Here is an excerpt from the upcoming new book: “Nature is preparing for winter sleep. Leshy goes into hibernation until the next spring snowmelt. Human festivities also subside. People are thinking about the finiteness of life, about an icy dream… This is the time when ancestors-grandfathers are remembered on a special day – Grandfather’s (Dedova) or Grandmother’s (Babkina) Saturday. All Slavs are sending off their spirits to Wyryi until next spring…”
ꏍ
We are taking pre-orders !
We are now taking pre-orders for the new book, colouring book and calendar!
Kolyada
The beginning of a new kolo (old Slavonic word for “circle”) is Kolyada, the celebration of the newborn sun, the beginning of the new solar circle for all those who survived the longest night of the year. The whole world has completed one round and has entered another. The most severe colds are yet to come, but the day has already begun to increase! The sun is alive, it will not die, winter and night have not frozen it!
ꏍ
The Slavs rejoice at the newborn sun, dress up for celebration, walk around the houses with a self-made sun on a stick – they carry blessings to every house.
ꏍ
It’s time for a new project
It’s time for a new project… about something important, not subjected to the passing trends of time, deeply rooted in every Slavic soul…
ꏍ
We got lucky to get Alexander Budnik, who is not just a spectacular artist with hundreds of illustrations about Slavic history and mythology, but he also happens to be an early Middle Ages reenactor, who knows tons about ancient ways of our ancestors. Many books and magazines proudly feature his pictures, and now his works will be in our new publication.
ꏍ
Stay tuned for the news!
ꏍ
Slavic ritual of postrizhiny – the final part
During the postrizhiny ceremony Slovenians would hold the first cut hair high in their hand, Macedonians would place them in a sieve. In some Slavic regions locks of hair have to be destroyed or got rid of. For example, Slovaks, Belarusians and Ukrainians toss them into a fire or into a stove. Belarusians would say these words: “Valosiki gari, a galava ne bali” (Hair is on fire, but no headache). Sometimes the hair is thrown into the river or buried under a fruit tree. It is believed that the “ancestral” hair should not get to the birds. Slavs believe that if the birds weave that hair into the nest, the child will suffer from headaches.
ꏍ
In some other Slavic traditions, it was forbidden to destroy the trimmed hair. The first cut locks were kept by the Serbs in the house, in a special box with beeswax, Russians kept them in a flour sieve, Bulgarians – under a child’s pillow.
ꏍ
Actions with cut locks could depend on the gender of the child. Belarusians could put the boy’s hair in a barn for oxen, and Bulgarians buried it under a pear tree. The first hair locks of girls in Belarus were also thrown into a loom, and in Bulgaria and the Brest region they were buried under a willow, apple tree, cherry tree, or under a rose bush.
ꏍ
Do you know what was done with your first cut hair?
ꏍ
More interesting facts can be found in: “Slavic Antiquities” – encyclopedic dictionary in 5 volumes by Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Artist: Magdalena Szynkarczuk https://facebook.com/MagdalenaSzynkarczukArt
ꏍ