The ninth month of the year was called by the Romans November, proto-Bulgarians called it Month of the monkey, Slavs gave it the name “the cold month”, and today’s Bulgarians call it Rangel’s month. The forty days between St. Demetrius’ Day and St. Nicholas Day are called Poor man’s summer or Gypsy's summer.

 

1 November

Holiday: Golyama Zadoushnitsa (Go-lyama zah-doo-shnee-tsah) (Great All Souls’ Day)

Also called Michaelmas All Souls’ Day, Golyama Zadoushnitsa is the first Saturday before Michaelmas. It is the last Zadoushinitsa for the year and is also the biggest. People go to the graveyards and bring seven different meals to “hear” the blessing of the dead for the coming Christmas fast. Particular importance at Great All Souls’ Day is given to the canonical church rituals and the burning of incense. It is believed that the devil fears incense. Candles are lighted on the graves so the memories can live in the souls of the living and not get covered by the ashes of forgetfulness. People pour water and wine on the graves. In the ancient commemoration tradition of the Bulgarians, the grave is considered a territory of the dead and also as a place where they can contact the living. The ritual pouring is a way of keeping the life of the dead person in the other world by satisfying their needs for food, wine and water. Pouring wine on the grave on that day is usually done by the oldest woman present at the memorial service. She starts from the place where the head lies and then she makes three circles to the left along the outlines of the grave. She crosses herself three times and only then she breaks the ritual bread. Then everyone gathers around the table leaving place for the deceased. Everybody puts the first bite on the ground and pours some wine, saying: “God bring peace to dead souls!” It is believed that at each memorial service, the soul eats to the full so the relatives try to prepare the meals that the dead person liked when they were alive. In some villages people give new clothes to people who had participated in the ritual burial. If, during the memorial service, a butterfly or a small fly flies over the meals, people believe the soul of the deceased is there with them – visible but untouchable.

 

8 November

Holiday: Arhangelovden (Arch-angel-off dehn) (Michaelmas)
Nameday: Angel, Angelina, Mihael, Mihaela, Raicho, Raina, Rangel
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Rangel is one of six brothers who divided the world among themselves. Rangel received the land of the dead. The folk conception of Archangel Michael attributes to him justice and compassion, as he is the only defender of the soul of the deceased before God. When a dying person is smiling, it means that Archangel Michael is handing them a gold apple before he takes their soul, old people in Western Bulgaria say. The dying person could suffer a lot if the Saint comes late. So it is believed that a person who respects the holiday will die quickly and easily.
On Michaelmas each family kills a ram or an ewe to show respect to the dead. The poor buy small quantities of mutton, four legs and a ram head. The head and the legs are first singed on an open fire and then boiled.
The woman of the house makes a special ritual bread – Rangel’s bread, cut in five places and richly decorated with figures of dough. In some villages this bread is called kolak. At the festive table the oldest man breaks the bread in four (like a cross), pours wine on it with a clay bowl, and the hostess collects this wine with her palms and sprinkles it about the house, pronouncing the blessing: “Saint Archangel, Saint Nicholas and all saints, help us. We pay homage to you and cut the bread like a cross so that wheat grows up to the waist! This year what we could, and next year what we want! Now with a bowl, next year with the kettle!” Then she gives everybody a piece of the bread. The piece is taken with both hands and a blessing is said: “As much wheat in the piece of bread so much heaps of wheat and health in the house! Amen!”.

 

11 November

Nameday: Victor, Victoria, Mincho, Mina, Minka
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13 November

Holiday: Koledni zagovezni (Kohl-ed-knee zah-gov-ez-knee) (Christmas Shrovetide)

After the Great All Souls’ Day and Michaelmas there comes Christmas Shrovetide. This is the name of the day before the Christmas fast begins, it's the last day when people are allowed to eat meat. People kill a big hen and cook it with pickled cabbage. They also prepare stuffed peppers with beans and a lot of oil. The women prepare vita banitsa with pumpkin and lots of walnuts – tikvenik. After dinner the woman of the house washes and hides the big wooden spoon that was used to serve the meat dishes. It will not be touched for 45 days, till Christmas, when people break fast. People start preparing for breaking the fast since St. Nicholas’ Day. The man of the house catches several sparrows and the woman POPARVA, takes off the feathers and salts them. Then she hangs them to dry on a string of hemp in a cold place under the roof. The sparrows dry out by Christmas, like CHIROZ. Then, after church, the woman breaks the string and gives a piece of the dried birds to all members of the family. To the girls she gives the wings and to the boys the drumsticks, after which they can sit at the table and enjoy the meat dishes.

