The dramatic huge masks and costumes reflect an ancient nature tradition honouring the cycles of life, death and rebirth.    On New Year's Eve, Saint Vassil’s Day. Saint Trifon’s Day and Cur's Monday after Sirni Zagovezni in Bulgaria special rituals called Mummer's games take place. The revellers put much care into their a nightmarish costumes and can be found carrying flaming torches throughout the streets of Razlog, Sandanski, Pernik and Petrich on New Year's Eve and January 1. In Blagoevgrad the processions take place as early as December 25, while in Shiroka they don't appear until March. The Mummer's games are performed by men only. They put on special masks hand-made by each of the participants. Most of the masks are constructed by wood. Different coloured threads are glued on it as well as pieces of multicoloured fabrics, mirrors and other shiny elements. The masks representing a ram, a goat or a bull are considered the strangest. Their necessary part of the Mummer's games proves the thesis that the origin of the mummer's games is connected to the ancient Dionysius' games. The impact that the masked mummers make gets even bigger by the sound of the copper and bronze bells that hang on them.
        Some of the masks have two faces. On one of the sides the nose is snub and the face is good-humoured and on the other the nose is hooked and the face is ominous. Those masks symbolize the good and the bad which coexist in the world and are inevitable. A very important thing for the symbolic of the masks is the colour of the decoration. The red is the most used one - a symbol of the fertility of the reviving nature, of the sun and the fire; the black colour embodies the earth and her goddess mother and the white is a symbol of water and light.
      The mummer's games aim to scare and sweep away forever the evil spirits and the weird sisters, Orisnizi,  the goddesses who determine the fate of newborn babies, with the help of the special magic dances and the scary masks, so that the crops for the next year are rich.

    The Orisnizi (weird sisters) are three female creatures who go together around the world, visit the homes of the new-borns and predict their fate. This is done on the third night after they are born. They inhabit the end of the world, close to the sun. The appearance of the Orisnizi is not clear in people’s beliefs. They are mostly dark-eyed, slim and tall, one is around 18 years old, second is between 25 and 30 and the third between 30 and 35 years of age. They wear the nicest folklore adornments and, by their nature, they are typical relics of the matriarchal culture.
      In some villages in the night before New Year's Eve the ritual "camels" is performed. The supply of the ritual requisite is among the most important things in the preparation. The main thing in the ritual is the ancient idea of reincarnation and that is why the mask is very important as a main characterizing component. In an exquisite way the masks show a great craftsmanship and fantasy. They are carefully saved and are refreshed each year. There is a tradition in the choice of specific materials as well as in the faces, the symbols and in the way the masks and the clothes are made. Each epoch brings a new character in the ritual.
      "The camel" is made of two willow trees each a meter, a meter and a half long. They are put together in both their ends with two small perpendicular wooden sticks. The two willow trees are also put together by a few bent hornbeam or cornel-tree sticks. The skeleton is covered with a caparison. The head of the "camel" I covered with a piece of leather or weasel fir. They also put bells on the front side and on the back side of the "camel" and a tail on the back of it. The camel is carried by a young man dressed in a national costume with white socks, black strings around the socks and sandals. The young man should be healthy and strong so that he could play the camel and beat other "camels".
    There are men called "dividzhii" dressed in coats with the furry side turned inside out. They have leather belts around their waists with bells on it. They put a mask on their heads. The mask is made of frieze decorated with colourful threads, ribbons and laces. They have a wooden sword in one of their hands and a mace in the other. In the past only unmarried men were allowed to take part in the ritual, but nowadays married men can also participate.
    After the Christmas singers go out in the yard the "dividzhii" and the "camel" called Mary come out and start playing. They talk a little and do different rituals. The people that participate in the rituals should not be recognized by the other people in the village so that the year is fertile and the games are successful. The masks gives them the opportunity to do things that otherwise might seem inappropriate. The masked men jump, jingle with the bells, roll on the ground, sharpen their swords with the frieze and make jokes. They rock and fall on the ground to represent the weight of the ears of corn. They roll on the ground to gain power from it so that they are healthy. The jingle of the bells chases away all the bad things. The bells are always used in different rituals in all cultures as protection from magic.
       "The camel" falls on the ground and the dividzhii start sharpening their swords saying: "my camel comes a long way and it needs money for new shoes or otherwise I'll have to kill it". The host gives a piece of sausage and some money. The "dividzhii" put the shoes on the camel by holding the frieze to its foot and hitting it with the sword. But the "camel" is still on the ground because it's sick and needs medicine - a piece of meat so it can get better. The dividzhii rub the meat against the animal's body and it gets on its feet. This "death" followed by "reincarnation" symbolizes the death of nature during the winter time and its coming back to life in the spring time. The ritual murder which is often seen in carnival games could be seen as an act of magic. The Kukeri Masks feature in Bulgarian Stamps.
     The visit to all the houses in the village is made only at night time, because they should not see the sun when they are outside. After they have gone around the whole village the Christmas singers, the "dividzhii" and the "camel" gather together on the meadow early in the morning where all the people from the village have gone. They entertain them with games and dances. They jump high so that the crops are tall, jingle the bells and wave their swords and friezes. The camels separated in two groups fight each other and the results of the fight show how good the New Year will be. They believe that if blood drops on the ground the year will be fertile. The ritual ends with a big horo in the centre of the village. They make a feast with the food and the money they have gathered during the carnival.
In the plays and the dialogue between the masked men you can sense grotesque and parody and if the participants are good actors the plays can be not only entertaining but aesthetic as well.
     In the night before Saint Vassil's day the troop goes from house to house making jokes with the hosts. They receive money and bread. During the visits whenever they meet people on the streets, strangers or people gathered for the show the mummers make comic and even cynical jokes and play different games. The spectacles joke and tease them all well. The parade is noisy and funny. The games are full of joy, conflicts, different costumes and persons, comical plays and improvisations. It is a real national celebration full of freshness, humour, satire, a theatre in the open in which both the spectacles and the people making the games are performers. Laughter has special magical powers so people laugh to influence the flora and fauna. Quite often the function of magic is full of theatrical elements. That is why a lot of researchers think that the mask games are in the beginning of theatre itself.

