The Power of Falling
Looking at the title of this article, one could assume that I am about to wax idiotically about the power of “falling to the bottom and climbing your way back up”, but by now you should know me better. Cheap sales of heavily projected, and largely made-up stories of failure are not worth my time. And if there were any justice, everyone else would also realize that telling them is not worth the wasted oxygen.
No, I want to talk about a different, and much more interesting kind of a fall: a trance fall. More particularly, an ecstatic dance practice from the Homolje region of Eastern Serbia, performed by the women called Rusalje (pronounced as ruh-sah-lye, “the falling women”). The practice, which is now largely extinct, used to take place on the holiday of Pentecost. It takes place on the 50th day after Orthodox Easter, colloquially known in Serbia as “Duhovi” (spirits) - a Christian holiday, dedicated to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. On this day, the people of Duboka village would gather in front of the cave, and start playing the music and dancing the traditional dances. All of a sudden, one of the women would fall to the ground in a violent trance. As a few people hold her down, she begins to relay messages from the Otherworld and predict the future events for the community. Ritual music and dance begin, to bring her back to consciousness. To facilitate a safe return into the world of the living, crossed swords adorned with camomile, garlic, and wormwood are passed over her body.
A Rusalja in trance. Unknown author. Source: Wikipedia.
According to the local legend, which the inhabitants of Duboka still tell today, once upon a time, there were two queens, Planinka and Zlatinka (the Mountain Queen, and the Golden Queen), who were close friends, but who fell in love with the same prince. Because of him, they started a war to extermination. They mortally wounded each other, and while held by her warrioresses, Planinka said: “Just like Zlatinka and I fell on the feast of Spirits, may all women of Duboka fall forever.” And while the legendary stories prevail, according to ethnographers, the ritual has not been performed since the 1960s.
There are many ways to analyze the phenomenon of Rusalje: as a way for marginalized community members to gain visibility and a shortcut to vertical social mobility (Sinani, 2009), or through the function of a community’s religious officials, to name a few. But as we are here with the cards and magic, we will not mince words. Let’s just ask: what powers lie behind the Rusalje ritual, and how can they be harnessed? For this, I did a Do/Don’t spread, with three cards indicating the situation, and Do/Don’t cards providing agency advice.
Gilded Jean Noblet Tarot, reconstructed by Agnes Kappler of Kartograme.
The situation cards tell us that the powers lying behind the ritual are exactly those “listed on the tin”, so to speak: it is the power of the otherworld reaching out, taking the seat across from us at the table. The outreach, or reunification in the Sun, combined with the stability of 4 coins directly reminds us of a table we dine and commune at, and reinforced by the 7 swords which traditionally stand for magic and otherworldly interventions, clearly indicate this. With the 4 coins being central, we must accentuate the notion of stability that such a religious functionary is supposed to bring through the alleviation of uncertainty. The raw power of the otherworld is mediated through it.
The Do and Don’t cards tell us that to harness the power of the ritual we have to accept the ritual for what it is. We must recognize its manifest function of mediation between the sacred and the profane; between the realm of the gods and the realm of mortals, which is the primary function of the Pope. We also clearly need to avoid relativization reflected in the measured approach of the Temperance. This also comes as no surprise, as almost anyone performing ritual work knows that anything less than perfect faith in what you are doing simply won’t cut it.
Understanding the social dynamics of a ritual is one thing, but if we are concerned with the success of what we are doing, we need to remember that in the ritual space, the only relevant factor is the embodiment of the very thing we are attempting to achieve. Another thing to remember is that the key element of the Rusalje ritual is the very act of surrendering to the otherworldly powers, albeit in a controlled environment. This is also represented in the Pope card: the followers accept the preachings of the Pope in the controlled environment of the cathedral. In this setting, they are on the receiving end, following without questioning.
The Rusalje ritual is no longer performed, partly due to the large interest of the general public which brought with it the pins-under-the-nails researchers who tried to test the apparent absence of consciousness in these women by registering the pain response. While understanding the mechanics of any phenomenon has its uses, deconstruction will just not do when trying to embody it.
References
Radio Telvesion of Serbia (2018) Razgovori s mrtvima – ko još u Srbiji veruje u rusalke? Youtube video.
Sinani, D. (2009) Rusalje. Belgrade: Čigoja Štampa.
