CSNIPSSH (En)
Loredana-Maria ILIN-GROZOIU
3rd Degree Scientific Researcher, PhD, “C. S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor” Institute for Research in Social Studies and Humanities of the Romanian Academy, Craiova;
E-mail: lorelayy2007@yahoo.com
Abstract
The funerary ceremony arouses a special interest for the researcher, preserving itself until today in obvious and expressive traditional forms, as an example being, on this respect, the multitude of ritual-magical practices and the archaic elements that they encompass. This ceremony attests the crisis moment from each human’s life, constituting a warranty and, in the same time, the remaining of the individual inside the group of belonging, which is the same and, yet, different.
The keeping almost unchanged of the funeral rites and rituals, from ancient times until nowadays, is explained though the belief that any deviation from the norm could trigger the loss of the efficiency of “passing”, a belief that imposed itself over all the traditions, with different coercive power. There can be therefore found, exquisitely coherent, archaic gestures, ceremonial acts, beliefs and funeral ritual songs that have continually been performed until today, in most of the folkloric areas from our country.
Keywords
cult of the dead, immortality of the soul, Romanian popular culture, funerary practices, soul.