Bulgarian Folklore
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Bulgarian Folklore
The main Bulgarian celebration events are : * Martenitsa, all of March, beginning with the 1st of march * Nestinari * Kukeri * Koleda (Christmas), Koledari * Velikden (Easter) * Name Days * International Mother's Day, March 8 * Independence Day, March 3 * Sveti, Sveti Kiril i Metodii, May 24 Other Bulgarian customs, specific for Bulgaria, worship God, the saints, the nature, the health, and chase away bad spirits : * St. Andrew's Day - 30 November * Antonovden - 17 January * Archangelden - 8 November * Christmas Eve * Budnik * Easter * Valtchi praznici * St George's Day * German * Dragon chasing * Gorestnici - 28,29,30 July * Dimitrovden - 26 October * St John's Eve - 24 June * Need-fire * Trifon Zarezan - 1 February / 14 February * Horse riding Todorovden - 1st Saturday of Lent * Feast of the Cross - 14 September * Lazarice (Lazarus Saturday) - 8 days before Easter in the name of Lazarus * Maccabees - ab 1 August for 12 days, to remember the Maccabees * Mratinci - Chas ...
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Martenitsa
A Martenitsa ( bg, мартеница, ; mk, мартинка, martinka; el, μάρτης, mártis; ro, mărțișor; al, verore) is a small piece of adornment, made of white and red yarn and usually in the form of two dolls, a white male and a red female. Martenitsi are worn from Baba Marta Day (March 1) until the wearer first sees a stork, swallow, or blossoming tree (or until the end of March (April 1)). The name of the holiday means "Grandma March" in Bulgarian and Macedonian, the holiday and the wearing of Martenitsi are a Bulgarian tradition related to welcoming the spring, which according to Bulgarian folklore begins in March. Inscribed in 2017 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Symbolism A typical Martenitsa consists of two small wool dolls, Pizho and Penda (). Pizho, the male doll, is usually predominantly white; Penda, the female doll, is distinguished by her skirt and is usually predominantly red. The red and wh ...
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German (Mythology)
German (GER-man, ) is a South Slavic mythological being, recorded in the folklore of eastern Serbia and northern Bulgaria. He is a male spirit associated with bringing rain and hail. His influence on these precipitations can be positive, resulting in the amount of rain beneficial for agriculture, or negative, with a drought, downpours, or hail. Rituals connected with German included making a doll intended to represent this personage. This effigy of German, made of rags, fired clay, or dried fruits, was rather large, usually with a distinct representation of the male genitals. It was produced and used in rituals exclusively by girls or young women. Janićijević, pages 184-186.Pešikan-Ljuštanović In Eastern Serbia, when a drought developed, girls would make such a doll, and bring it to a river bank. Depending on the regional custom, they would either bury it by the river, or put it in a little coffin and let it float down the river. Two of the girls would then start lamenting fo ...
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Maccabees (Bulgarian Custom)
The Maccabees (), also spelled Machabees ( he, מַכַּבִּים, or , ; la, Machabaei or ; grc, Μακκαβαῖοι, ), were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 BCE to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from about 110 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced the influence of Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism. Etymology The name Maccabee is often used as a synonym for the entire Hasmonean dynasty, but the Maccabees proper were Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic ''maqqəḇa'', "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explanation is ...
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Lazarus Of Bethany
Lazarus of Bethany (Latinised from Lazar, ultimately from Hebrew Eleazar, "God helped"), also venerated as Righteous Lazarus, the Four-Days Dead in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the subject of a prominent sign of Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death. The Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions offer varying accounts of the later events of his life. In the context of the seven signs in the Gospel of John, the raising of Lazarus at Bethany – today the Palestinian town of Al-Eizariya in the West Bank, which translates to "the place of Lazarus" – is the climactic narrative: exemplifying the power of Jesus "over the last and most irresistible enemy of humanity: death. For this reason, it is given a prominent place in the gospel." The name ''Lazarus'' is frequently used in science and popular culture in reference to apparent restoration to life; for example, the scientific term Lazarus taxon denotes organisms that reappear ...
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Lazarus Saturday
, observedby = Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Christians , date = Variable , date = , date = , date = , relatedto = Raising of Lazarus, Great Lent, Palm Sunday , frequency=Annual Lazarus Saturday in Eastern Christianity (consisting of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches) refers to the moveable feast before Palm Sunday to which it is liturgically linked. It celebrates the raising of Lazarus of Bethany. Bethany is recorded in the New Testament as a small village in Judaea, the home of the siblings Mary of Bethany, Martha, and Lazarus, as well as that of Simon the Leper. John's gospel reports that ''"Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead."'' Presumably, it is where he spent the Great Sabbath that occurs immediately before Passover, prior to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is reported to have lodged there during Holy Week, and it is where his anointing by Lazarus' sister ...
