{"id":1496,"date":"2023-11-24T17:07:28","date_gmt":"2023-11-24T17:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/mesteacanul\/"},"modified":"2024-10-24T09:27:11","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T09:27:11","slug":"mesteacanul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/mesteacanul\/","title":{"rendered":"The Birch Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1496\" class=\"elementor elementor-1496 elementor-1452\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-81ea553 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"81ea553\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-720ad25 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"720ad25\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.17.0 - 08-11-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/13.-Silver-birch-_-Betula-pendula.png\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"2036\" src=\"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-1455\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web.png 1440w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web-212x300.png 212w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web-724x1024.png 724w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web-768x1086.png 768w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web-1086x1536.png 1086w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/13.-Mesteacan-_-B.-pendula-_-web-460x650.png 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fa3e2ab e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"fa3e2ab\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-474cbc1 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"474cbc1\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-139887b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"139887b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.17.0 - 08-11-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<h3><strong>Description<\/strong><\/h3><p>The silvery groves of birches regenerate the soil, transforming it from dry, degraded, and sterile to moist and fertile ground for other plant species. Birch groves naturally develop where forests have been cut down, burned, on deforested slopes, and in rocky places with skeletal soils.<\/p><p>Three species of the same family fall under the name of birch \u00een Romania. The most well-known and used among them is Betula pendula L., the silver birch, named so because of its white bark, also called &#8220;m\u0103stac\u0103n&#8221; in Transylvania. The black birch, Betula carpatica Willd, with its thick, dark, and cracked bark. Then there&#8217;s the downy birch, Betula pubescens Ehrh.<\/p><h3><strong>In the household<\/strong><\/h3><p>Birchwood found its way into a multitude of elements frequently used in rural settings, practically everywhere you look in a person&#8217;s household, you&#8217;ll find it.<br \/>In the construction of carts and wagons, it was used for axles and shafts, for levers, shafts, for wheel hubs, or plow handles. Its wood was also used for scythes&#8217; handles, whetstones, or hoops for baskets. Thinner branches were used for weaving baskets, for stable and garden brooms, as well as &#8220;felezuiele&#8221; instruments like brooms used for separating wheat from chaff.<\/p><p>Birch bark was soaked to obtain a tanning agent used in processing leather for sandals or a lining for tanning, baskets for harvesting fruits, salt shakers, and &#8220;dorhot&#8221; (a kind of tar) used to grease both carts and boots.<\/p><p>The thin, white, durable, and flexible bark of the birch was used to cover trumpets and alpenhorns, with which the shepherd would signal the herders to bring the sheep from the pasture to the fold.<\/p><p>However, you won&#8217;t find birch in house construction, as its wood rots too quickly. So much so that there&#8217;s a saying in Moldova: &#8220;If the birch weren&#8217;t ashamed of the other trees, it would rot even before reaching home.&#8221;<\/p><h3><strong>Remedies from twigs, tar, bark, sap, leaves, and buds<\/strong><\/h3><p>Birch twigs were used as a remedy for a condition called &#8220;pecingene&#8221; in the following way: a small branch is lit on one end, and once it&#8217;s ignited, it&#8217;s extinguished on the blade of an axe, and while still hot, the sap-like liquid that oozes out is applied to the &#8220;pecingene&#8221; to promote healing. To make sure it will work, some women take a little ash from the burned birch tree, sprinkle it with water, and apply it to treat &#8216;pecingenea,&#8217; addressing it in the morning: &#8216;Good evening, pecingene! As it&#8217;s not evening now, may you dissapear until the evening!&#8217; They would then repeat the same ritual in the evening, saying: &#8216;Good morning, pecingene!&#8217;<\/p><p>Birch twigs are used in chants for &#8216;sweet sores,&#8217; specifically with three small branches that are chewed in a glass of brandy:<br \/>&#8216;Nine brothers were chosen<br \/>From nine fathers<br \/>With nine knives<br \/>And they left<br \/>From the big forest,<br \/>On the path,<br \/>Through the valley,<br \/>(&#8230;)<br \/>You nine brothers<br \/>From nine fathers<br \/>With nine knives,<br \/>Return!