Macedonian Folk Embroidery and its Relation to the Convictions and Customs of the People

The large number of national convictions and customs tied to the embroideries themselves whose creation and preservance undoubtedly took a long time in the distant past of the embroidery tradition of Macedonia. Above all, the tradition of wearing embroidered clothing should be emphasized, a tradition that still plays an important role in some parts of Macedonia (Mariovo, Polog, the Radovish Plain). Even exemplars of recent times support what is stated by the many pieces of ready made textile which even if it be visually maintain the traditional way of ornamentation (the Stuga and Debar Drimkol, the Prilep Plain). The peoples' awareness of embroidered clothing items is particularly focused on an old custom to wear n embroidered shirt for the wedding.

Considering the significance and role of embroidery in people's life, it was considered as an essential female handcraft that the females were taught since childhood. Many customs and beliefs full of archaic elements such as teaching near water or a well, the cult of the sun, customs and beliefs about the very first embroidery and more accompanied the actual instruction. Of particular interest is the old custom present in most of Macedonia to bring all the girls by the well in the spring and autumn in order to teach them the art of embroidery and the importance of working together. Closely connected to this custom was the erection of special simple edifices so-called kukaritsi (Skopska Kotlina) or zemnik (Kumanovo) related to specific customs and convictions. The structure of these edifices reminds of the ancient Slavonic native women as well as the Dardanian inhabitants, a time before the Slavs.

Special attention is given to the many examples of grouping in accordance to the age, a custom inherited from long ago. In such a case it is not only the design and constituents of the costume that were significant, but also the embroidery that played a significant role in marking a certain age either by the use of certain ornaments, colors or embroidery techniques. Skopska Crna Gora is an excellent example of this where it was practice to have the little girl who would embroider her first shirt wear it on Easter and hence consider that the beginning of her maiden days. From that moment on she would wear a new embroidered shirt on every year in a predetermined order. The second Easter a prekurebrnyayka, the third Easter a po edan prut and so on, right up to the moment when she would embroider her wedding shirt krstovi denoting the end of her maiden days. In comparison to the young women’s embroidered shirts the elder women wore a simple shirt konopnyitsa with hardly any embroidery.

An even more typical age differentiation was made in Mariovo that also contains a certain element of amatory symbolism. A 9-year-old little girl would wear a shirt with the motif mashko petle (a tomboy), 9 – 11 years old jagupovi pilinya (signifying that she is developing), while at 11 to 14 or 16 years old she begins to wear the shirt pred mominstvo ("before becoming a woman") with much more embroidery korentchinya (roots), polupchinya (kisses). By putting on a shirt with larger embroidery zh'toki or korenye this would denote that she is "no longer a little girl". Besides that girls and young women wore alovni shirts in the technique orano (polnezh) while the elder women wore boraveni koshuli (darker shades) in the technique grabeno. It is interesting to note that certain embroidery like pisani koshuli (with orbicular motifs) were considered attractive to men because of the applied forms and it was "humiliating" to have a girl wear them (except before marriage). They were not worn at a wedding or funeral – not even married women put them on in church na molitva ( for praying ).

Other indicators of the ancient embroidery tradition were the clothing items that had a ritual function. As they survived the longest so did the archaic elements. The bridal shirts with their specific ornamentation deserve the most attention. They are distinguished from the others as guvealnitsi, golemi or tsrneti koshuli opulently embellished with embroidery allowing endless opportunity for exploring the prehistoric forms and traditional remnants. The old custom of leaving an embroidery unfinished for protection from evil eyes or other convictions is particularly applicable for the bridal shirt. (No. 80).

The classification of the embroidered shirts also depended on their use in specific days and rituals even though with insignificant differences in ornamentation. For example the Miatsi had the shirt tnoka (bridal), vodarska (for fetching water, first day after the wedding), kolacharska (for guests, skolachi), tsvetnicharska (for prichesna on the religious day Tsvetnici), an so on. This clearly manifests the close connection between the embroidered clothing items and the traditional customs. In Mariovo the bride fetches water na cheshma for the first time with the shirt v'chkata traga to bring luck to bear a male child and it is sometimes worn to church for the same purpose.

Sometimes embroidered items are worn for the purpose of mourning, which is not a rare case in Macedonia. Not only the elder women, but also younger persons when mourning in the Prilep and Bitola Plains and Mariovo wear the shirts so-called grabeni koshuli. The presence of white, unfinished parts of the embroidery deserves special attention even more so that the ancient Slavs wore white for mourning and this phenomenon was recognized in the Middle Ages in the frescoes of Serbia and Macedonia. An example of this old preserved custom are the white darkmi (pieces of cloth for females placed on the head) from the Upper villages south of Bitola embroidered with white for mourning, with black and white for minor mourning and with black and patterned embroidery for other occasions.

Amongst the most significant items from the Macedonian ritual costumes are the embroidered bridal ubrusi and sokai for the head which are not only the oldest preserved exemplars in Macedonia but also many of them represent ultimate esthetic value of our national art. Even though their production was abandoned as far back as the middle of the previous century the old tradition – performing a wedding ceremony with ubrusi and sokai passed on from the older generations, more or less continued up to the beginning of this century. As a result it was not so uncommon to find these items in other villages. It is interesting to note that the Macedonian ubrusi and sokai show resemblance to the corresponding costume items of the inhabitants of Povolzhyeto in appearance, ornamentation and technique. This resemblance is not by chance - it implies to distant cultural and historical relations. On the other hand the sokai (a conical shaped item with wooden rods on the top end) allow for the assumption of distant traces of unihorn hats used by several Slavonic nations and remind us of the ancient Frigia hats.