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Lazarice
Lazarice ( sr, лазарице), also known by its Bulgarian name Lazaruvane ( bg, лазаруване), is a South Slavic traditional procession during the Eastern Orthodox feast of Lazareva Subota (corresponding to, but distinct from ''Lazarus Saturday'' in other Orthodox churches), the day before Palm Sunday. The historians and anthropologists think that Lazarice originated from the Roman festival Rosalia , popularized in Southeastern Europe by the Romans after their conquest of Balkans in the II century B.C. Slavic tribes This is a list of Slavic peoples and Slavic tribes reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500. Ancestors *Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers) ** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of B ..., settled in the Balkans in VI - VII century was adopted and developed part of the Greek - Roman traditions in their rites. Bulgarian mythology. Българска митология. Енциклопедич ...
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Feast Of The Cross (Bulgarien)
In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus. Unlike Good Friday, which is dedicated to the passion of Christ and the crucifixion, these feast days celebrate the cross itself, as the sign of salvation. In Western Catholicism, Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism and Anglicanism the most common day of commemoration is 14 September, or 27 September in churches still using the Julian calendar. In English, the feast is called The Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the official translation of the Roman Missal, while the 1973 translation called it The Triumph of the Cross. In some parts of the Anglican Communion the feast is called Holy Cross Day, a name also used by Lutherans. The celebration is also sometimes called Holy Rood Day, or by the historic names Roodmas or Crouchmas. History The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, celebr ...
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Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, before beginning his public ministry. Lent is observed in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Moravian, Oriental Orthodox, Persian, United Protestant and Roman Catholic traditions. Some Anabaptist, Baptist, Reformed (including certain Continental Reformed, Presbyterian and Congregationalist churches), and nondenominational Christian churches also observe Lent, although many churches in these traditions do not. Which days are enumerated as being part of Lent differs between denominations (see below), although in all of them Lent is described as lasting for a total duration of 40 days. In Lent-observing Western Churches, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later; depending on the Christian ...
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Trifon Zarezan
Trifon Zarezan ( bg, Трифон Зарезан) is a Bulgarian national custom observed on the 1st and 14th of February in honor of Saint Tryphon. It is celebrated as a professional holiday by wine growers, falconers, gardeners and innkeepers. The day historically marks the beginning of grape pruning. It usually includes a variety of rituals performed by both men and women alike. References {{stub-Bulgaria Bulgarian traditions Agriculture in Bulgaria Winemaking Viticulture ...
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Need-fire (Bulgaria)
In European folklore, a need-fire (german: Notfeuer, goh, nodfyr, gd, tein'-éigin, russian: Живой огонь) is a fire kindled by friction, which is lit in a ritual and used as protective magic against murrain ( infectious diseases affecting cattle), plague and witchcraft. It was a tradition in parts of northern, western and eastern Europe until the 19th century, among Germanic, Gaelic and Slavic peoples. Frazer, James George (1922). '' The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion''Chapter 62, Section 8: The Need-fire Internet Sacred Text Archive. A need-fire would usually be lit when there was an epidemic such as an outbreak of plague or cattle disease. In some regions, a need-fire was lit yearly to prevent such disasters. In the Scottish Highlands they were lit each year at Beltane (1 May), Hutton, Ronald. ''The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain''. Oxford University Press, 1996. pp. 220–225 in Poland they were lit on Saint Roch' ...
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St John's Eve (Bulgaria)
Saint John's Eve, starting at sunset on 23 June, is the eve of celebration before the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist. The Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:26–37, 56–57) states that John was born six months before Jesus; therefore, the feast of John the Baptist was fixed on 24 June, six months before Christmas according to the old Roman calculation (ante diem VIII Kalendas Iulias). This feast day is one of the very few saints' days which commemorates the anniversary of the birth, rather than the death, of the saint being honored. The Feast of Saint John closely coincides with the June solstice, also referred to as Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere. The Christian Liturgical year, holy day is fixed at 24 June; but in most countries festivities are mostly held the night before, on Saint John's Eve. This holiday is celebrated in many places. History Saint John's Day, the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, feast day of Saint John the Baptist, was established by the undivided Ch ...
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