<br \/>Hasten to N.<br \/>To the sweet sores of N.<br \/>And take them<br \/>From the corners of the head<br \/>From the front of the cheeks,<br \/>From 99 tendons<br \/>And from 99 joints!<br \/>Let N. remain clean,<br \/>Bright,<br \/>As left by God<br \/>And baptized by the priest!&#8217;<br \/>After that, N. should taste a bit of garlic and a sip of the enchanted brandy, and the sweet sores should be treated with an ointment made from the lard of three pigs and vinegar from three vats.<\/p><p>From Ion Creang\u0103, in &#8216;Childhood Memories,&#8217; we learn that the tar made from birch bark, that greasy tar, was good for healing scabies: &#8216;And after our grandmother scolded and cried over us, a\u0219 she used to do, and after she fed us with the best she had and stuffed us well, she quickly went into the pantry, took out a jug of birch tar, rubbed us all over, from head to toe, and then she put us to bed on the warm stove. And she did the same, rubbing us two, three times a day with it until, on Dry Friday, we woke up completely healed.&#8217;<\/p><p>Birch bark also helps with toothaches. First, the white skin is peeled, and the remaining part is boiled in a new pot with clean water on low heat. The resulting juice is kept in the mouth for a while, then spat out, another portion is taken, and so on until the pain disappears.<\/p><p>&#8216;Mursa&#8217; is, in fact, the sap of the birch tree, which people not only drink as a refreshing and tasty liquid but also used in making plasters to heal various wounds. To extract the tree&#8217;s sap, a hole is made in its bark, a tube is inserted, and underneath it, a container is placed to collect the sap. This yellowish liquid, the birch&#8217;s blood, also has the property of rejuvenating the skin, making it smoother, whiter, and reducing wrinkles. Usually, women were the ones who went in the spring, extracting the sap, part of which they drank, and with the rest, they washed their faces. However, for healing and beautifying people, the birch sacrifices its life because once its sap has drained, it dries up in the same year.<\/p><p>An old saying among the people informs us that birch sap is not as tasty as it used to be before Christianity, as &#8216;birch is not a clean wood, for Judas hanged himself on it. Before he hanged himself, its juice was as sweet as honey, and people drank it, but now it&#8217;s bitter as gall.&#8217;<\/p><p>Tea made from birch leaves is good for kidney stones and gravel, gout, scrofula, or skin diseases. And the tea from birch buds reduces inflammation in heart or kidney diseases.<\/p><h3><strong>For Dyeing Wool<\/strong><\/h3><p>In the past, birch was one of the most commonly used natural dyes. To dye wool yellow, both the bark and the leaves of the birch tree were used, both prepared in a similar manner. The bark was boiled with sour sorrel and water. When the liquid seemed adequately colored, alum was added, followed by the wool they wanted to dye. Birch leaves were also boiled with sorrel, and alum was added to this mixture as well, and then the wool was dyed.<\/p><h3><strong>Rituals of &#8220;S\u00e2ngeorz&#8221;, &#8220;Armindeni&#8221;, &#8220;B\u0103b\u0103lud\u0103&#8221;<\/strong><\/h3><p>On May 1st, in Transylvania, young birch saplings known as &#8220;armindeni&#8221; are cut and placed in the yards of unmarried girls. In the Apuseni Mountains, the &#8220;S\u00e2ngeorz&#8221; is dressed with young birch branches, while in the village of Buru near Turda, on the day of St. George, dresses are made from the newly sprouted branches of the tree. These dresses are worn by the &#8220;b\u0103b\u0103luzi&#8221;, heralds of spring, in a fertility ritual.<\/p><p>We have documented the B\u0103b\u0103luda ritual this spring, and you can watch the video documentaries here:<br \/>https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/babaluzii\/ &#8211; the whole ritual<br \/>https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/cel-mai-batran-babalud\/ &#8211; the story of this ritual during the years, told by mister Moisa, the oldest living&#8221;b\u0103b\u0103lud&#8221;<\/p><h3><strong>Bibliography:<\/strong><\/h3><p><br \/>1. Simion Florea Marian, Botanica poporan\u0103 rom\u00e2n\u0103 Volumul III\/ Edi\u021bie critic\u0103, introducere, repere biobibliografice,<br \/>indice Botanica, indice capitole publicate antum\/postum, text stabilit, indice informatori \u0219i bibliografie de Aura<br \/>Br\u0103d\u0103\u021ban, Editura Academiei Rom\u00e2ne, Suceava, 2010<br \/>3. Valer Butur\u0103, Enciclopedie de etnobotanic\u0103 rom\u00e2neasc\u0103, Editura \u0218tiin\u021bific\u0103 \u0219i enciclopedic\u0103, Bucure\u0219ti, 1979<br \/>4. Vasile Voiculescu, Cartea satului, Toate leacurile la \u00eendem\u00e2n\u0103, Ed. III-a, Funda\u021bia Cultural\u0103 Regal\u0103 \u201dPrincipele<br \/>Carol\u201d, Insitutul de arte Grafice \u201dLuceaf\u0103rul\u201d S.A., Bucure\u0219ti, 1938<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It heals the soil and the body. All its parts are used in household and rituals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monographs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}