RILA MOUNTAIN, Bulgaria (Reuters) -Hundreds of people, barefoot and dressed in white, braved cold temperatures and fog near Bulgaria’s Kidney Lake 2,280 metres (7,480 feet) above sea level for an annual celebration of divine new year.
They are followers of the Universal White Brotherhood, which combines a form of Christianity with Indian mysticism.
Set up by Bulgarian spiritual teacher Peter Deunov in the 1920s, the society aims to help devotees link with cosmic energy.
Pascale, a 70-year old former air stewardess from France, has been attending the new year ritual, which lasts for three days, since 2015.
“For me its like rejuvenation,” she said. I would never miss this place for anything. Maybe an earthquake could stop me coming but even (that), not sure.”
The society’s name does not refer to ethnicity or race but to light and purity of the soul and the belief that all people can live in harmony, followers say.
“There are people who go to protest, other people, in other ways, demonstrate their civil rights,” Temenuga Petkova-Staykova, a teacher said.
“I say to myself – this (here) will be my civic service, in this way, I can give the world my energy to make it a better and more beautiful world.”
(Reporting by Spasiyana Sergieva; Writing by Ivana Sekularac; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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