On New Year's Day, which is
called Chibouque-gunu (Switch-day), everybody procures a little switch
of Kizil (cornel wood), and taps with it every one he meets, at the
same time wishing him a happy new year; this practice is not of
Slavonic origin.
On January 1,
along with arrival of the New Year, many Bulgarians celebrate the day
of Saint Vassil. People named Vassil and Vesselin for the males and
Vassilka, Vasilena or Vesselina for the females celebrate their name
day on this day, honouring a Saint, who lived in the 3rd century in
the land, currently known as Asia Minor. Vassil is recognized as the
Saint who imposed the idea of compassion and accomplishment of good
deeds as an expression of the divine laws.
In many parts of the country the celebrations include a feast of meals
prepared with chicken and other meat, walnuts, boiled grain, dried
fruit, and the traditional Bulgarian banitsa, a round, crispy, layered
pastry, usually filled with cheese and made from phyllo dough.
On the Day of Vassil, Bulgarians put inside each slice of
the
banitsa small cornel tree branches with different number of buds on
them, as a lucky sign for the people sharing the meal. The branches
are said to bring good fortune, health, success or happy occasions.
In some parts of the country, young women save the first slice of
the banitsa and put it under their pillow, because of the belief that
they would see their future husband in their dreams.
Groups of people, usually including children and young men go from
door to door with especially decorated cornel three branches for the
traditional "Survakane." They use the branches to tap the owners of
the house on the back, along with wishes for good luck, health and
wealth. The hosts give them threats, small gifts or small amounts of
money in exchange for the good wishes.
The Name day of everyone named Vassil,
Vassilka, Vassilena, Vesselina, Vesselin, Vessela, Vessie, Veska,
Vulko (the name "Vassiliy" has the meaning of "regal" in Greek).
On January 1st, the
Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Vassilij the Great (or as
in the Greek calendar, Saint Basil), who lived around 330-379. Being a
bishop in the Caesar’s territory of Capadocia (today’s Asia Minor), he
fought against the movements
denying Jesus Christ’s divine origin, and
he succeeded in imposing the principles of the Orthodox Christianity
to a large part of the Roman Empire territories. It was him who
popularized the ideas of “active forgiveness” and “doing good deeds as
an implementation of Christ’s concept of love and forgiveness”. He
used to be called “the Great” long before his death. He was canonized
as a saint, and the day of his death (January 1st) has been celebrated
each year ever since.
Bulgarians celebrate the first day of the New Year by a
large number of traditional rituals. The most popular among them is
the “sourvakane” - tapping the back of each member of the family by
means of a specially decorated cornel-tree twig called "sourvaknitza"
- for health and good luck. In mythology the cornel-tree stands for
the live power of the good forces. On this day, people in masks,
called "sourvakari" (also "camilari", "babougeri", "startzi" and
"djamali") visit peoples' homes and give blessings for health and
fertility.
The “Sourvakane” Ritual:
with beautifully decorated cornel twigs
called “sourvachka”.
Bulgarians call the
New Year’s Day by all kinds of names – “Sourvaki”, “Souroka”,
“Vassilitza” or “Sourozdru”. On the eve of the feast the family
gathers round the table, piled with all kinds of dishes - everything
that the family had wished to have throughout the year.
The mistress of the house should
smoke four grains of incense over the ploughshare and by circular
motions from left to right she smokes over the whole table, so that
evil spirits should fly away. Then she turns three times the pan with
the large pastry (the so-called “banitsa’) in which she had put the
silver coin and the luck-wishing pieces (called "kusmets"), made of
small pieces of paper woven around cornel-tree buds. Each member of
the family is quick to take their piece in order to see the respective
prediction for luck for the year to come. Next morning, very early,
the children go around from house to house and tap everybody on the
back with beautifully decorated cornel twigs called “sourvachka”,
pronouncing the blessing:
“Sourva, sourva, the
year, merry and prosperous year!
Lots of wheat in the field, red apples in the orchard,
Gold coin in the cupboard, large grapes on the vine,
Hives full of honey, young chickens everywhere!
May you be alive and healthy this year and forever!"
The traditional
concept and the ritual function of the New Year “sourvachka” cornel
twigs has always been connected to mythological culture - the myth
presents the sourva-twig as a form of the “Tree of the World”, and the
“sourvakari” boys as the mediators between the different worlds that
predetermine future prosperity.
After the sourva ritual, toward evening, the houses are
visited by young men, disguised in a “camel” or “djamalo” – their
function is to wish health and fertility to the hosts during the
coming year. The man who defines the directions the “djamalo” takes
pronounces the following blessing:
“May there be joy
and prosperity where the djamalo sets its foot!
May people be as strong as my mace!
May children be as many as the bees in the hive!"
Then the djamalo “dies”
symbolically, so that evil in the house also dies, and “comes to life”
again, symbolising nature waking up again to give more prosperity to
people. In return for their vivid performance – a true verbal and
imitative magic, the young men receive food, money and a good treat.
An ornate
Survakane Mask
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
