#romanian easter tradition

[pixelfoodie]

Cozonac is a traditional Romanian type of sweet bread that is usually consumed during festive events such as Christmas and Easter. Although it visually looks like a loaf of bread, it is considered a cake, and is usually made with flour, sugar, milk, cocoa, eggs, nuts, and raisins. In Bulgaria, the dish is commonly known as kozunak and it's only prepared for Easter. Even though it smells heavenly when it is taken out of the oven, the cake is traditionally served only when it's fully cooled. Cozonac is typically accompanied by a cup of warm coffee, tea, or milk. src.: https://www.tasteatlas.com/cozonac photo ref.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T0gDNEZg8Y

[najia-cooks]

[ID: First image shows four small porcelain bowls of a pudding topped with slivered almonds and pomegranates seeds, seen from above. Second image is an extreme close-up showing the blue floral pattern on the china, slivered almonds, golden raisins, and pomegranate seeds on top of part of the pudding. End ID]

անուշապուր / Anush apur (Armenian wheat dessert)

Anush apur is a sweet boiled wheat pudding, enriched with nuts and dried fruits, that is eaten by Armenians to celebrate special occasions. One legend associates the dish with Noah's Ark: standing on Mt. Ararat (Արարատ լեռը) and seeing the rainbow of God's covenant with humanity, Noah wished to celebrate, and called for a stew to be prepared; because the Ark's stores were diminishing, the stew had to be made with small amounts of many different ingredients.

The consumption of boiled grains is of ancient origin throughout the Levant and elsewhere in West Asia, and so variations of this dish are widespread. The Armenian term is from "անուշ" ("anush") "sweet" + "ապուր" ("apur") "soup," but closely related dishes (or, arguably, versions of the same dish) have many different, overlapping names.

In Arabic, an enriched wheat pudding may be known as "سْنَينِيّة" ("snaynīyya"), presumably from "سِنّ" "sinn" "tooth" and related to the tradition of serving it on the occasion of an infant's teething; "قَمْح مَسْلُوق‎" ("qamḥ masluq"), "boiled wheat"; or "سَلِيقَة" ("salīqa") or "سَلِيقَة القَمْح" ("salīqa al-qamḥ"), "stew" or "wheat stew," from "سَلَقَ‎" "salaqa" "to boil." Though these dishes are often related to celebrations and happy occasions, in some places they retain an ancient association with death and funerary rites: qamh masluq is often served at funerals in the Christian town of بَيْت جَالَا ("bayt jālā," Beit Jala, near Bethlehem).

A Lebanese iteration, often made with milk rather than water, is known as "قَمْحِيَّة" ("qamḥīyya," from "qamḥ" "wheat" + "ـِيَّة" "iyya," noun suffix).

A similar dish is known as "بُرْبَارَة" ("burbāra") by Palestinian and Jordanian Christians when eaten to celebrate the feast of Saint Barbara, which falls on the 4th of December (compare Greek "βαρβάρα" "varvára"). It may be garnished with sugar-coated chickpeas and small, brightly colored fennel candies in addition to the expected dried fruits and nuts.

In Turkish it is "aşure," from the Arabic "عَاشُوْرَاء" ("'āshūrā"), itself from "عَاشِر" ("'āshir") "tenth"—because it is often served on the tenth day of the month of ٱلْمُحَرَّم ("muḥarram"), to commemorate Gabriel's teaching Adam and Eve how to farm wheat; Noah's disembarkment from the Ark; Moses' parting of the Red Sea; and the killing of the prophet الْحُسَيْن بْنِ عَلِي (Husayn ibn 'Ali), all of which took place on this day in the Islamic calendar. Here it also includes various types of beans and chickpeas. There is also "diş buğdayı," "tooth wheat" (compare "snayniyya").

These dishes, as well as slight variations in add-ins, have varying consistencies. At one extreme, koliva (Greek: "κόλλυβα"; Serbian: "Кољиво"; Bulgarian: "Кутя"; Romanian: "colivă"; Georgian: "კოლიო") is made from wheat that has been boiled and then strained to remove the boiling water; at the other, Armenian anush apur is usually made thin, and cools to a jelly-like consistency.

Anush apur is eaten to celebrate occasions including New Year's Eve, Easter, and Christmas. In Palestine, Christmas is celebrated by members of the Armenian Apostolic church from the evening of December 24th to the day of December 25th by the old Julian calendar (January 6th–7th, according to the new Gregorian calendar); Armenian Catholics celebrate on December 24th and 25th by the Gregorian calendar. Families will make large batches of anush apur and exchange bowls with their neighbors and friends.

The history of Armenians in Palestine is deeply interwoven with the history of Palestinian Christianity. Armenian Christian pilgrimages to holy sites in Palestine date back to the 4th century A.D., and permanent Armenian monastic communities have existed in Jerusalem since the 6th century. This enduring presence, bolstered by subsequent waves of immigration which have increased and changed the character of the Armenian population in Palestine in the intervening centuries, has produced a rich history of mutual influence between Armenian and Palestinian food cultures.

In the centuries following the establishment of the monasteries, communities of Armenian laypeople arose and grew, centered around Jerusalem's Վանք Հայոց Սրբոց Յակոբեանց ("vank hayots surbots yakobeants"; Monastery of St. James) (Arabic: دَيْر مَار يَعْقُوب "dayr mār ya'qūb"). Some of these laypeople were descended from the earlier pilgrims. By the end of the 11th century, what is now called the Armenian Quarter—an area covering about a sixth of the Old City of Jerusalem, to the southwest—had largely attained its present boundaries.

Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the Patriarchate in Jerusalem came to have direct administrative authority over Armenian Christians across Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and Cyprus, and was an important figure in Christian leadership and management of holy sites in Jerusalem (alongside the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches). By the middle of the 19th century, a small population of Armenian Catholics had joined the larger Armenian Apostolic community as permanent residents in Jerusalem, living throughout the Muslim Quarter (but mostly in a concentrated enclave in the southwest); in the beginning of the 20th century, there were between 2,000 and 3,000 Armenians of both churches in Palestine, a plurality of whom (1,200) lived in Jerusalem.

