On the pebble strewn shore line that runs the edge of the glade next to the calming waters of Lake Ilmen, within sight of the great city of Holmgardr... I, Déduška Ingvarr the story-teller sit with my old bent back to a log and stare out across the water. I await your attention for I have a story to tell. I sigh inwardly, thinking of how all things must become corrupted with age and time and for a brief moment ponder on a long life and what changes I have seen throughout my own lifetime. Often I remark, that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Join me here by the lake and I'll begin my story...
In the days of old when the people had no laws, our elders agreed that a leader must be sought and amongst them they chose to ask a Varangar of might and wisdom to come and rule over us. They chose, in their good council a man by the name of Rurik. The Viking Rurik arrived with his people just before our mid summer celebrations and it was by this very lakeshore that he celebrated his first festival of Kupala amongst his new people. It is this festival that I speak of to you, my dear audience. Rurik was a wise ruler, his kinsmen noble and strong but they all had a lot to learn about our ways and perhaps it was someone like me who sat with him and explained the need for the continuation of our ways. Rurik discovered in listening that although some of the names of the gods were different and some of the common things about us had different names, that underneath it all, we were really very much alike.
Tomorrow we celebrate Kupala Day but the festival itself is older than time. Kupala comes from the verb 'kupati' which means "to bathe" and tomorrow morning when the city folk enter the waters of the Volkhov to bathe, it is our baptism; a rite of purification. We Slavs worshipped our old gods in the form of stone or wooden idols in shrines located near old trees. Our main god was Perun, the god of thunder, just as the god Thunor was to the Varangar. Veles was the god of horned animals. Lada and Lyulya, goddesses of love, spring and beauty. In the old times, it was believed the sun bathed by dipping into the waters at the horizon. This imbued all water with the sun's power and therefore, those who bathed on this day would absorb some of that power. In these Christian times, the church has tried to suppress this tradition, substituting it with the feast day of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, but it has remained firmly part of our folk ritual as the 'Festival of Kupala.'
In our old Slavonic pantheon which was of course was pagan and against the good will and laws of the one true god, Kupala was a god but also a goddess. Memory wains as to his or her true nature, so we shall say Kupala is a goddess of herbs, sorcery, intercourse and midsummer. She is also the 'Water Mother,' associated with trees, herbs, and flowers. Her celebration falls upon the Summer solstice which is a sacred holy day honouring the two important elements, those of fire and water. Kupala is the most powerful time to gather both magical and medicinal plants. It is considered the only time to gather the magical fire-fern. On Kupala's Eve, the flower of the fern is said to climb up the fern stem and burst into bloom. Anyone who obtains it will gain magical powers including the ability to find treasures. To gather the herb, one must draw a magic circle around the plant and ignore the taunts of the demons who would try to frighten us off. There is singing, dancing and divination, which the priests will naturally ignore.
Tonight the women will enter the forest. They will take their fathers axes, wander the woods, find a small birch tree and bring it to the festival by the lake tonight. They will strip the lower branches, fix it in the ground and decorate it with garlands. No man can touch it. Under it, they will place a straw idol of Kupala, dressed in women's clothing and adorned with ribbons and necklaces and the herbs they have gathered. It is believed that such herbs can protect one from the evil forces of nature and even cure illnesses in humans and animals. Our local priests sanction this belief by blessing the herbs. On this night, the trees walk and speak to each other. Remember Kupala is the time to gather herbs for magical use. Birch gives energy, and juniper repel demons. The fairies are powerful on this night, though the priests will deny they exist and warn us against the evils of Satan.
