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Ash tree in Slavic tradition – part 1

In Bulgaria, there is a legend about the origin of the ash tree. One girl married a serpent and gave birth to three children. When the girl went to visit her family, her brothers, wanting to rid her of the serpent, began asking the children about where their home was. Both her sons were silent, but her daughter betrayed the secret. So the mother cursed her children, turning the boys into oak and ash, and the girl into aspen, which always trembles with leaves…
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Ancient Slavs treated ash tree with special honor. In Serbia it was used as “zapis” (a sacred tree in a village, which played a role of an open-air temple). Cult objects were also decorated with ash tree branches. Eastern and Southern Slavs often used ash wood chips and twigs to obtain “living” fire (produced by rubbing wood against wood). Slavs believed that this fire cleans people and livestock from diseases, especially during epidemics. In Croatia people thought that if a person bends an ash branch and rolls under it from west to east, he could turn into a wolf. Would anyone dare to check?
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To be continued…

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Butterfly in Slavic tradition – part 2

It’s hard to believe, but some people thought that a butterfly is an evil, demonic soul, and a messenger of death (for example, if it flew into the room of an ill person, that was a sign of the imminent death). The South Slavs believed that when the veshtitsa (witch) falls asleep, her soul in the form of a butterfly strangles, sucks blood, steals milk or fire, etc. And if her body is turned face down, her soul will not recognize it, and will remain a butterfly of a striking color like black and red or black and yellow. When the body of a vampire is burned or pierced with a stick, as the Serbs believed, his soul also flies out in the form of a butterfly or many butterflies. To neutralize him, the butterfly had to be killed.
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Western Slavs also associated these cute insects with death, disease, and demons. This is reflected in the name of the butterfly in different West Slavic dialects: diabel, čertica, mara, vampir, bieda, etc. The most frequent association with evil and death is represented by the butterfly called “Dead Head” (Acherontia atropos), which even was featured in the movie “The Silence of the Lambs”.
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After that, will you be able to look at the butterflies with the same eyes, especially the black and yellow ones?
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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.

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Butterfly in Slavic tradition – part 1

The ancient Slavs believed that butterflies and moths are associated with the “other world” and are the embodiment of the soul. In Poland and southern Russia, they were seen as people’s ancestors in a different form. So when butterflies circled around the flame of a candle, it was customary to remember the dead, pray and call their names. It was also forbidden to harm butterflies. The Kurpeys (Kurpie) in Mazovia were saying: “Nie bij ćmy: śkody ci nie zrobi, a moze to twój dziadek, a moze nieboscyk ociec” (Don’t kill the butterfly – it won’t hurt you, and maybe it’s your grandfather or deceased father). The southern Slavs would ask a butterfly for rain during a drought, believing that it “flies near God and can ask for rain.”
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There are many signs associated with butterflies. Among the Eastern and Southern Slavs, if the first butterflies of the year were white, this promised milk and rain, red – honey and drought. Among the Western Slavs, a white butterfly usually signified death, a red one – life. The Belarusians of Vitebsk region predicted the height of flax crops by the flight altitude of the first butterflies.
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What omens associated with butterflies do you know?
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To be continued…
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Rake in Slavic tradition – part 2

Sometimes, a rake was an omen of trouble: it predicted a quarrel if thrown on the field with the teeth up, as the Slovenes believed, or a difficult childbirth if a pregnant woman stepped over it.
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But most often rake brought good luck. In order for the sheep to have a lot of milk, the Serbs would leave the rake in the barn for a “sleepover”. During the flax sowing, Poles would put a rake in the field for a good harvest. In Bosnia, an owner who wanted to sell a cow, would scrub its back with a rake for good luck and to ensure that the animal will not be “returning home”.
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In Serbia, childless spouses went to the mill, and the husband “gathered” water with a rake, while the wife drank it to get pregnant. The rake also helped young Serbian girls to attract young men: on the eve of St. George’s Day, they sat astride a rake, drove around the house and said: «Како грабуље грабе, тако се и младићи грабили за мене» (As the rake drags, so let the guys “drag” after me).
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How did your grandparents (or yourself) use the rake? Only for their intended purpose or also in magical rituals? ?
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Source: “Slavic Antiquities” – encyclopedic dictionary in 5 volumes by Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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Rake in Slavic tradition – part 1

It would seem that everyone knows the purpose of the rake, but the ancient Slavs used them not only to collect hay and leaves, but also in protective rituals.
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Slovenes used them as defense against thunderstorms: they threw a rake under the roof with the teeth upward in order to “cut” the cloud. Serbs performed interesting rituals with a rake to defend livestock from snakes and witches – women rowed near cattle barns and said: “I rake in my own, not someone else’s”.
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To protect cattle from evil curses, Slavs would put hot charcoal on the ground, cover it with an iron baking sheet and then “row” over it with a rake. In the process, they would say three times: “As this coal cracks, so let her (a witch), who is going to curse the cattle at night, to crack from torment; as I row on this baking sheet, so let the devils torture her in hell. ” Then the coal was taken out, mixed with ashes or flour, and scattered around the barn with the words: “After she has collected all the ashes, only then she will harm my cattle.” However, witches also had their own “counter-rituals” to resist such “measures” – for example, by drawing a magic circle around the cattle with a rake…
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To be continued…
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