Totems Blacktail Points of interest

The light of the brightest day only exists in the face of the darkest night’s darkest moment.

A lineage of wise women originating from times immemorial. They were somehow connected to some unspoken, elder manifestation of chaos. Whether they worshipped or fought it is not clear. Beginnings of their bloodline may predate even the mysterious idols spread across the land. Some folk tales go as far as attributing the idols’ construction to the Guardians themselves.

They were inextricably linked to the Hut.

The Winter Rites are joyful celebrations dedicated to Veles, intended to appease the Underworld god and his snakes, the sworn enemies of the sun. Among the noteworthy customs were breaking and sharing the bread, and divining the following year’s course, such as the weather and harvest.

It’s the time of unexpected guests and abrupt farewells.

Sworn rivals among the gods.

Perun is the lord of skies and thunder. An eagle on the highest branch of the World Tree. Veles is the god of the Underworld, a cunning trickster, teasing and provoking his counterpart by shapeshifting and spreading chaos across the land.

The nature of the soul is dual.

The human part of the spirit is the one originating in the mortal realm, the one which has to endure one’s passions, deeds and emotions borne of one’s material life. This element was conceived out of Veles’es will and it shall return to his underworld domain after death.

Its counterpart is the immortal, ancestral part, which reflects the wisdom and experience of the forefathers. This element is a manifestation of Perun’s will. After a human’s demise, the ancestral soul would split from the human soul to embark on a journey spanning from the roots of the World Tree to its very crown in the heavens above.

The birds wintering in the branches of the World Tree would bring the ancestral souls back as they return in the following spring. The ancestral soul would then be fused with a newborn human soul of the same lineage.

And so it goes.

The Forefathers’ Eve is celebrated in memory of the dead, in hope of guiding the lost souls towards the hereafter. The most common practices include feeding and watering the wayward spirits during dedicated feasts. Other gestures of hospitality for the dead involve lighting up the guiding lights or bonfires or setting up baths. The favor of the dead is desired and their disapproval is not only disrespectful but can also result in bad fortune or even a curse.

The omnipresent, singular entity, the source of all there is.

It is possible the four-faced idols that were here long before the eldest of men portray this highest overpower. Their gazes set upon four sides of the world.

No true sentence about the Higher One can be uttered as it is beyond words, beyond comprehension.

The rites of the Midsummer Night have mostly matrimonial purposes. There are various activities involved in celebrating this occasion. Jumping above bonfires, setting the flower crowns on water, searching for the fern flower. The purpose of all these customs is to bring the village youth together.

Marzanna, the goddess of cold, frost, winter, and death.

Every spring the village folk perform a ritual of burning the effigy of Marzanna. The purpose of the rite is to banish the winter, allowing the spring to begin and the land to recover from the overwhelming cold.

A place where all the souls go after they are freed from their corporeal shells. Some stay there longer than others. A dark nether world of snakes, ruled by Veles.

Auroras, Fates. The three sisters, daughters of Rod (god of family, ancestors, and fate). The first weaves the thread of fate, the second measures it, and the third cuts it with her shears. They intertwine times, places, and events. Their favor and lack thereof is believed to be the cause of luck and misfortune accordingly.

All the places and all the times, all the places and events – it all forms a tree. Its branches in the sky, and in the future and where the souls of the kindhearted are. Its roots in the Underworld, and in the past, and where the damned souls lie.