“Interestingly, Travellers, Nomads, And Foreigners Also Were Thought To Have A Special Status And Possess

Hello I was wondering about popular or common Slavic embroidery patterns ? I unfortunately don’t know how to embroider myself, but I would like to incorporate it into my drawings and paintings as art is a big way for me to connect spiritually. Thanks so much !

First of all ”Slavic embroidery patterns” are a huge subject. There are many Slavic states and countless smaller regions within those states that have their own unique and characteristic patterns.

Having said that here are some sources for you to check out:

Polish folk embroidery by Jadwiga Turska

Ukrainian folk embroidery by K. R Susak and N. A. Stefyuk

Some Balkan Folk Embroidery Patterns by Edith Durham

Ukrainian Rushnyky: Binding Amulets and Magical Talismans in the Modern Period by Frank Sciaccia

And make sure to check out the great blogs we have here: Polish Costumes, Zvetenze, Me-Sharing-With-The-World, Eastern European Crafts and Pagan Stiches.

Best of luck!

"Найбільш яскраво межова семантика виявляється у віруваннях, приурочених до трьох безмісячних, «пустих», днів. У координатах місячного часу межею називають фазу Місяця, яка передує його народженню, так називають і відповідний час (на межі, переміна, перекрій, чернець). Вірять, що той, хто народився на межі фаз Місяця, не буде мати дітей. У безмісячні дні не сватались і не справляли весілля, вважаючи цей час несприятливим для подальшого подружнього життя. З межовою семантикою таких днів пов’язане вірування в місяшників – трансвеститів, у яких перемежовується жіноча й чоловіча самоідентифікація: «Се такий мущинина, що він раз жинка, а раз чоловік. Місьишники ходьи ув дню у мущинскім убраню. Домашні знати можут за се, хто у них місьишник, більше ніхто. Він може бути годину, дві, днину або ½ місьицьи жинков; се находит єго при зміні місьицьи» 

- Фольклорна семантика фаз місяця в часовому коді традиційної культури східних слов'ян, О.Ю. Чебанюк

"The semantic association with liminality is expressed the most vividly in beliefs about the three moonless, "empty" days. Among the coordinates of lunar time the edge is the phase that preceds its birth, the appropriate time is called likewise (on the edge, the change, the cut, chernets). It is believed that those born between moon phases shall remain childless. People would not get engaged or married on the dark moon, as this time was believed to be inauspicious for married life. The liminal association is tied to the belief in misiachnyks - transvestites whose male and female self-identification is interchanged: "It is the kind of man, that he is at some times a man, and some a woman. Misiachnyks walk in a male dress during the day. The family might know which one is misiachnyk among them, but nobody else. He may be a woman an hour, two, a day, or half a month; this happens to him with changes of the moon".

- Folkloric Semantics of Moon Phases in the Time Code of the Traditional Culture of Eastern Slavs, O.Ju. Chebaniuk

Reminder that if you're asking spirits to help you with something long-term (i.e. protecting your home, bringing in job opportunities etc) it's good practice to have an agreement on "rest" and "finished" commands. I.e.

"When I tell you that it is time to sleep, return to your vessel and rest until I ask you to continue again."

"When I tell you that your work is done, I will thank you with an offering and our relationship is completed so you may leave my space."

Signed, someone who forgot to do this and had an unhappy spirit asking where their offerings where because I forgot to say that I now *had* job and didn't need them bringing me more!

"How can I be a witch/pagan without falling for conspiracy theories/New Age cult stuff?" starter kit

Posts & Articles

Check your conspiracy theory. Does any of it sound like this?

Check your conspiracy theory part two: double, double, boil and trouble.

QAnon is an old form of anti-Semitism in a new package, experts say

Some antisemitic dogwhistles to watch out for

Eugenicist and bioessentialist beliefs about magic

New Age beliefs that derive from racist pseudoscience

The New Age concept of ascension - what is it?

A quick intro to starseeds

Starseeds: Nazis in Space?

Reminder that the lizard alien conspiracy theory is antisemitism

The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis is Racist and Harmful

The Truth About Atlantis

Why the Nazis were obsessed with finding the lost city of Atlantis

The Nazis' love affair with the occult

Occultism in Nazism

Red flag names in cult survivor resources/groups (all of them are far right conspiracy theorists/grifters)

The legacy of implanted Satanic abuse ‘memories’ is still causing damage today

Why Satanic Panic never really ended

Dangerous Therapy: The Story of Patricia Burgus and Multiple Personality Disorder

Remember a Previous Life? Maybe You Have a Bad Memory

A Case of Reincarnation - Reexamined

Crash and Burn: James Leininger Story Debunked

Debunking Myths About Easter/Ostara

Just How Pagan is Christmas, Really?

The Origins of the Christmas Tree

No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired By Odin

Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?

No, Athena Didn't Turn Medusa Into A Monster To Protect Her

Who Was the First God?

Were Ancient Civilizations Conservative Or Liberal?

