Assoc. Prof. Angel Goev has worked as an ethnographer (curator, chief curator and director) of the Ethnographic Open Air Museum “Etar”, Gabrovo. He is the author of more than 170 scientific studies (articles, monographs) and over 900 popular scientific publications in the field of traditional Bulgarian beliefs, customs and rituals. This is the result of his more than 55 years of difficult research on this very magical subject. Angel Goev knows how to make protective amulets and talismans, which he has presented in more than 100 exhibitions.

The topic of his lecture is “The Magic and the Magical in the Bulgarian folk culture”. Magic is one of the most ancient knowledge and is a fundamental practice in the life of man as a thinking being. And this means that it is one of the earliest rational activities and therefore the very first belief in life… Magic has accompanied man from his first steps as a rational being, hence it can be considered one of the first “sciences” in human knowledge. Through magic, a human can create, build and preserve their life in its entirety. And this is done through the application of the basic magical ritual pledge – “Likeness begets likeness”.
Life is the most important thing for humans, and to preserve it, they built a rich magical practice of beliefs, customs, rituals, actions, spells, blessings, etc., which have become traditional.
Today, we do find magic as still being a constant companion of man, and it will be there as long as there are people on Earth.

Free admission.

The lecture is part of the events of the exhibition “Threads I weave and threads I twine, joy and sorrow intertwine… (The magic and the magical in the Bulgarian folk culture)”.
The project is part of the official program of Plovdiv – European Capital of Culture 2019.