Paper short abstract:

The object of this report is to compare calendar customs of Vlachs (Romanians) from Eastern Serbia and North-Western Bulgaria with Romanian, Serbian and Bulgarian calendar customs. This report is based on the information reflected in Vlach villages of Bor district (Serbia) and Vidin district (Bulgaria).

Paper long abstract:

The object of this report is to descript calendar customs of Vlachs (Romanians) from Eastern Serbia and North-Western Bulgaria and to compare it with Romanian, Serbian and Bulgarian calendar customs. This report is based on the information reflected in Vlach villages of Bor district (Serbia) and Vidin district (Bulgaria). A great deal of the article's data was collected by author during field research in Vlach villages in Eastern Serbia such as Bukovče, Kobišnica, Raduevac (municipality of Negotin), Šipikovo (municipality of Zaečar) and Grabovica (municipality of Kladovo) in 2013-2014 years. Some data were collected in the town of Bregovo (Vidin district, North-Western Bulgaria) in 2005 and 2012 years.

The complex of the customs, connected with the Christmas log, is typical for Vlachs from Eastern Serbia and North-Western Bulgaria but it is not very common in present for Romanians from Romania. The existence of this complex of the customs in present is probably connected with Serbian and Bulgarian influence. There are other customs that appeared, changed or, on the contrary, was saved due to Serbian and Bulgarian influence. There are, for example, the custom to organize races in St. Theodor's day in Bregovo, Kosovo and any other villages of Vidin district (this custom is typical for Bulgarians); the tradition to celebrate "house holiday" [práznicu cắşii] during three days due to Serbian "slava" (Romanians from Oltenia and Muntenia cerebrates this holiday during one day); custom to wear the "march thread" [mărţişor, martenitsa] which exist in Romanian villages in Bulgarian part and do not exist in Serbian part of Timok valley etc.

Paper short abstract:

Out of ignorance Danes believe that, due to the conversion to Protestantism in 1536, they have abolished the use of carnival and masks. New research has shown that Denmark's cultural history contains prevalent of cases linking it to the European traditions until this very day.

Paper long abstract:

In Denmark, a country in which 82 pct of the population are protestants, it is generally believed that masks have been abolished since the conversion to Protestantism in 1536. Until at least the mid twentieth century it was argued that carnivals and masks belonged to the Catholics or primitive peoples, Africans or Eskimos.

Since the Renaissance European princes competed in splendor. Danish kings were no different and adopted whatever was the fashion. During the period from around 1650 to 1730 the royal whims had a special impact on the Danish festive calendar. One instance is shown in the depicted masquerade in the ceiling painting from 1711 at the Frederiksberg Castle - Copenhagen.

In present day Denmark the trends are shifting. As pointed out in media theory we experience a remediation in most fields of communication. Where traditions (or intangible heritage) used to be transmitted orally it is now communicated in other ways, in writing, as sms or mail or in the social media. In Danish islands with a unique Twelfth Night mumming tradition the islanders no longer relay on common knowledge, they negotiate their custom through many channels.

The Danes also embrace a re-enactment of the Catholic Shrovetide traditions as realized in the Samba or May Carnivals. The custom took its beginning in 1982 and coincided with a growing need for creativity and innovation in both social and industrial contexts. This is a lasting endeavor - one such May Carnival thrives in a positive atmosphere of youth and international inspiration.

Paper short abstract:

The paper outlines the changes in St. Valentine’s Day celebrations in Estonia from 1980 to 2014. Today, Valentine’s Day stands both as a day celebrating friendship as well as being in love, and accordingly the customs are varied.

Paper long abstract:

The paper outlines the changes in St. Valentine's Day celebrations in Estonia from 1980 to 2014. Valentine's Day, called also Friendship Day, reached Estonia in the late 1980s. At the time, the holiday in western Europe and America celebrated love, engagement and marriage. However, to Estonia the holiday was introduced as a day to remember your close ones and friends.

