Traces of Vlach magic

"Before we start walking and talking about Vlachs and Vlach magic, try not to look at their traditions and customs with scorn. The centuries-old traditions you will hear about today are the cornerstone of their value system and the way they look at the world. Also, keep in mind that they are also Christians and cherish many of our customs. And no, that does not prevent them from believing in some things unique to their culture."

With these words, the guide Rade (by the way, half-Serbian, half-Vlach) introduced himself to us before we set foot on the paths where the human foot rarely treads today. Where, if you surrender to nature, you can still feel the mystique that surrounds the name of this people.

A small but well-chosen group of enthusiastic people, of various nationalities (in addition to the Serbs there were Italians, Americans and Spaniards), of different ages (from the younger generations, up to one grandmother who showed that age is just a number) in the company of the dog Freud (who, like the real Freud, eagerly looked at everything visible and invisible to us), and among whom I was, shaved in eastern Serbia, in the vicinity of Majdanpek. Before us was a long path - 18 kilometers where there were uphills, downhills, mysterious caves, overgrowth (which is the definition of a rock vault), dried up riverbeds, but also those rivers that had to be crossed. To make the trail even better, Rada's guide made sure that he told us about the legends and customs of the Vlachs that marked some places.

The history of a nation is not dictated only by cause and effect relationships, but also by the geography of a place. Thus, Rade explains to us that the Vlachs were mainly miners (since the area itself is rich in mineral resources) and herders, while black and white cows, just like the ones we see on the wrappers of milk chocolates, look at us confused from the edge.

The path takes us past the rainforest. Felješana for which there is an interesting fact that it was first owned by Natalija Obrenović, who donated this treasure of nature to the Faculty of Forestry. The forest is decorated with narrow, steep paths and the green color of the trees seems to be a shade brighter and stronger than usual. We are coming to Danilov Vrele where the first thing that catches my attention is a cave in which there is an irrigation system. Curious by nature, I enter that cave, where you can't even see a finger in front of the eye. The water bubbling through the pipes made unusual sounds, similar to mystical music. Is it my imagination or are the spirits of the Vlach ancestors speaking to us, the people of the modern age who think that having some knowledge and technology makes us smarter and wiser than our predecessors?

A slow-flowing river used to flow near that cave. Here, young, unmarried girls stacked stones. According to tradition, if the stacked stones are not destroyed within a year, the girl would be able to get married the following year.

Going out into the daylight brings me back to reality a little. I am approaching the guide that begins the story of Danilov Vrele and the irrigation system that existed in these areas and the explosion that disrupted the irrigation system. He also mentions an interesting custom that exists among the Vlachs.

It is believed that the deceased, although no longer in this world, may be thirsty in the other world. That is why water is spilled for the deceased, but it cannot be done by anyone, but only by a girl who has never menstruated. By the way, although the Vlachs believe that the soul moves on after death, they do not believe in the existence of heaven or hell.

The road further leads us to overgrow (stone vault) which is called Gaura Ursula. Translated from Vlach, the name means Bear's Pit.  This place was believed to represent the place of transition from this world to the world of the dead. Looking at this natural wonder, I understand why.

In order to reach the overgrowth itself, it is necessary to overcome an extremely steep downhill that was once part of the river course. Some people roped themselves down, while others, wanting to follow the impassable paths and test themselves, tried to descend themselves by holding on to the tree trunks and rocky walls of the overgrowth. It can be seen that two rivers once flowed near the overgrowth.

To make the place even more mystical, there are two underexplored caves. One is like a pit and you can clearly see that one of the two streams once flowed there and it is more difficult to enter it. The second one can be entered, and the chambers seem to go to the center of the Earth. I remembered the then popular German series Dark and I thought that in the next moment I would go back in time through the cave - maybe not exactly in 1986, when the Chernobyl disaster broke out, but in the time when mermaids predicted the future in this place.

Rusaljka or rusalje are Wallachian women who have the ability to fall into a trance and contact people who have died. The very name rusaljka (or rusali) comes from a word that denotes the souls of the deceased, most often children and young people. People also had to observe rusalika on those occasions because their actions could become uncontrollable. The women themselves did not remember anything after waking from the trance.

People wouldn't be people if they didn't try to find a rational explanation for this phenomenon. People from the group asked the guide to tell what the secret was and what psychoactive substance these women used. There are various assumptions, including that they ate some mushrooms that caused the trance effect, but no one really knows the answer.

As a rock lover, I was so focused on one of the two caves that I wasn't very interested in the origin of Rusalj's power. Seeing that a few of us were entering the cave, which had sunk into the walls of the overgrowth, the guide warned us that there was also a precipice, and that we should be careful where we stood, because it would be more difficult to get us out without a rope if we fell. I go out grumpily, reminding myself that maybe I should join the speleologists exploring the caves in this area before the truth is told that curiosity killed the cat.

