Dirty, Karakondzhuli, Bad, Ashes, Unbaptized - that's what the people call the days of Christmas to Jordan. According to belief, then, various unclean forces roam the earth, trying to afflict people. Among them are karakondzhuli - vicious creatures depicted as half-human, half-horses wandering at night. During this period, man is also afraid of witches - women who serve the devil entirely, from whom they have acquired knowledge of all diseases and herbs, and thus may even cause a person to die.
Other evil energies during these long nights are vampires, navies and ghouls, all of which come from the dead.
A vampire or a dragon is believed to be a dead man whose body is jumped by an animal. However, only those who died from violent death or old age could become vampires; people who have not received holy baptism or are buried unburied and unburied. Their souls-shadows roam through 40 successive nights since the death of man and make the living alive. After the fortieth day, the soul of the deceased takes the image of the living before his death and leads an ordinary life. The only creatures capable of killing vampires are their children - hawthorns.
During this winter period, in addition to karakondzhuli, witches and vampires, wanders and ghouls also wander outside. The Navas, physically portrayed as small white chicks, are souls of the non-baptized, forcibly killed before or after childbirth. They wander sadly and desperately seek their mother to afflict her, with this vengeance often catching up with other innocent pregnant women or women in childbirth.
Unlike navies, ghouls can take both human and animalistic appearance. They appear in the image of different animals, as guardian spirits of buried treasures. These creatures only kill people who, upon finding the buried property, have failed to fulfill the conditions of the person who hid it. Thalassic Guardians don't just attack orphans.
Thalassas take on a human appearance in the case of embedding the shadow of someone in the construction of a bridge or fountain. In this way, it was believed that they would have sound and stable foundations. The only prerequisite for this construction practice is that the shadow is seen at noon and hidden from the identified victim. Deprived of its shadow, this man soon dies and his soul is tortured in his prison. It was built free only after 7-9 years, or, if it was wrong, after whole 32 years, during which it leaves the fountain or bridge only at night and wanders doomed.
Because "bad" is invulnerable during these 12 days, a number of bans have traditionally been observed. Do not go out at night because then the evil forces roam. No weddings or weddings are made, and no men's clothes are made so that the wolves are not eaten by men. Adults do not bathe because the water is not baptized (lit).
During this period, a man and a woman do not "gather" because the conceived child will become a bad person and will see vampires and ghosts. If a baby is born during these bad days, hot charcoal is placed in the bath water to purify it.
It is the duty of women at this time to awake and keep the fire in the hearth, so that the "wicked" cannot enter through the chimney. From the ashes, called pagan ashes, he sprinkled the yard around the house to protect the home from evil creatures. Garlic, which is worn sewn in clothes, was also used as a protective device.
In addition to these beliefs and protective rituals, various carnival games and customs are performed during the dirty days. They include young men, organized into groups, each with a specific role, clothing and props. In the different regions these are Surviskari, Jemalare, Russali, Vasilchari, Kukeri.
The custom ends on Ivanovden's day with a common meal of gifts collected by the men's groups, without being attended by outsiders. The props are stored in a hidden place and are not touched until next year. At Epiphany, all participants in the carnival games must be sprinkled with holy water to get out of the ritual state they were in.
