The way Christmas is celebrated in Bulgaria nowadays is very similar to the way this is done around the world - festoons, Christmas trees, men dressed up like Father Christmas giving out presents. Fortunately for us, alongside these festive elements, popular throughout the world, Bulgarians still respect the olden Christmas rituals of the land.

Every household more or less observes the traditional menu of meatless dishes on Christmas Eve, as well as the special Christmas day dinner. It is true that now it is rare to see the one-time groups of men going round the houses singing Christmas carols and wishing everyone prosperity and health. Yet, this ritual is alive in the numerous concerts and show programmes organized around Christmas time. But even from the stage, their songs have a magnetic charm. Frequently, the performers are elderly men, who still remember the traditional caroling ritual of olden times, when it still existed in villages. They themselves gladly remember how they took part in the group of men going round all the village houses, where they were received with joy and given gifts for the songs they have sung.

The traditional Bulgarian Christmas gifts were very different to the ones exchanged nowadays. Carol singers and the children of the family used to be given dried fruit, walnuts and popcorn, special Christmas buns. The younger men-carol singers were also given a piece of spicy sausage or fresh bacon as well as some warming brandy. The carol-singing group had a special man to receive and carry these gifts. He was called by different funny names, depending on the region - donkey, cat...He also took care to add to this with jokes and banter and lift the spirits of the carol singers as well as the hosts of each household. There was also a masked group of men, who followed in the singer's footsteps. In most regions, the masquerade group enacted a parody wedding, with the bride and the grandmother being played by men in women's clothing. The masquerade bride and groom were a symbol of the forthcoming annual change of season, the circle of life bringing fertility, new weddings, and babies.

Unlike the comic mock wedding, the carol singers had a very serious role to play. They performed religious rites by singing songs and telling stories. According to tradition, the blessings of the carol singers will come true. That is why some people impatiently awaited Christmas night, so as to invite the carol-singing group into their homes. The Christmas repertoire included songs with poetic blessings for each and everyone, according to their age, family and social status.

In one typical well-wishing to the father - the head of the family, the men sing: "The mother of God makes a blessing: may God bring three rivers to flow through your fields: one of yellow wheat, the next of sparkling wine, the third of white milk. This kind of abundance was the dream of every farmer. Just as the dream of the young girl was like the story from the Christmas carol about pretty Vida, whose shirt sparkled with embroidered Sun, Moon and stars and the shirt itself was a gift from the mother of God. In Christmas carols, the unmarried young man is invariably a courageous hero, who appears on horseback, to perform all kinds of feats along his way.

Finally, when they have sung different blessings to the hosts, the carol singers tell their mission in verse. It is to walk the long road from the Earthly, human world to the "yonder world" where they will receive the blessing of their ancestors and bring it back to the people. Thus, they help overcome the cosmic chaos on the borderline between this and the next year. Carol singers come back from this long journey with the good news, that the universe will re-gain its order and vitality. They also bring the news of the birth of the young God, and tell how his mother invited the saints to the feast in honour of her newborn son. This Christian element is combined with the older mythological layer - in Christmas carols, the young God comes down to the people at Christmas on a magic tree, whose roots are deep in the Earth, and its top reaches the sky. This miraculous tree of life and of the world is heavy with silver leaves and gold fruit.