THE BIRTH RITUAL OF TIKVES MACEDONIANS

Abstract

The most important moment in the life of any married couple is the birth of their child. Consequently, the entire ritual is supported by a comprehensive ritualreligious system which is set up in order to carry out a gradual, secure and successful transition from the world one comes from to the world one enters. The evidence collected in all the Tikves settlements has been used to establish an ideal model of the ritual of birth, which pinpoints the specific elements that make up the ethnic identity of the Tikves Macedonians along with the already established traditional system of child birth rituals on the broader territory of Macedonia.