How Misogyny, Homophobia, and Antisemitism Influence Transphobia

Podcasts & Videos

BS-Free Witchcraft

Angela's Symposium

ESOTERICA

ReligionForBreakfast

Weird Reads With Emily Louise

It's Probably (not!) Aliens

Conspirituality

Miniminuteman

Behind The Bastards

“People believed clay to be an embodiment of the primordial cosmic matter and honoured it as such - like a life-giving substance of the world with wonderful properties and abilities. Only clay of all natural materials gives people the fullest creative ability to materialise the products of their imagination. Thus, temples, houses, dishes, ritualistic and decorative objects were made of it; it was used in folk medicine, magic, astrology and rituals. They believed that people who work with clay, potters, are also special, knowing more than others.”

— Folk Medicine and Magic of Ukrainians, by Iryna Ihnatenko.

rusalki are not mermaids. stop translating the word "rusalka" as "mermaid" and stop calling rusalki "slavic mermaids". it's confusing, it's misleading, and it's simply isn't true. the association of rusalka with a western mermaid and undine began in 19th century, when russian empire poets wanted to adapt a popular western motif of a sorrowful water maid that is unrequitedly in love with a mortal man. this literature character of rusalka has nothing to do with actual rusalki folklore and cult.

rusalki are natural undead spirits that are connected to slavic ancestral worship. they don't have tails. they are not in any way connected to the sea: only lakes, ponds, and rivers. often, they're not even connected to water at all: there are forest rusalki, field rusalki, meadow rusalki, etc. they are in close relationships with their human kin: during the spring and summer, they are used in agricultural rites and are believed to help with farming and raising crops. rusalki were sacred to slavic people. the "week of the rusalki" festival, when rusalki are believed to walk on earth and visit their relatives, is celebrated to this day. to call them "slavic mermaids" is very diminutive of their actual role in slavic cultures.

The Zoryas✨

What follows is a few insights from years of research and practice within my own culture, as I am entering a Filianic space. Due to the nature of this format and the largely educational goal, it would be impossible to reflect the full image of these folkloric figures as seen by the original peoples; on the other hand, quite obviously, none of the information below was initially intended to be viewed from this perspective, and as such is to be taken as a partial and personal impression of an lived culture that is to be respected in its own right.

The Zoryas are a Slavic folkloric figure group associated with largely love and healing. The most common contexts for invoking them are magical incantations and folk songs.

The name, which is plural, literally means "stars", which is, of course, a potent symbol of hope and reassurance in the Filianic faith. They may be encountered as a group of three, calling to the trinitarian nature of the practice, the Evening, Midnight, and the Morning Star, each assigned a somewhat different character (usually sorrowful, pensive, and joyful), or as a singular being. In many examples there are also parallel texts in active use that either call upon them, or replace them, it seems fully equivalently, with Mother Mary.

Though adorned and certainly involved in what one would assume gentle matters, in many cases they are shown in a knightly form, riding horses across the sky, measuring time and watching over us, sovereign and never paired to a male.

As mentioned before, their presence is welcomed for protection and healing, and love. This once again showcases their general care for universal order, as in a sense healing and safety are just a restoral of harmony to body and life.

Then, of course, young women looking to find love would near universally call the dear sisters to ignite the feeling in another's heart and make themselves irresistibly attractive. Romance being self-explanatory, the love we have in our hearts is a sister to the love that drives particles to motion, spirit to action, and a human being to seek companionship of any kind. Going hand in hand, - and this is where we enter the realm of a personally held belief, - the cultivation of beauty within your own self is a divinely driven desire for joy and pleasure in everything, a way of honouring your person as a divine being. Similarly to this, an artist would generally endeavor to depict a deity or a saint as pleasingly as they can, as as not to idolize but to show respect towards them and grace within them.

Personally, as a Ukrainian and a perennialist, these figures to me speak of the universality of certain principles that reoccur within the human psyche due to experiencing them directly. This is the seed of truth within the image that grows from it.

On the other hand, of course, I am speaking here in a very incomplete manner. Any questions are welcome.

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Are there are Slavic runes or symbols I can/should familiarize myself with? If so, do you have any sources you can point me towards? Very much appreciated.

This is not the subject I am particularly well versed in but no, to the best of my knowledge Slavs did not have any runic alphabet of their own, Glagolitic script being the oldest known Slavic writing system. Now there is one mention, by a 9th century bulgarian writer, that Slavs of the past did not write books but for the purposes of counting and divination they used a system of strokes and incisions. Following an old post Lamus Dworski made in Polish ages ago I believe the aforementioned signs might be something similar to tamgas.

Unfortunately it also came to my attention that there are some problematic modern groups of conspiracy theories-loving pagans and self-appointed history specialists who believe Slavs did have their own alphabet it was just destroyed by evil Westerners or Jews and all traces of it have been hidden. Just like all traces of Great Lechia, Slavs defeating Julius Cesear and other proofs of Slavic racial and cultural supremacy. If you catch a scent of those people best stay far away from them.

