Hi Magdalena: I found this so interesting. Love the Horse Divination! Makes me want to look into my pre=Christian Legends, Folklore and mythology. Mostly Celtic and Scandanavian and Basque. So no matter what our backgrounds, we video watchers can use your videos for inspiration to look into our own remote history. As well as gain an appreciation for Slavic ways. THX, Anne
Thank you, Anne! Basque heritage sounds fascinating, I read a bit about their mythology in Marija Gimbutas's "The Living Goddesses"! Celtic and Scandinavian are fascinating too
This was so interesting. I did a free edX course called "Omens Oracles and Prophecies" about historical divination and one that it discussed was interpretation of birds in flight in ancient Rome; it mentioned other animal divination but not in detail, I am happy to learn of another!
Yes, our ancestors definitely seeked advice from animal wisdom, they saw the animals as messengers of gods. Birds definitely make us think about the divine, flying freely in the skies...
Yes, the Germanic neighbours to the West were already all converted to Christianity and also Poles to the East were already baptized when those chronicles were written. Pagan Slavs were trying to create a cult that would be unifying for various tribes and in opposition to Christianity, so some elements, like building temples and making the ritual more elaborate might have been modelled after Christians and to compete with Christians for power.
Nice video, it may not be divination but modern armored "cavalry" units in armies around the world still attach horseshoes to their "steel" chargers to the present day. General Maczek of the Polish 1st Armored Division in WW2 had horseshoes on the tanks of this unit in their drive across Europe into nazi Germany.
You're quite welcome and thank you for your wonderful videos. Here is another bit of historical trivia for you: in medival times, horses snorting and pawing the ground before the start of the journey or before a battle was considered a good omen. Before the battle of Grunwald/Zalgiris in 1410, the loud snorting of the Polish and Lithuanian cavalry was seen as a good omen, and of course it was when the Allied Army crushed the German Knights and destroyed their power forever. A good source for early Slav and Baltic religious history, both Christian and Pagan is "Slavic Mythical Beliefs" by Frank Kmietowicz, 1982, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. An excellent work but unfortunately out of print now for quite awhile, a diligent search may find a copy in a good used book store or a well stocked public or university library. The author has written several books on this subject and they are all excellent, he deals mostly with Northwestern and Western Slavic religious beliefs but he also has many good tidbits of information from all over the Slavonic world as well as the beliefs of the Baltic people's. I hope that you will find this useful. One of my grandfathers, who was Polish, used to say, "The horse has got a big head, let him worry."
@@josephwarra5043 Thank you for your recommendations! I see that there has even been one of Kmitowicz's books translated to Polish. Love the Grunwald reference! I actually visit the battle site quite often, because my parents have a cottage house in the area. Haha, indeed, horse's head is huge, they must have a lot of space for worry! :D
I love this. My grandmother was 1st generation born in the US. Her mother escaped the pogroms in Lithuania. One aunt and one uncle were 100% Polish.
I'm glad you've enjoyed it! Baltic traditions are fascinating too!
Hi Magdalena: I found this so interesting. Love the Horse Divination! Makes me want to look into my pre=Christian Legends, Folklore and mythology. Mostly Celtic and Scandanavian and Basque. So no matter what our backgrounds, we video watchers can use your videos for inspiration to look into our own remote history. As well as gain an appreciation for Slavic ways. THX, Anne
Thank you, Anne! Basque heritage sounds fascinating, I read a bit about their mythology in Marija Gimbutas's "The Living Goddesses"! Celtic and Scandinavian are fascinating too
This was so interesting. I did a free edX course called "Omens Oracles and Prophecies" about historical divination and one that it discussed was interpretation of birds in flight in ancient Rome; it mentioned other animal divination but not in detail, I am happy to learn of another!
Yes, our ancestors definitely seeked advice from animal wisdom, they saw the animals as messengers of gods. Birds definitely make us think about the divine, flying freely in the skies...
Thank you, almost unice topic)
Glad you liked it! :)
I love historical studies especially about ancient Europeans. By this time in history had Christian influences been felt?
Yes, the Germanic neighbours to the West were already all converted to Christianity and also Poles to the East were already baptized when those chronicles were written. Pagan Slavs were trying to create a cult that would be unifying for various tribes and in opposition to Christianity, so some elements, like building temples and making the ritual more elaborate might have been modelled after Christians and to compete with Christians for power.
Nice video, it may not be divination but modern armored "cavalry" units in armies around the world still attach horseshoes to their "steel" chargers to the present day. General Maczek of the Polish 1st Armored Division in WW2 had horseshoes on the tanks of this unit in their drive across Europe into nazi Germany.
Thank you for sharing, I love this detail! It's a wonderful example of joining tradition with modern times!
You're quite welcome and thank you for your wonderful videos. Here is another bit of historical trivia for you: in medival times, horses snorting and pawing the ground before the start of the journey or before a battle was considered a good omen. Before the battle of Grunwald/Zalgiris in 1410, the loud snorting of the Polish and Lithuanian cavalry was seen as a good omen, and of course it was when the Allied Army crushed the German Knights and destroyed their power forever. A good source for early Slav and Baltic religious history, both Christian and Pagan is "Slavic Mythical Beliefs" by Frank Kmietowicz, 1982, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. An excellent work but unfortunately out of print now for quite awhile, a diligent search may find a copy in a good used book store or a well stocked public or university library. The author has written several books on this subject and they are all excellent, he deals mostly with Northwestern and Western Slavic religious beliefs but he also has many good tidbits of information from all over the Slavonic world as well as the beliefs of the Baltic people's. I hope that you will find this useful. One of my grandfathers, who was Polish, used to say, "The horse has got a big head, let him worry."
@@josephwarra5043 Thank you for your recommendations! I see that there has even been one of Kmitowicz's books translated to Polish.
Love the Grunwald reference! I actually visit the battle site quite often, because my parents have a cottage house in the area.
Haha, indeed, horse's head is huge, they must have a lot of space for worry! :D
@@josephwarra5043 I'll remember to let my inner horse do the worrying for me!
I♥🐎too.
A Slavic mythology was truly organic to all Slavs. But as everybody else we abandoned it by adopting Cristianity🤦
Our ancestors didn't abandon it, Christianity was enforced on the people.