Bulgarian dragons, folklore, traditional tales and climate change

Lamya, illustration by Viktor Paunov in “Vampiri, gunduratzi, zmey” by Krassimir Mirchev. Panorama Publishing House, Sofia 1998

The Lamya, the Zmey and Climate Change

In Bulgarian folklore, drought is caused by the lamya, a malevolent female dragonish creature, usually with three or more heads, that locks up the waters, swallows the harvest and brings pestilence to the land.

In the past, several rituals were observed to keep her at bay, including the Peperuda (butterfly) and Gherman rain-making rituals. In the Peperuda ritual, a young girl clothed in greenery danced through the village, moving her arms like a butterfly’s wings, while her retinue sang songs praying for rain. Gherman was a male clay effigy with a large phallus, made by women and buried in the earth with funeral rites, sent as a messenger to the underworld to return fertility to the land.

Perhaps these traditions and the associated beliefs made people feel more empowered in dealing with elemental forces. Perhaps their actions seemed to produce results. In our modern world beset with terrible drought and fierce wildfires, we need to find new ways to restore the balance. And that’s a huge challenge!

You can find out more about Bulgarian traditions and rituals, as well as fascinating stories about the lamya and other Bulgarian dragons in my book, Beyond Nine Forests: Tales of Hidden Bulgaria. A child born from a stone is promised to a dragon when she grows up, but can she escape her fate? The lamya’s black-dressed daughter lives wild and dangerous in the forest – can she ever be tamed? And which herbs should you use to banish an amorous zmey who has tricked you into marrying him?

Yet the zmey, the seductive shape-shifting Bulgarian dragon is also the lamya’s enemy and a protector of the harvest. The ferocious battles between them cause violent thunderstorms and lightning.

As well as tales about Bulgarian dragons, Beyond Nine Forests includes stories about samodivi, wild nature nymphs; magical animals; epic heroes; the sun; demons, spirits and angels and much more, along with an exploration of their roots in Bulgaria’s folklore and ancestral mythologies going back to ancient Thracian times. The book has received rave reviews. For further information about the book and full reviews, please visit https://www.spellintime.co.uk/beyond-nine-forests

N.B. All material in this blog and website is the copyright © of Moni Georgieva Sheehan and A Spell In Time