A short description of the Oltenian Callus

A short description of the Oltenian Căluș

The origin of the Căluș is situated somewhere on the edge of a legend.

The word Căluș in Dacian has a double significance. Principally, it is the diminutive of the word cal (or caballus in Latin) which means horse.

Secondly, the căluș is the equivalent of the Latin collusium, meaning both "a dance group" and "a secret society".

The Callus ritual is extremely important from a historical point of view. It has been spread on the entire surface of the ancient Roman-Dacian territory, videlicet, on the surface of today Romania, and also Bessarabia and north Bukovina. For Dacians, the Callus was a form of existence rather than habit. This ritual is the alive proof that the cultural and linguistic element of their national identity survived even after 167 years of massive colonisation (105-272 AD) undertaken by the Roman Empire.

The Căluș is still practiced in Romania during Pentecost and has become one of the greatest national cultural symbols. According to the tradition, the Oltenian Căluș is a ritual of passage from Spring to Summer, when the spirits of the dead are still active. The Căluș could be conceived as a form of communication with the Afterworld. The Calușari members were using the music, the dance and the incantations in order to be spiritually transported into the Afterworld.

Even today, it is regarded by the Romanian peasants, and also by important folk specialists, as a healing ritual of the ill people, who were touched by the malefic charms of the Iele, evil deities. Although the Iele do not have a precise portrayal, they are considered supernatural female creatures and described as "Demonic Beauties" in the Dacian mythology.

According to the popular tradition, the Călușarii were endowed with healing magical powers. First of all, the young men had to be purified and to give proof of their chastity before becoming Călușar members.

Afterwards, they were initiated to the group by the Vataf (Master).

However, they were allowed to participate to the ritual only after they inherited all the knowledges of the Descântece (Incantations) and if they learned all the steps and the rules from their predecessor.

The Dacians were often described by the Ancient Greek philosophers as brave people(1) and, at the same time, were very appreciated for their concept regarding the spiritual healing of any illness. In the Charmides Dialogue, Plato recounts a conversation between Socrate and Charmides, in which Socrate talks about being in the army and meeting a Thracian doctor of Dacian origin and tells about what he had learn from him:

"And so this doctor said: Greek medics are right to think the way they do, but Zalmoxis, he said, our king, who is a God tells us that just as we cannot cure the eyes without caring for the head, neither the head can be cured without caring for the body. Likewise, we have to care for the body along with the soul and here is why the Greek doctors are not skilled in regards to many illnesses: They do not understand the wholeness that needs to be preserved. If this wholeness is ill, a specific part cannot be healthy because for the body and the human as a whole, all things good and bad come from the soul and there they flow from like a spring running from head to the eyes. Thus, first and foremost, we have to heal the source of illness so that the head and the rest of the body can enjoy health. My friend, he said, the soul is healed with Incantations... and these Incantations are the Words that bring Wisdom into our souls."

The costumes were also of great importance. All the participants were wearing white shirts, special shoes adorned with bells, colourful hats decorated with shiny ornaments (which reflected the light of the Sun and protected them from any evil spirit). There are also some kind of ingredients that were always present in the prophylactic practices including wormwood, garlic, basil, walnut leaves and the ear of wheat.

The Căluș ritual features a series of songs, dances, skits and incantations.

The dance is very complex. It combines stamping, jumping, clicking on the heals, leaping, swinging of the legs, big shifts on the circle line. The Romanian historian Mircea Eliade wrote that the Călușari were wellknown for "their ability to create the impression of flying in the air".(2)

One of the most important symbols of the ritual was the Flag which had a magical dimension. Before the actual dance, the Călușari are taking the "Oath of Allegiance" (in the name of God) and afterwards are Rising the Flag, which designates the starting point of the ritual. When the ritual ends, the Vataf buries the flag in a place known only by him. From that point all the participants become normal people again and one of them is allowed to speak about what happened during the Căluș.

1) 2)

Herodotus wrote the "The Dacians were the bravest and fairest of all the Thracians". The descendants of the Dacians are present Romanians and Aromanians; Eliade, Mircea "History of Religions, Volume XIV" (Chapter III), pg. 161, New York, 1975;

The musical transcription has been created using one of the rarest recordings, with just a few copies left and well preserved in the SRR (Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company) archive. It is a performance of the "Ansamblul Rapsodia Romana" (Romanian Rhapsody Ensemble) conducted by Paraschiv Oprea. The fluier (folk pipe) soloist is Dumitru Zamfira.

There is no standard version of the Oltenian Căluș. There are as many versions as Căluș hearths around the country. However, the structure is basically the same. There are two major modes that come in succession: the A Mixolydian mode and the Lidian mode.

The sound of the fluier, (folk pipe) used in the recording mentioned above, is produced in a tube by the column of air, set into vibration by the player's lips (through a reed or a small opening). The Romanian woodwind folk instruments are of great variety. They were usually created by the Romanian peasants. Most of the woodwind instruments are embroidered with geometrical motifs carved in wood.

The overlap between the musical and the dance phrases, in the archaic form of the ritual, was mostly mismatched. However, the rhythm of the dance overlapped the rhythm of the music creating a polyrhythmic effect.

In the actual form, in most cases, the overlap between music and dance matches very well. The dimension of each dance move is equal with the musical phrase.

The Căluș transferred on stage in London (Royal Albert Hall, 1935)

A proof that the ritual mentality was still strong in 1935 is given by an editor of the Folk Dancers magazine who wrote:

"The participants at this festival included a Cotswold morris team and a Căluș group from the southern Romanian village of Pădureți. The Căluș dancers created a stir in London by refusing to dance until Douglas Kennedy, Chairman of the English Folk Dance and Songs Society(EFDSS), scoured London to locate fresh garlic for their ritual flag, as without this they did not consider they would have their supernatural powers."(3)

3) Sivic, Ursa,"Studies in Musi and Dance Herritage and Their Contemporary Transformation", pg. 84, Ljubljana/Berlin, 1982

The Căluș in Romania during the Communist period

During the revolutionary phase of Communism (1948-1965) there was a very intense campaign against its mysticism and, therefore, it was officially forbidden. However, the Căluș continued its latent existence, in villages, sometimes regarded as a disguised manifest against the regime imposed by Moscow. During the nationalist communist phase in Romania (1965-1989) the Căluș became more like a spectacular show dance rather then a ritual. In fact, the narrow and reprehensible considerations of the communists were that anything related to Magic or to a belief in a Supreme Power or Deity is pointless and affects the logical and practical thinking of the citizens. Therefore, during that period, the Căluș became a show with hundreds of musicians and dancers, staged for the mass political ceremonies.

The Căluș, nowadays

The Căluș ritual is inscribed to the UNESCO List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, since 2005. Even under the protection of UNESCO the tradition strives to survive in the context of a rapid industrialisation process which takes place in Romania (with many attempts of modernising the rural areas) and in a time when technology becomes, increasingly more, part of our life.