Abstract
The study discloses practices, beliefs and representations concerning the usage of a natural space by man in order to build a house. Basing on field investigations, accomplished a quarter of century ago, and on surveys among old people, bearers of traditional culture, the author has revealed step by step the customs associated with the building of a dwelling. Due to these cultural practices, the natural space becomes gradually a cultural one and within this process all the actions are related to cosmos. The gestures and ritual objects, used while shaping the space, according to the principles of cosmos, have an important semantic weight, ensuring thus the mediation. The author determines that the sacrifice in the name of the building, in all its variants, doesn’t appear in the rituals of building wooden houses, preserved more time in the north of Moldova, a fact that proves the differences of perception of these two essential building materials: wood and stone. Wood is considered alive therefore this quality extends also to the wooden buildings, while stone is considered dead and its usage in the process of building requires, from the point of view of rituals, a sacrifice in the name of the building, in order to ensure thus the life of the people that will inhabit the house.
Keywords: building rites, wood, stone, sacrifice in the name of the building, hallowing the house, the spirit of the place.
Cuvinte-cheie: rituri de construcţie, lemn, piatră, jertfa zidirii, sfinţirea casei, spiritul locului.