The ancient pagan indigenous Slavic celebration of Kupala night is approaching. Some celebrate it as it was done in ancient times June 23rd, and others celebrate it others celebrate according to after the calendar shift which is on July 7th. All Slavic people continued celebrating this ancient Slavic custom even after christianization and even till this day.


https://youtu.be/XTiNqZLOL90?si=58SZOM1Qk7eLYL_t

I took this post from a Slavic pagan channel on Facebook called;
“MagPie’s Corner - East Slavic Rituals, Witchcraft and Culture”

Traditions and Customs of Summer Solstice

Holiday of Kupalo (Summer Solstice) is one of the chief Slavic holidays. It had been celebrated for ages, and it is still observed nowadays. Before the calendar change in 1918, it was traditionally celebrated on June 24 (this means that Kupalo’s Eve would fall on June 23). However, after the calendar shift people started celebrating it on July 7 (exactly six months from Orthodox Christmas). Some people following the Old Ways prefer celebrating it directly on the date of Summer Solstice.

Summer Solstice was viewed by Slavs as a day of union, a “wedding” so to speak, between the Sky and Earth, Fire and Water. “The Sun bathes in the waters of rivers and lakes on Kupalo’s Holiday.” People say. This is the longest day and the shortest night of the year, and after this holiday, the day becomes shorter, while night slowly gains time.

Kupalo’s Holiday seems to be saturated with magic and wonders. It is only on Kupalo’s night that trees are able to walk, grasses and flowers – whisper to each other, and somewhere in the woods a magical fern flower blooms – a dream of lovers and treasure hunters. Evil spirits are awake and active, as well, waiting for those lost and lonely.

There are lots of legends referring to the origins of the holiday. One of the most famous ones is a legend of Kupalo and Kostroma (Christian Ivan and Mary). According to this legend, Kupalo and Kostroma were twins: a brother and a sister – magical children of Semargl – the God of fertility and Kupalnitsa – Goddess of the night. As a small child, Kupalo was abducted, and he grew up away from his sister and forgot what she was like completely. Kostroma also did not remember her brother too well. Many years later, they met and fell in love with each other, not knowing that they were related. At their wedding, mother recognized her son in her daughter’s groom, and told them what happened. This news appeared to be too much for the siblings: they both killed themselves – Kupalo jumped in the burning bonfire and Kostroma drowned herself. Gods felt sorry for them and turned them into a magical bi-colored flower: it is blue like eyes of Kostroma and the river that she drowned herself in, and gold like fire or Kupalo’s hair. They say that even within this flower, the siblings can talk to each other, and people keep this flower at home for protection against thieves (a thief would hear brother and sister talking and assume it were master and mistress of the house).

Another legend names Kostroma as the very first Rusalka. According to this story, after drowning herself, Kostroma became a water spirit, and every summer she lures a young boy in the water hoping it would be Kupalo, and every year, she is bitterly disappointed.

A similar legend exists in Slovenia (thank you, Stefan Cvetkovic, for sharing it with me). In it, Yarilo and Mara are brother and sister who get married and soon after the wedding – killed. What is curious that on the territory of Ukraine and Western Russia, Mara (or Marena) was the name of the ritual Kupalo’s tree, and Yarilo was a straw effigy that was burned or buried during the celebration or a few days after it. In some areas, the very same effigies were called Kostroma (an effigy made out of grass or straw) and Kupalo.
In some parts of Ukraine, there was custom to place a rather large straw effigy dressed in a woman’s shirt near a young tree. The effigy’s head is dressed in ribbons; its neck is adorned with necklaces and beads. This effigy is called Kupalo, and the tree near which it stands is Marena. The tree is also decorated with ribbons and bits of cloth. Once arranging it under the tree, participants, all wearing floral or herbal crowns, light the straw on fire and sing a long stretchy song. After the fire settles down a little, everyone jumps over it. The crowns are either cast in the water or thrown up on a tree.

