#slavic witchcraft

[diana5nizza]

TRADITIONS OF THE VELESIAN NIGHT AMONG THE SLAVS

We must remember that this is, first of all, a family holiday

The spirits of the ancestors return to their descendants to teach them lessons and bless the whole family. Before dark, a Fire was lit, jumping through which, as well as walking barefoot on hot coals, was a rite of purification and liberation from evil forces.

At night, at this time, a plate with treats for the souls of the dead is put out on the street. A candle is placed on the windowsill, it points (like a beacon) the way to souls who are ready to come to you and help. Apples, pumpkins, zucchini, and autumn flowers are placed on the Altar of the holiday. They remember their departed relatives, friends, and relatives, but without regret.

The days of commemoration of the ancestors were revered by the Slavs

Before the celebration, they cleaned the house, washed in the bath, where they left a bucket of clean water and a new broom for the souls of their ancestors. A festive table was set, where the owner of the house said a special word before the meal ("Grandfathers come, drink with us, eat ..."), and invited all the ancestors to dinner. All the doors in the house were opened so that the ancestors could come in and sit down at the table. Before starting the next dish, part of it was put on a special plate for perfumes.

The solemn memorial dinner lasted for quite a long time, everyone remembered the best in their deceased relatives, those deeds that more than one generation of this family can be proud of. During the festive dinner, it was allowed to talk only about the ancestors – their lives, individual cases and character traits, their words and instructions, wise advice and good deeds were recalled.

This conversation began with a story about the oldest and most famous ancestor, and ended with a memory of those who died very recently.

At the end of the celebration, the host saw off the Grandfathers with the words: "Goodbye Grandfathers, go... take troubles and illnesses with you, wait for us for a long time..."

[natalieina]

Mavka

A ghost dwells in the ringing silence of the whirlpool. The restless soul of the woman, which appears in her appearance only on the mermaid week, on Kupala night, and on the feast of the restless... With an extinct look that has preserved only the almost extinguished white flame of her past life, she looks around her possessions, collects Kupala candles of living virgins which are lowered them for divination for the narrowed one on the water, and drinks a bitter cup of her memories... And in the morning, when the rays of the sun become unbearably bright, she lies on the surface of the murky water, and disappears again into it's depths...

Model - Kylie Lane.

Natalie Ina Photography.

June 2024.

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[bolszaja-miedwedica]

yo i really shouldn't give a fuck but even my deities are disgusted if you don't like my posts or how my practice looks like or what I'm reblogging or how my relationship with my gods looks like you don't need to waste your damn energy to hex me there's a fuckin block button on my profile and yall are privileged as fuck if you prefer to hex a loser on tumblr instead of some fuckin murderers or abusers and you should know every fuckin hex or curse WILL BE sent back to y'all i do NOT give a single fuck okay? privileged ass motherfuckers "every practice is different" unless you feel like someone's is too weird or too casual and you feel the need to play your deities advocate if they were fuckin not okay with what I'm doing they would tell me you know??? my blog is not for fuckin educating you or for yall to approve it's literally meant to be my space where i post funny talks with my gods it's not for yall to like its for me so if you dont like it gently fuck off and i shouldn't need to fuckin specify anything of what i said here it's perfectly clear what I'm saying

[witch-in-the-dirt]

My Honest Review of ‘Slavic Witchcraft; Old world Conjuring Spells and Folklore’ , By Natasha Helvin

Before I start, I am not here to question Natasha’s heritage or place in the Caribbean African diaspora spirituality’s. If you have comments on that, that’s up to you. I neither have the background or place to discuss that.

My review is also on my Goodreads,

Review

Natasha Helvin, as described in her own words, is an occultist, hereditary witch, and priestess of Voodoo. Born in the Soviet Union and later moving away at 18. She claims to have learned from her mother and grandparents, the traditions of old world Slavic paganism.

All this and yet, she cannot source anything she says, save a very unfounded “Just trust me.”

The book is separated into 10 chapters, the first two and introduction focusing on ‘The traditions,’ and other folklore information as well as history. The later 8 sections are all about Spells and spell work, and superstition.

Introduction; Sorcery as a Living Tradition.

