by Oana Cristina Verdier
The morning air seeps through the cracks in the clay walls; the silence begins to be broken by the faint barking of a dog in the distance, while your body still aches from yesterday’s haymaking. Yet you steel yourself and set in motion, for your future may depend on this small, seemingly insignificant act. You put on the only clean shirt you own, braid your hair, and set out in complete silence. In your bag you carry the pepper you have worked all summer for, and a well-washed clay pot. You walk slowly toward the village well, feeling detached from everything around you, your soul wavering between fear and anticipation.
Black pepper (Piper nigrum), native to southern India, reached Europe as early as Antiquity through Roman trade, and later in the Middle Ages via Arab merchants. It was known as the “king of spices,” being used as currency, as a tax, or as a diplomatic gift. In the Romanian lands, pepper is attested in documents of the 15th–16th centuries, used mainly at princely courts and in monasteries, where it was purchased along with cinnamon, cloves, and saffron. In Wallachia and Moldavia, spices entered through Brașov (via Saxon merchants), along the Brăila Route (which connected with the Levant), or directly from Greek and Turkish traders.
An inaccessible luxury for peasants for centuries, pepper began to appear more often in markets and to be sold in small amounts only in the 18th century. By the 19th century, the spice became much more accessible, gradually entering peasant households and becoming part of daily life, both culinary and ritual (in charms, spells, and remedies).
Pepper in the Rituals of Milk Mana among Romanians
Gh. Pavelescu relates in his work Mana in Romanian Folklore the properties of pepper as an indispensable element in magical-ritual practices concerning the milk’s mana (vital force). It was used both for protection immediately after calving and for restoring the mana when it was believed to have been stolen.
Pepper, together with incense, garlic, salt, or wheat, was integrated—as we will see—into pastoral rituals as a means of enhancing magical efficacy. In this regard, Pavelescu recounts that after calving, to protect the mana and the abundance of milk, the “shirt” or “fate” of the calf (the placenta) was buried in a pot “with three or nine peppercorns, kernels of maize, wheat, garlic, or a mixture of all seeds, with incense, a needle, the first egg laid by a black hen, etc.—some would put only bread and salt—and it was buried in the stable, in the place where the cow had calved, or at the boundary, while reciting the words: ‘When these things shall be taken from here and traded in a shop or market, only then shall the mana be taken from the cow.’ Some, before burying it, circled the stable three times with it, or passed it through a cartwheel, saying: ‘When the wheel gives milk, then may the witch come and take the cow’s mana.’” (Gheorghe Pavelescu, Mana la români, p. 40).
The choice of the ritual numbers 3 and 9 and the placement of the magical preparation at the boundary (a liminal point) emphasized its protective role against those who could steal the mana, sealing the powers of transition.
In some villages, at the first calving it was customary to pierce the cow’s left horn, and into the hole were inserted most often: “black incense, pepper, garlic, wheat, unmeasured or unweighed silver or gold” (Pavelescu, op. cit., p. 42). The hole was sealed with wax, lard, or limewood, to ward off evil and call forth abundance.
Pepper was also used as an ingredient in small talisman bags against the evil eye, given to cattle at their first time out to pasture or at calving: “When you first take the cows to pasture, or when they calve, you must tie something red to their tail, sometimes even wheat, incense, pepper, and salt. When someone fixes their gaze and wonder upon an animal, they must remember not to cast the evil eye upon it. Usually one spits toward the animal, saying: ‘Ptu, may you not be harmed by the evil eye!’” (Pavelescu, op. cit., p. 46).
To restore the mana, women would take: “three willow twigs, nine black peppercorns, a handful of coarse maize meal, three garlic cloves, three grains of incense, and a hen’s egg, and place them in the vessel with salt for the cattle.” With these they would go “on a Thursday or Saturday before sunrise into a forest and recite: ‘Joiană, to whomever came and took your mana, I send garlic, peppered and incensed maize meal, I send ninety-nine grains of maize to bring back your mana by evening. Just as no one can remove the great willow from the path, so may no one take your mana at milking, except me.’” (Pavelescu, op. cit., pp. 70–71).
Pepper in Rites of Passage: Birth
In the world of Romanian traditional beliefs, pepper also played a role in the cycle of life. In rituals surrounding birth, pepper was present as a protective and purifying element. The midwife sometimes placed a few peppercorns under the pillow of the woman in labor or in the infant’s bathwater, to guard against evil spirits and the evil eye. Alongside basil, garlic, and salt, pepper acted as a shield in the vulnerable threshold moments of entering life.
Pepper in Rites of Passage: Marriage
Marriage, too, was marked by ritual uses of pepper. In some areas, during wedding customs, pepper was scattered at the threshold of the newlyweds’ home to repel envy, gossip, and curses. Sometimes it was mixed with salt and wheat and placed in the bridal chest or in the groom’s boots, so that their household might be fertile, their bond protected, and their lives prosperous.
Pepper in Rites of Passage: Death
At the other end of life, pepper accompanied the deceased as a purifying and protective element. In certain villages, peppercorns were placed in the coffin or in the deceased’s clothing, to safeguard the soul on its journey to the other world. In some funeral charms, pepper—together with incense and garlic—was burned to drive away wandering spirits and ensure the peace of the dead.
Pepper as Medicine and Charm
Beyond ritual practices, pepper was also valued in traditional medicine and charms. Ground pepper was applied to wounds to stop bleeding, mixed in drinks to relieve stomach ailments, or used in fumigations against colds and fevers. In apotropaic practices, pepper was placed in small cloth bags tied around the necks of children to protect them from fright, illness, or the evil eye.
Conclusions
From its origin as an exotic, inaccessible spice, pepper gradually entered the symbolic and ritual horizon of Romanian traditional culture. Integrated into rites of passage, pastoral customs, and everyday remedies, it came to play a role that far exceeded its culinary function. Its power to protect, to purify, and to bring prosperity made it indispensable in the magical-religious universe of rural life, a fine example of how global trade routes reshaped local beliefs and practices.