Традиции и практики, свързани с ритуала на кръщението в Югоизточна България
Traditions and Practices Related to the Ritual of Baptism in South-Eastern Bulgaria

Summary/Abstract: Baptism is one of the seven mysteries for acceptation in the Christian Church. It is connected to specific ritual compounds, secretly being present in the life of Bulgarians. The author’s research work is an attempt to clarify to what extend the Christian tradition of Baptism has been preserved nowadays and to what extend it has been intertwined with folk believes and rituals. An empirical study in South-Eastern Bulgaria has been done for this purpose with two types of respondents: 1) church ministers – parish priests from the town of Yambol; 2) inhabitants from the towns of Yambol, Elhovo and Burgas and from the villages Dryanovo, Pchela and Burgas and from the villages Dryanovo, Pchela, Pobeda and Kalchevo in Yambol District. Seventy five people were interviewed from both genders (with predominance of women) and grouped according to their different age. The interviews with clergymen include: the age they were baptized, the cause of their baptism, the ritual (its main stages – oglashenie and the baptism proper and its practices), the attributes of the baptism, its relation to folk customs and traditions, the role of the father/mother-in-God, the name given. These questions are asked and in he interviews with the other inhabitants of the region in order that the basic principles be understood as well as the difference in understanding of the clergymen and the laypeople. The study demonstrated the broad extend of the ritual of baptism and its significance for Bulgarians. As a religious and cultural practice baptism is a product of two types of tendencies: 1) simplification of the prescriptions laid in the canon and synthesis of the mystery and its symbolism in a couple of steps of completion; 2) supplement of the ritual with heathen meanings and interpretations closer to the understanding of common people. They are not seen as wrong and harmful but are bing interpreted as a “translation” of the religious rules into spells of grace and health supporting the Christians in their faith. Transition of ritual knowledge from one generation to the next is a main concern of society. In this way it preserves the sacred rhythm and order kept in tradition but saves its identity, too (distinguishing them and their own from others, aliens, by its own rituals and the concept related to them). The stability of the tradition is due to combination of religious, social and utilitarian stimuli. The analysis provides a foundation to make conclusions about the specifically Bulgarian cultural heritage.

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