Margarita Karamihova

A Shrine in a Private Site: St. Georgevs Spring in Veliko Tar-novo (Bulgaria)

Margarita Karamihova - Associate Professor in St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Turnovo (Bulgaria). karamihova_m @ abv.bg

The article presents a case study, which has been conducted in a new pilgrimage center, "invented" in post-socialist Bulgaria. The key questions are: how a place is legitimated as holy in the 21st century and what are the reasons for this? What are the possible main actors inventing the sacred space in search of the manifestation of God's blessing? What is the framework that allows the orthopraxis and orthodoxy at such places to exist, while at the same time allows our contemporaries to accept as holy a new spring that gushed in a private property and is denied by the Orthodox Church as a legitimate pilgrimage center?

Keywords: divine interventions, holy sites, pilgrimage, anti-clericalism, post-socialism.

Context

The modern Bulgarian state was created in 1878 as a result of a long struggle for liberation from the Ottoman Empire, with the help of Russia (the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878). The new state adopted an emphatically secular constitution (1879). Gradually, in the course of modernization and its characteristic secularization, the secular authorities expanded their spheres of influence. The national State systematically pursued a policy of limiting the economic and social power of spiritual institutions, establishing control over various spheres of public life. The Muslim faith at first glance

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It was subject to more serious restrictions by the modern Bulgarian state, declared as Orthodox. However, a careful analysis of the legislation and its practical application from 1878 to the present day shows that pressure was also exerted on the Orthodox Church.

The restriction of religion significantly narrowed the space where Orthodoxy and Islam were crucial. The socialist regime (D944 - 1 989) has used all its power for about half a century of its existence to establish a monopoly on the worldview, system of values and norms of behavior of Bulgarian citizens. The mechanisms of change in the thinking and activity of Christians and Muslims used by the authorities were diverse and mostly corresponded to the ideological schemes of the socialist bloc. As the results of our long-term research show, bans and controls have not been able to become total1. So, in all the cases we studied, we established a continuity of pilgrimage activity, in one form or another, both among Christians and Muslims. This requires a more careful analysis of the recent past, which today is often depicted exclusively in black and white.

After the collapse of the totalitarian society (1989), there were opportunities for adapting neoliberal ideas and practices in Bulgaria. After the end of the ideological dictatorship, it was discovered that in Bulgaria neither Orthodox Christianity nor Islam are independently able to restore their structures and channels of influence. The state's passivity in the process of forming value systems that would help to mobilize citizens in the process of solving social problems, its inconsistent policy towards religion, political speculation about the inherited tension between Christianity and Islam, as well as the liberalization of the travel regime and new information technologies contributed to the emergence of new centers of influence and the development of new processes.

Methodological and theoretical framework

I learned about the source of St. George in the city of Veliko Tarnovo in 2010 from a publication on the website of the newspaper "Landing on pa-

1. Karamikhova M. Dynamics in the light of place and worship in post-socialist Bulgaria. UI: V. Trnovo, 2013-

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trioticnia pechat"2. Then I visited the Internet page of the icon painter Stoyan Nedev 3, where I read his interview published in the newspaper 24 Hours4. On St. George's Day 2012, a well-known Bulgarian TV presenter Gala showed a report from the artist's workshop in the morning program "On cafe"5. In the spring of 2012, she was a student of the Faculty of Ethnology of the Velikotyrnov University named after V. I. Abramovich. Saints Cyril and Methodius Kremen Georgieva under my guidance began studying this source.

This text is based on the materials of my personal archive, data collected by K. Georgieva, as well as information gleaned from the Internet. The icon painter S. Nedev's website contains scanned interviews that he gave to regional and national publications. This data is used as secondary sources. The combination of different sources makes it possible to see those variants of the story we are interested in here, which are already being told and developed in the XXI century.

In 2012-2013, I followed publications in the media and on the Internet that contain texts and photos related to the pilgrimage center in question. The analysis takes into account the frequency of reflection of this process or fact, as well as the specific messages that they contain.

To achieve the goals set in the study, a concept of functioning of various borders in pilgrimage centers and in post-socialist society was developed. The collection "Religion and Borders", published in 2010, was an important methodological aid. Izledovaniya na Balkanita, Iztochna Evropa i Turkey6. This edition was dominated by the idea that constantly

2. "Гълъби пазят мистично аязмо" //Десант. 28.07.2010 [http://www.desant.net/show-news/20665/, accessed from 17.05.2013].

3. Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page//Zografnitsa [http://zografnica.hit.bg/water_ bg. html, accessed from 17.05.2013].

