St Ignatius Day (Ignazhden)
20 December 2026 — Good day to this home! Good day to this home! As many sparks in the hearth, so much health and plenty!
St Ignatius Day, or Ignazhden, is marked in Bulgaria on 20 December and, in the folk calendar, opens the Christmas festivities. The name comes from the Christian saint Ignatius of Antioch, but the customs are older and rooted in folk tradition. It is believed that the first guest to cross the threshold on this day, called the polaznik, foretells how the coming year will go. That is why a kind, healthy and lucky person is invited. He enters the house, often carrying a cornel-wood branch, stirs the embers in the hearth and speaks wishes for health, harvest and abundance. The hosts welcome him warmly and treat him to food and drink. In some regions women avoid kneading dough or going out early that morning, so as not to upset the household's luck. The day falls just before the winter solstice (around 21–22 December), when the night is longest and the Sun turns back towards the light. The hearth fire then stands for returning light and hope for a rich new year.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure made of luminous dots and thin lines, like a constellation walking across the sky: a cloaked visitor holding a slender cornel-wood staff, gently stirring a glowing hearth of sparkling stars; tiny sparks drift upward from the fire
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