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Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) — employed in the treatment of heart failure — growing in the woods of Bukewiz (Hochkirch), near the Czorneboch Mountain, Upper Lusatia. Karl B. Preusker, in his 1828 work Ober-Lausitzische Altertümer (Antiquities of Upper Lusatia), mentioned various legends and a number of folk tales associated with the rocks of the Czorneboh. These included accounts of a divine oracle, devilish sites, pilgrimages, and sacrifices attributed to the pagan Wends, as well as speculations about destroyed and buried ancient artifacts. The Sorbian pastor, historian, and linguist Abraham Frencel, recorded in 1712 that the northern side of the mountain was called Prašwica. He derived the name from the Upper Sorbian prašeć ('to ask'), and translated it as 'place of inquiry', or 'mountain of questions'. This interpretation was long regarded as evidence of a former cult site, with an oracle said to have once stood on the mountain summit. In 1910, Frencel's interpretation was challenged by the folklorist Jan A. Jentsch, who proposed instead a derivation from the less commonly used Upper Sorbian prašiwy, meaning 'mangy', 'scabby', 'wretched', 'decayed', or 'miserable'. On an eastern elevation of the Czorneboh ridge, lies the rock formation of the Hochstein (called Robber's Castle in Wendish), which features a prehistoric fortification. In 1841, K. B. Preusker interpreted it as a possible heathen sacrificial site. Archaeological investigations around 1900, revealed evidence of a Slavic and / or medieval use. From the discovery of a stone axe and Slavic pottery shards in Bochow (Halbendorf), Bronze Age finds in Köblitz, as well as numerous Sorbian place names in the Cunewalde Valley, it is inferred that the southern slopes of the Czorneboh were already settled in prehistoric times. @easterneuropa

The Devil's Window ('Teufelsfenster') on the Czorneboh, Upper Lusatia, from which the oracle supposedly spoke: even before the mountain received its mythological name, the group of rocks on its summit was associated with the idea of a Slavic cult and oracle site. Blood Sacrifices and the Cult of the Black God The mysterious deity known as Tschernobog (Proto-Slavic *čьrnъ bogъ, 'black deity, dark deity') first appears in Helmold's Chronicle (I. 52), in a passage describing ritual practices among the Wagrians and Obodrites:

When the priest declares, according to the decision of the lot, what solemnities are to be celebrated in honour of the gods, the men, women, and children come together and offer to their deities sacrifices of oxen and sheep, often, also, of Christians, with whose blood, they say, their gods are delighted. After the victim is felled, the priest drinks of its blood, in order to render himself more potent in the receiving of oracles. (...) After the sacrifices have been consummated according to custom, the populace turns to feasting and entertainment. The Slavs, too, have a strange delusion. At their feasts and carousals, they pass about a bowl, over which they utter words (...) in the name of [two] gods — of the good one, as well as of the bad one — professing that all the propitious fortune is arranged by the good god, adverse, by the bad god. Hence, also, in their language they call the bad god Diabol, or Zcerneboch, that is, the black god.

In 1538, the chronicler Thomas Kantzow mentions Zernebug in his Chronicle of Pomerania; a similar form also occurs in Sebastian Münster's Cosmographia universalis (1550), where Zernebuck is described as a deity venerated by the Rugians. *Čьrnobogъ reappears in the reworking of Helmold's Chronica Slavorum, the anonymous sixteenth-century Historia Caminensis; in this version, the author refers to the Slavic tribes as Wandals. Some later sources from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that mention the deity are considered to be unreliable by most historians. A certain Tjarnaglófi — interpreted as 'Black Head' by the scholarly consensus — appears in the chapter 122 of the Knýtlinga saga, in a set of five local deities venerated at the cultic center of Karenza, on the island of Rugia. The idea that Tjarnaglófi (PSl. *čьrno-golv- > Lechitic *čarno-glov-) is none other than Tschernobog, has been articulated by several scholars (which would confirm Münster's account about Zernebuck on Rugia). *Čьrnobogъ does have a minimal presence throughout the Slavic-speaking realm: only the village of Tschernobosche is found in north-west Russia, in the region of Plescow. This toponym may or may not indicate the presence of a prehistoric cult center at the said location. The Czorneboh Mountain also occurs in the Lusatian Highlands; however, the latter's name is generally considered to be of relatively recent origins. A. Brückner rejected the historical existence of *Čьrnobogъ, arguing that the deity was created under the influence of Christianity. Other scholars and researchers, such as the Prof. J. Gorbatschow [article], have considered the possibility of the Black God being an actual religious pre-Christian figure, although one whose veneration was confined in a relatively circumscribed area. @easterneuropa

