ST. BARBARA – A CHRISTIAN CULT AND FOLK PRACTICES

Abstract

The present study deals with the cult of St. Barbara: it traces how the information from the hagiographic narrative reflects legendary ideas and motifs, and how it influences people's ideas and practices. For a better understanding of the spread of the cult of St. Barbara among the Slavs, in the first part of the report, some accounts of the hagiographical texts in Old Bulgarian literature have been translated without this review being intended to be exhaustive. The second part of the study examines some of the motifs that make up the hagiographic narrative for the saint, among which we find the so-called wandering motifs. The saint's place in folk practices and beliefs is considered. Observations show that the cult of St. Barbara mixes ideas related to the pagan but also to the Christian worldview.