built around Vanga's church "St. Paraskevi-Petka of Bulgaria" consecrated in 1994. .... religious life of non-canonical practices emphatically anathemizes Vanga.
Violeta PERIKLIEVA (Bulgaria)* VANGA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PILGRIMAGE TOURISM IN THE REGIONS OF PETRICH, BULGARIA AND STRUMICA, MACEDONIA Abstract: During her lifetime Vanga – one of the most popular female clairvoyants in this part of the Balkans – was visited not only by Bulgarians but by people from abroad seeking help. After her death a cult of her gradually started to develop in the region of Petrich, Bulgaria. At the same time this process goes hand-in-hand with the development of pilgrimage tourism managed by different religious entrepreneurs. While in Petrich these processes have a history of more than 15 years in the region of Strumica they are new. The paper shall present the specifics of these processes in both regions. Key Words: Vanga, religion, pilgrimage tourism, religious entrepreneurs
The paper examines in brief some basic characteristics of the process of developing pilgrimage tourism related to the cult of the prophetess Vanga (for the seer and prophetess Vanga see Iliev Ilia, 2001; Valtchinova Galina, 2006: 36-57; Valtchinova Galina, 2009) in the region of Petrich, Bulgaria, and its reflection in the region of Strumica, Macedonia. After Vanga's death a process of developing a cult and of transforming her into a "folk saint" begins in the region of Petrich. Generally, the term refers to alternative religious specialists who are honoured after their death as saints but without being officially canonized by the church institution. During their lifetime these people possess the gift to make contact with the world beyond and thus to heal and work wonders. After their death they continue to work as intermediaries between man and the divine sphere. They are believed to possess the potential to directly interfere with human life and thus become peoples' intercessors before God and helpers in times of crisis. This leads to their transformation into subjects of mass homage and of developing cult (Иванов Петко, Измирлиева Валентина, 2000; Romano Octavio Ignacio, 1965: 11571158; Graziano Frank, 2006: 9-77). Gradually, two main places of the cult of Vanga set up in the region of Petrich: the locality of Rupite where during her lifetime Vanga builds the church of St. Paraskevi-Petka of Bulgaria and where she is buried after her death, and her house in the town of Petrich where while still living the prophetess receives the thousands of people seeking help and which is now transformed into a museum. Today the *
Violeta Periklieva is Ph.D. of Ethnology –in the Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum, BAS, Sofia
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house-museum in Petrich and the complex in Rupite attract thousands of pilgrims from all over the world (mainly Bulgarians, Greeks, Macedonians and people from the former Soviet Republics). Some people come to render homage or express gratitude to the clairvoyant but others keep seeking and hoping for help from Vanga even after her death. The development of cult of Vanga is a natural process running among the laymen as well as a purposeful strategy which aim and result is the development of pilgrimage tourism. It is hard to say which one of these sides of the process causes the other. They are closely interwoven and influence each other. Today the cult of Vanga and respectively the pilgrimage tourism related to it are "managed" by two main "managers" or "religious entrepreneurs" (in the terms of Weber – see Вебер Макс, 1992) – the Vanga Foundation and the Municipality of Petrich. The Vanga Foundation runs the complex in Rupite. The complex is built around Vanga's church "St. Paraskevi-Petka of Bulgaria" consecrated in 1994. It consists of the church with Vanga's grave next to it, a large park covering some of the hot mineral springs, a small house of Vanga, a "monastery complex" with guest rooms, ritual hall for baptism and exhibition hall, as well as the Documentary Hall "Vanga" which presents prophetess' life in pictures. The Foundation and the people close to it take care and continue developing the complex and organize annually the celebration of the patron saint's day of the church and the anniversaries of Vanga's birth and death. They actively participate in the development of the cult by circulating stories of late Vanga's wonders as well as icons with her image on it. We may give two examples for stories about Vanga's new wonders: the crying of Vanga's bronze statue in Rupite and the appearance of the prophetess on the slopes of the volcanic hill of Kozhuh witnessed and related by Neshka Robeva, former Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast and coach. Although the church and the grave of Vanga represent the sacred centre, the complex gradually acquires new symbols of sacredness which are legitimated by Vanga's eventual command. One of the examples is the memorial stone cross built on one of the slopes of Kozhuh, directly across the church of St. Paraskevi-Petka of Bulgaria. The cross is inaugurated in 2009, on the feast of St. Paraskevi-Petka of Epivates (October 14 according to the Gregorian calendar) and for the fifteenth anniversary of the building of the church in Rupite. The making of the cross is believed to be an observation of Vanga's former command. According to the words ascribed to the prophetess, when the today extinct volcano of Kozhuh erupted the lava covered the impressive ancient town of Petra and took away the life of thousands of people who lived there. The stone cross is built in memory of the victims of this event which took place precisely on the 14th of October, the feast of St. Paraskevi-Petka of Epivates. In fact, in the close vicinity of the stone cross is the excavation site of the ancient town of Heraclea Sintica (Petra according the already disproven theory) which is one of the places in the region of Petrich possessing the biggest potential for developing cultural tourism. 82
