Old Rituals in New Cultural Environment. “Drowning of a Midwife” and “Hanging of a Matchmaker” in Lithuania and Western Belarus

Abstract

In the analysis of baptism rituals in eastern Lithuania and western Belarus, I have repeatedly drawn attention to the similarity in the structure of individual traditional wedding and baptism rites and even the transition of some ritual acts from one ritual to another. The similarities noticed in the ritual acts performed at baptisms and weddings in the first half of the twentieth century have led to a more detailed analysis of these life-cycle celebrations in the twenty-first century. In this article, I examined the peculiarities of the ceremonial/symbolic killing (or attempted killing) of a midwife and a matchmaker. Analysing both rituals I revealed the differences between the traditional ceremonial killing of a midwife and the ‘hanging’ of a matchmaker; uncover and compare modifications of these rites in modern society. I showed that, with the loss of their former ritual value and the absence of matchmakers and midwives in real life, the ritual practice of symbolic drowning or hanging has remained. This indicates a desire to preserve the old customs and, with modifications, practice them in today’s baptism and wedding ceremonies as the final part of the ritual. On the other hand, a thorough analysis of the ceremonial acts has shown that both the symbolic hanging of a matchmaker and, in particular, the drowning of a midwife (bobutė) are late cultural phenomena, dating back only one or several hundred years in the areas studied.