4. Maksimova D. Sv. Georgi "curative water on trnovsky" / / 24 hours. 19.02.2012 [http://www.24chasa.bg/Article. asp? Articleld=l 238 657. accessed from 17.05.2013].

5. 'Miracle in, On cafe'! Лековита вода тече в ателието на Стоян Недев"//Listens. Episode 167, NOVA TV. 06.05.2011 [http://www.slusham.com/tchudo-v-na-kafe-lekovita-voda-tetche-v-atelieto-na-stoyan-nedev. html, accessed from 17.05.2013].

6. Valchinova, G. (2010) "Introduction. Religion, Boundaries, and Divine Intervention: Speaking from the Margins", in Valchinova, G. (ed.) Religion and Boundaries. Studies from the Balkans, Eastern Europe and Turkey, pp. 9 - 46. Istanbul: The ISIS Press.

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the boundaries that are created and re-set are spiritual, ideological, and ritual in nature.7 Vylchinova discussed in detail the problems that connect religion, collective memory and traditions in a complex way.8 The researcher emphasizes the role of religion in maintaining collective memory through the constant repetition of rituals and holidays. On the one hand, this line of thought required the elaboration of various hypotheses related to the cultural heritage, including pilgrimage centers and their representation in the modern macro-community.9 On the other hand, a number of questions were once again raised about the power and authority (s) that define orthodoxy and orthopraxy10. From the point of view of religious boundaries, it is important to recall that their neglect or violation leads to their destruction or even disappearance. At the moment of crossing the border, participants are aware of what they are doing, and thus they confirm the fact of knowledge about their existence and the rules that need to be followed.

The development of theories of border and borderland makes us think about the term itself. We owe a conceptual reinterpretation of the term border to Sarah Green 11. Traditionally, the border is understood as a stable line and related objects and concepts (walls, fences, areas) , or as nodal points in the network that either allow or, conversely, prevent people from crossing, moving things, transferring ideas, etc. Criticizing the static understanding of linear perception of the border, but not rejecting it completely, S. Green refers to the metaphor of a trace (visible or not), which introduces a time parameter into the linear (largely spatial) perception of the border. Using this metaphor in the conceptual framework set by J. Derrida, S. Green, in turn, offers a new, difficult-to-understand approach.

7. Ibid., p. 9-

8. Ibid., pp. 14 - 15-

9. Hobsbawm, E. (1983) "Introduction: Inventing Traditions", in Hobsbawm, E. and Ranger, T. (eds) The Invention of Tradition, pp. 1 - 14. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

10. Valchinova, G. (2010) "Introduction. Religion, Boundaries, and Divine Intervention: Speaking from the Margins", p. 17.

11. Green, S. (2009) Lines, Traces and Tidemarks: Reflections on Forms of Borderliness. Nicosia WGl Meeting, 14-I5th April, p. 1. (last visited 01.04.2012).

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put the tidemark metaphor in one word (a trail left on land after a high tide, or a mark of the level to which the water rises). The closest metaphor for this concept is the limit. This metaphor generalizes the dynamics and variations in time and space of what we call the boundary for greater clarity, and adds to the concepts of boundary and borderline the idea of time, dynamics, change, appearance and disappearance in spaces created in the course of continuous interaction and filled with a variety of trajectories of interactions, representations, and meanings.12
The search for solutions to various problems by making pilgrimages to places known for their miraculous powers has increased significantly since the fall of the communist regime in the Balkans.13 This inherited mechanism for coping with various crises is being mobilized by both Christians and Muslims. Empirical data collected from studies of various sacred sites between 199° and 2014 show that newly awakened pilgrimage centers do not close their doors to visitors who are defined as "Other", in addition, local legends often tell about characters belonging to different religions. In our case, the stories about the miraculous power of the new spring dedicated to St. George, persistently include Muslims. The mixed veneration of sacred sites specific to the Balkans, which dates back to the time of Ottoman rule, raises the question in each case of the extent to which pilgrims belonging to different traditions interact with each other, share beliefs and religious practices.14
Or, if we talk about cultural boundaries and borderlands, can we talk about mutual penetration and the creation of long-term and strong (even symbiotic) connections? Do these links form border zones with different degrees of freedom of access and different hybrid practices? The working hypothesis, when thinking about the specific material presented in this article, is that providing

12. Green, S. (2009) Lines, Traces and Tidemarks: Reflections on Forms of Borderliness, pp. 12 - 16.

13. For the latest research results on pilgrimage and religious tourism in the Balkans, see Radishevic-Ciparizovic, D. (2010) (ed.) Pilgrims, Cult Places and Religious Tourism. Nis: Jynir. See also the cited publications of G. Vylchinova.