The Municipality of Petrich is also interested in the cult of Vanga as a basis for developing tourism. In 2003, with resolution of the Municipal Council Opalchenska Street in Petrich where the house of the prophetess is located is given the name "Vanga" and in 2008 Vanga's House-Museum opens. Gradually the museum becomes a parallel to Rupite destination for the pilgrims of Vanga. Interesting sources of information are the guestbooks which are kept in the museum. Even with its founding the keepers of the museum encourage every guest to fill up the book. Today one could find massages different in size and content – from impression of the exhibition to memories of Vanga. The most impressing are the direct addresses to Vanga which resemble prayers and with which people share their problems and ask for help. At the same time the general attitude of the guests toward the house-museum is as toward a shrine which preserves the spirit and the abilities of its owner. Considerable part of the people enters the house not because of the exhibition but in order to pray in front one of the icons which belonged to Vanga, pointed out as miraculous by the keepers of the museum. It is all reflection of the developing cult of the prophetess and represents a process of sacralisation of the profane museum space which the management enterprisingly uses for developing the pilgrimage tourism: the keepers use the guestbooks and the icons as an additional means for feeding the cult of Vanga by telling the guests the most interesting stories related to them. The media also plays a role for the development of pilgrimage tourism related to the cult of Vanga in the region of Petrich. Probably the circulation of new stories of miracles in the media is part of the strategies of the "managers" for developing the cult. These stories spread quickly among the local population and become part of the repertoire related to Vanga. Besides, they also have the capacity to stimulate the emergence of new ones. The enormous potential of the cult of Vanga causes another interesting process – the binding of the cult with other main tourist attractions in the region. One of them – the excavation site of the ancient town of Heraclea Sintica – was already mentioned. The other one is the National Park-Museum "Samuil's Fortress" where the tourists could here from the guide interesting stories about the frequent visits of Vanga. One of them says that Vanga used to talk with the dead Samuil's solders and that she recommended the building of a chapel in the frames of the parkmuseum. The prophetess also sent some people who didn't know the place of death of their relatives to lay flowers in front of the Samuil's monument. The binding could be in favour for the development of the pilgrimage tourism related to the cult of Vanga as well as for the tourism related to the other two sites. Unfortunately, there is no efficient provisional framework for the all-round development of the cultural tourism and in most cases it is a piece-work without a general vision. The lack of any information which may send the tourists from one tourist destination to another is a strong evidence of it. 83
The main reason for that is precisely the presence of two "managers" of the cult and respectively of the pilgrimage tourism. They are in constant conflict and contest with each other. Because of the constant arguments the two main places of the cult – the house-museum and the complex in Rupite – have a weak communication with each other. Instead of elaborating a strategy for their consolidation in a joint tourist route today each of these places functions on its own account. Managed by different managers it's not only that the two places are not part of a common provisional framework for development of the tourism but their managers try to sabotage each other's work. The tourists could often hear from the staff of one of the places stories about the bad managing of the other. Recent example is the opening of Vanga's house in Rupite which remained closed for years because of the disputes between the Municipality of Petrich and the Vanga Foundation about its ownership. Ultimately, the Foundation received rights over the building and the Municipality – over the furnishings. Now the furnishings are kept in the depositories of the Historical Museum of Petrich and the house presents to the visitors a dummy interior. The tourists could hear from the staff of the complex in Rupite accusations against the Municipality of Petrich that the real furnishings decay in the depositories in Petrich and from the municipal officers – that the visitors of the house in Rupite are being deceived that they are in touch with the authentic atmosphere of Vanga's house. The development of cult of Vanga in the region of Petrich has an impact on the other side of the border as well, although in the region of Strumica it is not as popular as in Petrich. Although while still living Vanga was a popular alternative for those people from the region of Strumica who needed help after her death she doesn't manage to become an object of mass religious worship in this region. Even though for many people from Strumica her church in Rupite and her house-museum in Petrich are popular destinations the visits are rather a manifestation of gratefulness and homage than of a religious cult. However, some enterprising people become aware of the potential which the fact that the prophetess was born and grew up in the region could have for the development of tourism. Thus, the former mayor of the village of Novo selo comes up with the idea of building a memorial park of Vanga at the place of the fountain called Anska cheshma. From the time she was thirteen years old until her marriage Vanga lived in that village. It was in that village where she was lifted by the whirlwind (spida) and became blind. Vanga's blinding and receiving an unusual gift is associated by the local people exactly with the Anska cheshma fountain. She was frown there by the whirlwind and subsequently began hearing a voice which was telling her to wash her eyes on the fountain in order to get back her sight. Instead she received her gift. Different variants of the story could still be heard from the older people in the village as well as in the region of Strumica in general. This kind of stories about the prophetess' life in Novo selo and the places related to them are put in use by the local municipality in order to develop the tourism in the village following the 84
