Resources/research - Blog Posts
When Fern Blooms (Hope Floats): Elusive
Kupala Night, also called Ivanа-Kupala, is a traditional eastern Slavic holiday which is celebrated in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia during the night from 6 to 7 July (on the Gregorian calendar). (This corresponds to 23-24 June on these countries’ traditional Julian calendar.) Calendar-wise, it is opposite to the winter holiday Koliada. The celebration relates to the summer solstice when nights are the shortest and includes a number of Slavic rituals.
The name of the holiday was originally Kupala; a pagan fertility rite later adapted into the Orthodox Christian calendar by connecting it with St. John’s Day which is celebrated on 24 June.
The Ukrainian, Belarusian and Russian name of this holiday combines “Ivan” (John, in this case John the Baptist) and Kupala which was thought to be derived from the Slavic word for bathing, which is cognate. However, it likely stems from the proto-Slavic kump, a gathering. The two feasts could be connected by reinterpreting John’s baptizing people through full immersion in water. However, the tradition of Kupala predates Christianity. The pagan celebration was adapted and reestablished as one of the native Christian traditions intertwined with local folklore.
The holiday is still enthusiastically celebrated by the younger people of Eastern Europe. The night preceding the holiday (Tvorila night) is considered the night for “good humour” mischiefs (which sometimes would raise the concern of law enforcement agencies). On Ivan Kupala day itself, children engage in water fights and perform pranks, mostly involving pouring water over people.
Many of the rites related to this holiday are connected with the role of water in fertility and ritual purification. This is due to the ancient Kupala rites. On Kupala day, young people jump over the flames of bonfires in a ritual test of bravery and faith. The failure of a couple in love to complete the jump, while holding hands, is a sign of their destined separation.
Girls may float wreaths of flowers (often lit with candles) on rivers, and attempt to gain foresight into their romantic relationship fortune from the flow patterns of the flowers on the river. Men may attempt to capture the wreaths, in the hope of capturing the interest of the woman who floated it.
There is an ancient Kupala belief that the eve of Ivan Kupala is the only time of the year when ferns bloom. Prosperity, luck, discernment, and power befall whom ever finds a fern flower (Chervona ruta). Therefore, on that night, village folk roam through the forests in search of magical herbs, and especially, the elusive fern flower (Chervona ruta).
Traditionally, unmarried women, signified by the garlands in their hair, are the first to enter the forest. They are followed by young men. Therefore, the quest to find herbs and the fern flower (Chervona ruta) may lead to the blooming of relationships between pairs within the forest.
According to folklore, the flower is Chervona ruta. The flower is yellow, but according to legend, it turns red on the eve of Ivan Kupala Day. Ferns are not angiosperms (flowering plants), and instead reproduce by spores.
In Gogol’s story The Eve of Ivan Kupala, a young man finds the fantastical fern-flower, but is cursed by it. Gogol’s tale may have been the stimulus for Modest Mussorgsky to compose his tone poem Night on Bald Mountain, adapted by Yuri Ilyenko into a film of the same name.
SOURCES: Image #1: Wikimedia Commons: License: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) Source Photographer: Simon Kozhin/С.Л.Кожин Title: Kupala Night, Divination on the Wreaths Artist: Simon Kozhin/С.Л.Кожин Image #2: Wikimedia Commons: Title: Night on the Eve of Ivan Kupala Artist: Henryk Hector Siemiradzki License: Public Domain Image #3: Wikimedia Commons: Title: Івана Купала (Ivanа-Kupala). Stamp of Ukraine (1998) License: Public Domain Text: Wikipedia: Kupala Night: Fern Flower: Chervona ruta. License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
"How can I be a witch/pagan without falling for conspiracy theories/New Age cult stuff?" starter kit
Posts & Articles
Check your conspiracy theory. Does any of it sound like this?
Check your conspiracy theory part two: double, double, boil and trouble.
QAnon is an old form of anti-Semitism in a new package, experts say
Some antisemitic dogwhistles to watch out for
Eugenicist and bioessentialist beliefs about magic
New Age beliefs that derive from racist pseudoscience
The New Age concept of ascension - what is it?
A quick intro to starseeds
Starseeds: Nazis in Space?
