Romanian Christmas Traditions: From Carols to Delicious Dishes. In many Romanian villages the people make the house thresholds with garlic. Once inside the host’s house, the carolers sing at the gate, at the window, at the door or in the house, in front of the icon and their endeavor is rewarded with bread, money, apples, walnuts, and in some parts of the country, even pork meat. The Nativity Drama has its origins in the eighteenth century. Although traditional caroling has been adapted to more modern realities, this is still a major part of the Christmas celebration in Romania and there’s no better place to experience it than in a traditional village. These customs may seem weird to outsiders, but to the Romanians, they are a way of keeping in touch with their cultural identity. These trinkets are usually wornpinned to clothes, on the left, in front of your heart. The repertoire of the Romanian traditions includes traditions, practices, superstitions, advices with the origin in faith, ancient myths or Christians. The traveler coming from the West will be surprised to discover that Romania is a place with a lot of legends, myths, and traditions preserved for ages. In Moldova, traditions say you shouldn’t give anything away from the house on the day of Christmas Eve, no garbage is thrown out of the house and nothing is ever borrowed, because it is believed that you throw away your good luck for the year to come. In Romania it is being celebrated after the new style at 25 th December, and after the old one, at 7 th January. Now they are rewarded with money. In some areas of the country, the pig is cut on Ignat holiday, namely on 20th December. Martisorul is a red and white string… The carolers, are usually children, younger or older boys, rarely girls and even adults, carrying a star or a “luminaries” (a star with tail, usually seen in Moldavia), dressed in bear costumes or in white suits with colored ribbons, sometimes with helmets like the Magi biblical characters. Irina Popescu, [email protected] (photo source: freeimages.com) Normal. Nobody is allowed to reveal the meal till the priest enters through door. A star on a wooden frame physically represents the star. The traveler coming from the West will be surprised to discover that Romania is a place with a lot of legends, myths, and traditions preserved for ages. Romanians select a day: from the 1st to the 9th of March. Regarding the Christmas holidays, the most wonderful tradition is caroling. Then, on Christmas, this tradition began to grow and became a celebration of light and life. Tristan Tzara, who left for France during World War I, was one of the founders of the Dadaist movement. 1. Romanian Traditions and Folklore. The ritual may seem gruesome, but … Maybe no other thing can better define the spirit of a people than its ancient traditions and customs. Between Christmas and Epiphany (God|’s baptism, 6. She guided the three magicians to find the crib in which the miracle happened. Traditional Villages in Maramures; ... Embroidery on folk costumes worn for holidays and special occasions (like weddings) follows strict regional patterns and serves also as a sort of secret language known only to people within the different regions. In the morning of Christmas it is good to wash the face with flowing water, taken from valley. They have to put a small branch of dried basil (which must be sanctified by a priest) under their pillow. Romanian traditional customs have as means of expression: music, choreography, gesture and mimic. Considering this, sacrificing a pig before Christmas is something common in most rural households. When they leave the house in which they were received, the carolers say “. Nevertheless, this is a practice that exists from pre-Christian times when the sacrifice of animals on the winter solstice was part of a more complex ritual of asking the gods to bring back the light and the sun. We will be in this way cleaned as the silver, beware of sores and illness, which will go down the valley. The puppet theater is already an old tradition, and it was a really nice party event even in the palaces of Romanian rulers. A well known tradition in Romania is “cutting the pig”.