CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS IN ROMANIA Ancient traditions from Neolithic Times!!! Romanians spend the Christmas holiday in a special way, which is closely connected with traditions and customs which are deeply rooted in centuries-old history, elements of the rituals performed today remind us of the Neolithic age. A very long time ago, in south-east of Europe, Christmas was a solstice celebration and the inhabitants of the area celebrated the solar deity bearing a similar name. The denomination “Mos” indicates the worshipped character’s old age, a character that must die in order to be reborn at the same time with the New Year. In many European countries, Christmas and the New Year were jointly celebrated on December 25th, and the custom was preserved in Romanian Principalities until the end of the 19th century. The memory of those days continues to be alive in the collective memory of several dwelling places from Banat (Western Romania) and Transylvania (Central Romania), since The New Year is also known as Little Christmas. In Romanian Culture, Santa Claus, Mos Ajun’s elder brother, identified as Saturn, the Roman god and as Mithra, the Iranian God, is an ambivalent character, having miraculous powers typical for the heroes of folk tales, as well as shortcomings typical for the mortals. As an apocryphal character, Santa Claus was born “before all the saints”, being “the shepherds’ leader from the village where Jesus was born“. Santa Claus appears in big houses and stables full of cattle, as a rich, elderly man, an old shepherd with a beard of snow. roconsulboston/Pages/InfoPages/Commentary/Christmas.html
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 12:05:16 +0000
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