There was a time when a glass of water in front of the TV seemed almost as important as the TV itself. At the end of 1989, millions of viewers from the former socialist bloc stood in front of the screen because of Anatoly Kashpirovsky - the psychotherapist with a fixed gaze, a slow voice and a promise that his influence could reach people from a distance.
In Bulgaria, his fame came through the television broadcasts of his sessions on the program “Every Sunday“ on the Bulgarian National Television. Viewers left glasses and jars of water in front of the screen, believing that it would be “charged“ during the broadcast. Thus, Kashpirovsky became not just a popular Soviet television character, but a part of the everyday life of Bulgarians in the first months after the end of the socialist regime.
His first show on Central Soviet Television was broadcast on October 8, 1989. There are differences in the number of shows in the first series - some sources indicate six, others seven. It is certain that they were broadcast in a short period and aroused enormous interest in the USSR and in a number of countries from the former socialist camp. His popularity coincided with the boom in psychics, healers and paranormal practices that swept Bulgaria at the beginning of the transition.
The Road to Rupite
Kashpirovsky's connection with Bulgaria did not remain only television. In the spring of 1990, he visited the country and reached Rupite to meet Vanga. At that time, the two were among the most famous personalities associated with unusual abilities - one worked through hypnosis and television sessions, and the other received visitors at her home near Petrich.
After the meeting, Kashpirovsky spoke with admiration for the Bulgarian prophetess. He called her "the pearl and wisdom of Bulgaria" and "happiness for Bulgaria and the world". His words are particularly telling because they come from a man who himself had already gained international fame and was used to being in the spotlight.
However, the accounts of the meeting do not present a clear impression. According to Dr. Zdravka Metodieva, who knew Vanga's family closely, Kashpirovsky entered her room with a sense of self-confidence and said that she radiated coldness. After Vanga began to talk about her family and personal problems, his attitude changed. She, for her part, remained skeptical of his demonstrations and ironically commented on the claim that he could “heat water in a cup“.
The television phenomenon remains
Kashpirovsky was born on August 11, 1939 in Stavnitsa, present-day Ukraine. He graduated from the Vinnytsia Medical Institute, worked as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and was later associated with the Soviet national weightlifting team. It was the combination of his medical image, television dramaturgy, and the promise of remote influence that made him a star of late socialism.
On October 3, 2026, Kashpirovsky died at the age of 87. The announcement of his death brought his name back into the news, but for the Bulgarian public he remains mostly the man on the screen, in front of whom water was left, and the guest who came to Rupite to meet Vanga. Between the television show and this meeting, an entire era comes together - the time when Bulgaria began to seek new explanations for its old fears and hopes.
Sources: Vedomosti, EVA