The Slavic Witch

05/07/2025

🇵🇱🇨🇿 🗻✨ Slavic Legend of the Sudety: The Mountain Spirit Liczyrzepa (Rzepiór) ✨🗻

Deep in the misty peaks of the Sudety Mountains, where Poland, Czechia, and Germany meet, there roams an ancient spirit – a forgotten Slavic guardian of the mountains. Before the German name Rübezahl ever echoed through the valleys, our ancestors knew him as Rzepiór or Liczyrzepa – the wild, unpredictable Duch Gór (Spirit of the Mountains).

Who was Liczyrzepa?
In old Slavic belief, mountains were sacred – the dwelling places of gods, spirits, and the souls of the dead. Liczyrzepa was one of them: a powerful, shape-shifting being who could summon storms, vanish in the fog, or appear as a wise old man with a long beard and a crooked staff. He was a protector of nature, feared by the greedy, loved by the just.

Why “Liczyrzepa” – Turnip Counter?
One tale tells of a proud princess who demanded her mysterious suitor (the mountain spirit) count every turnip in her fields before she would marry him. Insulted but obedient, the spirit did so – but when she mocked him, he vanished in fury. From that day on, he became known mockingly as Liczyrzepa, and the mountains were never the same. He watches still, testing those who enter his realm.

Slavic Symbolism:
• Fog and storms = the boundary between worlds.
• Mountains = sacred space of ancestors and divine judgment.
• Turnips = not just food, but humble roots, spurned by prideful hearts.

Sudety’s Hidden Legacy:
Though German folklore has long dominated the region’s myths, the roots go deeper – to pagan Slavic times, when spirits like leszy, rusałki, and Rzepiór guarded forests, waters, and skies. Liczyrzepa is a relic of that world – a bridge between pagan memory and Christianized legend.

Let us reclaim him.
Not as a comical figure from tourist books – but as a symbol of the forgotten Slavic soul of the Sudety. Mysterious. Powerful. Just.
Let his story remind us: the mountains have eyes. And spirits do not forget.

🇵🇱🇨🇿🇸🇰 Slavs of the mountains – remember your legends. They are yours.

04/26/2025

04/19/2025

🇵🇱 Tradycja chrześcijańska pozostawała w różnym stopniu pod wpływem różnych dziedzin kultury ludowej. Najbardziej zależnym obszarem słowiańskiej kultury ludowej od chrześcijaństwa był kalendarz. W wielu przypadkach jedynie powierzchownie przyjmował chrześcijańską treść elementów kalendarza i reinterpretował ją zgodnie z tradycyjnymi pojęciami mitologicznymi. To samo można powiedzieć o ludowym kulcie świętych. Chrześcijańscy święci zastąpili pogańskich bogów i z czasem zostali włączeni do systemu ludowych idei, wierzeń i rytuałów. Słowiańska tradycja ludowa adaptowała nie tylko poszczególne elementy, struktury i kategorie semantyczne chrześcijaństwa, ale także całe teksty, wątki, motywy i tematy rozwijane w różnych gatunkach folkloru. Dlatego przedchrześcijańska tradycja ludowa Słowian była w stanie przyswoić wiele chrześcijańskich pojęć, symboli i tekstów, przełożyć je na swój język i wypełnić własną treścią.

Chrześcijaństwo i ustna tradycja ludowa reprezentują dwa różne modele kulturowe, które współistnieją w tej samej przestrzeni etniczno-kulturowej od czasu przyjęcia chrześcijaństwa przez Słowian. Różnią się one pod kilkoma istotnymi względami. Ustna tradycja ludowa ma swoje korzenie w głębokiej starożytności, a chrześcijaństwo jako wzór kulturowy wyłoniło się w nowszych czasach historycznych – choć i ono w dużej mierze czerpie z folkloru. W kulturze słowiańskiej chrześcijaństwo jest obcym, zapożyczonym wzorcem kulturowym, natomiast tradycja ustna jest rodzima i swojska.

Jednak pod względem typologicznym i „ideologicznym” wiele dziedzin kultury ludowej pozostało w XIX wieku pogańska i tam, gdzie kultura ludowa zachowała się jako integralna tradycja, pozostaje nią do dziś. Potężna warstwa chrześcijańskich form obrzędowych, motywów, obrazów, postaci, symboli i pojęć, a w końcu przyswojonych przez tradycję ludową tekstów, w wielu przypadkach poddawana była mitologicznej reinterpretacji i adaptacji zgodnie z tradycyjnym przedchrześcijańskim obrazem świata.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The different areas of folk culture were influenced to varying degrees by the Christian tradition. The most dependent area of Slavic folk culture on Christianity was the calendar. In many cases, it only superficially accepted the Christian content of calendar elements and reinterpreted it in accordance with the traditional mythological notions. The same can be said about the folk cult of saints. The Christian saints replaced pagan gods and over time were included in the system of folk ideas, beliefs and rituals. The Slavic folk tradition adapted not only the individual elements, structures and semantic categories of Christianity, but also the whole texts, plots, motifs, and themes developed in various folklore genres. Therefore, the pre-Christian folk tradition of the Slavs was able to assimilate many Christian concepts, symbols, and texts, translate them into its own language and fill them with its own content.

