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The Sumedru fire, a millenary tradition of Muntenia, especially from the Muscel area, was presented exclusively for DCNews by the poet from Câmpulungea, member of the Union of Romanian Writers, Liviu Mățăoanu:
“The Sumedru Fire tradition is the oldest tradition in the Muscel area, historians and ethnographers consider it to be the oldest festival that Romanians have, among those who have survived. I also believe it. For us it was like a time, when autumn came, everyone was preparing for the Fire of Sumedru. It was the most beloved holiday, along with Easter and Christmas, perhaps dearer than New Year’s Eve, especially for children.
Muslims are very traditional and have kept their holidays intact.
The mind that develops in a mountainous area is an extremely strong mind, extremely well defined. The mentality of the Muscelians was to preserve all the goods they had, both tangible and spiritual. Starting from the tradition of clothing, until your holidays. Even the language was almost intact. We still have some words that we have been using for a long time. For example, my grandmother never used the word potatoeshe always said wrecks.
I do not agree with the statement of some ethnographers, who say that it is 2000 years old, I think it is much older, we have been talking about Christianity for 2000 years and, in this way, if we look at the tradition Sumedru’s fire as a pre-Christian tradition combined with a Christian one, yes, it has been combined from the moment the newer tradition appeared, 2000 years ago. If we think of the tradition itself and evaluate it in its usual structure, in the fire, which gathers a community around it, to weld that community together, we realize that it is much older and surpasses Christianity. We have a lot of evidence, we do not have a secular theology, instead we have historians, who scientifically analyze this evidence of the existence of ancient civilizations. It is proven that all the religions of the rulers overlap with the religions of the conquered. In this way, he assimilated his pantheism and brought it to the level of whoever conquered the area. Christianity is not a military conquest, practically, from 313, from the time of Constantine the Great, it became a universal religion, which spread to us.
Christianity, becoming a universal religion, began to manifest itself publicly. In order to erase the ancient traditions from the minds of the conquered, he superimposed the Christian holidays on the calendar of pre-Christian holidays, which were practiced, for example, by the population of our area, Daco-Romana, still mixed in the century IV. There were still free Dacians, for example, in northern Moldavia or Transylvania, which were not Romanized. The year 300 means that only a few generations after the conquest, there was still, in the minds of the grandchildren, the memory of the grandparents or great-grandparents. Later, the old traditions were lost and only the Christian ones remained. This is what happened, for example, with the tradition of spring, which only in our area we call Armindeni, probably that is what it was called then. Thus appeared the agricultural year, beginning with St. George, or Sângiorz and autumn ends with San Dumitru o Sumedru.
The secular tradition has taken over 100% of the church tradition. The secular year began on September 1 and ended on August 31. Many did not understand why one document was cataloged in one year and another in another year, although there was a difference of only a few days between them, “said Liviu Mățăoanu.
How is the Fire of Sumedru organized?
“I have some extraordinarily beautiful memories. It was a long-awaited party for the children. It was put on by the youngest children in the community. In the area where I grew up, there were about 4-5 shots from a few hundred meters away. It was the most beautiful folk festival. We gathered some older boys, teenagers, maybe even newlyweds and with many children after us, we went to the Ștefănescu park in Câmpulung and we looked for a healthy, thick tree, not necessarily a fir, although in the writings of ethnographers appears the fir. I did not put half of the tree, but of a stronger variety. I cleaned it, it was like a tall stick and put it on the ground. Also in preparation for the event, each one came with two or four large fir branches, cut from the base of the tree, down to smaller branches that the children brought in. Each child brings as much as they can. I made a few heavier stacks of satin, which I then put concave side in, like zebu leaves cooking pot. It looked like a huge egg. Many satin stocks were set aside.
We waited for it to get dark, but before putting the satin on this drug, this is a change in society related to that moment of our childhood, we also put big tires, from trucks or buses. We take the smallest tires and put them on the edges of the fire and then cover them with satin. These are new items that did not exist in the past.
