Pagan Life Cycle Ritual Dance

This is something I would never have expected to see here although I should not have been surprised. As in Lithuania, the Romanians have held onto some of the more meaningful traditions from pagan times. This is a dance that would have originated with the winter solstice celebrations. In that darkest of times during the year, people would have needed to know that the rebirth of spring would come. Even though it comes every year, there is solace is being reassured in a time before science as we know it, that spring would, indeed, be coming.

This particular dance is a re-enactment of the birth, growth, harvest, and rebirth cycle that continues year after year. It fits in with the birth of the Christ child as a symbol of this same cycle. The bear figures prominently in this dance. (Remember that half the bears in Europe roam the mountains of Romania.) The bear was certainly a fearsome beast at an earlier time and it can still strike abject terror into anyone who comes across one unexpectedly even today. The stories are not pretty. The goat is the other animal involved in this ritual. There are characters dressed in black who represent death.

The drummers and chanters are the humans in the spectacle. The headdresses are completely wild. They are composed of peacock feathers and shiny glass globes. How they keep them on their heads while jumping around in this dance is beyond me. The drummers have a wonderful rhythm as they beat out the story. I get the feeling the same boys do this year after year. There is certainly an almost sacred passing of the drum that occurs. Some of these drums are very old. They have a very distinct shape to them which makes them very portable. The barrel shaped instrument emits an eerie hum when the leather thong is pulled through tiny slits in the drum head. All in all, it is an otherworldly feeling. I wish I was more of a musician as I am certain that my description of these ancient instruments could be much better if I had the words to explain.

They tell the story while the animals and death figures show the story. This is very reminiscent of the early drama where a narrator tells a story and the actors mime the action. Every night for a week, I hear the drummers out and about in town, pounding out a rhythm that has probably not changed in millennia.

This is an uncut version of the action from my camera. It is a bit unsteady in parts. Later I will put it in a better format, but here it is for now. This is obviously a low-budget production, but it is truly fascinating. Throughout the week I have seen these characters, in more elaborate costumes, but always the same headdress, walking along the roadways as I have traveled hither and yon across the countryside.