The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-12-29
Christmas Season Tn the Balkans
Strange Yuletide Customs Handed Down From Times
 of Prehistoric Paganism Supernatural Creatures
 That Roam About at Christmastide.

For Christmas customs that are really weird and strange one must go to the Balkans-that unrestful area of southwestern Europe which at the present time is fighting ground ot all the ,nations.t And the reason why Is that the customs in question have been handed down from an ancient organism.
 It is true that in all countries the rites and observances by which Christ mas is celebrated are largely of hea- then origin Gas illustrated by the Santa Claus myth and other matters associated with tree-worship, etc.,, but in the Balkans the survival of pa gan belief and ceremonial, dating back far in the prehistoric past, IS ex- trarodinarily manifest
 Take for example the "karkalanza" those mysterious beings whose ex- listence is fully credited all over the Balkans People in Thesaly, Thrace, Macedonia, Albania and Bulgaria speak of them in awed whispers. The Turks believe in them They are as much an accepted fact as any of the ordinary phenomena of nature.
 These supernatural creatures, pos sessed of attributes truly diabolical, restrict their unpleasant activities to the period from Christmas to Epiph- any-twelve days. Apparently they arc of nocturnal habit, for nobody ever met one of them in tthe daytime; hut to encounter them 1n the dark is l, said to- be exceedingly dangerous.
 The "karkalanza" are demons pure and simple. They arrive on, Christ mas eve, and, during tho brief period of their stay, prowl about from night fall to cockcrow. Especially do they haunt the springs from which drink hng-water' is obtainod, with a view tp tdefl1ng them But finally they are driven away by the blessing of the water at Epiphany.
 In the meantime, as a means Of Imitigating their mischief, resort is had to curious sort of mumm1ng- though why the latter should be im- agined to be efficacious for the pur- pose it is hard to say. For twelve days, beginning with Christmas, bands of young men, masked or otherwise Siisguised, and known as ''ngutshiri. ]" wander about from village to village, giving open-air performances of a species of play.
 There are seven essential charac- tersEa bride, a. bridegroom, an old man, an old woman (who nurses a puppet that represents child), a doc- tor, and two men dressed in skins who arc supposed to be bears or { wolves, or sometimes devils. These last wear masks, and are loaded with rows on rows of sheep-bells or mule bells, to make noise when they dance. The old man/fs a low-comedy character, fantastically dressed.
 According to the plot. of the. play, which Is presumably very ancient, the old man annoys the bride with his attentions. Naturally, the bridegroom intervenes, and a quarrel follows, re< sdlting in the death of the old man. He is mourned by the old woman. and the doctor, being called in, treats the corpse so skillfulIy that it is restored :. to life. The performance endsswith a general dance of all the characters and the passing around of hat
 There are, however, variations. Sometimes the quarrel results from an attempt by the old man tossteal the baby; or it may be that the bride groom is killed. There may be greater number of actors fn the play5 but in that case the additional ones are duplicates of the necessary seven, or of some of them. The bride is a young man in girls dress; the old woman is a man in female costume No woman ever takes part in these performances; such a thing would be deemed most improper.
 In Rumania, on Christmas eve, a large candle is stuck in a jar of wheat and set high on the east side of the room. When the family is assem- bled before it, the father offers a prayer for the health and prosperity of the household, and asks blessing on all the creatures>of the home farm. and for the crops that they may flourish and yield their best Mean while the housewife has made a great number of ritual cakes of various prescribed shapes and sizes, one for each member of the family, and also for the sheep, horses and other anil mals.
 Among the Serbians in ancient days each household hS1 it's own family god. When the Serbs became Chris tians, they baptized the domestic di- vinity and bestowed upon him the name of one saint or another. Thus he became the patron saint of the fam ily-known as the "Slava." In every S6TD. mousse nlSi pOTtTdlL hangs on Un @ wall, painted on golden Background < in Byzantine style, or carved f1atly in wood. or perhaps a chea T Autograph. Before 1t is suspende5 =. Nna1l oil lamp, which is lighted SChristmas eve. >
 On the day before Christmas the whole house is thoroughly cleaned and liberallyS decorated with ivy. As further preparation for celebrating the holy day, the mother of the family makes two big cakes. One of them 3s circular in shape and is called "Suntae,'' meaning tho sun. The other has the form of a crescent, and is called "Myseets,' the moon. Some times there are other little cakes rep- resenting the Pletadea. Doubtless these are of very ancient origin, and the supposition is that they owe their derivation to prehistoric worship of the heavenly bodies.
 The Yule log in Serbia is an object of household worship, being cut Gin the woods) and hanled with much quasi-religious ceremonial. It is bap- tfzed with wine and annointed with oil or ''fed'' with honey. No woman is allowed under any circumstances to touch it. It sancitifies the hearth and the whole house. When it has been burned, the charred remains are I1sed as medicine for man and beast.