Mysterious Romania (XVIII) - New Year Customs and Traditions

Christmas is already over and New Year is soon on our threshold. Homes and stores are beautifully decorated . To Romanians, in general , - Christmas and New Year’s traditions and customs are very important!

Diverse, colorful and rich in symbols and meanings, these customs bring to the present glimpses of pre-Christian rituals and underline the predominant agrarian lifestyle from the past.

While traditionally in Romania Christmas is a day spent together with the family, New Year’s Eve is celebrated with friends or just staying at home and watching TV.

Romanians see New Year as a time when they should be passing on their ancient traditions, cultures, customs, and heritage to the future generation. This defines the rigorous following of traditions. New Year’s Eve is attributed a great importance. It is reflected in the saying “Do not let the year find you… because this is how your next year will be !”

For example, if the New Year catches you with a dirty home this is how your home will be for the entire next year.

It brings bad luck to enter into the New Year without any money in your pocket;  it's good to have money (especially new bills) in each wallet so on New Year’s Eve everybody is stuffing their pockets with money to ensure a prosperous new year.

If you have debts when entering the new year, you'll have debts all that year.

Be as noisy as possible at midnight on New Year's Eve to ward off the evil spirits (bells, firecrackers, etc.).

It's advised to dress in red on New Year's Eve.

Don't cry on the first day of the New Year. Wear something new on January 1st and do not break anything on the first day of the new year.

If you have the patience to watch the three youtube videos of some ancient customs here at New Year

In the morning of the New Year’s Eve when groups of children go from house to house performing “Plugusorul” (the little plow). Equipped with bells and  whips, the children  sing  a traditional song,  featuring some agrarian or historical myths. The main message being  health wishes for the hosts and rich crops for the year to come. In the evening of the same day, groups of adults, dressed in traditional clothes and playing musical instruments, perform “Plugul” (the big plow), even bringing a plow with horses or bulls in more traditional villages.

The most colorful New Year’s Eve traditions are the mask-dances, magical ceremonials of death and rebirth, with a variety of representations from the animal world like goats, horses or bears, and fictional characters like the devil.

A most spectacular mask-dance is the “dance of the bear”, an iconic animal for  Romania's forests. Symbolizing the death and rebirth of the New Year, the dance of the bear brings to the scene intricate costumes. The dance is usually accompanied by  drums music  that dictates the rhythm of the performance.

Another representative mask-dance is the “goat”  telling the story of powerful magical practices. These  have the power of resurrecting the animal after it was charmed, another symbol of the death and rebirth of nature. Usually, the goat mask is carved from wood, covered in fur, with a jaw that moves up and down and has horns from a real goat. The body of the goat is made out of a colorful carpet.

Wishing all my friends, fans, followers and fellow authors  endless joy and a peaceful, awesome 2017! 
                 May it be better than 2016!
          Happy Writing and Reading!

August is “Write A #BookReview on Amazon Month”

A highly appreciated initiative comes from Rosie Amber, writer ,blogger, reviewer.
I reblogged her post:
                   Rosie Amber.wordpress

Readers from all over the world are being inspired to post reviews for books they’ve read on Amazon.

In a Bold attempt to increase reader awareness of the importance of book reviews to all authors, Terry Tyler is leading the campaign to get more people posting those all important reviews on Amazon.

Authors: #AugustReviews is about readers posting a review of a book to Amazon, we would also like to encourage them to share the Amazon Review Post Url on Twitter. An author can take part as a reader, but please don’t use this to promo your own books.

Book Bloggers: We really appreciate your support and know you are likely to already post reviews on Amazon, please keep the Hashtag for Twitter with a link to your Amazon review url only, not your blog post. We don’t want to put off readers who think they need to be a blogger to take part.

We are asking readers to Tweet the url of the book review using #AugustReviews and we will help share and mention you in the August Reviews Hall of Fame.

 Read the whole post here:
                       Rosie Amber 
and, please, follow the advice! I will!

Book Review (XLVIII) Gambler's Choice by Linda Nghtingale

Blurb:

Becca McQuaid came to England to find the perfect horse but instead met a darkly mysterious challenge in Austen Heath, Baron of Hampton. She’s determined to buy Austen’s stallion Gambler’s Choice. He’s determined not to sell, but the rivals are thrown together by an accident that leaves Austen with a broken leg and the threat he’ll never ride again.

Austen Heath has the title, heritage and manor house…but not the fortune. Becca is wealthy. Her charms are irresistible, but he believes she’s shopping for a Ladyship to go with her money. He has another reason to hold the sexy blonde at arms’ length—the unexplained disappearance of an old friend everyone thinks was his lover. When her body is discovered on his property, he becomes a suspect in her murder.

Then the killer begins stalking Becca. Who is the slayer haunting Hampton Hall? Is it the Baron of Hampton himself?

 

My Review

I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning finishing Gambler’s Choice. There are many things I loved about this novel that I don't even know where to start. On top of a truly well-rounded story I met some pretty clever characters.  The plot is well-developed and the characters are easy to get to know.

Becca and Austen kept me turning the pages. I found them not only likable characters, but their personalities refreshing. Outwardly, they appear as opposites in all aspects of their lives and as the story unfolds, the reader is left with the pleasant discovery of just how alike these two really are.

The author takes the reader on an intimate journey with Becca and Austen and a wonderful cast of secondary characters, Gambler’s Choice included, adding a dimension to the story while entertaining the reader.

And even though you'll be drawn in by the characters, the action will keep you going. There are many twists and turns, and new directions that this story takes. But I don’t want to give any of it up. You must experience the delight yourself by reading the book. I will add only a few quotes from the book to give you a hint about the characters:

Rebecca McQuaid from Virginia.  She was tall, slender, blonde and blue-eyed—in four words his,( Austen’s ) dream woman. Daddy was a lobbyist and Momma old Virginia aristocracy.

Becca had found that the best way to protect her heart was to play spoiled little rich girl. She was looking for a horse to fall in love with and help mend her broken heart.

Baron Austen Heath, “was as hot as a firecracker on the Fourth of July.” First, he rides like he was born on a horse. Second, he’s gorgeous and is a Baron. There are a lot of rich fillies lining up to buy that title and the neat male package that comes with it.”

The chemistry between Becca and Austen is almost palpable. The only problem is that “The man had more women than a tree had leaves” – Patti, Amy, Laura, Julia and many more.

Add to this a beautiful horse – Gambler’s Choice, a ghost, a murderer, threats on Becca’s life and you get an enthralling story.

Will Becca manage to master her fear at being threatened both by ghosts and living beings? Will  she get what she came for to England? Will Austen find out the truth about missing Julia? How can this affect his feelings for the rich American girl? I won’t tell you more to leave you discover the murderer by yourselves.

Gambler’s Choice is well written, keeps you wondering what will happen next. Fans of contemporary romance with a sprinkle of mystery, suspense and a superb horse will binge it. I highly recommend this fast-paced, page turning tale and can't wait to read more of Linda Nightingale's stories.