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© 3a 6yKBUme - 0 nucMeHeXb, AKa/],eM~4HO ~3/],aTenCTBO, 2020
ISSN 2367-7899
HARMONY IN DIVERSITY
Collection of Papers from
the Harmony in Diversity Conference
Sofia, 10.12.2020

Editors
Georgeta Nazarska and Svetla Shapkalova

Sofia
la bukvite - 0 pismeneh
Academic Publishing House
2020
6bnrapCKl'1 cpopyM 3a Me>KAypeI11'1rl'103eH ,q1-1anor l'1 CbTPYAH1'1lfeCTBO/
Bulgarian Forum for lnterreligious Dialogue and Partnership
c cp1-1HaHcosarn no,qKpena Ha A1-1peK~l'1H Bepou3noaedaHUR
npl-1 Ml'1Hl'1CTepcKl'1H CbBeT Ha Peny6111-1Ka 6bnrap1-1H/
Supported by the Religious Denominations Directorate
at the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria

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HAY4HA KOH<l>EPEHl..\v151 XAPMOHUfl B PA3flW-IUflTA/
HARMONY IN DIVERSITY CONFERENCE

no cnylfa~ 10 ,qeKeMsp1-1 -
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in occation of 10th December -
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10 ,qeKeMsp1-1 2020/ December 10th 2020

CO<l>v151, YH1-16vlT/ SOFIA, SULSIT
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Editorial Board
Arif Abdullah, Ph.D. (New Bulgarian
University, Bulgaria)
David Hosaflook, Ph.D. (Institute for
Albanian and Protestant Studies,
Tirana , Albania)
Marcel Israel, Ph.D. (Religions for Peace -
Europe, Spain)
Alexandra Kumanova, Prof. D.Sc. (SULSIT,
Bulgaria)
Miroslaw Michalski, Prof., Ph.D. (Mieszko I
School of Pedagogy and Administration ,
Poznan, Poland)
Kostake Milkov, Ph.D. (Balkan Institute for
Faith and Culture, Macedonia)
Irina Morozova, Prof., Ph.D. (Chelyabinsk State
Institute of Culture and Arts, Russia)
Omer Turan, Prof., Ph.D. (Middle East
Technical University, Ankara , Turkey)
Ivan Zhelev, Prof., Ph.D. (European
Federation of Centres of Research and
Information on Sectarianism, FECRIS)
Editors
Georgeta Nazarska, Prof., Ph.D.
Svetla Shapkalova, Asst. Prof., Ph.D.
Magdalena Garvanova, Assoc. Prof. , Ph.D.
Nina Debruyne, Assoc. Prof. , Ph.D.
Diana Stoyanova, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D.
Editors
Georgeta Nazarska, Svetla Shapkalova
Editorial Address
SULSIT,
119, Tsarigradsko shosse,
Sofia, 1784, Bulgaria
 PEflHfHR H H3KYCTBO I RELIGION AND ART

ANCIENT WRITTEN SOURCES FOR DANCING ON EMBERS

Valeria Fol
AHT�4H� n�CMEH� �3BOP� 3A TAHU BbPXY }f{APABA
Ba11ep,,ui <1>011
valeriafol@gmail.com, v.fol@unibit.bg
Abstract: The article presents and analyses the ancient written evidence of dancing
and passing through embers that outline the spread of this rite and its
manifestations in various ancient cultures in the Mediterranean region.
Keywords: dancing/passing through embers, amastenaria/ nestinarstvo, Sardis,
Sabazios, priestess of Kastabala, entusiasmos lenthusiasmos, theophory.
Pe3ioMe: B cmamuHma ca npeocmaseHu u aHanu3upaHu aHmUl/Hume nucMeHu
csuoemencmsa 3a maHu, u npeKOCHBaHe Ha >Kapasa, Koemo Ol/epmasa pa3npocm­
paHeHuemo Ha mo3U o6peo B opeBHUme Kynmypu Ha CpeoU3eMHOMOpCKUH paUOH.
Kn1011oau dyMu: maHu, Bbpxy >Kapasa, HecmuHapcmso, Capou, Ca6a3uu, >Kpuu,a
om Kacma6ana, eHmycuacMoc, meocj:JopuH
Ancient written testimonies of dancing and passing through embers
have been the subject of analysis from the point of view of cults of
deities, in whose honour the fire-dancing/ amastenaria/ nestinarstvo rites
were also performed (ApHaYAOB 1971: 87-88, supplement by Ci)on 1994:
249-256 and Ci)on B. in: Ci)on, B. - He�Kosa 2000: 136-142). Although
introduced in scientific circulation, these sources remain outside the
attention of ethnologists, culturologists, sociologists and other specialists.
That is why I present these sources in a separate text in the hope that
they will give impetus to the understanding of the fiery ritual in the
traditional cultures of the Balkans.

