Bulgarian Folk Demonology: A Brief Overview

Abstract

This paper attempts to present Bulgarian demonology holistically and structurally in accordance with the scheme proposed by representatives of the Moscow Ethnolinguistic School to describe mythological characters: their nominations, genesis, functions, and areal characteristics. Bulgarian folk spiritual culture is characterized by a certain integrity, but ethno-cultural differences can divide the tradition into Eastern and Western or Northern and Southern; the Bulgarian-Serbian-Macedonian border area is distinguished as a special area where mythological beliefs and ethno-cultural vocabulary are more fully represented compared to other regions of Bulgaria. When describing the Bulgarian tradition, it is important to keep in mind that many categories of Bulgarian demons are semantic Balkanisms – ethno-cultural terms common in the Balkan area and semantically different in local traditions. In this paper, mythological characters are grouped into four sections: 1) spirits of home and natural space, which includes such spirits as owners of loci, samodivi (fairies), “wild people”; 2) mythologized natural phenomena and human states (with such subgroups as atmospheric demons; demons of fate; personalized diseases, human states, jinxes; spirits-intimidators); 3) spirits of dead people (wandering dead, spirits of dead unbaptized children); 4) people with supernatural properties. Additionally, demonological characters are divided into calendar and non-calendar demons. The boundaries between groups are permeable; in addition, for non-calendar demons, in some cases, it is also possible to talk about their seasonal activity. The article is divided into two parts. In the first part of the article we offer a brief overview of the literature which attempts to systematically study Bulgarian demonology.