The
legend has it that the Egyptian king ordered the old women, who were
maternity nurses, to kill all newborn Jewish boys. The old women did
not submit to that order because they were afraid of God. That was why
He gifted them with good and welfare.
Old Midwives’ Day is a feast dedicated to the old midwives, the young
women giving birth to babies and to the health of those babies. The
feast comprises three main rite elements: the first is the bathing of
the small children (usually done by the old woman and followed by
numerous blessings), the second one is the symbolic spreading of honey
and butter over the children, and third one is the feast at the house
of the old midwife. This is all done with the wish for health.
All young women, who have been visited by the old midwife during the past
year, participate in the holiday. They bring bread, cheese pastry,
roasted chicken and wine with them. They help the old lady wash her
hands and give her a shirt, apron, head-cloth and socks as gifts. The
holiday ends up with a ritual called “vlechugane”
or bathing of the old
lady. The housewives take the old midwife to the river or the well and
perform the ceremonial bathing. All of them are abundantly decked with
red peppers and wool. They sing songs with erotic motives and dance.
No men are allowed to join that feast. On their way to the well or
river the women tease the men they meet. Then they bathe the old lady
and carry her back to her home.
Midwife’s Day
- also 21st January
Bulgarian folk tradition celebrates
Midwife’s Day on January 8th, popularly known as Granny’s Day. In
modern times, the date
January
21 is marked as the day of childbirth assistance. Folk Studio brings
more on the traditional way of celebrating Midwife’s Day.
In the past, when Midwife’s or Granny’s Day came,
all men of a village used to hide away, because on that day women
reign supreme and if a man is seen anywhere in the street, he would be
mocked by all the women who met him. Pulling his hat off or even
trying to strip him was considered just natural on that particular day
and men could neither argue nor be mad about it. All they could do is
getting away by offering some trifle bribery that only added up to the
general marry-making. Tradition had it that all money collected in
this way would be used for the shared feast at the end of the day.
Only then could men join the party and then all celebrate together.
During the day only the musician-men were safe, as they had to play
tunes and look after the general enjoyment of the ladies.
Red wine to warm up the freezing
January day was the other compulsory accompaniment throughout the day.
This
was
the only day when it was considered natural for a woman to drink wine,
get dizzy and dare shed a joke or two on men. In some regions one of
the women could dress like a man on Granny’s day and the party would
act parody sketches, sometimes suggesting some erotic scenes. Only on
Granny’s day could women free themselves through laughter and jokes,
of any kind of dissatisfaction with their husbands. This overall party
spirit, however, used to take over only about noon. Before that women
had a number of very serious rituals to perform.
The name of the Granny’s
day feast comes from the old tradition when elderly women were the
ones assisting younger women in child delivery. Each village had its
midwife or Granny in the past. Her care for the baby, however, did not
end with the delivery. On Granny’s day the village midwife visits all
babies born with her help throughout the year. She bathes them
ritually, spreads some honey and butter on their foreheads so that
their life be sweet and rich, then blesses them for good health and
longevity. She also brings with her a tuft of lambs wool – to rub on
the heads of the baby-girls, so that their hair be long and beautiful,
and on the cheeks of the baby-boys, so that their beads and moustache
be thick and manly. With a bunch of geranium tied with red woollen
cloth, the Granny sprinkles holy water over young married women, so
that their future deliveries be easy and painless. After this ritual
tour comes the turn of young brides to visit the granny at her home
and perform rituals of gratitude and respect to the village midwife.
Each women brings a gift to the granny – a soap bar, a towel, a bunch
of geranium flowers, a shirt, knitted socks or some money – signs of
gratitude for her care. Another sign of respect to the work of the
granny is the ritual of pouring water so that she washes her hands. It
was believed crucial for this ritual to take place under a fruit tree
as a symbol of fertility.
During that ritual, the granny is wearing a string of hot chilly
peppers – symbol of manly power. All rituals on that day, whether
seriously or in a joke, convey the message of multiplying the children
in a family – that being one of the basic values in Bulgarian
tradition.
After all
the magical rituals for fertility, the granny invites everyone at her
home and dinner table and then the party begins.
In some villages there exists a ritual of
taking the granny in a cart or basket to the village fountain or to
the river, where women bathe her symbolically, so that she be clean to
start her work again the next day. In many villages women still
perform those rituals as they have learned from their mothers and
grandmothers. They keep the tradition alive with a beautiful sense of
humour, for the merrymaking of the entire village.
-------
This day is
celebrated in grandmothers' honour
- midwifes for the health of
children and pregnant women. On this day three rituals are performed:
children's bathing, a feast in grandmother's home and grandmother's
bathing.
From the Annunciation, grandmother prepares butter, honey,
millet, a bunch of geranium and red wool. Early in the festive morning
she visits each house where she has assisted in childbirth. There she
baths the children beginning from the smallest one and she sprays
lasses and young girls against the evil eye. Then she spreads the
children with honey and butter. This spreading is called "painting
red" and it is made for children's health. While doing this
Grandmother blesses:
"To be red as the vlasets,
To buzz like a bee,
To be sweet like the honey
To grow like the millet,
To be fat like the piglet!"
