Lifted Up by the Power of the Saints

This thesis explores the experience of Bulgarian ritual firewalking, prihvanati, from the perspective of two individual nestinari(firewalkers), Ivailo Ayanski and Vesselina Ilieva. Building upon their personal accounts, it focuses on the history and context of the firewalking rite and the transcendent qualities that are at the heart of its performance. With specific attention to music, ritual symbolism, ancient historical roots, and individual accounts of the two firewalkers, I examine the experiential nature of this state of "being lifted up" as an interaction between bodily, musical, and metaphysical experiences. As I argue, in establishing a connection between interdependent and interrelated domains of human experience such as body, music, and divinity, the Bulgarian nestinari formulate a state of wholeness that fosters a renewed cosmological balance and, in turn, individual and communal well-being.