#Syrenka Warszawska

[kwojciechowicz]

Dobre wieści, trzy moje grafiki się sprzedały w Galerii Art of Poland na Piwnej 16/18 🤩 Tryptyk inspirowany legendami warszawskimi: Złota Kaczka, Wojownicza Syrena oraz Bazyliszek. 🤩 Trafiły w dobre ręce więc bardzo mnie to cieszy.

#kamaarts #sprzedane #grafiki #warsawlegends

[beeharris]

[warszawskiemozaiki]

Warszawa, Inżynierska 6.

[slaviclore]

cheatsheet to your slav folkloric downfall

Since several people had questions about the lore that inspired this poll, I'll jot some notes down about what I was thinking. All of these have long and complex tradition that can't possibly fit in a tumblr post, but there's tons of great content on tumblr alone, so pls feel free to scroll through my tags for more info (you may like "demons", "witches", or "original art" for contemporary interpretations of the lore...) or use this post as a springboard for more research.

Because much of Slavic folklore was passed down orally and not written down, and because it covers a wide geographical range and is told in different languages, there are many versions of common stories, tropes, characters, etc.

***

Baba Yaga is a witch, super popular, tons of great lore about her, historical and contemporary. She was never just one single entity, but rather a version of herself in many different stories (more like fanfiction than like canon). Her character is inherently unpredictable, existing outside our societal rules and moral compass, and the variability in lore makes her even more impossible to predict. A young woman named Vasilisa did manage to perform all of Baba Yaga's tasks to her instruction, but not without her own magical help. Sometimes Baba Yaga is helpful and reasonable, and sometimes she will just casually eat you like a handful of berries. You never know what you're going to get.

The fern flower is a beautiful mythical flower that offers its holder immense knowledge and magic. It blooms very briefly only once a year during Noc Kupały (in Polish, the EN is Kupala Night). If you want to find it, you'll probably grab your boyfriend (gender neutral) around dusk and poke around your local woods for a while before giving up and just making out and then meeting up with your friends afterwards like "did you find it?" "no we didn't find it :( did you find it?" "nooo :(". Really, this is about seducing the boy you like, since you probably need magic just to see the flower anyway. If you do manage to find it and pick it, tons of greedy demons will appear and chase you to attempt to take it from you (and your life). You have to outrun or outsmart the demons. The demons may be metaphors for the corrupting forces of great power.

There are tons of ways to get lost in the woods. Some people help themselves by tying ribbons to trees as they go, but anything can spook you -- you can run into a demon, a werewolf, a ghost, a witch, a cat, anything -- and if you have to run away, you will most likely lose your way in the process. More specifically, if you have annoyed a leshy (a forest spirit/god-type thing who protects nature), he will use magic to confuse you, and even if you're very good at Not Getting Lost In The Woods, you're kind of screwed. You think YOU won't piss off the Leshy? Oops you just stepped on his favorite beetle -- screwed. Leshy can be placated with offerings of food and drink, but sometimes he needs something bigger...

There are actually lots of hot girls who live in lakes, much to the delight of about 20% of you, but probably the most common are the rusalki -- dead girls who experienced some tragedy in life, probably ending in drowning, and are now exacting revenge on the living, especially men. They will seduce you, take you into the water, and drown you with their hair, or possibly tickle you to death. Baby marry me, amirite? The original rusalka lore was probably nicer to them, treating them more like water spirits than vengeful ghosts. Rusalki are not mermaids and appear as women with legs. We do have mermaids, but usually these are river or sea beings -- the most famous is probably Syrenka Warszawska (the Warsaw Mermaid) who lives in the river Wisła and will not attempt to kill you unless you're trying to invade Warsaw, but also she's a warrior queen and you have no shot.

Slavic mythological entities love riddles, and if you're good at riddles you are really going to help yourself, but you don't want to get into that situation unless you have no other choice. A common demon you meet on the side of the road will probably not give you a hard one, but Poludnica (the Slovak name) will find you at high noon while you're working hard in the fields and the sun's been beating down on your head since dawn and you're feeling woozy and dehydrated, and she'll give you the hardest riddle you've ever heard, and you're going to blow it, and she's going to cut off your head with her scythe or give you heat stroke. If it's any consolation, she may be hot (pun intended). Pro tip: you may also wield riddles to your advantage. Demons are as egoistic as you are and can be enticed into solving your riddle. If you stump them, you may assure your safe getaway.

