on the table by the one person and taken up by the other. When _ two people wash in the same water or use the same towel, the sign of the cross is made over water or towel. A child must never be lifted through a window, or an umbrella opened in a house. It is very unlucky to stand on the threshold of a house—one must step right out before speaking to anybody. It is an evil omen to meet a priest first on going out, and people seeing one coming will turn back again. When the meeting is unavoidable, the remedy is to scratch tha portion of the anatomy immediately below the back !

Never more than two cigarettes should be lighted with the same match. This superstition, which since the war has taken root in Western soil, is an illustration of how intensely ridiculous all superstition is, since" €xcept in countries of the Orthodox Greek religion, it is wholly inapplicable, as it has its origin in the fact that when a body in these countries is laid out, three candles, resembling the Trinity, are placed round the head, these being lighted with one taper. Naturally death is a subject for superstitions and customs innumerable. The house must not be swept nor linen washed whilst the remains are lying in the house. As the corpse is carried out the house a plate is broken —reason or origin obscure. A large cake, made from buck-wheat and poppy-seed, is carried before the hearse; — food, doubtless, for the long journey to the next. world. In those towns where no more modern system of water-supply exists the water-carts meeting a funeral are emptied in the road as the cortege passes, with the same idea of not letting the traveller want for refreshment. The watercarters present themselves the next day at the house, to be liberally rewarded. Boots must never be placed on a table, otherwise very shortly another pair will be there— l on the feet of a dead person. The only 'way to avert the evil is to knock, not lift, them off. It is very general in Moldavia for servants to keep a stick across the watertub or Bucket, possibly from the idea of the cross, or to bless the water, there being a very important religious festival each January in the Greek Church, when water in general is blessed. Charms and 'incantations are firmly believed in among, the peasantry and the lower orders. Fortune-telling by cards is a regular and recognised means of livelihood, and even in the largest towns those practicieing the craft advertise freely. One may often observe, in passing through some side street,, a notice and a crude painting of' three or four* cards. The Gipsies naturally drive a (very thriving trade in fortune-telling in various ways. Every village boasts its wise - woman, who is always called in in cases of sickness in preference to a doctor, and to this fact may be ascribed ihe appalling' death-rate among children in the agrarian districts of Rumania.

Gf customs more (if not always) apart from superstition there are a great many, and to, enumerate and describe all these would" take far more space than can here' be spared. The prettiest, perhaps, is that of the Martzivhoare. At the commenceanent of the month of March one exchanges with girls and ladies little gifts in the way of charms suspended on little red-and-white cards. These in former times were of the most simple form and pattern; but of late years, with the march of "civilisation," they may be anything up to a small gold plaque inset with brilliants. They are supposed to have the effect of keeping off freckles. The string, after being worn for some time, must be attached to a rosebush, so that the late possessor's complexion shall become "a-s white-and-red roses," like the colour of the'card. Christmas and New Year naturally axe well favoured as regards customs. 'lt is usual for poor children and Gipsies to throw rice after one in the streets for luck. (In place of rice, beans are thrown at marriages in Bulgaria). • Whip -cracking and bell-ringing, with pistol-shots, herald the advent of the New Year; whilst ploughs drawn by teams of oxen, both gaily decorated with firbranches and coloured-paper streamers, are driven into the courts of the landed proprietors amid much whip-cracking and ■jangling of cow-bells, this to ensure a good harvest to the cheerful giver of backsheesh. Gipsies carry round a boar's head, decorated with rosettes and with an apple in its mouth, and one is asked to give something for "Little Basil." Is it not very probable that these two customs have the same, origin as our Plough Monday, now practised in certain

districts only, and as the boar's head which a century ago formed one of the principal dishes at Christmas in England ? Rumania was "discovered," conquered, and occupied for a long period, just as •Britain was by the Romans, and these customs may well have the same origin, having been introduced by the soldiery 61 Trajan in the one case, and of Caesar in the other.

A third custom which has its prototype in England is that of the Calushar dancers, who come down annually from the mountains to perform in the towns. They are dressed hi white, with coloured-ribbons on their headgear and at their waists, wear bells on their ankles, and have the same dances as our Morris-dancers at home, even to the handkerchief figure.. The origin of one, if not both, is the ancient Phrygian dance of the Romans, and the figures originally were to portray the flight of Rhea from Cronus when the latter wished to devour their son Zeus. The shouting which accompanies the figures in Rumania simulates the cries set up to drown the noise of the weeping of the child, and lead the mythological food-hog astray.—Chambers' Journal.