Forwarded from THE OLD WAYS
This is a witness account of one Russian soldier who served in army in Ural region in the 70s:
Soldier’s story about Pesh Ra/ or how he participated in “Hleba” a fire rite of passage:
From point to village is 8 kilometers. We soldiers often found work in the village. When finished with work, locals prepared for us delicious soups, freshly baked pirogi, and even put on Samovar with hot tea, honey and jams. This is no Army rations for you...
Sometimes locals would prepare the traditional “banya” steam-bath/sauna for the soldiers, but if you make it to “hleba” on a Friday, this kind of hleba I’ve never seen anywhere else ever again. I wish to repeat the entire process and everything I was taught by the locals in my own datcha (Russian summer vacation home).
this particular soldier was describing his experience of fire rite of passage that the locals organized for him. It was a total of two sessions.
This fire ritual relates to renewal, cleansing/purification, obtaining new powers, and shedding of old skins. For Hleba rite just any stove won’t do. It requires a specific stove designed for this. Big enough to wash & steam in it, and for an adult to fit in it.
First the stove must be heated for a while. Only Birch tree logs must be used here. Other kind of logs were used on different days. After the charcoal is cleared from halls, comes the breads, for family and guests. After breads are baked and removed is when the stove is prepared for the participant to get inside.
A wide boards is pulled out for participant to sit on to avoid getting burnt. In special cases the participant is covered in dough. This first session the soldier completed without dough. The head gets covered, so that the hair don’t get burnt. Soldier got inside of stove with difficulty getting burned a little here & there. There wasn’t enough space to freely use the bathroom like in a regular banya/steam bath, but enough space for him to wash up. There was a bucket with clear water, and another one filled with honey & herb water.
He got out pink skinned, and very thirsty. They wrapped him in a sheet, and gave him raspberry hot tea until all of his sweat came out. He drank 2 whole Samovars/Metal heated tea container. Each time ringing out the sheet full of his sweat. Sweat was just pouring from him. Until suddenly it’s like someone turned off the faucet. No more sweat left. He was completely dry.
He then got dressed, and stopped to talk to the elder on his way out. The elder told soldier that he was holding up good so far, and that he must return to complete this fire rite of passage. Elder told the soldier that next session they were going to cover him with a special dough, and bake him. Soldier was confused by this statement. What do you mean by bake me, soldier asked...The elder said, yes, we will cover you with dough, bake you, and then remove the dough shell from you, and pour water from natural springs, or better yet collected morning dew over you. Then burry dough pieces under oak tree. Afterward a ceremonial/communal meal, and it will be as if you are reborn. The elder said that once in three years even the healthiest people need to do this ritual.
Soldier comes back to complete the fire rite of passage. The elder man & his wife had the soldier chop some wood, and then they took him up to a natural spring up on the hill beneath big oak tree to collect some water. While they were up on the hill, the old couple asked the soldier to sit still so that they can look him in his eyes for a little while. I’m assuming this was part of the process.
It was time to complete the rite of passage. The female elder covered him with dough from head to toe, even his face, and the soldier went inside the oven. Dough began to dry, tighten on his skin, and suck all of the moisture out of him.
Meanwhile, outside of oven room the elders were chanting strange ritualistic songs.
Soldier’s story about Pesh Ra/ or how he participated in “Hleba” a fire rite of passage:
From point to village is 8 kilometers. We soldiers often found work in the village. When finished with work, locals prepared for us delicious soups, freshly baked pirogi, and even put on Samovar with hot tea, honey and jams. This is no Army rations for you...
Sometimes locals would prepare the traditional “banya” steam-bath/sauna for the soldiers, but if you make it to “hleba” on a Friday, this kind of hleba I’ve never seen anywhere else ever again. I wish to repeat the entire process and everything I was taught by the locals in my own datcha (Russian summer vacation home).
this particular soldier was describing his experience of fire rite of passage that the locals organized for him. It was a total of two sessions.
This fire ritual relates to renewal, cleansing/purification, obtaining new powers, and shedding of old skins. For Hleba rite just any stove won’t do. It requires a specific stove designed for this. Big enough to wash & steam in it, and for an adult to fit in it.
First the stove must be heated for a while. Only Birch tree logs must be used here. Other kind of logs were used on different days. After the charcoal is cleared from halls, comes the breads, for family and guests. After breads are baked and removed is when the stove is prepared for the participant to get inside.
A wide boards is pulled out for participant to sit on to avoid getting burnt. In special cases the participant is covered in dough. This first session the soldier completed without dough. The head gets covered, so that the hair don’t get burnt. Soldier got inside of stove with difficulty getting burned a little here & there. There wasn’t enough space to freely use the bathroom like in a regular banya/steam bath, but enough space for him to wash up. There was a bucket with clear water, and another one filled with honey & herb water.
