{"id":2492,"date":"2025-10-17T09:54:32","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T09:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/?p=2492"},"modified":"2025-10-17T12:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T12:39:12","slug":"elder-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/elder-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hazel Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2492\" class=\"elementor elementor-2492 elementor-2491\">\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<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"2036\" src=\"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-2495\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1.png 1440w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1-212x300.png 212w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1-724x1024.png 724w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1-768x1086.png 768w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1-1086x1536.png 1086w, https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/alun-Corylus-avellana_1-460x650.png 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/>\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<p><strong>by Ilinca Micu<\/strong><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone knows the hazel tree \u2014 children, young men, but especially shepherds and woodcutters, who use its smooth and bright branches to make all kinds of flutes and pipes. Hazel wood is also used to make distaffs, forks and pitchforks, baskets, rake teeth, and old men often lean on a sturdy hazel stick.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When fully grown, it is called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">alun<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (hazel); in some areas of Bukovina and Transylvania it is known simply as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the bush<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while when it is still small and young it is called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">alunel<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aluna\u0219<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The places where many hazel trees grow are called <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aluni\u0219uri<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (hazel groves).<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is believed that hazel branches possess supernatural, magical power \u2014 especially against snakes and evil spirits. No enchantress, charm-maker, or witch, when wishing to heal snake bites, perform love spells, or foretell destiny, would ever do so without one or more hazel twigs. Without these slender branches, snake incantations, love charms, or fate spells would have no effect.<\/span><b><\/b><\/p><h3>Against Snake Bites<\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a snake bites a person or a domestic animal, the woman called to heal them takes three thin hazel twigs and strikes a vessel filled with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">unspoken<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> water (water drawn before anyone drinks or speaks) while saying:<\/span><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFrom the forest comes the little snake,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spiked and fiery,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And bites poor N. at once;<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when I took<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I seized<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These three hazel sprigs,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And when I struck,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The little snake fled at once!\u201d<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Fragment from a Bukovinian charm)<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After uttering the words, the woman uses the enchanted water to wash the place where the bite occurred. As soon as it touches the wound, the bite heals as if it had never been.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, witches from Moldova chant against snake bites by stirring <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">unspoken<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> water with three hazel twigs:<\/span><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c(&#8230;) But as lightning bursts from clouds,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So may the evil bites burst forth<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From skin and bone,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the serpent\u2019s steel teeth,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That lies beneath the little stone,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the small well,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the wild bush.\u201d<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Fragment from a Moldavian charm)<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The woman pours the enchanted water over the wound, and it heals instantly.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Simion Florea Marian, the most complete version of the charm is found among Romanians in Wallachia. There, N., bitten by a snake while walking barefoot through morning dew, goes to Holy Mother Mary to ask for help:<\/span><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDo not lament, N., your cure is found:<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A finding knife,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A silver coin,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A hornwood stick,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A hazel rod,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Water unspoken,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unstirred by the wind.(&#8230;)\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Holy Mother takes N. in her arms, sprinkles the wound with enchanted water, then lays him down. N. shudders, then calms, remaining:<\/span><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPure,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bright,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And healed.(&#8230;)\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, women across the land chant over snakebites using <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">unspoken<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> water and three hazel twigs. Even if a hundred snakes were to bite someone, once touched by the enchanted water, the person heals immediately. The hazel twigs lend such power to the water that any venom or evil, however great, is expelled entirely, leaving no trace.<\/span><\/p><h3>For Love<\/h3><h3><i>The Pot Ritual<\/i><\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The power of hazel twigs is best known to witches and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Babe Cloan\u021be<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 old crones who can read palms, bind the rains, and silence wolves. They can summon anyone through the air, across nine seas and nine lands, riding a hazel pole. Many claim to have seen such fiery arrows crossing the night sky; some even say they themselves were carried this way.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus, in certain moments, lovers are compelled to mount a broom or a hazel pole and fly through the air. When a young woman begins to feel doubt and a thorn in her heart, when she wastes away with longing, she hurries to the old witch with silver coins and a white or speckled rooster \u2014 without which the witch could not fulfill her wish.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The witch lives in a small hidden hut by a riverbank. She opens the door to the girl without asking a word, understanding her purpose by the look in her eyes. She takes the rooster and goes outside. The girl sits quietly in a corner of the room.