 

14 November

Holiday: Mratinyak (Mra-tin-yuk)

Martinyak is an evil, black ghost with feathers and big green eyes, who kills the hens. Every housewife on this day must kill a black rooster at the house's threshold to appease the Martinyak. In the patriarchal Bulgarian family a woman never kills an animal. But on this day the oldest woman in the house takes a knife, holds the rooster and, assisted by another woman, hacks it over the threshold in such way that its head rolls inside the house. She says “We are not killing you, Martinyak is killing you.” The woman ties the head and the legs with a red thread and hangs them by the fireplace. In the beak of the rooster she puts a live coal. In this way the house is protected from evil eyes, ghosts and spirits. She saves the gizzard by the chimney to use it later to treat children for wetting their beds. Some of the half-digested food from the rooster's stomach is put in silent water and given to the sick children in three sips. The gall of the chicken also has a healing effect - it is used to cure all diseases and break magic. Feathers are used against dizziness, fainting and nose-bleeding.

 

14–21 November

Holiday: Valchi praznitsi (vuhl-chee praz-knee-tsee) (Wolf Days)

Called also Mratintzi. In the past, the Thracians paid homage to the wolf as a military leader but the special kind who had broken the rules and has become a leader of rascals or militants. The leader still has something royal remaining in its soul, although with a negative sign.
The merged motif of the wolf-dragon can be seen in the mythological art. Dragons are represented with wolf heads in pieces of jewelry, woodcarvings and embroidery.
Bulgarians believe that this is a time of evil nights and a man can catch all sorts of diseases. People don't go outside late at night as they believe that an old and ugly woman writes down in a book the sinners and makes them die with a touch of her stick.

 

21 November

Holiday: Kutzoulan

This is the day of the most terrible wolf that eats people. On this day people must not touch a comb, men don’t put on new shirts, women don’t wash clothes, don’t sew, don’t knit. Even the bread is not cut with a knife but is broken by hand.

 

23 November

Nameday: Alexander, Alexandra
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Alexandra comes from Old Greek, meaning ‘protector of men’.

 

24 November

Holiday: Katerininden (cat-erin-in-den) (St. Catherine’s Day)
Nameday: Ekaterina, Katya
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The holiday of Saint Martyr Catherine is called Catherine’s Day in Bulgaria. People pay homage to her for her abilities to cure rabbis and measles. Early in the morning the woman of the house, who must be ritually clean (i.e. not in her monthly period), kneads 5, 7, or 9 breads of wheat with “silent” water and decorates them with the spindle. Then she covers them with molasses, treacle or honey and gives them out to neighbors. If there are children in the house, she takes two breads, stands at a crossroad and gives a piece to all passers-by, saying: “Here, take some for Saint Catherine, so she stays by our home and protects us from Measles and Rabbis!” Each stranger must take a piece, cross themselves three times and say: “Thank you, woman, for the sweet bread. As my fingers are sticky let health stick to your children!” “Amen! God bless us!”, replies woman replies as she watches carefully to finish the bread on an odd number of passers-by so the diseases are banished.
Wonderful songs are sung for St. Catherine’s Day; they praise the goodness and the heavenly beauty of young Catherine.

 

30 November

Holiday: Andreevden (An-dre-eff-den) (St. Andrew’s Day)
Nameday: Adriana, Andrey (meaning masculine)
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Bulgarians call it “Bear’s Day” or Edrei. Legends tell that once upon a time, in a family with a little girl, the mother died. The father remarried to a woman who also had a girl. But the step-mother loved her child more and made the step-child do all the housework. The mother was never satisfied by her work though. Once, when it was very cold, she gave the step-child a bag of black wool and told her to go and wash it and not come back until it turns white. The little girl went to the river and began washing but the black wool did not turn white. Frozen all over, the child sat on the bank of the river and started crying. All of a sudden, a white bearded old man appeared in front of her - “Why are you crying, little girl?”, he asked gently. The girl told him everything The man then added: “Put the wool on your shoulder, go back home and don’t be afraid.” Then he disappeared as suddenly as he appeared. The child went home, knocked on the closed door for a long time and when the evil step-mother finally opened the door she was struck – in front of her she saw a Gold girl, shining like the sun, carrying a bag of white wool. The mother then decided to send her own child so she becomes golden too. She dressed her daughter well, gave it some wool and sent it to the river. The girl quickly reached the river, threw away the wool for she had no intention to wash it and sat on the bank. She waited and waited but nothing happened. All frozen she started crying. All of a sudden the white bearded man appeared again. “Why are you crying, little girl?”, the old man asked. “I’m waiting for you, old man,” the girl retorted with a rude voice, “I want you to make me gold so I can go back home.” “All right, my girl, put the wool on your shoulder and go back home,” the old man said and disappeared. The girl grabbed the wool and ran home. The step-mother, hearing her steps, quickly opened the door but much to her surprise, she saw in front of her a big black bear. The old man punished the evil step-mother by turning her child into a bear. From that day on, people tell stories about bears.
With the first rays of the sun the oldest woman in the house takes boiled corn with a wooden spoon, throws the seeds into the chimney and says: “Here is for you, bear, boiled corn for not to eat it raw!” And people believe that bears won’t walk in the fields and won’t do harm to people. From Edrei the day begins to grow by as much as a grain of rye.