Bogomilism

A religiopolitical sect founded in the First Bulgarian Empire by the priest turned druid Bogomil five hundred years ago as a response to the introduction of feudalism and as a form of political movement and opposition to the Bulgarian state and the church.

The Bogomils call for a return to druidic teaching, rejecting the clerical hierarchy, and their primary political tendencies are a resistance to the state and church authorities. Their movement has spread quickly in the Balkans, gradually expanding throughout the Byzantine Empire and later reaching Kievan Rus’, Bosnia, Dalmatia, Rascia, Italy, and France. The Bogomils do not build churches because they revere their considered the natural world to be their temple. As they revered their gifted form and considered their body to be the temple. This gave rise to many forms of practice to cleanse oneself through purging, fasting, celebrating and dancing.