H. Weyssenhoff, «Crows' tracks in the snow», early 20th century. The Crow in the Slavic culture | Part I [Tacitus, Ger., X]

Augury and divination by lot no people practise more diligently. (...) For they are also familiar with the practice of consulting the notes and the flight of birds.

From ancient times in Russia, the cawing of ravens — especially when flying overhead while calling — has been regarded as an ill omen. According to the Ukrainian ethnographer and folklorist N. Sumzow (The raven in folk literature / Ворон в народной словесности, 1890), in Little Russia (historical Ukraine) there existed a curse that said: "may crows croak over you". The belief in the crow's cry as a sign of misfortune was so deeply rooted in folk tradition, that even protective spells were used to counteract it. Sumzow further notes that among the Galician Russians, there was a detailed folk interpretation of the crow's or raven's behaviour. Misfortune was expected if a traveler noticed a crow calling while the bird faced him directly, with its beak turned toward him. To avert harm, people would even address the crow itself, often with curses or ritualised speech intended to drive the omen away. In Little Russia, people would sometimes spit upon hearing a crow's cry, just as they did in other situations where they feared witchcraft or the evil eye, such as after curses. Similar practices are attested in other cultures as well. @easterneuropa

The Migration Period: Germanic Tribes and the Huns (4th–6th century). Engraving published in 1882; artist unknown. On the Slavic Migrations We present a quote from a 2025 study published in Nature on the early presence of Eastern European–associated ancestry in Western and Central Europe during the Iron Age and the Roman period:

At least a sporadic gene flow from Eastern Europe into Pannonia and the Balkans must have already occurred during the Iron Age and the Roman period, as we identify a substantial number of individuals within the SP [Slavic Period] cluster buried in Austria, Hungary, Serbia, and Montenegro, during the time period from 500 BCE to 300 CE, predating the large-scale population movements of the sixth and seventh centuries.

@easterneuropa

A medieval golden finger ring from Rostock-Dierkow, in the Groß Raden (Weligrad) Archaeological Museum. @easterneuropa

Buckwheat growing in the reconstructed settlement of Radonim, in the Groß Raden Archaeological Open-Air Museum, situated near the town of Sternberg, on the lands that once belonged to the Wranefzi, in Weligrad (Mecklenburg). The ethnonym Wranefzi may be reconstructed as something like Wranowzi, Warnowzi, or Wranewzi ('the Wran / Warna people'), deriving from the Slavic root wran- / wron- / warn- ('crow' or 'raven-black'), which may mean that the tribal name originally signified something along the lines of the 'Raven Folk'. @easterneuropa

A 1700 map of ancient Germany by E. Wells, published in Oxford, showing the Warini between the Angles and the Langobards. On the Warini In his Germania, Tacitus lists the Warini (also called Warni and Werns) among the small and relatively unwarlike tribes, whom he contrasts with the great Suevian peoples. According to him, these tribes were shielded from warfare and external challenges by the forests and rivers surrounding their lands. According to Procopius (Wars, VIII. 20), the Warni at that time «... inhabited the lands beyond the Danube, extending as far as the Northern Ocean and the Rhine». Ptolemy, in his Cosmography (II. 11), mentions the Ούίρουνοι (Wiruni), locating them in the region of the Chalusos, possibly the Warnow River. Around the ninth century, the Obodrite tribe of the Warnabi (also called Warnahi, Wranovi, Wranefzi, and Wrani) suddenly "appeared" exactly in the same area where the Warini once dwelt, settling along the upper reaches of the Warnow and Mildenitz rivers, in what is today the region of Weligrad (Mecklenburg). @easterneuropa

