Pages: 361-382

The author offers a synthesis of field materials collected in different years, covering popular views about the death in Bulgarian communities of Moldova and Ukraine. A detailed description of practices is provided, related to preparation of the dead and for the funeral, and rites associated with passage to the other world, registered in Bulgarian villages. Bulgarian funerary rituals, design and specific features of traditional monuments are described. The analysis suggests stability of popular views about influences of the infernal world on the living.

Keywords: Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgarians, death, infernal world, funeral, funerary rites, burial sites

Information about author:

Viaceslav Stepanov (Orel, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Orel State University named after I. S. Turgenev. Komsomolskaya St., 95, Orel, 302026, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]