Trifon Zarezan - Bulgarian ritual on cutting the vines

Trifon Zarezan is celebrated in the first part of February (usually either the first or the fourteenth). Trifon Zarezan is an old occupation-related custom in Bulgaria.

The Orthodox Church commemorates martyr St. Trifon. Since a very early age he was able to ask God to make miracles.

According to Bulgarian folk traditions, St. Trifon is a patron of vine-growers, wine-producers and pub-owners. On St. Trifon’s Day, a ritual cutting of vine branches is performed.

According to ethnographers, the ancient cult of Dionysus – god of vineyards, wine and feasts – is in the foundation of that Christian holiday.

In ancient times it was believed that wherever Dionysus passed, people learned how to grow vines and produce wine.

St. Trifon was a young man who was a gardener and a farmer.

He suffered martyrdom very young and this is the reason he is usually depicted with no beard and his hair a bit messy, while in his right hand, he holds the cross to show that he was a martyr. In his left hand, he may hold a flower or a farming tool.

The festivities on the day of Trifon Zarezan mark the dividing line between the ending of winter and the nearing of spring.

The transition between the two seasons stirs the most fierce conflict in the annual natural cycle - it is the transition between the dead winter season and the invigorating powers of the following seasons.

That is why, namely in this period, rituals are performed to strengthen and ensure a triumph of vitality and fruitfulness. The first pruning of the vines for the season is the main ritual performed on February 14, when people gather in the vineyards outside the villages.

Only the men can prune the vines, but women are not totally deprived of partaking in the holiday observation. Women get up early in the morning, bake festive bread - loaves decorated with dough vines and grapes, roast a hen stuffed with grits (baked ground corn kernels), and put these all and a flask of wine in a woolen bag and see the men to the gate.

Women also knead special round loaves - a symbol of the fertile field, and generously hand them out to neighbours and relatives. Men first go to the holiday church service and then head to the vineyards, taking a musician with them.

Mural icon of St.Triphon the Martyr

On this day as observed throughout the country, the vines are pruned and sprinkled with wine. Ritual songs and dances are performed around an abundant spread, involving also many wishes for a plentiful harvest.

In some areas, a Vine King is chosen and he is crowned with a wreath of vine twigs. Everybody treats him with great respect, for it is believed that fertility would depend on the Kings well-being.

Traditional Bulgarian family Trifon observance