14. Ibid., pp. 21 - 22.

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A transparent border zone at a particular pilgrimage site is part of a long-term strategy to ensure sustainable stability in dynamic mixed societies.

Source of the Holy Spirit St. George's Day in Veliko Tarnovo

Icon painter

Stoyan Nedev was born on St. George's Day, May 6, in 1948. He graduated from the Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Velikotyrnov with a degree in Wall Painting, and after that worked as a restorer at the National Institute of Cultural Monuments and in the Velikotyrnov Metropolia, and also studied in the program of painting churches and painting icons at the Holy Synod. This impressive creative biography shows that he is closely acquainted with the higher clergy of Veliko Tarnovo. From 199° until today, he is a freelance artist, whose exhibitions are held both in Bulgaria and abroad, and whose icons sell well.15 Nedev's workshop is located at the foot of the hill where the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin stands.

Unrecognized miracle

In 1996, Nedev and his daughter finished the icon of St. George (recorded by M. Karamikhova, 23.05.2012; version - the icon was already painted, the artist worked on frame 16). There was thunder, the building shook, and the concrete slab under his desk cracked and water gushed out.

A terrible noise, smoke, shaking glass. At first we thought it was an earthquake, so we ran outside, but it turned out that it was only happening in the workshop. Then there was a chain reaction, and the cross fell from the bell tower of the cathedral 17.

15. Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page [http://zografnica.hit.bg/apub05.jpg, accessed from 17.05.2013].

16. Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page [http://zografnica.hit.bg/apub05.jpg, accessed from 17.05.2013].

17. Maksimova D. St. George's dal curative water on trnovsky zograf // 24 Hours Bulletin, 19.02.2012 [http://www.24chasa.bg/Article. asp? Articleld=l 238657, accessed from 23.01.2013].

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This information is constantly reproduced in various variations, and the emphasis is placed on the fall of the cross from the cathedral 18. During the interview, I got the impression that the cross fell to the ground next to the workshop. The idea that the "descent" of the cross, this Christian symbol of the highest order, is a sign of God's will for grace to move to the workshop, and confirms the exceptional nature of the source that has appeared, remains not fully expressed. The iconographer decided that a water pipe had broken, and began digging the ground to determine the location of the accident (option-turned to the plumber, record by M. Karamikhova, 2012). Digging, he found no sewer pipes and ran into rocks. Water was flowing on the day when the entire city was cut off water in pipes for preventive purposes 19. So he realized that the water was coming from a spring. Laboratory tests have shown that the water is drinkable. Stoyan himself claims that then he did not attach any importance to these events. He put the lid on the spring and rearranged his desk to keep it dry. So five 20 years passed. The artist says that St. George kept sending him signs, but he couldn't read them. Once his colleague, sculptor Stefan Komitov, went to Yambol to buy marble. His hand was very sore, and he decided to turn to the healer and clairvoyant grandfather Todor, who gave him medicinal herbs and advised him: "Your colleague has a sacred spring under the workshop, let him make a diagram."21. According to an interview given to the Yantra Dnes newspaper, the iconographer was personally advised to build the cheshma by a clairvoyant 22.

Confirmations

The miraculous dove appeared at 12 p.m. on April 19, the eve of Easter 2001. Stoyan had never seen such a bird before. In the photo published in the Bulgarian newspapers "Desant" and " Pravoslav-

18. PMA: M. Karamikhova [http://www.desant.net/show-news/20665/, accessed from 17.05.2013].

19. http://zografnica.hit.bg/apub05.jpg (accessed from 17.05.2013).

20. MaksimovaD. Св. Георги дал целебна вода на търновски зограф.

21. Ibid. Cheshma is a stone structure with a tap for diverted spring water.

22. Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page [http://zografnica.hit.bg/apubo3-jpg, accessed from 17.05.2013].

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on vyara", the pigeon is not visible 23. In the second interview with the newspaper "Pravoslavna Vyara", the artist describes the pigeon's color in more detail and draws attention to the fact that, unlike others, it had a red beak. In an interview with the newspaper 24 Hours, the pigeon is described as follows:"With a red beak and a white triangle on the breast, as they depict God the Father" 24. For two weeks, while the foundation of the cheshma was being built, the pigeon sat on the tiles in front of the workshop and flew away when everything was ready.

The marble cheshma depicts St. George slaying a snake. Since the relief image is like an icon, the cheshma should be facing east. While the plumbers were trying to figure out how to run the water without breaking the floor, a sign appeared again: tiles from the floor were raised and outlined the location of pipes from the source to the pit. Water from cheshma is extracted by hand pump.

