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614 POMAKS
Yoruk (see Yoruk). There are also many Turkish place names and Turkish
personal and family names, although they have been Slavicized.
Pomak culture is a combination of pre-Christian, Christian and Muslim elements.
The Pomak ritual calendar, like the Christian, is based on an agricultural
cycle and includes magical and propitiatory acts to ensure a good harvest, good
health and fertility for men and animals. Pomaks, especially women, have continued
to enact Christian and pre-Christian rites such as keeping holy water and
crosses, venerating Christian shrines and priests and making offerings to saints
and pagan deities. Pomaks share with Bulgarian Christians many institutions
such as Active kinship (god-parenthood) and such customs as exchange of red
eggs on Easter, the tapping of cornel branches on New Year's Day, the divining
of young girls' fortunes on St. John's Day and the decoration of the house on
St. George's Day. Shepherding rituals are noticeably absent since the Pomaks
are not commonly shepherds. Pomak life-cycle celebrations, such as weddings,
conform to Christian practice with the addition of such "Muslim" elements as
the dyeing of the bride's hair and hands with henna. Their lack of familiarity
with official Islam, caused by their mountain isolation, has made the Pomaks
better preservers of the folkways of the area than the Christians.
The Pomaks practice many traditions of Islam. They do not eat pork or drink
alcoholic beverages; they celebrate the circumcisions of young boys (sunet). Men
and women are segregated in public while men congregate in village coffeehouses,
women visit and pray at home and remain secluded from the public.
Other Muslim customs observed in the past are no longer practiced today. Until
recently Pomaks observed the Ramadan fast and the two major feast days, Id al
Fitr and Id al Adha ("Maluk" and "Golem Bajram," respectively). In areas
where there was little contact with Christians, Pomak women wore veils (jashmak)
in public and wore a black outer coat (feredzhe). Everywhere, women
could be distinguished immediately as Christian or Muslim by their costume.
Today traditional dress is only seen in the more isolated villages.
Polygyny, now forbidden by law, was always rare among the Pomaks. Marriage
was (and continues to be) endogamous and arranged by the parents of the
couple. The bride does not participate in the dancing and merrymaking, but
remains indoors on display for the guests to admire. She may be quite young,
in her mid-teens, with the groom only slightly older. She is expected to prepare
an extensive dowry of handmade items for her new home, including carpets,
blankets, clothing and gifts for wedding guests. Virtually all Pomak women
weave, and some of the finest Rhodope weavers are Pomaks.
Pomak society is patrilineal and patrilocal, based on the extended family
(zadruga), which shares resources and money and divides agricultural, herding
and household work among members by sex and age. Indoor and outdoor communal
work parties are regularly called to aid villagers with handiwork such as
spinning and tobacco stringing and with construction projects. Men and women
usually work separately, but socializing and courting do occur.
Many changes have come into Pomak life in the twentieth century. With the