December

December is the twelfth month in the Roman calendar and according to
the Bulgarian calendar the twelfth month bears the beautiful name of
prosinetz. This Old Bulgarian word is derived from the Indo-European
bherat shining, glowing. Legends tell that during this month the day
begins to “glow”, to become brighter and to grow. In some regions of
Bulgaria this month is called Nikulden’s month.

 

4 December VARVARA (St. Varvara’s Day)

 

 

In the Strandja mountain there is a poem:
“Varvara boils, Sava kneads, Nicholas treats
the guests!”
St. Varvara’s Day sets the beginning of the
winter holidays in Bulgaria. On this day the
woman of the house bakes small “buns” for
the little boys and "dolls" for the small girls.
She boils wheat, corn, beans and gives them out to the neighbors for health and for the mercy of Grandmother Measles so that the
children are healthy. The day is also called “Women’s Christmas” because only women and young girls take part in it. The nameday of Varvara.

5 December SAVA (St. Sava’s Day)

In folk legends this is the holiday of saint Androgin. That is why in some villages Sava is a woman, a saint, sister of Varvara and
Nicholas. At other places Sava is a man, protector of wolves, also called “wolf herd”. On this day barren women get up very early and sift the flour in a new sift, tuned upside down. The oldest woman in the house pronounces the words: “Turn the sift, my child, and your belly will be turned.”And they believe that after the ritual bread is
given out at crossroads, the woman will have
a child within a year. Sava comes from the Old Greek
‘Saturday’ (foreseeing). The nameday of
Slavka, Slav, Sava.

 

6 December NIKULDEN
(St. Nicholas’ Day)

The day is dedicated to the saint, patron
of water, who protects the people. St.
Nicholas reigns over the seas, the rivers, the
lakes and the whole underwater world –
fishes, storm-demons, mermaids and
nymphs. In folk legends he is a white-bearded
old man who helps sailors in trouble.
A legend tells how St. Nicholas saved a ship
from sinking by stopping the hole with a live
carp. That is why on the table that day the
carp is the traditional offering, in addition to the
dishes without meat – sarmi, peppers and legumen.
The table is not cleared the whole day and the woman of the house keeps the bone from the
head of the carp, “the cross” as an amulet against bad luck and diseases. The Old Greek Nike
means ‘victory, victor’. The nameday of Nikolina, Nikola, Nikolay, Kolyo.

9 December ANINDEN (St. Anna’s Day)

Ana means ‘blessing’ in Hebrew. In the folk legends Saint Anna is the mother of
Virgin Mary and protector of marriage, the family, virginity, pregnant women and the
widows. Women don’t work on this day, men don’t leave the village so mermaids don’t fall in love with them. In the evening men burn dry ox dung in front of the door to drive
away evil spirits from the house. Women rub the udders of cows, sheep and goats with
wood ashes, garlic and fat. The domestic birds are kept closed to protect them against
magic. The young girls put under the oven a plate with salt and wheat, cover it with a
white cloth and in the morning feed the cattle with it for health. If a man enters the
house first, it is believed the newly born animals during the year will be male. This
explains why women usually visit the neighbors first. This is the day of all medicine men and women. The nameday of Anna.

12 December SPIRIDONOVDEN (St. Spiridon’s Day)

In some villages the holiday is called “Conception”. It is observed by women and mostly those who will give birth soon. On this day the young brides who want to become pregnant are bathed in hot herbal water. Legend tells the story how long time ago the other saints didn’t recognize Spiridon as a saint for he was arrogant and was dressed and clad like a rich man. Once, when they were all going to pay their respects to God, they stayed for the night at a small inn by the road. They asked the innkeeper to kill his horse and the donkey of his servant. On the morning the saints got ready to start. Only Spiridon’s servant was standing dumbfounded before the dead animals. The saint said to him: “Don’t be afraid. Put their heads on and they will be alive again.” And indeed, the moment the servant put the cut heads back the animals got up. But in the hurry the servant had put the horse’s head to the body of the donkey and the donkey’s head to the body of the horse. When the other saints saw this miracle, they recognized Spiridon as a saint. Professional day for all shoemakers. Nameday of Spiridon.

