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

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n men, who perform traditional rituals intended to scare away evil spirits. Closely related traditions are found throughout the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with 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 throug ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

(including

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

and the Pontus). The costumes cover most of the body and include decorated wooden

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

s of animals (sometimes double-faced) and large

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () 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 m ...

s attached to the belt. Around New Year and before

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

, 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 for the year ahead. The Kukeri traditionally visit people's 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. 19th century scholars considered the Kukeri to have a pre-Christian

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

origin, and theorised that they were a remnant of a Thracian cult of the god Dionysus; this view was encouraged by Bulgarian nationalists and folklorists who wished to lend Bulgarian cultural practices a sense of prestige via association with the classical world. However, modern scholarship generally rejects this view, and the Kukeri are now considered to be part of a general Balkan

mumming Mummers were bands of men and women from the medieval to early modern era who (during public festivities) dressed in fantastic clothes and costumes and serenaded people outside their houses, or joined the party inside. Costumes were varied and mi ...

tradition that emerged sometime in the early modern period, influenced by

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, Slavic, Albanian, and Turkish practices.

Distribution and etymology

The precise origin of the word "Kukeri" is unclear. 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 or Crossbow bolt, bolts. 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 traditionally made of leath ...

" (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 ("monk" or literally the "good-old" one), 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 ("bear-man"). 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 Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

) 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 A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

. 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,

sowing Sowing is the process of planting seeds. An area that has had seeds planted in it will be described as a sowed or sown area. Plants which are usually sown Among the major field crops, oats, wheat, and rye are sown, grasses and legumes are ...

) 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 word "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 made-time to pay homage to the Spieth gods. Some cultures imbibed in human flesh to satiate the god's 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", by the

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band Lindemann, and in the film '' Toni Erdmann'', directed by Maren Ade. Kukeri are the subject of a 2023 New Yorker documentary short by filmmaker Killian Lassabliére titled "Kukeri".

Gallery

Kukeri Rodopi.JPG, Kukeri from

Smolyan Smolyan () is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town and ski resort in the south of Bulgaria near the border with Greece. It is the administrative and industrial centre of the Smolyan Province. The town is built along the narrow valley of t ...

Kukeri from Blagoevgrad.jpg, Kukeri from

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 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 cultura ...

Kukeri-from-Gorna-Vasilitsa.jpg, Kukeri from Gorna Vasilitsa, Sofia Province Кукерски маски от с. Зидарово, Бургаско.jpg, Kukeri masks from the village of Zidarovo, Burgas Кукерски маски от Пернишко.jpg, Kukeri masks from

Pernik Pernik ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, 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 an ...

, 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 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 during Burgas-Ethnographicwjnfjenrjwigkewrgnrewjgnserjhgnejwhgnjewngjewguwjfueqfeuwngfewjgnewjgnwejgnewjgnewjgnewjgnewjgnejwgnewjngewjgballs poopyuker mask from Yambol at the National Museum of Ethnography in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

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://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 North Macedonia folklore