On January 1, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates St. Basil's Day or Survaki. On this day, Eastern Christians honor the memory of St. Basil the Great. One of the great philosophers and writers of the early Christian church.
Saint Basil was born in the city of Caesarea Cappadocia around 350 AD. in a noble Christian family. His mother Emelia and his grandmother Macrina took an active part in the formation of his character. They brought up little Basil and his brother Gregory in Christian values.
Later, Basil and his younger brother Gregory studied in Caesarea. In this school, Saint Basil met Gregory the Theologian - his friend and co-creator. Young Basil then continued his studies in Athens, where he studied with the future emperor Julian the Apostate. His teachers were the famous lecturers Himerius and Proheresius. After completing his studies, Saint Basil the Great settled near the city of Neocaesaria on the Iris River. There he established a modest monastic dormitory. Shortly after, he was joined by his faithful friend and associate Grigoriy the Theologian. In this monastery they created their rule of monastic life, which was used in the Orthodox Church for centuries. Saint Basil remains one of the most prominent apologists of the Eastern Church.
Folk tradition connects the feast of St. Basil the Great with the Survakan custom. Despite this small essential difference with carol groups, young men gather on St. Basil's Day to go around the houses at night and survak their owners. On the holiday itself, groups of children also pass by, who also greet the owners of the houses. The survakan itself is a kind of continuation of the carol blessings. Both carolers and survakar groups have a leader and a person who acts as the donkey and collects the money and other gifts. And again, just as the carolers bring with them krivaks, so the survakars on St. Basil's Day bring cornflowers decorated with popcorn, dried fruit and wool. In some places, instead of dogwood, pear is also used, i.e. twigs of a pear tree.
In the city of Elena and its surroundings, a festive blessing for blessing has been preserved, which is performed precisely on Survaki. It is as follows:
A red apple in a garden,
A full pen of lambs (goods),
Happy New Year to you,
Finally, the survakars say the following: "amen brother, kick the donkey". Wherever the Survakars pass, people present them with money and delicacies.
In the evening opposite Survaki, the landlady prepares the traditional fortune pie, which is made from grated crusts and cheese. Fortune-telling is done in it, and dogwood buds are used for this purpose. In addition to these fortunes, steam is also added to the pie. As in the twelfth hour, the oldest representative in the family turns the pie.
The people consider the dogwood tree to be one of the healthiest tree species in our country. It is the earliest tree to bud and bloom, but its fruit is the last to be picked. They are used in our folk medicine. New Year's rites also include fortune-telling - collective fortune-telling of which girl will marry whom.
The festive table on St. Basil's Day is rich and blissful. The meal is burned with incense to ward off evil spirits. At the festive table, in addition to the New Year's fortune pie, there is also pork pacha made from the Christmas pig. In some regions of the country, including the Deer Region, a rooster is raised. It is usually prepared with sauerkraut. There should also be fruit and popcorn on the table.
Along with Christmas and Survaki, it can be counted among the most mystical Bulgarian holidays. Because most of the rituals and rites performed during these days carry the spirit of the old Bulgarians. Ritual meal: boiled pig's head, pacha, pie, pita, chicken or turkey with cabbage, roasted piglet, honey, boiled wheat, walnuts, oshav.
On St. Basil's day, they have Vasil, Vasilka, Vasilia, Vasilena, Veselin, Vesela, Vesela, Vasili, Vasilina, Vasiyana, Vaso, Vlada, Vlastin, Vlastina, Vlastomir, Vlaiko, Vatsa, Vala, Vala, Votto, Tsarena, Tsaril, Tsarila . /BGNES
