Romanian Funeral Superstitions and Folk Customs

Canon vs. Custom

The single biggest source of confusion at a Romanian funeral is figuring out which rituals are required by the Church and which are folk customs that the Church officially discourages — or outright opposes — but that your grandmother insists are essential.

This distinction matters because the parish priest may refuse to participate in folk practices he considers superstitious, while family elders may become deeply upset if you skip them. The guide below sorts each major custom by its actual status: canonical (Church-approved), folk (culturally persistent but not theologically required), or contested (the priest's reaction depends on the parish).

Covering Mirrors

Status: Folk custom, not canonical.

The tradition calls for covering every mirror in the house with black cloth immediately after the death. The folk belief is that the departing soul might become trapped in a mirror's reflection, preventing it from completing its journey. Some versions hold that seeing a reflection of the corpse in a mirror creates a second death in the household.

The Church has no teaching about mirrors. Most priests won't object if you cover them — it doesn't interfere with any liturgical requirement — but they won't ask you to do it either. In practice, nearly every traditional family does this regardless of what the priest says.

Breaking Pottery

Status: Folk custom, regionally strong in Oltenia and Muntenia.

When the coffin is carried out of the house for the last time, a clay pot or piece of pottery is smashed on the threshold. This is believed to sever the deceased's connection to the household, preventing the spirit from finding its way back.

This practice has pre-Christian roots in Romanian folk tradition. The Church neither endorses nor particularly fights it, since it happens outside the liturgical space. The practical note: tell the funeral director in advance if your family plans to do this, especially if you're in a funeral chapel rather than a private home.

Coins in the Casket

Status: Folk custom with pagan origins. Many priests actively oppose it.

Some families place coins in the deceased's hands or pockets. The folk reasoning comes from the belief in the Vămile Văzduhului (Aerial Tollhouses) — spiritual checkpoints where demons accuse the soul of sins during its ascent to heaven. The coins supposedly pay the tolls. A parallel thread draws from the ancient Greek tradition of paying the ferryman Charon to cross the river Styx.

The Church's position on the Aerial Tollhouses is nuanced — some theologians accept them as legitimate spiritual imagery, while others consider them a folk interpolation. But the coins themselves are clearly non-canonical. Most priests will instruct the family not to place money in the casket. If your family insists, this is one of those moments where you need to weigh the priest's authority against the elder's expectations.

Animals Near the Body

Status: Folk belief, widely observed.

Cats and dogs must be kept away from the room where the body lies. The folk tradition holds that if an animal jumps over or touches the corpse, the deceased will rise as a strigoi — a restless, vampiric spirit that haunts the living. A particularly strong version of this belief targets cats, which are considered spiritually dangerous near the dead.

This one has no canonical basis. Any handling of the body should still follow the priest's and funeral professional's guidance.

The Strigoi Fear

Status: Folk mythology, not a canonical Orthodox teaching.

The strigoi — a spirit that returns from the dead to torment the living — is one of the oldest figures in Romanian folklore, predating Christianity entirely. Funeral superstitions around the strigoi include:

• Driving animals from the death room (as above)
• Placing garlic on the body
• Inserting cotton mixed with incense into the eyes, nose, and ears of the corpse
• In extreme rural cases, historical accounts describe driving a wooden stake or needle into the heart or foot of certain deceased — particularly those born with a caul (tichie) or believed to have the evil eye (deochi)

Strigoi are a folk belief, not part of the Church's canonical teaching. The soul departs the body at death and follows the liturgical path the Church describes — the two days near the body, the ascent on the third day, the journey through the Tollhouses, the Particular Judgment on day forty. Folk remedies against strigoi are not Orthodox requirements and should not be performed without the priest's guidance.

In practice, the milder forms (keeping animals away, certain herbal placements) persist in rural communities. The extreme forms (stakes, needles) are effectively extinct in modern Romanian practice.

Water Covering

Status: Folk custom.

All open containers of water in the house must be covered after a death. The belief is that the departing soul will "drown" in uncovered water, becoming trapped in the house. A glass of fresh water placed near a window, along with a piece of bread, serves a different purpose — this is intentionally set out to sustain the traveling soul with food and drink as it detaches from the earthly plane.

The distinction seems contradictory, and it is. Folk customs aren't systematic theology. The priest won't address either practice.

How to Handle the Conflict

The practical question every family faces: what do you do when your priest says one thing and your grandmother says another?

The guide's approach is to understand which elements are canonical requirements (coliva, the Stâlpii, the open casket, the priest's absolution prayer) and which are folk additions. The canonical elements are non-negotiable — skip them and the funeral is liturgically incomplete. The folk elements are your family's choice. A covered mirror harms nothing. Coins in the casket might cause friction with the priest.

The Eastern Orthodox Funeral — Romanian guide includes a complete canon-vs-custom reference table — marking every major ritual element as required, optional, or folk — so families can make informed decisions without either offending the priest or alienating the elders.