The Healing spring in Chernichevo - the mystical power of faith

In the village of Chernichevo - far, far away, in the southernmost of Bulgaria - there is a spring with a mystical power.

It is believed that when one has a deep faith, the water from the spring can cure its disease.

The legend is a very old one, but there are some specific anecdotes which proves its truth. For instance, the story of the little boy Stanko, who was three or four years old, but could not walk properly. Nowadays the doctors might say it is a medical condition, a diagnosis with a specific name, but in 1910 the local people did not know that.

When something does not go well, and there are no logical paths to solve it, faith was the only reliable thing.

So Stanko's mother, Zlatka, brought him to the spring and washed him with the crystal clean and cold water. When she brought him back home, she left him alone in the room and went to do same work. When she entered the house few hours later, for her astonishment, Stanko walked around. Well, Stanko could not walk well at the beginning, but soon he learnt how to.

And if you wonder is it true, let me tell you something - I am Stanko's grandson. I know this story from my cousins, and from my grandmother. And other people in the village remember this story. That is why the locals call this place the Healing spring (in the local Bulgarian dialect: Ликууто врисче).

Look at Mrs. Dobra Anadolieva from Chernichevo - she tells this story on the video:

And the Healing spring still has a sacred meaning for the people in Chernichevo. Every year on the 6th of May (for Christians it is St.George's day and for Muslims it is Hıdırellez) the inhabitants of Chernichevo visit the spring, drink his water, light candles, tie threads from their clothes on the trees around the spring, and wish something. 

This is the local female folk singing group, performing a song at the spring:

The Following Dance - an ancient dance from the Rhodope mountains

In the Rhodope mountains there is an unique ancient folk dance: the Following Dance (Bulgarian: Слядно хоро). This dance still exists in the small mountain village of Chernichevo. The great Bulgarian academician Lyubomir Miletich, who wrote about Chernichevo, claimed that this was a specific mournful dance, performed only once a year. And this is the truth.

The Christian community of Chernichevo danced the mournful dance each Good Friday, when Christians grieve about Jesus' death, and according to the tradition, it wasn't appropriate to dance fast and lively dances. Also the songs, sung with the dance, were sorrowful.

On September 28th, 2013, with the folklore group of the village, we presented some of the traditions in a famous TV show on air. The effect was just... sensational!

The Following Dance is special in the way in which people dance. In difference with the ordinary dances, when people stay shoulder to shoulder (see examples 1 and 2),  in this dance the dancers follow each other. Women and men dance separately, not together (the dance in the TV show was an exception, just to illustrate the know-how). Women follow one another by putting hands around the waists, and the men by putting hands on their shoulders.

We also know that during the Balkan wars gangs of Ottoman volunteers (aka bashi-bazouk) killed about 90 people from Chernichevo. Prof.Miletich wrote that a year later the people in Chernichevo still were in grief for their victims, therefore they didn't dance their playful dances. Instead, they danced only the Following dance, which as we noted previously, was performed only once per year. And even today, the local peasant still speak with a deep sorrow about their relatives, who died in the massacres. This was a collective trauma that still resonates in the locals' souls.

Additional curious fact is that several decades ago the great Bulgarian composer and arranger of folk songs Filip Kutev used the Following Dance for one of his spectacles! On its basis he created a male dance with the same steps. 

Concert in the Community center of Cherichevo, December 14th 2013

On 14th of December there was a pre-Christmas and New year meeting in the Community center of Chernichevo. One of the highlights in the event was the performance of the local amateur folk group. The small village from the Eastern Rhodopes is struggling to preserve its traditions and folklore. This year the group won a silver medal at the international Balkan Folklore Festival in Nedelino town. 

The building of the Community center is just like everything else in the village: well built few decades ago, but badly maintained today. As you can see in the video, the conditions in the Community centers are miserable - a falling plaster, a damaged electrical installation, a leaking roof. In this poor mountain area where the closest town is 25 kilometers away, life is hard. Private and public properties bear the signs of decline because of the lack of funding, but the singers deserve admiration for their devotion and will! What do you think drives these Bulgarian women? 

I think there are two reasons: first, they really want to keep and share their cultural heritage. Since their songs are part of their local culture and identity, by singing them, they build their sense of satisfaction from who and what they are, and strengths their sense of community. This is a very healthy approach. And second, their participation in the folklore group makes their life more diverse and interesting - they hold weekly meetings, or travel for some fests around the region, and they even have sung in a TV show. 

Lets wish them good luck!

How to make omach

Lets start our journey through the local food practices of Bulgaria with one simple and delicious breakfast. It's called omach and it is typical for Chernichevo - the native village of my father.

Chernichevo is a mountain village - it is located in the south part of Eastern Rhodopes. It is a remote place, with old oak and beech forests, sumptuous meadows with herbs and junipers, and invigorating springs and streams. As being distant from the modern civilization, Chernichevo preserved many of its ancient traditions, like omach - a unique food that I haven't seen anywhere else.

Appetizing color of the dish comes from the red pepper.

Recipe: omach for 4 people. 

Ingredients: one onion, four spoons of flour, fat (sunflower oil or olive oil - optional), a teaspoon of paprika, one teaspoon salt.

Step 1: 
Peel and chop one large onion. Sauté the onion with a little fat (enough to cover the bottom). Allow the onions on fire until it begins to turn yellow. If you prefer a stronger taste, lift the lid, so that the onions become golden-brown in color.

Step 2: 
Add a teaspoon of paprika and stir. Immediately after the red pepper, pour a liter of water and season with salt to taste.

Step 3: 
Until the onion is sautéing  (almost frying), put 4 large tablespoons of flour in a broad and shallow bowl. In the pile of flour make a hole and add one spoonful of water in it. Squish the flour (in Bulgarian this squishing is called " to omachkam" which probably gave name to the meal "omach"). The goal is to make small semi-doughy pieces - like large crumbs.

Here's a closer look:

Also, flour can be rubbed with hands.

Finally, after being squished, flour should look like this:

Step 4:
So while you had prepared the meal, the water with onion and red pepper is boiling on the fire. Add the flour, stir and let it boil for 10-15 minutes. Then remove omach from the heat, pour it in bowls and eat while warm. Perhaps with a slice of bread.

Basically omach is a lean and a light dish, but if you like, you could add animal products. For example, while suffocating onion, you can use butter instead of vegetable oil. Also, this meal perfectly fits together with crumbled cheese on top. It's all about your personal taste.

Enjoy your meal!