The Mordovian Wedding by Lyuba Moiseyeva, Lena Muchordova, Anna Karnauchova

Mordovian Wedding

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-10 19:16:36 UTC

The Mordovian wedding is one of the distinctive phenomena in the life of the Mordvins. Wedding ceremonies are characterized by great complexity and diversity.

Rituals

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-10 19:34:59 UTC

Mordovian wedding can be divided into several stages, each of which has many features and nuances.

Appoitment

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The groom's parents send a matchmaker to the bride's house to agree about the wedding. He speaks in a joking manner, and then negotiates a cost of the solemnity. On this day they also appoint the day for the wedding.

Traditions

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-10 19:48:49 UTC

Traditional Mordovian wedding can be called a folk and noise ritual, because it includes laments, songs, appealing to parents and friends, the native place and even to the nature. Marriage is traditional event that is planned by parents and relatives. When they choose a bride they focus on the financial position of her family, the girl’s diligence and health.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-10 19:50:20 UTC

Matchmaking

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-10 19:52:14 UTC

The first and main step on the way to the wedding is the matchmaking. The first stage is a preliminary agreement about the matchmaking. Before that, the groom's parents should know, the parents if the bride's parents will take them or not.

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Zapoj

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 06:15:42 UTC

The following pre-wedding ritual in the cycle of different ceremonies is “Zapoj”, which exists in the traditional preparation for the wedding of Mordovins and has a great number of specific features. Before marriage, after matchmaking, there are six weeks left to the wedding day and three weeks left to the ceremony, when the groom's relatives go “to drink away” the bride. From this day the bride and groom do not meet until the wedding ceremony. When parents and relatives of the groom come to the bride's house, they should bring a bucket of wine, a loaf, salt and money. By the way, the bride's parents and relatives are sitting as guests, the matchmakers treat them.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 06:21:32 UTC

At this time, the bride sits in the closet. She is dressed in clothes, and her head and face are covered with a shawl. After the great meal the groom's parents go to the closet to see and evaluate the future wife of his son. So the next important and traditional custom begins.

Buy-out

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 06:22:21 UTC

It is called the buy-out of bride. There are two married women in front of a closet's doors, usually the bride's brother's wife and the older married sister. So, there is some trial for the grooms' parents who came here for taking a view of the bride.

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Lamentations

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 08:02:58 UTC

After “zapoj”, a bride goes at night in the yard to wail. This ritual is to take leave of her maidenhood. Usually girls are taught to do this at the age of 8-10. If the bride is afraid to go out alone, she takes her bridesmaid. This ritual lasts for 4-5 days and during this period a young woman says goodbye to her parents, relatives and house. It looks like an extremely sorrowful ceremony, and in her lamentations the bride blames her parents that they sell her to an “enslaver”(as the groom is called). She doesn’t want to leave home and shows all her grief.

Prayers

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 08:47:37 UTC

Not only the bride performs such custom. Groom’s and bride’s parents and relatives pray for newly-weds’ welfare and in order to protect their future family life from the evil spirit they close all the windows and doors in the houses. As a rule there are often two different tunes at the wedding. Groom’s relatives sing in a loud voice, cheerfully and in a stately manner as they appear to be “winners”. The way the bride and bridesmaids sing is opposite to it. They are sad and mournful.

Difference in age

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 08:51:09 UTC

In most cases the bride is older that the groom. The difference in their age is 10-12 years. That happens because the bride is supposed to be a good helper in the groom’s house, that’s why she must be in an excellent physical shape and in good general health state to be ready for hard housekeeping.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 08:54:02 UTC

Preparations

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 08:55:04 UTC

Usually Mordovian wedding takes place on Sunday as it is also called a “light day”. The unmarried ladies come to bride’s house in 3 day times before the wedding day. Tentatively speaking ,the name of this ceremony is a “Porridge day” as the main dish is porridge. All the women gather together. Guests bring some utensils and they are left in the bride’s house so it can show the groom how many relatives the lady has. After that all the people go out in the yard and the brides throws a ring away and a girl that catches it will be the next who gets married.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:14:58 UTC

Also bride’s mother cooks without fail a pie called “kurnik” on this day. It’s considered to be the most important attribute of the Mordovian wedding since it is taken to groom’s house.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:16:01 UTC

Another rituals accompanying nuptial turmoil is ”maiden baths”. This one presents a popular among Mordvins belief that the girl "washes off" her previous life and from that time she’s a married woman and now her hair is plaited in two braids, not in one as she used to do before that moment. According to the custom she has to give a lock of hair with the ribbon to her younger sisters or friends.

