Cu paine si sare / With bread and salt

Prinsi in valtoarea vietii de zi cu zi, tot mai rapida si mai solicitanta, ajungem sa pierdem din vedere adevate minuni ce ne-au fost date, conditii bazale si esentiale ale existentei noastre. Minuni pe care le consideram de la sine intelese si de care, din pacate, nu rareori de batem joc, pervertindu-le, ratand astfel semnificatia lor profunda.

O astfel de minune este painea. “Painea noastra cea de toate zilele”, hrana de baza in alimentatia taranului roman, adanc respectata si cinstita. Hrana a trupului si sufletului deopotriva. Martor si mijlocitor al relatiei cu divinitatea prin plamadirea, coacerea si sacrificarea (ruperea) ei simbolica la fiecare eveniment major al vietii - botezul, casatoria si inmormantarea, dar si in cadrul altor momente ceremoniale de peste an, de profunda traire spirituala. 

In cultura traditionala romaneasca, painea si implicit graul au avut dintotdeauna o valoare sacra. Painea pregatita anume pentru momentele “de prag”, de trecere, este una speciala, purtand insemnele ascunse ale cerului si Soarelui. Si chiar daca prea putine femei le mai stiu azi intelesul, painea (colacul ceremonial) continua a fi pregatita in acelasi fel, cu semnele de inceput – coloana cerului, cercul solar, semnele regenerarii si transformarii - tacute marturii ale unor vremuri in care arborele vietii nu fusese inca taiat, cerurile ne vorbeau, iar oamenii stiau sa asculte…

Caught in daily life’s torment, more rapid and more demanding, we often get to miss real wonders that were given to us, essential conditions to our existence. Wonders that go without saying, often brought into oblivion by perverting them, and thereby failing to understand their profound significance.

Bread is such a wonder. “Our daily bread”, basic food in the feeding process of the Romanian Peasant, deeply respected and honoured. Food for both body and spirit. Witness and mediator of our relationship with the divinity through its kneading, baking and symbolic sacrificing (chunking) at every life’s major event – baptism, marriage and funeral, but also during other spiritual ceremonial moments over the year.

Bread and implicitly wheat always had a sacred value in the Romanian traditional culture. Bread made for the times “of passing” is a special one, bearing the hidden symbols of the sky and Sun. And even though too few women can still “read” their meaning, bread (the ceremonial ring-bread) continues to be baked the same way, bearing those long-given marks – the column of the skies, the solar circle, the symbols of transformation and regeneration – silent evidence of the time the tree of life hadn’t been cut off, the skies still talked to us and people knew how to listen…  

Muos (Mos) impartit la pomana / "Muos" the alms-bread
            especially baked for the funeral
image via: http://www.formula-as.ro/2010/900/enigme-16/sfanta-paine-a-vlahilor-11985

Colacu' lu' Crasun (Colacul lui Craciun) / Sacramental bread  baked for Christmas
image via: http://www.formula-as.ro/2010/901/enigme-16/sfanta-paine-a-vlahilor-ii-12010

Painea indeplineste si o functie magica, de revelare a viitorului. Se crede ca fetele nemaritate isi pot afla ursitul in ajun de Mos Nicolae (in noaptea de 5 spre 6 decembrie). Ritualul presupune ca fata sa-si pregateasca o paine alba, mica si sarata, pe care s-o manance inainte de culcare, iar in vis i se va arata cel care o va lua de sotie, aducandu-i apa. Conditia esentiala pentru indeplinirea dorintei este aceea de a tine post negru peste zi, purificare absolut necesara pentru primirea semnul divin.

De asemenea, painea ritualica,  coapta si mancata in anumite zile “date” ale anului protejeaza impotriva bolilor, atat pe taran, cat si pe animalele din gospodarie pe ajutorul carora isi intemeiaza intreaga existenta.  

Faptul ca painea a ocupat si ocupa un loc central in cultura traditionala romaneasca este reflectat de multitudinea de proverbe si zicatori cu si despre paine, dar si de aceea ca cea mai mare dovada de respect si ospitalitate fata de cei care ne trec pragul este a-i intampina cu paine si sare. Pe stergar alb, cusut cu semne tainice, aceleasi de pe painea-dar.

Eu nu cunosc aceste semne, dar am pregatit painii de zi cu zi cativa saculeti de panza, sper eu potriviti pentru asa onoare. 

