Washing Rituals from Bulgaria|
Georgi Mishev
Foreword by Irina Sedakova.
Avalonia Books, 2022, 70 p. ISBN 978-1-905297-72-6. Paperback & Kindle editions are available.
I have had contact with Georgi Mishev since 2012, when I met him in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. I know him best as the author of ‘Thracian Magic – past & present’. (See review 2013 below). When he took me to the Starosel Temple in 2012 his love of folklore and pagan heritage of the Balkans was evident.
In the intervening years he – and others – have built a modern temple.
In 2019 Georgi invited a group of us to visit the temple. The above photo was taken then. Since then many plants, flowering shrubs and herbs have been added. Using knowledge of local herbs, folklore and stories from his Elders, Georgi has managed to create an authentic temple site.
He writes: “More than twenty years ago, I first heard my grandmother tell a story of how a washing ritual with a specially prepared infusion of herbs healed my mother after a long sickness. The story impressed me a lot at the time. The result of the washing was remarkable, and the manner in which it was executed was equally impressive. ” And so we have before us the book Washing Rituals from Bulgaria.
Although a slim volume, it’s really a booklet, Georgi presents us with more stories from eyewitnesses of performing often complex ‘Washing Rituals’.
I was also happy to read of the Assyro-Babylonian & Hittite texts referring to ‘Releasing Rituals’ / Namburbi Rituals. “Their purpose was to avert evil or other bad fortune from a person. In some of the rituals, one of the key methods for averting such negative external influence was washing with a liquid prepared explicitly for the purpose”.
It is perhaps worth noting that Plovdiv is one of the most ancient – if not the oldest – city in modern Europe. Maybe it is conceivable that some of the Hittite knowledge found its way over the Rhodope Mountains to Plovdiv?
Moving to more recent times, he then describes how the same principles have been adopted in the practice today. He also describes the problems attributed to the zmey and samodivas, local nature spirits once revered in the region. Georgi has included a beautiful piece of artwork called ‘Samodiva’ in this volume.
This book is a welcome addition for all those interested in the folklore of the Balkans and traditional healers.
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