We learn that the Vlachs have their own supreme goddess called Muma Paduri. She represents women and symbolizes an ambivalent deity - she is the embodiment of good and evil at the same time.

The path continues to lead us to the top. Birch. Before we set off on a further hike, the guide draws our attention to another ritual of the Vlachs.

Namely, women who had some concern could take a stone on the way to the top (and only one stone for one ascent to the top).

Someone remarked: What about men? Rade made a little joke and said: And they don't care so much, which we laughed at (guys, don't feel called names, it's just a joke 🙂 ). He went on to explain that the size of the stone is proportional to the size of the worry, so the bigger the stone, the bigger the worry. Somewhere near the top Birches that stone was thrown on top of a pile of other already thrown stones and it was believed that the worry would disappear as a result. Partly because of the belief that there is no such stone that can solve even the biggest human worries, and partly because the sun was burning me and because I was carrying hiking poles and a backpack, I decided not to "transfer" my worries to the stone, and to keep them in some distant corner of my brain. The day was such that worries were left aside. However, I looked at that ritual differently when I got to the top.

I curiously watched the other women who were lifting stones, as well as the path we were taking towards the top. Likewise, I observed the women's reactions to carrying stones as the uphill became steeper and the terrain more difficult to pass. The closer we got to the top, the harder it became to carry the stone. The path was extremely narrow. The thick and tall grass made walking difficult. Branches and bushes scratched our bodies and tripped us at every step - nature warned us to walk along paths that few people walk. Some women even considered throwing a stone somewhere along the way. In the end, they all managed to carry him to the foot of the peak. There it is thrown on a conspicuous pile of stones that testifies to the fact that many women have tried to leave their worries behind.

Then it dawned on me that maybe this ritual is not so random - in order to relieve the soul at the moment when it is safe for us and when we are allowed to do so, we must first learn how to carry the burden within us. We need to learn to embrace it like any other emotion - regardless of how much external circumstances make it even harder to carry that burden. Only when we learn that, we will be able to get rid of it, and until then we learn to live with it.

On the way to the top, we heard that the Vlachs used to bury the dead in the courtyards. Although it may sound gloomy, the reason for this was quite simple - the Vlachs lived far from each other, so it was more difficult to build a cemetery where all the deceased would be buried.

From the top Birches there was a wide view of some of the mountain peaks, and Romania could be seen in the distance. Rade told us that from this place on a cold winter day, when the sky is completely clear, you can also see the Carpathian mountain ranges. And so, I was sitting, it seemed to me at the time, on top of the world below which stretched the boundaries between mysticism and reality, rural and urban, real and unreal. And in all this, there were us, newcomers with our own understandings and moral codes who were slowly learning about a new system of values that should be valued as much as we value our own; and finally, that Vlach magic should not be associated with some old, ugly old woman who will cast a spell on someone and destroy his life forever.

I was shivering from the gentle wind whipping my sweaty back and hands, and at the same time I was a mesmerized and mute witness of the beauty and little-known natural treasures of Serbia: Valja Fundata, Starica, Veliki krš and Stol. Trembling, I listen to another interesting (to some, perhaps morbid) custom of the Vlachs: black wedding.

A black wedding took place (and still takes place) in the event that one of the newlyweds is killed or dies. So, for example, in the case when the bride-to-be's fiance dies/passes away - the young man would be buried in a wedding suit, while the fiancee would see him off in a black wedding dress with music.

We continue our journey to another mystical place Crash. On the way to that cave, we are surrounded by a forest whose trees curve in such a way as to resemble the vaults of some mystical enchanted forest that we meet in fairy tales and legends. One part of the road consists of a river bed that has dried up and leaves a special impression.

Someone would now ask: what makes the bed of a river that dried up a long time ago special? I will try to present an impression with the hope that at least one reader will want to tread the paths that few tread.

I'm walking. Around me are stones of various sizes, overgrown with a soft, fluffy layer of moss. The stones tell their story unequivocally. In front of my eyes I see a river where the love and war of stone and water once took place and where the stone still won. However, just as imagination can conjure up what does not exist, it can also reconstruct what was once tangible and real for the people of that era.

In front of me I see a river that flows inexorably. Its strong current shapes those stones, now overgrown with moss. The water on the surface is smooth, bright, transparent. As you go deeper, it becomes bluish-green, darker. I imagine people standing staring into the depths of that river. Down there, lurk mystical water creatures that the world's mythologies talk about long and wide. I also see those creatures swimming in the depths of the river, fast, without pausing... They are in a hurry, they feel hunger, hunger for a new victim who looks curiously into the river depths...

But it's all just a second. In the next moment, I become aware that I have to be careful not to trip while walking with my head in the clouds.

The road goes steeply uphill and we see a cave in front of us Crash.