When the Bishop of Theodosia consecrated cheshma 25, the wonderful pigeon, accompanied by two other pigeons, flew again. They sat down on the tiles and spread their wings to draw a cross. Friends of the icon painter took a photo that clearly shows the face of Christ from the Shroud of Turin, St. George on horseback and the serpent 26. Stoyan is happy to lead his visitors to the sidewalk, where he thinks that the tiles depict St. George.

Miraculous healings

In the Balkans, and more specifically in Bulgaria, there is still a strong tradition of venerating sacred springs. Each pilgrimage center has its own holy spring (ayazmo27), which is an object of veneration and the most important topos in the context of medical practices. Faith in the healing power of water is renewed during the Divine Bath.

23. "Гълъби пазят мистично аязмо"//Landing party. 28.07.2010 [http://www.desant.net/show-news/20 665/, accessed from 17.05.2013]; Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page [http:// zografnica.hit.bg/apubo6.jpg, accessed from 17.05.2013].

24. Maksimova D. St. George's dal curative water on trnovsky zograf.

25. Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page [http://zografnica.hit.bg/apubo3-jpg, accessed from 17.05.2013].

26. "Gulbi pazyat mystically ayazmo" [http://www.desant.net/show-news/20665/, accessed from 17.05.2013].

27. Ayazmo (from auyus, (Greek) - holy, consecrated; dyiaaua ( Greek) - holy). Ayazmo is a generic name for holy springs.

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It is also supported by the annual ritual of consecration of water, performed on the feast of the Epiphany (January 6)28. Drinking healing water, washing your face with it, and sprinkling the house is a practice that is still practiced by Muslims. Therefore, miraculous healings are also expected in the new source space.

According to an interview with an unspecified publication, the artist's friend suffering from eye disease was the first to receive healing.29 In subsequent interviews, the artist pointed out that he discovered the healing properties of the spring when a girl from the village of Polish Trymbesh came to get water for her mother, who had cataracts in her eye. "It was sent by a clairvoyant. Then the first miracle happened - the cataract disappeared. " 30
One of the most important factographic stories of the iconographer, which constantly appears in the history of the spring, is dedicated to the healing of an elderly Muslim woman:

Two years ago, a Turk entered the studio and asked the artist if water helps Muslims. Then he poured a bottle of water from the spring and took it to his wife to drink. She had just undergone surgery, and the doctors diagnosed her with cancer and gave her a few months to live. "For several weeks, this man came every day and brought his wife water. Once she came by herself. She lay down on the ground in front of Cheshma, kissed the marble slab, and cried. She expressed her gratitude from the bottom of her heart and from the bottom of her heart - she began to recover," says the excited artist 31.

To the journalist of the newspaper "24 hours" Stoyan calls the healed woman by her first name:

An elderly woman, Aliya Suleva, from the Turkish quarter of Tarnovo, was discharged from the hospital to die in her home. However, her husband heard about the water - and came once, twice, and at some time got up

28. Here we are talking about the rite of the Great Consecration of water.

29. Icon painter Stoyan Nedev's page [http://zografnica.hit.bg/apubo4-jpg, accessed from 17.05.2013].

30. Maksimova D. St. George's dal curative water on tyr'novsky zograf.

31. "Gulbi pazyat mystically ayazmo" [http://www.desant.net/show-news/20665/, accessed from 17.05.2013].

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He knelt at the spring, raised his hands to the sky, palms up, and began to pray in the Muslim way. "My old woman got up and began to eat," he said between prayers to St. John the Baptist. To George, a grateful old man. Then Stoyan saw what strong faith meant. The old woman also came in her house clothes, in slippers, wept and bowed for twenty minutes on St. George's, in gratitude for the healing of 32.

Another Turkish woman from Razgrad took water from a spring for her son.

The guy was already big, but he had nighttime urinary incontinence. He was cured by a single bottle of water. His mother came back to Cheshma with some candy for her treat. I lit a candle for St. George in gratitude for the miracle. Turks most often return to express their gratitude to a Christian saint in front of his icon 33.

