Mythology and Tradition Corner
My books contain a lot of links to various mythologies as well as a generous helping of traditions with which I grew up. Slavic mythology isn't widely known in the western world. Because of that I decided to add this Mythology and tradition corner to my website. I will add to it bit by bit, to give you a better understanding of the characters and events in my book.
Christmas traditions
The whole series of Stories, Tales and Legends: Retold is deeply rooted in Slavic mythology and tradition. In the books there is often mention of the old gods and the new god. In reality there was a long time where old Slavic mythology coexisted with Christianity. In Poland for example, the new religion was officially adopted by the ruler in 966. The new religion however was adopted mostly by the upper echelons of the society. The masses stayed true to their pagan beliefs. It took centuries for Christianity to spread amongst the population. Even to this day there are elements of our tradition, which hail from the pagan times. It is never more obvious than during important holidays.
The latest book in the series, "The Sleeping Curse" takes place around Christmas time. Many parts of the celebration depicted in the book are still part of our holidays. Please see below for some more detail.
