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The thrills of the "old world"

By daru View Archive - 2 Entries Total

Some dark rituals of the "old world"
The ones i want to present now are reffering to some rituals performed when a building of some kind was erected. The ideea, originating in ancient times (probably in neolithic) was that a construction must be similar in a way with a living organism, so, to last forever, it was need that a soul to be integrated in that construction, and that was done by walling in a human being. Another interpretation who was gived after, a more phylosophical one instead of magical was that anything important and durable need, or is based on, a sacrifice. This myth is spread in legends all over south eastern Europe (where one of the oldest world civilization apear, the so called "Old European Civilization"). This ritual was (is) preserved up to this days (middle of XX century at least when some folkloric habits was collected) in so called "popular magic", where is a more simplified, in a way, ritual, less "dangerous" or "gruesome" at first sight but with the same result at the end, when shadow of someone is "stolen" using a stick, then the stick is burried, or walled, at the base of a new construction. Several days after that the person who's shadow was "stolen" is said it will die, and his/her soul will be traped in that building beeing somehow "tied" by/with that stick. However, this habit or ritual was spread in other parts of the world too (human sacrifices for diferent reasons was quite spread in some historic eras all over the world), and in the medieval era (sometimes called "Dark Age" for the reasons of migrations and lack of sources of what happened then, but as we'll see, for some other reasons too) the guilds of masons will reuse this ritual in several circumstances. Some say that this masons guilds will form later (or will be at least part of) the "free-masons" of today. There is two places in Romania related with this legendary ritual. One is the Arges Monastery, a beautiful medieval monastery erected in fact at the begining of XVI century, in a place of an older one. However, the popular legend (there is a balad in fact) said about Radu Negru (Radu the Black) who is considered the mythical founder of Basarab dinasty who will rule Walachia and later will spread in two clans, Danestii- from Dan, one of the rulers, and Draculestii-from Vlad Dracul, son of Mircea the Elder (brother of Dan) and father of Vlad Dracula, clans who will had a bitter fight for power a long period. Radu Negru arrived in Wallachia from Transylvania, where new arrived hungarians tryied to impose their political control, and he established a new kingdom, called Wallachia. To leave something behind for eternity he ask the most famous masons in the country to build an impressive monastery in his name. If they did that, they will receive great tresures and will be allowed to obtain high positions in noble cast, but if not, they will die. It was 10 stonemasons who dare to take the task, lead by master Manole. Unfortunately for them, not far after they started the work, during night, some unknown forces make to crumble all they builded during the day. Radu Negru is obviously upset about the stage of the construction, and threaten them to kill them if they not build the construction as they said. At that point, master Manole had a dream in which he see that walls will resist just if someone will be walled in, the first wife or sister of the stone masons who will visit them. He tell that to the others, and all agree to do that, so the construction to not fall anymore. The first one who appear will be Ana, the wife of Manole. They had a little child too, and after Ana feed him, she come to bring some food to Manole as well. He is desperate seeing her coming, from the highest of the racks, and start to pray to God to unleash the wild elements of nature to make her go back so he dont lose her. And, the Sky seem to heard that, and start to unleash the storms, the cold rain, the wild winds and so on, but Ana is a devoted and loving wife and despite all this troubles, she go on, to reach his husband, and finnaly arrive at the monastery. Silently, the stone masons put her on a wall, and start to wall her in, starting with the feet. She believe is a joke at first, but soon she realize that they go on and on. The ballad say her words during those dramatic moments, and the drama of Manole, caught betwen building the work of his life, and the life of his wife. Finnaly, she is all walled in and the monastery is finished, just at the moment when Radu Negru arrived there. He is impresed by the sight, and ask the stonemasons if there is ever posible that they can build an even more beautiful monastery. Drunked by joy of the realisation, they said that "yes", they can do that. But Radu Negru is upset about this, he want that this to be the top of the realisations, and order to soldiers to break down the racks around the walls, so the masons to remain on the roof, without posibility to come down. Manole, still hearing Ana's voice, consider his work on this world was done, and he will meet with Ana again by death so he start to build some wings from weatherboard, followed by the other masons, to fly down from the top of monastery. But wings prouve to be useless and one by one they fall, and die. Manole is the last one, and he fly the longest distance. He fall to and die, and in the place he died, a water emerge from the earth, and the fountain of the monastery will be constructed there. As well, on a side of the walls is marked the place where Ana was suposedly walled in. A similar somehow story (the ritual was performed in a kind of backward way), but less known, is related with Black Church too. A kid who was lured on the top of the church when the construction was finished was left there to die so his soul to slip on the construction and strenghten the walls for ever, and his stone statue is still visible on one part of the church today looking down from the roof in a kind of a desperate attempt to come down somehow. Such stories was spread all over Europe at some point, from Scotland (legend of St. Oran), Welsh country, France (the bridge of Morbihan), Germania (Henneberg fortres, Winneburg tower) and all over south east and eastern Europe. Sometimes the sacrificed person was one of the builders, or someone from their families, sometimes it was a stranger, a kid usual lured with sweets and food, or even gold, or beggars lured with drinks.