Christianity and the oral folk tradition represent two different cultural models that have coexisted in the same ethno-cultural space since the adoption of Christianity by the Slavs. They differ in several important ways. The oral folk tradition has its roots in deep antiquity, and Christianity, as a cultural model, emerged in more recent historical times—although it, too, draws largely on folklore. In Slavic culture, Christianity is a foreign, borrowed cultural model, while the oral tradition is native and familiar.

However, in terms of typology and “ideology”, many areas of folk culture remained pagan in the nineteenth century and, where folk culture is preserved as an integral tradition, remain so even today. A powerful layer of Christian ritual forms, motifs, images, characters, symbols and concepts and, finally, texts assimilated by the folk tradition was in many cases subjected to mythological reinterpretation and adaptation in accordance with the traditional pre-Christian picture of the world.

12/06/2024

09/29/2024

"Isn’t it odd that once upon a time in Europe a woman could be killed for making potions from the plants around her.

Isn’t it insane that once upon a time wise women were burnt or drowned for helping birth babies, knowing their herbs, gathering in groups of more than two, being outside alone, being strong, being beautiful, being ugly, being different, being sexual, being non sexual or touching a nettle, smelling a rose or drinking wild teas.

Isn’t it madness that a woman who knew her body, her mind and her heart was cast aside as evil, as a sinner and her life taken away.

Women, do not let the ancestral memory of this that is held in your make up, in your bones and blood hold you back. Rise dear sweet sisters, rise so that our daughters and daughters daughters don’t have to wonder when we lost our tongues and denied our hearts.

Grow a new tongue, invite the wolf in, awaken the witch and dance under the moon. Embrace your heart, your womb, your gut and your wisdom."

~ Brigit Anna McNeill

Art: Francien Krieg

09/29/2024

Slavs and the History of Alcohol: An Etymological Journey
The article explores the deep connections between Slavic culture and the etymologies of various alcoholic drinks. It highlights the mythological figure Kvasir and links to Slavic fermentation practices, the ancient production of mead, and the etymological ties of beer, wine, and o***m to Slavic words. By examining these linguistic and cultural connections, the article provides insight into the extensive historical influence of the Slavs on these beverages.

https://cogniarchae.com/2024/07/11/slavs-and-the-history-of-alcohol-an-etymological-journey/

08/21/2024

Self treatment and women healers in Polish folk medicine
In the latter half of the twentieth century industrialization and urbanization processes and population migration from the country to town brought about the decomposition of the rural and small-town lifestyles. One of the changes may have consisted in diminishing the range of neighborly help with illness as compared with the previous period. […] Studies on health needs carried out as part, among other things, of self-treatment investigations by S. Śliwińska in the mid-1970s, showed that the woman continued to perform the role of ‘home doctor’. The results also demonstrate that she is the first to recognize illness and almost always decides what to do. The continuing role of women as those ‘who know better and more about illnesses’ stems from the fact that they are more interested in their own health, utilize professional and unprofessional help with illness more often, and fall ill more frequently. Figures quoted by Śliwińska show for example that in 82% of cases, rural women undertook to treat illnesses that they diagnosed as ‘well-known and mild’ using their own tried and tested ways. They sought medical help, when they encountered cases defined as ‘most serious’. These female respondents also maintained that they started treatment upon the appearance of painful complaints.


more:
https://lamus-dworski.tumblr.com/post/140813795733/self-treatment-and-women-healers-in-polish-folk

08/19/2024

I am excited to share these visual images and the inspiring words I receive from Spirit, promoting a sense of optimism and belief in the power of positive transformation.

I do what I call "daily pulls" from my Oracle cards. Often if I get messages for specific Friends or Family I share them.

At times I receive random words as well and directed to pull cards as well . Here are today's words :
Placido Domingo (singer) ; Crosslands (5:22pm)
Farm Agency ; fire - fields ; engulfed in Flames (place name ) .

08/11/2024

The swamp kikimora is usually described as a small, ugly, hunchbacked, thin, and scruffy old woman with a pointed nose and disheveled hair. She was said to use moss and grass as clothes. It was believed that she frightens people, knocks travelers off the road or even drowns them. She also kidnaps children.
It is a common belief that mora enters the room through the keyhole, sits on the chest of the sleepers and tries to strangle them.
There are two different kinds of kikimoras. The one that comes from the forest is married to the Domovoi. The other one comes from the swamp (Russian: кикимора болотная) and is married to Leshy. It is said that she can be identified by her wet footprints. When home builders wanted to cause harm to someone buying a house, they would bring in kikimora. Once she is inside, it is difficult to get her to leave.
When the house is in order, kikimora looks after the chickens and housework. If not, she whistles, breaks dishes, and makes noises at night. She also comes out at night to spin thread.

art Marina Meshkova

08/08/2024

I received my copy a little while ago , this book is packed with researched articles/books and contains images all in support of "Examining Slavic beliefs with fresh eyes" ... a tremendous undertaking by my Friend Patricia Robin Woodruff.

07/10/2024

Goddess Mokoš was worshipped by the Eastern Slavs, but some forms of her name also appear among the Western Slavs (Mukes, Mukus, Mococize). Mokos was the goddess of spinning, but she was also a protector of women, taking care about their health and their children. She helped the women in labour and protected their babies, at the same time helping the women keep a good marriage. Besides spinning, Mokos was connected with other duties reserved for women and with household management, but spinning was the skill that was in close relation with this goddess. There were many customs concerning Mokos as the protector of the spinners.


http://www.starisloveni.com/English/Mokos.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokosh