Home    Number 5, 2014

Touching upon the Sacred: Seven Rila Lakes and the White Brotherhood in Bulgaria

Type of publication: Research Article

About author(s)

S. Toncheva | svetahet@abv.bg

Keywords

sacred places, new spirituality, revival of religion, post-socialism, Bulgaria, Universal White Brotherhood, Petar Dunov

Abstract

The article discusses the process of invention of the religious and the functions of the new sacred places in the contemporary culture. It draws on the case of the Seven Rila Lakes (Rila mountain, Bulgaria) which function as central sacred topos for the followers of the spiritual teacher Petar Dunov, or the community of the Universal White Brotherhood. It examines the pilgrimage to the Seven Lakes as important for the consolidation of the community event and its significance – as a reflection of the lack of sacredness in the postmodern contemporary culture.

Citation

Toncheva, S. 2014. Touching upon the Sacred: Seven Rila Lakes and the White Brotherhood in Bulgaria. Etnograficheskoe obozrenie 5: 10-19

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