Petlovden - the holiday of male births

Petlovden: customs, traditions and names

On January 20 (February 2 old style) we celebrate Petlevden - the celebration of male births. The Orthodox Church celebrates Rev. Euthymius the Great, as well as Patriarch Euthymius of Turnovo

Nouns:

Evtim, Evtimii, Momchil, Radost, Radostin, Radostina, Drago, Dragomir, Vanessa, Ralin, Radina, Radoslav, Radislava, Sredko, Sredka and Sreten.

The history of Petlovden is connected with the Turkish slavery, when Bulgarian families marked their gates with the blood of roosters in order to mislead the authorities that boys from their houses had already been taken as janissaries. According to legends, Petlevden is connected with the collection of the heaviest tax for our people during Turkish times - the blood tax, the taking of little boys.

The story tells how a woman from Erkech (village of Erkech - Burgas) hides her male child and refuses to give him to the Turks, and they threaten that if she does not hand him over, he will be slaughtered. She then declares that she will slaughter her dear boy herself, but will not give him to them. At night, she takes and hides her child far outside the village, slaughters a rooster at midnight on the threshold of the house and sprinkles its blood on the people. When they came again in the morning, the Turks were stunned by the mother's action and no longer collected boys for janissaries from the village of Erkech.

From then until today, this day is celebrated as a celebration of the male birth, as a day of the male beginning of the Bulgarian race.

Customs

Rooster Day celebrates children and to protect them from diseases, a rooster or a rooster is raised for a boy or a girl respectively.

The rooster that crows is chosen since autumn. Mothers of boys put a rooster on the table. Tradition dictates that the sacrificial bird, cooked with cabbage or rice, be distributed to neighbors for the health of the boys. It is also believed that if the weather is good today, it will be like that for another 40 days.

Women who do not have male children also celebrate this day in order to get a boy, "but she who does not have a boy does not kill a rooster, but takes it to where there are boys, so that they may slaughter it for her"; with the blood, is sprinkled everywhere; the head of the slaughtered rooster, together with the legs, is thrown on the roof of the house, uttering special incantations.

A meal

On Rooster's Day, a whole boiled rooster or stewed with bulgur, cabbage, which is made from bulgur and cheese, fresh bread, cow's milk and mulled wine, seasoned with hot red and black pepper, must be placed on the ritual table.