Slavic Witchcraft was published in 2019, deep into the popularization and hype of witchcraft and paganism in the 21st century. And yet, Natasha chooses to open her book with a Cautionary Note, which warns the reader that what is inside is ‘taboo’ and ‘forbidden.’ Which is what initially made me raise an eyebrow at what I was reading.

The majority of this section was just discussing her childhood, and experiences to solidify her position as the teacher in this book. Nothing too unusual, and nothing of note. I won’t comment on someone’s life experiences as a point of note. But it’s hard to see the point in bringing it up, when it just loops over itself, as if to philosophize on it rather then make a point. Nostalgia is a valid place to write from, even in Spirituality and Nonfiction, but there are ways to go about it, to make a point. As an example; Braiding Sweetgrass, By Robin Wall K. She makes many points of talking about her life, that ultimately ends with her informing the reader of a life lesson. In Slavic Witchcraft, this just becomes a loop, that is hard to read.

1, Pagan Christianity or Christian Paganism

This Chapter highlights the most glaring issue in the entire book. There are NO SOURCES. Throughout this chapter Natasha Heavily references historical events and real life situations that do have the history to back them up. The Indoctrination into Orthodox Christianity, and the way they amalgamated pagan practices into their religion, are true historical facts. The way paganism out beat Christianity in Russia multiple times, are facts. However, the author refuses to use references and build a bibliography which makes everything she says feel less credible.

Here I will also address the 4 Elements. This isn’t the first and won’t be the last time I bring it up in a Spirituality book review.

Where is your information on the four elements as the building blocks of the universe coming from. It’s not a universal idea? Multiple other cultures have elements ranging from 3-5 or six. I would love genuinely a reference from where Natasha has the Ancient Slavs using these elements as a structure of their beliefs.

2, Slavic Magic Power and Sorcery

There’s a lot of things in this section that just require the reader to trust that Natasha is telling the truth without any resources to reference. Once again a lot of this book would have benefited from sources but because there are none, you just have to trust her.

An example is the Sorcerers Song. She dedicates quite a bit of this chapter to ‘folklore’ and often references this thing called the sorceresses/sorcerers song. The song in question is the dying sorcerers last words, before they transfer magic to someone else. A lot of the stuff in here is very fantastical, and there is a level of difficulty in understanding what is just fun storytelling on the authors part and what is to be believed as fact.

Here she also contradicts herself on the facts of who can and cannot be a witch.

What a witch is according to folklore, where the unfortunate use of a Romani slur is used, in a sentence that is just a repetition of really old racism. How can you write the sentence that describes witches as “ugly iron toothed and (racial stereotypes)” without also clarifying that these are all descriptions from a post orthodox and heavily antagonistic mindset?

These chapters really clarified for me that this book is not about Slavic paganism as a religion but rather, Ms Helvins Experience as a pagan with a post Christian Russian heritage. Everything is still very Christian. Which isn’t bad and not wrong, most folk magics we see today come from a Christian background because that is the most common religion of all our ancestors. This book isn’t a reconstruction of Slavic paganism, or Slavic pagan as a broad term regardless. It’s Natasha’s paganism.

The rest of the book focuses on Spells, which are for the most part fine.

I have personal issues with her opening comments on All people were made by god as man and woman and our true desires are to find our other halves. Okay, no.

I have issues with the amount of times she references everything and everyone around us as “manipulatable” that all things fall under our whims. Which is morally uncomfortable. I don’t think our ancestors who worked alongside animals and plants always saw them as lower, as seen in, still Alive and well, Indigenous American beliefs.

In the end, this book isn’t for beginners, it’s not for Slavic pagans, it’s for Natasha. And that’s fine.

[czortofbaldmountain]

Day of the Divine Mother of Herbs [Assumption in Poland] is connected very closely to the season of harvest when the vegetables and fruits rippen, and when the crops are collected from the fields. This holiday was always seen here in Poland as dedicated to the femininity and to the ‘feminine’ side of the nature – its growth and ability to ‘give birth’ to the crops. [...] In the context of that holiday the Holy Mother is seen as a patroness of the soil, of lush greenery with all the nature’s flowers and herbs, and of all kinds of the ‘gifts of the earth’ – crops, fruits, vegetables. In the Polish folklore she is reflecting the nature’s fertility.

