Washing Rituals from Bulgaria - Mishev, Georgi

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Résumé :
In Washing Rituals from Bulgaria Georgi Mishev, PhD explores the power of water and magical plants in traditional washing rituals still used in the Balkans today. In Bulgaria, these rituals combine water from powerful natural sources with the magical properties of herbs - and other objects. Practitioners utilize these rituals to treat 'known' and 'unknown' diseases for their clients. For example, traditional healers use washing rituals to treat fever, infertility, epilepsy and childhood illnesses, as well as to manage fear, calm children, break magic and avert the evil eye. Additionally, problems attributed to the zmey and samodivas, local nature spirits once revered in the region and remembered today in folklore and song, are also treated with washing rituals. Inspired by stories his grandmother told him as a child of these rituals Mishev set about investigating these fascinating rituals in Bulgaria today. In this booklet he presents personal observations, transcripts of interviews with traditional healers and magicians, as well as related ethnographical records. Georgi Mishev, PhD is a Bulgarian author and researcher of ancient culture and religion of the Mediterranean world, with a focus on magic practices, rituals and ancient relics in the folklore of the Balkan people. He has a bachelor's degree in Russian and German, and a master's degree in Preservation of the cultural-historical heritage in the Republic of Bulgaria (master's thesis on the subject Thracian material and immaterial cultural-historical heritage in the region of Thracian cult centre Starosel) and doctoral degree in the field of cultural-historical heritage (PhD thesis on the subject Bulgarian traditional culture as an information resource about the magica in ancient Southeastern Europe)....

Biographie:
Georgi Mishev, PhD, born 1982, is a Bulgarian author and researcher in ancient culture and religion of the Mediterranean world and especially in magic practices, rituals and ancient relics in the folklore of the Balkan people. He has a bachelor's degree in Russian and German language, master's degree in Preservation of the cultural-historical heritage in the Republic of Bulgaria (master's thesis on the subject Thracian material and immaterial cultural-historical heritage in the region of Thracian cult centre Starosel) and doctoral degree in the field of cultural-historical heritage (PhD thesis on the subject Bulgarian traditional culture as an information resource about the magica in ancient Southeastern Europe). The scholar knowledge of G. Mishev is enriched by his personal observations and conversations with magical practitioners in Bulgaria today. Because of his education - Russian and German philology, he is familiar with the written magical rituals of a number of Slavic and Germanic peoples. A tremendous contribution to his understanding of the ancient magical tradions and especially the Greek Magical Papyri was the seminar 'Ancient magical formulae' of Prof. Johann Tischler at the Dresden University of Technology, Germany in 2003/2004 and during the same period emerged his interest about Hittite ritual practices used later for comparative research of the Thracian culture.Blessed by being a member of family of healers and trained in folk traditional magic, he is also a Priest and founder of the Threskeia, a pagan tradition based on the beliefs of ancient Thrace - see www.facebook.com/Thracian.Threskeia

Sommaire:
In Washing Rituals from Bulgaria Georgi Mishev, PhD explores the power of water and magical plants in traditional washing rituals still used in the Balkans today. In Bulgaria, these rituals combine water from powerful natural sources with the magical properties of herbs - and other objects. Practitioners utilize these rituals to treat 'known' and 'unknown' diseases for their clients. For example, traditional healers use washing rituals to treat fever, infertility, epilepsy and childhood illnesses, as well as to manage fear, calm children, break magic and avert the evil eye. Additionally, problems attributed to the zmey and samodivas, local nature spirits once revered in the region and remembered today in folklore and song, are also treated with washing rituals. Inspired by stories his grandmother told him as a child of these rituals Mishev set about investigating these fascinating rituals in Bulgaria today. In this booklet he presents personal observations, transcripts of interviews with traditional healers and magicians, as well as related ethnographical records. Georgi Mishev, PhD is a Bulgarian author and researcher of ancient culture and religion of the Mediterranean world, with a focus on magic practices, rituals and ancient relics in the folklore of the Balkan people. He has a bachelor's degree in Russian and German, and a master's degree in Preservation of the cultural-historical heritage in the Republic of Bulgaria (master's thesis on the subject Thracian material and immaterial cultural-historical heritage in the region of Thracian cult centre Starosel) and doctoral degree in the field of cultural-historical heritage (PhD thesis on the subject Bulgarian traditional culture as an information resource about the magica in ancient Southeastern Europe)....