Embroidery of a traditional Sorbian Easter egg, made by me as an Easter gift for family members.
Feat: Blown-out sorbian eggs my aunt brought us years ago.
Although English isn’t my first language, I’ll try to explain the symbolism:
In Lusatia/ the Spreewald - more specifically, in Sorbian Culture - before every Easter we are meant to decorate the Easter eggs with the special technique, called Bossiertechnik, which requires wax, feathers, needle pens and natural dye. The decorated eggs are a gift from Godmothers and godfathers to their Godchild, as well as the Patensemmel, which is some kind of a bread roll.
Even though me and my sister don’t have godparents, every year, our aunt brought us her beautifully hand painted eggs. So this year, I also have a special gift for her and my uncle!
Historically, the tradition of Sorbian Eastereggs comes both from Christianity and Paganism, as well as medieval Folklore. Each symbol and color has it’s own meaning. After they’ve been gifted to the godchildren, they were rolled over a field for fertility and a good harvest. Another fertility spell was to ride a horse around the field. Both traditions were varied over the centuries - today, the Osterreiter are riding from one village to the other, to proclaim the resurrection of the Lord, and kids are playing Eierrollen as game (you and your friends are rolling your eggs down a hill - to win the game, your egg has to be the farthest or beat other eggs).
As I said, these colorful eggs don’t come without a special meaning. Of course, everything can be interpreted different from town to town, but overall, they just bring you good fortune.
So here’s how to interpret mine:
The suns you can see (in the middle, on the sides and on the top and the bottom) will bring you health and growth - they also symbolize, well, a sun. Putting three triangles into an ornament, is one of the strongest protections spells - the circles made of single triangles are there for protection too. In this egg, they not only protect the ones I’ll give this embroidery to, but also my wish for health and growth. The “V"s - called Crow’s foot - are used to boost the other symbols. The four single white flowers are meant to ensure a good future and more growth.
I used different tones of green for health and luck. White is like a basic color you’ll find in nearly every egg - some might say it stands for the holy spirit or Purity. Yellow is the color of the sun (I just used it for the aesthetic you know XD). Blue is meant to symbolise things like healing, peace or harmony.
So, long story short, the embroidery I did for my family members can be interpreted as a lucky charm for health, growth and peace.
Sleep well last night? We hope so, because the subject of this week’s Mythological Throwback Thursday might give you nightmares. Nothing to do with us, though: that’s literally its job. Let’s get to grips with the nasty little dream-goblin, the mora!
In modern English, the word nightmare has a complicated etymology, but ultimately shares a root with this creature of ancient Slavic folklore. In Croatia, Serbia and Romania mora were said to be ancient, malicious spirits that visited sleepers and tampered with their dreams.
Some tales reported them to be dark spirits that took on the shapes of beautiful women, that would torment men in their dreams by filling them with desire, siphoning the life from them. More commonly, though, they were thought to be squat, ugly creatures like goblins, that would sit on a sleeper’s chest and cause bad dreams. Ever had that crushing feeling in your chest after waking up from a nightmare? Just saying…
A mora possessed many supernatural powers besides visiting nightmares upon folk. In its spirit form, people believed it was supple enough to enter a room through an aperture as small as a keyhole. Difficult to keep out!
There were however several measures that people thought could work against a mora. Turning one’s pillow over and making the sign of the cross, keeping an upside-down broom in the bedroom, reciting a special prayer before sleep, or leaving a belt on top of one’s bedsheets during the night were all methods used to ward off mora.
These days, we understand the feeling of not being able to move on waking from bad dreams, as if being weighed down by something, is related to a condition called sleep paralysis. While the condition is difficult to track in sufferers, it is known that sleep disorders and other conditions that disrupt REM sleep are more likely to cause incidents of sleep paralysis. The mind perceives the paralysis as a threat, and is inclined to hallucinate a threatening presence to account for the sensation. The mind is a pretty weird thing, when you get right down to it.
Hopefully you’ll be better prepared for bad dreams tonight. Sleep soundly, everyone, and don’t forget to check in next week. We’ll be Hapi to see you!
Baba Yaga hails from the place where fear and wisdom meet, she straddles the gap between life and death and holds the secret to both.
Also known as Jezda or Jazi Baba, Baba Yaga is an old witch who lives in the forests of Eastern Europe. It is said that her teeth, nose, and breasts made of iron and that her hair is made snakes. She moves through the forest using a mortar and pestle. Her house sits upon chicken legs which allows it to spin around and move. Her fence is made out of the bones of people who have displeased her. Baba Yaga is a very complex women who is thought to be the personification of death as well as having dominion over fertility, fate and nature. She has the gift of prophecy and can impart great wisdom. If you wish to benefit from the gifts of Baba Yaga you must undertake an arduous journey to her house and then you must survive the tasks Baba Yaga puts forth to test you.