[Source - Lamus Dworski]

[pomegranate-jewitchery]

Yo what is with all those nazi symbols!

The description for extra context. Is this something about nazi’s in slavic witchcraft? I am just so confused!

And here is the gov website with the nazi symbols if you are unsure what i am talking about

I commented asking about the nazi symbols so hopefully ill find out. If someone does know something feel free to educate me on the subject.

[hedgewitchgarden]

On a crisp afternoon last spring, visiting student Yair Berzofsky found himself in the largest park in Prague captivated by the sight of a human effigy burning on a tall pyre. He took notice of the children in play armor who ran past him wearing giant purple hats and jousted with foam swords as adults drank, danced, and beat drums. The figure in the bonfire was part of this year’s Čarodějnice, a celebratory burning of winter witches. Berzofsky watched the woman’s frame crumple as celebrants took turns roasting sausages and marshmallows over the fiery branches.

“The witch burning was not the reason everyone came,” he later tells us, adding that the event was a testament to Prague’s “ability to not just rehash an old tradition, but to turn it into a reason to celebrate its heritage.”

At the end of each winter, Czechs and diasporic Slavs celebrate Čarodějnice, a variation of the ancestral Walpurgis Night—the Christian Saint Walpurga’s feast day, during which observers light bonfires to ward off witches in Europe and the United States. While some see a witch-burning parties as distasteful, as it recalls a dark history of persecution and murder, Čarodějnice harks back to similar pre-Christian traditions. Berzofsky fondly recalls the event’s warm and charming energy: “In a weird way, I felt at home.”

The witch burning evokes customs associated with Slavic gods and goddesses. As author Michael Mojhe describes in his writings, some deities in the Slavic pantheons lived on through equivalent Christian saints, but others were abandoned. Two critical examples are Jarilo, god of war, vegetation, and spring, and his oppositely aligned sister Morana, goddess of witchcraft,  death, and winter.

While Slovakians reimagined Jarilo as St. George during Christianity’s spread across Europe in the late 900s, Morana was not. This was partially due to the Catholic Church’s patriarchy but also because she lacked a counterpart in a Christian tradition vehemently opposed to witchcraft and a female god. The burning or even drowning of her effigy, much like the one Berzofsky witnessed, is a Pagan tradition both celebrating winter’s end and ritually recognizing her cultural death.

Like the continued celebration of Čarodějnice, this story follows those of Slavic descent reclaiming an ancient faith tradition—namely, witchcraft—that endured centuries of erasure from Christian institutions. Both of us, authors Emma Cieslik and Alexandra Sikorski, are from Polish American families and grew up in the Catholic Church. It wasn’t until Sikorski began researching contemporary Paganism that we learned of Slavic religious practices prior to the sweep of Christianity in Europe. Researching the contemporary reclamation of Slavic witchcraft as an aspect of cultural identity—especially when invasion and destruction threaten that culture, as in Ukraine now—has become for us a way to reclaim parts of our heritage we never knew existed.

The term Slavic, or the culture of Slavs, encompasses an ethnolinguistic group of multiple ethnicities and cultures that share similarities in food, language, and cultural practices across Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe. The Slavic world extends from Russia in the east to Czechia in the west to North Macedonia in the south. Beyond these countries are Slavic immigrants and their descendants, including both of us, who exist in diasporic communities around the world.

“In Slavic Paganism, there are broad practices, but there are also some specific to the regions within each country,” Stephania Short, a Slavic Pagan, explains. These specific practices are often what come under threat. Invaders have fought over and died for rich farmlands of what is now Ukraine for hundreds if not thousands of years, making Russia’s recent attack on its sovereignty feel like a continuation of centuries-old conflict. It may come as no surprise that a long history of Slavic immigration, religion, and war shaped various Slavic practices and traditions. For Short, part of her witchcraft involves connecting with her Ukrainian ancestral roots—an act made all the more essential by recent events.

“People are looking for ancient meaning,” says Slovakian tour guide Helene Cincebaux. “I think there’s a fascination with Slavic culture, the rituals—maybe the plants, the herbs, things they did. They were natural healers.”

Witchcraft and Paganism existed in Slavic regions long before Christianity found a home. Even when witchcraft faced persecution, its traditions persisted, reimagined within the constraints of the new dominant religion.

