Posts Tagged ‘eastern europe’

Time of the Gipsys – A 1988 movie picturing the Psychology, Believes and Traditions of common Gipsy

Thursday, November 6th, 2014

Time-of-the-Gipsys-a-vmoie-about-the-sad-faith-of-gipsys-what-is-the-gipsys-lifestyle-and-secrets

Time of the Gipsys (Dom za vešanje in Serbian) is one of the best movies ever made about the Gipsys communities of eastern Europe.
TOG shows the tragic reality of a gipsy community at a time very near to the dissolvement of the Soviet Union.
It is a movie about love, hate, desperation, optimisim and the natural strive for religion and mysticism of the human soul.
Time of the Gipsys is a drama not for everyone it is much of a realistic movie discussing The root of Gipsy corruption and theft Problem that is a common thing in the Closed Gipsy Community and gives the watcher an insight on what makes a lot of the Romanis criminals.

Time-of-the-Gypsies-Perhan-family

For his TOG the movie directory (Serbian) Emir Kosturica has been nominated with Best Director award on 1989 Cannes Film Festival.
The movie explores the dark and bright realms of the human soul going through the major moments of common Gipsy boy Perhan who in his strive for 'eartly success' from an innocent boy interested into para-normal turns into a hardcore cryminal.

Perhan-gipsy-lame-sister-time-of-gipsys

The movie starts showing the family of Perhan (devoted grandmother Khaditza, his lame sister Danira and his dissolute uncle Merdzan (an alias name for Mercedes car brand :)). His family lie most of gipsys families in Eastern Europe are living a poor and isolated life, as they're rejected by the Serbian local citizens

Perhan is the illegitimate son of a Slovenian soldier who had an affair with Perhan's late mother. From very early age he is interested into advancing his 'psychic' abilities and inlove with another gipsy woman Azra but he is not allowed to marry her because he is poor and an illigitimate son of a non gipsy man.

TimeOfTheGypsies-water-gathering

After Perhan  becomes a successful (criminal) in Italy, he comes back home to Azra with hope that now he will be in the position to marry her, but finds her already pregnant and gets enraged realizing that all the criminal life he led in order to gain distinguishable position in society and money capital motivated by his love for Azra were in vain.
To make the situation worst Perhan finds Ahmed (who involved Perhan into the criminal prostitution business)'s promise to built house even not started and the operation of Perhan's lame sister Danira was not done as agreed with Ahmed.

On the day of Azra's wedding Perhan understands a secret that Azra is pregnant with a child from him conceived earlier on a st. George's day when they make love with Perhan. Still wearing the bride dress Azra dies and the kid is also named Perhan after his father.

Ahmed who involved Perhan into illegal businesses and cheated Perhan takes care for Perhan Jr. after Azra's death and the boy is raised by Perhan's crew of smugglers and prostitutes.

Later Perhan Jr. is accepted by his father Perhan and the scenes continue in Rome Italy. Finally Perhan manages to revenge and kills Ahmed with a fork (using his psychic telekinetic skills) on Ahmed's wedding day. Being enraged Perhan kills also Ahmed's brothers but finally is killed by Ahmed's new wife.
At Perhan's funeral, the grandmother passes out drinks to everyone and Perhan Jr. goes outside the house, peers through the window at his dead father, breaks the glass and steals the golden coins put on his father's eyes.He then passes the stolen coins to his uncle Merdzan who spends the coins on gambling …

time-of-the-gipsys-perhan-jr-stealing-coins-from-his-dead-father

Black Cat, White Cat – An awesome gipsy’s life movie by Emir Kosturica ;)

Friday, June 24th, 2011

Black Cat White cat movie cover

Black Cat, White Cat is truly an awesome movie from Emir Kostutirca it really presents the wildness and ridiculousness of being a citizen of the farest places of Eastern Europe the Balkans.
The movie is a story of a Gipsy hamlet, located nearby the Danube. The movie is a drama, commedy, action and even more 😉
If you’re looking for some movie to cheer up in about 2 hours of watching oddities and unexpected turn outs this is surely the movie for you.

The movie is one of the best movies ever made by a Slavonic origin film director.
My only objection to the movie, is towards the part presenting one Bulgarian who is being presented as a hardcore swindler and later on brutally killed and mocked.

This part is a bit too much insulting towards our Bulgarian nation and it also shows the decade hostility between our bordered nations …

I’ll skip the explanations on the movie plot and give you a small crazy scene to give you an idea on what to expect from the movie:

🙂

Origin of Halloween (All Hallows Eve) or the Day of All Saints is actually Christian

Thursday, October 30th, 2014

 

 

The-Christian_Original-of-Halloween-Cross_on-a-pumpkin

 

 

Many people would "celebrate" Halloween today, however many don't know or understand the true feast origin. It would probably news to many that halloween that is today so much associated with satanism, evil spirits and horror has christian origin! Here is what wikipedia States about Halloween quote:
 

The word Halloween or Hallowe'en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin. The word "Halloween" means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening". It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day). In Scots, the word "eve" is even, and this is contracted to e'en or een. Over time, (All) Hallow(s) Eve(n) evolved into Halloween. Although the phrase "All Hallows'" is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, all saints mass-day), "All Hallows' Eve" is itself not seen until 1556.

