Category: Slavic Traditions

The Autumn Equinox: A Time for Gathering The Slavic autumn equinox celebration — Oseniny — is not about harvest in the agricultural sense but about a particular quality of attention: the recognition that abundance must be acknowledged or it passes unseen. Ivan Kupala: The Night the Forest Opens On the night of June 23rd, the Slavic world has always believed that the fern flowers, the rivers hold particular power, and the veil between the visible and invisible world thins to almost nothing. Maslenitsa: Burning Winter to Life One week of blini, excess, and burning effigies. Maslenitsa is the most joyful of Slavic celebrations precisely because it knows winter cannot last.