The Turkish genocide of Armenians beginning in 1915 caused significant increases in the populations of Armenian enclaves in Palestine. The Armenian population in Jerusalem grew from 1,500 to 5,000 between the years of 1918 and 1922; over the next 3 years, the total number of Armenians in Palestine (according to Patriarchate data) would grow to 15,000. More than 800 children were taken into Armenian orphanages in Jerusalem; students from the destroyed Չարխափան Սուրբ Աստվածածին վանք (Charkhapan Surb Astvatsatsin Monastery) and theological seminary in Armash, Armenia were brought to the Jerusalem Seminary. The population of Armenian Catholics in the Muslim Quarter also increased during the first half of the 20th century as immigrants from Cilicia and elsewhere arrived.

The immediate importance of feeding and housing the refugees despite a new lack of donations from Armenian pilgrims, who had stopped coming during WW1—as well as the fact that the established Armenian-Palestinians were now outnumbered by recent immigrants who largely did not share their reformist views—disrupted efforts on the part of lay communities and some priests to give Armenian laypeople a say in church governance.

The British Mandate, under which Britain assumed political and military control of Palestine from 1923–1948, would further decrease the Armenian lay community's voice in Jerusalem (removing, for example, their say in elections of new church Patriarchs). The British knew that the indigenous population would be easier to control if they were politically and socially divided into their separate religious groups and subjected to the authority of their various religious hierarchies, rather than having direct political representation in government; they also took advantage of the fact that the ecclesiastical orders of several Palestinian Christian sects (including the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem) comprised people from outside of Palestine, who identified with religious hierarchy and the British authorities more than they identified with the Palestinian lay communities.

British policy, as well as alienating Armenians from politics affecting their communities, isolated them from Arab Palestinians. Though the previously extant Armenian community (called "քաղաքացի" "kaghakatsi," "city-dwellers") were thoroughly integrated with the Arab Palestinians in the 1920s, speaking Arabic and Arabic-accented Armenian and eating Palestinian foods, the newer arrivals (called "زُوَّار" / "զուվվար" "zuwwar," "visitors") were unfamiliar with Palestinian cuisine and customs, and spoke only Armenian and/or Turkish. Thus British policies, which differentiated people based on status as "Arab" (Muslim and Christian) versus "Jewish," left new Armenian immigrants, who did not identify as Arab, disconnected from the issues that concerned most Palestinians. They were predominantly interested in preserving Armenian culture, and more concerned with the politics of the Armenian diaspora than with local ones.

Despite these challenges, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem came to be a vital center of religious and secular culture for the Armenian diaspora during the British Mandate years. In 1929, Patriarch Yeghishe Turian reëstablished the Սուրբ Յակոբեանց Տպարան ("surbots yakobeants taparan"; St. James printing house); the Patriarchate housed important archives relating to the history of the Armenian people; pilgrimages of Armenians from Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt increased and the economy improved, attracting Armenian immigrants in higher numbers; Armenians held secular roles in governance, policing, and business, and founded social, religious, and educational organizations and institutions; Armenians in the Old and New Cities of Jerusalem were able to send financial aid to Armenian victims of a 1933 earthquake in Beirut, and to Armenians expelled in 1939 when Turkey annexed Alexandretta.

The situation would decline rapidly after the 1947 UN partition resolution gave Zionists tacit permission to expel Palestinians from broad swathes of Palestine. Jerusalem, intended by the plan to be a "corpus separatum" under international administration, was in fact subjected to a months-long war that ended with its being divided into western (Israeli) and eastern (Palestinian) sections. The Armenian population of Palestine began to decline; already, 1947 saw 1,500 Armenians resettled in Soviet Armenia. The Armenian populations in Yafa and Haifa would fall yet more significantly.

Still, the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem maintained its role as the center of Armenian life in Palestine; the compound provided food and shelter to thousands of Armenians during the Battle for Jerusalem and the Nakba (which began in 1948). Some Armenians formed a militia to defend the Armenian Quarter against Haganah shelling during the battle.

In the following years, historical British contributions to the shoring up of insular power in the Patriarchate would cause new problems. The Armenian secular community, no longer empowered to oversee the internal workings of the Patriarchate, could do nothing to prevent embezzling, corruption, and even the sale of church-owned land and buildings to settlers.

In 1967, Israeli military forces annexed East Jerusalem, causing another, albeit smaller, surge in Armenian emigration from the city. Daphne Tsimhoni estimates based on various censuses that the Armenian population of Jerusalem, which had reached 5,000-7,000 at its peak in 1945–6, had fallen back to 1,200 by 1978.

Today, as in the 20th century, Armenians in Jerusalem (who made up nearly 90% of the Armenian population of Palestine as of 1972) are known for the insularity of their community, and for their skill at various crafts. Armenian food culture has been kept alive and well-defined by successive waves of immigrants. As of 2017, the Armenian Patriarchate supplied about 120 people a day with Armenian dishes, including Ղափամա / غاباما "ghapama" (pumpkin stuffed with rice and dried fruits), թոփիկ / توبيك "topig" (chickpea-and-potato dough stuffed with an onion, nut, fruit, and herb filling, often eaten during Lent), and Իչ / ايتش "eetch" (bulgur salad with tomatoes and herbs).

Restaurants lining the streets of the Armenian and Christian quarters serve a mixture of Armenian and Palestinian food. Լահմաջո "lahmadjoun" (meat-topped flatbread), and հարիսա / هريس "harisa" (stew with wheat and lamb) are served alongside ֆալաֆել / فلافل ("falafel") and մուսախան / مسخن ("musakhkhan"). One such restaurant, Taboon Wine Bar, was the site of a settler attack on Armenian diners in January 2023.

