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But must be said that Angels or Mother Mary do not belong to Christianity. Those belong to ancient nature faith. There is some panteon of gods like in slavic or greek or egyptian ..but there are also some archetypes like Christ or Mary which reflect cosmic powers. Same archetypes are in egypt for ex. Angels and saints are also from ancient religion. Beings helpers of god. Those are in pagan called differently but exist too.. There is absolutely nothing that christianity invented. It s a sum , a mix of ancient beliefs especially in a form of a catholic church which was shaped as a power structure for kali yuga times. It s possible ancient masters and priests allowed it themselves descending into underground in secret societies.. And there are all same cosmic archetypes … There must have been some original pagan nature cosmic faith-knowledge wiarowiedza philosophy at the begining like a full mirror before it broke in thousends of parts but…who knows when.. At Enki s time? Atlantis? Amyway it s not just Earth s. It s all cosmic faith, set of ideas. And it s best seen in vedas – many things are there we may feel they contradicts themselves while not.. There is no canon.. It coexists. Btw saints are just anscended masters then the difference is in how much it s human and how much god 🙂 meaning how much from earth dna and how much from other planets… Angels …well between gods and humans… So very similar to saints but closer to god… And dna has light inside ..and light is energy. So after all question is how much light this being has got. The more light the lighter energy the higher vibrations closer to god… And cosmic god is light itself Swiatowid. And inside he has Bialoboga and Czarnobog jing jang.. And in those are all other being vibrating more in matter or more in light.. And it s reversable and relatif and neutral like all true pagan faith of nature.
Ps slavic especially polish is the snake tongue of the snake nation. Polish has most consonants that make it snake hissing together with sz’ sh’ and ś which are pure whispers. The lower the voice the closer to light and high vibrations. Ś is światowid himself . power of szeptucha lies in being close to ś most centered most godly consonant. That s why szeptuchy are slavic and mainly polish part — polish, belarus (former Rzplita polish) pronounce those consonants best. And of course the spell wrongly pronniunced will not work well. Read your harry potters
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Whisperers in Eastern Slavic Lands
My dear readers, I have been asked about the practice of whisperers (soothsayers, or as they call them in the original language Szeptuny/Sheptuny). Practice of soothsaying (whispering) is common in Eastern Poland (especially on its border with Belarus), Belarus, and parts of Ukraine and Russia. Thanks to the modern publishers, soothsaying became so popular that almost anyone can learn it – books like “One Thousand Whispers from a Folk Healer” and “Little Whisper that Brings Good Luck”, as well as many others, are wide-available and ready for anyone willing to purchase them.
Before I begin, I wanted to say that I personally have never heard of an evil soothsayer – practice of whispering is considered entirely beneficial and is commonly used in Eastern Slavic healing traditions. Natalia Budur, an author of “Sorcerers in Russia” (actually, this is a very well-researched book containing ethnographic data concerning Russian sorcery – if you read Russian, strongly recommend), classifies Sheptukhi (female whisperers) as a kind of cunning women: “Znakhari (cunning men) are essentially specialists in incantations.” She writes. “Even though many people knew certain incantations for one or another household purpose, it was true znakhari and znakharki, baby-ugadki (guessing women), lecheyki (folk doctors), vedunii (wise women), sheptukhi, and vorozhei (fortune tellers who also practice witchcraft to remove minor hexes, jinxes, as well as cast and break love spells) who knew and, honestly admitting, still know nowadays a “set” of incantations for every occasion and have the skill to use them against more complicated maladies. Incantations were and are well “respected” among Russian people. They are usually spoken with a prayer, because, as summarized by V.I. Dahl, “our people fear of blackbooking (malicious witchcraft)”.
The main power of a whisperer lays in his or her voice. While folk herbalists and some healers widely rely upon medicinal herbs in their practice, a whisperer primarily uses the power of the Spoken Word to bewitch food, drink, and some other objects used in healing such as charcoal. They say that the custom to whisper incantations appeared after arrival of Christianity into Slavic lands, and ancient volkhvy began whispering their incantations in order to protect their magic words from Christian preachers and people unworthy of knowing them. However, not everyone agrees with this theory. Some believe that the Eastern Slavic practice of healing always involved whispering incantations – after all, most whispered “words” are primarily used in this area of folk witchcraft: if volkhvy truly meant to keep their secrets, then why whispering did not spread upon other types of incantations, as well? Just to be honest, I must mention that while Sheptuny and Sheptukhi mostly use their whispers for healing, they recite other kinds of spells also in a whisper. What I am trying to say here is that while “whispering” (sheptanie) is common practice, it is not the only Eastern Slavic incantational tradition out there… One more belief concerning whispering of incantations says that is Sheptukha or someone unauthorized recites her spell out loud, she would lose her power to whisper.
In his book “World of Russian Znakhar”, Vladimir Larin relates the whisper to the forgotten snake tongue (almost like in Harry Potter, although I am not sure Mr. Larin read or watched this franchise). Other terms for this method include “bewitching of the spirit” and “bewitching inwards”. In this practice, the words are spoken when and immediately after inhaling which makes them sound like hissing of a snake (hence the name “snake tongue”). With each exhale, the energy accumulating in the course of reciting the incantation becomes released, which ultimately gives power the “Spoken Word”. Not every incantation can be recited in such way – the text is written in a certain way so that it would have a paced rhythm that allows one to read each sentence on a single breath and accents would be placed at the first syllable of each sentence and from there forth, on every other syllable within the sentence. Nevertheless, some Szeptunki somehow manage to whisper not just traditional incantations but also Christian prayers in a such a manner.
