User:Copiiithemovie/Copiii Pierdere

Copiii Pierdere (Folklore) Copiii Pierdere – Romanian for “the loss of a child”, or “lost children” – a cult of gypsies originating in Romania in the 1500’s.

Din Burta de Sarpe – Romanian for “belly of a snake” – the name of the actual curse performed by the Copiii Pierdere

=
Copiii Pierdere - A fierce Gypsy tribe that gained exceptional power in the 1600’s through the mid 1700’s. Cult theorists believe that this tribe has one of the strongest lineages of a cult, linking back to their ancestor in ancient Romania. However. this remains uncertain.

Origin - The first official record of the group is disputed, but most attribute the origin to an attack made in 1623 in Bulgaria, where the group scrawled their name in the blood of their victims. The Copiii Pierdere tout the fact that they are all descendants of Alina Patkavior, the originator of Din Burta de Sarpe. Whether their lineage holds true remains unknown. The group gained fierce popularity around the 1600’s, when a supposed ancestor of Alina’s brought back her great-grandmother’s curse to reign hatred on a group of men that had accosted her.

Acts - According to legend, the group strayed from its path of protection, gaining power steadily into the late 1600’s. They used the curse to butcher neighboring tribes before ransacking the village, as well as killing those that opposed them. Because the cult had migrated from Romania, and often performed the ritual under all types of moons (not strictly half moons), the curse reportedly lost its strength. Because the Copiii Pierdere were using it as a means to further their own needs and lacked the intense hatred that had originated it, it was reported that while the curse still killed, it had lost the ferocity that it once held.

Dispersion – With the growing power of Catholocism and the Knights Templar, the Copiii Pierdere were reportedly wiped out in the early to mid 1700’s. Reports of some curse elements and rituals were spotted in Spain, England, and finally traveled to America in the late 1700’s. The Copiii Pierdere were blamed for women lost in childbirth, and some believe legitimate members were present during the Salem Witch trials.

Later Sightings – It is said that the Copiii Pierdere traveled to Florida in 1565 when Pedro Menendez founded San Augustin, current day St. Augustine. The settlers led by Menendez reported no strange occurrences aboard the ship (most likely due to the fact that women aboard were considered bad omens, and hardly traveled overseas). However, once settling began, it was reported increasingly difficult for couples to bear children; it is believed that the strong presence of the Copiii Pierdere was responsible for this. Eventually the group grew and spread to other parts of Florida, and eventually the rest of the new colonies. While there was a lack of cult reports and ritualistic sightings, this could in part be due to the fact that the Spanish had minimal to zero contact with the Copiii Pierdere before this time. In 1692 with the beginnings of the Salem Witch trials (present-day Massachusetts), people became more aware of the presents of cults and witches. It is said that some of the Salem Trials even contained legitimate members of the Copiii Pierdere; but, whether they were found guilty out of coincidence or legitimate guilt is unknown. Settlers in the American Colonies blamed the Copiii Pierdere for women lost in childbirth, as well as the death of babies and children. However, the latter is purely exaggeration as the curse was never used in its history to bring harm to children or infants.

Cassdaga – The group is said to have strong ties to present day Cassadaga. Florida after the group’s original establishment in St. Augustine. Reportedly, many of the original members stayed local to Florida and used their influence to terrorize nearby villages around them, building a circle of solitude where they kept mostly to themselves. While the town is known for its psychics and mediums, many believe that this is simply a ruse to cover the true strength of the Copiii Pierdere that reside there. The founder of the popular Spiritualist Camp, George Colby, never fathered children of his own – but he did adopt several orphan boys from the area. Colby was said to be a believer in the cult of Copiii Pierdere, and recognized their ‘work’ that had taken place with families of the area. His adopted children were said to be orphaned babies found at the scene of many Copiii Pierdere murders. Colby’s failing health was attributed to old age, but in his final years he fiercely attempted to expose the cult. He blamed his failing health on a curse which he called the Dun Burta de Sarpe, but it was simply determined that his illness had driven him mad. Residents of Cassadaga have reported that during events of miscarriage or death during childbirth, footsteps have been spotted outside the doors or windows of the mother’s bedchamber. While at the time this was attributed simply to curious children, some believe that these were members of the Copiii Pierdere exercising their power.

=
Din Burta de Sarpe – A curse said to be linked to the Copiii Pierdere cult, with origins in the 1500’s Romanian Gypsy camps.