Up until 2023, despite fluctuations in population, the Armenian community in Jerusalem had been relatively stable when compared to other Armenian communities and to other quarters of the Old City; the Armenian Quarter had not been subjected to the development projects to which other quarters had been subjected. However, a deal which the Armenian Patriarchate had secretly and unilaterally made with Israel real estate developer Danny Rotham in 2021 to lease land and buildings (including family homes) in the Quarter led Jordan and Palestine to suspend their recognition of the Patriarch in May of 2023.

On 26th October, the Patriarchate announced that it was cancelling the leasing deal. Later the same day, Israeli bulldozers tore up pavement and part of a wall in حديقة البقر ("ḥadīqa al-baqar"; Cows' Garden; Armenian: "Կովերի այգու"), the planned site of a new luxury hotel. On 5th November, Rothman and other representatives of Xana Gardens arrived with 15 settlers—some of them with guns and attack dogs—and told local Armenians to leave. About 200 Armenian Palestinians arrived and forced the settlers to stand down.

On 12th and 13th November, the developer again arrived with bulldozers and attempted to continue demolition. In response, Armenian Palestinians have executed constant sit-ins, faced off against bulldozers, and set up barricades to prevent further destruction. The Israeli occupation police backed settlers on another incursion on 15th November, ordering Armenian residents to vacate the land and arresting three.

On December 28th, a group of Armenian bishops, priests, deacons, and seminary students (including Bishop Koryoun Baghdasaryan, the director of the Patriarchate's real estate department) were attacked by a group of more than 30 people armed with sticks and tear gas. The Patriarchate attributed this attack to Israeli real estate interests trying to intimidate the Patriarchate into abandoning their attempt to reverse the lease through the court system. Meanwhile, anti-Armenian hate crimes (including spitting on priests) had noticeably increased for the year of 2023.

These events in Palestine come immediately after the ethnic cleansing of Լեռնային Ղարաբաղ ("Lernayin Gharabagh"; Nagorno-Karabakh); Israel supplied exploding drones, long-range missiles, and rocket launchers to help Azerbaijan force nearly 120,000 Armenians out of the historically Armenian territory in September of 2023 (Azerbaijan receives about 70% of its weapons from Israel, and supplies about 40% of Israel's oil).

Support Palestinian resistance by donating to Palestine Action’s bail fund; buying an e-sim for distribution in Gaza; or donating to help a family leave Gaza.

Ingredients

180g (1 cup) pearled wheat (قمح مقشور / խոշոր ձաւար), soaked overnight

3 cups water

180-360g (a scant cup - 1 3/4 cup) sugar, or to taste

Honey or agave nectar (optional)

1 cup total diced dried apricots, prunes, golden raisins, dried figs

1 cup total chopped walnuts, almonds, pistachios

1 tsp rosewater (optional)

Ceylon cinnamon (դարչի��) or cassia cinnamon (կասիա)

Aniseed (անիսոն) (optional)

Large pinch of salt

Pomegranate seeds, to top (optional)

A Palestinian version of this dish may add pine nuts and ground fennel.

Pearled wheat is whole wheat berry that has gone through a "pearling" process to remove the bran. It can be found sold as "pearled wheat" or "haleem wheat" in a halal grocery store, or a store specializing in South Asian produce.

Amounts of sugar called for in Armenian recipes range from none (honey is stirred into the dish after cooking) to twice the amount of wheat by weight. If you want to add less sugar than is called for here, cook down to a thicker consistency than called for (as the sugar will not be able to thicken the pudding as much).

Instructions

1. Submerge wheat in water and scrub between your hands to clean and remove excess starch. Drain and cover by a couple inches with hot water. Cover and leave overnight.

2. Drain wheat and add to a large pot. Add water to cover and simmer for about 30 minutes until softened, stirring and adding more hot water as necessary.

Wheat before cooking

Wheat after cooking

3. Add dried fruit, sugar, salt, and spices and simmer for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until wheat is very tender. Add water as necessary; the pudding should be relatively thin, but still able to coat the back of a spoon.

4. Remove from heat and stir in rosewater and honey. Ladle pudding into individual serving bowls and let cool in the refrigerator. Serve cold decorated with nuts and pomegranate seeds.

[luceafarul-de-dimineata]

um if this doesn't make you uncomfortable

i saw your hc lucifer as orthodox christian and i have an interest in orthodox so can i request some hcs of lucifer as an orthodox christian (like his daily activities as orthodox christian, etc.)

again, if you are feeling uncomfortable, feel free to ignore this, i know many dont feel comfortable with topic of religion

(if you want age confirmation, im an legal adult)

I'm not uncomfortable with talking about my religion, but there's this itty bitty problem that comes up when you discuss orthodox christian traditions. Every countries orthodox traditions are different because, unlike catholic christianity with the pope, there's no authorithy over the whole religion. (There's patriarchs, but they're authorothy over their respective region, not the whole of orthodoxy. It's complicated and I do not have the full understanding on how the orthodox hierarchy works either.)

That's a long way of saying that I'll be writing Lucifer as specificly a romanian orthodox christian because that's the one I'm familiar with.

Lucifer being orthodox on main

There's a day every year when Lucifer will wash the feet of all his nobles. Since he's at the top of the food chain in his country (and in general), he's the one that has to wash the sins away from all his nobles. He used to do it to the patience as well, but they're too many since the war began.

Paradise Lost is the only country that celebrates Easter, but it's during the correct date and not the catholic date.

Easter Eve night is spent at the church where Lucifer sings a specific prayer before leading the atendees around the church three times. Every atendent has to hold a chicken or rooster as they circle the church and at the end they sacrifice the birds to the lord.

Not an orthodox thing exactly, but Lucifer loves decorating eggs with beads, kind of like this

During Easter everyone in Paradise Lost has to smash an egg with everyone else. (I have no idea how to explain it, just have a video. That's basicly it)

After Easter he greats all his nobles with "Hristos a înviat" ("Christ has been revived" kinda, I'm not a professional translator) and his nobles have to answer "Adevărat a înviat" ("True, he's been revived."). This goes on for a month

Moving on from Christmas, whenever a patient dies, Lucifer rushes to their room and lights candle.