Only some take the crowns home as a charm for protection at times of danger.

Customs of Kupalnitsa – the Day before Kupalo’s Holiday

People prepared for this holiday in advance. Eastern Slavs visited (a bathhouse or a sauna) on Agrafena-Kupalnitsa’s Day (the day before Kupalo’s Holiday, i.e. June 23). A bathing (banya) massage broom was prepared on the same day. In Vologda region of Russia, a special broom was prepared out of branches from birch, alder, linden, rowan, Guelder Rose, currant, chokecherry, and willow, as well as a flower of each kind (thyme, fern, globeflower, buttercup, Ivan-and-Mary, mugwort, chamomile, and mint). In all other areas, banya brooms most commonly were made out of fresh birch or oak branches, as well as nettles. It was traditional to collect stinging nettles on Kupalnitsa and tuck it into all the gaps around the house, barn, and fence for protection against witches and evil spirits. Also, globeflower was collected – Russians call it kupalnitsa, just like the day before Kupalo’s holiday; some also call it Odolen-Weed, although officially, white water lily is the legendary Odolen-Weed. People believed that a bit of grass from Kupalo’s broom thrown in the stove would protect the house from lightning and fire.
In the very same Vologda region, on Agrafena Kupalnitsa, all the unmarried girls, including both the adults and teenagers, wear their best outfits and walk from home to home asking to “wash their faces” – this means donating them some kind of women’s accessory: a ribbon, a kerchief, beads, or earrings. These items could be later used to decorate a ritual tree and/or effigy.
Children make a special doll on the base of a wooden cross – this doll is called Kupavka, It is adorned with flowers and herbs, and colorful ribbon are tied to its arms – each ribbon stands for one wish. Then, similarly to a Kupalo’s flower crown, it is cast into flowing water.

Girls prepared flower crowns for the holiday that would start in the evening. In Belarus, on Kupalo’s Eve girls would throw those crowns into the fire, and see if any of the boys would catch them before they land into the flames. The bravest girls admitted their feelings openly by placing their crowns on the heads of boys they liked. the crown helped them find a partner for the evening and possibly for the rest of their lives; girls that did not find a match for themselves at the holiday, cast their crowns into water at the end, and tried to foretell their future marriage by their behavior – if a crown floated back to the riverbank, this promised a soon-to-be marriage, if it floated far away – the future husband would be from far away, a crown sinking foretold of girl’s upcoming death. Sometimes boys who were too shy to admit their feelings for a girl openly, tried to “fish” her crown out, and return it to the girl – the girl placing the crown on the head of a boy meant she liked him (and he could tear it after that), and if she took the crown back, his feelings were unrequited – in some places she would have to “pay” him with a kiss for “buying out her crown”. A floral crown on a girl’s head symbolizes her virginity, so attitude towards such crown was very symbolic.

While girls were busy weaving their floral crowns, young boys cut down a ritual tree: a young birch, willow, or pussy willow (and rarely, spruce) for a ritual effigy of Marena (Goddess of Winter and Death). In some places, another effigy called Yarilo or Kupalo was made out of straw.

Wise women tried to embroider something on Kupalnitsa – any embroidery made on the day before Kupalo’s holiday was believed to have a great magical power. Some women also spun a thread with flax or nettles while standing on the threshold of their homes (a symbolic entrance into the Otherworld). Spinning was done with a left hand counterclockwise (opposite compared to regular spinning), thus representing the great Mokosh, the Spinner of Human Fate. Thread that was spun this way was used in witchcraft.

Customs of Kupalo’s Eve

Main part of the celebration occurred at night, soon after dusk.