     The winter masquerade ritual tradition, most frequently called Sourvaki, is performed during the days between Christmas (December 25) and Epiphany (January 6). One of the most important elements is the tour of homes. Late after midnight, they set out on their round of the homes, tapping everybody on the back with decorated cornel twigs, with wishes for health, long life and success. Greeted homeowners are expected to meet and present gifts to the party of ritually initiated boys who are now men following their death and rebirth. The group can carry on many other activities such as mock weddings, mock sowing the town centre, mock intercourse when a bride and groom are part of the procession and making the bear and camel dance.

 

The Surva 2009 International Festival of Mask Games

     was opened on Friday night (23-01-09) in the Western Bulgarian city of Pernik.
  The Festival features processions of the so called "Kukeri" - an ancient Bulgarian ritual in which costumed men scare away the evil spirits. The 18th annual edition of the three-day event started with a concert entitled "The Magic of the Good" in the Palace of Culture in Pernik. 330 masked performers of Bulgarian folklore songs and dances took part in the event.

  "The International Festival of Mask Games has long ago established its place as an especially prestigious and colourful expression of folklore celebrations in Bulgaria, Europe, and the world. It is an expression of the most viable and resilient traditions in the Bulgarian masking rituals resurrecting the games of the costumed men as a ritual blessing for health, fertility, happiness, and well-being", the Pernik Mayor Rositsa Yanakieva said in her welcome speech.
    More than 5,600 mummers from 91 different groups are taking part in the masking and dancing processions on Pernik's streets Saturday and Sunday to chase away the evil spirits.

     Eleven of the groups are from abroad - Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, and France. The foreign guests are presenting the mask rituals of their own nations.
     The Kukeri costumes are made of animal skins, horns, wood, and include large bells attached to the belt. They are supposed to be as scary as possible. In the Bulgarian tradition, around New Year the Kukeri walk and dance through their village to scare evil spirits away with the costumes and the sound of the bells. The traditions is believed to have Thracian origins and can also be found in parts of some of the other Balkan states.

 

Click thumbnails to see the Surva 2009 International Festival of Mask Games in Pernik

 

More photos by Charles Freger

photos by Charles Freger

 

See more at Koukerovden (Mummers’ Day) - Curs’ Monday

 

 

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