17 December DANILOVDEN
(Daniel’s Day)

In Christian legends Daniel was put in the
pit where the lion, instead of tearing him to
pieces, licked him with his tongue. He symbolizes
the personality of Christ who disarmed
death and temptation.
The day is celebrated by all pregnant
women. They bake breads and give them
out to the neighbors for the year to be fertile
and for them to give birth easily.
The nameday of Danail, Daniel, Daniela.

20 December IGNAZHDEN

This day marks the beginning of the folk New Year.
On the evening before, the woman of the house prepares the table for
Ignazhden – dishes without meat and a big bun which is divided into
pieces in the morning by the “crawler” (the first guest to the house).
Then she takes with a spoon some of the boiled wheat and corn
(chinichka), tastes some of it, and the rest she throws over the fire for
the chicken to fly freely and the wheat to grow high. While throwing
she says: “As much coal in the oven so much prosperity during the
year!” “Amen!”, the others say. And they know that as the holiday
table is rich the hosts will be twice as rich. Then the woman of the
house makes a circle of a man’s sash in the yard and within
it she feeds the chicken so that they don’t go to other people’s yards.
She keeps the hens to lay eggs in their own nest for in the mythology of the old Bulgarians the egg as a symbol of the world and the new, blessed world of the home must remain in the house. On this day people are careful not to take anything out of the house. Everybody must bring things in so that the year is “full”. It is very well if everybody has a coin in his pocet. The nameday of Ignat, from the Latin word meaning ‘fire’.

22 December ANASTASIYOVDEN (St. Anastasia’s Day)

On this day Bulgarians honor Nastasya the Deadly, a mythological personification of death. Old people say that if Nastasya gets
angry “she will make the houses black”. That is why on this day women are careful not to make her angry and don’t do housework.
They make breads of wheat, cover them with honey and give them out to the neighbors to commemorate the deceased and to protect against the plague.

24 December BADNI VECHER
(Christmas Eve)

It is also called “Christmas Eve” or
“Incensed Eve”. Early in the morning the
woman of the house prepares a “Bogovitza”
– a ritual bread for the house. Young girls
make buns for the carol-singers which they
will give to their beloved. They also make a
nosegay of box-tree branches and a split
from the log in the Christmas fire and tie it
with a red thread. The festive table is set. In
the patriarchal Bulgarian house straw is
spread on the floor of the dining-room. On it
people spread the Christmas Eve cloth
(trapeznik) and arrange 12 meatless dishes.
When the whole family is gathered, the
woman of the house smokes incense in the whole house. The dinner begins early so that
Get up, Staninine, get up, master,
For good guests are coming, good
guests for Christmas,
They’re bringing good news, good news
for Christmas,
From God we bring you health, and from
all of us – joy…
The preparations of the carol-singers
begin during the Christmas fast. They are all
bachelor men. They get together at St.
Nicholas’ Day and go to the house of the
man who will be asked to be "staninik" –
leader of the carol-singers. In some villages
he is called “kudabashia” or “good evening”. The "staninik" is a married man who knows all
the songs and rituals in the village very well. The carol-singers sing in pairs. Two men
begin the song (called “chougari”), the next two catch up and usually repeat the same
stanza. There are two groups of four men who take turns in singing and two young
boys – “apprentices” or “donkeys” who learn the songs from the older men and carry the
buns given as gifts. The second in importance in the group is the “blesser”, also
called “murmarin”, “priest” or “doctor”. He pronounces the blessing (vrachuvka). The
wheat ripens early. On sitting at table each person moves from left to right to make a
seat for the dead relatives and leave small quantities of all dishes for them. The oldest
man breaks the “Bogovitza” over the head of a small child who jumps three times. He
gives everybody a piece of the bread and one piece he leaves in a high place so that
children, plants and animals grow high. During the dinner you must not get up like
hens don’t get up from the eggs. If someone needs to get up, he must walk stooping so
that the wheat is heavy with grain. Luck goes to the person who sneezes first at table and
the man of the house will give him the first ewe when it is born. The first morsel young
people hide under the pillow and whoever appears in their dream that night will be their
partner in life. In addition to the ancient rituals of reading your fortune by walnuts, wheat,
flour and coals, everybody anxiously awaits to hear the clear voice of the bagpipe and the
joyful song of the young carol-singers: group is accompanied by a piper who plays
only when the "kuda" moves from house to house and the men are not singing. In each
house the carol-singers sing a song for the man of the house. The words are a blessing
for health, prosperity and good life. Carol-singing ends on Christmas morning
after all houses have been visited. Nameday of Evgeni, Evgenia, from
Hebrew, meaning ‘decent’.

