Кометите в представите на възрожденските българи
Comets in the Worldview of the Bulgarians During the National Revival

Summary/Abstract: The changes of the views of the people living during the Bulgarian National Revival on the comets (stars with a tail) are studied on the base of the preserved marginal notes in books and articles in the press from the Bulgarian National Revival. The documents show the two forms of development of the culture in Bulgaria – the high culture and the popular culture. The superstitions and prejudices definitely constituted a large percentage due to the traditional folk culture, which slowly changed and with difficulty. The facts that illus-trate ordinary people’s fear of the stars with a tail in Europe, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, show that this phenomenon was commonplace and it included all people. At the same time the Bulgarians in the 19th century were quite well-informed about those celes-tial bodies and were not detached from the current achievements of astronomy in those times. The overcoming of the irrational medieval primitivism was carried into effect on the basis of the gained experience from the observations, the higher education of the Bulgari-an intelligence and the progress in natural science in this aspect. The rational views on the committees became more enduring with the time. This shows again the transience of the epoch and the slow changes in the view of life of the people who lived during the Bulgari-an National Revival.

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