Taking Hold of the Future: Active Childbirth Practices and Beliefs in Romania (in the Home Country and in Migration)

Abstract

The relatively recent urbanization process in Romania allowed traditional knowledge to be transmitted, despite industrialization and technology diffusion. Childbirth is still a mysterious event, and magic thinking fills in the gaps of science in order to keep parents confident and at peace. Taboos are obeyed after birth and before christening, only to reach the phase when the future can be moulded: specific elements are chosen for the ritual bath, the child has to touch several objects that would make them smart, a good singer, etc. A year later, their future occupation will be predicted in a specific ceremony. All these active practices are found in urbanites’ families, and also in Romanian immigrant communities in Western Europe. Rituals are mostly compared to neighbouring countries, but also to other distant cultures that show striking similarities. This large geographical spread indicates Indo-European synergies. The identical form of the post-liminal practice of haircutting in Eastern Europe and the Asian rite of passage have not been previously dwelt upon, and it implies the existence of traditional thinking universalia.