A dowery

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:16:51 UTC

A lot of people join in the preparation both in the bride’s and the groom’s houses. It’s a very busy time for families as an impression of the wedding depends on how well everything is organized. The lady provides a dowry, which consists of incredibly big number of linen shirts decorated with fanciful designs, kitchen utensils, towels, blankets,kerchiefs, different articles of clothes for herself and her future husband. All that are stacked in a huge cask, but before it there comes an process of fumigating it with herbs and then millet, coins and herbs are laid on its bottom. As a rule the bridesmaids help her and, moreover, they truely think it’s a part of their duty.It isn’t quick to prepare so many things and gifts since the period between the wedding and the matchmaking is rather long.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:18:33 UTC

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A groom comes to the bride

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:37:24 UTC

The central stage of the wedding cycle is a wedding in the house of the bride and groom. Before that a groom with his parents and friends go to the bride's house in a "wedding procession". It is a small wagon decorated with a lot of bells and bright ribbons. This tradition is in the nature of talisman and it notifies all the people about the wedding. Before the departure, the oldest family members pray for a successful road. They usually go for the bride in the most favorable time of the day - in the afternoon.

The groom's and bride's parents

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:53:59 UTC

Firstly, the groom's parents come in the house of the bride and the wedding ceremony begins with a necessary ritual - the bride's relatives feed her porridge. It is called " yam yarkhtsama ". Besides, on the morning of the wedding the groom's relatives bake wedding cakes in his parents' home, there are between 5 and 9 and each of them has its own name and purpose.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:56:12 UTC

The biggest and most important cake is called " Luvon Kshi ", it is brought to the bride's father for what he brought and kept such a treasure. The bride's mother also gets her cake but it's usually smaller.

The main persons

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 15:58:19 UTC

The main role in the wedding train plays a matchmaker (Kudava). It can't be a girl, a pregnant woman or a widow. The second person of honor and importance is a man, whose obligation is to protect the bride and the entire procession from damage and to dispose a table. The bride's intercessors are her relatives or cousins.

The wedding ceremony

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 16:15:03 UTC

The first meeting and getting acquainted of the young couple is at the bedside, which is usually prepared in winter and summer, in a stable or barn because of the lack of separate rooms. The groom comes in advance there and then the bride is led. After the church ceremony all the people move to the house of bride's uncle where the wedding day is accompanied by a big table with various food and drinks. In a week after the wedding day the bride goes to a bath, where she gives presents to the keeper of the bath - bracelet and finger ring.

The necessary ritual

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 16:28:17 UTC

These women ask for the admission fee. The groom's father has to give them two glasses of wine with copper coins on their bottom. They sip, take coins, thank parents and pass them further. Then they go forth and see two other bridesmaids who guard the bride. The matchmaker fulfils the same ritual with wine and copper coins. They come to the bride and give her a glass of wine with a silver coin.

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 16:37:41 UTC

After that the groom's mother puts a shawl on her head to make her sensible, earrings in her ears to make her obedient, puts the ring on the finger to make her a needlewoman and a bracelet on her wrist to make her hard-working. From that moment, a couple is finally betrothed and the bride stops going to the gatherings and starts preparing gifts for the groom's relatives together with her friends.

Clothes

kaibeleva_2011 — 2014-12-11 18:23:29 UTC

What about clothing, it is one of the parts of the wedding that should be undoubtedly singled out. Specifically wedding dresses are divided depending on different varieties of Mordovian nationality. Here are “shoksha”,” erzia” and “moksha”. Their best tuckers differ, but it isn’t hard to notice alike features in all of them. As usual, it is several white shirts (in moksha dress their quantity vary from 3 to 11), skirts, shoes (leather creased jackboots relate to erzia wedding dress; their price used to equal to the price of a cow so as you can see they cost the earth, but the family affords this expense, as the reason for it is worth it ). The national wedding dresses have special attributes which characterize them . For example, kneelers , “pulaj”, “kokoshnik”, “syul’gamo” accessory etc. They emphasize the dress and make them specific.

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