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This Folk Studio edition of Radio Bulgaria will introduce you to the most mystical and distinguished ritual that takes place in the southeastern Bulgarian mountain of Strandja – Nestinarstvo (or fire dansing).
There has always been an ancient and interesting ritual in one of the most mystical places in this country – the mountain of Strandja, situated in the remote southeast corner of Bulgaria, next to the border with Turkey. It is called nestinarstvo, or barefooted dance on smoldering embers. It used to be performed in the border Greek and Bulgarian villages till the end of the 19th century, but was then almost wiped out after the brutal assault of the Christian population during the 1912 Balkan War. The ritual was preserved in some parts of the Strandja Mountain that were hard to access. The Balgari village is situated there, with the ancient name of Urgari. The place has become famous with the barefooted dances on smoldering embers that takes place on the Day of Sts. Constantine and Helena. The old date was June 3, now May 21. The ritual dancing is a unique mixture of Orthodox beliefs and honoring of Christian saints with ancient pagan traditions, related to the cult to sun, fire and water. The purpose of the ritual was to bring fertility and health. The nestinari dancers were the main participants. Those used to be men, but over the last decades they were predominantly women. The oldest one got into a trance during the dance and turned into a clairvoyant that foresaw the future of the village. The woman was highly respected and her house was considered to be a sanctuary. There used to be a chapel near this house that preserved the icons of Sts. Constantine and Helena, along with the main tool of the ritual – the sacred drum. The nestinari dancers believed that during the trance on the embers they were purified by the healing power of fire. The spirit of the saints gave them strength to enter the fire, according to their beliefs. Strandja folk singer Manol Mihailov sings about the hot spectacle, the drum and one of the last nestinari dancers, grandma Zlata.
We look for an answer to the question how an Orthodox fest got so mixed up with a religious cult to fire in the ancient chronicles. Emperor Constantine I worshipped fire and at the same time he was the one that legalized Christianity across the entire Roman Empire, thus becoming a saint. The emperor gave permission to the nestinari to dance and they have celebrated their fest ever since, claiming that the saint himself helps them enter the fire and get out of it with no traces or injuries on their bodies.
Modern people see the tradition of nestinarstvo as something quite romantic. The night fire games were too mysterious as villagers wouldn’t allow anyone to see them. Despite all this many researches were attracted by the ritual and the first one was the Renaissance writer Petko R. Slaveikov, who described what he saw in the village of Balgari as early as the end of the 19th century.
Nestinari dancers describe their trance before the dance itself as an irresistible attraction to fire, they feel it with all their senses. They forget the outside world and start talking with the two saints. In the festive morning the crowd heads to the home of the nestinarka with the icons of Sts. Constantine and Helena. They light candles there and bow to the icons. At the sounds of the drum and bagpipe the woman gets out of her house. She is pale, already in trance and starts her dance. Then the procession goes to the sacred spring of the village, called ayazmo. They believe that the water there is healing, but should be drunk at the fest only. A gathering, called panagir takes place afterwards at a lawn nearby in the century-old forest of the Strandja Mountain. Many songs are sung, accompanied by dances under the sounds of the drum and bagpipe.
The culmination of the fest comes in the evening, where the fire gradually turns into embers, thick 10-15 cm. The first chain dance takes place around the fire. The dancer kisses the icons in a trance, listening to the music and moving her hands and face as if she has some deep sorrow. Then with sudden movements she enters the embers and crosses them. Afterwards she repeats the dance with the icon of St. Constantine, stepping into the fire and holding it high above her head in a trance. She foresees then. The drum beats faster and faster, the music gets more and more dynamic, the stars move in circles above the head of the dancer… Try to picture this magical night view with the next piece of ritual sounds:
Grandma Zlata, one of the last nestinari dancers in the village of Balgari describes the trance like that: “When I sense the sorrow coming, my arms and feet start to feel as if they were wooden. I don’t know about the heart, but the feeling in my head is a peculiar one. I see people around, but not very clearly. When the power of fire comes, it all turns into a mist. I circle around the fire and when I see it strong – I do not enter. When I feel enough power, if St. Constantine gives it, I simply jump inside, feeling absolutely nothing – no pain, no burning! The fire then looks as if it was covered with water, as if it was gold…”
The Orthodox Church has never recognized the nestinarstvo ritual and has always persecuted the dancers. Then the 1944- 1989 communist regime did the same thing, but the tradition survived. In 2009 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Thus the century-old ritual will be preserved and passed on to the next generations.