In the UK, the 1950s emergence of Wicca, a nature-based, Pagan duotheistic religion, led to the repopularizing of witchcraft and other alternative belief systems. In the same way that native religions varied across Slavic areas, the term “witchcraft” does not refer to a singular identity. “Witches,” including those who do not use this term but exist under the umbrella of witchcraft, participate in a variety of practices and hold diverse spiritual beliefs. These include contemporary Paganism, folk Catholicism, and Wicca.

Where one person uses tarot, another may not. Where one person views hexes as inherently unethical, another may not. Where one person venerates deities, another may not or may only venerate one. Despite this diversity of practice, some people avoid using the term “witch” because it was and may still be used as a derogatory label for people holding spiritual power outside Christianity, as well as those who exist outside social norms.

In Eurocentric and Americentric beliefs, the prototype for a witch is a woman or femme presenting person who is targeted because of their practices. during the second wave of feminism, some women turned to witchcraft as liberation from the patriarchy, finding empowerment in venerating goddesses. Together, they could create a community through common practices in witchcraft, such as yearly festivals that mark the passage of time. According to a survey conducted by researcher Helen A. Berger between 2008 and 2010, 71.6 percent of contemporary Pagans, including various religions and witchcraft, are women. The faith has also become a safe haven for some LGBTQ+ individuals.

Ever since Christianity spread to Slavic Europe in the 900s, people who existed on the margins of society were accused or and persecuted for witchcraft, including literate women and individuals with limb differences and disabilities. It became a scapegoat identifier for people the Church deemed dangerous or different. Similarly, queer researcher Mara Gold explains, “those accused of witchcraft were generally those that didn’t fit the norms of the gender binary, including [LGTBQ+] people and poor older women discarded by society.”

Polish photographer Agata Kalinowska’s monograph Yaga supports and holds space for LGBTQ+ individuals within witchcraft. The diary, which includes photographs documenting thirteen years of queer women’s spaces, takes its name from Baba Yaga, a ferocious witch from Slavic folklore. For Kalinowska, this title is important because it speaks to how Baba Yaga creates space for queer witches:

Now there are women in Poland who empower such figures of older independent women… women who know a lot about nature, power of plants, the importance of female and nonbinary friendships. They are Yagas, they don’t belong to the world created around beauty myths, they queer the system.

Witches of the Church

“A lot of witchcraft is heavily intertwined with Christianity,” explains Sara Raztresen, a Slovenian American witch. Although Christianity sought to erase native religions, many Pagan traditions became embedded in Christian practice. Converts tethered Pagan deities to saints with similar iconography.

After the Catholic Church arrived in Slovenia, locals began to identify Kresnik, the god of the sun, fire, and storms, with St. John and St. George. So Kresnik, the head deity of the Slovenian pantheon, is no longer as prevalent as the saints who inherited his role. Kresnik, St. John, and St. George are among the entities with whom Raztresen actively communicates.

On those days, she sets her altar with offerings associated with the deity with whom she intends to speak. For Kresnik, this includes herbs and flowers related to his role as patron of summer, such as chamomile and daisies. When the deity makes their presence known, Raztresen asks questions that are answered through the tarot cards she pulls, acting as a conduit between the two.

One of these practices is “kitchen witchcraft,” a broad practice that encourages intention and focus, using many on-hand food ingredients with magic and symbolic meaning. For kitchen witch Raztresen and others, their practices often involve using ingredients key to their ethnic backgrounds, such as meats, grains, spices, and more that are native to their ancestral homelands. Kitchen witchcraft and other ethnic household rituals allow people like Raztresen to connect with their heritage even if they live far away.

However, the intermingling of Christianity and witchcraft among Slavs doesn’t erase the stigma the Catholic Church perpetuates against witchcraft. Today many Slavic witches practice their craft as a form of opposition against religious institutions. Raztresen says, “[Church goers] all want you to do the white button-up collar thing in Church,” but there’s a great diversity of Christian practices that include elements of witchcraft and folk traditions.

Similar to experiences across the world, the Church inquisitors in Slavic regions interrogated, tortured, and executed a number of witches. Scholar Michael Ostling states in early modern Poland, the Catholic Church executed approximately 2,000 people for witchcraft, most from the lower socioeconomic classes. The best documented example of this persecution is perhaps the 1775 Doruchów witch trial in Poland, where the Church executed fourteen women, although historians have debated the year and number of victims.

