In Bulgarian folklore, 1-3 February is the first of two annual Wolf Holidays, and in some parts of the country they were marked by ritual precautions to protect against wolf attack throughout the year. It was taboo to spin, weave, sew or open scissors, and no clothes are made or mended at this time because such clothes attract wolves.

In the Christian calendar 2 February is Candlemas, the day when the Virgin Mary presented baby Jesus at the temple, and there is a popular Bulgarian legend about an encounter between Trifon Zarezan, the patron saint of vineyards, and Mary (“bogoroditsa” - the mother of god) on this day.

But in some parts of Bulgaria 2 February is also known as the Winter Mother of God or the Wolf Mother of God. She is the patroness of pregnancy and childbirth.

The Bulgarian beliefs and tradition associated with this day contain echoes of the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia on 15 February. There are also parallels with the Polish Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej, the Mother of God of the Thunder Candle, who is celebrated at Candlemas and is also associated with wolves, as well as with the Irish St Brigid.

In some regions the three days from 1-3 February (Julian calendar) are called the Trifontsi, after Trifon Zarezan, and on 1 February there was a ritual pruning of the vines (now usually carried out on 14 February, new Gregorian calendar). St Trifon and the traditions associated with him have their roots in ancient Thracian times and the rites of the wild wine-loving god Dionysus.

Wolves, mothers, vines, Christian saints, Dionysus, Lupercalia – there are many mythological layers associated with this period!

Image: Matki Boskiej Gromnicznej, the Polish Mother of God of the Thunder Candle, illustration by Edyta Marczyńska
Source: internet

Beautiful painting by Nomeart.

This is one of the plants my mother told me about when we still lived in Russia rostov-on-Don. She told me everybody knew about healing power of this plant. She told me about more plants, but this is the one that comes to mind

Coltsfoot has been used in herbal medicine and has been consumed as a food product with some confectionery products, such as Coltsfoot Rock. Tussilago farfara leaves have been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally (as tea or syrup) or externally (directly applied) for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, skin, locomotor system, viral infections, flu, colds, fever, rheumatism and gout. An extract of the fresh leaves has also been used make cough drops and hard candy.[

Our ancestors were self-sufficient, and part of that was their ability to heal themselves without having to rely on government healthcare system. Our ancestors healed themselves with natural remedies by using herbs/plant species, berries, spices, honey, dairy, oils, minerals, shells, and other natural Products and substances. They collected their medicine from the living pharmacy which was forests, oceans, lakes rivers, caves, etc... I don’t trust written official information on how our pagan ancestors healed themselves, because the official sources describe our ancestors as ignorant & superstitious. After the coming of Christianity sometime in middle ages that’s when we see stupid practices like cutting a sick person to bleed them, or saying mentally ill person is possessed by the devil. I don’t believe pre-Christian ethnic cultures had such practices. If you visit any indigenous, ethnic cultures that still keeps to their old ways, you’ll see that they still have some traditions & knowledge that survived from the old world. Like for example, growing up in Russia Rostov-on-Don almost every older woman knew older Slavic traditions, medical practices, natural remedies, etc... I remember my mother talking about the knowledge that passed down orally from her Slavic ancestors about different wildflowers, and what they are used for... She also used mustard on me when I had bronchitis, and help me breathe in the steam from boiling potatoes. For sore throat they would give me hot tea with lemon and honey and homemade raspberry preservatives. Another thing was hot milk with lemon and honey. There are many such natural remedies they used on me and my siblings when we were growing up in Russia. It wasn’t that my mother individually knew about specific wildflowers, spices herbs and berries that were used as medicine. Everybody there knew it. It’s just a knowledge that everybody shared.

As far as I know, every tribe/village had their local seer/sage/shaman/medicine man/medicine woman, etc... They healed both physical illnesses & mental. For mental illnesses & depression, they did shamanic rituals. If I’m not mistaken, Psycho active plants and mushrooms were used to put person into trance like state, while the seer/sage/shaman did his/her part to tap into spiritual realm/or subconscious mind of a person to trying to identify the current mental illnesses, face it, and heal the person.

Finnish sage Pekka Rissanen from Maaninka buys water from the haltija ('keeper', 'custodian') of Mustalähde ('black spring'). As payment he uses silver, carving chips of it into the water.

Research on drinking water disinfection systems has shown that silver can be used successfully to control bacterial growth.

Coincidence?

A fishing spell from Vuokkiniemi, Viena Karelia:


"Foam-clad Ahti of the waters,
Reed-chested Sea-Ukko,
Give me thine bounty,
The folk of the watery yard,
Who live beneath the waves!

For free I ask thee not,
For a gift I entice thee not,
With gold I thee entice,
With silver I thee allure,
With my gifts I thee implore"

i.e. The word was constructed to describe a natural way of being for humans in their natural state. Anthropologists did not invent animism, they just invented a word to describe it.