In the mountains of Bulgaria, i documented a gathering of the Universal White Brotherhood, a spiritual movement that emerged in the early 20th century and developed outside the country’s Orthodox tradition. central to their practice is paneurhythmy — a form of collective movement accompanied by music, created as a way to explore harmony between the physical, the mental, and the natural world.

Each summer, followers from Bulgaria and around the world gather in the Rila Mountains to practice paneurhythmy together. the main gathering happens on August 19, regarded in the tradition as the beginning of the “Solar New Year,” when hundreds of people come together on the meadows to perform the ritual.

standing at the edge of the ritual, i watched patterns repeat, bodies move in unison, and music set a shared tempo. these images come from a distance, shaped by observation rather than participation. what interested me was not belief, but the structure of the practice itself — how rhythm, repetition, and collectivity shape a temporary way of living.

2025