The Rusalki

This week is Green Week, an ancient Slavic Fertility Festival, also known as Rusalka Week (русальная неделя) in Russian because during this week the Russian Water Nymphs, the Rusalki, are said to be at their most dangerous and powerful. These days Green Week runs from midnight Pentecost Sunday to the midnight that heralds Trinity Sunday, so its dates move each year.

Originally the Rusalki (singular Rusalka) were Fertility Faeries, Nymphs or Spirits who rose out from the lakes, rivers and streams in which they lived during Springtime to water and bless the land with fertility. As they walked on land for this one week of the year, especially through the growing rye or hemp fields, they watered it, for as they passed for their hair and clothes dripped with the water from their home body of water. They were one with Nature, working with the phases of the Moon, and able to control the weather. They were said to be in charge of the spring rains that watered the crops, and to keep away the clouds to allow the crops to ripen and then bring the clouds to stop the crops from roasting if the summer became too hot.

Over time the Rusalki stories became far more sinister; these benevolent creatures became malevolent, man-hungry monsters intent on murder. Later stories state that a Rusalka came into being when a young woman either killed herself by drowning, usually due to an unhappy marriage or fleeing an unwanted suitor, or was drowned by her abusive spouse. These souls were doomed not to enter heaven or hell, but to remain on earth, haunting the waterway in which they had lost their life. The Rusalki were seen as vengeful Spirits who would seduce young men with their enchanting beauty or voices like Sirens or their incredibly beautiful appearance, into swimming with them in their river, whereupon they would ensnare the young man in their long hair and drown them slowly, laughing all the while.

It was easy to spot a Rusalka though, for she always had a damp appearance and long red, blonde or green hair that resembled wet weeds or seaweed. Like the Mermaid they could sometimes be seen sitting on rocks with their feet in the water combing their long hair. For most of the year a part of her always had to remain in contact with her home body of water. During Green Week however the Rusalki could and would rise up from the waterways and roam free. Rusalki would meet up and dance traditional circle dances in meadows and fields, especially those in which rye or hemp was growing, and swing on the likes of willows and birch trees, which harks back to their role as Faeries of Fertility. They would also make the most of their chance to cause chaos among the living, especially to terrorise those (or their descendants) who had played a part in their deaths.

As always, there were ways for the living to protect themselves from the Rusalki, or to placate them. Swimming was avoided completely during Green Week and many would give any waterway a wider than usual berth. Any soul who was foolish enough to break this taboo was considered a willing offering to the Rusalki. Offerings were hung out for Rusalki in the willow and birch trees that they loved to swing from, such as incense, silver pins, food, etc. Other items were used more for warding purposes so garlic, wormwood, iron pins or even the odd iron poker was hung from the trees to keep them away.

The tales of the Rusalki are still actively told across Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria and even further afield: there two very famous operas entitled Rusalka, one by Alexander Dargomyzhsky and one by Antonín Dvořák, as well as Mikhail Lermontov's poem and Orest Somov's short story. Even today Rusalki appear in TV shows, fantasy fiction, songs and computer games. If you would like to see/hear the two stunning operas for yourself, Alexander Dargomyzhsky's Rusalka is widely available on CD and Antonín Dvořák's Rusalka is available on CD, DVD and to stream as part of Amazon Prime.

So this week you may like to leave out a nice offering for any passing Rusalki to thank her for her fertile blessings on your garden or the local land, watch one of the Rusalka operas, or read one of the many tales told about the Rusalki, and remember, be wary of any strange long-haired women walking barefoot through the fields or swinging from trees, especially if they ask you to go swimming with them...

Image Rusalka by Ivan Bilibin, 1934
by http://img1.liveinternet.ru/images/attach/b/3/25/886/25886047_Bilibin.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6589382