Lasata Secului - Easter
Folklore, traditions
About
Lasatul Secului is a celebration that marks the last day when you can eat meat, before starting one of the four great fasts ordered by the Orthodox Church (the Fast of the Nativity, the Fast of Holy Easter, the Fast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and the Fast of the Dormition of the Mother Lord).
The only fast that has two Lasatul Secului is that of Holy Easter, also known as Great Lent. The first Lasata Secului is for meat and is held on the Sunday of the Terrible Judgment, and the other is for eggs, fish and dairy and is held on the Sunday of Adam's Expulsion from Heaven.
In all the rural areas of the country, Easter Lasatul Secului plays an extremely important role. Many traditions are still kept. For example, Lasata Secului de Pasti preserves traditions specific to the beginning of an agrarian year, celebrated with the spring equinox. As Professor Ion Ghinoiu says, "by fixing Easter in relation to the spring equinox and the lunar phase, the most important pagan holidays and customs were pushed outside the Easter cycle, at the end of the century and at Pentecost".
This holiday also marks that moment of balance between the new agrarian year and the old one. Depending on this holiday, the customs and traditions of the place are also held. These are divided into two categories: celebrations that take place before the end of the century in "Fool's Week" and customs that take place in "Santoader's Horses" week.
Another tradition that is still preserved today is the binding of grains. This custom is practiced so that birds or other pests do not destroy the household's harvest.
In some villages of Covasna, since the end of the century, another old custom is practiced, that of purifying fires. In the evening, fires are lit on the hills. According to tradition, in this way the atmosphere is purified in the respective community, also helping to ward off evil spirits. Moreover, it was believed that by performing this ritual, the perpetuation of rebirth is ensured.
And in the Muntenia region, daughters-in-law use to prepare sweet cheese and raisin pies that they then offer to their mothers-in-law, so that their relationships remain "sweet" during Lent as well.