Rahmans (Ukrainian:рахма́ни,Romanian:rohmani, blajini) are, according toRomanian andUkrainian popular beliefs, a mythical nation of righteousChristians.[1][2]
Neopagans think that Rahmans is the allusion to the Indian caste ofBrahmins.[3]
The etymology of the word blajini ([blaˈʒinʲ]) is the slavonianblažĕnŭ meaning kind, well-minding person.[4]
Following the Orthodox Christian calendar, Romanians fromBanat,Transylvania,Bukovina andMaramureș regions celebrate the Rahmanish Easter (Romanian:Paştele Blajinilor) on the first Monday afterSt. Thomas Sunday. The Rahmanish Easter is called also Easter of the Dead or Mighty Easter.
Ukrainians celebrate the Rahmanish Easter (Ukrainian:Рахманський Великдень) onMid-Pentecost.[5]
Since Rahmans supposedly live in isolation and have no year computation of their own,[6] they have no way of knowing whenEaster comes. It is for this reason that Romanians and Ukrainians eat dyed eggs and let the shells flow downstream, from there they believe they will get to the Rahmans.[5][2][7]: 37 There is a custom inOster,Lityn, andLutsk districts to throw egg shells into the river on Easter Eve.[6]
They are described as anthropomorphic and short, sometimes having the head of a rat. They are either described as malicious or as having great respect for God and leading a sinless life. They are considered to fast the year through, and thus doing humans a great service.[7]: 33
Blajin also means a dead child who did not receive the benediction of Holy Spirit. The ethnograph Marian Simion Florea wrote :Blajini are fictitious beings, incarnations of dead children not baptized who live at the end of Earth, nearby The Holy water (of Saturday).[8]Some explain them as the descendants ofAdam's sonSeth. Others think that they used to live alongside humans on the earth, butMoses, seeing his people oppressed by them, split the waters and, after he and his people had retreated to safety, poured the waters back onto them, sending them to their current abode.[7]: 34
According to different beliefs, Rahmans dwell underground[6] or live on the Rahmans' island.[9]