No noble in Paradise Lost ever dies (thank you, Gamigin) but Lucifer has a whole ass plan prepared for the possibility of them dying. I talking casket measurements, a list of their favorite foods so he may give it out as pomană, the prayer he'll honor them with, everything

Whenever something bizarre or unorthodox (haha) happens, Lucifer will let out a quiet "Doamne fereşte" ("God forbid") and look at an icon (he has those in every room).

He was given a cross necklace when he was younger by God and he never takes it off. Will hiss at anyone that even tries to touch it.

Lucifer only wears red underwear. It's to prevent people from putting envy curses on him. If he's praising someone a lot, at some point he'll do the "pu pu pu să nu te deochi" ("[spitting noise] may I not curse you")

He sometimes calls his brothers by their hebrew names, that's Gavril, Mihail and Rafail. Kind of preferes calling them by those names, but he can go with the latin version as well.

I'mma be honest, these were the hardest headcanons to write for. There's so many romanian words that have no direct translation and all of them are related to religion in some way 😭😭😭 I didn't even bring up the strigoi or jumping over fire. I've been told before that I kind of need to tone down the use of Romanian on my blog since not everyone is from here, so I tried my best with translations.

[enigma-absolute]

This was a genuine moment today at Orthodox Romanian Easter Lunch tradition with my mom and gran (featuring a family friend who was a former housemate)

[dudewhy3]

Hey Cris!

4, 7, 9 (the star-crossed lovers au :3), 15, 23 (Who painted the sky?)

hi Anna! thank you for the ask ♡

For the star-crossed lovers au:

4. What is the hardest to write in it?

hmmm the smut the timeline. it might sound weird, but the timeline, because i set the fic in the 1950s in a romanian village, and that period of time was a rather difficult one for my country. by the time Nothing Sweeter Than You happens, all the land would have been taken from the peasants and most villages would have been emptied. only a few survived, and barely. so i guess getting the political background right is the hardest about that fic

7. Which chapter was the most fun to write/which chapter has been the most fun so far to write?

the secret third one i haven't posted yet :3

9. How did you get inspired to write this?

it was easter 2022. i had just gone through a terrific experience and i couldn’t sleep properly. we visited relatives for easter and they had the tv open to listen to folk music. at some point, a lady appeared on the tv and started talking about easter traditions and the one where the boy gives the girl a red egg to confess his love came up and it fascinated me so much, because it was adorable? and my brain went like, oh armin would definitely do that. so i took my phone out and started writing A Perfect Love was completely entirely wrotten by midnight that day. but i didn’t post it back then, i didn’t lile it that much at the time. the idea of the star,crossed lovers stayed with me though, and i brainrotted over it for months. then i wrote Nothing Sweeter than You and decided to actually post it, since it was Armin’s birthday anyway. and people like it! and then i posted the first one on Easter this year. and now, more than a year after the idea first came to me, i'm still brainrotting over it lmao

(i'm genuinely so happy that you like that story Anna, i'm really so honoured that you read it, thank you so much for all your support ♡)

For wpts:

15. Favorite character to write for?

hitch actually. and annie

23. How many chapters do you think it will be?

i originally planned 21 but i (spoiler) i'm almost done with 18 and it looks like the story is nowhere near done. so maybe 30-35

[fregolicotard]

31.03.2024 Although the traditional Polish food for Easter is very different from the Romanian one, I am 100% subscribed to it.

#91of366

[dato-georgia-caucasus]

Cozonac (Romanian: [kozoˈnak]) or Kozunak (Bulgarian: козунак [kozuˈnak]) is a sweet yeast dough that can be used to make different traditional holiday breads and cakes. Often mixed with raisins, it can be baked as a loaf or rolled out with fillings like poppy seed or walnuts. It is common throughout Southeastern Europe, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, etc. Rich in eggs, milk and butter, it is usually prepared for Easter in Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and in Romania and Moldova it is also traditional for Good Friday. The name comes from the Bulgarian word for hair-коса/kosa, or Greek: κοσωνάκι, romanized: kosōnáki, a diminutive form of κοσώνα, kosṓna.

[razorfst]

does their family/friends have any traditions they take part in? are they good at explaining things to others?

THE REAL IMPORTANT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS PART 2 | Accepting

He and his parents follow the traditions most Romanian Orthodox followers do, celebrating Easter and Christmas on their appropriate dates together. But his family does have a specific tradition on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, they will watch Home Alone and then the next day Home Alone 2. His friends don't exactly have traditions necessarily, but they have a method to how they go out and enjoy their free time. Though one could say when a birthday is coming up they will make sure that night that the person gets absolutely wasted, not paying for a single drop of alcohol or food.

Andrei likes to think he is good at explaining things, sometimes he is and sometimes he isn't. It honestly depends on the topic. If it's something he knows by heart, like soccer/football or working out then he is one of the best at explaining things to someone. If it's about expressing feelings, then one might want to try and go somewhere else for that. However, he does try to do his best at explaining no matter what when someone comes to him with something and asking for help. He will never turn someone away and does try to the best of his ability, he just knows sometimes it isn't the best and he will warn them about that before continuing on so they can decide of they want better advice or not.

[valealunii]

Easter minimalism

[armageddon23]

 Happy Easter

Easter in Romania is one of the most important and beautiful Christian Holidays, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The main tradition is decorating/dying the eggs red or in different colours on Good Friday, then on Easter people gather to crack the dyed eggs while saying ”Jesus is Risen” to which the response is “ He has truly risen/ Indeed He is.”

source: Istorie in culori 

[ghost-n-butteredtoast]

BONUS CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dimitrescu Books

Chapter 26 <<Link

Easter 2008

Explicit: only suitable for adults

The girls dye Easter eggs with Uncle Karl. What could go wrong?

THIS chapter takes place in 2008, three years after Alcina adopts the girls. Karl, his mother, and "the Romanians" (Alcina's Father and Grandfather) as Karl's mother refers to them, are still alive. Miranda is also mentioned in this chapter, but does not make an appearance. Our Dimi girls are 10, 7, and 5. Karl is 29, Alcina is 33.

