KNOWLEDGE – International Journal Vol. 22.6 Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, March, 2018 RITES AND CEREMONIES CELEBRATIONS

Zlatin Marinkov Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Library Science and Information Technologies - Sofia, , [email protected]

Abstract: The festive-ritual system is an important element of the culture of every ethnic community - it is a marker and a means of preserving its ethnic identity; it combines customary law, forms of expression of collective joy and sorrow, and other forms of individual expression. The holiday-ritual system is an essential element of the cultural process and of the intangible cultural heritage. The object of the paper are the born in and (so called in the past) but currently living in emigration in Bulgaria. The subject of the paper is their festive-ritual system. The main purpose is to study the preservation and transformation of holidays and rites in diaspora with a point of view to their preserving as an intangible cultural heritage in the 21st century. The festive- ritual system of every nation is an important element of its culture, which preserves its ethnic self-consciousness and contributes to its historical development and self-preservation. In this culture reveal features and characteristics that it shows the natural desire for social work and objective need to regulate public life by collectively accepted norms and rituals, which somehow combines morality and art of a community. Thus, each rite or group of rituals connected, in a sense as a whole as ritual content and ritual action, become a celebration, participate in the building of the festive system of the people. That is why, by looking at customs, we are acquainted with those mythological, religious and other notions that have dealt with the imagination of the people and have been the basis of its cultural work, we also touch upon the perceptions of its psychology, some of the dimensions of its nature, to his / her ethnic personality. Studying the festive-ritual system of the Bessarabian Bulgarians is of great importance for Bulgarian ethnographic science. Describing them will help to restore the customs and traditions of the Bulgarians from 100- 150 years ago. This is particularly important for places where memories of the native land are permanently forgotten. In the text the political, social and cultural conditions in Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine, which led to the mobility and targeted migrations of the Bessarabian Bulgarians at the end the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century, are described. The family and community holidays and rites, practiced in an emigrant environment, are analyzed. The paper identifies the changes in the original festive-ritual system, and comments innovations, adaptations, and breaking with tradition. The study is based on the cultural heritage science approach using materials collected from author’s observations and interviews. The fieldwork sources are supplemented by information drawn from publications on history and ethnology of the Bessarabian Bulgarians. Keywords: festive-ritual system, Bessarabian Bulgarians, diaspora, immigrants, intangible cultural heritage.

1. INTRODUCTION The history of each ritual system begins with building and functioning in the process of self-assertion of the people. Extremely rich is the history of the Bulgarian ritual and festive culture. The manifestations of ritual creativity that characterize the spiritual culture of our people are manifold and are determined above all by its ethno-cultural growth and peculiarities. In Bulgarian folklore, the Thracian heritage in ritual practices preserves the related beliefs, which originate from ritual and mythological systems connected with an older Balkan tradition. The necessity of studying the Bulgarian ritual-ritual system of the Bessarabian Bulgarians stems from the fact that the phenomenon "Bulgarian emigrants" is not alien to the centuries-old history of Bulgaria. This fact in turn determines the emergence of various historical and ethnological studies devoted to the Bulgarian communities abroad in Besarabia. For the construction of the cultural and ethnic identity of the Bessarabian Bulgarians, the is important, "mentioning" the ancestral resettlement of the new lands, the religion and the cultural specificities of everyday life. In the different historical and political contexts, as well as in coexistence with heterogeneous ethnic groups and majority, the dominants in the Bulgarian identity of the community are changing. The configuration of cultural specifics by which the Bessarabian Bulgarians are distinguished from others is not unchangeable, passed down from generation to generation; as significant, emblematic for the community, different cultural traits are activated.

2. HISTORY 1821

KNOWLEDGE – International Journal Vol. 22.6 Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, March, 2018 The Bessarabian Bulgarians have retained their identity for more than two centuries. The descendants of Bulgarian emigrants keep their language, their self-consciousness, traditional Bulgarian beliefs and customs. So gradually they kept the language brought from the Bulgarian lands over the years and they like it as native as their parents like it. They speak it with the expressions of their grandparents and their grandparents. An example of the preserved customs is how the young girls are dressed as Lazarovden Lazarus and do "everything the Bulgarians have done". Unfortunately, this custom is almost lost in Bulgaria. Only in separate villages is the tradition of the Lazarus preserved. The Bulgarian folklore in Besarabia is very well preserved. There he is as common among our compatriots as he did in Bulgaria more than two centuries ago during the Renaissance. The Bessarabian Bulgarians even baptized their children during the Soviet regime. Although the christians are officially banned by the rulers, our compatriots, hiding from power, devote their children to the sacrament of Christ's baptism. This is still the case today on the fortieth day after the birth of the child, as the tradition requires. The preservation of Bulgarian language over the years is of the utmost importance for preserving the Bulgarian self-consciousness. Born away from the territory of Bulgaria, our Bessarabia compatriots managed to preserve their national identity. From generation to generation they transmit their Bulgarian language as it has ever been brought by their ancestors. In this language there are also many obsolete and already dropped from the Bulgarian language words and expressions. But it is the dialect that is a sign of the preserved self-consciousness and of the role played by the everyday memory of every Bessarabian Bulgarian.

