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Spring and demons in Slavic tradition

For the ancient Slavs, spring was not only the time of the nature awakening, but also the time of the increased activity of various mythological creatures. Thus, the beginning of the river ice drift was associated with the awakening of the Vodyanoi (water spirit). Every spring the Russians sacrificed a horse and other gifts to him, drowning them in the river. Among the Kashubians, when the ice began to crack, the parents told their children: “Strёx są ju zbudził” (Vodyanoi awoke).

The beginning of March and Maslenitsa week (end of winter celebration) among the southern Slavs were considered a veshtitsa spree period. Serbs believed that veshtitsa (witch) eats babies and human hearts, and Montenegrins hid needles on March 1, believing that witches could use them to take out a human heart.

In Serbia, it was believed that on veshtitsa steal or strangle children or suck their blood. To deceive them, mothers took their children to their bed, and instead of babies they put a pralnik (wooden tool for laundry), a doll or a whisk in the cradle.

As a talisman, Slavs generally used garlic, because veshtitsa cannot stand its smell. They rubbed their feet, forehead and chest for protection. Interestingly, swaying on a swing was a popular way of protecting against veshtitsa in Serbia: «да га не поjеду» (so that the person would not be eaten).

To be continued…

Picture: “The Magic Circle” by John Waterhouse.

magic circle

Spring in Slavic tradition

Ancient Slavs considered spring as the awakening time of the earth from sleep. Nature wakes up and sets everything in motion. This annual cycle of the world re-creation is reflected in many Slavic myths and traditions.

A special power was attributed to the spring sun – many rituals were based on the exposure to the spring sunlight. Eastern Slavs, for example, put dezha (special wooden tub for sourdough bread making) on the sun to absorb its power: it was washed, dressed up in a beautiful towel, girded with a belt and placed on a fence pole from the sunny side before the sunrise – so that it could “see the sun”.

Our Slavic ancestors also “warmed the spring”, hoping that the warm weather will come sooner. They lit ritual bonfires in the fields, in the gardens, and even floated them down the rivers. By the way, the beginning of the spring ice drift was associated with the awakening of the Vodyanoi (Wodnik, Vodenjak).

Slovenes, Croats and other southern Slavs believed that the awakening and “warming” of the earth was associated with the falling of a “heavenly fire particle” on it. These beliefs contain echoes of the myths about the heavenly fertilization of the earth (the “marriage” between heaven and earth).

To be continued…

The painting by Viktor Korolkov “Bogatyrsky son” (“The legendary hero dream”) was used as an illustration.

Son