Reminder that the lizard alien conspiracy theory is antisemitism
The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis is Racist and Harmful
The Truth About Atlantis
Why the Nazis were obsessed with finding the lost city of Atlantis
The Nazis' love affair with the occult
Occultism in Nazism
Red flag names in cult survivor resources/groups (all of them are far right conspiracy theorists/grifters)
The legacy of implanted Satanic abuse ‘memories’ is still causing damage today
Why Satanic Panic never really ended
Dangerous Therapy: The Story of Patricia Burgus and Multiple Personality Disorder
Remember a Previous Life? Maybe You Have a Bad Memory
A Case of Reincarnation - Reexamined
Crash and Burn: James Leininger Story Debunked
Debunking Myths About Easter/Ostara
Just How Pagan is Christmas, Really?
The Origins of the Christmas Tree
No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired By Odin
Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?
No, Athena Didn't Turn Medusa Into A Monster To Protect Her
Who Was the First God?
Were Ancient Civilizations Conservative Or Liberal?
How Misogyny, Homophobia, and Antisemitism Influence Transphobia
Podcasts & Videos
BS-Free Witchcraft
Angela's Symposium
ESOTERICA
ReligionForBreakfast
Weird Reads With Emily Louise
It's Probably (not!) Aliens
Conspirituality
Miniminuteman
Behind The Bastards
Thank you for the question @newbiepagancat ! I’ll give you a direct answer and a broader view answer.
Direct answer: The general theme of the myth was reconstructed by slavists on the basis of folk songs, folktales and comparative mythology, there is no one concrete historical source. The names of gods and the storyline connecting multiple myths are an educated speculation by slavists of yore. The minute details are typically added by neopagans as they’re almost impossible to reconstruct.
The Russian philologists Ivanov and Toporov found (mainly on the tradition about Zeleni Jurij) traces of the principal myth of Perun and Veles, linking Jurij/Jarylo with the Balto-Slavic Jarovit, a deity of fertility, who was initially worshipped on April 15. Furthermore, Radoslav Katičić wrote extensively on Jurij’s myth among the Slavs and on the duel between the Thunder God with a dragon. Both Radoslav Katičić and Vitomir Belaj share the opinion that Jurij/Jarylo is the son of Perun and thus central to the pre-Slavic vegetation and fertility myth. Jurij was taken by envoys of Veles to the land of the dead from which he returned to the world of the living in spring. As a harbinger of spring, Zeleni Jurij is also connected with the circular flow of time and with renewal. According to Katičić’s reconstruction of the myth of Zeleni Jurij, the mythic story recounts how young Jurij rides his horse from afar, from the land of eternal spring and the land of the dead – from Veles’ land – across a blood-stained sea, through a mountain to a green field. (…) At the end of his journey, Jurij arrives at the door of Perun’s court to marry Perun’s daughter, (his own sister) Mara. Together with the sacrifice of the horse, the hieros gamos ensures the growth and fertility of plants. Some Slovene folktales and songs also mention an incestuous relationship between a brother and a sister, which is the reminiscence of the sacred marriage already mentioned in the myth of Kresnik. The sacred marriage is therefore also connected with Zeleni Jurij.
- Supernatural beings from Slovenian myth and folktales by Monika Kropej
Mikhailov summarized Ivanov’s and Toporov’s reconstruction of the basic myth by describing that the thunder god Perun, who dwells in the sky on the top of a mountain, persecutes his enemy, who has the form of a snake and lives below on earth. The reason for their conflict is that Veles stole cattle and people, as well as the Thunderer’s wife in some versions of the story.
- René Girard’s Scapegoating and Stereotypes of Persecution in the Divine Battle between Veles and Perun by Mirjana Borenović
Broader worldview answer: There are some common mythological themes that exist in one form or another among countless different cultures and peoples, adjusted to fit the local gods and their broader stories.
The God of Thunder fights The Serpent of the Waters. They have to fight - be it as Perun and Veles, as Thor and Jörmungandr, as Zeus and Typhon or as Marduk and Tiamat. The detailed reasons will vary but will make sense locally. The older and simpler reason is likely that we need a good justification for the changing of the seasons.
