A Békés Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 23. (Békéscsaba, 2002)

Nagyné Martyin Emília: Burial cults of the Romanians lived in Hungary

A magyarországi románok halottkultusza Burial cults of the Romanians lived in Hungary - Nagyné Emília Martyin Résumé The burial cult of the Romanians lived in Hungary became central topic of some scientific research works in the last few years, in consideration to the multicolouring, variety of the death related, belief based customs that could be regarded as rarity. However, the few dissertations processing this topic describe mainly the deceased related beliefs and burial customs, disregarding all those data, that are provided by the cemetaries for the research works. After the birth, baptism, wedding the last station of the turns of the human life is the death, the burial. The death means the irrevocable dissolution of the living beings, but at the same time it means the beginning of the entry into the unknown world. Its mystery is at the same time agitating and fearful. The life after the death, the mysteriousness of the other-world surrounds the deceased with strange beliefs. The honour of the deads by the living and their fear from the dead means the source of the innumerable beliefs and customs. This dual feeling is the basis of the dead related customs, but the fear inspired also the aloof and elusive deeds. Keeping the memory of the deads alive is known by each folks. The main reason to commemorate about the deads is the prevention of the maleficent intentions of the deads toward the living. The basis of the death related deeds and beliefs is the imagination, that the death takes place gradually and the soul of the deceased stays for a while in his/her body or in its vicinity, and leaves into the other-world or continue to live in the grave. Some remains of the burial cults of the Romanians lived in Hungary still lives vivid even today in the everyday practice or in the memory of the people. These remains are e.g. the keeping of the burial feast, the custom to nourish symbolically the deads, to lay objects/tools near the deads, the belief-stories about ghosts, deads related memorial objects, death related folk-poetry works and the ethnography of the cemetary. Nagyné Martyin Emilia Erkel Ferenc Múzeum H-5700 Gyula, Kossuth L. и. 17. 341