November 29th: St. Andrew`s Eve St. Andrew`s Eve is one of the most important nights in the Romanian folk calendar, being known as the �vampires` night�. They are going out and fight or dance at the crossroads or near the abandoned houses. A great party called �guarding the garlic� is held on this night. The young people from the village gather in a house whose windows and doors were grazed with garlic. Other pieces of garlic are put in a vase, every girl bringing three. They will be guarded by an old woman, at the light of the candles. The young people party until morning, when the vase is taken out in the yard and they dance around it. The pieces of garlic are then given to the participants and they will be put at the icons, being used as a mean of protection against illness or spells. In order to protect themselves against the vampires, the people graze the doors with garlic, thus forming crosses and turn the pottery with the face to the ground. The vampire can`t enter the house so he appears at the window and tries to attract people, calling them and asking them if they ate garlic. The people must not answer, otherwise becoming dumb. Nine cups of water are put in a vase and placed under an icon. If the next day the water is lesser, that person will be unlucky. The animals talk on this night, but people shouldn`t listen to them, as they will die. The girls can find their destined one. In order to do this, they must go to a fountain with a candle and look inside. In the water they will see the face of their future husband. Another way to find him is dreaming. They put 41 grains of wheat under the pillow and if they dream the wheat is stolen from them, they will get married soon. November 30th: St. Andrew St. Andrew is the patron of the wolves, being the one who protects the people attacked by these animals. St. Andrew is also celebrated in order that the wolves should stay away from the households or from the travelers. The salt is charmed and buried under the door of the stable. It will be taken out on St. George and given to the cattle, as a protection against the wolves and other evil things. Nothing is lent on this day, so that the products of the field shouldn`t be stolen. The women aren`t allowed to wash or to comb their hair. The children put apple, pear or plum branches in the water, so that they would bloom. These will be used on St. Vasile, as a �sorcova�. The girls and boys seed wheat and the one whose wheat grew more will be the luckiest one.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 22:26:47 +0000
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