On one of the biggest Christian holidays, lean meals, walnuts, raw wheat and the unburnt candle from the previous evenings are put on the table. In Razlog, a traditional dish for this day is Sarmi with leeks and mushrooms. Learn more about the holiday and the traditional recipe.
Jordan’s Day, also known as Voditsi and Epiphany (January 6), marks the baptism of Christ by St. John the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan River. The name Epiphany is due to the appearance of God in his triune nature: God the Son Christ, the Holy Spirit as a dove and the voice of God the Father, who announces that Christ is his son. According to the tradition of Jordan’s Day, the Pogan Days (Dirty Days), which begin at Christmas, end.
The day before the Epiphany people fast, and in folklore on the night before the holiday the sky opens around midnight and if a person can see it, whatever he wishes, it will come true. On the feast itself, after the celebration of a festive liturgy in a river or lake, the priest throws a cross, with which, after the consecration of the water, all those present are sprinkled for health. They kiss it and donate money to the man who took out the cross. It is believed that he will have a lot of health and happiness in the coming year. If the cross with which the priest sprinkles is frozen, the year will be fertile and there will be great prosperity. Today this ritual continues to be performed in many places in Bulgaria, as well as in Razlog.
In the town of Razlog itself, on January 6, the holiday begins with a solemn liturgy in the local church, after which the local population heads to a pre-flooded place in the river. The water is consecrated, the priest throws the cross and a group of young people jump into the ice-cold water to look for it. After taking out the cross, the group of young people go around the houses, sprinkling the hosts with holy water for health and fertility, for which they receive gifts. People dance on the square until the evening.
In Razlog Vodici is called not only Jordan’s Day, but a total of three Winter holidays – Jordan’s Day, St. John’s Day and Babinden (19, 20, 21 January on the Gregorian calendar, the so-called old style, or 6, 7, 8 January on the Julian calendar, called the new style). Especially typical is the holiday of Voditsi in the village of Dobarsko, which is celebrated on St. Ivan’s Day and is associated with the practice of young girls, called “vodicharki”, to go around the houses and sing ritual songs. The ritual actions of Jordan’s Day, also called “Crosses” and “Popova Koleda” in Dobarsko, and St. Ivan’s Day are central and emblematic for the village, as the “vodicharki” and their songs are perceived as unique because they are unknown in other regions of the country. In addition to the “vodicharki”, on St. Ivan’s Day, namesakes and young families who have had a wedding in the past year from last St. Ivan’s Day to this one are bathed.
In the Bulgarian tradition, the girls’ consecration rites are usually Spring – on St. Lazarus’ Day and Palm Sunday (Vrabnitsa), and the boys’ are winter – on Christmas. After the ritual “Lazaruvane”, the girls change their status in society, they can be asked for brides. The ritual situation for the boys is similar, for them Christmas plays the same role. According to the custom of Voditsi in the village of Dobarsko, however, the maiden ritual is Winter. The participants must be girls – about 15-17 years old, and they are “vodicharki” for several years until they get married. When the custom was still alive, there were even two groups of “vodichari” in the village, which toured different neighborhoods.
Preparations for the ritual begin at Christmas – the girls gather with an elderly woman or one of the girls (they call her “housewife”) to study the songs. They also agree in which house they will sing. On the night before St. Ivan’s Day, everyone sleeps together in one house. For dinner, each of the girls brings something from their home to eat: beans, flour, pork (“bacon”), “shuzhuk” (sudzuk), sugar and more. The food is eaten in the evening and the next day for lunch.
On the day of the holiday, the girls go around the houses and sing special songs – about a landlord, housewife, bachelor, maiden, bride, child, student, jelepin, carpenter, etc. The hosts donate them primarily with money. The first girl to carry the basin of holy water puts basil and sprinkles it on people and at home, and it is especially important to sprinkle from the water on young children to grow up healthy and strong. The “blessed” with this water takes out “as much as his soul wants” coins and puts them in the cauldron.
After the tours, the “vodicharki” go to the church, stand on both sides of the temple door and sprinkle holy water again on all who come in and out, and they give them money. Finally, they gather again at the “housewife” to distribute the collected funds equally, have a common lunch and have fun. Everyone believes in the purifying meaning of water, as well as the calling and blessing role of the “vodicharki”.
The songs that the “vodicharki” sing at the ritual are known only in Dobarsko and are perceived as unique. On the other hand, they have the character of a blessing, so it is important for the hosts that girls do not miss their home. In the past, the songs were sung in two groups – one group sang, the other sang, echoing, called the “antiphonal” way of performing. Each of the groups consists of at least three singers, because the songs are two-voiced and always one singer sings the first voice, according to the local name she “leads”, and the other two (or three) perform the second voice (bourdon) – they “put” . Today this way of singing has disappeared and the whole group sings all the stanzas of the song.
The songs have their own specific function related to who the song is intended for. A specific song is sung when entering and leaving the house, and it is not sung at any other time in the ritual.
| 1. Йогримко девокье, мари, луда мла= Йогримко девокье, мари, луда млада, дотекла е вода, матна и порой= дотекла е вода, матна и поройна. | 2. Сминдаревчице ле, гиздава девокь= Сминдаревчице ле, гиздава девокье, бегала е в село, село Сминдаре= бегала е в село, село Сминдарево. |
After welcoming the “vodicharki”, the girls start singing certain songs to certain members of the family – to the owners, to the girls, to the younger girls, to the bachelor, to the boy, to the brother and sister, to the masters, to hits and others.
Indeed, nowhere else in our country has such a form of celebration of Jordan’s Day and St. John’s Day been registered, but such exists in today’s Republic of Northern Macedonia. The first of the two days is called Mujki Vodici, and only men go around the houses, singing ritual songs and receiving gifts, most often food, from which a common meal is later prepared. On the second day of the holiday, known as Jenski Vodici, only girls go around the houses, performing a special song for each member of the family depending on his age and position. As in Dobarsko, the songs of the “vodichari” (so called in the Republic of Northern Macedonia) are strictly ritual and are perceived as a blessing.
This obvious proximity of the Vodici rite can be seen as a sign of dialectal unity – the Pirin region is part of the region of Macedonia. But why does the female ritual of Voditsi exist only in the village of Dobarsko? It is possible that only here it has been preserved from older time layers, as the village adheres to its traditions, reproduces them, preserves and transmits its heritage.
Today, the holiday of Voditsi continues to be an important element of the cultural heritage of the village – in 2012 the rite was included in the system “Living Human Treasures – Bulgaria”. In 1992, Vodici was declared a holiday of the village and since then the church service and the throwing of the cross have always been followed by a solemn music and dance program in the center, people and fun.