Immediately, marginalized people and their loved ones, as well as other concerned citizens across Eastern and Central Europe started questioning these claims of witchcraft. It wasn’t until 1776 that Poland outlawed torture and the death penalty—partly in response to the Doruchów witch trial. Today, more than two centuries later, people like Raztresen are exploring how their own ethnic traditions are rooted in pre-Christian pagan and witchcraft practices. They are reclaiming how practices persecuted on threat of torture and death lived on through cooking, praying, and sewing traditions.

The Strength of Color

Stephania Short was introduced to spiritualism at the age of thirteen after watching her mom pull tarot. By ninth grade, she “didn’t necessarily believe in God,” and as the years went by, she grew more connected to her Ukrainian roots. She reached out to family members and went to her mom to learn more about Ukrainian cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs. Like Raztresen, Short practices her witchcraft to celebrate her Slavic heritage.

“Paganism kind of allows you to practice with everything that our ancestors would, so everything is based off of the land,” she says. Plants and herbs that are abundant in Ukraine, such as rosemary, are important in her craft.

Like herbs, colors hold meanings in Ukrainian witchcraft traditions. Short explains, “Red is a symbol of strength and protection. Gold symbolizes abundance and prosperity and good luck. Blue symbolizes peace and healing and just kind vibes all around.” With this knowledge, she now intentionally decorates her pysanky, traditional Ukrainian Easter eggs, with these colors to welcome the spring.

Deepening the importance of the color red in Ukrainian witchcraft, poppies represent strength and prosperity. Short aims to incorporate the flower into her spell work and practice “as a form of appreciation for [her] ancestors.” To Short, spells may be made with and for a diverse array of occasions and situations. She defines them as “basically manifestations: energy or intentions that you’re pursuing out for the universe to grasp onto.” Herbs, like rosemary or poppy, and flame may speed up this process. Even the color of the candles may impact the spell. “All elements you use connect to your intentions with the spell, as they carry their own energies.” For Short and many other Slavic witches, the study and practice of Slavic witchcraft involves learning the meanings behind these cultural beliefs.

When winter bleeds into spring, effigies of Morana are drowned or burned just as Berzofsky witnessed, ushering in new life. The Catholic Church banned this practice in the fifteenth century, so the residents of some Slavic countries replaced her with an effigy of Judas. But the custom of burning Morana lived on. Short’s cousin introduced her to Morana. Before, she hadn’t been aware that Slavic Paganism contained so many deities. However, she doesn’t “believe in gods and goddesses necessarily.” Instead, she views it as alluring and something she needs to acknowledge.

Short discusses Slavic and Ukrainian witch practices on social media, from beliefs surrounding native gods and goddesses to the use and meaning of native Ukrainian herbs in spell work. The importance of this has risen in light of the current war. “I’m maybe a little biased, but the Russians’ goal is to eliminate our culture,” she says. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian witch has become a symbol of solidarity for some—recalling the woman of the past who fights for her cultural heritage (her native religion) in the face of erasure and destruction at the hands of the Christian Church.

Images of Ukrainian witches appear on the Ukraine War NFT Collection and among Ukrainian cosplayers around the world, alongside messages showing the strength of Ukrainian people. Madame Pamita, a Ukrainian American witch and author of Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft, explains that during the invasion, traditions and practices have grown more dear, more important to preserve. Ukrainians and other people in Slavic diasporas see the rediscovery of their traditions and practices as a healing tool.

Healing

Emblems of Slavic witchcraft have been interwoven with messages of Ukrainian solidarity, including motanka dolls, 5,000-year-old symbols of feminine wisdom and guards for families within Ukrainian folk traditions. Motanka dolls are talismans unique to each family and symbolize connection between familial generations.

Madame Pamita’s grandmother was a baba sheptukha (баба шептуха), a healer who made motanky (мотанки) spirit dolls, but her grandmother died before she was born. Although she heard about these practices, she never knew how to perform them. Others share a similar experience of unfamiliarity, but a mother-and-daughter team in British Columbia are changing that by creating and selling motanka dolls as a fundraiser for Ukrainian relief.