In
the region of Panagyurishte grandmother spreads children's chins with
white wool to live to a ripe old age.
All women whom the grandmother has assisted in childbirth during
the year take part in the feast. Each of them brings pie with cheese,
bread, baked hen and wine. They help the grandmother to wash her hands
and give her a towel, an apron, a shirt and other things as presents.
The holiday finishes with grandmother's bathing. It is called
"vlechugane". Everybody adorns with wool and red peppers. Songs are
sung with erotic motifs. Men are not admitted on this day. If on their
way to the river they meet a man they joke with him. When they reach
the river, they bath the grandmother and carrying her in their hands
they go to her place.
There is a legend that an Egyptian tsar had given orders to
midwives to kill each newborn boy but they did not do it. Therefore
they are endowed with good.
Newborn infants -
rituals:
Bulgarian popular traditions prescribe that the moment
one is born he must be given protection and a blessing by means of
special rituals.
Popular belief has it that the Virgin Mary sits
in on each and every child labour to help the woman get through with
delivery safely and in good time. Once the baby has safely arrived in
the world the Virgin Mary leaves the bedside of the new mother to go
offer her good services where they are most needed in childbirth. The
Mother of God should not be allowed to go away hungry though and hence
the Virgin Mary loaf of bread. The latter should be kneaded and baked
by a woman whose parents and children are alive, so that her good luck
should be transmitted to both newborn infant and young mother. The
load should be baked in a house other than the house of confinement
and should be brought over when the baby is born. This is the first
ritual bread in one’s life; there will be many more coming in later
life. The Virgin Mary loaf goes with the first charm cast to protect
the life of the newborn. Way, way back Bulgarian believed the heavenly
bodies would devour the newborn, i.e. they posed a great hazard to the
infant baby in the first days of its life. Hence, before the Virgin
Mary loaf would be broken, three women in a row would chant a
conjuration so that the Sun and the Moon would not be able to “bite”
the baby. And it is at this point that the Virgin Mary would take her
leave, according to popular belief. And yet, to honour her, a Virgin
Mary feast would be laid out for kin and neighbours. The first to be
invited to the feast would be the Godfather. Any woman invited to the
ritual feast would be expected to bring a small loaf of bread made by
her so that the life of the newborn baby would be full and abundant,
as well as a head of red union and a piece of cheese to help the
mother produce enough breast milk for the baby. Thus the birth of a
baby is immediately celebrated with a due feast.
Invisible fairies chart the course of
life of the newborn
infant.
The Weird Sisters.
They come to the baby’s bedside on the
third night after its birth to “inscribe” on its forehead the things
it’s going to go through. The fairies convene in the dead of night. A
special feast is arranged for them too, to win their good graces and a
lucky-charm destiny for the new baby. A small-size, round low table
would be placed next to the head of the baby, covered with a length of
white towelling and all gifts for the fairies laid out on it- a
freshly baked loaf of bread, with a spread of honey on top, a wooden
wine container, a variety of dishes, a chunk of butter, a handful of
walnuts, a few heads of red onion and three candles. No one is
expected to be aware what destiny the fairies have fated for the
newborn. The next morning all gifts, laid out on the ritual table,
would be presented to the midwife whose offices had helped bring the
baby into this world.
By virtue of tradition it was the Godfather who
would choose a name for the newborn. In times of old a baby would
scarcely be named after a grandfather or a grandmother and even less
so after one of its parents. People used to believe that the infant’s
parents shouldn’t have a clue as to the name chosen by the Godfather.
He would go to visit the baby on the second day after its birth, to
pronounce its name and finally bless the baby. When the baby would be
40 days old the Godfather would take it to church to be christened
according to the cannons of the Christian ritual. After the baby is
baptized in the font and blessed by the officiating reverend, Parents
and Godparents would return to the baby’s home to celebrate the event.
All invited to celebrate would extend a congratulation such as:” May
it be a blessed christening and a blessed name!” The hosts would
respond:” May God bless you too!”
Now Valentina Tacheva from the village of Yavornitsa, Petrich
area, South western Bulgaria will tell us what local traditions are
like: “I was recently invited to the christening party of the 100th
member of our family. There were 350 of us- family, neighbours and
friends. In my time
These parties would be arranged at home, in the garden
more likely. Tradition prescribed that domestic should be slaughtered
to cook plentiful meals. All guests would bring along some gift for
the baby as well as a good-luck coin. When the baby would begin to try
to make its first steps then a special party would be arrange4d to
celebrate the occasion. A sweetmeat, a piece of cheese and a variety
of household items would be spread across a length of cloth, lying on
the floor. There would be a book, a pen, a comb, a lipstick, a
stethoscope, a map- all standing for a variety of professions the
parents would like the baby to choose from like an academic, a writer,
a hairdresser, beautician, a medical doctor, engineer, painter, etc.
My observation has been though that babies would most often grab the
coins”, said with a smile on her face Valentina.
Click
The Bulgarian Cycle of Life
for Birth, Christening, Marriage and Death.
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
