Hundreds of pilgrims gather in Bulgaria's Rila mountains to welcome their "spiritual" new year with a special meditative dance known as "paneurhythmy" and singing. They are followers of the Universal White Brotherhood, an esoteric society that combines Christianity and Indian mysticism, founded by Bulgarian theologian Peter Deunov in 1897 but banned during communism and still considered a sect by the country's Christian Orthodox Church. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES