Ascension Day (Spasovden)
21 May 2026 · movable holiday — A dewy morning and good health to you! Happy Spasovden!
Spasovden, or the Ascension of the Lord, is one of the major feasts of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. According to the New Testament, forty days after the Resurrection Jesus Christ ascended into heaven in front of his disciples. For this reason the feast always falls on a Thursday, forty days after Easter (Easter plus 39 days). The date is movable because it depends on Easter, which is set by the first full moon after the spring equinox, reckoned by the Julian calendar. With the Orthodox Easter, Spasovden falls between mid-May and mid-June. In 2026 it is on 21 May. Folk tradition honours herbs and dew on this day. People believe that on the night before Spasovden herbs and dew have a special healing power. Herbs are gathered early in the morning, and some people wash with the dew for good health. In many places a kurban (a blessed shared meal) is prepared and given out for health. The feast is bound up with looking up to the sky and with hope.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver wreath of herbs and leaves drawn from pale points of light and thin lines, like a constellation, with tiny dew-like sparkles drifting off it as it slowly rises across the night sky
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