Bulgaria The Golden Traditions.Nestinarstvo is a unique phenomenon, which still remains unveiled; a mystery posing many unanswered questions.In Strandzha Mountain the celebration begins in the Sunday before St.St. Constantine and Helena’s Day.In the past the inhabitants of several villages used to gather at “The Big Ayasma” near the area of Vlahov Dol. The area was also called “Odarchetata” (an”odarche” means a small bed in Old Bulgarian), because of the availability of five plank-beds, one for each of the five villages (Gramatikovo, Slivarovo, Bulgari, Kosti and Kondolovo) that most often practiced the ritual.Nowadays the ritual also includes visiting the saint patrons’ holy springs (”ayasmas”), carrying of the icons of the two saints (St.St.Constantine and Helena), animal offering, and serving of ritual breads. The people who attend
the ceremony ascend the plank bed, turn to East, cross themselves, light up a candle and stick it into one of the small metal crosses spread over the bed. Many people leave woven kerchiefs and gifts, hung on the parapet of the plank-bed.Sometimes the nestinars “get” their “fits” there.On the Thursday before the 3rd and 4th of June, they celebrate the so-called “Little Constantine” (”Kourbaneto”). In the early morning of that day the churchwarden (”vikilin”, “e’pitrope”) goes to the saint patron’s chapel, and isted by two or three other men, slaughters a lamb. The meat is usually boiled in the fireplace of the “konak”. When it is cooked, the churchwarden tolls the bell, and all the people of the village gather at the chapel. Then they start their walk to the holy spring, with the purpose to clean it. Candles are lit and the place is swept with beech-tree foliage. After that the “vikilin” opens the lid of St.Constanine’s spring, throws a coin for happiness and starts filling the vessels, brought by the people. So that they can drink and wash themselves with the holy water, in order to be healthy in the days to come. Then each of them is served a helping of the boiled mutton. St.Constantine’s Day begins with a new succession of ritual acts. The morning starts with the “dressing” of the nestinar icons (the so-called “tail-end kunizmi/kumizmi”), after they have been taken to the “konak”. The “dressing” ritual includes the following steps: first, the “icons’ shirts” are censed by the chief priestess, then they are handed to the “vikilin” who puts them on the icons.
Once the icons “have been dressed”, they are “ready to head for the holy spring” in a solemn procession. There they are “bathed” – their handles are cleaned with the holy water of the “ayasma”. “Horo” dances are played, songs are sung and ritual breads are served.Nestinars often are “obsessed” on the way to the chapel and back to the village and at the spring as well.At noon the stacking of the nestinar fire begins. In line with some old records, nestinars did not start the dance until twelve carts of wood had not been burnt. Now the quantity of wood used is dramatically less.At dusk the culmination of the nestinar complex ensues. The nestinars (later the only female nestinar) go to St.St. Constantine and Helena’s
“konak”. There praying in front of the icons of the two saints, they breathe in the smoke of burning incense. When darkness descends upon the earth all the villagers gather, the musicians come and the procession heads for the fire. They walk in the following order: first is the churchwarden, followed by the boys who carry the icons, then, the nestinars, the musicians, and finally the rest.Embers spread in a circle, Bulgari Village
After they arrive at the fire, they form a cordon, encircling the already- spread embers. The “nestinar obsession” reaches its peak.With whoops the nestinars get onto the embers. First they always trace a cross. After that they walk at random. The skill to walk on embers (without being burnt) is the most impressing and important one. Some medical specialists have observed that the skin of the nestinars’ feet is very delicate, without callosities. Despite the different duration of the dances on embers (not less than 10 min.), the nestinars’ feet remain intact, without a slight trace of cauterization. It has been proved that a callosity is not a protection because very often some nestinars “bury” their feet ankle-deep in the embers. There exist some psychological theories of the observed phenomenon, but they do not provide satisfactory explanations. The famous Bulgarian specialist Doctor Garvalov has stated that callosities are cornea
layers that can burn much faster than normal skin.
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I just found out the Christmas lasts from December 25th until January 5th
Christmas is not a celebration that lasts a single day. Christmas is a twelve-day season that begins on December 25 and ends on January 5, the eve of the Epiphany of our Lord. These "Twelve Days of Christmas" are in turn part of a longer liturgical cycle that begins with Advent, continues after Christmas with Epiphany and the Sundays that follow, and ends with Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
well my family we’ve started cellabrting like a week ago like looking forward to it we’re thinking about wat we are going to get each other for christmas so i guess you could say we’ve starting celebrating it
Ask Hef Anything: How do you celebrate Christmas at the Mansion, and do you follow any particular holiday traditions? Check out some more holiday cheer at Hef’s Desk http://www.playboy.com/holiday
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On a side note, do you know a good (fail proof) recipe for eggnog, preferably not from a carton.
We usually stay home for Christmas and open presents. Here is that eggnog recipe you wanted. Its very delicious.
http://www.therepressedpastrychef.com/home/2008/11/23/alans-awesome-egg-nog.html
For more than 70 million Muslims living in Nigeria, the end of the holy month of Ramadan is an opportunity to celebrate their culture and traditions.
The result is a spectacular and colourful festival, as Yvonne Ndege found out in the northern state of Kano.