Bonfires were lit up on the hilltops and near the rivers. Everyone celebrated: young and old. “Also, mostly out of poor education, simple people… in towns and villages men, women, and children mock the holy faith with all kinds of games, and dances, and Satanic songs that they sing all day and night… on the Eve of St. John’s holiday…” (Stoglavyi Sobor, 1551) Adults jumped over the bonfire: alone – a high jump foretold of “tall” grains to be harvested in August, or in pairs – fire was believed to “seal” their union if a young couple kept holding hands throughout the whole jump. Children did not jump over the bonfire but tore out a plant of stinging nettle and jumped over it instead, thus preparing to jump over the bonfire once they grow older. While youth danced around the bonfire, the elders snuck quietly in the field in order to do divination, perform rituals of agricultural magic, or catch those who are already casting spells in the fields – all depending on their religious beliefs.

Witches did “zalom” (braiding a few kernels together and tying them into a ring, so that the tops would be touching the ground) and “perezhin” (cutting down unripe grains in a shape if diagonal cross, sometimes, with dots between the points of the cross – an exact copy of a symbol for sprouting field in folk arts and crafts) in the fields on this night – loyal Christians considered it a serious hex that would make all the crops transferred to the witch. During this they sang ritual songs, the kind that sounded to Christians like wolves howling in the fields – this is why many people were warned against going in the field believing that witches put on their wolves’ skins and roll in the fields hexing the crops. Some researchers consider this custom an echo of ritual actions that were conducted by a volkhv on Kupalo’s Eve. Back then, this ritual was not free, and one tenth of the crop would be given to volkhv in payment for his work.

Cunning men and women gathered herbs on this night. According to a belief, plants whisper on this night the illness that they are meant to cure. The bravest ones searched in the woods for a fern flower – girls, in order to find love, boys – to obtain luck in finding buried treasures. After all, any treasure even the enchanted or cursed one opens up on Kupalo’s night – one just has not to fear of the evil spirits guarding it and not let them take hold of the treasure.

Many magical herbs bloom on this night. “Break-It-Herb” is known for its power to destroy metal and open any lock, which makes it an excellent aid to thieves and aforementioned treasure seekers. Lion herb, according to one “Zeleynik” (this is how books of herbs were called): “grows short and looks like a lion. You won’t see it during the day, but it shines at night. It’s got two colors: one is yellow, and another one is like a lit candle in the night. There is no grass near it, and if it happens to grow, it bows to the “Lion”. A Kinovorot herb was magical, too: “at any storm, it bows eastward with all of its stems; the same happens even if there is no wind.” Plakun-Weed (Lythrum salicaria, aka Purple Loosestrife) is collected on Kupalo’s night, as well. They say, magical herbs will not allow themselves to be picked by those who have not found Plakun-Weed first. Crosses made of Plakun root make every evil cry (hence the name “Plakun” from “plakat” – cry) Odolen-Weed – modern people know it as white waterlily, although yellow pond lily, globeflower, valerian, and St. John’s Wort could also be called this name – has power against evil water and field spirits. It had to be collected without metal, with bare hands; otherwise, it would “bleed”. This herb was especially valued by travelers who tried to obtain this herb before their journey and protected themselves before “hitting the road” with an incantation: “Here I go from field to field, through green meadows, through the lowlands, at dawn and dusk; I wash my face with copper dew, wipe myself with the sun, dress myself in clouds, belt myself with many stars.

Here I ride through the plain field, and in the plain field Odolen-Weed grows. Odolen-Weed, I didn’t water you, I didn’t produce you. It was the Mother-Moist Earth that produced you. Those were the loose-haired maidens, self-twisted women that watered you. Odolen-Weed! May you defeat evil people: may they not think ill of us, may they not plot ill for us. Ward off a wizard and a snitch. Odolen-Weed! Defeat for me tall mountains, low valleys, blue lakes, steep banks, dark forests, stumps and logs… Here I hide you, Odolen-Weed by the flaming heart, through the whole journey, throughout all the way!”