Bread also has a magic role, of revealing the future. It is believed that single young women can find out who their fated one is on Saint Nicholas’s eve (the night between 5^th and 6^th of December). The ritual consists in baking a small, salty white bread the young woman has to eat before going to bed and so she’ll dream the fated one bringing her water to drink. The main condition for her wish to be answered is fasting over the day, purification absolutely necessary to receive this divine clemency.

Furthermore, the ritual bread, baked and eaten in special, “given” days of the year keeps the diseases away from the man and his animals on whose help lay the foundation of man’s entire existence.

The fact that bread has and always had a central role in Romanian traditional culture is shown by the multitude of sayings with and about bread, but also by the fact that the greatest form of hospitality and respect towards our guests is welcoming them with bread and salt. Both on a white towel, hand-embroidered with mystic symbols, same as those baked on the gift-bread.

I don’t know these mystic symbols, but I made some fabric bags for bread which I hope to be appropriate for such an honour.   

Povestea Oamenilor de Zapada... / Snowmen Story...

Oamenii de zapada isi fac bilantul...
The Snowmen make the balance sheet...

S-au bucurat si i-au bucurat pe altii...
They joyed others and enjoyed themselves...

 

Au trecut prin greutati, dar si prin momente fericite...
They passed hardships but also had happy moments...

Si-au facut prieteni noi, dar nu s-au uitat nici pe ei insisi...

They made new friends but didn't forget themselves...

 

Au mers, au tacut, au inteles si s-au maturizat...

They walked, they kept silent, they understood  and they matured...

 

Acum se primenesc si pregatesc sa intampine un nou an. Cum va fi el sa vina...

Now they prepare and get ready to greet a new year. No matter how it will be...

 

Va multumesc tuturor ca mi-ati fost alaturi acest an si va doresc sarbatori cu bine si un an nou fericit, cu sanatate si multe impliniri! Craciun fericit si La multi ani!

In final, va a ofer in dar cel mai drag colind mie.... Versurile unui mare Om - Radu Gyr cantate de un alt mare Om - Tudor Gheorghe.

Thank you all for being with me this year and I wish you happy holidays and a fulfilling new year, in good health and happiness! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

In the end, I'm offering you a carol, the closest to my soul... A great Man's lyrics - Radu Gyr sung and interpreted by another great Man - Tudor Gheorghe. 

Intalnindu-l pe Galben... / Joining Yellow...

Galbenul mi-a placut dintotdeauna. Pentru mine inseamna caldura, bucurie, sarbatoare a vietii in curgerea ei perpetua. Cand eram copil insa, ma feream s-o recunosc. Chiar daca nu stiam prea bine ce inseamna, auzisem ca gelozia se imbraca astfel... 

Acum, galbenul ma ajuta sa traiesc fericirea fiecarui nou apus, recunostinta fiecarui nou rasarit. Prin el am inteles nevoia strabunilor de a-l celebra prin cantec si dans, prin rugaciuni si ritualuri, pe cel fara de care lumea asa cum o cunoastem n-ar mai fi la fel: Soarele. An de an, in preajma celor doua solstitii - de vara si de iarna, si-a celor doua echinoctii - de primavara si de toamna.   

Stiu, Craciunul e foarte aproape, ne bate la porti. Pana atunci insa, avem a sarbatori o noua victorie a Soarelui in vesnica si anuala-i lupta cu intunericul. Pe 21 decembrie. Fara frica si fara apocalipse. Si poate ca de data asta, vom intelege mai multe...

I've always liked yellow. For me it means warmth, joy, life's celebration in its ceaseless flowing. But when I was a child, I was reluctant showing it. Even though I wasn't sure what it really meant, I had heard that jealousy dressed like that...

Today, yellow helps me live the joy of every new sun set, the gratitude of every new sunrise. Yellow helped me understood our ancestors' need to celebrate through songs and dances, through prayers and rituals the one without which the world as we know it wouldn't be the same: the Sun. Year by year, around the two solstices - midsummer and midwinter solstice - and the two equinoxes - vernal and autumn equinox. 

I know, Christmas is nearly here, knocking at our doors. But till then, we have to celebrate a new Sun's victory in his ancient, yearly battle against the darkness. On December the 21st. With no fear and no Apocalypse. And maybe this time, we'll understand more... 

 

 

... si un mic bonus / .... and a little bonus

Acasa, in sfarsit...

