My Western, Mostly American And Anglo-Saxon Friends: Halloween

Is Slavic polytheism closed or open to anyone? Does it depend on the branch so to speak? I know Slavic polytheism is a broad term.

Рута - Rue

In Carpatho-Ukraine and Hutsul belief, the common rue (ruta graveolens), which normally blooms yellow, will bloom red every ten years. The red ruta, featured in literature and folk songs, can be used to charm a person of your desire. 

It is also believed that during storms the devil can find shelter in the rue plant.

(translated by me from Магія Українців - Лілія Мусіхіна; Ukrainian Magic by Lilia Musikhina)

"There is still a saying among people, "The moon is our god, and who will rule over us when he is gone?" - Outline of Ukrainian Mythology, V. Hnatiuk

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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"Many cultures have shared the belief that it is possible to transfer illness to other people or to animals. Before the understanding of germs became widespread, the transference of illness was perceived as an unnatural event. Pain and illness, for example, were often seen as being cast by an evil glance. Among Ukrainians in Alberta, the wax ceremony has been a culturally significant way of getting rid of evil eye, which is still feared by many people, especially the older generations.

During the wax ceremony, the pain is removed or flushed out from the body. It is transferred to an inanimate intermediary, water or wax. This is most clear in those cases where the water is discarded in some place where nobody will ever walk. This practice reduces the chances of illness being transferred to some unfortunate person."

The Word And Wax: A Medical Folk Ritual Among Ukrainians in Alberta by Rena Jeanne Hanchuk

The Amber Tears of Mokosh Ritual Necklace ~ #Mokosh is the protector of women’s work & destiny, she is a #goddess of #fertility, water, & women. According to folk belief she shears sheep & spins thread. Her name itself is derived from the word combo maty kota‘mother of the cat,’ ‘mother of good #fortune.’ In the 14th century her #cult was transformed into that of Saint Parasceve.

Obtain at #TheWitchery via https://www.thewitchery.ca/product/the-baltic-amber-tears-of-mokosh-ritual-necklace/

This necklace is strung like a Ukrainian korali necklace. Beaded necklaces (namysto) are one of the oldest forms of women’s ornaments in #Ukraine. They carried deep symbolic significance. They were #protective & informative, & could tell how wealthy the family was as since 6 strings could cost as much as a pair of oxen). The colour red symbolizes protection, beauty, vitality, fertility & #strength in old Slavic traditions.

Warm to the touch & often containing insect fragments it was believed to contain the very essence of life itself. It has associations with time, cycles & longevity. As it once was a living substance, it is related to spirit. Some thought #amber was the petrified tears of #gods.

Amber #amulets were worn as protection from diseases & against being killed in a battle. People believed it “pulled out” disease from the body & “attracted” #goodluck – in the same way as it attracts small objects if you slightly rub it. It was believed to avert misfortune, kept its owner safe from black magic, cast out devils, guarded one from the #evileye, brought luck in love, & made it’s owner stronger & cleverer.

Alleged to relieve depression, anxiety, & promotes joy. In Latvia, bands of amber rings were used in wedding ceremonies to ensure an eternal bond. Today, amber represents renewed fidelity in marriage.

This beautiful set is comprised of four 9″ Faceted Dark Cognac Amber strands all connected with a beautiful amber clasp

Only 1 was birthed into existence ~ When it’s gone it is gone. https://www.instagram.com/p/CpIgNLup9vV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A Welcomed Place

As our Lord entered the holy city, the Hebrew children professed the resurrection of life. Holding palm branches, they cried out, “Hosanna in the highest!” – Antiphon 1: Procession for Palm Sunday

My ancestors’ holy days are my holy days. I reinterpret and redefine to create personal meaning, so my connection to them is genuine yet reflective of my own beliefs. Even though Jesus Christ isn’t my savior, he has a welcome place at the table of resurrective gods I waitress.

see also: #altar, #palm sunday

Forgotten Galicia

Forgotten Galicia - A Protection Symbol for the Home: The Six-Petal Rosette оn the Crossbeams of Galicia

The Six-Petal Rosette The six-petal rosette, the flower-like symbol created by overlapping seven circles, as well as the expanded variants w

The Six-Petal Rosette

The six-petal rosette, the flower-like symbol created by overlapping seven circles, as well as the expanded variants with 7 interlocking rosettes and 19 interlocking rosettes (the latter is called the “Flower of Life” in the New Age movement), is an ancient symbol that has been used across cultures and religions for millennia.