As soon as it got dark and the grandparents, parents and grandchildren were reunited, the fire started and 3-4 young people were in charge of its maintenance. They were saying Take a step backe, when they dumped diesel or aerosols. Throughout the year we collect aerosols to throw on the fire and also dry chestnuts. These were combustion. The gum was used only to keep the fire burning all night, at this stage, when the children were present at the event, autumn fruits, apples, pears, plums, but also walnuts and hazelnuts were distributed. Not only were the traditional ones given away, there were also candies, sweets and pretzels, which were indispensable.
In a first phase the first rows of satin were burned, then the little ones retired with their grandparents. There were teenagers and young people, with men and women up to their 50s. The adults brought drinks, made that year, which they shared among themselves. I remember coming with carafes, bottles and giving each other. All kinds of beautiful things could be heard. They laughed when one came out with a sour or very sweet brandy. Their rules were shared, they gave fine details about the quality, the variety, they spread the best ways to extract liqueurs ”, recalls the poet.
The celebration continued until the morning
“After the children went home to their grandparents and parents, a row of satin was laid, after which the embers, approximately one meter high, were burned. The nights were cold, but the embers were burning hot. Around midnight the event described by the ethnographers was taking place, when young people were screaming. Come to the fire of Sumedru, and the young men jumped over the fire. This was done after the little ones left. He was still the most viable part of the community, the strongest men and young men who aspired to the status of manhood. They were jumping over the fire. It was a ritual of passage, of initiation. That is why I say that this holiday is much more than 2000 years old and belongs to the religions that have survived and that we know from ancient Greece, at least five centuries before Christ. Especially since some of those traditions had their origin in the Thracian world near the Danube, especially a god of fire. The connections are much deeper. It was a very beloved party, “said Liviu Mățăoanu.
The tradition of fire, in danger
“Last year I was very sad, I didn’t want to participate in the event. This holiday, last year, she was on the verge of being assassinated by the authorities, indirectly, without realizing it. I learned with sadness, reading an official document, that the fire brigade of Câmpulung requested an operating permit for those who manufacture Sumedru’s Fire. This is the biggest mistake authorities can make, creating a criminal hand when they ask for such a thing. No one has asked for an operating license for thousands of years.
The moment someone asks for permission, the reaction of people who could continue the tradition of fire is to stop. At that moment, the holidays die. There is also the other component, driven by Norris Măgeanu on the Mățău hill, which is absolutely exceptional and welcome, but it should not be done that way. In Rucăr, Bran, there are festivals to which people from all over the country are called. What should we do? Sitting with the firemen in the back? The solution is as simple as possible for the Câmpulung authorities. A meeting of the mayors of the area must be held, it is a very big problem. Nobody has to declare a fire. Firefighters can remain alert without asking permission. If something happens, we have cell phones, in a few minutes they can reach and put out the fire. I do not remember, in my entire existence, the fires in the city of Câmpulung, the night of the Sumedru Fire. People are very attentive and very responsible. The place where the fire is made is known by tradition, the fires are made at large intersections.
No matter how the fire authorities are configured with the local administrations, this party must be helped and supported, not killed. Authorization should not be required because firefighters have nothing to do and must also show how careful they are with the population and destroy a millennium celebration, ”the poet also specified.
The Sumedru fire, under the sign of the COVID-19 pandemic
“The pandemic will affect the holidays. Any year in which there is no Sumedru Fire is a great sadness for us. What was done in Mățău had a very important national resonance. Sorry to say, but many times this resonance has been after. The relationship with the press should be done a week before the fire. If there is news on the big televisions that the Sumedru fire took place last night, the local area does not help much. Must be announced in advance.
There are many people interested in this phenomenon, from small producers who want to sell their crafts, to people from all over the country. When it is canceled, the memory of the festival is affected and must be complemented with other cultural actions in the area. It’s a shame to get lost, today we do less, tomorrow no, tomorrow we need dozens of permits and it is lost. Who is responsible for this? The pandemic affected us all equally. But this way of complying with so many rules, of having a celebration, is aberrant. I can say about the institutions responsible for the disappearance of this holiday, soon and, unfortunately, we will ask ourselves this question: What are the causes?“Concluded Liviu Mățăoanu.
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