“We do it for health (za zdrave)”. Sensational Forms Related to the Cult of Healing Springs (ayazma) in Orthodox Christian Shrines in South-Western Bulgaria

The article describes sensational forms connected with the cult of healing waters, as found in Orthodox Christian religious communities of south-western Bulgaria. Referring to the concept of the porous self I analyze how and why Orthodox Christian devotees in Bulgaria attribute a life-giving force (zhivonosna/zhivotvorna) to the healing springs (ayazma) found in the monastery, and how they use those for ablutions and drinking, thereby hoping to increase their personal vitality. The data is discussed from a synchronic and diachronic perspective. This way I can show interesting cultural parallels between current practices at the healing springs at the monastery, the iconography of Bogoroditsa the Life-Giving Spring, and the cult established at the monastery of the Mother of God of the Spring (Zoodohos Pege) in Constantinople, attested since the medieval period. Rooted in an emic Orthodox Christian understanding of the concept of life-giving forces, this analysis is important in anthropological terms in that it demonstrates that life-giving force is an underlying concept that manifests itself as divine power, grace or energy, all of which are key terms in the Orthodox Christian religious lexicon.