Romanian customs: Birth, Baptism and Childhood - Naşterea, botezul şi copilăria

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Naşterea, botezul şi copilăria

La Ieud, dispensarul din comună se numeşte baie pentru că a fost construit pe amplasamentul băii  comunale. Mamele spuneau copiilor că i-au cumpărat din podişor (dulap) de la baie . Femeile gravide nu au voie să ţină în poală obiecte sau flori, deoarece copilul se naşte cu  un semn pe piele de forma obiectului sau florii respective (Dacă în timpul sarcinii are greţuri, se  spune că va fi băiat .În momentul naşterii nu trebuie să ridice capul deoarece va avea dureri de cap toată viaţa. Mamele care alăptează trebuie să poarte batic pe cap pentru a-l feri de deochi pe  copil. În ce priveşte viitorul noului născut, se consideră că acesta nu se poate cunoaşte  dinainte deoarece este dat de Dumnezeu.
Baia copilului – dacă e băiat, se pune în prima apă struţul de mire a tatălui, dacă e fată, o  bucată din cununa de mireasă a mamei, pentru ca să fie frumoşi ca florile şi să aibă pielea curată.
După naştere, buricul copilului se păstrează iar la 18 de ani i se dă acestuia să-l dezlege. Se crede  că dacă reuşeşte, va şti să facă orice lucru, să-i dea de cap.

Botezul

Copilul nu este stropit cu apă sfinţită decât la botez, deoarece se consideră că până atunci nu este  creştin, ori apa sfinţită nu este folosită decât de creştini. Numele i se dă la naştere, de către părinţi.
Naşa trebuie să fie o femeie cinstită, de vază în sat. Naşii au îndatorirea morală de a îndruma finii  când le cer sfatul şi de a participa alături de ei la toate evenimentele din viaţa familiei acestora.
Între naşi şi fini se stabileşte o legătură de suflet şi de ajutor reciproc. Numele copilului este ales de  către părinţi. Dacă e băiat, se obişnuieşte să se dea numele tatălui, dar dacă e fată se dă numele  bunicii din partea tatălui. La ajungerea acasă de la biserică, naşa pune copilul pe masă, unde se  află o carte si un creion, iar naşa spune „am adus un creştin, să fii tare ca masa şi să ai parte de carte”. Acum 40 de ani, după botez s servea un pahar de ţuică cu naşa şi se dădea o pancovă (gogoaşă), eventual se chemau bunicii şi unul-doi vecini (numai femei) .
Mamele făceau copiilor păpuşele din cârpe, iar băieţilor li se făcea un căruţ de lemn cu care se  jucau de-a tata .

Material realizat de învăţător Zaplac Marcela, Şcoala cu clasele I – VIII „Vasile Alecsandri”  Baia Mare şi Paşca Măricuţa, Scoala cu clasele I-VIII Ieud, Maramures.

Birth, Baptism and Childhood

There are several customs and beliefs relied to birth and baptism in the village of Ieud,  Maramures. For example, the dispensary from the village is called „bath” because it was built on  the place of the former bath of the village. That’s why the mothers used to tell their children they  were bought from the bath’s attic.
There are also advices and interdictions concerning the pregnancy. Pregnant women are not  allowed to hold flowers or any kind of objects, because the child might be born with a mark having  the object or the flower’s shape on his skin. When in labour, the woman must not raise her head or  she would suffer from headache all life long. When the child is born, the mother must cover her head with a head-kerchief to protect the child against the evil eye. Romanian peasants believe that  there are no signs that allow to predict the new born’s destiny, because this is God’s only privilege.
The child’s first bath is very important and differs according the child’s sex. For a little boy, women  plunge into water the father’s groom ornament, and for a little girl, a small part of the mother’s  wedding crown. The umbilical cord is also very important: the midwife gives it to the parents to be  carefully kept. When the child is 18 years old, he will be handed his umbilical cord to untie. It is said that if the child manages to do this, he or she will be able to do any kind of things.

Baptism

The child is not watered with holy water before being christened, because the holy water is used  only for Christians. The parents give the child his name and choose a godmother. Concerning the  name, there is a custom that a young boy takes his father’s name, while a young girl takes her  grandmother’s. The godmother must be an honest woman, well seen in the village. The godparents have the moral duty to give advice to their godsons, to support them and to be by their side for the  most important moments of their familial and social life. When they reach home, after baptism, the  godmother puts the child on the table, where a book and a pencil were previously placed, and she  says: we brought home a Christian, may he be as strong as the table’s wood and as wise as a book. Forty years ago, men receive a glass of plum drink and a small sweet pie. There were very  few guests, only the grandparents and one or two female neighbors.

Children’s Diseases

Small children could also suffer from several diseases, such as fever, lack of sleep or evil  eye. A malevolent person could cast an evil eye upon a child, which could be not prevented, but  only cured by the means of 9 small pieces of coal plunged slaked in a cup of water. A person holds  the cup and counts backwards from 10 to 1, while another person says Our Father’s Prayer. When  all the coal pieces are slaked, a woman puts her finger into the water and makes the sign of the  Holy Cross on the child’s forehead and chest, then gives him to drink water 3 times. Then she puts  water on the door’s hinge and throws the remained water over the house’s roof. When a small child  cannot sleep and cries loud, it is believed that a guest who held him “took his sleep over”. To prevent this, the guest must “give back the sleep” to the child by taking a small lint from his cloth and touch the child saying: here is your sleep. Mothers of children under an year old must watch  out and don’t let the swaddling clothes dry outside after sunset, in order to avoid the child’s body  covered with swelling bumps.
It is believed that children born on Christmas day will be better than others hardworking, because Christmas Day is a blessed one.
Speaking of toys and games, there were very few toys, all of them hand-made, according  to the future roles of the children. Mothers used to make ragdolls for the little girls, while fathers  made wooden carriages to play their father’s role.

Primary school teacher Zaplac Marcela, Şcoala cu clasele I – VIII „Vasile Alecsandri” Baia Mare
Primary school teacher Paşca Măricuţa, Şcoala cu clasele I – VIII Ieud, Maramures.
Translated by prof. Ioana Osian


Excerpt from “Customs and Traditions from Maramures, Romania”, Editie bilingva romano-engleza, carte electronica, Coordonator prof. Daniela Buda, Coperta prof. Octavian Pop, Editura Casei Corpului Didactic “Maria Montessori”, Baia Mare, 2012, ISBN 978-606-8262-41-5