by Ronesa Aveela | Feb 2, 2024 | Artists, Books, Mythology and Folklore
February is the month of wine and roses, with Valentine’s Day celebrated on February 14. This day is also when Bulgarians celebrate Trifonovden, a day focused on vineyards. Many theories abound about the origins of winemaking. Scholars debate who first brought...
by Ronesa Aveela | Dec 1, 2023 | Books, Holidays, Kickstarter, Mythology and Folklore
December 6 is Nikulden, a festival in honor of St. Nicholas, the Wonderworker, the saint associated with Christmas. He’s the patron of children, fishermen, sailors, bankers, and merchants. He’s also considered to be in charge of controlling all water bodies and reigns...
by Ronesa Aveela | Nov 10, 2023 | Mythology and Folklore
If you type the word русалка (rusalka, plural rusalki) into a translation program, it will spit back “mermaid.” That is how westerners think about these water maidens. However, although they have characteristics of mermaids, rusalki lack one essential feature—fish...
by Ronesa Aveela | Oct 13, 2023 | Books, Bulgaria, Mythology and Folklore
The Water Bull has been described as a Bulgarian Loch Ness monster. Except, I don’t think any folktales exist the Nessie was tamed by love, not that Nessie is considered a vicious monster to start with. The similarities between the two creatures exist in the fact that...
by Ronesa Aveela | Oct 6, 2023 | Books, Mythology and Folklore
In folklore, the Ispolini were a race of people the gods created after the Dzhudzheta, the little people or dwarves. They died out because their slight height prevented them from being able to protect themselves from wild animals. They also found themselves inept at...
by Ronesa Aveela | Sep 26, 2023 | Eastern Europe, History, Mythology and Folklore, Rituals and Traditions
The Western world is filled with stories of blood-sucking vampires that they say came from Slavic lands. In fact, the original Slavic vampire was not a Dracula-clone. This blood-sucking behavior was transferred to Slavic vampires only after the graves of supposed...
