The Resurrection is perhaps the most deeply revered and best loved day on the Bulgarian folklore calendar. Its symbolism conveys different meanings: the triumph of life over death, bidding farewell to all that is old and past to usher in the hope of a happy future. Although it is a moveable feast, it invariably falls on a Sunday at the height of spring when life is bursting into blossom after the long winter. The coming of the great day (in Bulgarian, Easter is Velikden, derived from the words velik (great)and den (day) puts an end to Lent, the longest and strictest of all fasts in the year, when in the course of 49 days, people have been refraining from consuming meat, eggs, dairy products or wine, from revelry, dancing or music and from marital relations. The coming of Easter marks the end of all this, offering bountiful fare, visits to friends and relatives, festive horo dances and merrymaking all around.

Decorated eggs, especially the ones dyed red are emblematic. It is curious to know why it is eggs that have come to be the principal symbol of the day. On the one hand, eggs are the first food that is, by a tradition, cooked after the long fast. In Christianity they are seen as the symbol of the Holy Sepulchre which Christ’s followers found to be empty and, in more general terms, the symbol of eternal life and spiritual salvation. In folklore too, eggs are a key symbol - of the sun, of life and fertility; they are also thought to ward off evil forces, to be able to cure diseases and to undo magic spells. On the other hand, the colour red, which according to theologians represents the spilt blood of the Saviour, in traditional culture conveys the meaning of life, energy and vitality while at the same time banishing all that is evil or perilous. Dyeing eggs for Easter was practiced across the entire Christian world, but in time, in Western Europe, real eggs came to be replaced by chocolate or plastic eggs, full of candy or other goodies. With the Slavic and Balkan peoples, the tradition of decorating eggs has been kept alive and has constantly been perfected, turning it into a veritable form of art.

The eggs which the unmarried lasses and young brides decorated for their loved ones combine various beautiful and intricate ornaments. According to some researchers the decorations can be “deciphered” as a code, guarding the most ancient knowledge of the universe. Other typical Easter food includes ritual loaves of bread, decorated with painted eggs which were to be gradually replaced by kozunak, an Easter cake of European origin, as well as roast Easter lamb and the traditional drob-sarma, made of diced haslets, rice and herbs.

To this day, on Easter eve, thousands of Bulgarians flock to churches to attend the midnight mass and take back to their homes a lit candle with the “living flame” brought back from Jerusalem. Another tradition that is alive to this day is the custom of paying visits to relatives and loved ones bearing gifts – decorated eggs and kozunak. And saying to each other: Christ is risen! with the traditional reply being: Truly He is risen!

Once, Easter swings used to be a traditional element of this feast. They had a special meaning for young people who were yet to wed. Every young man would try to swing his sweetheart as a way of showing his feelings for her while the rest of the girls would sing bantering songs to the young people in love. It was also believed that this ritual swinging safeguarded against abduction by dragons or wood-nymphs, as well as sickness, this is why it was mostly young brides and children that would be placed on the swings. Another important ritual was the Easter horo dance that would bring together young and old in the village square. They would all put on their best clothes, and the lasses – their most beautiful costumes, their own handiwork, demonstrating their bodily beauty but also how capable and hard working they are.

Prof. Vihra Baeva is a folklore expert at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum.

English: Milena Daynova