Vlăsia
What's the deal with Birds and Pregnancy?
We don’t know her original name. She is the protector of migratory birds and pregnant women of all things. Apparently it’s not THAT random an association. The return marks the beginning of the fertility season. Storks and babies, swallows and hope and continuation of family lines. It makes sense.
February 11th is the day the Orthodox calendar celebrates St. Vlasia, an Armenian guy pretty close to nature himself, Bishop of Sebastea, died a martyr in Hierapolis, present day Turcia. Also known as Saint Blaise. Our version of his name ending in an “a”, sounds like a female name here, so it was conflated with the old local pregnancy divinity. Just as recording over some old magnetic tape still might preserve some artefacts from the previous recording, this saint’s feast covers but also discreetly reveals the old bird lady in the layer beneath. St. Vlasia is invoked to protect the crops form birds, as some kind of holy scarecrow, and also to look after pregnant women, to help them give birth safely to healthy children without any malformations. He also looked after Dorothy.
The classic turn from a bird-lady caring for pregnant women to an anti-bird-man caring for a child.
Not to be mistaken for another ancient god taken over by Saint Blaise. The Slavic bear-snake god of the underworld Veles.1 Very important for the Rodnovers, he has this symbol conspicuously resembling the flipped “A” I happen to use as I’m trying being cool writing my name on socials (R∀DU).
In Croatia as in other Slavic language countries, Veles became Sveti Vlaho, same as Blaise, protector of Dubrovnik. Vlaho seemingly circling back to the population of nomads travelling with their sheep up and down the mountains in the Balkans named Vlachs, some old style Romanians. It all revolves around me apparently. Really no clear connection, but there’s also that. The fact that in Romania we don’t have this bear-snake guy, as all our neighbors were worshiping him, bolsters the theory of the Latin2 island in a Slavic sea. We have our chick surrounded.
In Coliere V1 is ΚΡΉΝΗ (Fountain), E(6,11) [x . x . x . x . x . x], gathering the waters inside, receiving life.
Homework: This is the mantra for today. Speaking of good old oriental Blaise, inhabiting the much older local stork lady’s place. Be the stork. Let it be your spirit animal on February 3rd. Standing on one foot, arms extended forward, hands clapping vertically like a long beak:
Bishop Of Se Bas Tea
Pa-Dam Pam Pam Pam Pam
Unveil the stork! Unpeel the Bishop and the Rodnover skinsuits!
To complicate things even more, Veles was also replaced by St. Nicholas in some Russian folk stories.
Maybe the Latin bit is a little overplayed, but culturally there is something to this. Things older than the Slavs arrival. Older than the Romans arrival, too. Still lurking beneath.