Bela, being ten knew better. “Bunic and Mamă’s fancy glasses?” She shook her head.

Bunic? Karl knew the word sounded familiar. Maybe it meant bunny? After three years of hearing the girls call their grandfather bunic, one would think he could remember that it was Romanian for grandfather, but no.

“Uh no, kiddo, close. Easter Bunny . Bunny . Not Bunic . Your mom and the Easter Bunny want you to make some eggs.”

Artist Credit: Dastelia Digital or traditional art #dastelia vk.com/club211086418

Check out their amazing work here: https://www.instagram.com/dastelia/

[davinellicson]

Join American photographer Davin Ellicson in the Maramures region of northern Romania 12-19 April 2023 for a week of enchantment during Orthodox Easter in one of the most traditional villages left in Europe.

For decades Romania’s closed border policy under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu as well as a natural fortress of mountains kept Maramures isolated from the rest of Europe. Even after the fall of communism change was slow to enter the region. The area is renowned for the strength of its traditions, folk costumes, idyllic landscape and is considered the heart of Romanian culture. In 2007 Romania joined the European Union and Maramures is at last changing. Come savor this rural life before it vanishes forever!

Davin is offering a seven day documentary photography workshop based in the village of Valeni where he lived for a year with a family and fell under Romania's dark spell. It is the subject of his first book coming out in 2023, designed by Dutchman Sybren Kuiper and Davin will explore his book making process for those interested. In his eighth workshop in the village, he will be sharing his passion for Romania with students. We will explore neighboring villages during Orthodox Easter week as well as attend three days of Easter ceremonies culminating with Easter Sunday on 16 April.

Davin will be working closely with workshop participants and providing daily critiques and group discussions. We will begin with a review of participants' past work. The goal of this workshop is to learn to create strong personal photographs about summer peasant life. We will shoot during the day and edit in the evenings. It’s a workshop open to amateurs and professionals alike. Technical, theoretical and aesthetic issues will be discussed as attendees work towards honing their individual visions.

Everyone will enjoy great access and homestays will allow for an immersive experience with local villagers and the opportunity to sample distinctive traditional Romanian food and 110 proof homemade plum brandy. It will be an opportunity to witness the last peasants in Europe living life as they have for millennia albeit with a few aspects of modern life mixed in! The week promises to be an intense, intimate and unforgettable experience where students will get to know the villagers first hand and live a romantic way of life forgotten in the rest of Europe more than a century ago.

It is an all digital workshop limited to 6 students and everyone should come with their own laptop and editing software. Knowledge of your digital SLR or rangefinder and workflow is essential.

DATES: 12-19 April 2023.

WORKSHOP LOCATION: Valeni, Maramures, Romania Homestays and all meals are included. Participants are responsible for their own transportation to Romania and up to Maramures although the option is available on a first come first served basis for three students to accompany Davin from Bucharest and back by SUV for an additional cost which includes food and accommodation one night each way in a restored Saxon house in Transylvania. A few airlines now fly from western Europe to the cities of Bucharest, Cluj and Satu Mare from where there are daily trains to the city of Baia Mare in Maramures.

REGISTRATION: The workshop is open to any professional or committed amateur who has knowledge of digital cameras and editing software. Participants must come with their own camera, laptop and editing software. All ages welcome!

PRICE: 995 euros.

Add 200 euros for round trip transport from Bucharest to Maramures with Davin by SUV including food and accommodation one night each way in a restored Saxon house in Transylvania. Limited to three participants.

For booking please contact Davin at: davin@davinellicson.com

ABOUT: Photographer Davin Ellicson, American, born 1978, works from Bucharest, Romania. His first major project was "Țăran" about the period during which he lived and farmed with a peasant family in the remote Maramures region of northern Romania. Davin went for a year without running water, drinking milk straight from the cow while photographing Romanians' fidelity to the earth and folk traditions that he knew were about to vanish. It is the subject of his first book coming out in 2023, designed by Dutchman Sybren Kuiper and with a text by Romanian/American writer and poet Andrei Codrescu. A psychological portrait of the city of Bucharest comprises the second part of Davin's trilogy of photographic works about Romania. Currently, he is working on the final volume, “The Dacia Project”, a retrospective journey around the country by car in both a 2002 Dacia 1310 (a rebadged 1970s Renault 12 and a symbol of Ceausescu's Romania) as well as Dacia's latest 4x4 SUV, the Duster. Davin's work has appeared in The New York Times, Le Monde M, The Guardian and The Official Ferrari Magazine among others. Awards include two grants from The Romanian Cultural Institute in Bucharest.

[lifeofkaze]

The Easter Dragon

Charlie Weasley x Reader

A/N: Happy Easter to all you lovely people!

Word Count: ~ 1.800 

With a sigh of relief, Charlie shut the door to his old room behind him and leaned against it for a moment. The Burrow was a madhouse today; all his brothers and his sister had arrived with their families to celebrate Easter with the Weasley grandparents. His parents loved their house being filled with the laughter of countless children once more, but Charlie was glad for the respite his old room provided him.

Everyone was here already, except for you. You weren’t scheduled to arrive until tomorrow, for the actual Easter celebrations. There had been some last minute emergency back at the dragon reserve that had demanded your immediate attention; under usual circumstances, Charlie would have stayed as well, but the circumstances were anything but usual this time.

He carefully placed his bag on his old bed and produced the giant chocolate egg he had secretly crafted in your kitchen back in Romania before he had left for England. His mother had told him how to do it; gifting each other chocolate eggs had been a tradition in the Weasley family since Charlie could remember.

He had given it his all; he had spent countless hours meticulously carving the scales out of the crimson coloured chocolate before he had sprinkled it with a fine layer of golden glitter to make it look like the egg of a Chinese Fireball; he knew they were your favourite breed.

Charlie brushed his old dragon miniatures on the desk to the side with his elbow before he delicately placed the dragon egg on the wooden surface. He lifted the top off and set it aside before he dug deep into the pocket of his trousers and pulled out the small red box containing your present and placed it in the middle of the lower half. He assembled both halves again, making sure the scales on the outside were aligning, and sealed the crack in the chocolate with a flick of his wand.

