Vasiljica Roma celebration - Rituals and ways of celebrating

The Roma,  people who immigrated to the Balkans before the Turks, bring with them not only various crafts and skills, but also their own traditions and customs. We are all part of a tradition through which we affirm our roots and identity. This includes, among other things, the celebration of Vasiljica. The celebration of Saint Vasil the Great, also known in our country as Vasilica, Vasiljica or Vasuljica, is part of a centuries-old tradition that continues today. This celebration is one of the most blessed for Rome, because the success of the year depends on the way it is celebrated, in what mood and with what kind of start. This celebration is a  reason  for socializing and greater connection among family members.   It is a fasting holiday and the use of pork is strictly forbidden. It runs from January 13th to January 16th. In my family, and most of my area, the celebration begins after midnight on January 12, when the whole family goes out to prepare meat for the celebration: turkeys and one goose or one rooster. The number of feathered animals must be odd, mostly turkeys are an even number and one goose seems odd. It is believed that, given that animals are bought before the celebration, one will surely die because the rule is that it must be odd. It happened to my family one year that one turkey died because the number of animals was even. While the animals are being slaughtered, the host says “Sastipnaja”, which means with happiness or health. That same evening, the housewife prepares a celebration cake using thicker fat.   On the evening of January 13, in the evening, a candle is lit for the first time and on that day, guests are not invited but are celebrated in the family circle. The host lights the candle with the flame from the stove, and also when the candle is extinguished, it is blown towards the burning stove, thus preserving the flame and the life of the family hearth.   There are numerous dishes on the table, for the appetizer there is a winter dish prepared by the housewives for the winter, pickles and cabbage, ajvar, etc. it is believed that the beginning of the dinner was due to the poverty of the families of that time and the lack of shops in the villages where they could buy what we mean by appetizer today. Later, a pie with cheese, pilaf, stew and turkey meat, turkey or goose pies and finally cakes are set, in the past people made baklava and urmašica and today they are various cakes from small cakes to cake. The table used to be more modest because there were large families of ten to twenty or more members, so it was important that everyone was full.   There are two types of položajnik: a family member and a person outside the family who first enters the house on January 14, ie the first day of the celebration.   On the 13th and 14th, after midnight or in the morning, a family member enters. He brings in a branch of plums and blesses the family for the whole year, wishing not only health and happiness, but also enumerating domestic animals, expanding the family and the like. The plum twig must be made of fertile wood and with buds in order for the year to be fruitful, the more buds there are, the better the year will be. Money is thrown to the položajnik and after that the twig is left in the house until the end of the celebration and then it is put in the stove with Christmas branch from Christmas.   The second resident, the first person to enter the house outside the family, also enters, blessing the family and wishing them a good year. The položajnik is the most important guest and is served with the greatest honors, with the best meat, the best food, drink. In our family, the position is obligatorily given a pilaf drumstick that is kept for him / her.   The second day of the celebration was left for the guests, and if they were the previous day, this day the candle is not lit. The third day and the last one, which is celebrated on January 16, is the day when the candle is not lit, but only the cake is broken and a Christmas branch and a plum twig are placed in the stove.   The celebration of this holiday has not changed much over the centuries and decades. There has been a change in the historical context and an increase in living standards, which can be seen in the way of celebration. There used to be only local parties, few guests or almost no family at all, but the holiday was still celebrated every year.   Always when we celebrate Vasiljica, our father would tell us an anecdote from three generations ago of our ancestor who invited guests for the celebration. The guests ate the meat that was set, there was not much of it, so our ancestor invited the woman to the kitchen and told him to take hats to bake to continue the celebration. Guests who ate hats thinking they were livers resented the hosts for making the entrails a little hard. This story confirmed the existence of poverty at that time and the consequences of the war.   The Roma community still adheres to the traditional celebration of this holiday, saying “You do not respect tradition if you change it!” Our tradition is important because to know who we are. Customs are there not only to remind us of our ancestors but also to connect us with them.  

Author Jelena Reljić 

 Co-author Stevica Reljić