Today's photoshoot was inspired by a pagan Slavic holiday called Stado, that will soon take place in Poland.
Stado — a Slavic festival mentioned by this name in two known Polish medieval sources: the Pentecost Sermons (In festo Pentecostes) by Łukasz of Wielki Koźmin from around 1405–1409, and the first book of the chronicle by Jan Długosz, Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae, from around 1455.
In the sermons of Łukasz Koźmińczyk we find fragments describing how this festival was celebrated. In the translation by Professor Krzysztof Bracha we read:“Girls armed with swords (cum gladis) and boys armed with sticks and swords struck one another with them in a dancing procession.”
The festival falls at the time of the last full phase of spring, when the green fields begin to fade and the increasingly intense sun turns the color of the grain ears into a mature gold. It is a special period - known in folk tradition as Green Holidays (Pentecost). From mid-spring until Pentecost, and sometimes even until the summer solstice, people across Europe planted so-called Maypoles in the ground: stripped poles (so-called “arrows”) decorated with ribbons and wreaths.
The Slavic lands were no exception. These Mays (poles) were sometimes several dozen feet tall, making them visible above village roofs - thus announcing the arrival of a joyful season of lush greenery in the area. Beneath the Maypoles people sang, feasted, and danced in circles, which evokes the creative motion of the universe.
At the end of the celebration period the Maypoles were toppled (and sometimes even cut down), and the wreath hanging at the top was torn apart by the gathered crowd. Pieces of it were believed to protect against misfortune and bring a good harvest.
The names of the deities invoked during the festival of Stado are recorded by Koźmińczyk, who even mentions that he knew them from living folk custom (which he likely heard about or perhaps even witnessed), as well as from references in “a certain chronicle of the Poles” (now lost).
The preacher condemned what he called a “pagan superstition,” listing among the names of deities worshiped during Stado the god Łado (Latin: Lado). From provincial statutes dated around 1420 we also know that during the Pentecost period people invoked the name Leli (Latin: Yleli).
These names are known in Slavic folk tradition, especially in the context of wedding songs. However, not only Łado and Leli are mentioned in medieval records; invoking the names of other Slavic deities during the rituals of Stado was also considered essential.
This festival is very strongly associated with rusalki, which I will discuss in more detail in the next post.
This photoshoot was taken with my new lens. I had to test it out in hard conditions - full sun and at night (which you'll see soon). Whole outfit is made by me.
Love, Erinthul.