Ciprian Porumbescu - Hora Detrunchiatilor

Omagiu Culturii Cucuteni / Small tribute to Cucuteni Culture

A fost o vreme cand mi-am dorit sa studiez folclorul romanesc si tot ce tine de traditiile noastre populare. Cand a venit insa vremea sa-mi aleg drumul mai departe, am decis altceva. Imi pare rau? Nu stiu… Dar din cand in cand, nostalgia unui “ceva” ce, poate, ar fi fost mai pe masura sufletului meu, revine precum chemarea mierlei in prag de primavara. 

Imi plac tesaturile si broderiile romanesti, in spatele carora intuiesc munca si dragostea de frumos a mii de perechi de maini, miscandu-se odata cu timpul si viata insasi. Ma fascineaza traditiile, versurile si cantecele ce-au insotit Taranul Roman in trecerea sa peste aceste pamanturi mult-incercate. Admir ingeniozitatea cu care si-a creat unelte menite a-i usura activitatea de zi cu zi, la fel podoabele si obiectele ritualice. Ador ceramica traditionala in care mesteri priceputi si-au inchis talentul si secretul povestilor pictate manual, in rotirea tainica a rotii de olar. 

Si mai mult insa, ma fascineaza cultura neolitica de pe teritoriul Romaniei, in fapt cea mai veche civilizatie din Europa: Cultura Cucuteni.

Cultura Cucuteni poarta numele localitatii in care, in anul 1884, s-au descoperit primele vestigii. Mai veche cu cateva sute de ani decat civilizatiile sumeriana si egipteana, Cultura Cucuteni se intindea pe o suprafata de 350.000 km², pe teritoriul actual al Romaniei, Republicii Moldova si Ucraina, caracterizandu-se printr-o ceramica de foarte buna calitate, bogat si variat pictata, cu motive in forma de spirala, meandre sau cercuri, culorile predilecte aplicate inainte de ardere fiind albul, rosul si negrul-ciocolatiu.

Ceramica de Cucuteni este unica in Europa, singurele asemanari gasite pana in prezent fiind intre ceramica Cucuteni si o ceramica neolitica din China, cea din China insa aparand cu aproape un mileniu mai tarziu.

Cu opera extraordinara a acestor Mari Anonimi in minte, am incercat sa-mi confectionez propriile cusaturi de tip Cucuteni. Am cumparat in, am cusut, am desenat si brodat si… iata rezultatul: 

***

Some time ago, I wanted to study Romanian folklore as well as everything related to our folk traditions. But when the time to choose a way for my future came, I decided for something else. Am I sorry? I don’t know…  But from time to time, the nostalgia of “something” which might have been closer to my soul comes back to me, like a blackbird’s call at the first signs of springtime.

I like Romanian old homespun and embroideries, in which I can only scent the hard work and love for beauty of thousands of pairs of hands, moving together with time and life itself. I’m fascinated by old traditions, poetry and songs that accompanied the Romanian Peasant during his passing over these hard-debated lands. I admire his resourcefulness in creating tools meant to facilitate the daily chorus, or jewellery and ceremonial objects. I adore traditional pottery in which exceptional artisans locked their talent and the secret of their hand-painted stories, in the magical swirls of the potter’s wheel.

And more than that, I’m fascinated by the Neolithic culture that once was on the territory of modern-day Romania, in fact the oldest civilisation of Europe: Cucuteni Culture.  

The Cucuteni Culture bears the name of the place in which the first archaeological remnants had been found, in 1884. With a few hundred years older than the Sumerian and Egyptian civilisations, the Cucuteni Culture encompassed an area of more than 350.000 km², from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and Dnieper regions in modern-day Romania, the Republic of Moldavia and Ukraine and it’s renowned for its great quality pottery, richly and variously painted with motifs like swirls, windings and circles in white, red or chocolate-black, the main colours applied before burning.

The Cucuteni Pottery is unique in Europe, the only resemblance found so far between the Cucuteni pottery and other Neolithic pottery being in China. However, the Chinese one only sprung almost a millennium later. 

With the extraordinary creation of this Great Anonymous in my mind, I have tried to do my own Cucuteni-like homespun. So I bought linen, I sewed, I drew a pattern and embroidered it and... here's the result:

Simplitate

Oficiala sau nu, purtand un nume aparte sau nu… fiecare zi poate fi o sarbatoare. Cata vreme bucuria intalnirii si-a impartasirii lucrurilor simple sunt cele ce ne aduc laolalta. 
Va multumesc tuturor!

***

Official or not, bearing a particular name or not... each day may be a celebration. Just as long as the joy of meeting each other and sharing simple things are those to bring us together.
Thank you all!