The Traditional Bulgarian Wedding
Marriage is the main goal/theme in many Bulgarian tales, and the main characters are those who are ready to get married.
The traditional Bulgarian wedding is almost mythic in action, and rich in symbolism. It provides the key to several enigmatic elements in these stories.
Bulgarian wedding rituals are concerned with ensuring a successful and fertile marriage. During the wedding period, the bride and groom are at the centre of the cosmic drama of creation that has been enacted over and over again since the beginning of time. The young couple are imbued with a special life-giving power that bestows blessings and fertility upon the whole community, guaranteeing the future. The consummation of the marriage on the wedding day becomes an act of magic.
The groom must first prove himself. On the wedding day he and his wedding party set out on the great life-changing journey from his home, enduring (mock) ambush by the bride’s party en route and symbolically capturing the bride’s house against (token) resistance. The groom (or more usually his brother acting on his behalf) must also perform feats of daring in order to claim the bride and take her back home.
This sequence of events translates into the basic elements of many stories about the hero’s journey in Bulgarian epics and fairytales: the quest, the adventure, the finding of a bride and the return. The relationship between the groom and his brother (or best man) plays a key role in several Bulgarian epics. This character, frequently described as “the wolfskin cap and the bearskin coat”, often substitutes for the hero in fulfilling his tasks.
The bride has her own challenges, her own heroine’s journey to make. She must bid farewell to her old life, her friends and family amid much weeping. Then she must set out for her new home and family and enter the unknown. In the heightened language of Bulgarian ritual wedding songs this is often described as a journey to a foreign land.
While the general sequence of events on the wedding day provides the basic plot for many narratives, various rituals and symbols used throughout the wedding period translate into some of the most intriguing and magical episodes in Bulgarian tales.
Tree Symbolism: the Wedding Banner, the Koum’s Tree and Girls In Trees!
The wedding banner and the koum’s tree play a significant part in wedding activities. Prepared in the week prior to the wedding with special ritual and song, they represent the Tree of Life, an important symbol in many ancient mythologies.
The wedding banner consists of a flag attached to a pole that has been ritually cut from a tree. The banner is topped with a red or gold foil-wrapped apple symbolising the sun and fertility, and decorated with flowers, ivy, strings of popcorn and chilli peppers. In some areas, the bride and the groom have a separate banner, with a white flag for the bride and a red flag for the groom. In other areas the groom’s family prepare a single banner with both red and white flags upon it.
On the wedding day, the groom’s party set out with banner held proudly aloft to fetch the bride. When they gain entry to the bride’s home, they capture her banner (if she has a separate one) and symbolically unite it with the groom’s to form a single banner. It then accompanies the wedding party to the bride’s new home. After the wedding is over, the banner is ritually dismantled: the pole is broken, the cloth is given to the bride, and the apple is eaten by the young couple.
The wedding banner signifies that the bride must break from her family tree in order to join with the groom and start a new branch of the perpetual Tree of Life. Only then can the future be assured and life be renewed.
The koum’s tree serves a similar symbolic function. It takes its name from the koum, the best man or godfather of the wedding, and the most important person after the bridal couple. It consists of the crown of a small tree or a branch beautifully decorated with flowers, red thread, ivy, popcorn and red or gold foil-wrapped apples symbolising the sun and fertility. The tree is set into a loaf of bread ornamented with serpents, representing the guardian snake. On the wedding day the tree has pride of place at the feast table until it is ritually destroyed by the koum.
In Bulgarian fairytales these symbols and ritual actions translate into the theme of a girl sitting up in a tree. She is brought down to earth by a young man (a king) or his hunters (his wedding party), either by persuasion or as in the story “Little Stag Brother”, by chopping the tree down. When you come across this theme in a story, you know that the girl has reached a marriageable age and a wedding is at hand!
Braiding and Shaving Rituals: the Comb and Razor as Magical Objects
On the night or the morning before the wedding itself, two important rituals take place. The bride’s hair is braided and the groom is shaved at their respective homes. Both rituals are accompanied by special songs and ceremony. After the wedding, the bride will not appear again in public with her head bare or with her hair loose like a wild samodiva. She will always wear a headscarf. The groom is no longer a boy, but a man ready to take on responsibility. The hair is tamed; the wild years of youth will be put aside and a new life will begin.
In the language of fairy tale the comb and the razor, the tools of braiding and shaving, become symbols of initiation into sexual maturity. They take on magical transforming properties and represent the transition from one stage of life to another.
Source: http://www.spellintime.fsnet.co.uk/Folklore.htm
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