The Death will always take away someone’s Loved One, sometimes that Loved One will be a child, since that makes coping with the situation particularly difficult. That’s just what death does - be it as Veles and Yarilo or as Hades and Persephone. Bonus points for explaining the seasons changing too.
So let’s say you’re a slavist or a neopagan desperate for a coherent body of Slavic myths but lacking one. All you have to work with are some fleshless skeletons of myths, painstakingly glued together from random bones that you found here and there. Truth be told you only managed to get this far because they’re real classics of the genre and other cultures tend to have similar ones too. Let’s introduce the skeleton gallery in play here:
The Thunderer and the Serpent are fighting (described more in depth here),
The God of Death/Underworld abducts a child (described in the quotes above),
The Spirit of Vegetation has to die - creative sacrifice/murder (explained shortly here),
The Fire and Water need to marry at Midsummer - magical incest temporarily allowed (explained in this post, if it’s too long just read the last quote and the tldr).
(You might notice pretty much all those myths are centered around vegetation, what makes plants grow, and people needing to have food. Two first skeletons do a decent job of explaining change of seasons and the reason for seasonal coming of rains, that are needed for the fields to grow; two last ones are related to rituals that are supposed to ensure that land stays fertile/there’s enough sun and water so that grain grows and we can avoid starving.)
Ok, so let’s say you’re a slavist or a neopagan desperate for a coherent body of Slavic myths. What is the optimal way to connect the dots here?
Perun and Veles fight. Why are they fighting? Multiple reasons but the biggest one is Veles stealing something that rightfully belonged to Perun. What did he steal? Well the myth works perfectly if it’s a) a child and b) a spirit of vegetation. This fits both Morana and Yarilo and I saw fans of both versions, but let’s go with Yarilo here. Because of a flower, a folk song and an old chronicle Yarilo/Yarovit, the spirit believed to be one of vegetation, life, spring, sun etc. has to marry the spirit of vegetation, water and death, that miiiiiight also be his sister. How the fuck do you marry your own sister? Well you got abducted and separated at young age, but as The Spring, The Embodiment of Sprouting Seeds and maybe also The Sun Child, Yarilo (born at Midwinter) will come out from the Underworld uscathed as a young adult and meet a girl who he fails to recognize as his sister and marries at Midsummer (part of fertility ritual for good harvest). Anyway tragedy follows, could be murder, could be suicide, either way it has to be death.
Why? Because that’s what makes sense, the most optimal way to put together the puzzle pieces that we currently have. Does that mean that’s exactly what Ancient Slavs believed? No, but a) we don’t know for sure what they believed and will likely never find out for sure, b) they probably believed bunch of different, conflicting stories depending on the region.
Obviosuly speculating slavists are much more light-handed than speculating neopagans. The slavists will usually let you know which parts they added, why they hold this particular belief, what purpose this story may serve, what other authorities support their hypothesis, and of course, that nothing is for sure and this is merely a hypothesis. Neopagans are rarely this kind and forthcoming.
Have a lovely day!
Zarya
Perun - Żmija’s guide to Slavic Gods
art by Maxim Aleksandrowicz Kuleshov
part one of my guide to slavic faith - basic problems
part two of my guide to slavic faith - main gods
Perun - God of Thunder and Lighting, Ruler of Sky, Giver of Rain and Punisher of Evil - is possibly the most popular and important Old God from the Slavic pantheon; he unifies the beliefs of many Slavic - and Baltic - tribes.
As I am aware than reliable sources in English are not this easy to find, I decided to translate some notes on him I have from the “Mythology of Slavic People” by Aleksander Gieysztor - a book which is crucial for anyone who wants to really delve into the Slavic faith. It is quite academic and focuses greatly on linguistics, archeology, and folklore. Split in parts to avoid being too long and exhausting (as if it is not already? oh my.) Includes info from Strzelczyk’s Mity, podania i wierzenia dawnych Słowian as well.
- the mentions of Perun and his worship are widely present in texts from both ancient times and Middle Ages; however, they are truly visible in folk oral history, language, and archeological finds.
- Perun as a higher deity is present in nearly all of Slavic tribes’ beliefs as well as in the Baltic ones.
