BULGARIAN

 AUTHOR: Dr. Yulia Voynarovitch-Zankov

The Sun is gilding the Eastern sky, growing pink, by its first rays and warms back the August earth under his feet. Today is the feast of our Lord’s Transfiguration, and he already made his 40-s, meaning that it is his own Transfiguration too. It is high time for him  ‘to enter his Man’s Power’, as they used to name  in these  areas since ancient times the Power to plow his land and to grow up his children. It was long before Sunrise when the new shirt hugged his strong  arms  in a white hug. His white sleeves wave as Angel’s wings when he is reaching to hug the rising Sun. Then the man turns back and  by a decisive swoop cuts …his old shadow. Now he is ready to meet and know his own

                                           PERSONAL  ORENDA

The above mentioned story unfortunately  would sound rather more as a science fiction scenario for the majority of modern Bulgarians. It is however less than a century had been a usually practiced ritual for entering adulthood for any Bulgarian man. Even it is probable that there still are some areas of Bulgaria, especially where still live centenarians , who are keeping safe their white snow-white shirts they used to wear in meeting their Orenda, and dressed in the same shirts they would bid farewell to this Earth, to return back to the Eternal, the Universe Orenda.

Why modern Bulgarians use terms like ‘prana’, reyki’, ‘ki’, ‘chi’, ‘la’ etc., with no less competence than any Hindu, Japanese, Chinese or Tibetian, but blindly trust Wikipedia defining Orenda as ‘a secret knowledge of the Iroquois Indians’?

There is nothing worse than someone or something to be forgotten. This is valid in all levels – from the individual person to the nation. And as Nature doesn’t tolerate vacuum, the deserted niches of our national consciousness are getting filled up with shining surrogates packed in hollow pseudo concepts like ‘Channeling’, ‘Reiki’, ‘New age’, usually using the ‘method’ of the parrot. So that these words sound somehow ‘international’, ‘packing’ you in the halo of an Esoteric. But in the meantime we forget our great writer Aleko Konstantinov travelled ‘to Chicago and back’, to make a press report about the World’s Fair. And one of the hit of his itinerary is the story about the Indian rugs and embroideries have…Bulgarian motives. Also the novels of Karl May and Mayne Reid teach us that the Power houses in the scull according to some West Indian tribes, and the same is a part of the proto-Bulgarian traditional beliefs too. Both West Indians and proto-Bulgarians this Power can be drunk out of a powerful enemy if you drink from his …scull, so in this way you can add his strength to yours. This was a typical practice for both West Indian chieftains and our proto-Bulgarian Khans. Thus our Krum the Terrible according to the legend added to his own Orenda that of the Byzantine Emperor Nicephorus, after he had defeated him, and a famous folk-song immortalized that unique ritual.

Having no Orenda, the Bulgarian wearing the snow-white shirt of an angel is in no possibility to acquire his own self-Transformation, and not only in the pagan sense of this term, as Our Lord’s Transformation is one of the 12 most important Orthodox Christian feasts of the year, and the Theologians call it ‘meeting God face to face’, to receive from Him the Mission of his adulthood. Or, as our long-forgotten ancestors would say ‘to meet his Orenda’. А deprived of Orenda how the Bulgarian can plow his land or look after his children?..Maybe this is how the Bulgarian children recently grow not LOOKED AFTER but rather ‘CHATTED ONLINE AFTER’ via Skype or Messinger, by migrant-working parents.How many of us really look or hear our kids – rather their distanced silence than their arrogant talk?..And we forget what a Power is inplanted in our authentic language, speech, which is one of the elements of the Orenda, together with the water, the earth and our ancestral memory!

                                            THE BULGARIAN ENERGY

Some people call it ‘the Breath of God’, others – ‘the Celestial Leader”, still others – ‘the Divine Spark’. For us, the Bulgarians, as for some American Indians too, it is Orenda. And all names are true.

 I AM everything that IS, and everything  that IS Am I.

They named it ‘the Bulgarian Orenda’, as Orenda is an originally proto-Bulgarian term, or even the Proto-Bulgarian definition of the complex phenomenon ‘Power of God’ – a definition created BY Bulgarians and FOR Bulgarians, for their own specific vibrations.