model of Rupite in the region of Petrich. The project provides for reconstruction of the old Anska cheshma, building a memorial park of Vanga around it and marking the places in the village related to moments of Vanga's life and to the process of her transformation into a seer (vidovita zhena). For the moment the municipality has no intentions of building a chapel. The reason is the negative attitude of the Macedonian Church towards Vanga and the reluctance of the mayor to start an argument with it. While in Bulgaria the relations between the prophetess and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church cause a large public dispute and split the clergy's opinion into denying and "demonizing" the prophetess and accepting and initiating a procedure for her canonization, there is no such polemics in Macedonia. The Macedonian Orthodox Church which persistently tries to rid the religious life of non-canonical practices emphatically anathemizes Vanga. The project for the building of memorial park to the prophetess already stirred up certain negative reactions by the church institution which reproached the idea. However, the Municipality found a way not only to reckon with the Church but to attach a sacred symbolic to the place. Instead of building a real chapel the fountain is covered by a big penthouse which resembles the church architecture and in a niche in the fountain is the icon of the Virgin Mary. With the start of the construction work the former mayor got in touch with the mayor of Petrich with the idea to make a joint project for combining Rupite, the house-museum in Petrich and the Anska cheshma in a joint tourist route. There is no result for the moment. Having in mind that the development of such tourist route is a hard task even in Petrich it seems hardly possible that the connection of the tourist destinations on both sides of the border could happen as a result of a purposeful policy of their managers. Only time will tell if this could happen as a natural process among the laymen. In fact, there are enough preconditions for that: Vanga's life is connected with both the regions of Petrich and Strumica; she used to be a source for help and hope for the population on both sides of the Bulgarian-Macedonian border; today her figure has a strong presence in the public space in both countries; the population from the regions of Petrich and Strumica recognizes Vanga as a symbol of local identity and is aware of its sharedness. Literature: Вебер Макс, 1992: Социология на господството. Социология на религията. София 1992. Вълчинова Галина, 2006: Балкански ясновидки и пророчици от ХХ век, София 2006. Иванов Петко, Измирлиева Валентина, 2000: Жив светец в българската фолклорна космология. (Опит за (ре)конструкция). – Български фолклор, 3, 43-51. Graziano Frank, 2006: Cultures of Devotion: Folk Saints of Spanish America. Oxford 2006. 85
Iliev Ilia 2001: The Social Construction of a Saintly Woman in Bulgaria. – In: A. Rubelli and N. Vucenik (eds.) A Captured Moment in Time IWM Junior Visiting Fellows Conference, vol. 10, Vienna: IWM. Romano Octavio Ignacio, 1965: Charismatic Medicine, FolkHealing, and Folk Sainthood. – American Anthropologist. 67(5), 11511173. Valtchinova Galina, 2009: Between Ordinary Pain and Extraordinary Knowledge: The Seer Vanga in the Everyday Life of Bulgarians during Socialism (1960s-1970s), Aspasia, vol. 3, 106-130. Виолета ПЕРИКЛИЕВА (Бугарија)* ВАНЃА И РАЗВОЈОТ НА АЏИЛАК-ТУРИЗМОТ ВО РЕГИОНИТЕ НА ПЕТРИЧ, БУГАРИЈА И СТРУМИЦА, МАКЕДОНИЈА (Резиме) Трудов во кратки црти ги разгледува основните карактеристики од процесот на развивање аџилачки туризам поврзан со култот на пророчицата Ванѓа во пределот на Петрич, Бугарија и неговата рефлекција во пределот на Струмица, Македонија. После смртта на Ванѓа во регионот на Петрич почнува процес на развивање култ кон неа и нејзина трансформација во народна светица. Постепено, како најглавни места за култот на Ванѓа се воспоставуваат две локации во пределот на Петрич: месноста Рупите, каде што во текот на нејзиниот живот Ванѓа ја гради црквата Св. Параскева-Петка, во Бугарија, каде што и е погребана по нејзината смрт и нејзината куќа во градот Петрич, во која додека живеела илијадници луѓе оделе да бараат помош од пророчицата, која сега е трансформирана во музеј. Развојот на култот за Ванѓа е природен процес кој се одвива меѓу мирјаните, како и стратегија со причина, чија цел и резултат е развитокот на аџилачкиот туризам. Денес култот на Ванѓа и соодветно аџилачкиот туризам поврзан со тоа се менаџирани од два главни “менаџери” или “верски претприемачи” – Фондацијата “Ванѓа” и Општината Петрич. Фондацијата “Ванѓа” го води комлексот Рупите, а Општината Петрич - куќата-музеј во градот. Двата менаџери активно учествуваат во развојот на култот со циркулирачки приказни за доцните чуда на Ванѓа и стекнување нови симболи на светост. Без оглед на енормниот потенцијал на култот на Ванѓа, присуството на два “менаџери” предизвикува тензија и неред, затоа што се во постојан конфилкт и меѓусебен натпревар. Развојот на култот за Ванѓа во регионот на Петрич, исто така има вилјание од другата страна на границата, иако во регионот на Струмица не е толку популарен како во Петрич. Сепак, некои *
Виолета Периклиева е доктор на етнолошки науки (ИЕФЕМ – БАН, Софија).
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