Secăria River

The Secăria River is a tributary of the Doftana River in Romania.

Legend of ritual sacrifice

In the 13th century, local tribes held an annual ceremony in which they sacrificed virgins to their Gods: Solis, the god of the sun, and Lunis, the goddess of the moon. Legend said Solis would take the virgins and bed them, and create the stars. Lunis, as repayment to Solis for creating her sisters, would then reincarnate the virgin into an organism and return her to earth.

It was a great honor for the virgin to be selected, and her family remembered her by cutting a lock of her hair just before the sacrifice. The ritual began with the cutting of the virgin's locks, then moved to a great festival. Many games testing the local young men's manhood took place, and the young man who won the games had the honor of giving the virgin her last kiss. The sacrifice was only allowed to drink water, so she could become one with the river when she died. Several long cuts were made down her arms, so that her blood merged with the river's water. Rocks were tied to her feet to drag her to the bottom. Once she was thrown into the river, the natives chanted a farewell song, and then a song to wake the sun. Once the virgin was surely washed downstream, a great feast was held, and the villagers were merry until the next season, in which another virgin was sacrificed.

References

• Administrația Națională Apelor Române - Cadastrul Apelor - București
• Institutul de Meteorologie și Hidrologie - Rîurile României - București 1971
• Trasee turistice - Județul Prahova (Romanian)

Maps

• Harta Munții Baiului
• Harta Munților Grohotiș
• Harta Județului Prahova