The rosette is a solar symbol in many cultures and many peoples believed it to be magical. It was commonly used as a decorative motif to adorn doors, ceiling beams, crosses, cornices, coats of arms, everyday objects, furniture, musical instruments, ritual items, graves.

In ancient Slavic tradition, the rosette was associated with the chief pagan god Perun, the god of thunder and lightning, and was supposed to protect against lightning and generally ensure the favor of the Thunderer. Appropriately, the symbol is also called the “symbol of Perun” and a “thunder mark” in Ukrainian.

The Rosette on Crossbeams

Supporting a ceiling with large wooden crossbeams (“svolok” in Ukrainian and “sosręb” in Polish) was once a common construction practice, found in noble residences as well as in burgher homes, and through the early twentieth century in regional construction, especially in the Carpathians.

The crossbeam was not only an important structural element of the home, but also a symbolic and decorative one: it was in the center of this beam that the rosette was engraved to protect the house against misfortune and especially against fire. Additionally, the date of construction, decorative motifs, the name of the owner, the name of the carpenter, mottos, or religious symbols could be engraved on the beam, turning the crossbeam into a vital record of the house.

Detailed information about the use of crossbeams and the rosette in the architecture of the peoples of Galicia can be found in excellent works of research from the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries by Władysław Matlakowski and Kazimierz Mokłowski. Władysław Matlakowski, a surgeon, ethnographer, and researcher of Podhale architecture and folk art, published Budownictwo ludowe na podhalu (Folk Buildings in Podhale) in 1892 and Zdobienie i sprzęt ludu polskiego na Podhalu (Decoration and Domestic Utensils of the Polish People in Podhale) in 1901, while Kazimierz Mokłowski, a Polish architect and art historian, who later lived and worked in Lviv, published Sztuka Ludowa w Polsce (Folk Art in Poland) in 1903. These three works include thorough descriptions as well as a plenty of illustrations of various elements of the architecture and applied art of the region.

Crossbeams in the Folk Architecture of Galician Highlanders

Though historically used across much of Ukraine and Poland, today the rosette is most associated with and best preserved in the culture of the Carpathian highlanders of Galicia, in particular in Hutsul, Boyko, Lemko, and Goral folk architecture, woodwork, and household objects. Accordingly, in Ukrainian it also has such names as “hutsulska rozetka” (Hutsul rosette), “boykivska rozetka” (Boyko rosette) and in Polish “rozeta karpacka” (Carpathian rosette), “rozeta podhalańska” (Podhale rosette), “rozeta góralska” (Goral rosette).

Goral Cottages

Podhale is a region in the Polish Tatra Mountains inhabited by highlanders known as Gorals. Władysław Matlakowski writes in his book Zdobienie i sprzęt ludu polskiego na Podhalu that the “gwiazda” (meaning “star”—another name for the rosette in Polish) is “the most common and the most characteristic ornament in Podhale: it is found everywhere, but mostly on every crossbeam.” Indeed, throughout this book as well as his other book Budownictwo Ludowe na Podhalu, the gwiazda appears in illustrations of such items as spoon racks, chairs, distaffs, and lintels, but most notably on crossbeams.

Examples of old crossbeams with rosettes from the Podhale region can still be found in Poland, especially in open air museums which have preserved the local folk architecture.

Hutsul, Boyko &  Lemko Cottages

The Hutsuls, Boykos and Lemkos inhabit what is today the Ukrainian and eastern Polish Carpathian Mountains. Just as among the Gorals, the rosette is found in the architecture and folk crafts of these highlanders.

