Foundation motto:
We fill hearts with folklore and light. We awaken the past, we inspire the future.
For us, the name ZARINA is a symbol of a new beginning and pride in being Bulgarian.🇧🇬
Zarina is a community of professionals and enthusiasts in the field of Bulgarian folklore. Our cause is to collect, preserve and pass on to future generations the knowledge of our Bulgarian roots and traditions.
Our experience will be the spark with which we cherish to ignite the hearts of the young for the Bulgarian and the native, to open the chests and memories of mothers and grandmothers for the customs of our lands.
Zarina is an old female name. Its origin is a controversial issue. Many linguists will gravitate towards the Slavic version, according to which Zarina means “dawn”, “beauty of the dawn”, “starry”. Others adhere to the Central Asian version. The leader of the ancient Saki people, who in the past inhabited the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, was called Zaraneya or Zarnia. Translated into Russian, it means “golden”, “golden” and “golden-haired”. This name also has a Muslim origin. It is believed that it was borrowed from the Persian language and comes from the same root word “zar”. Its meaning is “sunbeam”, “golden”, “solar”, “red sun”.
There is no consensus on the origin of the name Zarina. It is equally popular among Ossetians, Iranians and Slavs. Therefore, there are several versions of the meaning and origin of the name Zarina. According to the Slavic version, the name Zarina has the meaning of “morning dawn” or “dawn”. The Ossetian people have a different interpretation – “rays of the morning sun” or “fiery sun”. According to the Arabic version, the meaning of the name is “golden”, “sunny”. There is also a Persian version of the appearance of the name, according to which it is translated as “golden-haired”. The Jewish people have their own version of this name, which sounds like Sarah (Zara) and its translation in this case is “princess”.
How did the idea for Zarina come about?
Zarina Foundation was born not as a project, but as an inner need - to preserve, create and transmit meaning. At a time when the world is moving ever faster, we understood and felt the need for grounding, for connection - with our roots, with others, with ourselves.
We gathered - people from different paths: teachers, doctors, therapists, musicians, yoga instructors, craftsmen, guided by one quiet and clear idea: that there is power in returning to the simple, the essential, the real.
And so, between one embroidery, one song, one yoga pose, and one child's smile, Zarina was born - not just an organization, but a space of the spirit, where:
Folklore is not a museum, but a breathing memory
Children not only students, but bearers of light
Yoga is not a technique, but a path inward.
Professions do not divide us, but intertwine into one whole.
We created Zarina as a nest where knowledge and love, hands and heart, tradition and the future meet. And we believe that when we come together with pure intention - every difference becomes a gift, every knowledge - part of the whole.
