Good info/thoughts Admin!
I'll list things that I'm still aware of and/or things that were apart of the folk tradition 50yrs ago and further (no specific order):
- they use to celebrate weddings in a village for 3 days
- when a couple got engaged the male along with his immediate family would go to the females house and dress her in simple gold infront of her family
- a song called '
Majka zeni sin'
(translation: 'mother marrying her son) is the song that must be played when the grooms mother takes the floor!!
- we always have a
bajrak ('
banner') for the weddings and absolutely nothing happens w/out the
Kum ('
Godfather')!
- in the old days the Kum came up with the name of your child and it was a done deal, no ifs, buts etc about it
- for the wedding the male received a gold coins that were pinned to his jacket coat by an aunt etc
- when a baby was born it wasn't allowed to go outside the home for 40days and then it had to be baptized (even in communist Yugoslavia)
- when the groom or bride leads a song dance close family relatives are in front of them twirling handkerchiefs and throwing money to the band. Also there's someone with a sort of bass drum
- as the groom, his family and closest friends make there way to the brides house before the ceremony, her family awaits him in front of the house. The father of the bride has a
botsa (whiskey bottle) and everyone has to take a sip and then continue to shake everyone's hand and kiss them 3x on the cheek and then go in the house for drinks and food/
meze ('
sweets') etc
- i should mention that prior to this the groom and his family dance
kolo ('circular dance') with the
bajrak representing in the background the the brides family watching in front of their house...then they approach the brides father, led by the groom of course.
- someone will fire off some shoots at that point
- the groom has the center chair in the house and is usually joked with about the difficulties of marriage and that its not too late for him to back out.
- her family will at this point dress him up in gold (watch, bracelet, dress shirt, necklace etc)
- meanwhile the
Kum and
Starosvat ('
Bridesman') go upstairs or where the brides bedroom is and try to get through the guardsmen in a sign to steal her for free but then usually they have to pay up before going inside
- before the wedding the grooms father along with the
Kum go house to house with a special bottle that has
rakija ('
brandy') inside to invite the closest to the wedding. They're welcomed inside the home, the folks present take a sip and will attach money to the bottle, and from there they go to the next persons house. Usually the order is by closest kin (oldest brothers house etc etc)
- we've always celebrated a house
Slava (St Petka/Paraskeva) and a village
Slava (St Konstantin i St Jelena)(
slava=glory)
- among a Kum we also have a best man called (
Prvi dever = '
the first brother in law')
- back in the old days the woman would wash her husbands feet in a bucket of water after returning from a hard days work (my grandfather)
- every household carried a couple rifles
- guns were fired in the sky during a wedding, upon 2 people getting engaged and when a baby is born
- when traveling somewhere important its important not to look back with your head and go back (bad luck); its thought once you've stepped forward into your journey you must continue walking forward
- the son always lived with his parents (village mentality back in the day)
- when someone died people viewed the wake was obviously at the house and during the day of the burial the casket was walked to the village church with the casket open
- most people know the name of the village they came from Kosovo (most folks) (ours is a village outside of Urosevac - 200yrs ago)
- we visit the grave of the dead the 7th day of their passing, 40 days, 6mths, 1yr and every year for the day of the dead. During these milestones we bring food and place it on top of the grave and pass around food after the priest is finished with the ceremony. This is done in honor of the dead and in hopes they see its done in their honor
- when a young adult (especially dies) in a tragic death the mother not only wears black the rest of her life but she naturally tries jumping in the grave. the mother becomes a living zombie who never steps outside of the house the rest of her life
- after the burial people gather for a lunch at the church hall or whatever's available (house etc)
- death is taken very hard in Macedonia
- very hard workers and have the ability to save money
- everything is done for the kids and always remain top priority no matter the age
- worriers not warriors
- very pessimistic people and extremely loyal
- most in NW are very pro Serbian and adored Slobodan Milosevic & Arkan
- marrying someone outside your religion is not looked upon very kindly at all
- 8 Mart is a big thing along with Vidovdan and Vasilica (my name day!)
- people don't like if you stare or glare at their baby, especially if the baby starts crying (you're usually kicked out because its considered a form of 'evil eye')
- maybe not as much today but men used to gather drink
rakija and sing songs about the past etc (many of our songs were those from the Metohija region for instance '
Bilbil mi poje'.
- back in the day ladies (elder) would always go to the village church and would always have a scarf over their head and never forget the dead. Candles were always lit even for those that died in the 19th century
- son's have an extreme sense of bond/love for their mother, usually more so then for their wife.
Enough for now, will post anything else that comes mind.