He observed his work with a self-satisfied grin before placing the egg in the wicker basket he had stuffed with hay and some smaller chocolate eggs and pushed it back under his bed until the time for its great appearance had come.

Relieved that this part of your surprise was finished, he left the room to go help Bill put up the garden decorations his mother had forced on him, whistling happily to himself. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the two intrigued pairs of eyes watching him leaving his room from the shadow of the crooked staircase.

*

When he returned an hour later, he stopped dead in his tracks upon finding the door to his room standing slightly ajar. The colour drained from his freckled face as he frantically raked his mind for the memory of whether he had locked the door or not. He pushed it open and went straight for the hiding place of his special Easter basket. He crouched down on the floor to peek under the bed and found his worst fear confirmed; the basket was gone.

His heart pounded faster as the panic started to set in; he had to find the dragon egg again. He searched the whole floor for it, then the next one down, and the ground floor afterwards. He was just rummaging through the kitchen as the sound of crinkling paper and giggles reached his ears from the adjacent living room.

Charlie spun around and followed the laughter to find his nieces and nephews assembled in a circle on the carpet, surrounded by heaps of coloured wrapping paper, mouths smudged with chocolate. In the middle of the carnage sat his basket, the red dragon egg the last thing to survive the feast.

“Where did you get that?” he asked them with the sternest Uncle-Charlie-voice he could muster.

The little rascals froze on their spot as their eyes collectively darted to their scolding uncle.

Little Lily finally plucked up her courage to answer him. “The Easter Bunny brought us chocolate!” she stated defensively. “We were even sharing!”

Charlie stemmed his hands into his hips. “The Easter Bunny, huh? Does this,” he pointed to his chocolate dragon egg, “look like a regular Easter egg to you?”

They all shook their head. “No, Uncle Charlie,” muttered Hugo.

“That’s because it’s something special,” Charlie lowered his voice conspiratorially. “It belongs to the Easter Dragon.”

James crossed his arms in front of his chest critically. “The Easter Dragon?”

“Exactly,” Charlie crouched down next to them. “He lives in Romania and like proper dragons do, he guards his treasure until the time is right. And he wants you to give his egg back.”

James hummed and leaned over to his cousin Fred II without taking his eyes off Charlie. “Do we believe that, Freddie?”

The other boy shook his head. “Not at all, James.”

“Thought so.” With a sudden lunge forward he tackled Charlie, who immediately lost his balance and crashed to the ground. James wrestled Charlie’s wand from the waistband of his trousers and held it up triumphantly before leaping off his stunned uncle.

“Run!” he shouted to the other children. Fred grabbed the precious egg and lead the pack out into the garden in a full sprint, James hot on his heels.

Charlie cursed in Romanian and scrambled to his feet. He cursed again as he realised his wandless state and set off after them.

Although their legs were fundamentally shorter than his, they were surprisingly fast, he had to give them that.

He was chasing them through the garden and back into the house again. George had joined him as he had leapt over the fence of the chicken compound. “Why are we running?” he had shouted at Charlie with his unmistakable mischievous laugh, but Charlie had been too out of breath to answer.

They raced them through the kitchen and up the stairs to the top landing. Charlie thought they had them cornered there, but these kids were surprisingly resourceful. They had climbed out of the window and onto the roof one by one and were clambering down on the many nooks and ledges of the Burrow by the time Charlie had reached them.

He could hear Hermione hysterically screaming from outside as she saw Hugo dangling from the ancient drains, but by the time she had her wand out, he had already let go and landed safely in James’s arms.

Charlie dashed down the stairs again with newfound determination; if he managed to reach the porch before they did, he would be able to intercept them and get his treasure dragon egg back.

He skittered out of the patio door to see the kids already making their way off the porch in the direction of the fields unfolding behind their garden. Freddie was still carrying the egg under his arm.

As they passed Victoire, who was lounging in a sunchair at the end of the patio, flicking through the pages of a magazine, she stuck her foot out all of a sudden without even batting an eye. James, who had been running in front, stumbled and came crashing down on the floorboards; the other children were unable to stop their momentum and tripped over him, landing on top of each other in a cluster of arms and legs.

“That’s for ratting Teddy and me out earlier,” Victoire stated indignantly, got up and strutted off.

Charlie was finally able to catch up with them, this flanks burning from the lack of air. As Freddie scrambled to his feet rubbing his elbow, he was able to take in the amount of damage the fall had wreaked on what had been the focal point for his great surprise for you only an hour ago.

The crimson chocolate egg had crushed beneath the weight of his nieces and nephews, the shattered remains scattered all over the floor. Charlie’s eyes quickly scanned the area for the small box the egg had held; unseen by the children, it had rolled under Victoire’s sunchair. Before anyone else could get their hands on it, he quickly scooped it up.

“What in Godric’s name happened here?”

Charlie jumped at the familiar voice coming from behind him. He quickly got up off the floor and hid the box behind his back as he turned around to face you.

He smiled in what he hoped looked like a surprised and innocent way as you strode up the steps from the garden to place a quick kiss on his lips.

“What’re you doing here already, love?” he murmured against your lips. “I thought they needed you back at the reserve until tomorrow.”

You hummed as you smiled up at your oddly flustered looking boyfriend. “We were able to settle things quicker than we thought we would, so I caught an earlier portkey.” You eyed him up and down. “Is everything alright?”

He was spared an answer as the kids, who had disentangled themselves from one another, took note of who had just arrived.

“Auntie Y/N!” they screeched as the raced past Charlie and almost knocked you back down the steps into the grass.

You laughed and ruffled their hair. Lily hugged your waist tightly and exclaimed “Look at what we nicked from the Easter Dragon!” She was waving one of the bigger shards of the chocolate egg in your face.

