(Appendix VII)
A STORY ABOUT MY PAGAN FELLOW
CITIZENS
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By Albana Allushi –
The city of
On Sunday morning, it was freezing, and television
channels were broadcasting news about a snowfall that has “paralyzed” life in
the villages. Suddenly some young villagers rushed into
our guest house, shook the snow off their woolen clothing and invited us
to go outside.
“Where are we
going”, I asked. To a wedding at a house next to ours, they replied and took us with them.
According to customs in these regions, the date of the
wedding is fixed far in advance, and cannot be changed for any reason, including snow. There was
so much snow, that it was difficult to
distinguish among the crowd of wedding guests, just where
the snow ended and the fustanella (the traditional white costume for men) and the bride’s wedding dress
began.
We could see the bride only when rice was showered over the heads of the young couple. According to custom,
the bride is showered with rice granules at the
moment she first sets foot in her husband’s
house. This is a pagan custom, which implies
that the bride must enlarge the family by giving birth too many children. According to pagan rite, rice granules
symbolize the number of children.
Afterwards, a child took the bride by her hand and led her
to the huge gate of the house. The gate was heavy and a part of it was made of
carved stone. A
woman then brought forth a vase containing honey. She soaked the bride’s
fingers in the honey and told her to touch the gate. This is a pagan rite as
well and symbolizes that the bride must bring
sweetness and happiness into the bridegroom’s home. This pagan ritual is
practiced even today throughout the region from
Lunxheria to Tepelena, Dropull and Gjirokastër.
- Will you come again after the snow melts? Asked someone.
- Why? We asked.
- Come for Spring Day, he
said.
Celebrations on Spring Day
are very similar to those organized by the
Pagans on this occasion. The rite is simple. On the first day of March, all
young boys and girls tie a ribbon called a “Manak” around their wrists. The ribbon
is nicely braided and is of red and white color.
On the night of spring day, mothers put a cornel branch
with newly blossomed flowers under their son’s pillows. The Cornel is a small plant, which blooms very
early, but its fruits are gathered much later. The pagan rite of putting the
cornel branch under each boy’s pillow shows his
mother’s desire to have a strong and long-living son - just like the cornel tree.
It seems to me that we are living among Pagans, because
Pagan rites and customs are spread throughout this region.
While going down toward Gjirokastra, you will find the
city of
The most renowned monuments for Libohova residents are two Pagan graves. They are graves of two Pagan couples, one of which lived in Teqe and the other in
Linua neighborhood. Mr. Bajo Avdiu, a teacher of history, loves to speak about this monument so much and it seems as
if he had known the couples.
The
graves are laid in the Northeast to Southwest direction of the city. The
position of these graves is the main evidence testifying that they date back to
the era B.C. They are carved in rock and have a sarcophagi shape. The graves also have a carved stone cover of the type found only in Roman graves of B.C. period. Cult
objects were also discovered inside the Pagan graves. In 1967, when the
communist regime destroyed all evidence and
objects considered as “cult” even these graves were damaged. Until then, Libohova people lit candles
at the two graves every night.
The
director of the
Libohova was a city during the Roman
period and it was called Andrinopol. The city’s theatre was situated on the outskirts, in the area known today as Sofratika.
The urban area during the Pagan
period extended along the grand valley including Tepelena, the Drino River, Libohova,
the lower part of Gjirokastra City, Sofratike and up to Dropull. In 2001, construction workers for the new
Gjirokaster-Kakavije highway found a grave dating back to the 3rd century B.C. This grave was studied and restored and
it is known as the Monumental Grave of Jorgucat. The construction workers
diverted the road so as not to destroy the historical testimony of the Pagans.
Dr. Dhimeter Kondi is the archeologist who took special
care to restore the Monumental Grave. He says that the size of the Monumental
Grave is 1.30 meters wide and 2 meters long. When discovered, it was covered by
16 cm thick decorated flagstone. Dr. Kondi claims that
this Monumental Grave dates back to the 2nd or 3rd
Century B.C.
So, people in this region
are living amongst Pagans - with Pagan rites
and monuments found throughout the region.
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