Sirni zagovezni - this holiday so rich in customs and to this day keeps some of them, without which Sunday did not pass in the past. At one time, the first thing people did that day was to ask forgiveness for their actions over the past year. To start the fast, and the year "clean". No sins to weigh.
In the past, every housewife prepared food for dinner during the day. Because this was the last Sunday in which cheese and milk could be eaten, they were always present at the table. And pies or mills. It could be fish. But it was a tradition for the hosts to set aside part of their meals for those poor families who were known to have nothing to talk about.
Dinner always began with a request for forgiveness from the elders.
And it always ended with the humming - a custom still loved by children. But while we are now tying the halva at the end of a long thread, charcoal, egg and cheese were once tied together. Then the thread swayed. And everyone raced to catch him first. When everything calmed down, the thread came off and the coals went home. People believed that they could "cure" lessons with it. Then they took the thread and called the year. According to him, they guessed whether she would be fertile and fertile or not.
Then in many places people left the houses, gathered outside the village and lit fires. They were an integral part of the customs of that day. People were wailing around the fires and singing songs. And the heat jumped - for health.
But the customs of that night did not end with the people and the handkerchiefs, nor with the songs and wishes for health. Now came the most interesting of the night. The chirping. All the bachelors from the neighborhoods or from the villages gathered around the fire and started throwing arrows in the yards of their loved ones or the most beautiful girls from the village.
The boys lit the arrows, determined in which girl's yard they would have to fall, and the chirping began. At one point, the whole sky was illuminated by the glowing arcs that the arrows described in it.
And whether an arrow could fly was clear when it fell in the chosen yard. Or when she failed. Chirping was not an easy task. That is why the bachelors started practicing throwing arrows from St. Athanasius.
It was a fun custom. But also dangerous. It was not uncommon for country houses to be set on fire by burning arrows. That's why every family prepared during the day - containers were filled with water, and rugs were thrown on the thatched roofs.
As the arrows began to fall in the yards, both the girls and their families ran to collect them. For each girl, the arrows were an honor and a pride. And the one that managed to collect the most of them was considered the best.
This custom, although with different names, was spread throughout Bulgaria. With him in most places the holiday ended. And then Todorova Sunday followed.
Author: Nelly Parashkevova