Traditions and customs
The traditions and customs are offspring from the ancestors. Religious holidays are respected, people dress up finely and go to church and most of them strictly respect the fast days.
At the Christmas Eve, children use to go in packs carol-singing, visiting households where they get muffins, nuts, apples and of course money. The smallest ones go around with a stick for collecting the muffins and with bags on their shoulders for the other goods. The bigger ones who are secondary school pupils go around with “The star” in groups of three. The Gypsy children go around with “Turca” (similar to the nanygoat in Moldavia and Valahia), adorned with pieces of cloth and tinsel). The young people over 15 as well as the grown-ups also go carol-singing from house to house.
At Easter, people leave their houses and turn themselves to the church to celebrate the Revival of Jesus and to take the sacred Easter cake that is donated by one of the villagers. The second Easter day, the young and old men go to “wet” the village’s “flowers”.
A lost custom is the one in the second Easter day when in the so-called “bridegrooms” old church, the related families used to gather and celebrate.
There are also some old traditions that rarely could be met: “the feather group-work” and ‘the wool spinning” where women gathered at a house, worked together, told stories, gossiped, singed and ate. Another custom that can still be found in Rastoci is the “wreath” which is actually a celebration of the crops.
The old wedding habits like the “wedding call” made by some young “calling men”, dressed in national costumes, carrying flags and towels has now been replaced by printed invitations. But on the occasion of weddings, the “hen’s song” is left. Two or three skilled women take a beautifully adorned hen to the bridegrooms and best men table, singing and whistling and asking to be paid. Also, people use to steal the bride’s shoes at the wedding and when it found it must be paid.