Stoyan Nedev says that only Muslims are responsive. They come to thank them, to give them something to eat, to tell them how the water helped them 34. To K. Georgieva, he said: "There is no religion for faith, there are no Muslims, there are no Christians. And by the way, Muslims are very good people, much better than others. " 35
Other proofs of the source's sanctity

Stoyan Nedev decided to build a pit and started digging in the center to capture the strongest stream of the spring. "It had already reached 4 meters deep, but it didn't have the technique to break a deeper hole where healing water would flow out." 36 In one interview, the artist expressed his fears that the water might go away: "If the spring dries up in one day, then I am not spiritually cleansed enough."37
In an interview with the newspaper Pravoslavna Vyara, the iconographer very delicately does not give information related to healers. In this

32. Ibid.

33. Ibid.

34. Author's field materials (interview data): Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo 23.05.2012 (M. Karamikhova).

35. PMA: Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo, 2012 (K. Georgieva).

36. Maksimova D. St. George's dal curative water on trnovsky zograf.

37. Ibid.

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in the conversation, he focuses on his Christian zeal (fasting before starting to paint an icon, using holy water to prepare paints for icon painting, etc.). And what is very important-he does not mention either the fall of the cross from the church, or the recovered Muslims. When asked by a journalist if "everything was done according to the requirements of the Bulgarian Church," Stoyan Nedev tells how on the evening before the consecration of the church, a bottle of holy water delivered from Jerusalem overturned on her. "At first I was afraid, but then I realized that in this way the Lord sanctified the source of his holy spirit." 38 A year later, the journalist again goes to the workshop to see how things are going there, and to interview the icon painter. In this interview, Stoyan talks about the miraculous increase in water pressure in the spring, which was the result of his fervent prayers; about the sacrificial offering of three fish, which he performs every year at Easter. "The fish is consecrated by the priest -that is, everything is done according to church custom." 39 He emphasizes that "the third person of the Holy Trinity , the Holy Spirit, supports us and approves of our work." 40 Stoyan explains that the pigeons made a cross-shaped composition after the priest consecrated the lamb intended as a sacrifice for St. George's Day. A particularly interesting point in this interview concerns the secular statement of the healing power of the spring, which appeared after the visit of the Tarnovo healer (her name is given)41. In an interview with the newspaper "24 hours", a well-known cardiologist-surgeon Professor Alexander Chirkov, whose name is mentioned in connection with the story about the operation, acts as a medical authority:

Before going for a heart transplant operation, Rostislav Popov from Gornaya Oryakhovitsa asked for water from the St. George spring, Stoyan said. Popov, who died last year, is known for having lived the longest time in the history of such operations after an organ transplant.

38. Теодосиева Т. Светена изворна вода тече в ателието на иконописец // Православна вяра. N2. 14 - 20.02.2002.

39. Теодосиева Т. Лечебен извор на Св. Георги Победоносец // Православна вяра. N. 29.04 - 11.05. 2003.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

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In addition to the skill of Professor Alexander Chirkov, the miraculous spring 42 also helped.

Juxtaposition

In my personal conversations with Kremen Georgieva and myself, the subject of the icon painter's attitude to the clergy and to the Orthodox Church constantly came up:

There is no more polluted religion than Orthodoxy. It seems that everyone is equal, but why can't women enter the altar? Orthodoxy is clogged by the Middle Ages 43.

Priests don't worry about people. They are angry that people come here for water. But after the cross fell, it became clear where grace had gone.44
This message is coherent and logical. At first glance, it is paradoxical that the guardian of a sacred spring in honor of an Orthodox saint of the "highest rank" criticizes both the Orthodox concept, its rules, and the clergy. However, anti-clericalism has been a typical mood among Bulgarians for more than a century, and it is natural for Stoyan Nedev's generation, which was formed during socialism. Here we can discuss whether the iconographer's desire to make Orthodoxy more human, to reform the Orthodox Church, is really a proof of his strong and pure faith. His understanding of faith also includes the assumption of persons and acts that are not approved by the higher clergy.

1. Stoyan is outraged that the priests portrayed the famous clairvoyant Vanga as a healer (witch)45. Here is an excerpt from one of his interviews, which he gave to the media:

Some time ago, the iconographer depicted Vanga with a divine halo. A woman from Petrich asked him to portray the clairvoyant as a martyr. Stoyan carried the icon himself

42. Maksimova D. St. George's dal curative water on trnovsky zograf.

43. PMA: Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo, 2012 (K. Georgieva).

44. PMA: Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo, 2012 (M. Karamikhova).

45. PMA: Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo, 2012 (K. Georgieva).

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to her grave and left her there as a gift. Thus, he fulfilled the assignment of Vanga, whose spirit appeared to his friend 46.

