September is the month of Saint Michael. On St. Michael's Day, on September the 29th, the shepherds gave an account of the animals they have been entrusted with, and on this day they were also entrusted with this task for a year, until the next St. Michael's Day. The animals were taken to pasture on Saint George's day, on April the 24th, and brought back to the village on Saint Michael’s Day, when the annual count also took place.
The objects of September in the Szekler Museum of Ciuc are related to this month and this day: two carved shepherd's crooks, and a third carved and also ironed.
The shepherd's crook was the working tool/herding tool of the shepherds, it also had the role of a rank indicator and was also the representation of the profession (Klára Gazda). They always had them on them, and the decorative clubs were used in dances, celebrations, or perhaps for self-defense. A shepherd without a crook is not a shepherd (Géza Vámszer). Usually, the shepherd's crook was made by the shepherd himself, carved from a harder textured wood. It was carved with various geometric and floral designs, and with the name of the owner (sometimes also with his family members), the year of manufacture, numbers, etc. The shepherd's crook has been a sign of rank and dignity since the dawn of civilization: it was an indispensable accessory for Egyptian deities and pharaohs, later for bishops and popes of the Catholic Church.
Of the three crooks on display, the one with the forked mallet and hammered with brass nails, has a scratched, varnished pine branch-floral decoration. It had seven owners; their names and the years are engraved on it. The crook was made in 1943, probably the carver was its first owner, Illés Kulcsár, the year mentioned being next to his name. This shepherd's tool was collected from the area of Izvorul Mureșului.
The other two are from Armășeni and both were carved by a shepherd named Gyula Ferencz. One is dated 1932 and the other 1933. The head and end of the crooks are spherical, apple-shaped, and the carving begins 15 cm below it. Both are decorated with geometric and floral-pine branches. The 1933 one has even numbers from 1 to 15. The one dated 1932 ends in a tin top.