As to the Bulgarian rite, Dr. Schischmanof writes to me:
'I am sure the observance will surprise you; I am even afraid that you
will think it rather fantastic, but you may rely on my information.
The danse de feu was described long ago in a Bulgarian periodical by
one of our best known writers. What you are about to read only
confirms his account. What I send you is from the Recueil de Folk
Lore, de Litterature et de Science (vol. vi. p. 224), edited, with my
aid and that of my colleague, Mastov, by the Minister of Public
Instruction. How will you explain these hauts faits de l'extase
religieuse? I cannot imagine! For my part, I think of the
self-mutilations and tortures of Dervishes and Fakirs, and wonder if
we have not here something analogous.'
The article in the Bulgarian serial is called 'The Nistinares.' The word
is not Bulgarian; possibly it is Romaic.
The scene is in certain villages in Turkey, on the Bulgarian frontier,
and not far from the town of Bourgas, on the Euxine, in the department of
Lozen Grad. The ministrants (Nistinares) have the gift of fire-walking
as a hereditary talent; they are specially _just_, and the gift is
attributed as to a god in Fiji, in Bulgaria to St. Constantine and St.
Helena.
'These _just ones_ feel a desire to dance in the flames during the
month of May; they are filled at the same time with some unknown
force, which enables them to predict the future. The best Nistinare
is he who can dance longest in the live flame, and utter the most
truthful prophecies.'
The Nistinares may be of either sex.
On May 1 the Nistinares hold a kind of religious festival at the house of
one of their number. Salutations are exchanged, and presents of food and
raki are made to the chief Nistinare. The holy icones of saints are
wreathed with flowers, and perfumed with incense. Arrangements are made
for purifying the holy wells and springs.
On May 21, the day of St. Helena and St. Constantine, the parish priest
says Mass in the grey of dawn. At sunrise all the village meets in
festal array; the youngest Nistinare brings from the church the icones of
the two saints, and drums are carried behind them in procession. They
reach the sacred well in the wood, which the priest blesses. This is
parallel to the priestly benediction on 'Fountain Sunday' of the well
beneath the Fairy Tree at Domremy, where Jeanne d'Arc was accused of
meeting the Good Ladies. {169} Everyone drinks of the water, and there
is a sacrifice of rams, ewes, and oxen. A festival follows, as was the
use of Domremy in the days of the Maid; then all return to the village.
The holy drum, which hangs all the year before St. Helena in the church,
is played upon. A mock combat between the icones which have visited the
various holy wells is held.
Meanwhile, in each village, pyres of dry wood, amounting to thirty,
fifty, or even a hundred cartloads, have been piled up. The wood is set
on fire before the procession goes forth to the hallowing of the
fountains. On returning, the crowd dances a horo (round dance) about the
glowing logs. Heaps of embers (Pineus acervus) are made, and water is
thrown on the ground. The musicians play the tune called 'L'Air
Nistinar.' A Nistinare breaks through the dance, _turns blue_, trembles
like a leaf, and glares wildly with his eyes. The dance ends, and
everybody goes to the best point of view. Then the wildest Nistinare
seizes the icon, turns it to the crowd, and with naked feet climbs the
pyre of glowing embers. The music plays, and the Nistinare dances to the
tune in the fire. If he is so disposed he utters prophecies. He dances
till his face resumes its ordinary expression; then he begins to feel the
burning; he leaves the pyre, and places his feet in the mud made by the
libations of water already described. The second Nistinare then dances
in the fire, and so on. The predictions apply to villages and persons;
sometimes sinners are denounced, or repairs of the church are demanded in
this queer parish council. All through the month of May the Nistinares
call out for fire when they hear the Nistinare music playing. They are
very temperate men and women. Except in May they do not clamour for
fire, and cannot dance in it.
In this remarkable case the alleged gift is hereditary, is of saintly
origin, and is only exercised when the Nistinare is excited, and
(apparently) entranced by music and the dance, as is the manner also of
medicine-men among savages. The rite, with its sacrifices of sheep and
oxen, is manifestly of heathen origin. They 'pass through the fire' to
St. Constantine, but the observance must be far older than Bulgarian
Christianity. The report says nothing as to the state of the feet of the
Nistinares after the fire-dance. Medical inspection is desirable, and
the photographic camera should be used to catch a picture of the wild
scene. My account is abridged from the French version of the Bulgarian
report sent by Dr. Schischmanof.