Petlyovden – a celebration of male procreation and fertility

On February 2nd, in the Bulgarian folk calendar, we celebrate Petlyovden. According to some researchers, the holiday is a successor to an ancient Slavic rite in honor of hunting and beekeeping. According to others, it is based on an old pagan ritual for purification. The rooster is one of the solar symbols heralding the coming of the new day, traditionally associated with masculinity and fertility. It is believed that it is untouchable by demons and when it crows in the morning, it drives away evil spirits and makes the space safe. A home without a rooster can easily be possessed by evil forces.

The Church also celebrates one of the four feasts dedicated to the Mother of God – the Presentation of the Lord (from the Slavic “sretenie” – meeting). On the 40th day after the birth of Jesus, the Virgin Mary took him to the Temple in Jerusalem, following the Mosaic law that every firstborn male child must be “presented” before God. Hence the Christian custom of the mother bringing her child to the Church on the 40th day, so that he may be blessed and she may be purified.

Another legend connects the religious holiday with King Herod, who, upon hearing of the birth of the new “king” Jesus, ordered the slaughter of all newborns. To save her son from certain death, the Virgin Mary marked her and the neighboring gates with the blood of a sacrificed rooster.

The traditions and customs of Petlyovden are preserved mainly in Central and Eastern Bulgaria. Before the holiday, the house is whitewashed and cleaned, and the family dresses in their newest, festive clothes. At dawn on February 2nd, in every home with a male child, a rooster, raised especially for this purpose, is slaughtered. This is done in front of the gate or threshold, since it is they who distinguish the family space from that of the wild nature. The ritual is performed by the mother or grandmother, and the boy in the house is allowed to touch the knife with which the bird was sacrificed. A cross is made with its blood on the doors and thresholds of all buildings, as well as on the foreheads of children for health.

In some places, the rooster's head is impaled on a stake in front of the entrance gate, with its beak facing east, and its legs are thrown onto the roof of the house. The bird's feathers are also kept - they are used to ward off evil spirits on sick children. A sacrifice is made from the rooster, and loaves or pancakes are kneaded, which women give to neighbors and relatives for health and fertility. In some regions, meat from the legs is given from a house with a boy, and from a house with a girl - from the wings. For the holiday, a special "flag" is made from boxwood, red thread and feathers from the rooster's tail. In some regions, the flag is decorated with small tufts of wool ("ribbons"), symbolizing the feminine, and hot peppers - a symbol of masculine strength.

Initially, Rooster's Day was celebrated only by those who had a boy in their home. Gradually, however, the tradition spread (among all families) and those who had a daughter sacrificed a rooster, while those who wanted a male child "did not slaughter their rooster, but took it to where there were boys, to be slaughtered there for them."

“Rooster Day is like Babinden , but a rooster is slaughtered and a basket is brought to the grandmother.” (Kozichino village). The rituals of this holiday in many ways repeat those of Babinden. The mothers of the village dress in their bridal clothes, adding a “kolun” – a large feather from the sacrificial rooster. Together they visit their “grandmother” midwife, to whom they bring a loaf of bread, a feast of the slaughtered bird and gifts. The loaf and the rooster are the obligatory elements of the table, the brightest symbols of male power and fertility. The grandmother’s hands are washed with water and basil to purify them. Each woman sticks a candle on her pita, and the grandmother incenses the women under their skirts so that they have male children. If there is a bride among the guests who wants a son, she drops a coin into a copper pot filled with water, and the grandmother washes it with this water, blesses it and incenses it. The women set a large table, the cakes are piled on top of each other, mulled wine is drunk, and the grandmother calls out "for health and more male children in the coming year."

Unlike Babinden, men also join in the celebrations on this day. With feasts and "special" jokes and songs, the fun continues until late at night.

There are also some beliefs about Petlyovden: If the weather is nice, it will be like that for the next 40 days! If it snows, bees will swarm in the summer! If you borrow money on this day, you will borrow for a whole year! If you lend something, you will give for a whole year! It is believed that whatever or whomever a person meets when leaving their home, such will be their luck for the whole year.