a question about an old Russian Tradition

Wed Apr 6 12:52:09 UTC 2005

Dear Yelena--

Once again thank you for your comments. To answer your question about my 
father, at the time -- when I was a child tying red neckties on the trees -- he 
was still alive. In a way, he seemed dead because he had emotional problems and 
wasn't very present.

Now that you know have a general idea as to what I am working on it would 
seem the "Slavic Antiquities" tree information will be helpful. I could pay $50. 
US dollars for a translation. But I would need it very soon. Would this be 
acceptable and if so how quickly could the translation be faxed here?

I took a look at your website and see what important work your group is doing 
to collect and preserve Russian culture and history. Thank you for your 
dedication. I wish you great success in your work.

Let me know what you think. 

Sincerely--

Marlow
> 
> Dear Marlow,
> 
> Thank you for your interest in folklore. "Slavic Antiquities" is a wonderful 
> academic edition which describes tons of Slavic folklore traditions in 4 
> volumes. It is published in Russian only. I may send to you pages about a 
> tree (general), a birch, an oak and other trees in Russian tradition and you 
> may find somebody who can translate these pages to you. Another solution - 
> somebody from my department can translate these pages for you, the problem 
> is that people would expect to receive some honorarium for this job...
> 
> >In particular, I am interested in the tying of the red ribbon around a 
> >sweet
> >birch tree. The tying saved a young girl from an "evil" stepmother, as the
> >tale goes, she had tied the red string on the tree to save it from a storm. 
> >Years
> >later the tree somehow saved the same girl from the stepmother as an act of
> >gratitude for the girl caring to help the tree.
> 
> Well, I will share with you some general information, but as I said your 
> question is too complicated to be answered just in one message. Trees (like 
> water and ground) function in Slavic traditions as a way to another world 
> (to the world of dead). A mother of a girl was dead, so the birch tree 
> served as a mediator between two worlds, a girl decorated a tree 
> (symbolically send a greeting message to her dead mother), a tree saved her 
> from an evil stepmother (in other words her mother saved her daughter with a 
> help of a tree). Trees are decorated by red ribbons, colorful scarves, beads 
> in many Slavic rituals, especially on Whit Saturday and Whit Sunday. Whit 
> Saturday, Whit Sunday (or Ivan Kupala, or Trinity, or Peter-and-Paul Day, 
> and other rituals which are celebrated on the boarder spring/summer) are 
> always include the ideas of "another" world and passed away ancestors. 
> Symbolically this decoration is the way to glory (to send a positive sign) 
> the deceased ancestors. I write this idea in a very general (rough) way. To 
> explain all details I will need to read you lectures about Slavic summer 
> rituals and their semantic connections with ideas of Eros and Tanatos during 
> the whole semester.
> 
> >I reference this in a short autobiographical piece I've written for an
> >anthology entitled "Courting the Wild" published by Ecological Studies 
> >Institute. As
> >a young child growing up in the suburbs of New York City I'd take my 
> >fathers
> >red neck ties and tie them on the sweet birch in the woods behind my house. 
> >My
> >father was Palistinian/Circissian, Mother American. The home life was not
> >healthy hence, all the time I spent in the woods with the trees. I share 
> >these
> >details in hopes they might help you understand the area of superstition 
> >I'm
> >most interested in.
> 
> Very interesting. Was your father dead or alive? Sorry for this question. In 
> your personal story a tree functioned as a psychological release. The same 
> function trees have in Russian lyric songs, which are much more younger then 
> mythological stories or fairy-tales, but still may reflect some ancient 
> ideas turning them from magic aspect into emotional aspect.
> 
> >The editors of the anthology want more information on the Russian Tradition
> >that "saved" me, in a sense, and inspired my future career integrating
> >Ecopsychology and Nature-based healing. I'm working on the revision this 
> >month. Your
> >comments/direction is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Again this is extremely complicated question. In Russian tradition in 
> particular and in Slavic tradition in general the deads are divided into 
> several groups. "Dangerous" deads (whose life was interrupted, for example, 
> they were killed, or drowned) and respected "parents" ("parents" is a 
> general term for all dead ancestors). The dead "parents" are always welcome 
> (of course not every day, but they are invited to visit their alive 
> descendants on special holidays, for example, Whit Saturday). People set the 
> table with dishes and spoons and steam banya (the Russian traditional 
> washing place) for their "parents". One of the ways to communicate with the 
> deads is to decorate the house with birch branches tied by red ribbons. At 
> the end of a ritual these special branches are burnt down (or terminated in 
> another way). (This is very importnat act because alive people by this way 
> break down the connection with their dead ancestors). It is very logical 
> that "dear parents" will protect alive family members (using the magic power 
> of trees) being pleased by hospitality of their alive descendants. But again 
> I will need to write to you 10 pages to create the clear picture of trees' 
> functions in Slavic folklore traditions. The best way is to send to you 
> pages from "Slavic Antiquities" or translation of these pages. Best regards,
> 
> Yelena Minyonok
> www.russianexpedition.net
> 
> 
> 
> I do have a FAX here if needed.
> 
> Thanks for your interest and assistance--
> 
> Sincerely--
> 
> Marlow Shami
> 

Create balance and healing by deepening your relationship with Nature.

Marlow D. J. Shami M.S.
NaturalSense ®
PO Box 33
Goshen, CT 06756
USA

TEL: (860) 491-2067
Email: MShami at aol.com
www.naturalsense.org

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