#calusari

CĂLUȘUL - Dance as a ritual

In the south of Romania there is an ancient practice that has survived for hundreds of years, possibly thousands. It is a ritualistic dance performed each year by groups of men, starting on Whitsunday and going on for various lenghts of time, depending on the region.

Today, the custom has been linked to the Orthodox faith, but in reality it has nothing to do with Christianity. In fact, the Church openly condamned the practice in the 19th century, going as far as excluding the practicioners from taking communion for 3 years.

The dance is called the "Căluș" or "Călușul", with the dancers being called "Călușari". The name could originate from the Romanian word for horse ("cal") or from the Latin words "collusim" and "collusi", meaning "dance groyp" and "secret society". Another possible origin is the Romanian word "căluș", which reffers to a small piece of wood placed in the mouth to prevent talking.

The group of dancers can only have male members and their number has to be uneven. The group's patron is the Lady of the Fairies ("Doamna Zânelor" in Romanian). She has many names, including Irodiada or Arada. Historians believe she might originate from the Roman goddess Diana or the Dacian goddess Bendis. In my oppinion the former is more likely, considering the Dacians have lived on Romania's current teritorry for thousands of years and the Roman ocupation only lasted 165 years.

In Romanian Folklore, fairies are manifestation of the wild, uncivilized nature. They are ambivalent dieties, both good and evil, which is why, over time, people have been afraid of them, but they have also sought their help. I plan on posting a more detailed article about them in the future.

The ritual had 3 parts:

1. The raising of the flag

The members took an oath of secrecy and silence (which today can last from 2 to 5 days, but in the past ot was 3 to 9 years). By taking this oath, they agree to become property of the fairies.

The flag must not be touched by the uninitiated and it must never touch the ground.

After taking the oath, all the dancers run away from eachother and then return, all acting like they have just met. This is a simbolic action that places the oath outside of time, almost like it never happened in real time.

2. The dance

It is a ritualistic acrobatic dance, believed to bring healing to the sick and fertility. Since they were in connection with the fairies, the Călușari were also able to cure those who had fallen victims to their wrath (those who had become crippled without any apparent reason or had becomed disfigured). The only condition was to perform the dance while the sun was shining. There was danger after sunset, since the protective light that kept the evil faories at bay was lost.

The Călușari carried clubs and wooden swords, they were dressed in white clothes, and they always adorned their hats with colored ribbons. Their shoes had bells and spurs. They traveled the region and performed for whomever could pay them, healing the sick in their path, and offering garlic and wormwood to people (which, even to this day, are believed to guard against evil entities).

There were several characters in the ritual. I will try to detail a few of them.

"Vătaful", meaning "the foreman", was the one who taught the rest of the group how to dance. He was the supreme authority.

The flag bearer has the foreman's right hand.

The mute ("mutul") was a character similar to the fool. He was not allowed to speak during the performance and he was believed to have higher power than the rest. He was usually masked and he wore female clothes. He carried his wooden sword, but he also had a wooden phallus, which he carried under his skirt, a direct refference to fertility.

The mute performed several important activities, like drawing a circle in the dirt with his sword, thus creating a sacred space for the performance. No outsider was allowed to enter the circle, but the villigers did provide the dancers with wormwood, garlic, salt, water and wool, which were placed in the middle of the circle during the performance, in order for them to get magical properties.

3. Burying the flag

This last stage refers to the dissolution of the group and the return of the members to their daily life. They are released from their oath and the natural balance is restored. The practice is very secret, and although it has been filmed, the foreman always orders the group to redo the step afterwards because no one must know where the flag was buried. It is not certain if this step is still practiced today (the last video of it dates from 1992).

Today, the true Căluș can still be encountered in the villages of Romania, but the practice is sadly disappearing, now being replaced by what is called the "modern Căluș", a dance performed at events or on the big stages of the world. It has become an artistic act and the esoteric side is now mostly lost.

I will leave below a few youtube links where you can see the dance. I honestly don't know how old some of these are. One of them was uploaded 5 years ago but I believe it to be at least 25 years old. Unfortunately I was unable to find any videos with the mute character. He has been largely removed from filmed representations because he was considered to be too obscene.

Sorry if I made any spelling mistakes. As you have probably figured out, English is not my natuve language.

https://youtu.be/QVOoSg8D61A

https://youtu.be/VM7lTvNWH8o

https://youtu.be/sImsZJ7cX0o

After making that small gifset I had some inspiration to try and animate part of it ^^ I had a lot of fun and am quite happy with how it turned out <3

Art/animation (c) Me Mulder, The X Files (c) Chris Carter

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Calusari