New Year Traditions:
Issue date: 26 December 1986
Perforation 13 1/4
Designer: Manescu Mihai
50 Bani - Capra (Issued: 1,800,000)
1.00 Lei - Sorcova (Issued: 1,500,000)
2.00 Lei - Plugusorul (Issued: 1,000,000)
3.00 Lei - Buhaiul (Issued: 800,000) Flaws: black dot over u in buhaiul (r1, c3)
4.00 Lei - Caiutii (Issued: 500,000)
5.00 Lei - Uratorii (Issued: 200,000)
Romanian Winter Season Traditions:
In Romania, the winter holiday season is truly in full-swing from December 24 to January 7. Highlights include: Christmas Day, New Year and Ephiphany, with their respective eves. The most important feature of these celebrations is their unique variety of colorful Romanian customs, traditions, and believes, of artistic, musical, and other folklore events, which make the winter holidays some of the most original and spectacular spiritual manifestations of the Romanian people.
The Goat Tradition - Capra
Throughout the season, teenagers and young adults especially enjoy caroling with the "Goat". The "Goat" is actually a usually boisterous young person dressed up in a goat costume. The whole group dances through the streets and from door to doo, often with the flute music. This tradition comes from the ancient Roman people and it reminds us of the celebration of the ancient Greek gods.
This costumes is also called "brezaia" in Wallachia and Oltenia, because of the multicolored apperance of the goat mask. The goat jumps, jerks, turn around, and bends, clattering regularly the wooden jaws.
Sorcova
"Sorcova" is a special bouquet used for New Year's wishes early New Year 's morning. Children wish people a "Happy New Year!" while touching them lightly with the bouquet. After they have wished a Happy New Year to the members of their family, the childrengo to neighbours and relatives. Traditionally, the "Sorcova" bouquet was made up of one of several fruit - tree twigs (apple-tree, pear-tree, cherry-tree, plum-tree); all of them are put into water, in warm place, on November 30th (St.Andrew's Day), in order to bud and to blossom on New Year's Eve.
Sorcova, vesela,
Sa traiti, sa-mbatraniti,
Ca un mar, ca un par,
Ca un fir de trandafir,
Tare ca piatra,
Iute ca sageata,
Tare ca fierul,
Iute ca otelul,
Peste vara, primavara,
Nici capul sa nu te doara,
La anu' si la multi ani !
Nowadays people often use an apple-tree or peer-tree twig decorated with flowers made up of colored paper. The children receive all kinds of treats such as: cakes, honeycombs, biscuits, pretzels, candies, nuts, money.
The Little Plough - Plugusorul
Plugusorul is a small plough. In Romanian folklore is a traditional procession with a decorated plough, on New Years' Eve. This is a well wishing custom for the field fruitfulness into the new year. This custom arises from "Carmen Arvale", a Roman wish for bountiful crops.
The ploughmen are teenagers and children carrying whips, bells, and pipes in their hands.