- his name is created from the core “per” and the suffix “un” – such a way of creating a name denotes a role and activity described by the core (nomen agentis); through this, in Polish we have a word “piorun” (lighting) coming from the action of Perun and his role. Both Lithuanian and Latvian have one word for the deity and the lighting.
- his role fluctuated throughout the years between the deity of sky and thunder to the deity of authority and action: both aspects are equally important and present in sources and tradition. a similar process took place in the Roman polytheism.
- the main role of Perun is connected with hitting – he is the one who hits, punishes, sends lightning bolts – this is present in language in certain ways: in Polish “prać” coming from the “per” core meant to wash clothes with the beating stick (kijanka) and is nowadays still present in colloquial Polish meaning “to hit, to beat someone up” (prać kogoś, sprać na kwaśne jabłko itd.)
- Balts have yet another similar core denoting the deity Perku-nas (widely accepted to be the same as Perun) and through the cores “perk” or “perg” apparent in Indoeuropean languages, we can observe connotations with “lighting”, “rock”, “forest”, and “oak tree.”
- there are many documented practices of tribes worshipping oak trees as Perun’s trees – although it is important to note that Slavs did not worship the tree itself but “what [the tree] encompassed, what it meant” (quote from Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian of religion)
- Serbian (but also Macedonian and Bulgarian) practices of “zapis” also highlighted the importance of worship connected to oak trees.
- also places hit by lighting were considered sacred – whether it was a hill, a tree, or earth/sand which created the Perun’s arrows/arrowheads (Fulgurite)
- fulgurites or belemnites were considered the sacred weapon of Perun – Perun’s arrows, God’s arrows (Polish strzałka piorunowa, Ukrainian hromowa strilka/strila boża, Serbian strijela, Slovene strela); if found, they were considered a great luck: put in the child’s cradle for protection and health, rubbed on cows’ udders if they were not giving milk, or put under the thatch to protect the household from being hit by lighting.
- the other weapon of Perun was the Axe – through this axes were considered a sacred symbol and put beside the bed of a woman giving birth, near the threshold of a barn, on the field during sowing, or outside to protect animals and crops from hail.
- from the belief in the magical powers of Perun’s weapons came the practice of hitting oneself on the head with a rock or iron after hearing the first thunder of spring.
- the name of Perun was considered sacred and not to be taken lightly: Marija Gimbutas, a Lithuanian-American archeologist documented that, in Latvia and Lithuania, up until the XX century, only the elders were allowed to utter his name – and even they would use a diminutive form Perkunelis or Perkonitis as a way of omitting his “true name” and not angering him or bringing thunder upon themselves. (this is a widely present in linguistic analysis phenomenon of “magical taboo” and it often causes crucial cores and forms of words to be changed)
- the name of Perun and its various forms are very noticeable in toponymy (the naming of places) such as Lithuanian Perkūnai, the river Perkūnija or the mountain Perkūnkalnis; Bulgarian and Yugoslav Perunac, Perunićka Glava, Peruna Dubrava and dozens more; Polish Piorunowy Dział by the river Poprad; however, the Perun Hill in Istria (peninsula now shared by Croatia, Slovenia and Italy) with the part of it slope called Trebišča is most interesting – the term “treba” in Slavic languages and customs meant “sacrifice, offering”
- his name is also present in other parts of language other than toponymy or words meaning “thunder/lighting bolt/to hit” – most noticeably in curses/swear words such as “may the lighting hit you, may Perun punish you” in various Slavic languages such “niech cię piorun strzeli/trzaśnie” in Polish (there are many other languages using this, but Gieysztor doesn’t quote them – I do not know Serbian or Ukrainian well enough to post outside information here, please check Lug Velesa’s video on Perun where they quote more)
part 2 will include, among others: Perun’s role in Slavic dichotomy (his fight with Veles), the role of Perperuna, more customs, and specific archeologically-confirmed practices in his name.
observe the tag “gods guide” for upcoming updates.
slava,
Żmija
How To Get Free Books On Folklore
I do not believe in gatekeeping knowledge, so this post will be sharing how I get all my folklore books for free, legally.
To explain, when a book gets over a certain age and the copyright is not upkept, it falls under “public domain.” When that happens, many different websites will provide those books as a free download.