2. The iconographer is particularly sensitive to the question of the national shrine, a symbol of the struggle against the Ottoman rule and the liberation of the Bulgarians - Vasil Levski:

Levski is a martyr for the faith and Fatherland! In 1996, the Synod of Innocent 47 canonized him and canonized him as a saint. Since he was an outstanding Bulgarian, I decided to paint his icon and depict him as a martyr, with a cross in his hands... and what did they not reproach me with? The Synod of Patriarch Maxim 48 refused to canonize Levski because he killed people. I can argue with this: why the baptist tsar, who destroyed more than one family, can be a saint, but the great Bulgarian cannot... I see this as cynicism and political games with an outstanding personality. I depicted him in a monk's habit, because he did not give up the habit. At the Exhibition of Icons biennale, this image was not accepted, because Levsky was canonized not by Maxim, but by Innokenty. I took the icon back.

Different continents of the Spiritual Map

Gradually, rumors about the healing water spread around the area, and people from the most distant places began to regularly visit the artist's studio.

Those who have been cured say that water helps with many diseases - eye, skin, it cures the kidneys, ulcers, this water is especially favorable for gastritis, colitis, helps with infertility, relieves mental illnesses. But for water to help, you need to believe and thank the water, because if you don't thank it, the disease returns, Darinka Stoyanova-Byrdova 49 told me.

46. Maksimova D. St. George's dal curative water on tyr'novsky zograf.

47. An alternative Synod that separated from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in opposition to the dependence of the higher priesthood on communist leaders and because of their links to the security service.

48. Patriarch Maxim - Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church from 1971 until his death in 2012; was closely associated with the Communist regime.

49. PMA: Darinka Stoyanova-Byrdova, (K. Georgieva), 2012.

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And more:

Tyanka Georgieva from the village of Radievo was also cured with this water. When I asked her what brought her all the way to Veliko Tarnovo, she said, "Vera, my daughter."50
People come to the workshop not only to heal, but also to rest and recharge with positive energy:

One of the informants claims that after a long illness, she visited the workshop, sat on the sofa there and suddenly saw her whole life, after which her problems - both physical and mental-disappeared. This woman is engaged in yoga, has been working as an instructor for many years, and has a good reputation in the Tarnovo district 51.

The presence of a follower of Eastern teachings in the workshop is not surprising. The iconographer drew and hung on the wall next to other icons the image of Lyudmila Zhivkova, the daughter of long-term communist dictator Todor Zhivkov. He talks enthusiastically about the common cosmic mind and demonstrates a good knowledge of Nicholas Roerich and Elena Blavatsky (notes by M. Karamikhova, 2012, 2014). It's not that weird. Mikhail Gruev conducted a very interesting study of officially published data on Lyudmila Zhivkova's introduction to the public discourse of Eastern philosophy52.

An interesting bridge between East and West is thrown by another work: "February 14, on the day of St. John the Baptist". On Valentine's Day 2010, at 3 a.m., I was given a heart with a cross inside and the sun in the cross." This work is made in the form of an application of silver elements on a red background, which, of course, appeals to the symbolism of the lovers ' holiday that is gaining strength in Bulgaria. The image gets even more symbolic value.

50. PMA: Tianka Georgieva, S. Radievo, (M. Karamikhova).

51. PMA: a woman, region V. Tarnovo, K. Georgieva, 2012.

52. Груев М. Людмила Живкова - пътят към "Агни йога"//Break the times. Yubileinen sbornik v chest na 65 godishninata na prof. L. Ognyanov / Sst. E. Kalinova, M. Gruev, L. Zidarova. Sofia: Universitetsko izdatelstvo, 2006. pp. 796-816.

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It is significant if we take into account the fact that the Bulgarian priests of Veliko Tarnovo constantly oppose this holiday.

A New Age-inspired spiritual quest is combined in an interesting way with the process of icon painting. Once, when I was at the spring, just opposite the entrance to the workshop, an icon of St. Raphael the Archangel was placed on a tripod. The artist told me that he was visited by two clairvoyants who pointed out what and where to add on the icon, including one detail that, in my opinion, goes beyond the Orthodox canon. For him, icon painting is the beginning of the process of creating an image of holiness. He is happy to accept the help of other people, experts in alternative teachings. For him, the result is important - the creation of a "good" icon. All restrictions defined by the canon are removed by believing that this is the way to do things. During our first conversation, an elderly priest was present in the workshop, who confirmed the truth of the stories told by Stoyan. The iconographer's story was complete, and it did not imply that there were contradictions between Orthodoxy and ideas inspired by other traditions. He feels and behaves like a deeply religious Orthodox person, whose anti-clericalism has clear addressees.

According to Stoyan Nedev, the workshop is visited most often during major Christian holidays and especially on St. George's Day. People come to get water, pray, and talk. Despite the fact that there is no special chapel, they perceive the workshop as a temple. This is facilitated by icons that are hung on the walls.