With attention on agency and the self, Slavic witchcraft encourages healing and identity formation. It focuses on reflection and connection. Even if they aren’t recognized as religious practices, the cornerstones of many Slavic witchcraft traditions can be uncovered in small Ukrainian dolls, Slovenian kitchens, and large celebrations. Ukrainians and their allies are preserving these traditions for solidarity, fundraising, and strength.

The presence of magic may not be obvious, but it is simply a matter of perspective. That perspective may bring people closer to culture they may feel disconnected from in diasporic communities or from being part of a marginalized people. It may bring them their own version of spiritual happiness and cultural enrichment.

Emma Cieslik is a museum professional in the Washington, D.C., area and a former curatorial intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Alexandra Sikorski is a writing intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and a master’s student in public anthropology at American University. When she isn’t researching contemporary witchcraft, she enjoys dissecting material culture and design.

[pagan-stitches]

Waxing Like the Moon: Women Folk Healers in Rural Western Ukraine

I recently found the intro to a dissertation about Moravian folk healers who use the wax, but couldn’t find the rest of it, plus I had to use google translate as it was in Czech, which is always rough. Hopefully this journal article will give me some insight. Looking forward to reading it this weekend. I found a great deal of satisfaction in the wax ritual I did on Old New Year (I just ordered a charm inspired by my results to work with this year) with the most basic of information so I’m excited to have more details.

@graveyarddirt didn’t know if you would find this of interest?

[sisterofmercy]

Hi, so im looking for some witchy books in Polish or english about:

1. Hekate and hellenic polytheism

2. Folk witchcraft (mostly eastern european)/traditional witchcraft

4. Slavic paganism

5. Christian witchcraft

Andrew from sisters of mercy to catch your attention

[folkcorewitch]

Meant to post more often but Tumblr keeps crashing 🥺 anyway here is a picture inspired by folkloric stories from Ukraine 🖤

[alex-studies-witchcraft]

Introduction

1-16-2023

Basics:

I’m a 19 year old girl, and I’ve been on my path since I was 8. I’m only sharing this because I’m proud of that fact; it has absolutely nothing to do with status. I feel as though some witches use the amount of time they’ve been practicing as a tool to say “Ha! Well, I’m better than you!” and I’ve hated that ever since I started.

Please DNI with this blog if…

You actively, and knowingly, appropriate and/or support those who appropriate other cultures/practices

You’re an ableist

You’re anti-LGBTQ+

Your main/only goal is to spread the word of “the Lord.”

You are unwilling to receive any form of criticism/feedback or explain yourself as to why you said/did something.

What I will post:

Stuff from my own BoS

Pretty flowers/scenery accompanied by a quick description of how I used (if I used) anything from where I was in my craft

Any cool/interesting tidbits of information I find in books/articles!

Also! For some more fun witchy content, feel free to follow @the-digital-coven !!

[natalieina]

Lady Midday

At noon, when the gray summer sky freezes for a moment, under the merciless luminary that froze in the sky, a shadow easily steps on a heavy carpet of flowers... Her dress sways from the timid wind, which is not subject to the passage of time, her white hands slide over the blue bud and scarlet berries, pale fingers clutching a sickle. She comes to the call of the noonday sun, from the invisible depths of the dark years, in order to accomplish what was written for her. In order to gather at this hour, like wild herbs, the warm souls of those who dare to appear before her...

Model - Elena Mikusheva.

Dress by Anya Letimdoleta.

Natalie Ina Photography.

August 2023.

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[bolszaja-miedwedica]

świętujemy dziady!!!!

light a candle for your ancestors everyone

[gintastik]

it's that time of the year again,

when I try again to pass my car license exam. been at it for too long, but this country has one of the highest prices per hour and I keep running out of money, because I keep failing. i do want to hurry up, because my health certificate expires in summer, and in summer i graduate and will have to find a job (and good luck to me finding a job without a license in my field).

so if you want to support me, even for a little bit, you are welcome to book a tarot reading with me. the prices are from 2 - 5 euros and any euro would help me a lot! for more info DM me.

sharing would be appreaciated <3

[he-xie]

I forgot to post it but back around summer I drew Baba Jaga's hut. Try to find the cat!

[ternovye]

время жатвы