Why then we take a fancy to Reiki, Ki,Ci Chi, Hvarno, Prana? These are not the  respective Japanese, Cninese, Korean, Hindu etc. ‘powers of God’. There is only one Power of God, and all these terms are just its names in different languages. All of them sound in a different way, of course, because they all are results of equally powerful, but speaking different languages civilizations. Each local language embodies the local energy vibrations. In each spiritual practice THE VIBRATION /the sound modulation/ of a certain word or name leads to a deeper ‘connection’. When practicing a specific name, when it corresponds to the same specific LAND or PEOPLE, you can achieve THE CHOICE OF THE SOUL, what is more – HERE and NOW, IN THIS SAME INCARNATION, TO THIS SAME LAND.

Thus Reiki is not ‘the Japanese energy”, but it is a function of the Japanese land, language and philosophy. Thus the Bulgarian Orenda, although we turned it to just ‘a shadow of our long forgotten ancestors’, is a primordial part of our sacred land, and despite our carelessness, protects from decay our national roots. It always reminds us that

                         STONE PULLING ITS WEIGHT

Now, when we stated that Orenda is the Knowledge of Bulgarians, let us make clear what kind of Knowledge it is, and what is the Proto-Bulgarian specifics in it?

One of the sad lessons Modern Times taught us is about the Vital Energy we got deprived of by the Indusrial and Post-Industrial Societies. Preservatives, Toxins, Genetically Modified Products, energy-vampires in the form of smartphones or computers. Our stupid self-conceit prevents us from utilizing our Ancestors  Knowledge – if not for any other reasons, just to compensate our energy insufficiencies.

We, Bulgarians bare in our blood unique and powerful energies, but we don’t know them well. It is scientifically proven that the vibrations in the music tones and the sounds of different words possess different strength and kind of the energy charge. The word ‘Orenda’ is such a word, and it directly  charges us, Bulgarians with positive Energy which itself is Orenda. Our Tangraist priests-worriers the Kolobres, called like this the magic Power which according to them was keeping one certain spiritual territory, named SARAKT, on what was developing and being kept Bulgarian Spirit. Our ancestors believed that secret  Power is able to kill just by one touch, but to resurrect as well. The Proto-Bulgarian priests, the Kolobres apart from serving Tangra, used pequliar practices to cultivate within themselves that divine Power, converting themselves into emanation of this Power, BUT as well knew the secrets to manage it. Bulgars believed that Orenda can transfer from one person to another. This is the source of the ritual of drinking wine from a human scull. Considering the analogue with Iroquois Indians tradition, comes clear that Orenda apart from being an Archetype, e.i. a universal civilization phenomenon presented in traditions all over the world , but as well the strongest and real Internal Power. At first look it is analogical to some other Eastern ideas, but in fact is quite different. Using the terminology of modern science we can define Orenda as a specific type of energy which has electromagnetic plasma or field type, acting in sub-atomic level.To this energy are related numerous psychological and physical phenomena like: telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis, psychometrics, treatment with ordination, manual therapy, levitation, psychotronic   effects. Thus Proto-Bulgarian Orenda is powerful, real and pragmatic Energy, being presented tangible and real in life of the people, as well as in the martial practices during wars. The ancient chronicles  inform us not only about these practices, but about the high respect towards our spiritual practices  in ancient times. The Arabic chronist of X century A.D. Al Masoodi wrote that ‘Bulgars belong to the religion of the Magicians’.

            THE ORENDA AND THE SECRET OF THE   BULGARIAN

Protobulgarians believed they possessed the strongest and true internal Power.This Power should not be personified neither by numerous gods, nor even by one single God.This universal Superpower had marked Bulgarians by a part of itself which they can pass from one generation to another as an immanent part of the Bulgarian Genome. As a reward the Bulgarians are destined to be victorious, and to fulfill the special Mission they are assigned to by the Supreme Power. Martial skills are also added to Orenda. It is not accidentally that the Bagatures, our ancient knights, used to lead out attack the cavalry loudly shouting out the name of one of the 12 Symbols of Orenda.

In summary, Orenda is a fundamental ancient Knowledge and Art related to the ancient Bulgarian spiritual system, their Runic alphabet and Glagolic alphabet.Orenda is a Spiritual road, a Spiritual Path, a Practice, a concentrated Intention for Happiness and Harmony, a binding with our nature as a Unit of Light and Breath of God.