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On a three-legged stool rest a clay pot, a shard from a broken vessel, and three hazel twigs.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After a few minutes, the witch returns \u2014 furious, hair disheveled \u2014 holding three strands of wool that the girl\u2019s lover once touched. She unties them, then braids them anew. Holding them, she turns to each corner of the room, chants three times, and sprinkles the threads with water from the jug. Finally, she chants at the door, sprinkles the broom with water, and props it upright against the doorframe.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She circles the stool three times, then freezes. The fire in the hearth goes out \u2014 then rekindles softly by the three wool threads. The witch sets the pot over the fire and stirs, chanting and sprinkling water thrice over the flames. Everything in the pot turns to ash. She then places the empty jug on the fire and buries a speckled stone in the ashes. The jug begins to hiss. The witch takes the hazel twigs and strikes both jug and stone, saying that so should the young man\u2019s heart hiss and burn. She calls his name, and he comes at her summons \u2014 nothing can stop him except a knife stuck into the ground.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The twigs break. The witch jumps to the window. The door flies open, and the young girl leaps into the arms of her beloved, just arrived. As they leave the witch\u2019s house, she notices the hazel pole that carried him through the air \u2014 but he will never know.<\/span><\/p><h3>The Binding with the Distaff<\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many enchantresses cast love spells not only for young, beautiful girls but also for older women \u2014 sometimes even for themselves. But woe to the man who rejects them, for he will not be bewitched with the pot, but <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">bound with the distaff<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a curse few escape.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such was the fate of a handsome young man who lived not far from a witch\u2019s house. She had tried every charm to win his heart. Often, as he returned home at night, he caught sight of her by a stream or a pond, barking and howling like a dog. Yet none of her wicked spells pierced his pure soul.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One evening, however, the witch lured him into her hut, spinning flax on a new hazel distaff. She uttered thousands of incantations, spinning backward, not as one should. She took the spun thread and wrapped it around the young man\u2019s waist without his noticing, then unwound it with the same invisible hand.<\/span><\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After he returned home, the witch placed the distaff in the attic. As the new hazel wood dried, so did the young man\u2019s life fade away. Only breaking the hidden distaff could have broken the spell and saved his life.<\/span><br \/><b><\/b><\/p><h3>Banishing the Weather Sorcerers (Solomonari)<\/h3><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People believe that <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">solomonari<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are a kind of men who, in their childhood, spend seven years underground, reading from a devilish book and learning all existing spells and charms. After seven years, they return to the world, riding dragons, and with their demonic powers move heavy clouds and raging winds, bringing hail and storms that destroy people\u2019s crops and fruit trees.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To keep such calamities away, villagers use various rituals. When they see a storm cloud on the horizon, the men rush to the church and ring the bells, while the women throw into the yard an axe with the blade upward, a hoe, a bread shovel, and the household broom \u2014 its handle made of hazel wood. Thus, they believe, the solomonar\u2019s powers are weakened.<\/span><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are also certain men, stonemasons by trade, known in Bukovina as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">counter-solomonari<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. They must fast for three vigils \u2014 Christmas Eve, St. Basil\u2019s Eve, and Epiphany Eve. On Epiphany Eve, they keep a total fast until sunset. Then, standing before a table laden with food, the counter-solomonar holds a hazel twig in his hand and says:<\/span><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou, solomonari (&#8230;),<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I invite you today to feast,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But spoil me nothing<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When spring shall come \u2014<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neither the blooming fields,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nor the ripened bread,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nor the flowered plains,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nor the fruit-bearing trees.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Holding the hazel twig, he tastes each dish, continuing:<\/span><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI invited you today,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet you refused<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To come and dine with me.(&#8230;)\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From then on, whenever he sees storm clouds approaching, the counter-solomonar runs to the edge of the village with the same hazel twig, raising it to the sky and reminding the solomonari how he once invited them to feast, but they scorned him. Now they must stay away from fertile <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">trees and blooming fields:<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c(&#8230;) From the clouds I\u2019ll cast you down,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To the earth I\u2019ll strike you down,<\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><\/i><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beneath the ice you\u2019ll perish.(&#8230;)\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He points the hazel twig toward the place from where the lightning flashes and the hail comes, and through its power, he strikes down the solomonar and his dragon together. Raising the twig once more toward the heavens, he turns all the hail upon them, covering the solomonar in ice.<\/span><\/p><p><b>Bibliography<\/b><\/p><ol><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simion Florea Marian, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Botanica poporan\u0103 rom\u00e2n\u0103<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Vol. I, Critical Edition, introduction, bio-bibliographical references, botanical index, index of published\/unpublished chapters, edited text, index of informants and bibliography by Aura Br\u0103d\u0103\u021ban, Romanian Academy Publishing House, Suceava, 2010<\/span><\/li><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Germina Comanici, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ramura verde \u00een spiritualitatea popular\u0103<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (\u201cThe Green Branch in Folk Spirituality\u201d), Etnologic\u0103 Publishing House, Bucharest, 2004<\/span><\/li><\/ol><p><br \/><br \/><\/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>Everyone knows the hazel tree \u2014 children, young men, but especially shepherds and woodcutters, who use its smooth and bright branches to make all kinds of flutes and pipes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monografii","category-monographs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492","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=2492"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2510,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions\/2510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antropoflora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}