Traditional Ethnographic Characters

Fertility wizards log-haulers

The “hauling of the log”, known in the village of Cirkovci at Dravsko polje, can be related to the ancient ritual of fertility. If none of the women from the village got married in the pre-carnival period, young men had to haul a pine log. Nowadays, girls participate in the ritual as well. The procession is lead by a musician and the best man with the bridesmaid. Three pairs of young women haul a log which is placed on two plough tails and decorated with fir tree branches and colourful ribbons. There is a chair on the log, on it a straw doll, representing the groom, is sat. The procession is followed by the future bride, “black women”, young men and loggers. The latter keep sawing the log, offering its pieces to young women with a wish they would find a husband soon. They keep saying: “As you did not want a groom in flesh, have one in wood instead!” In the past the procession of log-haulers was an event the entire village participated in.