The Transfiguration of our Lord, 6 August, one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, was established in the early years of Christianity. In this edition of Folk Studio, we bring you some of the traditions and customs connected with the Transfiguration.

Peter, Jacob and John are the three disciples, whom Jesus Christ took to Mount Tabor in Galilee. There, the Saviour went into deep prayer, his face changed and his clothing became sparkling white. Next to Him two men appeared – the prophets Moses and Elijah and they spoke of His impending death in Jerusalem. And Peter said to Jesus: Lord, if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. And as he was yet speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And a voice out of the cloud said: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him.” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. Thus Christ was revealed as the Son of God. It is this transformation of Jesus Christ that the church feast – Transfiguration – marks. Popular beliefs, rituals and prohibitions on August 6 and the days before and after it are also connected with the changes resulting from realigning the biological clock. They are a reflection of the eternal desire to do what is right, to follow the laws of God, as the people have “read’ them in the open book of nature’s circle of life.

Though at the height of summer, in popular belief Transfiguration is thought to mark the changeover from summer to autumn. The Sun turns its back on summer to face winter. The day grows shorter, snakes and lizards crawl into their holes, swallows get ready to fly South. In some villages in the Rhodopes it is believed that God drops a furrow down from the sky – a sign that winter crops can now be sown. They say that on the eve of Transfiguration, a heavenly gateway opens in the sky and God himself appears to make the wishes of all who have seen this miracle come true. This is a belief that refers most of all to another turning point in nature, marked on Epiphany, (St. Yordan’s day, January 6). But the hope of a transformation for the better keeps people awake on the night before Transfiguration too. In many parts of the country mothers would have their children look up into the night sky so as not to miss the opening of God’s gateway and pray for health and wealth. The young would be told that this is a time for inner transformation and for taking stock of one’s life – before the change of season and before nature takes the road to winter stillness.

The most popular ritual of all on this day was the blessing of the grapes. Farmers would take the first ripe grapes to church where priests would chant prayers. Then the women would give of the consecrated grapes to all members of the family, to friends and relatives. In some parts of Bulgaria they would go out into the road where the village shepherds passed. Consecrating grapes is pivotal – grapes are used to make wine, the symbol of Christ’s blood. In Bulgarian tradition, eating grapes before the Transfiguration church service was forbidden. In the Kapan community (an ethnic group of Bulgarians living in the Northeastern part of the country) there was a local belief according to which neither red grapes nor red water melon should be eaten; they say this will mark one’s face. Along with grapes, in some regions blackberries are also taken to church and the same ritual is performed. It is said that God created vines and its fruit, and through them gave a fraction of His blessing. To lure men to eat of their fruit, the devil created the blackberries which ripen before grapes. That is why according to popular tradition blackberries should not be eaten before grapes – i.e. before Transfiguration day. On the feast day itself it is the fruit of the Lord that should be eaten first.

English version: Milena Daynova