Herbs were never simply picked: their collection was always accompanied by special incantations and by-words, so as not to insult Mother Moist-Earth. People believed that herbs collected without these special words would carry no magical power. This is why only people with “proper knowledge” collected them. Some herb had to be “taken through gold or silver”. For this, a cunning person took off his or her golden or silver chain (grivna) and surrounded the plant with it, and collected it like this (in a circle made with gold or silver). Most herbs do not “tolerate” use of metal (iron) while harvesting them – they were picked by hand or with the help of a knife made of bone.

Herbs most commonly collected at Summer Solstice were: fern, mugwort, wormwood, daisy, chamomile, lovage, mint, lemon balm, wild oregano, wild thyme, fireweed (Ivan-tea), St. John’s Wort, thistle, water lily (white variety), clover, shepherd’s purse (herb sacred to Veles), loosestrife (purple – Crier-Weed, or yellow), Prikrysh-Weed (aconite), aquilegia, Lady’s Mantle, and many others – this would generally depend on the climate – different herbs grow at different places, and some of them are not at peak of their power by Solstice. These herbs could be used for healing (I’ve heard an opinion that herbs for this purpose are best harvested at sunrise of Kupalo’s Day), divination, or witchcraft. Slavic cunning folk like to leave a small pouch with 7 herbs collected on Kupalo’s Eve in a place where they store their magical instruments – this is believed to keep all the tools charged.

Young girls tried to use herbal magic on this night for divination about the future husband: they foretold future with floral crowns by casting them into flowing water, did divination with Kupalo’s bouquet, grass, etc. After all, on Kupalo’s Holiday, herbs never lie.
If a young boy happened to see a crown of the young girl that he liked floating on the river (since it was nighttime, a candle was fixed in the center of each crown, this is why the whole river shine with myriads of tiny little lights), he could take it out of the water, and bring it back to the girl. The girl accepting her crown back was viewed as rejection of the boy’s feelings; however, if she placed this crown upon his head, this meant agreement to accept his attention for the night and possibly, a longer period of time. Together, they jumped over a bonfire, trying hard to keep holding their hands while doing this: after all, if they can’t do it, if hands unclench during the jump, they are not meant to be together. Some youngsters jumped over the bonfire alone, thus foretelling the future crops: whoever jumped higher would have better (“taller”) crops this summer; however, for lovers and young married couples jumping over the bonfire was mandatory: this is how their feelings towards each other were tested.

They say, a custom of jumping over the bonfire appeared at the times, when it was impossible to choose a sacrifice. Then all suitable candidates were forced to jump over the bonfire, thus asking the Gods to make their choice personally. Nowadays, people forgot this, thankfully – for the bonfire and jumping over it is a necessary part of many European and even Middle Eastern holidays.

By the way, the fire for this holiday was specially made, as well. On this night, the so-called “living fire” was produced by rubbing pieces of wood together. When the sacred spark appeared, it was used to light all the bonfires.

In order to support the Sun at the peak of its power, two burning wheels on an axle were rolled down the hill. This custom is reflected on symbols representing the month of June on divination vessels found by archeologists: this month is portrayed as two diagonal crosses (symbols of fire) standing right next to each other. Once the wheels reached the bottom, they rolled into the river and went out there, thus symbolizing the holy union of Fire and Water. Bonfire was used to burn a symbolic image (a straw effigy) of Yarilo or Kupalo, while His “bride” Marena or Kostroma was sunk in the river after performing a symbolic ritual of wedding between them.

Symbolism of wedding, marriage, and sexual relations fills Kupalo’s traditional songs and games. For instance in the game called “Lizard”, girls dance in horovod around a boy that represent the “Lizard”, and then start running. The boy has to catch a girl he likes and take her handkerchief. In order to return her belongings, the girl has to kiss the boy.

Games and dances ended with bathing in the rivers, during which youth were bathing together (at all other times girls bathed separately from the boys). In such an atmosphere, all saturated with sexual symbolism, some couples wished to take their relationship another step further. Children born from such union were considered “sacred”, and in areas where the spirit of Paganism was stronger (such as the Russian North), nobody would judge a baby that was conceived on Kupalo’s night, even if his parents were not married. It is likely that young married couples tried to conceive on this night, as well.

