The Three Belins and their syncretisms in the oral tradition of Western Slovenia

[The Three Belins and their syncretisms in the oral tradition of Western Slovenia] In Western
Slovenia and beyond, the belief in the god Belin and the magical power of the key of St Belin was
still alive at least at the beginning of the 20th century. Belin has been continuously worshipped
here since prehistoric times (since the Iron Age or even in the Bronze Age). In the Middle Ages till
the Modern Age his healing power (the eyes) was linked to the key of St Belin. The worship spread
eastwards
from Polesina to the area of today’s Western Slovenia.
Like St Belin, St Albinus, in folk denomination known as Belin, can also be linked to healing, as
he was an intercessor for childhood and eye diseases. As St Albin died on 1 March, this is the day of
his feast and, according to tradition, the beginning of the “Year of Belin and Spring”. His year and
the agricultural seasons were measured by a peasant calendar consisting of an oak tree and four
stones in a semicircle.
In the case of the god Belin, the healing key of St Belin and the beginning of the year of Belin on 1 March, which is also the day of the death of St Albinus, there is therefore a medieval-post- medieval
syncretism of Christian elements with Old Faith elements dating from prehistoric times. The
healings
associated with them should be understood primarily symbolically, since Belin was also the
god of the sun, light and healing, and healed (and overcame) blindness (or darkness). It is therefore
not surprising that his feast day was celebrated on 1 March, or in the spring, when the darker half of
the year turns into the lighter half.
Keywords: Belin, Belen, St Belin, St Albin, syncretism, oral tradition, calendar, Western Slovenia