A 1700 map of ancient Germany by E. Wells, published at Oxford, showing the Warini between the Angles and the Langobards. On the Warini In his Germania, Tacitus lists the Warini (also called Warni and Werns) among the small and relatively unwarlike tribes, whom he contrasts with the great Suevian peoples. According to him, these tribes were shielded from warfare and external challenges by the forests and rivers surrounding their lands. According to Procopius (Wars, VIII. 20), the Warni at that time «... inhabited the lands beyond the Danube, extending as far as the Northern Ocean and the Rhine». Ptolemy, in his Cosmography (II. 11), mentions the Ούίρουνοι (Wiruni), locating them in the region of the Chalusos, possibly the Warnow River. Around the ninth century, the Obodrite tribe of the Warnabi (also called Warnahi, Wranovi, Wranefzi, and Wrani) suddenly "appeared" exactly in the same area where the Warini once dwelt, settling along the upper reaches of the Warnow and Mildenitz rivers, in what is today the region of Weligrad (Mecklenburg). @easterneuropa

A 1700 map of ancient Germany by E. Wells, published at Oxford, showing the Warini between the Angles and the Langobards. On the Warini In his Germania, Tacitus lists the Warini (also called Warni and Werns) among the small and relatively unwarlike tribes, whom he contrasts with the great Suevian peoples. According to him, these tribes were shielded from warfare and external challenges by the forests and rivers surrounding their lands. According to Procopius (Wars, VIII. 20), the Warni at that time «... inhabited the lands beyond the Danube, extending as far as the Northern Ocean and the Rhine». Ptolemy, in his Cosmography (II. 11), mentions the Ούίρουνοι (Wiruni), locating them in the region of the Chalusos, possibly the Warnow River. Around the ninth century, the Obodrite tribe of the Warnabi (also called Warnahi, Wranovi, Wranefzi, and Wrani) suddenly "appeared" exactly in the same area where the Warini once dwelt, settling along the upper reaches of the Warnow and Mildenitz rivers. @easterneuropa

Wooded mountains in the Lessinia Regional Park, Venetia. Note the name 'Lessinia', and its striking phonetic similarity to 'less', the Slavic word for 'forest'. On Werona A special mention may be reserved for the Venetian city of Werona (Latin: Verona). According to the conventional historical accounts, the precise details of Werona's earliest history remain obscure, as does the origin of its name. It is for this reason that the city is worth noting here, as its name presents an undeniable phonetic resemblance to worona (the Slavic word for 'raven'). Whether this similarity is merely coincidental or of greater significance, is difficult to determine. It is nevertheless noteworthy that the region was once inhabited by the ancient and mysterious Veneti, whose name became entangled with broader traditions concerning the Wends and Winds, terms that throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages were often used loosely, and at times applied to various Slavic or Proto-Slavic populations. @easterneuropa

A black grouse (Teutonic: 'Birkhahn'; Russian: 'teterew' — the latter having given its name to numerous Slavic toponyms and hydronyms, including Teterow in Weligrad, the Teterew River, and many other place names found across the Slavic lands) in the Glain (Lunenburg) Heath, Wendland (Lower Saxony). Tree Veneration and Fire Sacrifices: Midsummer Rituals among the Winedas

The Wends of Lunenburg performed pagan sacrifices long after their conversion to Christianity. (...) They celebrated St. John's Day as the beginning of the harvest season; after throwing a rooster into the fire and pouring beer, they danced around the tree and sprinkled the cattle with sacrificial water. [J. Kollár, Národnié zpievanky, vol. I (1834), pp. 16–18]

(A. Tereschenko, Everyday life of the Russian people / Быт русского народа, 1848) @easterneuropa

A bumblebee feeding on a white scabious flower on the Bald Mountain (also called Maiden Mountain; in the Golossew District of Kiew) — considered to be a traditional site of witch gatherings. Witches and Werewolves in the Midsummer Beliefs of the Ukraine and Lithuania

The common folk in Lithuania believe that on the night before St. John's Day, witches suck the milk from cows. To prevent this, they stick sprigs of swallowwort in the corners of the barns, hang a dead magpie above the door, and nail pieces of Candlemas candles crosswise. (...) On the eve of St. John's Day, peasants do not let their horses out into the fields, lest witches ride them to Kiew, to the Bald Mountain, where their gathering is held at that time. (...) St. John's Night is considered in Little Russia a terrible night. It is believed that at this time huts and cattle sheds are visited by witches and werewolves. To prevent their visits, stinging nettles or fern are laid along the windows, thresholds, and in the stalls. Only Jaga-Babas, sorcerers and Kiew witches, gather in great numbers; they fly on broomsticks to the Bald Mountain or to the Devil's Mount, located near Kiew, where they take counsel on the harm of people and domestic animals.

