Yenday

St. John the Baptist (icon)According to the church calendar, on this day in Bulgaria, the birth of St. John the Baptist, also called the Forerunner, is celebrated. He was the first to baptize the Jewish people in the waters of the Jordan River.

In Bulgaria, it is customary to call this day Yenovday. In the rites performed on Yenovden, you can see the ancient cult of the Sun (it is believed that June 24 is the strongest day of the year, this is the Day of the Sun). According to folk legends, the sun on this day "plays", and therefore to this day in the villages early in the morning before sunrise people go to the river to see how "the sun bathes in the water" (rises).

Collected this morning herbs have the strongest effect. Girls tie a large wreath of flowers collected in the morning and pass through it for health and happiness. Then they arrange the ceremony “Yenova Boulya”: dress up a little orphan girl, tie a red scarf on her head and take turns carrying it on her shoulders around the village, singing songs about the rich harvest and prosperity. Then they go to the village, where they dance a slow dance choro.

At the end, everyone is going to some girl in the house, where they perform the ceremony “Lada”: each lowers in a bucket with “silent” water (drew from the spring with complete silence) its sign (ring or bouquet), and the girl – “denova boula” takes them out of the bucket and sends their owners wishes. So girls guess the future - which one will marry soon and to whom. The Lada rite is performed several times a year - during Christmas holidays, in spring (in Gergiovden) and on June 24.

From this day on, it is believed that the sun is already slowly "dying", and the year is leaning towards winter. This is the day when the sun shines. Old people think about the future harvest and health.