Kukeri ( bg, кукери; singular: kuker, кукер) are elaborately costumed

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n men, who perform traditional rituals intended to scare away evil spirits. This Bulgarian tradition has been practiced since Thracian times and is of a Thracian origin. Closely related traditions are found throughout the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

(including

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and the

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

). The costumes cover most of the body and include decorated wooden masks of animals (sometimes double-faced) and large

bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

s attached to the belt. Around

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

and before

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, the kukeri walk and dance through villages to scare away evil spirits with their costumes and the sound of their bells. They are also believed to provide a good harvest, health, and happiness to the village during the year. The kukeri traditionally visit peoples' houses at night so that "the sun would not catch them on the road." After parading around the village they usually gather at the village square to dance wildly and amuse the people. Kukeri rituals vary by region but remain largely the same in essence.

Distribution and etymology

The custom is generally thought to be related to the Thracian

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

cult in the wider area of

Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek D ...

and similar rituals can be also found in much of the Balkans. The term could be derived from Proto-Slavic ("evil spirit") with the agentive suffix (i.e. literally meaning a "chaser of evil spirits"), or from a pre-Slavic divinity named Kuk. Another theory suggests the name derived from Latin meaning "hood, cowl" or , "

quiver A quiver is a container for holding arrows, bolts, ammo, projectiles, darts, or javelins. It can be carried on an archer's body, the bow, or the ground, depending on the type of shooting and the archer's personal preference. Quivers were trad ...

" (i.e. in the sense of a container; an abbreviation of ), though the practice pre-dates Roman rule by several centuries. The corresponding figure in Greek-speaking Thrace is known as "rod-carrier", also shortened to ''cuci'', in former Yugoslavia known as , , in Bulgaria as or , as in Pontic Anatolia, in North Macedonia it is known as or . In Romania, this figure mostly appears together with a goat, known as , or .

Kukeri

Kukeri is a divinity personifying fecundity. Sometimes in Bulgaria and Serbia it is a plural divinity. In Bulgaria, a ritual spectacle of spring (a sort of carnival) takes place after a scenario of folk theatre, in which Kuker's role is interpreted by a man attired in a sheep- or goat-pelt, wearing a horned mask and girded with a large wooden phallus. During the ritual, various physiological acts are interpreted, including the sexual act, as a symbol of the god's sacred marriage, while the symbolical wife, appearing pregnant, mimes the pains of giving birth. This ritual inaugurates the labors of the fields (

ploughing A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

, sowing) and is carried out with the participation of numerous allegorical personages, among which is the Emperor and his entourage.

Capra

Capra comes from the Latin capra, meaning goat. A halo like head piece was worn as a crown to symbolize the spiritual divine realm while fur, feathers and other external body-parts of an animal attached to represent the natural world. The fact that nature has good and evil, and that humans are the intermediary between spirit and nature. It was a time to pay homage to the Spieth gods. Some cultures imbibed in human flesh to satiate the gods thirst for blood, as an act of solidarity for the gods.

Kukeri in the media

Kukeri or Kuker Warriors are some of the main characters in the epic fantasy animated series ''The Golden Apple'', which is currently being developed by Studio Zmei. In it, young brothers Bran and Vlad have been trained as Kuker Warriors to fight evil spirits but they have to question what they have been taught when they are forced to team up with half-spirit Vihra and Samodiva-spirit Tina in order to protect their world. Kukeri are featured in the music video for the song "

Fish on Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

", by the industrial metal band Lindemann, and in the film ''

Toni Erdmann Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name. In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni. In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegia ...

'', directed by

Maren Ade Maren Ade (; born 12 December 1976) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer. Ade lives in Berlin, teaching screenwriting at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg. Together with Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach, she ...

Gallery

Kukeri Rodopi.JPG, Kukeri from Smolyan Kukeri from Blagoevgrad.jpg, Kukeri from

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

Kukeri-from-Gorna-Vasilitsa.jpg, Kukeri from

Gorna Vasilitsa Gorna Vasilitsa ( bg, Горна Василица) is a village in Sofia Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in the Kostenets Municipality. As of the 2010 census, the village had a total population of 273. The settlement contains many villa ...

, Sofia Province Кукерски маски от с. Зидарово, Бургаско.jpg, Kukeri masks from the village of

Zidarovo Zidarovo is a village in Sozopol Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the ...

, Burgas Кукерски маски от Пернишко.jpg, Kukeri masks from

Pernik Pernik ( bg, Перник ) is a town in western Bulgaria (about south-west of Sofia) with a population of 70,285 . Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province and lies on both bank ...

, near Sofia BASA-2072K-1-373-5-Kukeri from Bulgaria.JPG, Kukeri from before 1945 BASA-2072K-1-373-19-Kukeri from Bulgaria.JPG, Kukeri from before 1945 BASA-2072K-1-373-29-Kukeri from Bulgaria.JPG, Kukeri from before 1945 BASA-2072K-1-373-39-Kukeri from Bulgaria.JPG, Kukeri from before 1945 BASA-2072K-1-373-31-Kukeri from Bulgaria.JPG, Kuker from before 1945 BASA-2072K-1-373-30-Kukeri from Bulgaria.JPG, Kukeri from before 1945 Brezhani kukeri (babugeri).jpg, Kukeri in the village of

Brezhani Brezhani is a village in Simitli Municipality, in Blagoevgrad Province, in southwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on ...

Kukeri s maski selo Drugan.JPG, Kukeri parade in the village of Drugan Pudarevo-kukeri-games.jpg, Kukeri in the village of Pudarevo Kalishte-Surova.jpg, Kukeri in

Kalishte Kalista is a village in southwestern Bulgaria. Kalista is located within the jurisdiction of the nearby city Radomir, Pernik Province Pernik Province is a province in western Bulgaria, neighbouring Serbia. Its main city is Pernik, and other ...

during Burgas-Ethnographic-museum-kukeri-mask.jpg, A kuker mask at the

Burgas Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a pop ...

Ethnographic Museum Burgas-Ethnographic-museum-kukeri-03.JPG, A kuker costume at the Burgas Ethnographic Museum Burgas-Ethnographic-museum-kukeri-02.JPG, A kuker mask at the Burgas Ethnographic Museum Kukeri-imagesfrombulgaria.JPG, Kukeri from the region of

Karlovo Karlovo ( bg, Карлово ) is a historically important town in central Bulgaria located in a fertile valley along the river Stryama at the southern foot of the Balkan Mountains. It is administratively part of Plovdiv Province and has a ...

Kukeri E4.jpg, Kukeri in

Lesichovo Lesichovo ( bg, Лесичово) is a village in the Pazardzhik Province, Bulgaria. As of 2005 it has 982 inhabitants. The village is a centre of the Lesichovo Municipality. It hosts an annual Kukeri Kukeri ( bg, кукери; singular: kuker ...

in 2009 Kukeri 2.jpg, Kuker in

in 2009 Kukeri E1.jpg, Kukeri in

in 2009 Maska Kukiera, Jamboł, Bułgaria.jpg, A kuker mask from

Yambol Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''. Yambol is the ad ...

at the

National Museum of Ethnography The National Museum of Ethnography (Polish: ''Państwowe Muzeum Etnograficzne w Warszawie'') is a museum of ethnography in Warsaw, Poland. It was established in 1888. Collection and exhibitions The collection is made up of objects, folk art, ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Kukeri Begunovtsi-Surva 2012 18.JPG, Kukeri in Begunovți during Survaki in 2012 Kuker Burgas.JPG, Kuker in Burgas

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=http://kukeri-karlovsko.eu , title=Startsi-Kukeri-Mummers of Karlovo Region, Bulgaria , access-date=2011-10-23 , publisher=Kukeri Foundation , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330085800/http://www.kukeri-karlovsko.eu/ , archive-date=2012-03-30 * http://kukeriwines.com/ * http://www.surva-bg.com/ * http://www.kukerlandia.com/en/ Bulgarian folklore Romanian folklore Serbian folklore Greek folklore Cult of Dionysus Thrace Sexuality and society Ritual animal disguise Slavic carnival