Lentorama 2019: Resurrect My Globe!

Day 25: Romania

Easter in Romania is pretty similar to other countries in Eastern Europe, from the religious ceremonies to the fanciful decorated eggs. They also share traditions such as taking willow branches to church on Palm Sunday for a blessing and dousing unmarried women with water on Easter Monday.

One traditional belief with a basis in Romanian folklore involves Joimariţa, who seems to have evolved from some sort of local deity to a character in folklore. Her main interest (other than protecting the fire lit on Holy Thursday in memory of one's ancestors) was to make sure that Romanian women had been productive over the winter, with a special focus on weaving and making new clothes. Any woman who slacked off in that department runs the risk of being burned, beaten, killed, or cursed so they won't be able to do any work in the coming year (as noted here, as are several other Romanian Easter traditions).