Hromnice

In Slovakia, the 2nd of February is known as Hromnice, a day when candles are blessed in church. The day Hromnice originated from the old roman celebrations "luperkalii", where people were supposed to clean themselves from all bad powers.

On the day of "luperkalii", the priests would sacrifice goats and dogs to their gods. Then from their skin they would make belts, with which they whipped people on the streets, mainly the women. Also, part of these celebrations were the processions with lit candles. These processions, together with the whipping, symbolized a magical cleansing, which was called "februatio", which is where the name for the month of February comes from. The Hromnice day was also celebrated in honor of the god of fire and lightning, "Perun".

In this period, the winter met with summer and so Hromnice was actually the crossover period between these two seasons. Therefore, many functions with magical character were also connected with this day.

Hromnice (cont...) >>

- Introduction

- Traditional Calendar

- Traditional Food

- Traditional Recipes

- Traditional Crafts

- Folk Music & Dance

- Folkgroup ORAVA

- Folkgroup Kubincan