Written sources for dancing on embers

The earliest evidence of dancing in fire with sacred objects is an

inscription from Sardis (ancient Lydia, Asia Minor). The inscription dates
back to the middle of the 2nd century, but is an exact copy of an original

180
 dated 365 BC, i.e. from the time of the Persian king Artaxerxes II
Mnemon (end of the 5th - first half of the 4th century BC).
The copy of the transcript had to be made in order to restore the old
prohibitions for the officials of the official Persian cult to the main
Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. The officials were forbidden to participate
in the mysteries of Sabazios, Agdistis and Ma. Lines 9-11 mention that
during the Sabasios Mysteries the things were carried in the fire. The ban
suggests a visualized worship of the god that is unacceptable to
Zoroastrianism. This inscription is extremely important because it
immediately ignores the connection between Zoroastrianism and
amastenaria/ nestinarstvo, often sought by researchers unfamiliar with
the old written sources.
Another early written source is found in Strabo (Strab. XII 2. 7). He
speaks of the priestesses of the goddess Artemis, who painlessly cross
hot coals with their bare feet. The rites take place during the night in a
central sanctuary for the towns with the common name Kastabala (now
Bodrum Kai/ Castle) The sacred territory is semi-mountainous and is
located near Tyana at the foot of the Taurus Mountains. Tyana is one of
the known places where the belief-ritualism towards the Great Mother
Goddess as an equal deity (paredros) of Sabasios is strongly expressed.
Another text by Strabo (Strab. V 2. 9) referring to Italic antiquity can
be called upon to facilitate the comparison with the fiery ritual in
Kastabala . At the foot of Monte Soratte Mountain on the Via Flaminia
north of Rome, the city also features a painless barefoot dance in burning
coals (embers). This was achieved by those possessed by the goddess ,
says Strabo. It seems that all believers participate in the ritual, not just
women. The rite was performed annually with a large influx of people for
the holiday.
lamolicnus {Jamal. De myst. m4) also mentions a wiestess from
Kastabala when writing about many who prophesy the future (possessing
a divine mantique) through enthusiasmos and theophory. i.e. about those
who bring God into themselves and carry him. According to lamblichus,
these people have subordinated their whole life to the purpose of being
an instrument of the gods who inspire them; these people have replaced
their human life with the divine one and exercise their personal life
according to the god. The author finds the main proof for these claims in

181
the fact that many approach the fire without burning themselves. The fire
does not touch them because of their divine inspiration. If they get
burned, they do not react, because at that moment they are not living an
animal life . After citing some other examples of painless stabbing and
cutting, lamblichus states that such actions are not human, because the
unattainable becomes achievable also through the effect of theophory
and - he continues - they throw themselves into the fire, cross the fire
and cross rivers, just like the priestess of Kastabala . Probably lamblichus
refers to the easy passing through fast and strong water, which could be
defined as purification and as merging with the divine element - Water -
without danger. lamblichus concludes that in their enthusiasmos these
believers live another life, more divine, which inspires and possesses
them completely.
The above texts show the very mechanism of the fiery ritualism . It
consists of the obsession by the god (enthusiasmos) and , as a
consequence , of carrying him (theophory). If we compare the
descriptions of nestinari from the first half of the 19th century to the mid-
1980s, it could be said that the lamblichus' text is the most accurate
description of the nestinari ritualism (<Pon, B. - He~KOsa 2000).
In the series of written testimonies we must also include a magic
hymn dedicated to Hecate - Selene - Arthemis (Hymni Magicae 21. 22-
24 Preisedanz, vol. 11, p. 259-260,1 V) . The accepted dating of the
anthem is the 4th century. In the hymn-spell the Great Mother Goddess
is invoked with different names - Hecate, Arthemis, Dione, Persea,
Baubo, etc. It is accepted that the magic formula, which is untranslatable,
is for good and for health. Just before this formula, the multi-named
Hecate is put on the same level with the ox-eyed Persephone.
Persephone passes quickly, ie. steps, crosses the fire. In the Hecate-
Persephone invocation, she is called the guardian and protector of the
threshing floor, of the stack-yard . This threshing floor/stack-yard has two
meanings: a hearth - a circle of fire, and a wheat threshing floor - which
both correspond to the codes of both theonyms Hecate and Persephone.
The three verses of the hymn are the only explicit testimony to the Great
Mother Goddess stepping into the fire.
According to Vigil (Aeneid, XI, pp. 785-789), the same ritual dance
in the fire is dedicated to Apollo. Virgil has poetized an old local rite , the

182
description of which contains evidence of a faith that allows one to dance
on embers. Servius's commentary (5th c.) on Aeneid about this place
from song XI gives as a parallel the legend of the so-called Hirpi Sorani -
the wolves of Monte Soratte - who danced barefoot on blazing embers
(Grimal 1969).
*
The roots of the ritualism of dancing in, or crossing flaming embers
are lost far back in the antiquity at a time when the cult of the Sun God is
already permanently internalized and given meaning to, and at a time
when the Sun's projection as sacred fire on earth is been established as
a sacred fire in a round shape. Archaeological traces of fire rituals have
been found in various parts of the Mediterranean and Asia Minor since
the most ancient times, and the inscription from Sardis shows that at the
end of the 5th century BC. there is an established ritualism of dancing in
embers. Written information outlines the distribution of the ritualism in the
Mediterranean region. The ritualism has found manifestations in various
ancient cultures and is preserved by the Thracian population in the
European territory of Constantinople, as evidenced by the spread of the
nestinari ritualism (©on, B. B (!)on, B. - He~Kosa 2000: 21-26; 30-32).
The preserved data outline unambiguously a ritualism in honour of the
Great Goddess Mother and her son which is best understood by
lamblichus and which is also the type of ritualism that is also initiational.

References
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cj)L-1S1 [Vergilii. 1979. Eneida. Prevod ot starogratski ezik Boris Tonkov. Sofia].
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183