From "Once upon a time - manners and worldview of the Bulgarians"

Holy Prophet Elijah – the thunderer saint, identified with Tangra and Perun, the hailer who travels the heavens in his fiery chariot drawn by four or six horses and throws fiery arrows at the lama who always wants to harm people. The saint who both protects people and sends them disasters if they do not live righteously. On this day, work is absolutely forbidden - so that Elijah does not send them hail, drought or other disasters. For health and mercy, the largest rooster is sacrificed by the saint.

July 20 is also the day of many village gatherings. The holiday is celebrated by tanners, saddlers, furriers and tilers. Tilers make wheels of clay, a symbol of the wheels of the heavenly chariot with which the saint ascended to heaven.

WHO IS SAINT ELIJAH

Saint Elijah is a prophet from the Old Testament, a descendant of the Aaron family. He predicted the birth of Jesus 900 years earlier. His father received a senior vision in which his infant son was nursed by fiery flames, but a local priest reassured him: "The child will rest on divine grace, his word will be like fire strong and effective, his life - pleasing to God. And he will judge Israel with sword and fire. The name "Ilia" means "fortress of the Lord". ("Lives of the Saints", S., 1991, p. 341). So Elijah became an opponent of the priests who worshiped the god Baal and preached with a fiery word. An ascetic and wanderer, he believed in the one God Jehovah and proved his righteousness by the miracles that God helped him to perform. When the Jewish king Ahab and the Gentiles committed many sins, Elijah closed the sky for three years and there was a terrible drought and pestilence, not a drop of rain fell. When his mission to prophesy was over, he ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire. He is the only saint who ascended to heaven alive. That is why the icon painters, when they paint the image of St. Elijah, depict his ascension in a chariot. On both sides of him are the archangels Gabriel and Michael, on the other side - the apostles Peter and Paul and the evangelists John, Matthew, Mark and Luke. Often the saint is also depicted with a white beard and a long robe, in front of the cave.

On the day of the holiday, the owner drives the "father" - the oldest rooster. As the fire was renewed on July 17, the last day of the heather, so it is time for a new rooster to take charge of the farm. And next to the sick, people put a consecrated icon of the Hailer and prayed for his recovery.

And as on a holiday, there is no lack of fortune-telling here either. On the sacrificial rooster, people tried to prophesy what the coming days would be like. If the slaughtered rooster jumps high or "walks" home, it is a good sign, especially if it manages to reach the hearth. A fertile year awaits the owners, and perhaps a wedding. But if the rooster jumps outside, the luck will run away from the house with it. If it thunders on that day, the fruit trees will die, and the hazelnuts and walnuts will be hollow. Only the wine will be nice.

In folk mythology, many legends are told about St. Elijah. When the heroes shared the sky, the summer elements, the depth of the earth and the height of the sky fell on it. All day Elijah flies in the sky in his fiery chariot and gathers the dark clouds, the mists and the hail and locks them in the Black Sea. If he decides to punish people, he unlocks them.

But besides the elements, Elijah is also strongly associated with dragons - those mythical beings who are both good and evil, both protect people and mischief. His connection with dragons born among humans was especially strong. Only he could call them and knew who they were, bewitch them and take them to heaven. He is also the greatest enemy of the lamas and the hallas, who eat the grain and steal the fertility. When St. Elijah chased the llama and struck it with his heavy mace, the whole sky thundering. And if there is lightning, his horses dig the heavens with fiery hooves. By killing a challah, where it has fallen, the place becomes very fertile. There is thunder and lightning throughout the year, except in winter, when even the elements of heaven rest. However, it happens that even in the bitter winter it thunders and rattles. Then people knew that the sky wanted to tell them something fateful. It is very important on which day it will thunder for the first time, because it determines the whole year. It's not nice to thunder on St. George's Day. Best before the holiday, the more days in advance, the more fertile the fields will be. If the first thunder comes from the east, before noon, the year will be fertile. But if it thunders from the north - the year will be bad.

The saint is very revered by the Bulgarians, that's why there are many legends about his life. Ilya sinned once in front of his mother, when he was young. And she cursed him. “To wander on the earth until he has rubbed his feet to the knees and rubbed his iron rod, and then come.” And when that happened, God had mercy on him and sent the chariot of fire to take him up to heaven. That is why he is considered the only saint who ascended during his lifetime.

Ilya had two sisters - Magda and Maria. He told them once that he would wipe out the world, but not when, but on the day named after him. The sisters were scared and wondered how to save the world and people from their brother. They realized that Elijah did not know what his name day was, and every time he asked them, they said: "He has not come yet" or "He has already passed." Thanks to them, the world stands whole and unbroken.

LEGENDS

quoted by "Bulgarian Saints and Holidays", Lilia Stareva

Father God and St. Elijah

A poor woman begged a breadwinner. The chorbadjika was taking the handles, saying that she was reaping a lot. Father God and St. Elijah were watching from heaven. But St. Elijah was veiled with nine bulls, because otherwise he saw people doing mischief and thundered. Grandfather God, watching from above, laughed. Having laughed, St. Elijah asked him:

- Why are you laughing?

