Dimitrovden: customs, namesakes and table

Dimitrovden: customs, namesakes and table

On October 26, we celebrate Dimitrov Day. The Orthodox Church celebrates Saint Demetrius.

Dimitrovden Names

Dimitar, Dimyslava, Dimitrina, Dimitria, Demetra, Dima, Dimka, Dimcho, Dimana, Mitko, Mitra, Mitka, Mitrana, Mita, Dian/a, Dian/a, Drago.

"Georgi brings summer, Dimitar brings winter," says the popular saying

Dimitrov Day Customs

Dimitrovden is characterized by ritual divination - divination by the first guest. The rite here is called bulezen, bulezanje or polozka. It is believed that if the first litters are boys, more male animals will be born every year. If the wearer is a good and wealthy person, the year will be healthy, fruitful and prosperous.

On Dimitrov's Day, engagements and weddings begin, the maidens dance in front of the bachelors and their parents. In the Staroplanina regions, they observe that if the moon is full before the holiday, the bees will swarm and the hives will be full of honey, and the folds will be full of lamb. The Imanyars believe that on the night of Dimitrovden the sky opens and the buried golds flash with a bluish flame.

According to an old custom, one goes uninvited on a name day and brings white flowers for the name-sake, so that the winter will be mild. The flowers are wrapped with scarlet thread to keep the names strong. On St. Dimitrov's Day, a cruciferous dish or stew of mutton and chicken stew is prepared at the table - from a rooster if the namesake is a man and from a hen if the namesake is a woman. Vegetables are served. Also on the table is boiled corn, pestil, apple pie or baked apples, rachel, and pumpkin.

Dimitrov Day A meal

If there is a male namesake in the household, a rooster must be cooked, if it is a female - a hen. Various sweets are baked with autumn fruits harvested from the garden - apples, pears, pumpkin. Apple pies and apple pies are also prepared. Housewives prepare rachel and close it in jars for the winter. Pestil is often made from the fruits.