Happy St. Nicholas Day!

This is a special day, not just because it is the name day for many of my good friends, but because it is also the anniversary of the first official event for the College  of Saint John of Rila!

That was back in 2011, although it seems like yesterday!  Here are some photos so we can remember!

                                                               

              

Saint Andrew's Day

     November 30th is Andreevden (St Andrew’s Day), also known as the Bears’ Day (Mechkinden) in Bulgaria. It marks the start of the winter cycle. In Bulgaria, St Andrew is traditionally the master of the bears.

      In Bulgarian folklore the bear has the power to heal, protect from illness and bring fertility but it is also a symbol of great physical strength. So to ward off attack, on Andreevden, people symbolically feed the bear by throwing a little boiled grain up the chimney, ...saying “Here you are, bear. Here’s some boiled corn so you don’t need to eat raw grain or people or animals.” (From Bulgarian Folk Customs by Mercia MacDermott)

 

10 Likes1 Comment3 Shares

Autumn day in Varosha

The Wolf Days are over and winter will soon be here, but for now it is unseasonably warm and sunny and we are all taking advantage of the weather!

Saint Clement of Ohrid

November 25 is the feast of Saint Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In 893 CE, Clement was elected the first Bishop of what would come to be the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

 

 

 

St. Clement would have been important for Tamara for several reasons. First, he was a local saint and was the bishop for the region, albeit some years before she was born. Here's a regional map of the Kutmichevitsa administrative district for reference:

 

 

 

 

Today this area is in Macedonia (FYROM), not Bulgaria. Tamara and her family would have been influenced by Clement's teaching, since he was a founder of the Ohrid Literary School and was revered as a patron of education. He was an important writer in Old Church Slavonic and wrote the oldest church service dedicated to saints Cyril and Methodius.

 

 



Saints' Days, Fast, and Feasts

     Both today in Bulgaria and historically for my SCA persona, saints' days and church fasts and feasts would be very important. I'm going to try and record the ones still celebrated here in Bulgaria which would also have been important for Tamara.

     November 14 is an important day in the church cycle. It is Zagovezni, the day before the start of the Christmas fast and, like Mardi Gras, is a day to eat meat, eggs, and dairy products and feast with your family. A chicken was traditionally served and I will do the same tonight for dinner. Many families also serve sauerkraut and roast pumpkin. I think I'll do a pumpkin pie instead.

Today is also St. Phillip's Day, the apostle who was martyred while preaching to the heathen. Честит имен ден to all my friends names Phillip or Phillipa!

Home and garden updates.

We've been here for four years now. Four years of construction rubble and upheaval and moving boxes. Things are finally getting done and I have pictures to prove it! These are just for you, Genny!

Living Room/Dining Room

 

And the garden is coming along too. The last section that needed leveling was the front courtyard, which abuts the driveway. It's now leveled and ready for grass, a cherry tree, and flower beds. Before we plant, the builders are finishing the stucco on the front wall and completing the well cap. You can see there are just a few more days of work and we'll be planting spring bulbs in the new flower bed and planting the Japanese cherry tree that's being delivered on Saturday!

 

 

 

School's in Session!

     The academic year opened this week and the students have returned, so the College is also back in action. We had our first organizational meeting today and set schedules for fighter practices and A&S sessions. What a difference from last year! With so many returning students in the College, there is so much energy and we're actually going to have two fighter practices each week and A&S on Wednesdays and Saturdays! We've also got a new Castellan, who is really excited to work with the first year students who signed up to join the College at the club fair during Orientation Week. There were 32 of them and if we get a third of them as regular participants, it will be great. We've got other returning students stepping up as Web Minister/Social Media officer and Exchequer, which will take a burden off some of the non-student members.

     We've got the College's birthday coming up next month and our first group projects will focus on getting garb finished and banners and other decorations made for the event. Lord Guy is coming in from Insulae Draconis to serve as our archery marshal and everyone is excited to get back to shooting. A number of people got bows over the summer and several more are waiting for equipment to arrive. We've also got an event on the Kingdom calendar for April 2016 - Bows and Blows II. It will be concentrating on archery and heavy fighting, but there will also be A&S classes and maybe a surprise activity. I'm quite proud of our students. They are really interested in heraldry and six of them had names and devices registered over the summer. Six more have names and devices submitted and they should hear by January if they are registered by the College of Heralds.

     All in all, it bodes well for the College and its activities for the upcoming academic year!