The spring located in the icon painter's workshop gives rise not only to the hope of healing and the triumph of good will. Because of him, jealousy also flares up - among priests from the metropolitan church, as well as among colleagues from many neighboring workshops.

Stoyan Nedev says that people from his guild, who work near the workshop, try to discourage visitors from different parts of Bulgaria with the words:"How do you drink this water - all the Tarnovo sewers flow there." Another informant said that he visited the workshop out of curiosity, but, according to him, the icon painter is a fraud, and the water flows from the water supply 53.

53. PMA: man, V. Tarnovo, 2012 (K. Georgieva).

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According to the iconographer, a priest from the Metropolitan church 54 also makes the same accusation that dirty sewer water flows from the source. It can be assumed that depending on the context, the accusers may change.

Guardian Icon painter

It is important to note that Stoyan Nedev is a silverless man. He doesn't ask or accept a penny for water. He believes that he was chosen to build and protect Cheshma. On the door of the workshop is written in large letters: "Water is free!". Visitors throw small coins into the spring trough, as they are used to doing so. I don't have any data that makes them follow this ancient universal. It is enough that this practice is recorded and thus confirms the vitality of the cultural postulate of a free response to God's gift, which does not require payment in commodity and monetary terms.55 In the case of an icon painter and, as we will see, another curator of healing water in her home, the question arises of witnesses, responsible believers who have taken it upon themselves to help people, taking care of the source and the sick. Stoyan is not a religious intermediary56. He is a guardian.

Source on private land

On the door of the workshop is written: "Healing spring and chapel of St. George the Great Martyr." According to the logic of G. Vylchinova, this healing spring, which has been operating on private land for a long time, can be called a chapel, it fits into a number of cultural phenomena 57, which allow us to consider it in the context of post-socialist society. Our working hypothesis, which explains the legitimacy of the source, is based on widely spread etiological legends, in which healing water as a material intermediary between the two sources of water and the source of water.

54. PMA: Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo 2012 (M. Karamikhova).

55. Vlchinova G. Balkan clairvoyants and prophetesses from the XX century. София: Изд. Български бестселър-национален музей на българската книга и полиграфия; Университетско издателство "Св. Kliment Ohridski", 2006. P. 98.

56. Ibid., p. 107.

57. Ibid., p. 377.

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the patron saint and the faithful begins to beat on private land. In classical cases, over time, the source is recognized by the church and institutionalized. In a particular case, the icon painter enjoys the favor of several priests, but is in open conflict with the official church authorities in the city. The sanctity of the place and source is sanctioned by stories about the miraculous manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit and St. George: the appearance of healing water, help and wonderful parting words during the construction of the cheshma; the iconic appearance of the dove, numerous healings.

Many icons on the walls give visitors the impression that they are entering an Orthodox church. Stoyan Nedev's kindness, biography, and noble occupation, as well as his handsome appearance as a white-bearded husband, make pilgrims think that he is a religious figure, like, for example, their familiar priests.

The case of the source in Tarnovo is not an isolated one. A similar case occurred with my grandmother Vasilka Slavova from the village of Dobrich, Dimitrovgrad district. According to Internet sources, she discovered a healing spring in her home. This happened on the eve of the feast of the Three Saints-St. John the Baptist. St. Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom, and St. John the Baptist. St. Gregory the Theologian 58. For 43 years, she has been ensuring that there is water for those in need. The only thing she asks for is that they write her letters with information about whether the water helped. In the future, it is necessary to study in detail how Grandmother Vasilka's relations with local priests and local authorities develop in connection with the source. Unlike the Tarnovo iconographer, but quite in the spirit of tradition, a believing Orthodox woman receives parting words and messages in a dream and demands that people fulfill what they have heard, which puts her in a number of religious intermediaries.59 Both described cases with sources on private land confirm the concept proposed by G. Vylchinova on a regional scale. She believes that " religious life is built not only by the church (both as a space and as an institution),

58. Khranitelka na vyarata from the village of Dobrich [http://cudo.blog. bg/hobi/2009/07/31/hranitelka-na-viarata-ot-selo-dobrich. 372145 accessed from 17.05.2013]. 30.01.1971

59. Vlchinova G. Balkan clairvoyants and prophetesses from the XX century. p. 107.

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but also various non-professional religious figures who remained outside the institution " 60.

I come to the conclusion that our liberal society, in which the authority of the two denominations of the Church is constantly under question, fully accepts the existence of the source in Veliko Tarnovo as a small pilgrimage site that is not regulated by the church authorities.