Evil Eye

The belief in evil eye, intentional or not, is rather prevalent in Slavic lands in general and in Ukraine in particular. Perhaps the most notable example is the tradition of not showing newborn babies to anyone but the closest relatives - hence why many a young mother can be seen avoiding public spaces and covering the baby carriage so that the child is not visible when it can not be avoided. 

Naturally, such a belief produces many a way to protect oneself from ills brought by tempting the fate and glances filled with envy.  An obvious example would be a cross, or any other symbol that signifies divine protection. A red string, preferably woolen, tied with seven knots around a person’s left wrist  is worn for the same purpose; it is believed that when the string is torn or lost, it has completed its purpose, perhaps due to the number or the strength of the attacks, and is no longer of use - so a new one should be tied. A safety pin can be worn pinned to the wrong side of clothes near chest area - interestingly, knives or needles by doors or windows similarly protect homes and vehicles. A piece of clothing worn inside out protects both from evil eye and from malicious or overly playful spirits. It is believed that when a Lisovyk leads you away from your path in the forest, putting something on inside out, boots on the wrong feet, or looking around upside down between your legs - making something one way or another wrong, not-you or not-human about your appearance or perception, - should help you see through the spirit’s tricks.   

Certain protective elements are imbedded in the traditional costume itself - vibrant colours and reflective surfaces distract the malicious eye from the individual, which is considered especially important for young, attractive people. You can have a mirror on your person for that purpose - or, once again, put one in your window, facing the street.

One, of course, could benefit from the knowledge that a person with a strong will and mind is harder to influence, so a positive outlook is a useful and inexpensive tool to have in your kit along with sharp objects and colourful accessories.

When Fern Blooms (Hope Floats): Elusive

Kupala Night, also called Ivanа-Kupala, is a traditional eastern Slavic holiday which is celebrated in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia during the night from 6 to 7 July (on the Gregorian calendar). (This corresponds to 23-24 June on these countries’ traditional Julian calendar.) Calendar-wise, it is opposite to the winter holiday Koliada. The celebration relates to the summer solstice when nights are the shortest and includes a number of Slavic rituals.

The name of the holiday was originally Kupala; a pagan fertility rite later adapted into the Orthodox Christian calendar by connecting it with St. John’s Day which is celebrated on 24 June.

The Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian name of this holiday combines “Ivan” (John, in this case John the Baptist) and Kupala which was thought to be derived from the Slavic word for bathing, which is cognate. However, it likely stems from the proto-Slavic kump, a gathering. The two feasts could be connected by reinterpreting John’s baptizing people through full immersion in water. However, the tradition of Kupala predates Christianity. The pagan celebration was adapted and reestablished as one of the native Christian traditions intertwined with local folklore.

The holiday is still enthusiastically celebrated by the younger people of Eastern Europe. The night preceding the holiday (Tvorila night) is considered the night for “good humour” mischiefs (which sometimes would raise the concern of law enforcement agencies). On Ivan Kupala day itself, children engage in water fights and perform pranks, mostly involving pouring water over people.

Many of the rites related to this holiday are connected with the role of water in fertility and ritual purification. This is due to the ancient Kupala rites. On Kupala day, young people jump over the flames of bonfires in a ritual test of bravery and faith. The failure of a couple in love to complete the jump, while holding hands, is a sign of their destined separation.

Girls may float wreaths of flowers (often lit with candles) on rivers, and attempt to gain foresight into their romantic relationship fortune from the flow patterns of the flowers on the river. Men may attempt to capture the wreaths, in the hope of capturing the interest of the woman who floated it.

There is an ancient Kupala belief that the eve of Ivan Kupala is the only time of the year when ferns bloom. Prosperity, luck, discernment, and power befall whom ever finds a fern flower (Chervona ruta). Therefore, on that night, village folk roam through the forests in search of magical herbs, and especially, the elusive fern flower (Chervona ruta).

Traditionally, unmarried women, signified by the garlands in their hair, are the first to enter the forest. They are followed by young men. Therefore, the quest to find herbs and the fern flower (Chervona ruta) may lead to the blooming of relationships between pairs within the forest.

According to folklore, the flower is Chervona ruta. The flower is yellow, but according to legend, it turns red on the eve of Ivan Kupala Day. Ferns are not angiosperms (flowering plants), and instead reproduce by spores.

In Gogol’s story The Eve of Ivan Kupala, a young man finds the fantastical fern-flower, but is cursed by it. Gogol’s tale may have been the stimulus for Modest Mussorgsky to compose his tone poem Night on Bald Mountain, adapted by Yuri Ilyenko into a film of the same name.

SOURCES: Image #1: Wikimedia Commons: License: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Source Photographer: Simon Kozhin/С.Л.Кожин Title: Kupala Night, Divination on the Wreaths Artist: Simon Kozhin/С.Л.Кожин Image #2: Wikimedia Commons:   Title: Night on the Eve of Ivan Kupala Artist: Henryk Hector Siemiradzki License: Public Domain Image #3: Wikimedia Commons: Title: Івана Купала (Ivanа-Kupala). Stamp of Ukraine (1998) License: Public Domain Text:  Wikipedia: Kupala Night:  Fern Flower: Chervona ruta. License:  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License