 

All-Saints-day-Latin-Roman-Catholic-icon

Before Christianization of Western societies – e.g. Irish, Old English, Scots and the other Gaelic nations, in Ancient celtic traditions Samhain (celebrated at end of October) give the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Celts believed that the spirits of the dead over the previous year come to roam the world looking for living people to possess. As a mean of protect Celts put on their face animal skin and other objects in order to be as scare as possible to drive out spirits from themselves. The Celtic people of Europe and Britain were pagan Druids (priests / educated people) whose major celebrations were marked by the seasons. At the end of the year in northern Europe, people made preparations to ensure winter survival by harvesting the crops and culling the herds, slaughtering animals that wouldn't make it. Life slowed down as winter brought darkness (shortened days and longer nights), fallow ground, and death. The imagery of death, symbolized by skeletons, skulls, and the color black, remains prominent in today's Halloween celebrations.

seasonal_activities_medieval_seasons_calendar

The "Samhain" season used to be a favourite times before Christianization and (even by some witches, later haunted by Inquisition) for occult practices such as divination and communication with the dead. They sought "divine" spirits (demons) and the spirits of their ancestors regarding weather forecasts for the coming year, crop expectations, and even romantic prospects. Bobbing for apples was one practice the pagans used to divine the spiritual world's "blessings" on a couple's romance.

Interetingly in Eastern Europe countries, there is similar traditions in multiple countries – e.g. Romania, Moldova Serbia, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia even in my own Bulgarian culture we still have regions celebrating similar pagan feast, on whose feast KukeriKukers are called the dressed people in the form and masked as scary beasts with horns dance on the streets in hope to drive away with their awful looking outlook any "evil spirits". Kukeri traditionally appear still in Eastern Bulgaria, the feast has been known to have origin from Thracians.

kukeri in Bulgaria Shiroka Lyka

It is intriguing that since, even very ancient times people believed in immortality of the human spirit and this is not coincidence, because from ancient times people know "instinctively" the soul is importal and life continues on after physical dead of the body.

The modern version of Halloween celebrated mainly by kids wandering the homes of neighbors with the question "Trick or Treat?" started being marked in that way in England, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Italy at least as early as 15th century.
Traditionally groups of poor children would go to homes collecting the so called soul-cakes (special burned small breads) made as an aim of remembrance of the Christian relatives who passed away – it was a very widespread custom to give food to strangers as a mean of charity  just like it is still in Orthodox Christian countries, we give away food to strangers as an aim to remembrance of our departed (and forgiveness of sins) to our relatives.

Halloween-christian-tradition-soul-cake-with-Cross-on-it

In the Middle Ages, churches displayed the holy relics of martyred saints for veneration and those parishes that were too poor to have relics let parishioners dress up as the saints instead a practice that some Christians continue in Halloween celebrations today.

Cross_and_Halloween_origin-of-feast

Unfortunately the Christian root of Halloween tradition gradually mixed with some of the old still not completely forgotten beliefs of paganism in pre-christian times and with the gradual raise of materialism, the protestant reformation, the enlightenment, the french revolution, the world wars etc. this mostly Christian traditions loose their Christian ground and left mostly its pagan element.
After Christianization of Europe from the 9th century onwards the Church, pagan traditions continued to be practiced by many, probably because the Church "mass" language and preaching was in Latin, people doesn't have bibles and many even baptized doesn't really had a good knowledge / understanding on Christian faith.
It is not a coincidence the Church's decision to place the All Hallows Eve (The Day of All Saints) on "Halloween" feast on 1  November.

Pope_Gregory_III-icon-Catholic-Pope-who-fighted-iconoclasm-heresy

The feast of All Saints on its current date, is traced to the foundation by Pope Gregory III (731–741) – (who was a defender of true Orthodox Christian faith  and openly against the heresy of Iconoclasm) who set this date to be  "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout the world", the feast was moved to 1 November from the prior feast from 13 May suppressed.

With the emigration of many Europeans to America the secular Halloween feast has been transferred to America and set itself as one of the United States citizens tradition in which reminded emigrants for their homeland europe making the feast popularity to boast. The bloom of TV advertisement and the decrease of faith in people, increase of occult mindset in society made the feast primordial understanding to invert associating Halloween with evil which is fun in the mass. This is quite strange as evin the ancient pagans, had not associated with evil but used the feast as a mean to protect from evil. That's another sign in what kind of tragic state currently society is … sadly the feast Americanization made it to the number of "International feasts". And now there is almost no country where Halloween is not celebrated in a secular way.

It is not a hidden fact that Halloween feast for its connection with magical powers, paganism and occult is often believed and said to be 'A feast day for Witches and magicians', its considered important feast in Anton Sandor Lavey's Church of Satan.

A lot of parents nowdays does encourage their children to celebrate the feast not understanding the real Christian roots of it and teaching children to enjoy evil often without even realizing the psychological damage this makes to a kid.
Some countries such as Russia has already legislation prohibiting the pupils in school to mask like monsters and celebrate publicly the feast.
roman_catholic_christian_halloween_pumpkin
If you're a parent it is always a good idea to tell your kid that the truth is Halloween feast is not connected to darkness as it is often publicly illustrated but on the contrary Halloween tradition is early Christian one.