Possible conclusions

I share D.'s oft-cited ideas. Ida and M. Salnou that a sacred place is a spiritual space that can adapt different meanings and practices. These meanings, which are prescribed to holy sites, are constructed and transmitted by the groups and institutions that control the relevant site.62 For example, borders and border zones in places of pilgrimage are constantly moving and changing. Control (and, consequently, both meaning and practices) is not established once and for all, since often the controlling persons change, and their power may be limited, including in time. As a result, the competition of groups and discourses begins. I repeat that narratives and practices that show different styles of religiosity often co-exist in parallel, but sometimes compete with each other - and this can be considered a universal that is observed in many pilgrimage centers. 63 In other words, many spiritual frontiersmen seek the possibility of undivided domination.

In this case, the newly established pilgrimage center shows a tendency towards autonomy, independence from the official church, to which the guardian of the source (nominally) belongs and from whose pantheon his saint is chosen

60. Ibid., p. 18.

61. This refers to the conflict between the Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the alternative Synod, as well as the tension between representatives of various movements and institutions in the Muslim community.

62. Eade, J. and Sallnow, M. (1991) "Introduction", in Eade, J. and Sallnow, A. (eds) Contesting the Sacred. The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage, pp. 1 - 29. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

63. See, for example: Chulos, S. (1999) " Religious and Secular Aspects of Pilgrimage in Modern Russia. Byzantium and the North", Acta Byzantina Fennica 9 (1997 - 1998): 21 - 58.

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patron saint. The researcher's intuition suggests that the main boundary lies between the pilgrimage center and the official church, to which the source should belong, but against the influence of which the center is fighting. Its guardian has opened up a wide channel for adapting various knowledge and practices to the sacred site. The key to entering it is faith. The faith of others (Muslims, Buddhists) creates a new type of barrier, swapping the "we" and "they"groups. And this is not surprising. Many field studies show significant border transparency in sacred sites. I share the opinion of Zh. de Raperra, who believes that the relationship between Christians and Muslims should first be thoroughly investigated at the local level, and then move on to the regional, national and transnational levels 64. Of course, I am aware that in general, in the Balkans and Bulgaria at the end of the twentieth century and in the first decade of the twenty-first century, belonging to Christianity or Islam in most cases is associated with origin, and not with faith or with a conscious internal choice. 65 And there is still a barrier between followers of these two faiths.

The struggle for control of sacred sites involves drawing clear borders and marking border zones. The material offered to the reader raises the question of interreligious borders in a different perspective. Outside of the official church, there is an Orthodox pilgrimage center, where it is Muslims who are evaluated as good and religious people, representatives of Eastern teachings are not considered strangers, and experts of alternative teachings are equally respected. The new holy site is open to all those in need, but there is a clear border that separates it from official support and, accordingly, protects it from the control of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

This particular case is still quite new, "fresh", it gives the researcher a unique chance. Systematic observation of this place and recording of observations will create a basis for understanding religiosity in post-socialist times.

64. De Raperre, G. (2008) "Religion in Post-Communist Albania: Muslims, Christians and the Idea of ,Culture'Devoll, Southern Albania", Anthropological Notebooks 14 (2): 32.

65. Hayden, R. (2002) "Antagonistic Tolerance. Competitive Sharing of Religious Sites in South Asia and the Balkans", Current Anthropology 43 (2): 205 - 231.

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Note

While I was working on this text, doctoral student Ilya Vylev introduced me to his unexpected discovery, which he made quite recently. Not far from the building of the University of Velikotyrnov, which stands on a hill with the iconic name "Holy Mountain", he suddenly came across the "grave" of the clairvoyant Vanga. Judging by the photo, people visit this place regularly - the "grave" is kept clean, burnt candles and food remains are visible. The first interviews conducted connected Mogila with the informal esoteric movement that exists in the city, in which the icon painter Stoyan plays an important role. Before our eyes, a new place of pilgrimage is being created, although it is known that Vanga's grave, located in the town of Petrich, as well as the temple she insisted on building, are 400 km away from Veliko Tarnovo. Obviously, the old matrix for recreating duplicates of the graves of those who are revered as saints has started working.

Translated from Bulgarian by Irina Sedakova

Bibliography/References

Field materials

Field materials of the author: interview of the author and K. Georgieva-Stoyan Nedev, V. Tarnovo, 2012; Darinka Stoyanova-Byrdova, 2012; T. Georgieva, S. Radievo, 2012; a woman-parishioner; a man, V. Tarnovo, 2012.

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