In our day fire dancing has become more open and has lost its secrecy. In northern Greece it is already part of public life combining faith, art and attraction. In Bulgaria the dance over embers has dropped out of the ritual system and has become part of secular festivals and attractions visited by guests and tourists.

Nevertheless, fire dancing has preserved the kernel of the ritual system, the atmosphere and sacral objects of the environment in which it originated and existed. In this context the rituals in the honor of St. Constantine in Mount Strandja have kept their traditional character for the longest time.

In May, during the summertime Day of St. Atanasius, the fire-dancers from the village of Bulgari visited the chapels of St. Constantine in the village of Kosti. On Thursday before St. Constantine Day – Little St. Constantine or Kurbaneto – people unsealed and cleaned the holy springs of St. St. Constantine and Helena, made offering and took out the cases (shirts, redve) of the fire-dancing icons.

On the Sunday preceding St. Constantine, five villages gathered to celebrate in the locality of Dalechnata or the Big Holy Spring. On the very day of St. Constantine rituals included taking icons out of church and bringing them inside the chapel; the ritual dressing of icons in their festive shirts; the consecration of the holy spring of St. Constantine; making an offering; visiting homes with the fire-dancing icons; dancing on embers; ritual dinner; taking the festive clothes off icons; taking icons back into church.

The ritual walking on fire was performed only on those two days. The day following Peter’s Day is known as Little St. Elijah.  It is the day of cleaning the Saint’s holy spring. Celebrations include a pageant with the icon to the spring, making offering, ritual dinner.

The months when these rituals are performed, mark the changeover of seasons – from autumn to winter, from winter to spring, from spring to summer, from summer to autumn. The main holidays – St. Constantine and St. Helena, St. Elijah, St. Atanasius – are all strongly related to the Sun and fire. The chapels of St. Constantine and St. Elijah are also visited in other days of the year, especially on St. Nicholas, Christmas and St. John.