This is not restricted to one type of book, either. You can grab anything from Sherlock Holmes to history books, to folklore, and more.
If you are looking for a specific book, you may have to check more than one source, so I suggest bookmarking more than one website.
Example Websites:
Internet Archive
Project Gutenberg
Google Books
Open Library
Electric Scotland (Scottish books)
Sacred Texts
National Library of Scotland: Ossain Collection
Forgotten Books
Hathitrust
For me when I download a book, I then upload them to my Google library so that I can use the search functions as well as bring up the books anywhere, but a popular PC option isCalibre.
If you are interested in Scotland-specific folklore, I do have some suggestions of books you can start with.
Scottish Folklore Books:
(link) A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katharine Briggs (1976)
(link) Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)
(link) Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1900)
(link) The Peat-Fire Flame: Folk-Tales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor (1937)
(link) Notes on Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland by Walter Gregor, M.A. (1881)
(link) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (1911)
(link) Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western District of Scotland by J. Maxwell Wood (1911)
(link) Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)
(link) Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)
(link) Folk-Lore From The West of Ross-Shire by C.M. Robertson (1908)
(link) The Fairy Mythology / Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries by Thomas Keightley (1850)
(link) Popular Tales of the West Highlands by John Francis Campbell (1862)
(link) Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales by Sir George Douglas
(link) The Scottish Fairy Book By Elizabeth W. Grierson (1918)
(link)
(link) Popular Superstitions of the Highlands By W Grant Stewart (1823)
Hello! Regarding your post about opening asks, I was wondering if you have any advice about searching for Ukrainian sources about folklore/magic/superstition etc that are actually specific to Ukrainian beliefs? Every time I try to do research I find things that *say* Ukrainian, but all the sources are Russian. For example when I try to read about Mokosh, who is said to be an earth goddess for "all slavic people" (already a red flag statement) I can only find Russian sources and stories. People tend to lump us into one group, an issue Im sure you're familiar with. Either way, thank you for your time!! <3
That is a simple one - you would have to be more specific in your research. Do not look up Ukrainian beliefs about Mokosh, Ukraine nor Ukrainians (or Russians, for that matter) did not exist when this deity was worshiped. Research the history itself, or any particular region, subject, or group, and make your own conclusions.
With Mokosh, however, the trick is that the one reliable primary source in existence, the Tale of Bygone Years, also known as the Primary Chronicle, only states the name itself, without a hint towards gender or patronage. The rest, academically, is conjecture derived from romantic pet theories and the images of the Virgin Mary and St. Friday in folk imagination. This is not to say there is no earth goddess making herself known through this name, or through the saints mentioned, for that matter, but it has to be acknowledged there is no way of knowing who this being was at the time of writing.
Is Slavic polytheism closed or open to anyone? Does it depend on the branch so to speak? I know Slavic polytheism is a broad term.
Slavic resources in english: my collection of academic resources for beginners on the subject of slavic folklore, paganism and folk magic
Is Slavic paganism closed? - my thoughts
Slavic offerings
Slavic creation myths
My translation: Veles
My translation: Yarilo
My translation: Mokosh
Mokosh: offerings and devotions
Quotes: Perun and Veles as Saints
Quotes: Prophet Elijah and Saint Nicholas, a folktale
Quotes: Sources for Rod and Rozhanitsy
Quotes: Kupala, Kostroma, Yarilo and Mara - seasonal rituals of the Slavs
Quotes: Russian domovoi lore
What’s a zagovor and how it’s built.
Key tags: #slavic paganism #slavic folklore #slavic art #magia Slavorum #asks
Other recommended tags: #slavic folk - traditional clothing and folk art, #ancestral veneration #wooden architecture #embroidery #folk magic #maskers
My asks are open but please keep in mind that I did not receive academic education in the field of Slavic studies. Any answers I might provide will be based on my experiences as a Polish person and Slavic pagan as well as my own unsystematized research.
Slavic paganism is an open path, however please approach it respectfully by educating yourself on Slavic culture and making an effort to not propagate already rampant misinformation any further.
Lastly I’d like to disclaim that as helpful as the words “Slavs” and “Slavic” can be at the beginning of your research it is of paramount importance to remember that the “Slavs” were never a unified ethnocultural group or civilization.