Amidst Winter or St. Athanasius’ Day

published on 1/23/12 11:13 AM

Amidst Winter or St. Athanasius’ Day

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On horseback, donned in a silk shirt, goes St. Athanasius into the forest and yells, “Go away, yo, winter, come, thee, summer!” And according to the Bulgarian popular belief, he does that each year on January 18, and that is why it is known as the Winter Anatasovden or Amidst Winter in the popular calendar. Many folk tales and beliefs have been dedicated to the Christian saint and for centuries the Bulgarians have been revering him with special rituals.

On January 18 the Orthodox Church reveres the memory of St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria from 328 to 373 AD. He was a foremost theologian and a champion of the purity of the faith, and became the first to spread monkhood, which originated in Egypt, among the European lands. He was also the chief defender of Orthodoxy against Arianism, and that is why he was named St. Athanasius the Great.
In Bulgarian popular belief Atanas or Tanas, as he was also called, was part of the large celestial family. The saints Nikola (Nicholas), Elias (Elijah), Vasilii (Basil), and Petar (Peter) were his siblings, while Anton (Anthony) was his twin-brother. That is why the holidays of St. Anthony and St. Athanasius follow each other on January 17 and 18, respectively.
According to one popular Bulgarian legend, God decided to divide the world among the six brother heroes. And Atanas got the ice blocks and the snows as his share. That is why the Bulgarian people revere him as the patron of winter storms. His holiday marks also the transition from winter to summer, and the light part of the day starts increasing ‘by one millet’.
Legend has it also that Anton and Atanas were the patrons of the plague and the smallpox. Diseases were born on St. Anthony’s Day and on the following day, on St. Athanasius’ Day, they began travelling the world. In order to appease them the women baked unleavened ritual breads, spread honey on them and gave them to relatives and acquaintances. They stuck basil leaves in the middle, as the popular belief had it the basil carried health and kept evil spirits at bay. Women were not allowed to knit, to spindle, to cook beans, lentils, etc. They believed by not doing these things they would appease the diseases and would make them flee the households, so that children would not get smallpox.

According to the Bulgarian folk tales, Anton and Atanas used to be blacksmiths. And once while they were working, the iron was burning in the furnace, but Atanas could not handle it with his bare hands. And then he had this idea of using two metal rods. There was a dog lying on the floor. And the saint decided to make a metal instrument that resembled the curled front legs of the lying animal, and thus invented the first pair of tongs. From that moment on the brothers Anton and Atanas became guardians of the blacksmiths, cutlers and ironmongers. To commemorate them the members of these trades prepared a sacrificial mutton soup (kurban) on St. Athanasius’ Day each year. This tradition has been preserved in many villages across the country to this day.
In Northern Bulgaria scholars have noted down an interesting ritual. The muttons were gathered in the centre of the village and were ritually ‘cured’ of the plague. After which some of the best muttons were chosen and sacrificed to God, and the whole village feasted on the mutton soup.

Also on St. Athanasius’ Day fraternization rituals used to take place in some parts of the country in the belief that the twin brothers Anton and Atanas will watch over the blood brothers. The Bulgarian popular beliefs held this kind of relationship in high esteem. It was a commitment for life. And the families became relatives. And of course, all the rituals related to St. Athanasius’ Day always ended with merry chain dances involving young and old alike.

English version by Radostin Zhelev

По публикацията работи: Albena Bezovska

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Amidst Winter or St. Athanasius’ Day

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