Your eyes found Charlie’s as you smiled down at the girl; they were shining with the laughter mirrored on your face. “The Easter Dragon, huh? Now that’s a dragon I’d like to meet; do you want to tell me all about him?” You picked Lily up and made your way over to the big tree at the corner of the garden where the old swing Charlie and his siblings had played on when they were children was situated.

All the kids followed her without so much as another glance at their uncle. Only Lily stuck his tongue out to him over your shoulder.

Charlie smiled to himself at the sight of you surrounded by the youngest members of your family. He opened the box he had still held hidden behind his back until now to check its content. He sighed with relief upon seeing that the ring situated inside was unharmed.

“Do you think she noticed something?” Bill had walked up to him, leaning on the railing lining their porch and casting a quick glance at his younger brother.

Charlie snapped the box shut again and stuffed it deep into his pocket. “I don’t think so.”

“And what are you going to do now? Your plan seems pretty much ruined to me.”

Charlie shrugged it off. “Doesn’t matter,” he grinned, “the Easter Dragon always finds a way.”

[kittybellestark]

Ok, talking about what you said about Sebastian and Romania, I just want to say that I am from Romania, and the situation is not so bad. Maybe it was then, but that was 30+ years ago, things have changed. I know it was hard for him because he was a kid and it was totally different in America. But, I must say, it becomes annoying ... he was not the only child who lived that period, many of them did not go anywhere and have a decent and beautiful life in Romania. Yes, there is a lot of corruption but other than that, is a normal and free country.

Hi, I’m not trying to invalidate Romanians or what Romania is currently like. I just want to push people to educate themselves especially when I see comments like I summarized in the previous post which romanticize the trauma that Sebastian Stan went through. And I’m only speaking about him now because of the interview he gave the other day talking about his experiences with Alexander and about Romania then and now and the discourse that has come from that. (Calling Seb a bad boy because he had to steal as a child, etc)

Yeah, so my points about Sebastian Stan and the interview is more about the reaction to him sharing his trauma. He spoke very openly about the trauma he had from his time in Romania and immigrating, and we see now that he is very very proud of his nationality.

But I still stand to the fact that no one should be romanticizing that trauma because he is famous. I don’t want to discount the experience people have had growing up and living in Romania.

Yes it was 30 years ago, but that’s still fairly recently in the gran scheme of things. Romania is still working through the effects of being under communism which we see in other countries such as Poland (where my grandparents had to leave the country due to similar issues).

In the interview, which I linking in my post, Sebastian and Alexander talk about how there are many people who stayed in Romania and had very happy lives.

So many people have romanticized what he had to go through. And that shouldn’t happen. Doesn’t matter whether his trauma was 30 years ago or not.

I’m in no way trying to say in my previous post that Romania is a poor country, with civil unrest where communism is still happening. But it is important to recognize that the recent history of Romania, and how that affects today.

I’m a second generation Canadian, but because of the trauma’s that my grand parents went through (living through wwii, being in a communist country, being forced onto a boat the make it to Canada to get refuge), my brother and I never learnt Polish traditions, or how to speak Polish. We couldn’t get our EU passports because our grandma wouldn’t get the paper work we needed to try and keep us safe. We’d have people make fun of our last names and my brothers first name (because they aren’t English names), Holocaust jokes were regularly, people have refused to accept service from me at my previous job because I looked to Polish (I’m 22). Obviously I’m not an immigrant, and the Polish experience vs the Romanian experience aren’t then same. But I’ve grown up listening to stories of what it was like to try and fit in and hiding apart of yourself, and being told if I ever traveled to certain places to give a fake last name if I’m asked. But there is trauma that my grandparents have experienced this is going to be similar to Sebastian’s, but if talk about my grandma’s experience people just won’t care bc they don’t have a connection.

And we see Poland (and many other Easter European countries) heading back towards authoritarian governments, which is only being escalated due to covid.

Obviously this isn’t everyone’s experience. I don’t want to say it is, but acknowledging history of other countries and understanding not to romanticize a persons trauma shouldn’t be a difficult thing or something I should have to say.

But yeah basically, romanticizing trauma is horrible. Being fans of Sebastian Stan we shouldn’t invalidate his experiences and his pain because others didn’t have the same experiences. If we’re going to be talking about Sebastians experiences we need to continue to educate ourselves in was happening back then. And we need to understand what is happening now. Eastern European countries aren’t in the greatest place politically. It sucks that people who don’t have a connection to these countries don’t understand what has happened or is currently happening in Romania or Poland or the rest or Eastern Europe. And it’s unfortunate that a lot of people will choose to not make the active decisions to educate themselves if I doesn’t affect them personally or a celebrity they love (in this case Sebastian Stan) lived through it.

My point is we shouldn’t take someone’s trauma and make it into an idea we have of Sebastian or any other celebrity. Everyone should keep an open mind about the immigrant experience and shouldn’t make mindless jokes about what that person went through.

People (specifically America/Canada) often don’t consider Eastern European people’s experience when they’re forced to move away for their safety because there’s a lack of education about it. None of these countries are brought up in history after WWII.

Anyways I hope that makes sense it’s like 2am so my thought process isn’t really all there. I’m sorry if I got things wrong but I just think these are really important things that need to be discussed and people need to educate themselves on and be more sensitive to it. I really don’t mean to invalidate your experiences, I just see that people are invalidating others experiences and that’s not cool. So sorry if I overstepped and got these things wrong

[manandmachines]

Meta on muses and religion

Scott was born and raised Jewish from his mom and safta. His dad Robert, though born Jewish, isn’t exactly religious since growing up in Soviet Russia. His mother Ruth and his safta Jadzia are Polish, Ruth being born sometime during WWII, while her parents were on the run. The war would leave Jadzia a single mother who’d raise Ruth to never hide who she was, who would in turn pass that onto her son. 

Scott’s never denied being Jewish, and considers himself a reformist Jew. He even wears a chai bracelet given to him by his safta most of the time.

Chai in Judaism means “life,” and also refers to the number 18, which is considered the number of life, because each Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent. It’s the sum of two Hebrew letters —chet (ח) (8) and yud (י) (10) which makes 18. He wears more often than not as a reminder of what he’s out to protect while being a superhero.