A testament to the ubiquity of the rosette in the folk architecture of the Carpathian highlanders is Lviv’s Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life, which features examples of the architecture of the Hutsuls, Boykos, and Lemkos. The rosette can be seen all over the open air museum, including on several crossbeams inside the homes. It is no wonder the museum uses the rosette as its logo.

Crossbeams in Renaissance Buildings in Lviv

In addition to examples from the Carpathian Mountains, Kazimierz Mokłowski’s book Sztuka Ludowa w Polsce includes illustrations of crossbeams from buildings in Lviv which include the rosette, as well as other solar symbols, often along with the year of construction and religious symbols.

Fortunately, not only do these original engraved Renaissance-era crossbeams, as documented by Kazimierz Mokłowski, still support the ceilings of the buildings in Lviv’s historic center, but many of them are open to public viewing as they are generally located in shops, restaurants, and museums.

Crossbeams in Zakopane Style Villas

A widespread symbol among the Gorals, the rosette was a popular symbol in the architecture and interior decor of Zakopane Style villas. Zakopane Style architecture emerged at the end of the nineteenth century when architect Stanislaw Witkiewicz, rejecting foreign building styles that had started to appear in the booming ski resort of Zakopane, chose to embrace traditional Podhale-style architecture, enriching it with elements of Art Nouveau. The new Zakopane Style villas included large intricately engraved crossbeams prominently featuring the rosette, such as can be found in Villa Oksza (built in 1894 by Witkiewicz, today an art gallery) and in the guest house Villa Orla (built 1901). Though by this time the symbol likely lost its meaning as a “thunder mark” and was used purely as a decorative element cherishing the local culture.

A Sign from the Past

Today, the rosette has found new places to thrive across Galicia—for example, it is used as logos for museums and a microbrewery, and found on folk-inspired accessories. Although its history, meaning, and usage may have been forgotten, the “Carpathian” rosette is in fact still alive and well today.

So don’t forget—next time you enter a Carpathian highlander’s cottage, a Renaissance building in Lviv, or a Zakopane Style villa, look up! If you are lucky, you will find an authentic example of this ancient and mystic symbol.

Written by Areta Kovalska

(Wonderful photos on the page)

“Interestingly, travellers, nomads, and foreigners also were thought to have a special status and possess secret knowledge. They were often imagined as soldiers, beggars, hermits, old men, and so on. Seeing most of them as intermediaries between the worlds, as possessing magic knowledge, is not accidental, as, in Ukrainian folk imagination, occult powers are connected to paths and the other side. Foreigners and visitors had powers ascribed to them as they come from “the outside” (unlike people of settled lifestyle), and that is where they go, as well.”

— Ritual and Magic in Ukrainian Cultural Tradition, by Iryna Ihnatenko

Slavic resources in english: my collection of academic resources for beginners on the subject of slavic folklore, paganism and folk magic

Is Slavic paganism closed? - my thoughts

Slavic offerings

Slavic creation myths

My translation: Veles

My translation: Yarilo

My translation: Mokosh

Mokosh: offerings and devotions

Quotes: Perun and Veles as Saints

Quotes: Prophet Elijah and Saint Nicholas, a folktale

Quotes: Sources for Rod and Rozhanitsy

Quotes: Kupala, Kostroma, Yarilo and Mara - seasonal rituals of the Slavs

Quotes: Russian domovoi lore

What’s a zagovor and how it’s built.

Key tags: #slavic paganism #slavic folklore #slavic art #magia Slavorum  #asks

Other recommended tags: #slavic folk - traditional clothing and folk art, #ancestral veneration #wooden architecture #embroidery #folk magic #maskers

My asks are open but please keep in mind that I did not receive academic education in the field of Slavic studies. Any answers I might provide will be based on my experiences as a Polish person and Slavic pagan as well as my own unsystematized research.

Slavic paganism is an open path, however please approach it respectfully by educating yourself on Slavic culture and making an effort to not propagate already rampant misinformation any further.

Lastly I’d like to disclaim that as helpful as the words “Slavs” and “Slavic” can be at the beginning of your research it is of paramount importance to remember that the “Slavs” were never a unified ethnocultural group or civilization.