Christmas Eve is one of the most important days of the year for Bulgarians. The holiday is not movable and is also called Little Christmas. In our native folklore, the rituals and rites with which the birth of the Son of God is welcomed are rich. There are many symbols that accompany the holiday. In the festive and ritual system of Christmas Eve and Christmas, biblical parables and folk beliefs are intertwined.
You can read more about old folk customs and holidays in the collection:
Folklore collection "Once upon a time - manners and worldview of the Bulgarians"
Christmas Eve – one of the most important symbols. During the day, men must go to the forest and cut down a tree – most often an oak, sometimes a pear. The tree must not rest on the ground, so it is usually put on a sled and dragged home. The Yule log must burn without interruption, in some parts of the country until Midsummer, so that life in the family does not die out in the following year. When it burns, the ashes are not thrown away, but used as medicine.
The table – on Christmas Eve she is necessarily fasting. This is the last night of the Christmas fast. The dishes are an odd number, usually 5 or 7. Walnuts, peppers, oshawa, pumpkin, lean sarmi, boiled wheat – these are the dishes that the mistress of the house usually prepares. The bread is also lean, decorated with a cross of dough in the middle or the monogram of Jesus Christ. Along the edges of the Christmas bread are arranged balls from dough. They are not just for decoration, but symbolize domestic animals, most often sheep. It results in a closed circle, which symbolizes the manger. These symbols come from several aspects - in early Christianity, iconographers depicted Jesus as a shepherd surrounded by his flock, and according to the Bible, the baby Jesus was laid in a manger after his birth.
When the dishes are ready, the whole family sits down at the table. The oldest, regardless of whether he is a man or a woman, serves the dinner. Then the head of the family breaks the bread into as many pieces as there are people in the family, plus one more. This separate piece is the first and is called the Virgin Mary's. The girls tell fortunes by putting a bite of the ritual bread under their pillow. The one they dream of will be the chosen one. Throughout the evening, if anyone has to get up, they walk bent over, not standing up. This is done so that the grain in the fields and the branches of the fruit trees are bent over. And the festive table is not raised, it is left until the morning.
© 2023 Iliana Dechkova