He got out pink skinned, and very thirsty. They wrapped him in a sheet, and gave him raspberry hot tea until all of his sweat came out. He drank 2 whole Samovars/Metal heated tea container. Each time ringing out the sheet full of his sweat. Sweat was just pouring from him. Until suddenly it’s like someone turned off the faucet. No more sweat left. He was completely dry.
He then got dressed, and stopped to talk to the elder on his way out. The elder told soldier that he was holding up good so far, and that he must return to complete this fire rite of passage. Elder told the soldier that next session they were going to cover him with a special dough, and bake him. Soldier was confused by this statement. What do you mean by bake me, soldier asked...The elder said, yes, we will cover you with dough, bake you, and then remove the dough shell from you, and pour water from natural springs, or better yet collected morning dew over you. Then burry dough pieces under oak tree. Afterward a ceremonial/communal meal, and it will be as if you are reborn. The elder said that once in three years even the healthiest people need to do this ritual.
Soldier comes back to complete the fire rite of passage. The elder man & his wife had the soldier chop some wood, and then they took him up to a natural spring up on the hill beneath big oak tree to collect some water. While they were up on the hill, the old couple asked the soldier to sit still so that they can look him in his eyes for a little while. I’m assuming this was part of the process.
It was time to complete the rite of passage. The female elder covered him with dough from head to toe, even his face, and the soldier went inside the oven. Dough began to dry, tighten on his skin, and suck all of the moisture out of him.
Meanwhile, outside of oven room the elders were chanting strange ritualistic songs.
THE OLD WAYS
This is a witness account of one Russian soldier who served in army in Ural region in the 70s: Soldier’s story about Pesh Ra/ or how he participated in “Hleba” a fire rite of passage: From point to village is 8 kilometers. We soldiers often found work…
I made this post years ago, when I first started a channel here, so I made a mistake in this post, and accidentally called this fire purification ritual/folk shamanic practice/custom a rite of passage. Just ignore that part pls. I made another mistake with the part when the soldier is describing his experience with sitting inside of the ritual stove. I accidentally wrote; “there wasn’t enough room to use the bathroom” instead of saying; “ there wasn’t enough room to use a bath broom”. By “bath broom” I meant a special besom made of tree branches with leafs traditionally used in Slavic outside bath/steam houses. I went back to the original post and fixed the mistakes but for some reason, when I check the re-shared posts, the mistakes remain, it wasn’t corrected. When I first saw this Russian girl’s video about this Slavic fire purification ritual, I was absolutely fascinated, because we don’t have a lot of knowledge that passed down to us from the Slavic generations of old, because this knowledge was deliberately kept from us, it was considered forbidden by the church. It was demonized! So when I come across any sort of ancient Slavic rituals, customs, practices, I try to immediately document these new findings, and then go do more research on it, so that I can collect as much knowledge as I can while it’s available
This comes from holy book of religion of peace. The god of Israel (god of Bible) gave Moses a command. Moses spoke on behalf of God of bible ordering the people to pick up a sword and slaughter their own brothers, sons, and friends. The Levites did as Moses commanded, and slaughtered 3000 of their own family members & friends. As they stood there covered in the blood of their families & friends, Moses praised them for this horrific act, and told them that the lord of Israel has blessed them for murdering thousands of their own kin and tribesmen
Forwarded from Stam van de Vos🦊, hekserij en heidendom van de Lage Landen
Beautiful landscape in the Netherlands. Here you imagine yourself in ancient times, where you never know whether you will meet your ancestors or nature spirits from ancient folklore.
Beautiful song by Argentinian girl. The name of song is related to medicine woman, and the song is about the healing power of earth... https://youtu.be/D7os9V-n7rs
Forwarded from Celtic Folk and Culture
One of my favorite Goddesses is the Welsh Goddess Branwen, Branwen's themes are love, kindness, honor and sacrifice. The story of Bran and Branwen is the second branch of the Mabinogion.
