Baba Vanga

Life

Vanga was born in 1911 in Strumica, then in the Ottoman Empire, but in 1912 the city was ceded to Bulgaria. She was a premature baby who suffered from health complications. In accordance with local tradition, the baby was not given a name until it was deemed likely to survive. When the baby first cried out, a midwife went into the street and asked a stranger for a name. The stranger proposed Andromaha (Andromache), but this was rejected for being "too Greek" during a period of anti-Hellenic sentiment within Bulgarian society. Another stranger's proposal was a Greek name, but popular with Bulgarians in the region: Vangelia (from Evangelos).

In her childhood, Vangelia was an ordinary child with brown eyes and blonde hair. Her father was an IMRO activist, conscripted into the Bulgarian Army during World War I, and her mother died soon after. This left Vanga dependent on the care and charity of neighbours and close family friends for much of her youth. After the war, Strumica emigrated from Bulgaria to Serbia. The Serbian authorities arrested the father, because of his pro-Bulgarian activity. They confiscated all his property and the family fell into poverty for many years. Vanga was considered intelligent for her age. Her inclinations started to show up when she herself thought out games and loved playing "healing" – she prescribed some herbs to her friends, who pretended to be ill. Her father, being a widower, eventually remarried, thus providing a stepmother to his daughter.

According to her own testimony, a turning point in her life occurred when a 'tornado' allegedly lifted her into the air and threw her in a nearby field. She was found after a long search. Witnesses described her as very frightened, and her eyes were covered with sand and dust, she was unable to open them because of the pain. There was money only for a partial operation to heal the injuries she had sustained, This resulted in a gradual loss of sight.

In 1925 Vanga was brought to a school for the blind in the city of Zemun, in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, where she spent three years, and was taught to read Braille, play the piano, as well as do knitting, cooking, and cleaning. After the death of her stepmother she had to go back home to take care of her younger siblings. Her family was very poor, and she had to work all day.

In 1939 Vanga contracted pleurisy, although it remained largely inactive for some years. The doctor's opinion was that she would die soon, but she quickly recovered.

During World War II, Strumica was ceded to Bulgaria. At that time Vanga attracted believers in her ability to heal and soothsay – a number of people visited her, hoping to get a hint about whether their relatives were alive, or seeking for the place where they died. On 8 April 1942 the Bulgarian tzar Boris III visited her.

On 10 May 1942, Vanga married Dimitar Gushterov, a Bulgarian soldier from the village of Krandzhilitsa near Petrich, who had come asking for the killers of his brother, but had to promise her not to seek revenge. Shortly before marriage, Dimitar and Vanga moved to Petrich, where she soon became well-known. Dimitar was then conscripted in the Bulgarian Army and had to spend some time in Northern Greece, which was annexed by Bulgaria at the time. He got another illness in 1947, fell into alcoholism, and eventually died on 1 April 1962.

She continued to be visited by dignitaries and commoners. After the Second World War, Bulgarian politicians and leaders from different Soviet Republics, even Leonid Brezhnev, sought her counsel; in the 1990s, a church was built in Rupite by Bogdan Tomalevski with money left by her visitors. Vanga died on 11 August 1996 from breast cancer. Her funeral attracted large crowds, including many dignitaries.

Fulfilling Vanga's last will and testament, her Petrich house was turned into a museum, which opened its doors for visitors on 5 May 2008.

Work

Vanga was semi-literate in Bulgarian, she could read some Braille in Serbian, as she learned in Zemun. She did not write any books herself. What she said or allegedly said had been captured by staff members. Later numerous esoteric books on Vanga's life and predictions were written.

Vanga claimed that her extraordinary abilities had something to do with the presence of invisible creatures, but she could not clearly explain their origin. She said that those creatures gave her information about people, which she could not transmit to them, because distance and time did not matter. According to Vanga, the life of everyone standing in front of her was like a film to her from birth until death. But changing "what was written on the generation" was well beyond her power.

Sources such as The Weiser Field Guide to the Paranormal, as well as conspiracy theorists and British tabloids, claim that she foretold the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl disaster, the date of Stalin's death, the sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk, the September 11 attacks, Topalov's victory in the world chess tournament, the failure and aftermath of the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft, the Phobosgate and Gamergate controversies, the rise of Islamic State, Brexit, Barack Obama was the last acting US President, Donald Trump being the messianic personality who's the peacemaker, the tensions with North Korea, and the trials and tribulations of one autistic student at Universiti Putra Malaysia during his Masters program in the form of drone flight practices. On the other hand, Bulgarian sources say that the people who were close to her claim that she never prophesied about Kursk or other subjects circulating the Internet, and that many of the myths about Vanga are simply not true, which ultimately hurts and crudely misrepresents her and her work.

In early August 1976, Yugoslav actress and singer Silvana Armenulić was on tour in Bulgaria and decided to seize the opportunity to meet with Baba Vanga. The meeting was unpleasant. Vanga only sat and stared out a window with her back to Silvana. She did not speak. After a long time, Vanga finally spoke: "Nothing. You do not have to pay. I do not want to speak with you. Not now. Go and come back in three months." As Silvana turned around and walked towards the door, Vanga said: "Wait. In fact, you will not be able to come. Go, go. If you can come back in three months, do so." Silvana took this as confirmation that she would die and left Vanga's home in tears. Armenulić died two months later, 10 October 1976, in a car crash with her sister Mirjana.

In 1979, Vanga predicted about a Greater Russia rising to become a superpower, leading to the removal of everything in its path.

