Human crop circle dance

Human crop circle: Religious sect celebrates the new year (a little bit late) with ritual dance and song on Bulgarian mountain top

By Lee Moran

Last updated at 9:25 PM on 19th August 2011

Swaying gently from side to side in what looks like human crop circles on top of a Bulgarian mountain, it's a far cry from how most people see in the New Year.

Instead of drinking until dawn, members of the White Brotherhood today celebrated the passing of the summer season and the start of a new 12 months.

Thousands of followers, who practice a synthesis of Christianity and Hinduism, dressed in white and sang spiritual songs as the sun came up over the Rila Mountains.

Spiritual: The White Brotherhood performs its ritual dance near Babreka Lake, in Bulgaria's Rila Mountain, to celebrate the start of its New Year

Harmony: The movement is a synthesis of Christianity and Hinduism, with a heavy emphasis on brotherly love, a healthy diet and living alongside nature

They then performed a sacred dance, called Paneurhythmy, which pays tribute to the movement of the planets and stars.

The event has been taking place each year since 1929. The movement, also called Beinsa Duno, was founded by Bulgarian Petar Deunov, who died in 1944.

Followers place a heavy emphasis on brotherly love, a healthy diet and living in harmony with nature.

Teaching: The movement's founder is Bulgarian Peter Danov, who started the dance ritual in 1929

High in the sky: Peter Danov laid out his teachings in a series of 7,000 lectures