It’s Not Just a Tree

The cover of our forthcoming book, Magical Healing Trees in Slavic Folklore, is a painting that is part of Alphonse Mucha’s Slav Epic series. This series depicts key battles and cultural events among the Slavs. The first installment portrays a moment from the sixth to eighth century and is called “Slavs in Their Original Homeland.”

Our cover image is called “The Oath of Omladina under the Slavic Linden Tree.” In it, a youth organization called Omladina, from the 1890s, are swearing allegiance to the goddess Slavia, who sits in a linden tree.

This tree is among the most cherished among the Slavs. For me, growing in Eastern Europe, the linden was part of a tradition. Every year when the trees started to bloom, my mother gathered the flowers and dried them on old newspapers in a cold room. I can still imagine the fragrant aroma in that room. It was like entering heaven.

The soft, gentle scents were the pure perfumes of spring. Once the blossoms dried, my mother stored them in paper bags and used them throughout the year for tea. Linden tea was a miracle brew that my mother used to cure anxiety, cold, fever, sadness, broken hearts, runny noses, you name it… a universal herb. The gentle aroma soothed me when I was sick. And, each sip of the tea, which was mixed with lemon and linden honey, gently coated my throat. It was as precious as pure gold.

Flowers Blossoming Tree Linden Tree.

Among our ancestors, the tree has been dedicated to various Slavic deities, among them Svetovid, the Slavic god of war and abundance. Later on, after Christianization, the linden tree gained an association with the Virgin Mary. She was believed to live or rest among its branches.

Old trees such as the linden have been called saints. These are one of the species that people were forbidden from cutting down. To do so, meant death—either to the cutter or to someone in his family. A man who broke a branch from a tree was said to have gone berserk. He recovered only after he returned the branch. Others who cut down the tree became lost in the forest.

Stories circulated about trees that bled blood and not sap. One such tree was born out of a knee of a girl who was killed. This tree stood on the top of a mountain. Local people venerated it, much to the dismay of a priest. When he tried to cut it down, blood coming out of the tree blinded him.

To find out more about the linden tree and other trees sacred to Slavs, be sure to check out our Kickstarter campaign. We’ll be launching it on Tuesday, May 2, around 9 a.m. Eastern Time. If you follow the campaign now, you’ll be notified the moment the campaign launches. You don’t want to miss out.

Easter Excitement and Colorful World

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Nature is beginning to wake up. First, the song of the birds ushers in the warmer weather, and they perform their spring dances and fill the air with love twills. After them come the daffodils, which look like the sun, brightening gloomy days. And brave white snowdrops shyly poke their heads out of the ground amidst piles of scattered snow.

Spring manages to bring a smile to many faces, a joy to our hearts, despite the news of worldwide tragedies. Perhaps because of them, we need to hold onto a small bit of hope that like nature, the world will thrive again.

As Easter approaches, more and more activity emerges from winter slumber, not only among nature, but also among people. The shelves in shops become like a rainbow, full of smiling bunnies and ducks, gift baskets, and an assortment of sweets. For others, it’s more a time to reunite with loved one, sitting around a table or visiting virtually, to celebrate the holiday and welcome the rebirth of nature.

One of my favorite holiday activities is to make the traditional kozunak bread. What is Kozunak? It’s a sweet-dough bread that is prepared on Easter, something very special in Bulgarian rituals. It looks like the Italian pane bread or the Finnish sweet bread called nisu. You can use walnuts as decorations for the crispy crust of the delicious bread.

Another favorite thing to do is to make colorful eggs. Sure, you can buy an abundance of colors, stickers, and other materials at any store to decorate your Easter eggs. However, when I was a child, I learned how to make my own decorations and colors from my grandmother. She used items from her garden and yard: onion peels, red beets, walnut shells and leaves, and more. To give the eggs a golden or yellowish-brown color, my grandmother boiled them in a decoction with walnut shells. She also used walnut leaves. Rose madder roots will give the eggs a beautiful red color. Coloring eggs this way is a tradition will used in Bulgaria today.

These days, I use a simpler, more creative, environmentally friendly way to decorate Easter eggs. With colored napkins, you can create masterpieces.

How do you do it?

First, you’ll need beautiful napkins, one paintbrush, a small pan, and one or two extra eggs (not to boil or decorate), depending on how many eggs you want to decorate.

1. Cut the napkins into small pieces or strips. Use a small paintbrush to apply a thin layer of egg white onto the egg. Then carefully place the napkin onto the egg, smoothing out any wrinkles or bubbles. Brush another layer of egg white over the top of the napkin to secure it in place. Repeat until the egg is covered in napkin pieces.
2. Create a mosaic design by cutting the napkins into small squares of triangles. Apply egg white onto the egg in small sections, then carefully place the napkin pieces onto the egg to create a colorful mosaic pattern. Brush another layer of egg white over the top of the napkins to secure them in place.
3. Use napkins to create a tie-dye effect by scrunching up small pieces of the napkin and wrapping them around the egg. Secure the napkin in place with egg white, then use a brush to apply more egg white over the top of the napkin. Repeat with different colors of napkins to create a colorful tie-dye effect.

You can make a theme for your Easter table. I love sunflowers and daisies and made the one in the picture below. The idea is to have fun and create a mood and coziness for everyone.

As I mentioned earlier, my grandmother used walnuts. In my opinion, walnut is a magic tree that has a special place in Slavic traditions. If you want to learn more about walnut and other magical trees, pleas follow our new Kickstarter project that will be launching in early May. The book will talk about Slavic customs and beliefs about tree, it contains 21 magical trees, for a total of 153 pages (print size 8.5 x 11 inches). And lots and lots of colorful pictures and illustrations. The book will follow the same layout as our earlier Herbs book. If you’d like to learn more about other Bulgarian customs, take a look at our book Light Love Rituals: Bulgarian Myths, Legends, and Folklore. We have an activity for coloring Easter eggs that you can try with your children.

Wishing you a blessed Easter holiday!