Everything will melt away like ice yet the glory of Vladimir, the glory of Russia are the only things that will remain. Russia will not only survive, it will dominate the world.

Vanga incorrectly predicted that the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final would be played between "two teams beginning with B". Some say that she foretold it that way because of the penalty that Bulgaria was not given. One finalist was Brazil, but Bulgaria was eliminated by Italy in the semifinals. Vanga predicted that a World War III would start in November 2010 and last until October 2014. However, according to close friends, Vanga was not the type to voice predictions she saw if they were catastrophic because she knew that chaos would ensue around those she told. Witnesses and close friends also claim that she never made such prophecies, and in fact when asked claimed that there will be no World War III. Nevertheless, after North Korea — a nuclear nation — attacked South Korea on 23 November 2010, there was a spike in internet interest about Vanga concerning this alleged prophecy.

Vanga purportedly predicted another 'realm of being,' claiming that entire cultures would begin to spread through a 'false world.' She claimed that in 2003, any person would be able to think in synchronicity with others, allowing for a form of secondary existence. 2003 marked the year of release of the game Second Life, in which an account holder can make an avatar and engage in social interaction with others. Many believe this to be the secondary 'realm of being' that Vanga spoke of.

Vanga attempted to prophesy about newborn or unborn children. She said that she was "seeing" and "talking" to people, who had died hundreds of years ago. Vanga talked about the future, although she did not like to. In her words, in 200 years men will make contact with brothers in mind from other worlds. She said that many aliens have been living on the earth for years. They came from the planet, which in their language is called Vamfim, and is the third planet from the Earth.

In 1988, she predicted those of big leaders and the Eighth One, whom people referred to as Vladimir Putin, as well as the nations joining the Group of Eight.

We are witnessing the events of paramount significance. Two big leaders shook hands. (manifest reference to Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan). But we have to wait for a long time before the Eighth One will come forth and sign a final peace agreement on Earth.

Followers of Vanga believe that she predicted the precise date of her own death, dreaming that she would die on 11 August, and be buried on 13 August. Shortly before that she had said that a ten-year-old blind girl living in France was to inherit her gift, and that people would soon hear about her.

Vanga reached news headlines after predicting, in 1989, what many interpret to be the 9/11 terror attacks.

Horror, horror! The American brethren will fall after being attacked by the steel birds. The wolves will be howling in a bush, and innocent blood will be gushing.

She also spoke of world-shaking global catastrophes and disasters, as well as the changing of the people's mentality due to the division by their faith, which happened as predicted, with the arrival of bad times.

Numerous catastrophes and disasters will shake the world. The mentality of the people will change. They will be divided by their faith.

Some sources have claimed that Vanga predicted that the 44th President of the United States would be African American and would be the last one before being succeed by someone with a "messianic personality"; both of which some refer to as Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

She repeatedly spoke about a forgotten ancient teaching that would be related to Russia and would rematerialise in the world.

There is an ancient Indian doctrine the doctrine of the White brotherhood. It will extend worldwide. About it will print new books, and them will read everywhere on the Earth. It will be the Fiery Bible. Day and all religions will come will disappear! There will be only a doctrine of the White brotherhood. Precisely white colour it will cover the earth, and thanks to it people will escape. The new doctrine will come from Russia. It the first will be cleared. The white brotherhood will extend across Russia and will begin the procession on the world.

According to journalist Dimitri Gachev, the prophetess predicted the war in Syria long before it started. The journalist asked her when peace was going to come.

"Peace will come when Damascus falls, and the Bible says that no stone would be left upon another in Damascus. A man from Russia will come to save us all. Russia is a mother country!" Vanga said.

Some evidence has also been presented that Baba Vanga did not make many of the predictions now attributed to her, but rather people frequently attribute new fake "prophecies" to her since her death, and the lack of a written record of her prophecies, makes any prediction attributed to her difficult to disprove.

Studies

One recent attempt to systematically summarize the existing knowledge about Vanga was made in the documentary Vanga: The Visible and Invisible World. The movie includes interviews with some of the people who met Vanga in person, including Sergey Medvedev (press secretary to President of Russia Boris Yeltsin in 1995–96; Sergey Medvedev visited Vanga as Yeltsin's envoy following Vanga's request to meet her), Neshka Robeva (Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast and coach), Sergey Mikhalkov (Soviet and Russian writer, author of the Soviet Union anthem), Nevena Tosheva (director of the first documentary about Vanga), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman and politician). According to the documentary, Baba Vanga predicted Yeltsin's second electoral victory in 1995, and warned him about his heart condition.

Several researchers have studied the phenomenon of Vanga in the attempt to establish whether she has any extraordinary capabilities. One of the first studies was initiated by the Bulgarian government and is described in the 1977 movie Fenomen directed by Nevena Tosheva. Prominent Bulgarian psychiatrists Nicola Shipkovensky and Georgi Lozanov also studied the capabilities of Vanga. Reportedly, some of the studies concluded that about 80% of predictions of Vanga turned out to be accurate.

In popular culture

Vangelia, a 24-episode biographical TV series with elements of mysticism, was commissioned in 2013 by Channel One Russia.

Clairvoyant's supposed predictions, political speculations with them and their criticism continue to appear in the mass media in different countries and in different languages.

Her image is particularly popular in the Balkans and in Russia. Russian publications related to the mysterious prophetess are numerous. "The Great Encyclopedia of Vanga" is a Russian online project, dedicated to her.