Calusari
Encyclopedia
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n fraternal secret society who practiced a ritual acrobatic dance known as the căluş. According to the Romanian historian Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
, the Calusari were known for "their ability to create the impression of flying in the air" which he believed represented both the galloping of a horse and the dancing of the fairies (zine). Indeed, the group’s patron was the "Queen of the Fairies" (Doamna Zinelor), who was also known as Irodiada
Herodias
Herodias was a Jewish princess of the Herodian Dynasty. Asteroid 546 Herodias is named after her.-Family relationships:*Daughter of Aristobulus IV...
and Arada
Aradia
Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Leland’s 1899 work Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany, a claim that has subsequently been disputed by other folklorists and...
, and who Eliade connected with the folkloric figure Diana
Diana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
.
Due to their connection with the fairies, the Calusari were believed to be able to cure the victims of fairies and for around two weeks - from three weeks after Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
till Whitsun
Whitsun
Whitsun is the name used in the UK for the Christian festival of Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples...
day - would travel to all the local communities where they would dance, accompanied by a few fiddlers, in order to do so. In their dance, the Căluşari carried clubs and a sword, as well as a flag and a wooden horsehead. They swore on the group’s flag to treat each other as brothers, to respect the customs of the Calusari and to remain chaste
Chastity
Chastity refers to the sexual behavior of a man or woman acceptable to the moral standards and guidelines of a culture, civilization, or religion....
for the next nine days. Upon their return home, their flag was fixed into the ground, with one member climbing up in and crying out "war, dear ones, war!".
The origins of the Calusari are unknown, although the first written attestations are from the 17th century musical notations of Ioan Căianu. Eliade noted that "Although the oath taken is made in the name of God, the mythico-ritual scenario enacted by the calusari has nothing in common with Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
" and that, in the 19th century at least, there was clerical opposition to the group, with its members being excluded from taking communion for three years in some regions.
Etymology
The Romanian historian of religion Mircea EliadeMircea Eliade
Mircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
believed that the term Căluşari originated with the Romanian word for horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, cal, from the Latin caballus.
The generally accepted derivation of Căluş is from the old Latin double form "collusium, collusii", meaning both "a dance group" and "a secret society", however other derivations have been proposed. The Romanian word căluş also means "a small piece of wood placed in the mouth to prevent talking", and derivation from this word has some support from the presence of the mute figure in some groups, and the ritual silence that used to be observed by the entire group. Others see căluş as a diminutive of cal "horse", in turn derived from the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
caballus, and point to the horse's mythical associations with fertility and war, as well as the imitation of horses found in certain Căluş dances, although these dances do not currently play a principal role in the ritual. Another theory is that it derives from "Coli-Salii", the Roman priests dedicated to the worship of Mars.
Description
Traditionally, the căluşari group is a secret, male-only society associated with a spring rite, possibly a remnant of tribal warrior societies. The group leader (usually an older man) recruits a number of acolytes, always young, single adults chosen for physical prowess. The group members take an oath of secrecy, whereupon they participate in aninitiation rite and taught the forms of the dance. The groups of Căluşari roam the country in spring-time, visiting villages by turns and taking part in the week-end dances - horaHora
Hora is a type of circle dance originating in the Balkans but also found in other countries. The name is cognate to the Greek χορός : 'dance' which is cognate with the ancient Greek art form of χορεία; see Chorea. The original meaning of the Greek word χορός may have been 'circle'...
.
The căluş is a male group dance
Group dance
Group dances are danced by groups of people simultaneously, as opposed to individuals dancing alone or individually, and as opposed to couples dancing together but independently of others dancing at the same time, if any....
, although there are records of traditions from Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
region that included 1-2 young girls, now obsolete. A "bride" would be chosen by the group from each village they passed through, based on her dancing skills. The "bride" would be oath-bound to join in the ritual dance, for three years in a row.
Dancers wear white trousers and white tunics, with brightly coloured ribbons streaming from their hats. Bells are attached to their ankles, and dances include the use of ornate sticks held upright whilst dancing, or pointing at the ground as a prop. The dance itself is highly acrobatic, emphasizing extension and high jumps, much like the Ceili dance
Ceili dance
Ceili dances, or true ceili dances are a popular form of folk dancing in Ireland. For the events at which Ceili dances are performed, see Céilidh....
.
Like many Morris dances, in many traditions căluşari dancers include a fool, known as the "nebun", or "crazy".
The dance includes the following elements.
- The starting figure of walking (plimbări), or a basic step, in a circle moving counter clockwise.
- More complex figures (mişcare) performed in place between walking steps.
- Figures are formed from combinations of elements, often have a beginning-middle-end structure.
Similar dances
Other male group dances originating from ritual dances are found along the CarpathiansCarpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians are a range of mountains forming an arc roughly long across Central and Eastern Europe, making them the second-longest mountain range in Europe...
and in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. The Carpathian variants such as Trilişeşti and Ţânţăroiul from Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and Bărbătescul and De sărit from Maramureş
Maramures
Maramureș may refer to the following:*Maramureș, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureș Depression and Maramureș Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
include only the most basic features whereas the De bâtă, Haidău, and Fecioreasca of Transylvania are very close to the Căluşari with the addition of more complex later developments.
The dance resembles the English Morris dance
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
, in choreography, the meaning of the ritualistic sword dance
Sword dance
Sword dances are recorded from throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock battle sword dances from Greece, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, China, Korea, England, Scotland and Japan...
, and the costumes, and some claim it was borrowed from Dacia
Dacia
In ancient geography, especially in Roman sources, Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians or Getae as they were known by the Greeks—the branch of the Thracians north of the Haemus range...
to western Europe (Spain, later England) via the Celts or the Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
or it was borrowed from the Dacian auxiliary units stationed in Britain.
In popular culture
A Season 2 episode of the television series The X-FilesThe X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
, entitled "The Calusari
The Calusari
"The Calusari" is the twenty-first episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 14, 1995. It was written by Sara B. Charno, directed by Michael Vejar, and featured guest appearances by Helene Clarkson and Joel Palmer...
", featured a group of Romanian elders (ethnicity and religion unspecified) attempting a folk exorcism on a Romanian-American boy. Their practice — which on the show involves chicken sacrifice, ritual dagger-waving, and the drawing of a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
in blood on the boy's stomach — is ultimately revealed to be well-intentioned and effective rather than sinister, as it first appears.
External links
- The history of sacred dances: Choros, Hora, Calusul and Morris dance
- Vancouver Morris Men's account of dancing with Canada's Regina Căluşari
- The Romanian Căluşari
- European Men's Dance
- Article (in Romanian): Calusul in Lista Capodoperelor Omenirii
- Proclamation of the Oral and Intagible Heritage of Humanity: The Calus Tradition
- Căluşari dance history and background from the Dunav website
- Southern Romanian Căluş
- Transylvanian Romanian Căluşeri
- The Romanian Căluş tradition and its changing symbolism
- The Mystic and Tradition of a Folk Dance: Calusarii- article with archive pictures.