25–27 December KOLEDA (Christmas)
(Rozhdestvo)

Bulgarians celebrate Christmas for three
days.
In the past, on the first day, after going
to church, in the village square goes a bidding
for the buns baked by the girls. It was
a matter of honor for a young man, who was
in love with a girl, to buy off her bun from
the staninik, no matter how much he had to
pay.
In the town of Yambol the carol-singers foods used since times immemorial. Virgil
writes that when Aeneas got off his ship at
Latium he came across a pig with its
piglets. He killed them and made an offering
to the gods. That is why he is called
"pious Aeneas". But like all people in antiquity,
he gave to the gods the blood and the
smoke above the altar, and the rest he ate
himself. For a long time pork was taken as
the food of the poor. In the houses of the
rich they used only some selected parts of
the animal – the hind legs, the head and the
tail. Old myths identify Adonis with wheat and the snout of the wild boar which
kills him with the sickle. The seed is “killed” but after “death” a new life is born. This is actually the natural cycle of agriculture, of the plant and the animal
world. For that reason in old frescoes and mosaics the pig is the
symbol of fertility. In Old Greek the word for “pig” means “womb”. It is often
present in myths about death and resurrection. Naturally, with the years it lost
its importance as a symbol and became a domestic animal that satisfies
the gastronomic tastes at holiday tables. This is the nameday of all whose name
begins with “R” – Radka, Radko, Radostin, Radost, Russi, Rumen, Rumyana.
The second day is the day of those who have the names of Hristo, Hristina, Yosif.
The third day of Christmas is Stefan’s Day. Nameday of Stefan, Stefanka, Stoil,
Stoyan, Stoyanka, Stanimir. The ones who have a nameday are given gifts and bathed,
people sing songs and play the horo dance. dance for the last time in the square the “Christmas buenek”, which is also known as the “Yambol buenek” for
this is the only place where carol-singers perform this dance. Folk legends say that if you
borrow salt on Christmas and don’t return it, you will have trouble with your
eyes. If your ear aches on Christmas this is an indication that an angel has passed by
you. And you have to make the sign of the cross three times and whatever you think of will come true. Children must not play with
fire on Christmas for they will wet their bed the whole year. You must not count the stars on that night or your hands will be
covered with warts. After the long Christmas fasting people eat some of the Christmas offering – the pig – after church. Pork is one of the oldest.

25 December – 6 January
MRASNI DNI (Dirty Days) (Poganni)

In some parts of the country they are also called “karakondjo days”. The folk myth tells the story that during these days the earth is visited by evil spirits – vampires, goblins and bugbears, who want to “lap the blood of the slaughtered pigs” and do evil to people. During that period people don’t arrange engagements, weddings, workingbees and commemoration ceremonies. They put a clove of garlic in the children’s clothes to protect them during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The holidays of the Bulgarians are
like live coals carried through the years.
Coals from the old fireplace of the ancestors,
which can always flare up to warm the days
of the next generations.

 

 

 

 

 

<< previous