Origins - Romanians as a society place high value on their children; their protection and well-being was first and foremost in their society. The curse originated as a protection spell placed over sleeping children to keep them safe, should any invasions arise from neighboring villages in the night. It was warped into the present-day curse by Alina Patkavior in the 1500’s. The symbol first appeared in 1623, the first time ‘Copiii Pierdere’ was referenced written in blood, the symbol itself present in the dirt and blood with what witnesses said had the appearance of the remnants of a charred snake around it. The actual symbol stems from the use of a snake sacrificed and laid over the pentagram; the moon is a reference to the night Alina Patkavior lost her child in the attack.

The Ritual – The ritual starts with drawing a pentagram in the dirt. The cultist would then take a snake, representational of sin, and sacrifice it with a blade; typically a short dagger. Sometimes ceremonial daggers were used by the Copiii Pierdere, but it is not required for the sacrificing. The blood of the snake would be sprinkled around, tracing the outline of the pentagram. Once this was done, the snake would be laid down in a pattern that follows the pentagram and lit on fire, so that the fire may purify and bring new life to the snake through it’s ashes. It is not known whether or not an additive was used in the fires to light the snake – some have reported, upon seeing the ritual from afar, that the power of the curse lights the snake itself. However, because no suspected members of the Copiii Pierdere have divulged this ritual, it remains left to interpretation. Because the curse was conceived under such hatred from Alina Patkavior, it has been said that the curse becomes strongest when the cultist has intense feelings of hatred toward the cursed. Many have also reported that the curse becomes strongest when the pentagram is drawn on Romanian soil, as well as under the light of a half-moon – this being the same night Alina’s baby was taken from her. Survivors of witnessing the Din Burta de Sarpe are extremely rare, as the curse is usually performed in secret; however, witnesses have reported hearing a chanting in Romanian, “Adu-mi copilul, pe alții să iad”. This roughly translates to “Bring me the child, the rest to hell.”

Uses – While the curse was originally a protection spell used by ancient Romanians to protect sleeping children, Alina Patkavior transformed the elements from her intense hatred and emotions the night her baby was stolen. She used the curse to slaughter an entire tribe of the offensors in their sleep, both women and men – but left the babies unharmed. When Alina’s great grand-daughter inadvertently brought the Copiii Pierdere together ater using her great-grandmother’s family curse, (see Copiii Pierdere – Origins) she used it on a group of men that had accosted here. It is said that because no women were present in this group of men, the curse only butchered them and left no children behind. When the Copiii Pierdere used the curse on villages they would ransack for their valuables, there were said to be no survivors left behind except the infants and children. According to legend, when the curse lost its power from a combination of lack of emotional attachment, migrating from Romania and performing the curse under a different moon than the half-moon, its strength weakened. Those that have witnessed an attack of the Copiii Pierdere curse in its less powerful moments say that while there were survivors left, few made it past more than a day of life. Those among the survivors described an intense feeling of pain and burning in the pit of their stomachs, akin to a fire spreading through their blood. It is not known whether the curse would be transferrable through the blood of a survivor, but some have sworn that having an ancestor cursed by the Din Burta de Sarpe brought bad luck and strange occurrences through their entire lives. However, this is more than likely a series of coincidences or tricks of the mind.

Later Sightings – Some have reported seeing daggers and jewelry with the symbol of the Copiii Pierdere, supposedly used in the sacrificing and ritual, but these items were not necessary for a successful curse to take place. Ancestors of the cursed have reported seeing the symbol, and most believe that the curse will follow one’s family through the bloodline. But for all these rumors, no member of a cursed ancestor’s family has found the same fate. Residents of Cassadaga, Florida have reportedly seen the symbol scrawled above the doors of supposed members of the cult, but it is well known that the original members preferred solitude. Most present-day symbols of the Copiii Pierdere are simply drawn by followers, or those that with to reenact the curse itself.

Alina Patkavior – A mother in the 1500’s, said to be the originator of the Din Burta de Sarpe curse, and inadvertently the mother of the cult Copiii Pierdere.

Association with Copiii Pierdere – Alin Patkavior lived circa 1510 in Romania. During a raid on her village one night, her child was stolen from her when a nearby group attacked. She twisted the protection spell used by her people, changing its elements and feelings so much that her own hatred became a key ingredient in Din Burta de Sarpe. She cursed the tribe that had ransacked her village, performing what has become the ritual today. The next week, news traveled to her camp that the offending tribe had been butchered in their sleep, the stench of death still clinging to the air. Men from Alina’s tribe traveled to find the men of the tribe slaughtered like livestock. The women were flayed open, including those that were with child – however, the babies lay unharmed beside the corpses of their mothers. The men brought the babies back to the village, and Alina instantly knew what she had done. She kept a child for her own, naming it Pierdut (Romanian for “lost”). She passed the curse down to her children so that they might know how to protect their own families one day, should the need arise.