(A. Tereschenko, Everyday life of the Russian people / Быт русского народа, 1848) @easterneuropa

I. Lewitan, «Birch grove», 1885–1889. Birch Veneration: Midsummer Arboreal Rituals among the Winedas

Among the Drevani Wends (between Lüchow, Dannenberg, and Uelzen), trees are held in high reverence, especially the 'wreath tree' (birch tree) and the Hahnbaum ('rooster tree'). The wreath tree is used by women on St. John's Day; only they are allowed to cut it, transport it, and set it into the ground. Every woman, no matter how frail or barely able to walk with a crutch, goes to see where the tree will be erected. It is cut on the eve of the feast; all branches are removed, leaving only the top, shaped like a wreath. On St. John's Day, the women take a cart and harness themselves to it instead of horses or oxen, going into the grove. Neither bad weather nor poor roads hinder them: they wade through swamps and water up to their waists. The younger and stronger women walk beside the cart, singing and rejoicing, while the older women pull it. As soon as they arrive in the village with the tree, a joyful cry arises, and people rush to the place where the previous year's tree still stood, and cut it down. The owner of the house in front of which it rose, buys it, giving the women money for liquor. The new tree is erected with ceremonial exclamations and decorated with wreaths and flowers. Then several barrels of beer are rolled out, and the celebration is ritually sanctified. The setting-up of the tree is performed annually with special reverence.

(A. Tereschenko, Everyday life of the Russian people / Быт русского народа, 1848) Note: The precise nature of the alleged Hahnbaum remains unclear. @easterneuropa

According to A. Tereschtschenko (Everyday Life of the Russian People / Быт русского народа, 1848), the Gentiana (named after the Illyrian king Gentius, according to Pliny the Elder, who used it to treat a plague) was believed in the Ukrainian folklore to be gathered by the witches of Kieff in order to squeeze its juice and use it for their charms. @easterneuropa

Source: A. Tereschenko, Everyday life of the Russian people / Быт русского народа, 1848. @easterneuropa

Taxidermy of the Beresowka mammoth in the Zoological Museum of St. Petersburg, 1922. The folk beliefs surrounding the Ranunculus acris are indeed rooted in the plant's poisonous nature. A woolly mammoth was discovered preserved in the permafrost on the banks of the Beresowka River (a tributary of the Kolyma). In 1901, the zoologist Eugen W. Pfizenmayer, and his colleague Alfred O. Herz, who took part in the excavation and reconstruction of the mammoth, found a bundle of plant material still preserved in the animal's mouth. The mammoth had apparently begun chewing those plants just before falling into a deep crevice, and dying. The preserved remains were identified as species of Carex, Thymus serpyllum, Gentiana, Cypripedium, Papaver alpinum, and buttercup. The plant was nevertheless used in folk medicine to treat burns, wounds, boils, as well as rheumatism, headaches, and tuberculosis. It's toxic to honeybees. It is eaten by geese, moderately consumed by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and roe deer. In spring and early summer, it is eaten in large quantities by the European elk (Alces alces). @easterneuropa

Source: A. Tereschenko, Everyday life of the Russian people / Быт русского народа, 1848. @easterneuropa

Source: A. Tereschenko, Everyday life of the Russian people / Быт русского народа, 1848. @easterneuropa

The Ranunculus acris growing in Puschino, in the region of Moscow. The Meadow Buttercup in the Slavic Folklore | Midsummer Plants According to folk beliefs, the meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris) — known in the Russian folklore as copperhead, or hen blindness — was gathered by supernatural forces and by healers. It was thought to induce a death-like sleep in anyone who kept it, which is why vindictive and superstitious people were said to administer decoctions made from the plant to their victims. Another belief held that placing the flower beneath one's head would cause blindness. Some traditions also claimed that the Ranunculus acris sprang from the decaying bodies of venomous reptiles; that it grew up blind, regaining its sight only on St. John's Day; and that, upon catching sight of a person or any other animal, it darted at them like an arrow and pierced them clean through. @easterneuropa