The cave itself is vast and not well known, despite speleologists coming to explore it. Near the entrance itself are two strange symbols carved into the stone. There is a debate as to whether these incisions are the result of erosion or runes carved by someone.

It took place in the Kršior cave ritual of stoning - that was the name for orgies among the Vlachs.

This tradition was interrupted when the communists came to power. By the way, the Vlachs themselves, unlike other cultures, do not look at their partner's cheating in a judgmental and cross-eyed way. This story reminded me of technical classes when we did orthogonal projection - we learned to draw an object from above, from the side, and from the front. Different views on the reality of Wallachia and other cultures reminded me of that orthogonal projection. One projection is for one culture. If you are attached to the familiar, you will see only one, your side of that projection. If you want to see the whole picture, you have to rise higher to understand that different cultures see the same reality through different eyes.

A veil of night covers the forest. As if sensing that it's time for a story about how criminals were punished as we slowly descend to the canyon Black rivers.

Criminals buried themselves in the ground up to their heads so that their gaze was directed at the flowing river. They were left at the mercy of the forest, beasts that could tear them apart, bugs that gnawed on their bodies, unknown spirits and gods. Depending on the severity of the offense, criminals would be buried for three or five days. Some died, some would survive. I forgot to ask the guide, and now I can only guess the answer, whether this punishment made people better.

It was not planned that we would return from the tour in the dark. Even though we moved tirelessly for eight hours, the rough terrain and some difficult sections took their toll. We stayed on the trail longer than we should have. However, that darkness also seemed to help us feel the mysticism of the canyon Black rivers, the mystery of the forest and to experience the flicker of fear that the condemned Vlach once experienced while, nervously awaiting death, he secretly hoped for redemption.

Although Black River it is not wide and deep, crossing it in some places was challenging - from balancing on stones, to jumping, and even using tree branches as a springboard to cross to the other side of the bank. Of course, for those who didn't want to tempt their sense of balance and wanted to return with dry shoes (although there were also those who didn't succeed) - there was a guide to help and suggest a safer way to not get stuck and stay dry. So the tour satisfied both those who wanted an active walk and those who wanted to feel like Indiana Jones or some supernatural hunter during that active walk.

Although I saw it earlier during the tour, the following became clear to me while passing through the canyon - it is still not the best to come here on your own. Although there are markings, they rarely appear and there are no signs where they lead. So, brainstorm - explore the unknown with a local who knows the terrain.

We finally hit the road. The dark night is illuminated by a constellation Big car. We, a small select group with lit foreheads and lights on our phones resemble traveling stars on Earth.

The tour comes to an end and in the silence of the night, while we eat dinner greedily, we listen to the guide's last story - the ritual of killing old people among the Vlachs and compares it with a similar tradition among the Serbs.

Montenegrins and Serbs had a custom called "lapot" - killing old people who could not contribute to the community. They would kill each other by placing bread on their heads and before hitting them with a wooden hammer, they would say: "I am not killing you, but this bread." Among the Vlachs, the process of killing the elderly was more cruel - they were buried alive in the walls of the houses.

Tanja, mountain guide and owner of the travel agency through which I went on this one tour, who knows about my fascination with the mystical, asked me: "Are you Natalija, are you going to start researching Vlach magic like you researched the topic of vampires? A little clarification is needed here: on the second tour directed by her where we visited the water mill of Sava Savanović, the first Serbian vampire, I explained to other people the role of the vampire in folklore and literature, his relatives in other nations as well as some reasons why people attributed to the vampire qualities they attributed to him.

I knew I would. She knew too. And also, we both knew that it was a deep ocean of the unknown and that on this tour we were only swimming a little on the surface.

How did travel and fantasy merge into one?

The text was originally created as an idea to be published on the Hitchhiker's Guide to Fantasy association portal. This is how the idea of writing texts about tourist places with certain mythological beliefs was started. However, the association has other goals.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Fantasy Association was formed on September 15, 2015 and is registered in Zemun. On the portal of the association, you can find professional works that analyze various films, series, comics, books, anime and other artistic creations that have elements of the fantastic. In addition, the Hitchhiker's Guide to Fiction has writers who publish their novels and stories (among other things, stories about places with mythological beliefs) through the association. All money collected from book purchases is used to publish new editions.

The association provides a chance for other experts (such as illustrators and graphic designers) to express their knowledge and creativity. Promotions and literary evenings are also organized. All events have the same goal - to show that fiction is not only a means of developing imagination and creativity, but also an opportunity to talk about universal human dilemmas, problems and truths with a different approach. The Hitchhiker's Guide to Fiction Association is made up of volunteers driven by a love of fiction, the written word, and, in general, art. The association offers an equal chance to everyone who wants to contribute.

If you are interested in reading some texts and stories, you can do so at the address https://fantasticnivodic.com/.

The article was written by Natalija Tanasković, September 2021.