Today is Babinden, Granny’s or Midwives’ Day, a popular feast day celebrating the elderly women who once helped women give birth.
The day, once marked on 21 January, old style, has lost many of its rituals of old, such as the bathing of the baby by the granny, a lavish meal for the young brides at the granny’s house. After pouring out water for the granny to wash her hands in, the women would gift her with shirts, stockings and cloth. The granny on her part would tie a red and white thread to the wrist of the child.
Babinden falls on 21 January, old style, the date which was declared a day of natal care, obstetricians and gynecologists in 1951.
Every holiday has its own flavour, its own 'clothes' and its own tunes. Christmas is no different. "Little is known about traditional Bulgarian carols and their purpose, little is said, and even the wrong things are said. But the most important thing is..
On Christmas morning the glad tidings have spread that the Son of God was born, making it a special day celebrated with a lot of festive rituals. After Christmas Eve, when families get together for a festive meal, comes Christmas. On 25 December the..
Christmas Eve, once called Budnik, Little Christmas or Neyadka, was considered part of a dark, frightening period, charged with the potential to influence the entire upcoming year. For this reason, the night before Christmas was associated with..
Mostly Cloudy
Cloudy
Overcast, rain
Rain / Snow
Partly Cloudy