Video The archaic village where wolves and bears were worshipped. The strange connection of the hidden place in the mountains with the Dacian god, Zamolxis

Only a few families still live permanently in the village of Urșici in Hunedoara, located at almost 1,000 meters above sea level. The settlement in the Orăștiei Mountains is famous for its picturesque views, but it is also an unusual place due to the traditions of its past.

The approach of winter deepens the silence that surrounds the village of Urșici in Hunedoara, an isolated settlement on the Luncanilor Platform in the Orăștiei Mountains, permanently inhabited by 3-4 families who raise animals.

The road that goes up from the Lucani valley (Boșorod commune) to the village in the mountains becomes more difficult to access, being on the last ten kilometers of dirt, difficult because of the steep slopes and ditches created by nature and car wheels.

But the travelers who arrive here are treated to spectacular views. The images taken by Devean photographer Cristian Resiga show the archaic mountain village, watched from afar by the prominent ridges of Retezat and Parâng, which enhance the charm of the pastoral settlement.

“Those who love nature can come to Urșici to recharge because here nature is a spectacle. Looking from here in the sky, towards Retezat, I felt how the sky joined the earth”, recounted Elena, a Romanian from Italy on a hike to Urșici.

Half a century ago, almost 50 families lived in the village of Urșici, and the old wooden school, built at a crossroads of dirt roads in the village, was the nucleus of the settlement established by shepherds.

“We didn’t have a church and we had to walk to the one in Luncani and even further, to the one in the village of Târsa. But it was school. However, it was abolished, because there are eight families left and there are no more children. I went to school here. My parents would send me with the books in my bag and, after finishing the lessons, I would go to the sheep. There, I would put the books on my knees and study”recounted Adam, one of the village elders.

Wolves and bears were not absent from the surroundings of the village-grove, surrounded by extensive forests, which wild animals still roam today, say the locals. And because people were attached to nature, they dedicated their own holidays to it.

“Local customs, practices and traditions mark the approach of the end of the agricultural year, finding their place at the end of the vegetative cycle. Two wild, very powerful animals, the bear and the wolf, are masters of the dark season, being placed under the sign of archaic myths. Holidays are dedicated to them: Bear Day – August 1, which announces the change of weather and the advance towards the autumnal equinox. The change of face – August 6, when the old people say that they hear how the trees cry, because their shoots stop growing, and their leaf weakens, and the days of the wolf – the Kindergarten Days – November 12-17. Wolves are dangerous, they walk in packs and their names are not pronounced, and for a week it is called a garden”informs the Town Hall of Boșorod commune, to which the village of Urșici belongs.

Wolves and bears, celebrated in the old Romanian holidays

Archaic traditions dedicated to wolves are preserved in the late autumn days in other regions of Romania, beyond the Carpathians, and were probably brought to Urșici with the transhumance. In the late autumn days, popular tradition celebrates the Philippi, personifications of wolves that appear in the fog led by Philip the Great or Philip the Lazy, celebrated at Ovidenie, on November 21 or at Sântandrei, on November 30.

“In Oltenia and western Muntenia, the days dedicated to the Autumn Philippi were inherited in the maternal line: the young wife received as a dowry one or more Philippi, days in the month of November that were to be celebrated through various work bans. During the nights of Philippi, it was said that the she-wolves fiercely searched for burning torches. Those who failed to eat fire, the universal symbol of masculinity and virility, remained barren for a year. So that they would not find burning coals to eat them, and thus multiply beyond measure, the women did not remove the ashes from the hearth and, in no way, did they lend fire to their neighbors on the days of Philippi“, shows the Dictionary of Romanian Mythology.

The celebration of bears has a narrower specificity. From August 1 in the Haţeg Country and in the Luncani area (Orăştiei Mountains) it was dedicated to bear mating. The Bears’ Macave was also called the Bears’ Wedding or the Bears’ Soaking.

“On this occasion, the animal breeders gave the bear a leg of calf: they left it in his crossing places and said: “No Bear”. After 7 – 8 months of gestation, the female bear, in difficult conditions, at the beginning of February, a period marked in the popular Winter Martini Calendar”, informs ethnologist Ion Ghinoiu, author of the Dictionary of Romanian Mythology.

Link to Zamolxis

According to some ethnographers, the name Urșici comes from bear, but also from ursita, and would have links with the beliefs of the Dacians, who penetrated these places two millennia ago, and with the divinity revered by them, Zamolxis.

The Greek historian Porphyr, from Antiquity, reported that the name Zamolxis was given to him because at birth he was wrapped in a bear’s fur, called by the Thracians zalmos. Other researchers have deduced, based on the etymology of the word Zamolxis, that this would have been a bear-god or a get god sitting among the sleeping bears.

Mircea Eliade claimed, however, that the name of the Dacian god came from the Phrygian zalmos, which meant wolf, and the historian Nicolae Densuşianu claimed that the name meant “old man god”.

Zamolxis went down in history as the supreme god of the Dacians. His name was evoked by the historians of Antiquity, in various poses: either as a god, to whom our ancestors offered human sacrifices, or as a high priest from whom the Dacians learned not to fear death. Zamolxis had an underground dwelling, was served by the Dacians, and other historians reported that he was, in fact, a disciple of the wise Pythagoras.