And Grandfather God said to him:

– I saw something on the ground.

Saint Elijah said:

- Lift my butt.

At first, Father God did not want to, but then he raised the nine bulls. St. Ilia, having looked, blasted and killed the chorbadzhika. Grandpa God said to him:

"Ah, you're in too much of a hurry." I would make it so that it impoverishes and reaps the poor woman.

The poor man and St. Elijah with the donkey

There was a poor man. He carried wood from the mountain on his shoulder, sold it and ate. As he was returning from the wood one day, St. Elijah met him at a spring. After greeting each other, the poor man sat down to rest. Good, but then he couldn't get up with the trees because they were very heavy, and he asked St. Elijah to go to God and ask him for a donkey to carry the trees with him. Saint Elijah felt sorry for him and agreed. They agreed to meet here again the next morning, to bring him news from God.

Saint Elijah went to God and asked him to give the poor man a donkey. God sent him to tell the poor man to first ask for two donkeys from his neighbor, and then he would give him one too.

As they had agreed, they met the next day and St. Elijah told the old man what the Lord had said.

- Bre, - said the poor man, - let me pray to God to give my neighbor two donkeys, as if he had few. No, no, Saint Elijah, I neither want a donkey for myself, nor two for my neighbor. Day and night I pray to God to tire those who have neighbors, and what are you talking to me about?

- With that mind, old man - St. Elijah told him, - you will neither have a donkey nor be well, you will die like this and you will not see God's paradise. That's what God told me.

Saint Elijah and the dogs

There was a king - very meek, and even a fool. As many people as he caught in crimes, murders, betrayals, he brought them to him to judge and punish them. He always felt sorry for them and forgave them. And as he thus forgave them, day by day the thieves and murders in the kingdom increased. There wasn't a night when they didn't kill at least twenty people, rob people's houses and shops. This people was in great distress, small and large squealed by robbers. They prayed to God that it would not get dark, since the evening everyone thought that the robbers would come to their house. Some complained to the king, others to God. And the last requests helped.

God sent St. Elijah to restore order. He took his servant with him and went to the king. He signaled that he wanted to talk to him. After talking, they agreed that St. Elijah should be king for three days in order to pacify the kingdom.

The king gave him the throne for three days, to see if the old foreigner would really calm down the robbers. As St. Ilia sat on the throne, he ordered that it be announced throughout the bazaar (market) that no one closes his shop, because otherwise he will be punished with a heavy fine by the new king. They wondered what kind of work this would be. You couldn't live with closed doors, but with open ones, how would it dawn. Robbers will attack from everywhere, and then God help them. Indeed, they talked like that, but there was nothing they could do. This is what the king commanded them - where there is strength, there is no justice. So, the rest of the shops are open.

When the robbers found out that the bazaar had remained open, they were very happy.

When St. Elijah issued this command, the king was afraid, regretted that he had given him his throne, but the word had already left his mouth, and a royal word does not go back. He reassured himself that whatever he did, it would only be for three days.

Saint Elijah got to work. He sent his servant to the slaughterhouse to call an old dog with four eyes (these are dogs that have two moles above their eyes, similar to eyes; such dogs, according to popular belief, could also see vampires). The servant went and found the dog.

- Listen - the servant told him - Saint Elijah sends you many greetings and calls you to come to him, because he has something to say to you.

- Good - said the dog and put his front paw on his forehead to show that he bowed to the order of St. Elijah.

Then it went to the saint and bowed to him.

"Do you know why I call you, faithful servant of the master, or do you not?"

"I don't know," said the dog.

- I have called you to go and collect whatever dogs there are in the city, to order them to keep watch for three nights without eating a morsel of bread, and wherever a robber they see, to cut him to pieces.

The hound bowed and with great haste gathered all the dogs of the city and arranged them in the huts. As soon as it got dark, the robbers went out into the streets to plunder. The dogs recognized that these were robbers, let loose and tore them all to pieces. In the morning, when the people saw this, they marveled at the new king, and the old king himself marveled.

He asked St. Elijah to order the robbers to be torn apart in the other cities as well. He let St. Elijah hound the other cities and the dogs did the same there. On the third day, St. Elijah disappeared from the eyes of the king. The king then said that this man was a saint and had been sent by God to show him how he should punish the wicked, and not pity them as he had done before. And since then he has put order in his kingdom.

Saint Elijah is lying sick

Saint Elijah fell ill and lay in bed for nine years. For nine whole years, no breeze blew and no fine rain fell. Then his sister St. Mary went out into the world to seek a cure for her brother. The Holy Mother of God met her and told her to give him milk from a hind to drink. Then it will heal.

And so it happened. St. Mary is back. She went to the top of the mountain where the hinds were grazing and milked one. When she took the milk to her brother and he drank, he immediately got well. Then he got up, opened the sea, blew a cool breeze and sprinkled a light rain. Life has returned to the earth.

© 2023 Iliana Dechkova

Folklore collection "Once upon a time - manners and worldview of the Bulgarians"