The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I didn't know whether to put it here, or in the inter-religion sub-forum, but since it's about a holiday, and about its pagan/ pre-christian roots, I'll just leave it here for now.

So, since here in Moldova (and Romania) we'll be celebrating the Blajini Easter in a week (though in Romania they also celebrate another such holiday in Autumn, unless I'm mistaking) I was wondering - What are the eastern-European holidays/ traditions to commemorate the deceased?

About the Blajini Easter:
It's called thus because it's celebrated a week after Easter itself (my country's Orthodox Christian). It's a pre-christian holiday. And it goes something like this - A few days before the celebration, people take red-dyed egg-shells and send them floating down rivers and streams. According to popular belief, all waters flow into Saturday's Water, which surrounds the world and goes all the way to heaven (or a heaven-like plain) where the Blajini live.
The Blajini are said to be either:

• the first people ever;
• those who hold the world (kinda like the Greek Atlas);
• a race of mythical rat-like dwarfs;
• the souls of dead, unbaptised children (in Christian adaptations);
• the ancestors in general

All these descriptions come from different legends. In all legends they are said to be righteous, kind, and trully faithful to god(s), but unable to keep track of time, therefore when they see the dyed egg-shells, they know that Easter has come.
Additionally, on this day, people go to graveyards, to their relatives' graves, light candles, put food, and pour wine on the graves, and give gifts of food and goods (in Moldova - usually sweets and easter-foods put in cups/ dishes) to random people (or to children) in the memory of the deceased. In some parts of Romania (from what I read) people also go on picnics and intentionally make crumbs for the deceased and/ or the Blajini.

I do hope there are other eastern-Europeans on this site because wikipedia is a horrible source, and I can't find any decent ones in English, Russian, or Romanian, nor can I understand south-Slav languages well-enough (and I don't know Greek or Turkish at all!)

I just wanted to thank you for sharing this tradition.
(Some of my heritage is Polish and I have a keen interest in learning more about eastern European indigenous customs.  While Moldova and Poland are not direct neighbors, it's still very valuable to me to see such things.)

 
well, they were neighbors in the past
yeah, I wanted to learn more about them too, hence I started this thread to begin with, but it seems, there aren't many people interested in sharing, or they're not from around here

True enough!


 
The best resource I've found for Polish folk survivals is http://lamus-dworski.tumblr.com if that would be of interest to you at all.

 
I've found then very helpful, and they seem to answer asks fairly often so they may be able to point you in the right direction.

Also some of my research suggests that "Twice a year, during the spring and fall, ancient Poles honoured and appeased their dead by bringing food and drink to their graves, if they failed to do this the dead would grow angry and cause the earth to be barren and infertile." (Knab, Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore, p. 107) I don't know how accurate the book is though. I swear I have come across this concept before though, but I can't find where right now.

So, since here in Moldova (and Romania) we'll be celebrating the Blajini Easter in a week (though in Romania they also celebrate another such holiday in Autumn, unless I'm mistaking) I was wondering - What are the eastern-European holidays/ traditions to commemorate the deceased?

 
After some digging I also came across Babii Prazdnik. It's an alternate name to Radunitsa used in Kievan Rus'. Anyway, it's also celebrated near Easter and is in honour of the dead. Also included the practice of decorating eggs. (Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Russian & Slavic Myth and Legend,p28)