The Cordinger Mill on the Warnau River, in the Bomlitz Valley. Raven-Related Toponyms and Hydronyms in Balto-Slavic Europe | Part II The toponyms and hydronyms stemming from woron-, wron-, wran-, and warn-, are listed below:

– Woronesch — the well-known Russian city, alongside the Woronesch River, a tributary of the Don. A settlement of the same name is located in the Ukrainian region of Sumy. – Worona River — a right tributary of the Choper. Another river of the same name is found in Western Moldavia as a tributary of the Sereth, from which the commune of Worona derives its name. – Woronowo — thirty-four settlements in the regions of Grodno, Wladimir, Moscow, Briansk, Smolensk, Twer, Jaroslau, Tula, Dnepropetrowsk, Lugansk, Gomel, Wologda, Leningrad, Kaliningrad, and Witebsk. – Wronowo — four settlements in Greater Poland, Masuria, Podlachia, and Masovia, and a fifth one as part of the village of Tschebunia, in Lesser Poland. – Wronow — seven villages in Lower Silesia, the Lublin and Holy Cross Voivodeships, Greater Poland, and the Opole Voivodeship. – Wranau — two municipalities in Bohemia, and one in South Moravia. Wranau on the Topla is likewise found in the region of Preschau, as well as Wranau on the Thaya, in South Moravia. – Warnow — two municipalities in Weligrad (Mecklenburg). The Warnow River is likewise found in Weligrad. – Warnowo — two villages in West Pomerania and Masuria. The Western Warnowo likewise occurs as a lake on the island of Wollin, in West Pomerania. – Warnau — a municipality in Holsatia. Another Warnau occurs as a village and district of Hobolin (Havelberg), in the Old March. The Warnau River, a tributary of the Böhme, is likewise found in the Bomlitz Valley. – Fahrnau — a village in Baden. Historically documented as Varnow, Varnowa, Warnow, Varnöw, Farnow, and Farnaw. – Warnemünde — literally 'Mouth of the Warnow'; a district of Rostock. – Wronowy — a village in Kuiavia. – Wronia — part of the village of Tluschewo, in Pomerania. – Wronki — a town in Greater Poland, as well as a village in Masuria. – Wroniawy — two villages in Greater Poland and the Lodsch Voivodeship. – Wronowitz — three villages in Lesser Poland, and in the Lodsch and Lublin Voivodeships. – Wronin — two villages in Lesser Poland and the Opole Voivodeship. – Wronino — a village in Masovia. The bay of Wronina is found on the Lake Tschorstyn, in Lesser Poland. – Wroniny — a settlement in Greater Poland. – Wroninko — a village in Masovia. – Wrana — a settlement in Dalmatia, situated north of the adjacent Wrana Lake. Another settlement of the same name is found on the island of Cres, which likewise contains a lake called Wrana. – Wrana River — a left tributary of the Great Kamtschia, in Moesia. The Wrana Palace occurs on the outskirts of Sredez (Sofia). – Warna — the well-known city, located on the Gulf of Warna, in the historical region of Moesia; the Lake Warna is likewise found in the area. Warna also occurs as a municipality in South Tyrol, alongside a lake of the same name, a village in the Serbian region of Matschwa, and a hamlet of the Tuscan municipality of Cambassi. – Warniai — a city in Samogitia; historically documented as Warne. The Warnele River, from which the city derives its name, flows through the historical town. – Wrani — a commune in the Banat Highlands. – Wrann — a village south of Tusi, in Malesia. – Wrania — a city in the South Morava region. Historically attested as Wran. – Wranina — a settlement, island, and hill on the Lake Scutari, in the Zeta Plain. – Wraniak — two settlements in Posavia and Metochia, as well as a mountain in Chelmia. Wraniak in Sumberak and the Wraniak Waterfall are likewise found in Northern Croatia. – Wranitz — five settlements in Dalmatia, in the West Morava Valley, the Drina Valley, and the Zeta Plain. Two further Wranitz are found in Bohemia. – Wranowitz — a village in South Moravia; historically attested as Prennwiz and Brannowitz. A Wranowitz-Keltschitz occurs in North Moravia, while two further Wranowitz are found in Bohemia.

@easterneuropa