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…
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 5th and 6th 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.