The 21st century saw a breakthrough in media influence and commercialisation. Self-made gifts (cards, small objects; so-called friendship markets; friendship post boxes; friendship signs) saw competition from international commercial postcards and designed sweets. Also, a definite shift towards emotionally bonded couples is seen in customs of eating out, etc.

Today, Valentine's Day stands both as a day celebrating friendship as well as being in love, and accordingly the customs are varied.

Paper short abstract:

This paper investigates contemporary rituals dedicated to the celestial bodies (the ethnic (Pagan) rituals, and occasional rituals performed by the masters of the new rituals).

Paper long abstract:

This paper investigates contemporary rituals dedicated to the celestial bodies: 1) the ethnic (Pagan) rituals performed around equinoxes and solstices, and 2) occasional rituals performed by the masters of the new rituals, incl. the rituals of Igor Mang (b. 1949, Sion of Christ). The aim of the paper is to re-evaluate and deconstruct these rituals.

The purpose of the rituals is to involve participants in the process of constructing a ritual, to direct city dwellers in finding a new inner balance. In ethnic (Pagan) rituals the kinetics, common food and re-interpreted mythology play an important role. Methods for uniting people are similar: common singing, chanting and ritual communication. Recurring elements, in addition to music and drumming, include the revived custom of sacrificing to the elements and addressing ancestors, nature spirits and cosmological powers.

Rituals are performed in conjunction with "significant" times (solstices, major calendar feasts, also community or society events, cultural events) and in sacred landscape (e.g., wild nature, places dedicated to neopagan rites, arboraceous suburbs or forests). Although suitable places also include archaeological sites and historical monuments, rural or forestry environment is preferable.

Paper short abstract:

Oogima Ikwe (an Ojibwe woman in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) gives a poetic speech about subverting rituals in her tribe when she disagrees with rules about whether women can participate during their menses. She believes, during this time of renewal, that everything must adapt to survive and thrive.

Paper long abstract:

Oogima Ikwe (an Ojibwe woman in Michigan's Upper Peninsula) gives a poetic speech about subverting rituals in her tribe when she disagrees with rules about whether women can participate during their menses. Menstruating women are "too powerful," those in charge say (usually men). Oogima Ikwe perceives the Great Spirit as accepting her participation on her own terms, believes this interdiction is recent, and that Natives have multiple resources (such as visions) for the emergent cultural renewal (which is occurring across the continent). She affirms that her ritual path, even though newly forged, is "good": "And the earth did not shake, / And pipes did not break apart, / And life went on very smoothly, / And it was actually quite pleasant and good." At the heart of her message about the fluidity of culture and identity, and the need to adapt to survive and thrive, her words become especially rhythmic and fluid, like poetry. She explicitly says "all things," "culture," "languages," "economics," "climate," and "everything" "HAVE TO" adapt to survive. She believes that the very existence of these rituals demands that they allow for change, just as all other aspects of society and even nature itself must change to survive or thrive. Her philosophy here is summed up in the last lines I'll examine: "You name it . . . everything has to adapt or . . . it doesn't exist." She thus succinctly iterates the nature of culture as well as her hopeful, forward thinking, feminist activism.

Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses changes in the fiesta organizing in three suburban communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. I will focus on the increased recognition of women’s participation in fiesta organizing, which results in changes in the power relations and constructing prestige in local communities.

Paper long abstract:

Honoring patron saints by dedicating feasts to them still plays an important role in constructing local identities of the Catholic communities of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. The proposed paper discusses the organizational background of the fiesta on the basis of ethnographic research conducted in three suburban communities (2012-13).

Organization of fiestas is not only a part of religious practice, but also can be the way of individual and collective prestige constructing. I will discuss fiesta organizing and its transformations due to modernization and economic changes in a context of gender and agency. I will focus on the increased recognition of women's participation in fiesta organizing, which results in changes in the power relations in local communities. One of the most interesting recent changes observed in the field is the fact that women have begun to establish their own religious fraternities with their own fiestas.