Travel Rituals and the Fear of the Forest at the Journeymen in Transylvania
An important aspect in the formation of the character of the young journeymen in Transylvania is defined by the paradigm of travel culture: the wandering years of journeymen. The moment of their departure on the journey was special, because it involved their initiation, their acquaintance with life by passing through several perils. That is why the moment of departure had an initiation role and represented an important event. For instance, the ritual described, narrates one of the most interesting and fascinating aspects from the life of a journeyman, that of the travel. It is about the speech the Father of smith journeymen held in front of a young journeyman who was about to start his journey to gain knowledge in the world. The forest also appears as the center of the projections of the individual and collective consciousness within a community. The main focus of the present article is the analysis of the perception of nature and the forest by means of a text on the “wandering years” of a journeyman. The secondary focus is the following of the manner in which group solidarity was forged within journeymen brotherhoods.
Keywords: fear, forest, journeyman, projections, rituals, travel.
1.[1] For the type of journey that will be analyzed here, it is important to distinguish its modalities, functions, and forms clearly. Firstly, one should distinguish between “journey” and “mobility,” between athe aim and cultural forms of the journey, and between the travel activity and report. In this respect, the journey, if it was intended to end with the return to the place of departure, has the character of an event. (Michael Maurer, Kulturgeschichte, in Michael Maurer (Hrsg.), Aufriß zur historischen Wissenschaften, Köln, 2004, p. 323).
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3.[1] They ascribed healing powers to mill water when used for washing oneself. The ill person had to wake up before sunrise, dress up in clean clothes, take a new pot and go to the mill. Here, he was not allowed to talk or let himself be seen by anyone. He had to take the water and wash the whole body with it. Then, he would recover. (Helmut Hiller, Lexikon des Aberglaubens, München, 1986, p. 154).
4.[1] Hiller, p. 171.
5.[1] Paul Niedermaier, “Evoluţia reţelei de oraşe în Transilvania medeivală,” in: Historia Urbana, I, Sibiu, 1993, pp. 21.
6.[1] Artikel der Huttmacher Zunft, at ANDJ-Mureş, the archival fond of the Evangelical Parish in Sighişoara – guild documents, no. 80, year 1740, Article XVII.
7.[1] R. Rösler, “Beitrag zur Geschichte des Zunftwesens. Älteres Zunftwesen in Hermannstadt bis zum Jahre 1526,” in: Archiv des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde, N.F. Bd. 38, Hermannstadt, 1912 pp. 460.
8.[1] Document kept at the National Museum of the Union in Alba Iulia, reference number: 3229.
9.[1] R. Rösler, pp. 509.
10.[1] G. A. Schuller, “Zunftleben,” in: Bilder aus der vaterländische Geschichte, Hermannstadt, 1928, vol. 1, p. 342.
11.[1] Georg Simmel, “Sociologie der Mahlzeit,” in: Brücke und Tür, edited by M. Landmann, Stuttgart, 1957, pp. 243-250.
12.[1] Wilfried Reininghaus, “Alte und neue Geselligkeit im Handwerk, Miszelle anhand westfällischer Quellen zu einem sozialgeschichtlichen Phänomen von langer Dauer,” in: Formen der Geselligkeit in Nordwestdeutschland 1750-1820, edited by Hans Erich Bödecker and Ernst Heinrich, Tübingen, 2003, pp. 413.
13.[1] Paul Münch, Lebensformen in der frühen Neuzeit, Franfurt, Berlin, 1992, pp. 282.
14.[1] Wilfried Reininghaus, Alte und neue Geselligkeit im Handwerk, pp. 419.
15.[1] Otto Lexen, “Die Erschließung der siebenbürgischen Bergwelt. Erinnerungen an den Siebenbürgischen Karpathenverein,” in: Siebenbürgisch-Sächsisches Hauskalender, München, 1971, pp. 111-132.
16.[1] Hiller, pp. 174.
17.[1] A sign of bad luck, because it was the incarnation of the Devil. More of them brought death: their cry foretold quarrel, and if they were on the roof, they foretold domestic disputes. In order to prevent the consequence of the foretelling, they were supposed to spit on the ground three times. They said that those sentenced to death were turned into ravens. (Hiller, pp. 177)
18.[1] Hiller, pp. 218.