What makes many whisperers ultimately “good” and “benevolent” in the eyes of other people is their strong affiliation with Christianity: while sorcerers are believed to work with demons and even Satan Himself in their practice, most whisperers rely on the power of Christian God, Jesus Christ, and the Saints when working. Many of their incantations call upon aid of Angels, Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ, as well as many other originally Christian characters. This religious affiliation earns them the name of “the holy ones”. At the same time, not all their spells may be classified as Christian, for they masterfully combine worship of Christianity and Mother Nature within. It is their use of such incantation allows us believe that even though whisperers claim to be devoted Christians, their beliefs lay more in the area of the so-called double faith (Paganism incorporated within Christianity), not to mention the fact that Christian Church considers use of any incantations instead of official prayers sinful.
Another trait that portrays whisperers as doers of good is their tradition to work in the mornings (ultimately, at sunrise). It is a known fact in Eastern Slavic countries that malicious practitioners prefer casting their spells after sunset or at midnight, when there is no other light besides scarce moonlight. As opposing to that, Sheptuny work in broad daylight at or after sunrise. This curious habit of theirs may be explained from magical point of view: most spells to attract, gain, or restore something (thus increasing its presence in one’s life) must be cast in the morning – when the sun rises and daylight grows brighter (i.e. increases, as well), while spells to banish or destroy something are cast when sunlight fades (becomes symbolically “destroyed” also). From the Slavic Pagan point of view, those who call upon power of Chernobog (the God of Darkness, Stagnation, and Destruction) must wait until nighttime to summon Him and His forces, while those primarily work with Chernobog’s Brother Belobog (God of Light, Motion, and Creation) may work in the morning when daylight gains power. From this point of view, whisperers can be classified as the latter kind – so as to say, the attractors of good. Researcher of Polish traditions Marek Kempa calls the eastern Polish Szeptunki practitioners of the ultimate positive magic.
Whisperers believe that God hears their prayers better than the ones of other people due to their lifestyle – most Sheptukhi and Szeptunki are elderly religious women who fast and pray regularly, and their natural Gift of Whispering. In their opinion, in order to use that Gift, their faith has to be strong. Moreover, in order for the treatment to work, their patient has to be religious, as well. Most Christian Churches do not approve of whisperers due to their double-faith practice, yet they don’t judge them too severely – one of Polish Szeptunki was allowed to join the Church Choir.
Despite the Word having the most power in Sheptukhi’s practice, most words in Slavic incantational tradition are accompanied with “charms” – symbolic actions that illustrate ridding of the disease and arrival of good health, such as pouring of wax, burning flax fiber, sprinkling salt, linseed, or bewitched poppy seed, rolling a ball of ashes on the sore spot, filling and sewing shut an amulet pouch, and others. Aside from their magical component, these actions provide a psychological impression on the patient, who, upon seeing his “disease” burn in a flame, starts believing in his own recovery and with every sip of water that had been “bewitched” by Sheptukha, feels former strength pouring back inside him.
While Sheptuny may be powerful at what they do, their power is believed to have its limitations. People believe only some diseases can be cured by whispering. Whisperers don’t treat heavy and extreme conditions, such as complete paralysis, for example. Moreover, most diseases they treat are not official, recorded by modern medicine conditions, but folk ailments that are often named after a single symptom, but not complete description of a disease – examples: nausea, stomachache, fever, cough, etc. This custom is currently changing, and some modern-day whisperers are praying for their patient’s recovery from an official diagnosis, such as allergy. “Przewianie” or chills, “Róża” or rash, “Przestrach”/”Perepolokh” or “spook” (emotional trauma caused by intense fear), “Urok” or “evil eye” are some of the common maladies that Sheptunki successfully treat. Szeptuny are considered most powerful when treating psychological trauma.
An experienced Sheptukha can tell whether she can cure one or another malady and has the right to refuse service or recommend someone else when she sees a problem that she cannot fix. Most commonly, people call upon their aid when official medicine is powerless or locally unavailable. In Eastern Poland, they say this tradition is slowly dying out due to widespread availability and effectiveness of modern medicine and lack of people who are ready to devote themselves to the art of whispering. “There is no secret at all. Anyone willing to gain the power of whisper will get it.” One Russian Sheptukha said. “However, not everyone would be able to handle it.”
Talent for whispering (the so-called Gift) is believed to run in the family passing from grandparent to grandchild. They say it skips a generation because having too many powerful people in one family weakens the family as a whole, as reciting incantations takes up a lot of power, not just personal power but collective power of the bloodline, as being a Sheptukha requires one to have a strong connection with the Ancestors with them aiding her with every chant. It is important to note that most Eastern Slavic soothsayers are female, with the Gift and knowledge passing from grandmother to granddaughter or from female mentor to female apprentice – with that apprentice always being younger than her mentor. Male Szeptuny are considered rarer and, as some say, more powerful.
Aside from her deeply developed spirituality, Sheptukha is usually in good health herself and, despite her age, still has all of her teeth (although some say that it is absence of teeth that makes Sheptukha’s speech more hissing and thus more powerful).
Unimpaired speech is considered very important when reciting any Eastern Slavic incantation, not just a whisper, although (here goes another contradiction) they often say that evil sorcerers and sorceresses may lack their teeth. Indeed, since opinions on this subject vary, I present them to you the way that they are.
A curious custom in Russian and Polish whisperer’s work is that Sheptukha never accepts money as a payment: people leave donations or gifts in exchange for her prayers. Researcher of Polish traditions Marek Kempa writes that a good way to tell a quack from a true Szeptunka is to see if she offers a price for her service.
I know that a lot of people are interested in the ancient practice of whispering, and I hope I helped shed some more light on this subject.
Be well,
Yours Sincerely, MagPie (aka Olga Stanton)