Some Reform Jews reject the idea of a Messiah as an actual person. They do not believe that the leadership of one person is required to achieve a Messianic Age. Instead, Reform Jews believe that ordinary people have the power to bring about a peaceful and prosperous age by carrying out good actions. An idea that Scott holds close to his heart, especially with being Ant-Man. Scott holds strong to his leaders like Sam and Steve, but really believes the team together is what’ll really bring change to the world. 

Although Scott hasn’t been able to practice as much as he’d like to, it’s not for lack of faith but lack of time. He used to celebrate the Shabbat about every Friday with his parents growing up, but Ant-Man duties leave him able to celebrate at least one Friday a month. Still making time at least to call his parents on Friday to talk and update them on his life and share a prayer. 

With Scott being reformist, he doesn’t exactly follow kosher rules, but he does go out to serve only kosher foods when it’s time for Shabbat, as is his family tradition with Ruth being raised more traditionally. He’ll also make time the next day on Saturday morning after Shabbat to visit his local synagogue.

He also celebrated his Bar Mitzvah at 13, and hopes to hold a Bat Mitzvah for Cassie at that same age, which is the same celebration like what he had, but for women. He also speaks fluent Hebrew and taught that to Cassie as well.

I also headcanon Maggie to be Jewish, and they were both married at his parents synagogue in Florida, and like his parents, both Scott and Maggie’s wedding rings are both simple bands. This is because of an old tradition where the worth of the ring is measured in weight, and so there’s no stones to alter the weight and value. Both Scott and Maggie also chose the old fashioned route to wear their rings on the left forefinger, because the vein there leads up to your heart, and Scott just thought as man of science, that was pretty neat. Everything was followed by the seven blessings, Scott breaking the glass and a celebratory mazel tov.

If Scott were to ever get remarried to a non Jewish partner, he’d want to at least do another glass breaking. As he heard of a new way couples do it where they break wine glasses together, instead of just a man breaking a lightbulb (or just any glass thing, really, but it’s typically a light bulb)

And do not worry thinking I’ll have to change his face claim, as Paul Rudd himself is Jewish, with his parents being descended from Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants who had moved to England from Belarus, Poland, and Russia.

Being born to third generation Romanian immigrants, Bucky grew up Roman Catholic and often would go to mass with his mother on Sundays. He’d be baptized sometime after Rebecca, since his family was living in Indiana around the time he was born, and couldn’t do it then due to the lack of Catholic churches in the area. Luckily Winnie was finally able to arrange a service for both Becky and Bucky when they had finally settled in Brooklyn, and would go on to baptize the rest of her daughters as well.

The family would go on to celebrate the usual holidays associated with Catholicism, such as the Holy week, Christmas and Easter, as well as Lent.

His father was also not religious due to the trauma from being off fighting in WWI. He’d never go into detail with his distrust in a higher power, but whenever Bucky questioned George as to why he never came to service, George would just reply on how God just wasn’t as kind to some people as he was to others.

He’d think about that sometimes when he went to service, but never thought about it terribly until getting drafted. Then did he really see what dear old dad meant all those years ago in the garage after service when Bucky went to bring him up for lunch.

Religion was really the last of his concerns being the Winter Soldier, again with how Soviet Russia was on religion and I doubt anybody in the Red Room cared about God, with how they were trying to play it with making the girls into weapons of war.

He hasn’t been to service since. Simply taking after the words of his father that God’s not as kind to some people as he is to others.

Neyti was never religious, but however did arrange for subjects to learn about popular religions throughout the galaxy in the idea it’d make them better at handling patients with certain beliefs. Rocket finds the whole idea of religion to be another human hang up and hardly if ever thinks about it, despite having clashed with several Gods of several types. He doesn’t believe in another side, just instead that everyone turns into dust someday.

...although he does like the sound of that reincarnation stuff. The idea that you’ll come out of this life into something either better or worse. He like to think...if it is real, then he’d like to come back as something good. Maybe bring him back as what he was supposed to be before the cybernetics and endless knowing. Back in that little time of peace he had before being turned into what he is now.

[mariadianahorvat]

There are many types of painted eggs in Romania when Easter comes around. The most popular and known types are the one that have many motifs/pattern on them. These are all handmade by the older women or even younger girls.

Now each of these traditional motifs represent each historic region of the country. The tradition is especially common in the region of Bucovina. These type of eggs can be found at traditional afairs or in monasteries.

All of the elements on the decorated eggs have meaning.

Here are the interpretation for some of them:

The vertical lines mean life

The horizontal line means death

The double line means eternity

The line with rectangular symbols means knowledge

The curved line means water

The spiral means time, eternity

The double spiral means the bond between life and death.

Usually only 3-4 colours are used to paint eggs and they each have their own meaning:

RED- symbolises love and solar light

BLACK- eternity

YELLOW- youth and rich crops

GREEN- relates to nature

BLUE- health and sunny skies

Decorative motifs are also very diverse. Mixing symbols like the cross or the star with vegetal and animal representations and traditional elements from the rural culture.

The use of symbols is also influenced by regional and local elements. The local specificity is well represented by the artisans from Ciocanesti, Bucovina, who use the geometrical motifs of the beautiful houses from their village to decorate their creations.

2nd most important of the Romanian traditions is the Holy Night. On Easter Night, Romanian people go to their local church to light a candle and bring it into their home. That flame symbolises the Resurrection of Christ and the triumph of good and evil.

On the first day of Easter, children and adults alike wash their face and hands with fresh water, in which they put a red egg and basil. It is said that those who follow this tradition will be forever beautiful and healthy.

Another important "item" that revolves to Easter traditions in Romania are the Easter foods.

Main start of the dishes is lamb meat, which is served together with side dishes such as potatoes or prepared in traditional dishes such as drob.

Something that shouldn't be missing from the Easter table is the large variety of Easter bread and cakes, known in Romania as "pasca", this delicious bread can be made with cheese, cream, raisins, or even chocolate and cocoa.