Life
Phases
People used to besprinkle the sign of the cross
on the bodies of the newborns with some drops of water right after they had
been born. If the newborn had suddenly passed away, this act would have been considered
baptism. Shortly after washing or ablution respectively, the newborn was, in
case of a girl, wrapped in a men’s shirt and, in case of a boy, in a
women’s skirt. This very action had the intention to irritate the evil
ghosts, which meant to do harm to the newborn. The babies used to sleep in
cradles (zibala), around which was tied a three finger’s breadth ribbon
made of diapers. The Slovenes from the Raba Region knew numerous means to
protect the babies from the evil eye, from scare and vampires (goblins). In
Slovenska Ves / Rábatótfalu one used to throw the umbilical cord
on the green meadow, in order to enable the newborn to grow quickly and healthy
as grass. According to popular belief three feminine demons, so-called fate
elves (sójen/i/ce, sóudice, rójenice), appeared on the day
of birth and prophesied the babies their destinies. The elves arrived in three
at a time under the table, on which people had put a loaf of bread and a glass
of water before. Nobody except for beggars and servants were allowed to
eavesdrop or even see the fate elves.
On the
second or third day after birth, the midwife and the god mother took the
newborn to baptism. Nowadays, the baby is baptised only on the sixth or seventh
day. The godparents brought presents (pretzels, strudel, cooked chicken meat,
raw meat, noodles and wine) to the newborn and the woman in childbed. The gift
basket was carried mainly on the head. Baptism celebrations took place in the
birth house or in the tavern either on the day of birth or on the following
Sunday. The feast, in which the godfathers, siblings, parents and the inner
family circle participate, usually lasts half a day.
The baby was exposed to many dangers. If the
breast of the newborn swell and milk dripped from it, people interpreted this
as a sign for the vampire (goblin) “tapping” the baby. In order to
protect the baby people placed safety pins, pipes and cigarettes in the cradle.
The Slovenes from the Raba Region attributed the diseases, which affected the
baby, to the evil eye. In order to avoid this, each visitor had to spit in the
direction of the baby saying: “Ugh! Ugh … you are ugly
…!” People put dry burning heat under a broom, which had been laid
in front of the door, or they touched the children with an iron item. The headache,
which the baby got due to the fright caused by the evil eye, was cured by
aspersing the child with consecrated wine making the sign of the cross on
János Day. Among the Slovenes from the Raba Region the relatives meet
three times between baptism and the marriage of the child: on First Communion,
on Confirmation and on conscription. Since the 1980s also high school
graduation became an event where the relatives meet. The family circle goes to
second-grade cousins. Furthermore, also most non-consanguineous godfathers and
their families are incorporated in the family circle.
The act of looking for a wife took place on
Saint Nicholas Day. The boy offered his number one girl three apples saying:
“Gild our lives!” If the girl accepted the apples, then she acceded
to marriage with the boy. Thus the boy, together with his future witnesses to
the marriage, could ask for the girl’s hand. For engagement, the boy took
along a pretzel and a litre of wine. Whilst asking for the girl’s hand he
strewed a handful of coins in her bosom. The will to marriage was mutually
enforced by this very act. Afterwards, the girl went door-to-door in the whole
community together with her godmother or any other elder women from her kinship
in order to collect gifts (podaráj odi). Before the Second World War,
the girl received mostly linen and eggs, later eggs and money and nowadays
actually only money. Between the two World Wars they gathered the gifts with a
cloth that had been attached to a stick or with a crochet bag. The girl stretched
the linen and took it to the weaver’s, who wove her blankets for the
future household effects. The eggs were either used for marriage meals or sold
on the market in Monošter / Szentgotthárd. Originally this custom
intended to ease economic worries. However, today it plays an important role in
keeping the community together.
By reciting humorous texts from a best
man’s book the best man (zváč, drüžben) invited the
wedding guests. His hat was decorated with rosemary, asparagus fern or with a
bunch made of paper flowers (korina). In his hand he held either a thorny stick
decorated with colourful (white, blue, pink) ribbons or a best man’s
stick (roudjef), the tip of which was equipped with a wooden bowl or a bunch of
flowers. Two water bottles were hanging on the best man’s body. In one of
the bottle there was wine and in the other grits, which the best man offered
the people en route or inside the houses. Before the First World War the best
man even took along a pistol. In front of every house he fired as many shots in
the air as there were guests invited to the wedding living in that very house.
Before the First World War the wedding celebrations took place in the house of
the bride and later on in the house of the bridegroom. Poor families celebrated
either in the house of the bride or in the house of the bridegroom. Midnight
feast consisted of scrambled eggs (cvrtina), which were made of a hundred
oven-cooked eggs, of ring-shaped cakes, pancakes and of strudels and pretzels.
In the end of the 19th century,
women from Gornji Senik / Felsõszölnök used to say goodbye to
their relatives (men, sons, daughters and mothers) by expressing mourning words
on the funeral. Their elegies showed, which functions the deceased had within
the family circle: “What shall we
do without you now? Who will earn our bread now, who will till our fields now,
who will cultivate them, who will mow the grasslands, who will wear nice
trousers, who will now supply trousers made of fine drapery; who will get up
early now, who will wake up the family members; …”
After the mourning song, the widow thanked the
mourning guests for accompanying her husband on his last way and invited them
to funeral feast. In the beginning of the 20th century only the
wealthy Slovenes from the Raba Region, later on also other inhabitants could
afford graves made of wood, cast iron or of stone. The crosses made of cast
iron were coloured black or yellow and decorated with symbols depicting the
Virgin Mary or angels. During the funeral process church bells tolled
rhythmically. Pulling the church bell was known to the Hungarian Slovenes as
well. The church bells, which were rung by the ringer manually, sounded in
various rhythms. Until the 1960s, mostly only the pecunious villagers ordered
church bell ringing for funerals. Since the 1970s everyone was able to afford
it. In the 1980s, manual church bell ringing was replaced by the electrically
operated carillon.
Until the 1970s, the inhabitants of the Slovene
Raba Region produced (bunches of) flowers made of crepe paper for events such
as baptisms, recruitments, weddings and funerals. For the festivities lasting
from autumn to spring, people used these crepe paper flowers instead of real
flowers. The Slovenes decorated their houses, churches, the Jesus and Virgin
Mary statues and many other attributes needed for the festivities.
Translated from German into English: Joël Gerber
The German text is based on: Mukics Mária,
„A Magyarországi Szlovének“; Press Publica,
(2003)