ST. GEORGE`S DAY TRANLATED BY ANN WOOD
St. George's Day is celebrated on May 6th and is one of the biggest spring holidays, celebrated by both Christians and Muslims (Hadralez, Hadralez, Udralez) in Bulgaria. According to traditional beliefs, the active working season is from St. George's Day to St. Dimitrov's Day (Kassum among Muslims). This double division of the year (from St. George's Day to St. Dimitrov's Day - summer and from St. Dimitrov's Day to St. George's Day - winter) has been characteristic of the Balkans since ancient times and is associated with the mobile, cattle-breeding lifestyle of the people. At the same time, St. George the Victorious is one of the most revered saints in Christianity. According to his life, he is a young warrior who, in the name of his religion, refuses to persecute and torture Christians. Not far from his grave, a dragon appears and devastates the area, but the saint manages to deal with the monster. In iconography, he is always on horseback and armed, with a slain lama at his feet. In folk songs and legends, he is endowed with heroism and the power to slay the dragon and release the springs and rain/dew. Apparently, St. George has also inherited the symbolism of some pagan deities.In the Bulgarian tradition, the fertility of the fields and herds depends on him. One of the main ritual practices is the breaking and decorating with greenery, the gathering of herbs and grasses. It is generally believed that green vegetation and water on the eve of St. George's Day bring health and fertility. Childless women roll in the dew of the meadows and sprinkle themselves with spring water. It is widely believed that the rain on St. George's Day brings blessings. Farmers ritually walk around the fields with crops, bury a red Easter egg and scatter straw from the Christmas Eve table to protect them from hail and drought. Young people and children pick geraniums, sedges, nettles, garlic and fresh greenery, from which they weave wreaths and hang them on the doors of houses, pens and barns, on the cauldron for the first milked milk and on the head of the sacrificial lamb.
Another important ritual practice is taking the herd out to the first pasture, weaning the lambs from their mothers and milking the milk, which is used to prepare products for the family. In Lovech, the sheep whose lamb will be a victim of St. George is first milked through a ring of a maiden or newlywed, and everyone must taste her milk. It is called novo, a martenitchka is tied to its cauldron, and silver steam is let inside.
An important element in honoring the memory of St. George is the sacrifice of the first male lamb born during the year. In the Rhodope Mountains, candles are lit on its horns, and a wreath of geranium and St. George's Day is placed around its neck. The prepared ritual bread in the Lovech region is called a koshara - an open circle is made of dough, symbolizing a sheepfold, and balls are placed inside - the sheep. The animals are also fed with this bread. A festive village-wide table is usually prepared in the open, at which milk and dairy products are tried for the first time. An integral part of the holiday is the swinging of young people on St. George's swings under a green tree and the singing or calling (Middle Rhodopes) of rings and wrists, characteristic of some regions - all customs with a love and marriage content. These practices are directly related to the belief that on the night before St. George's Day, the sky opens and everyone can wish for something that will come true.
St. George's Day is perceived by the people as an equal and even more important holiday than Easter. It was quite logically used to affirm the nation-state. By decree of Prince Alexander Battenberg in 1880, it was declared the "Day of Bravery" and a holiday of the Bulgarian army. Its transformations are also an integral part of the policy of the socialist government - in 1947 it became the "Shepherd's Day" or "Livestock Breeder's Day". In 1993, it was restored by decree of the Council of Ministers and is again celebrated with a military parade, accepted no longer by the king, but by the president.
Although the traditional ritual complex gradually disintegrated by the middle of the twentieth century, today in many places in Bulgaria the tradition of organizing gatherings and village-wide celebrations and sacrifices continues.
Short story by Ann Wood
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Written on 2026-05-06 at 22:02
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