Solar calls

At the end of yesterday's article I mentioned a charm for love from The Anthology of Romanian Popular Charms, compiled and edited by Radu Răutu. Besides charms for specific goals, the book also contains a few prayer-like structures referred to as calls. Specifically, there are a few solar calls, one lunar call and quite a few stellar calls. 

Since Solstice is upon us, it came to me I should translate the solar calls and add them here. The calls themselves are a form of prayers that call on the magical aspects of the Sun - I usually write Sun and Moon with capital letters whenever I'm referring to the divine consciousness behind them, while I use lowercase letters whenever I'm referring to the physical cosmic objects; in this case I will refer to the Sun by writing it beginning with capital S, despite the text also referencing attributes of the physical sun. Unfortunately, I'm unable to translate them in rhyme as its their original structure. I would have to make certain modifications to the text to preserve the essence of its meaning though.

I think it was Romulus Vulcănescu who wrote in Romanian Mythology that the people of this land had a solar cult that spans into the mists of time. If I'm not mistaking, the same source mentioned small rural communities that were governed by the elders who had various executive, administrative and judicial roles. For example, whenever someone was accused of wrongdoings, the people would gather on the field and the elders would judge the case. It was said they began the judgement by praying to the Sun.

With this in mind I could see how these calls could be adapted as a sort of adorations to the Sun that can be integrated during specific solar rituals based on the goal. I could also see them adapted for mystical solar workings, but I have yet to experiment either possibility. 

Call of the Sun

1. Documented by S. F. Marian - Sărbătorile, specific to Ardeal, aka Transylvania to foreigners

"Holy Sun / Holy great Lord! / I do not lift up wind / From the ground / Instead [I lift up] your sky over my head / Your rays / In my eyelashes / Holy Sun / Holy great Lord! / You have 44 rays / Give four to me / And keep four to yourself / So that I shall place two / In my eyebrows / And two below my eyes (but above the cheeks) / So that I shall come across to all / As if I were a mountain cherry tree in flower / Surrounded by pearl(s)!"

A simple interpretation is this call was used for improving one's public image, possibly even one's authority and status. I could also suspect a request for improving one's health and vitality.

2. By Ciauşanu Fira Popescu, Folklore Compilation, as told by Ana F. Ciauşanu from Făureşti - Vâlcea 

"Rise, brother Sun / Do not rise over weak fences / [Nor] over striped carpets / Instead rise over my face / [And] over my eyes / [And] over my clothes / [And] over all my words / And redden my face with your redness / So that the land and the people would gaze at it / So that both the young and the old shall gaze at it / Both kin and strangers / But NN more powerfully / And place your rays / On my arms / So that the land and the people would gaze at it / So that both the young and the old shall gaze at it / Both kin and strangers / But NN more powerfully / Sun, brother Sun / Just as this thumb is larger / Than all other fingers / So shall I be [grater] than all the girls (or boys) / Only I shall be more fair / And more unique / Like a coin from the treasury / Like a mare (or stallion) from the heard / Like silk from the shop."

Like the previous call, this one is for improving public image, but with the underlying note of achieving a love goal.

3. Documented by S. F. Marian Spells, from Mitocul Dragomirnei - Suceava

"Holy Sun / [My] brother / Rise with your 40 rays / But do not rise over mountains / Nor over houses or over estates / Nor over heards of cattle / Nor over flocks of sheep! / Holy Sun / ]My] brother / Rise over my head / And over all my body / From head to toe / So that I shall shine as you [do] / Sun! / Just as everyone seeks you / So shall they seek me / From head to toe / Just as you turn, holy Sun / Towards emperors and rulers / So shall [they] turn towards me / Girls, men, youths."

This one appears to be a call for achieving status and improving public image. 

4. By Lupaşcu - Berry Medicine, Suceava

"Sun, brother Sun / (Make - ?) my eyes as those of a blackbird / (Make - ?) my tongue as (a) crocus / (Make - ?) my words (sound as) a cuckoo's song / Sun, brother Sun / Do not rise over mountains, over woods / [Nor] over clean estates / [Nor] over built structures / [Instead] rise over my being / And make my body fair / So the whole world and the people shall see and know / May you stay inside my mouth / Just as people stay and listen to the cuckoo / When it sings in the middle of the woods / And the young horses deep within the stables."

Again, it appears to be a call for improving public image and also to make one have more authority over others. I added the question mark after "make" inside round brackets because although the text does not specifically state one is calling out to the Sun asking to make their eyes, tongue and words so and so, it is kind of implicit.     

5. Documented by S. F. Marian - Spells, communicated by Vasile Alecsandri - Moldova

"Rise Sun / [My] brother / With 44 burning rays / Keep 40 to yourself / (And place) two in the (my) forehead / [Two] smaller ones / (But place) two shinier ones / Over my eyes and breasts / Luminous Sun! / How rayed you are / How fair you are / May I be as fair / As rayed / As luminous / In the eyes of my beloved / May God bring him (or her) to me!"

This looks like a request for beauty that is sought for an underlying love goal. 

Hate on, dum-dums!

The Great Gazoo