The young men will wait by the lake for the women to come to them. There they build ‘Kupala fires’ — a relic of the pagan custom. Tonight they will perform ritual dances and sing ritual songs. They will leap over the fires. The fires will also be used to burn herbs gathered in the previous year and various items of no further use, particularly those that had been blessed with the churches holy water and could therefore not be discarded by normal means. The fires will not be extinguished but are always allowed to smoulder out. Later, people dance in circles and jump over bonfires, sometimes in couples, carrying a straw effigy of Kupala, They will wear garlands of flowers and girdles of holy herbs. The bonfires always cause much amusement. It is considered a good omen and prediction of marriage if a young couple could jump the flame without letting go of each other's hand. In the days of the great Rurik, cattle were chased through the fires in order to ensure their fertility and to protect the animals against wizards and witches, who were ravenous for their milk. As the flames rise the women throw birchen boughs into them, saying, "May my flax be as tall as this bough!"
The unmarried girls of the city will wear scented herbs and flowers to attract the men and adorn their hair with garlands of freshly cut flowers. Later they divine their fates according to what happens to the garlands which they will set flowing on the waters of the river. Tonight the men of the city will wear chaplets of mugwort and vervain and they will look at the fires through bunches of larkspur which they hold in their hands, believing that this would preserve their eyes in a healthy state throughout the year. As each departs they will throw the mugwort and vervain into the fire saying, "May all my ill- luck depart and be burnt up with these." Young boys will climb the surrounding hills and send wheels of fire downwards. These burning wheels represent the sun declining. The wheels are laced with dry grasses or straw, which are set on fire and rolled down the hills as a symbol of the declining life-giving powers of the sun at the solstice. This representation of Kupala is identified with Kostrub, a pagan god of winter, or with Marena, a goddess of spring.
On the next morning, people bathe in rivers, the "dew of Kupala." Girls will wash themselves with the dew that has fallen on Kupala Eve which they collected in a bowl left outside overnight, and run barefoot through the bedewed fields in the belief that doing so would accelerate their opportunity to get married. The sick would roll naked in the dewy meadows in the belief that this action would help them get well and farmers would run their cattle through such meadows in the belief that this routine would prevent disease. At sunset, they perform the funeral rites of the god, when the idol is drowned or burned. The Orthodox priests say this is a representation of our acceptance of the one true and universal god but the ritual began it's life as a pagan rite. Despite them we still believe in many deities, spirits of nature and demons. For us the world is alive with all-pervasive supernatural powers and energies, including wood and water nymphs, witches, vampires and werewolves. Certain trees and animals are revered as our ancestors, fire and the sun remain an important part of rituals... and the celebration of seasonal festivals, particularly the solstices, feature prominently in our religion.
Just as it is today , fire was sacred to the old Slavs and fires were never allowed to go out. In their pagan sanctuaries, fires were tended by their priests and in the home, guarded by the mother. On the eve of Kupala however, all fires are extinguished and in the morning rekindled with "new fire." This new fire is always created by friction. A peg is rotated within a hole in a block of wood carved especially for this purpose. As the fires die, the priests this night will take a burning branch and visit each house in the city so new fire in fresh hearths can begin anew. In Rurik's time, animals were sacrificed on Kupala’s eve and a feast prepared of them entirely by men, then shared as a communal meal. Singing as they come, the elder married men and women of Holmgardr will bring roasted meats, ale and mead to the lakeside. They will bring also a supper of varenyky. Varenyky are square - or crescent-shaped dumplings of unleavened dough and stuffed with vinegar cabbage, cheese, meat, hard-boiled eggs or a combination of these, or with a fruit filling. During preparation, the filling is wrapped with dough, boiled for several minutes, and then covered with butter or cooking oil. The name 'varenyk' in fact, simply means "boiled thing," from the adjective varenyy. Varenyk are typically topped with fried onions and accompanied with sour cream. The sweet varenyky we eat with sugar a cream.
For now, you must excuse me. The sun is warm and I must rest my old bones a while. Soon, the citrine wagtails, booted warblers and terek sandpipers will return to their lake side nests and their calls and songs will join me in my dreams. Later, their night calls will mingle with the laughter of the young people as they come to the lake and you are welcome to stay and while and enjoy their festivities. It has been a blessing to be able to tell you of these things. Thankyou for your kind attention and farewell.
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