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The Anastenaria ( el, Αναστενάρια, bg, Нестинарство, translit=Nestinarstvo), is a traditional barefoot
fire-walking Firewalking is the act of walking barefoot over a bed of hot embers or stones. It has been practiced by many people and cultures in many parts of the world, with the earliest known reference dating from Iron Age India . It is often used as a rit ...
ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
with
ecstatic dance Ecstatic dance is a form of dance in which the dancers, sometimes without the need to follow specific steps, abandon themselves to the rhythm and move freely as the music takes them, leading to trance and a feeling of ecstasy. The effects of ecs ...
performed in some villages in
Northern Greece Northern Greece ( el, Βόρεια Ελλάδα, Voreia Ellada) is used to refer to the northern parts of Greece, and can have various definitions. Administrative regions of Greece Administrative term The term "Northern Greece" is widely used ...
and Southern
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 Macedon ...
. The communities which celebrate this ritual are descended from refugees who entered Greece from Eastern
Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
following the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
of 1911–12 and the
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...
in 1923.


Ritual cycle

The Bulgarian and Greek villages perform a unique annual ritual cycle, which begins on May 21 and ends on May 23 every year. The central figures of the tradition are Saint Constantine and Saint Helen, but all the significant days in this cycle coincide with important days in the Greek Orthodox calendar and are related to various Christian saints. The two major events in this cycle are two big festivals, one in January and particularly one in May, dedicated to these two saints. Each of the festivals lasts for 3 days and involves various processions, music and dancing, and an animal sacrifice. The festival culminates with a firewalking ritual, where the participants, carrying the icons of saints Constantine and Helen, dance ecstatically for hours before entering the fire and walking barefoot over the glowing-red coals, unharmed by the fire. Each community of the Anastenaria has a special shrine known as the ''konaki'', where their holy
icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
are placed, as well as the "signs" of the saints (''semadia''), votive offerings and red kerchiefs attached to the icons. Here, on the Eve of the saints' day, May 20 Saint Constantine and Saint Helen, they gather to dance to the music of the Thracian
lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...
and drum. After some time they believe that they may be "seized" by Saint Constantine and enter a
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
. On the morning of the Saints' day, May 21, the gather at the ''konaki'' and proceed to a well to be blessed with
holy water Holy water is water that has been blessed by a member of the clergy or a religious figure, or derived from a well or spring considered holy. The use for cleansing prior to a baptism and spiritual cleansing is common in several religions, from ...
, and
sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
animals. The rules about the nature of the beasts to be slain are precise, but differ from village to village. In the evening a fire is lit in an open space, and after dancing for some time in the ''konaki'', the "anastenarides" go to it carrying their ikons. After dancing around it in a circle, individual anastenarides dance over the hot coals as the saint moves them. The ritual is also performed in January, during the festival of
Saint Athanasius Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
, and fire-walking is done indoors.


Origins

According to some myths the custom originated in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
when the church of Saint Constantine in their original home in Kosti, now in
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 Macedon ...
, caught fire, and the voices of the
saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...
calling for help could be heard from inside. The villagers who braved the flames to rescue them were unharmed, being protected by the saints. Other ethnographers, however, have argued that the Anastenaria are vestiges of ancient practices of cults of
Dionysus 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 ...
. In Bulgaria, the right to perform the ritual was hereditary and the head ''nestinar'' was succeeded only by his or her son or daughter, and only when he or she was too old or ill to continue performing it. The head ''nestinars house was sacred, because it housed the ''stolnina'' (столнина) – a small chapel where icons of several saints were arranged, as well as a sacred drum used specifically for the ritual and believed to cure the drummer if he was ill.


Tourism

In the 20th century the ritual became commercialized and is performed for tourists in the seaside resorts of the
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast (), also known as the Bulgarian Riviera, covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coast ...
by people who have little to do with the original tradition. The rituals survive in more authentic form in five villages of northern Greece:
Ayia Eleni Agia, ayia, aghia, hagia, haghia or AGIA may refer to: *''Agia'', feminine form of ''Agios'', 'saint' Geography * Agia, Cyprus * Agia, Chania, a town in Chania (regional unit), Crete, Greece *Agia, Larissa, Greece *Agia (Meteora), a rock in Thess ...
,
Langadas Lagkadas ( el, Λαγκαδάς, ) is a town and municipality in the northeast part of Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. There are 41103 residents in the municipality and 7764 of them live in the town of Lagkadas. Lagkadas is located northeast o ...
,
Meliki Meliki ( el, Μελίκη) is a village and a former municipality in Imathia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Alexandreia, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 98.962&nbs ...
, Mavrolefke, and
Kerkini Kerkini ( el, Κερκίνη) is a village and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Sintiki, of which it is a municipal unit. It is named after ancient K ...
; and in six Bulgarian villages in the
Strandzha Strandzha ( bg, Странджа, also transliterated as ''Strandja'', ; tr, Istranca , or ) is a mountain massif in southeastern Bulgaria and the European part of Turkey. It is in the southeastern part of the Balkans between the plains of T ...
Mountains: Balgari,
Gramatikovo Gramatikovo ( bg, Граматиково) is a village in Malko Tarnovo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria. It is situated in Strandzha Nature Park. On 31 January 2011 a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak In epidemiology, ...
,
Slivarovo , settlement_type=Village , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_map = , mapsize = , image_skyline=Slivarovo-Evgord.jpg , map_caption = , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_size= , pushpin_label_position =Location in Bulgaria , subdivision_type = Coun ...
,
Kondolovo Kondolovo ( bg, Кондолово) is a village in Tsarevo Municipality, in Burgas Province, in southeastern Bulgaria.Guid ...
, Kosti, and
Brodilovo Brodilovo ( bg, Бродилово, ) is a remote village in the Strandzha (''Strandja'') mountains of southeastern Bulgaria, within the range of the national park preserve, and part of Tsarevo Municipality, Burgas Province. Lying on the left bank ...
.


Heritage

In 2009, the ritual was entered in the
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.Compare: This list is published by the Intergover ...
and the National Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage "Living Human Treasures - Bulgaria" on the application of the Regional historical museum Burgas.
Nestinari Nunataks Nestinari Nunataks (Nestinarski Nunatatsi \ne-sti-'nar-ski 'nu-na-ta-tsi\) are a pair of rocky peaks of elevation 470 m and 520 m in middle Huron Glacier, Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Situated in the north foothil ...
on
Livingston Island Livingston Island (Russian name ''Smolensk'', ) is an Antarctic island in the Southern Ocean, part of the South Shetlands Archipelago, a group of Antarctic islands north of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was the first land discovered south of 60 ...
in the
South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 195 ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
, are named after the Bulgarian folkloric ritual of Nestinari.


References


External links


Thinkquest

Article about the ''nestinari''
on the
Bulgarian National Radio Bulgarian National Radio ( bg, Българско национално радио, ''Bulgarsko natsionalno radio''; abbreviated to БНР, BNR) is Bulgaria's national radio broadcasting organisation. It operates two national and nine regional cha ...
website
Nestinari

Anastenaria

Nestinari



The Anastenaria: The Ancient Ecstatic Fire-Walking Ritual of Greece
* Nikov, Nikolay

(Yambol 2004) * Tomkinson, John L.
''Festive Greece: A Calendar of Tradition,''
Anagnosis, (Athens, 2003) {{UNESCO Oral and Intangible Eastern Europe Greek culture Cult of Dionysus Bulgarian traditions Strandzha Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Traditions involving fire bg:Нестинарство el:Αναστενάρηδες