‘Orenda’  is the oldest Bulgarian word and in many ways matches that which mass-media call ‘The Secret of the Bulgarian’.According to experts ‘Orenda’ is a word having a powerful and enormous vibration, and is itself a power which if mastered can both kill or resurrect. OPrenda has 2 main principles :

         -  Synchronization

and

         -  Concentrated Intention

Orenda has 12 Symbols, and everyone of them bares a message, a swirl, movement of particles .They are Method, a Key to unlock the true Energy. It contains ‘WORD’ /waves, endless waves/ which start from the moment of pronouncing and continues to move forever. It passes through Space and Time, and transforms into Matter.

Orenda is not just knowledge, but a Practice too, built on rules and laws. Orenda is the road of connection of man with  himself. Orenda is the eternal Movement.

The term Orenda is endless as UNIVERSE itself, and gave Bulgarians a precious gift – the unique Honor which is a unique Responsibility as well – to be Keepers and to give to generation after generation their own Part of the Universal Energy which was given us at the Dawn of Times to light the Being of our human Brotherhood. This phenomenon is basic for the so called  ‘Secret of the Bulgarian’, e.i. the Bulgarian Genome, the sacred importance of which we would continue to inform our readers , building in this way Bridges to the New, knowing that the New is only…an Old  traditioin, forgotten and deleted on purpose out of our national Consciousness.

                                        The Orenda and its 12 Signs

/СНИМКИ НА СИМВОЛИТЕ/

When explaining the meaning of each of the 12 Signs of the Orenda, let us underline that besides their powerful sound vibrations during their verbalization /call or spell/, each of them possesses a visual sense for magic visualization. There are  proofs that St.Ciril and St.Metodius, the creators of the Slav Alphabet , were among the great  Adepts  of the Orenda. The story of Glagolitic  and Cyrilitic Alphabets are worth a separate presentation, but  the presentation of the unique Bulgarian Orenda would be unfinished without presentation the meaning of each one of them, after we explained the total sense of Orenda as a whole.

1.Universal Orenda – symbolizes the Path of the Power, intensifies energy.

2. Divine Love – a symbol of the striving of men to the Love of the Creator and the protection of  the relevant Guardian Angel

3. Bless, Trinity; Father – Son – Holy Spirit; Spirit – Soul – Body. Every step of you would be blessed.

4. Faith – Love – Wisdom; The Principle of Christ, the Home of Christ; Love is the Sense, Faith is the Movement, and the Wisdom is the Awareness

5. Love

6. Good Luck

7. Prosperity

8. Health

The last 4 Signs of the Orenda are called  CRUCIAL and regulate in a positive way every negative aspect of life /e.i. poor health, emotional problems, deadlock/:

9. ENERGY BALANCING – Balancing and Harmony are the 2 Basis of Balance. It leads to harmonizing, balance and deserved peace.

10. PURIFYING OF KARMA -  a Symbol of prevention. It is Humility and Pardoning .The choice to open your internal eyes, and understanding that your life is NOT a series of accidents.

11. TREATMENT OF KARMA – everyone of us bears their mistakes as a luggage and should disload, directing their choice in favor of learned lessons and uplifting.

12. LIFE-CHANGE – this is the most powerful of the 12 Symbols, and that is why it needs a very careful approach, realizing in advance clearly what do you want to change.

The 12 Orenda Signs had been used actively both in the esoteric and spiritual practices of the Kolobres, in Modern Times – practiced by Wizards and Adepts, healers and sorcerers, as well as in martial arts and military strategies of the Proto-Bulgarians. These practices are still presented nowadays , although quite rarely, in some rituals used mostly for ethno-show, like Mummers /Kukeri/  Plays, Epiphany and St.Lazarus Feast fortune-telling, water-spells etc.

In the course of the continuing spiritual crisis the modern humanity is drowning in , more and more Bulgarians as well as lots of foreigners expertized in the ancient Proto-Bulgarian spiritual and historical heritage , are turning to the Wisdom of our Roots. Re-invention of  Orenda is a part of this Revival of Knowledge we had received as a Gift thousands of years ago.

To re-discover as a nation Theory and Practice of Orenda, this is not an attempt to escape from our ‘modern’ mistakes and sins behind the greatness and wisdom of our ancestors, but to re-build the living Bridge founded by our Ancestors, leading the whole Humanity to a Future of Dignity. Maybe this is precisely what is the Mission of the Bulgarian.