3. TRADITIONS AND RITES Most Bessarabian Bulgarians returned to Bulgaria, carrying very well preserved traditions and Bulgarian customs, often in their archaic form. For the most part, the representatives of the Bessarabian diaspora are extremely religious and observe almost all the holidays according to the Orthodox calendar. Some of the bigger feasts and the rituals that are typical of them are to be seen in Sirnitsa (Sirni Zagovnezni, Maslenitsa), Nativity of Christ (Christmas), New Year (St.Vasil, Sourvaki), Easter (Resurrection of Christ). Maslenitsa Maslenitsa's leading ritual is the burning of open fires, which have a special name - "pushpaliga" and "lambadia". It is considered obligatory to burn fire from straw. Through the fiery fires, children and young people jump over health, luck and flea, as the confession of this holiday demands. Bessarabian immigrants meet with friends and relatives on that day, establish contact with relatives from Moldova and Ukraine to ask for forgiveness. On this day, those who are bridegrooms visit the best man and his wife and bring presents and feast - banitsa and wine. Entering the best man and his wife, the young ones kiss their hand and beg forgiveness. The housekeeper prepares a rich meal, believing that you should eat well before eating and eating lean meals. The main meals of this meal are banitsa, cooked eggs and cheese. Nativity Christmas, Christmas Birth of Christ, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. Christmas celebrations last three days (7-9 January) and the rooted tradition of celebrating the most celebrated Christmas (Easter, Easter and Trinity) celebrations three days in a row. The holiday begins on the day of the previous day on January 6. Christmas Eve earlier was called Little Christmas. After noon on January 6, even when it is light, boys begin to look at the age of 7-12. These kids are the children or grandchildren of Bessarabia immigrants who have settled in Bulgaria. Many of the families have kept the tradition of carol-singers taking off their hats, worshiping the icon and singing in one voice singing Christmas songs, then giving them a cowherd, like candy, candy, walnuts and money. Chickens hang cattle on a string hanging on a shoulder or on a stick, and the other gifts put in a bag. It is preserved the tradition that when the Christmas trees approach the courtyard they are not called by the owner, but immediately begin to perform the ritual song, which is called by the first words "Become nine". After hearing this song, the landlord must go out to the guests and invite the whole group in the house. In the morning of Christmas, the carol-singers go to a temple where they decorate the gifts of bread. Early in the morning at Christmas, as well as during the day, younger children begin to look at Christmas. New Year, St. Vasil, Survaki The meeting of the new year with the Bissarabian diaspora is the most intense and rich in rites celebration during the year. In honor of the most celebrated Easter and St. Gregory Day celebrations, New Year's celebrations differ from them with archaic rituals and carnival moods. The main New Year's action is the ritual procession of masked boys (Survakari). Just as on Christmas, the farmers donate the cedar with cow, cheese, bacon and wine, and sometimes money. In honor of the Christmas songs, which are mostly religious, on the eve of the New Year ritual songs have

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KNOWLEDGE – International Journal Vol. 22.6 Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, March, 2018 an absolute secular content, wishes for health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, and a wish for many children in the coming year. The children are held up, they come in without taking off their masks, keep singing, and still try to unseat the owners to steal some minor trifle. It is especially important for the hosts that the Survakari have the children in the house in order to be healthy. After completing the ritual in the house, the farmer invites the boys to come together with the Survachka and the cattle for health. During the New Year's Day, which is also widely known as St. Vasil's Day, the mans who called Vasil invites many guests and cooks an abundant meal. It is also accepted to donate gifts this day. The bridegroom must go to the co-men, donate to her a present, usually a skirt, a towel, an apron or a piece of cloth for dress, and bring with her a meal, a brandy or a bottle of wine. Easter, Resurrection Christ Three days are marked, as this is the greatest Orthodox feast. With the great variety of ritual Easter dishes, the main thing is the kozunak. In the morning of Easter, the parents go to the liturgy in the morning, illuminate a candle for health and illuminate the Easter eggs and the painted eggs. Returning from the church at home, they awaken the children. The whole family ate a breakfast of kozunak and a dyed egg and only then can eat a bloody meal. On Easter, as well as other Orthodox feasts, newlyweds visit their native and named parents (best man and his wife or gods). As a ritual feast they usually take with them a large cow bread on which they put boiled hen or turkey, half a liter of brandy, cousin and 10 painted decorated eggs.

4. CONCLUSION It is inconceivable that through a brief description, the whole colorfulness and richness of the Bulgarian ritual, preserved and carried through the centuries, can be demonstrated. It is necessary to add that it is an important part of the whole cultural heritage of the whole Bulgarian people. Even today rituals, festivals and customs enjoy us with its high aesthetic value, with the patterns of poetic thinking, with the centuries-old national norms of social life. This intangible heritage also affects contemporary Bulgarian culture, it is an inexhaustible source for the reflection of an age-old experience in the conditions of our present life. Every ritual, every feast, every custom, contains their splendor and charm, and they matter to the festive-ritual system of the Bulgarian.

LITERATURE USED [1] The Bessarabian Bulgarians http://www.bulgaria21.net 25.02.2018г. [2] Ivanova, R. Zhivkov, T. Bulgarian folk poetry and prose in seven volumes, T.2, Ordinary songs, Electricity LiterNet https://liternet.bg 25.02.2018г. [3] Vodinchar, E. Calendar ritual and identity of the Bulgarian emigrants in Besarabia, Electronic Edition LiterNet https://liternet.bg 25.02.2018г. [4] Personal archive of interviews with Bessarabian Bulgarians

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