The Kuker denotes a folkloric ritual monster. It is an ancient tradition to create a costume and a mask, as scary as they can be. The scarier - the better, as the kuker's mission is to scare the evil away. It is worn in a specific time of the year and that is when the person becomes the kuker. The costume is usually made of animal skin with the fur on the outer side. It can also be from feathers or fabric.

One of the most magical parts are the "chanove" - special, heavy cooper/bronze bells. When dozens of chanove synchronize, the vibration that goes through your body is purifying.

It is something that needs to be felt.

The sound of the chanove is also a tool to scare the evil away. Scientifically, it is proven that a bell's sound have positive impact on the human body and mind.

A video can provide just a glimpse to the experience.

Obviously it is from the times before Bulgarians were forced to accept Christianity. From the so-called "pagan" times. Some of them connected to the Thracians from 7 000 years ago and the records for kukeri date from 1600 B.C. I will not get into any more detail for now, as there are going to be more posts on the subject. The photo and video material are original work, as I am part of a kukeri group and we have several events to attend to. All the material was shot yesterday at the first "Surva" event in Pernik (my hometown) for this year. The next "Surva" here is later this month, and it is an epic International Masquerade Games Festival. There will be a big post about it for sure.

The event yesterday included a big fire. Love the contrast between the cute kids warming their hands and the grotesque kukeri going around. This time of the year allows me to connect to my roots and feel the ancient in the present.

The same kids danced the traditional dance "horo". You can learn more about it in my website here. For some reason they did not get the deserved attention but did a fantastic job.

I am overwhelmed with joy to know that there are always horo dance groups and a lot of kids connect to their roots in this beautiful way.

It is time to admit that my participation in the group is not like a Kuker. I wear a nosia, which is a traditional costume. The black part on top is called "литак" (leetak) and it was gifted to me from my grandmother and belonged to my great-grandmother. I am so happy to wear it! Check out my video about the magical properties of the symbols on this type of clothes.

At the end of the event I was invited to a celebration in the town hall. It was a great joy to dance some horo myself and then to shoot the next video. If you wonder why the boy is in a dress, it is because in the Kukeri tradition there are some characters added. One of them is "the pope".

It is ironic though, as the tradition is not Christian but he was put there because the church did not have much choice. That is because in their heart Bulgrains did not stop to cherish their true roots. The church just took over the traditions and added itself there, so there can be some kind of "balance".

In any case, the pope below did make a jolly-good show. The name of this specific horo is "селското" (selskoto) and is relatively wide known. That was one of the moments I was a bit ashamed that I know only 2-3 simple horo types and not this one.

For finishing words, if it was not the fire I doubt there would have been more than 10 people, as the temperature was around 0. Thank you fire for making this happen.

It was a great experience and I am happy to share it with you all. There are three more events I will be attending and if there is a chance to capture them, you will see more.

There are a lot of cultures that have their own Kukeri with different names and details. Is yours one of them?