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What kind of game or believes people do before midnight?
There are fireworks on Christmas and New Year’s. Some superstitions are: Wearing yellow clothes (or yellow underwear) for luck, running around the block carrying a suitcase (to travel), eat 12 grapes (for every month, an Spanish tradition). Of course: PARTY.
To view the next video in this series click: http://www.monkeysee.com/play/12301
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I am wanting to start some family traditions and need some ideas. (Any holidays, especially christmas and thanksgiving)
every Christmas eve since my children were very young, for breakfast I make fresh cinamon rolls and peel little oranges and we have a picnic under the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, we get up, head to the Christmas tree, have a fresh coffee or hot chocolate, and one of us (now the kids take turns) reads the Christmas story from an old pop up book that we have. We’ve used the same book for years. We have a short prayer time and then my son hands out the gifts.
Then I make a big breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast.
We’ve always had a great time – my kids are now teens and they still follow the same traditions, except for the Christmas eve picnic. We still have cinamon buns and oranges, but we don’t sit under the tree to eat them anymore.
Then are they pagans,just for christmas, or do they just really want Presents.
Also Sihks, Muslims and Hindus don’t celebrate christmas and guess what they don’t get presents so why should non religious people.
I’m an atheist and celebrate xmas b/c my whole family is christian. For them it’s about Jesus’s birth…for me it’s about family and seeing my kids happy.(my 12 yr old is a christian like the rest of the family) I have actually told everyone not to get me gifts b/c I don’t celebrate it for the reason they do BUT they just insist! But no I do not consider myself christian, pagan ,etc on xmas…I’m a nonbeliever no matter what the day is.
Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) 20th February 2007 at All Saints Church, Rectory Green, Easton, Portland, Dorset.
Shrove Tuesday is the term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia to refer to the day after Shrove Monday (or the more old fashioned Collop Monday) and before Ash Wednesday (the liturgical season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday). In these countries, particularly Ireland, and amongst Anglicans, Lutherans and possibly other protestant denominations in Canada, this day is also known as Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday, because it is customary to eat pancakes on this day. In other parts of the world—for example, in historically Catholic and French-speaking parts of the United States and elsewhere—this day is called Mardi Gras. In areas with large Polish-immigrant populations (for example, Chicago and Detroit) it is known as Paczki Day. And in areas with large German-immigrant populations (for example, Pennsylvania Dutch Country) it is known as Fasnacht Day or Fauschnaut Day.
The French also have a festival ociated with pancakes (crêpes) which is held on February 2 each year. This festival is called Chandeleur and is a celebration of light (the name is derived from the word “chandelle” which also gave the English word “candle”. The festival is known as Candlemas in English). It is thought that pancakes are ociated to this celebration because of the solar symbolic of their shape and color. A traditional food for Mardi Gras are sweet fried dumplings, cenci, usually served in the shape of a loose knot (a 5cm wide, 20cm long strip of dough one extremity of which is passed through a slit in its middle.) In New Orleans the traditional food is king cake.
The reason that pancakes are ociated with the day preceding Lent is that the 40 days of Lent form a period of liturgical fasting, during which only the plainest foodstuffs may be eaten. Therefore, rich ingredients such as eggs, milk, and sugar are disposed of immediately prior to the commencement of the fast. Pancakes and doughnuts were therefore an efficient way of using up these perishable goods, besides providing a minor celebratory feast prior to the fast itself.
The word shrove is a past tense of the English verb “shrive,” which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by confessing and doing penance. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving (confession) that Anglo-Saxon Christians were expected to receive immediately before Lent.
Shrove Tuesday is the last day of “shrovetide,” which is the English equivalent to the Carnival tradition that developed separately out of the countries of Latin Europe. In countries of the Carnival tradition, the day before Ash Wednesday is known either as the “Tuesday of Carnival” (in Spanish-speaking countries, “Martes de Carnaval,” in Portuguese-speaking countries, “Terça-feira de Carnaval”, in German “Faschingsdienstag”) or “Fat Tuesday” (in Portuguese-speaking countries “Terça-feira Gorda”, in French-speaking countries, “Mardi Gras,” in Italian-speaking countries, “Martedì Grasso”).
The term “Shrove Tuesday” is not widely known in the United States[9][10], especially in those regions that celebrate Mardi Gras on the day before Ash Wednesday.
Pancake Races
On Pancake Day, pancake races are held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom. In 1634 William Fennor wrote in his Palinodia:
“And tosse their Pancakes up for feare they burne.”
But the tradition of pancake racing had started long before that. The most famous pancake race, at Olney in Buckinghamshire, has been held since 1445. The contestants, traditionally women, carry a frying pan (skillet) and race to the finishing line tossing the pancakes as they go. As the pancakes are thin, some skill is required to toss them successfully while running. The winner is the first to cross the line having tossed the pancake a certain number of times.
Discover more Dorset traditions in the book ‘Dark Dorset Calendar Customs’, by Robert Newland, now available at Amazon.co.uk. Visit the Dark Dorset website, http://www.darkdorset.co.uk or blog http://darkdorset.blogspot.com
and open the door to a world of fascinating folklore and legends.
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