Customs of Kupalo’s Day

In the morning, girls washed their faces with dew or rolled naked in the dewy grass. Young women that were hoping to conceive a child did the same, believing that by doing this, they would become as fertile as Mother-Earth. Young boys usually were not invited for this ritual, but it was not uncommon for them to try and peep. The same custom also existed among Slavic warriors: rolling in Kupalo’s dew was believed to make them strong and even invincible.
Women collected dew for healing, love potions, and also Kupalo’s dew was used to wash the floor to get rid of cockroaches and bed bugs. Dew was collected with linen towel that was dragged across wet grass and then wrung out into a birch bark bucket. The resulting liquid was allowed to sit for little, so that all the solid particles would settle on the bottom. Dew, collected in such a way, could last for 7 days, and in order to keep it fresh longer, wise folk added vodka to it. Bits of linen cloth soaked in Kupalo’s dew were hung on a Sukhoveyka (Drought) doll in order to summon rain.
Dew was not the only thing collected at sunrise. Herbs collected at dawn of Kupalo’s Day were deemed to be very good for healing. Also, ashes from Kupalo’s fire were gathered and kept at home in a special pot for a year in order to preserve love and peace in the family.

Love spells that were cast at Kupalo’s sunrise were considered the most powerful, so girls who did not find their match the night before did not waste their time by waiting. They cast spells upon the water, herbs, prayed to Zarya-Zaryanitsa (Lady Dawn) to send them “a loyal friend and a good husband”. The bravest ones went to listen to Rusalki, who were believed to be especially active on Kupalo’s night. Slavic folklore mentions Rusalki as “maidens skillful in witchcraft”, so their “advice” was deemed very valuable.

Legends and customs of Kupalo’s Holiday make hearts beat faster with excitement and joy even nowadays. People still gather to celebrate this joyful, and at times very “open-minded” holiday, and Gods, seeing these efforts, smile at them, the Sun shines, Sister-Water pleasantly cools the skin, and Mother earth opens Her arms wide, ripening with rich crops and attracting with plant diversity.

Slava to all of our Native Gods!

Sincerely, MagPie (aka Olga Stanton)

While not as prevalent as in the folklore of British Isles giants do appear in Slavic tales, but they differ to the point where one could use a different term to describe those beings such as velet or volot. Still, it’s big and human-looking so a giant it is.

The first and most characterized giant on the list is Svyatogor whose story I have already retold (in prose) and analyzed before.

Read here: https://www.tg-me.com/Aryanpaganism/6282

Svyatogor has all of the common defining traits giants share in Slavic folklore which are:

1. Helpful nature

Unlike the giants fought by British or Welsh heroes Slavic ones are not antagonistic. Svyatogor for example befriends Ilya of Murom, shares some of his strength and leaves his sword to the hero.

2. Elemental nature

Giants in Slavic folklore all have at least some connection to the elements. Svyatogor himself has -gor in his name which means mountain. He mentions that mountains are the only place he can dwell at since ground is not strong enough to support his weight. Svyatogor can also resemble a mountain due to his size.

3. Age

Most giants are at least implied to be old. Svyatogor is a good example. Also there’s a short, but peculiar story about a young giant finding some of the first humans and being really surprised by their size. He brings them to his mother who prophesies that despite their weakness humans will replace giants.

I chose Svyatogor as an example since he combines all three traits, but he is not the best example of the second one. There are other giants, a group of three to be exact, who are much more representative of the elemental nature. Their names differ slightly and can be translated. I’ll just pick the best-sounding option.

The first is Oak-Turner. As the name implies he uproots (upturns if you will) oaks, turning forests into valleys.

The second giant is Mountain-Turner. Same as the last one, but he deals with mountains.

The third giant is Water-Turner. His domain is rivers which he separates with his extremely long moustache.