Forwarded from The Frithstead (Folcweard)
Æfinrúnar: A Sedian Book of Rites and Prayers
An altar is sprinkled before a sacred tree. A song resounds through an inviolate grove. Husband and wife are bound in holy matrimony. The funeral pyre is solemnly lit. These are the rituals of an ancient culture, reconstructed after years of research. The religion of the ancient Norse has been resurrected after centuries of slumber, and now we properly rebuild its ceremonial tradition. By thoroughly examining every source on the topic, we have been able to develop a greater understanding of these practices and how we can use them today. By doing so, we reforge the link to the ancient past. Once severed from the Gods, we can now use their holy teachings, the Æfinrúnar, to once again invoke them to witness our rebirth. May their light shine upon us all.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y4VZT9H/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_X2KBM8BNW9CX52PBX043
https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead
An altar is sprinkled before a sacred tree. A song resounds through an inviolate grove. Husband and wife are bound in holy matrimony. The funeral pyre is solemnly lit. These are the rituals of an ancient culture, reconstructed after years of research. The religion of the ancient Norse has been resurrected after centuries of slumber, and now we properly rebuild its ceremonial tradition. By thoroughly examining every source on the topic, we have been able to develop a greater understanding of these practices and how we can use them today. By doing so, we reforge the link to the ancient past. Once severed from the Gods, we can now use their holy teachings, the Æfinrúnar, to once again invoke them to witness our rebirth. May their light shine upon us all.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y4VZT9H/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_X2KBM8BNW9CX52PBX043
https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead
Forwarded from Celta Lusitani Celtiberi Folk
The Farum Brigantium in A Coruña, Galicia.
The large Galician city of A Coruña was originally known as Brigantia. In late Galician folklore , Brigantia was founded by the Galician founding hero Breogán (statue on image), where he built a lighthouse for his sons to watch over the seas just before sailing off to Ireland to meet the Irish gods. Romans later renamed it Tower of Hercules, where Hercules would have defeated the Tartessian king Geyron.
Although, there is no epigraphical evidence for the goddess Brigantia in Northwest Hispania, there is indeed toponymy related to the name. Besides A Coruña, there is also the Gallaecian towns Breganca and Betanzos. However this etymological origin is highly disputed, especially that of the town Betanzos. In Asturias, she goes by Brixit.
Seafaring trade was common among Celts of the British isles and Hispania, so we can assume she was imported by the Brigantes tribe of Britain to the Ártabros of Galicia, who may be their descendants.
The large Galician city of A Coruña was originally known as Brigantia. In late Galician folklore , Brigantia was founded by the Galician founding hero Breogán (statue on image), where he built a lighthouse for his sons to watch over the seas just before sailing off to Ireland to meet the Irish gods. Romans later renamed it Tower of Hercules, where Hercules would have defeated the Tartessian king Geyron.
Although, there is no epigraphical evidence for the goddess Brigantia in Northwest Hispania, there is indeed toponymy related to the name. Besides A Coruña, there is also the Gallaecian towns Breganca and Betanzos. However this etymological origin is highly disputed, especially that of the town Betanzos. In Asturias, she goes by Brixit.
Seafaring trade was common among Celts of the British isles and Hispania, so we can assume she was imported by the Brigantes tribe of Britain to the Ártabros of Galicia, who may be their descendants.
Forwarded from Celta Lusitani Celtiberi Folk
Legends of divine nature on Mount Pindo, Galicia
Known by the locals as the Celtic Olympus, where the gods would watch over the Atlantic towards 'the end of the world'.
In the highest point, there are pots, or 'bowls of the gods', as a result of granite decomposition accumulated from rain. After a storm, the water that remains deposited in these pots is blessed by the gods with magical properties. If the waters are collected from 7 distinct bowls then the properties are even stronger. During this ritual, one must collect the water on their knees facing west to the ocean.
The erected stones on the summit are spirits of Druids and Celtic heroes who remain on the mountain for eternity. The one stone that stands out on this collection is claimed to have been baptized as a Druid. It is said that if one stands in front of it and asks a question, an answer will appear on their mind.
Known by the locals as the Celtic Olympus, where the gods would watch over the Atlantic towards 'the end of the world'.
In the highest point, there are pots, or 'bowls of the gods', as a result of granite decomposition accumulated from rain. After a storm, the water that remains deposited in these pots is blessed by the gods with magical properties. If the waters are collected from 7 distinct bowls then the properties are even stronger. During this ritual, one must collect the water on their knees facing west to the ocean.
The erected stones on the summit are spirits of Druids and Celtic heroes who remain on the mountain for eternity. The one stone that stands out on this collection is claimed to have been baptized as a Druid. It is said that if one stands in front of it and asks a question, an answer will appear on their mind.
Forwarded from GardeningGaul
Ashwagandha (Whitania somnifera) seeds are now available from the Gardening Gaul, either at the webshop or on Etsy! 🌱
Ashwagandha is an essential element of ayurvedic medicine. Powdered root from this plant has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine to help with insomnia and relieve stress.
These seeds come from environmentally friendly crops grown with love and care.
Ashwagandha is an essential element of ayurvedic medicine. Powdered root from this plant has been used for centuries in traditional Indian medicine to help with insomnia and relieve stress.
These seeds come from environmentally friendly crops grown with love and care.