Filed under: Art, General	03/17/2010, 9:48 am | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments
The thrills of the "old world"
Right in the middle of Europe, at equal distance betwen Ural mountains of Russia, who mark the eastern border of the continet, and Atlantic coast in west, and at equal distance betwen Equator and North Pole, in Romania, the geography is dominated by the Carpathian Mountains. Here was discovered the first modern human of Europe (called "Ion din Anina"-"John of Anina" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Anina), and the first civilizations who emerged in Europe ( < http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/science/01arch.html?_r=1&em > ), the so called "old european civilization", pre-indo-european civilization. And here was formed a bit more later the kingdom of Dacia, one of the main enemies of Rome, and one of the most fierce, finaly defeated just by emperor Trajan, who used the biggest army ever deployed by romans against a foreign enemy and build after that victory the famous Traian Column still visible today in Rome, and celebrated the victory with no more then 123 days of holydays and feasts, a celebration never saw after or before in Roman Empire. Even then, the dark and wild forests here scared the first romans who reached Danube, and they stopped on the other shore. The migrators later usualy avoided to enter here, and those forests was an excellent shelter against everybody. This forest is today smaller then in the past, ofcourse, but still cover the mountains and their close areas, the last primeval forests of Europe, standing wild and dark as centuries ago. Time seem to stopped here from his inexorable flow, in another era, long ago. Thousand and thousands of brown bears, grey wolves and carpathian/eurasian lynxes find here a nice home and sanctuary, away from the ultra technologized world. And there is the place of origin for an ancient and rich folklore as well, coming from the dacians (north thracians, a big but little known culture and civilization of ancient time). Thracians are somehow the big anonymus of ancient history. Suposedly the first established of indo-european peoples, with some original religion and language, they was influenced and they influenced all civilizations around, greeks or celts alike. And many of their mythological creatures reside in forest too. For the ones who like the adventure and for thrill seekers who search for a "Blair Witch Project" like experience, an off-trail hiking and night camping here is an offer imposiblle to pass over. Ancient, bigger, darker and wilder, more scary then you can see in movies or pics, especialy at the night fall (a pitch black night, never saw in cities), and inhabitated by wild beasts and mythological creatures alike, forest here can make you to live the experience of your life. Living free, for couple days and nights in the middle of the nature and of forest here will make you feel something close to what Mircea Eliade (one of the biggest world historian of myths and religions) called "eternal return". It will transport you in another time and universe, "the sacred world" from the begining of the human race, compared with the "profane world" in which we live today. And in an almost shamanic experience will "strip" you off the "clothes" and conceptions added by modern day life, and bring you to the origins, to the bases, so to can return from there with a new energy and vision of life. And inside and around this forest there are some cool sites to visit too. Fortreses and ruins, medieval castles and medieval towns, and stories about bloody wars of the past, and deeds who shocked even the brutal medieval societies back then. Ruler of a small country, who catched the interest of the big powers of that times, managed to defeat them, in a way who reverberate up to this days. His name, Dracula, give the name of one of the most known books, writed by Bram Stoker (mostly inspired by him), and stories about his actions spread terror or admiration back then, from german states in west to Russia in east, and ofcourse in Ottoman empire, where mothers used his name to scare their disobedient childrens. And soon he earned another surname, Tepes - the Impaler, entering in history as Vlad Tepes Dracula. The master of the psichological war, he created a new kind of forest, who gived the final blow to the already shattered psychic of turkish invaders, "the forest of impaled". 20,000 war prisoners impaled there, 1 kilometer large, 3 kilometers deep, thousands of skeletones with flesh already eated by birds, thousands of peoples screaming in agony, and other thousands giving their last breath, with vultures, crows and ravens croaking over their heads, waiting for the feast. But Vlad was a man of his times. He did that just as a last resort to defend his country in front of a much bigger and much better equiped army. And for his success is regarded today as a one of our national heroes. He isnt the first who use the impalings or other tortures, he just use them at another level. World was full back then of executions, and inquizition made its way in the western Europe too, and in east, in Russia or in Ottoman empire things wasnt too much different, quite at all. For diferent reasons in different parts of the world peoples was not just impaled, but burned alive, skinned alive, dismembered alive, boiled alive, tortured to death using diferent ways (depend of imagination of torturers), mutilated, drowned, burried alive, hanged or decapitated. As in ancient times before, peoples still use mostly edged weapons (even if Vlad again was a bit ahead of his time and used "in an artistic way" massed firepower of gunpowder weapons at least in one instance to destroy an enemy army) to stab, slash, crush, or cut the enemy, and you can saw in some nice museums here a part of this arsenal of death used back then as well the ruins and castles related with this histories and Vlad Tepes Dracula. So, for the ones who like the dark parts of history, and who like adventures and outdoors too, dont hesitate to contact me for more info or visit my page at "www.myspace.com/semperocultus" for more details.
Filed under: General	02/28/2010, 10:18 am | Rating: 0/0 | Permalink | 0 Comments
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