Rusalka is a female water spirit in Slavic mythology and folklore. According to Vladimir Propp, the original “rusalka” was an appellation used by Pagan Slavic tribes, who linked them with fertility and did not consider rusalkas evil before the nineteenth century. They came out of the water in the spring to transfer life-giving moisture to the fields and thus helped nurture the crops.
In nineteenth century versions, a rusalka is an unquiet, dangerous being who is no longer alive, associated with the unclean spirit. According to Dmitry Zelenin, young women, who either committed suicide by drowning due to an unhappy marriage (they might have been jilted by their lovers or abused and harassed by their much older husbands) or who were violently drowned against their will (especially after becoming pregnant with unwanted children), must live out their designated time on earth as rusalkas. However, the initial Slavic lore suggests that not all rusalkas occurrences were linked with death from water.
It is accounted by most stories that the soul of a young woman who had died in or near a river or a lake would come back to haunt that waterway. This undead rusalka is not invariably malevolent, and would be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged. Her main purpose is, however, to lure young men, seduced by either her looks or her voice, into the depths of said waterways where she would entangle their feet with her long red hair and submerge them. Her body would instantly become very slippery and not allow the victim to cling on to her body in order to reach the surface. She would then wait until the victim had drowned, or, on some occasions, tickle them to death, as she laughed. It is also believed, by a few accounts, that rusalkas can change their appearance to match the tastes of men they are about to seduce, although a rusalka is generally considered to represent universal beauty, therefore is highly feared yet respected in Slavic culture.
I have never seen a Motanka with a head like this. Love it.
For others: Motanka is a Ukranian folk tradition, a protective talisman. Similar to the Russian Bereginya, these dolls were made without faces, believing that a face would inspire a soul within (possibly a malevolent one). They were given to children, newlyweds, and pregnant women to safeguard against disease, insomnia, and misfortune. Bereginya was made by female relatives, and was more potent if made by more than one. The fabric to make it must be torn, not cut, from the clothes of the makers.
I’m happy to share this little lookbook for my collaboration with a small brand Lyoclothes
I made patterns, Olya from Lyoclothes made these beautiful dresses. All the dresses are made from 100% Viscose (rayon). Our dresses are handmade, sewn locally in my hometown - Saint Petersburg. Due to the nature of a small brand, we have a very limited amount of dresses at this moment! Most of the dresses were made in 5 copies. If you want to purchase a dress - it is possible to make via Etsy at lyochothes.etsy.com with free shipping. Also, we will update the shop very soon with two new dresses!
Also, I’d like to explain the price because it’s important for me to be transparent. Sadly we can’t offer anything by the fast fashion\mass market prices. Most of the dress price is aiming to cover our expenses for good natural fabric, custom high-quality printing, and sewing dresses locally with all the details. I hope for understanding!
Rusalka is a female water spirit in Slavic mythology and folklore. According to Vladimir Propp, the original “rusalka” was an appellation used by Pagan Slavic tribes, who linked them with fertility and did not consider rusalkas evil before the nineteenth century. They came out of the water in the spring to transfer life-giving moisture to the fields and thus helped nurture the crops.
In nineteenth century versions, a rusalka is an unquiet, dangerous being who is no longer alive, associated with the unclean spirit. According to Dmitry Zelenin, young women, who either committed suicide by drowning due to an unhappy marriage (they might have been jilted by their lovers or abused and harassed by their much older husbands) or who were violently drowned against their will (especially after becoming pregnant with unwanted children), must live out their designated time on earth as rusalkas. However, the initial Slavic lore suggests that not all rusalkas occurrences were linked with death from water.
It is accounted by most stories that the soul of a young woman who had died in or near a river or a lake would come back to haunt that waterway. This undead rusalka is not invariably malevolent, and would be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged. Her main purpose is, however, to lure young men, seduced by either her looks or her voice, into the depths of said waterways where she would entangle their feet with her long red hair and submerge them. Her body would instantly become very slippery and not allow the victim to cling on to her body in order to reach the surface. She would then wait until the victim had drowned, or, on some occasions, tickle them to death, as she laughed. It is also believed, by a few accounts, that rusalkas can change their appearance to match the tastes of men they are about to seduce, although a rusalka is generally considered to represent universal beauty, therefore is highly feared yet respected in Slavic culture.
(Tried new things/method as background, also have to use up my Khadi papers, which are amazing for watercolours (but horrible if you need to use ereaser or drawing gum, as they are high in cotton))
Freehand so lots of mistakes but love it so much :)
Slavic mythology is very cool and fascinating and i am very fascinated by it 10/10 very cool mythology. My sources for this are @ahotpeaceofshit and a few google searches and thats it