Human characters in Slavic lore tend to be young and naive, representing the listener of the tale, since they can't use magic or navigate the world they are entering. Knowledge and magic are two sides of the same coin, so if you want to survive, you will need to gain some wisdom (learning some riddles will help). Being nice is not good enough, but! If by being nice you manage to seduce someone who has access to knowledge and magic, or get adopted by a bored witch with an axe to grind, you'll really help yourself out.

The path to the endless dead wood is guarded by a giant magical cat, whose name I never knew but have recently learned that the Russians call him Baiyun (latinized name, obvi). If you ask Vasilisa, she'll tell you that sometimes he lives with Baba Yaga, but generally he hangs out on the boundary to some other dimension. Probably, if you go to meet the cat, it's because somebody sent you there to get rid of you, so if you survive the cat, whoever is trying to kill you will probably keep trying so fyi. Baiyun will purr or tell a tale in such a soothing way that you fall asleep, and then he'll eat you. If you manage not to fall asleep, you may attempt to catch him and earn magic. But probably you're cat food.

***

There you have it. If you learned your story differently, let me know! And if you're ever lost in a Slavic forest, you can put your clothes on inside out and maybe that'll break the magic. Good luck.

[artistmagicial]

Collage Warszawska Syrenka

[stellar-witchcraft]

Some of My Favorite Urban and Coastal Mermaid Statues in Honor of Fixed Star Sualocin in Constellation Delphinus

Winged mermaid at the stern of the stone barge at Vizcaya Mansion.

White mermaid sculpture with mosaic background adorning the bar at Caesar’s Palace Hotel

Mermaid sculpture near the promenade of the town of La Coruña in Spain’s Galicia region

Baltic Sea mermaid sculpture – Klaipeda, Lithuania

Ian Thomas antique mermaid statue on Lord Street in Southport, England

Nabeul mermaid sculpture at the seaside, Tunisia

Leopold Park Mermaid Statue.

Warszawska Syrenka sculpture, Poland

[arekmiodek]

Warszawska Syrenka, pół kobieta pół ryba, herb oraz jeden z symboli Warszawy (fot. Arkadiusz Miodek)

[artofminesoul]

Status: Niedostępne/Not available - painted to customer’s order

„Syrenka Warszawska wer. w kolorze” / „Warsaw mermaid version in color „

Technika: Akryl na płótnie/ Acrylic on canvas

Rozmiar: 120x60

Więcej info: zaneta.jerzman@gmail.com

[lvl1-cleric]

Legend says, with her sword and shield, the Warsaw mermaid will protect the city and its residents.

Now more than ever, LGBT+ rights in Poland are under attack. If you don't yet know, please read about what happened on August 7th, 2020, in Warsaw. We need the world to be watching.

I wish I could attend the protests, but there are none in my area. Stay safe, everyone. Let's keep fighting, always.

[kwojciechowicz]

Piktografikon: Wystawa Ekslibris i Miniatur w OWZPAP

Varsovia Fantastica: Złota Kaczka

Varsovia Fantastica: Syrenka warszawska, Siostra Małej Syrenki

Varsovia Fantastica: Bazyliszek warszawski

Piktografikon to wystawa, która odbędzie się w październiku. Wystawa jest inspirowana motywami warszawskimi. Ja postanowiłam zainspirować się legendami warszawskimi o Syrence, Złotek Kaczce i Bazyliszku.

[mybeautifulpoland]

Warsaw Mermaid, Warsaw, Poland by Boguś Borowiak

[signuswalters]

Droga Syrenko Warszawsko z legendy!

Wiem, że odpłynęłaś, bo ci co Cię złapali byli próżni, choć ty im zaufałaś. I wiem, że masz bronić mieczem i tarczą przed niebezpieczeństwem.

Dzisiaj zagrożeni jesteśmy My. Ludzie, którzy chcą kochać, którzy chcą być wolni i równi. I wierzę, że stanęłabyś w naszej obronie, bo cenisz prawdę tak samo jak i My.

Widzimy Cię tylko wykutą w kamieniu, ale na nasz widok ludzie też zakrywają uszy i nie chcą nas słuchać tak jak i Twojej pieśni...

Chciałabym uciec tak jak i ty zrobiłaś.

[advena87]

POLKA WALCZĄCA

foto

[2mysticmoons]

The Mermaid of Warsaw ❤🗡🛡

[kazytka]

Syrenka Warszawska -> Warsaw mermaid 

[arekmiodek]

Warszawska Syrenka, herb Warszawy, rysunek mazakami na papierze, rozmiar arkusza 20 x 28 cm (Arkadiusz Miodek)