Winter Simeon’s Day

According to the traditional Bulgarian beliefs two days after St. Triphon’s Day comes Winter Simeon’s Day. It is a typical local holiday when the wolves are raging and one of the worst days of the year. People living in different parts of Bulgaria mark the day in different ways but the most important thing for the day is that women are forbidden to spin, to knit and to open scissors, so that wolves do not open their mouths. On the third Wolf Day ash and garbage should not be thrown away to avoid making the wolves angry. In the region of the Rhodope Mountains young women, childless yet, celebrate the holiday by baking big ritual breads and handing them out to the neighbors. There the holiday is called the Holy Mother Day. In Northern Bulgaria people predict what the crop will be during the year – if the weather is fine, it will stay so 40 more days, if it is snowing heavily – bees will hive off well. People also believe that if you receive money on that day – you will receive all the year long, but if you give – then you will spend.