TRADITIONAL MAGYAR /HUNGARIAN FOLK MOTIFS - INTERESTING and FUN

I hope this is free of commercials... it gets interesting about midway, after the humor.  It is part of a series and worth listening to... It may inspire you to embroider...  I'm impressed!

THE VALLEY OF THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN EGER REGION : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #8

One does wonder how this valley, which is sometimes called THE VALLEY OF THE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, got it's name, but I suspect it's because there were women out there in the fields, planting, tending, and harvesting grapes. In the Eger region and in view of the Bukk Mountains, this region has amble opportunity to go wine tasting and indulge in thermal spas. However, the history of the name refers to a single beautiful woman.  Who was she?

SZEPASSZONYVOLGY INFO (in Hungarian) Lots of information about Eger

EXCERPT (Translated into English and edited by me)

Opinions about the origin of the name vary. Ferenc Bako's article entitled "Eger Wine Cellars" reads "This name preserves the memory of the ancient religion of the pagan Hungarians.  The Beautiful Women was one of the goddesses of the ancient religion, the figure corresponding to Venus, the goddess of love. Among the agricultural population of Eger, some say that a beautiful woman owned the valley or part of it. Others that a famous woman sold good Eger wine here in her cellar. According to another source, there was a manor villa on the side o the valley, inhabited by a stubborn mistress of a military officer, and she is the origin of the name.

About the wine: The Eger Bull Blood became famous in the 18th century. Its raw material was provided by goose-footed black grapes, the Turkish Gohar, the black Franc and the Cello.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme.

GONCOL THE TALTOS POWERS : MAGYAR PAGANISM #3

Today we might think of a a taltos such as Goncol as a wise man, an inventor, a psychic medium, an herbalist,  and as astronomer. He had much in common with Saint Frances of Assisi, Michelangelo, and Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan.

He is said to have communicated with animals.

He is said to have invented the horse drawn carriage including ones drawn by many horses with more horse power. However, one wonders if perhaps he was from the universe since the horse the taltos rode sounds like an old car that goes from broken down to one made of gold that could be fueled with hot cinders. Called a taltos parpa, this transformative ride is depicted as a horse with extra legs, just as he or she is depicted as having extra fingers. I wonder if this was taken literally or was an art depiction to show speed.

How fast could that "horse" go?

It would no longer be earth bound and fly. Faster than a bird. Faster than the wind. Faster than thought.

Colors of horses are associated with metallurgy if not alchemy. Yellow for Gold. Grey for Silver. Black for Iron. Red for fire. Taltos is said to have been able to move energy between opposites; sounds like creating electricity to me.

A Taltos had plant knowledge and could not only heal people physically and mentally with plant medicine but by performing rituals.

It's not lost on me that the horse is so important to the ancient Magyars that the animal would be an important "ride" into the heavens and up The World Tree. What sort of creatures or beings did he or she encounter in that travel? Ones that have answers the shaman could bring back.

Messages predictions, advice.

Since honoring the ancestors is still part of Hungarian culture, I suspect that a shaman could communicate with those already departed.

C 2021

THE TALTOS AND THE WORLD TREE : MAGYAR PAGANISM #2

It's common for people to confuse Hungarian / Magyar Paganism with Gypsy fortune telling and spells. Or, unfortunately, evil personified, such as in the fiction of Count Dracula in Transylvania and a belief in vampires, or even the madness of The Blood Countess who was considered evil and insane, a serial killer. (But read my book review on this Countess!)

It is none of that.

It's about shamanism.

Ancient Pagans believed that the world was flat and covered by a sky dome which had holes in it to let in the light of stars. 

The sun and moon were most important celestial deities.

There was an invisible tree that rose up from below the earth and had limbs springing out skyward and through layers of - for lack of a better term - of the universe. At the very top was a heaven - a place of beautiful and blissful existence.

There was more evil the further you traveled down, less as you went up. No surprise that the earth was in between good and evil and it would seem evil had the advantage. 

Only special people who were born with innate talent to go into a trance could travel the tree, which was thought to have three divisions / especially strong branches. The tree is called The World Tree. A beautiful carved sculpture of the tree, a modern reimagining, is presently in Godollo.

That person who went into trance was called a Taltos.

It was believed a child was chosen to be a Taltos before birth or by the age of seven by a supernatural being such as God or spirits. A Taltos could be male or female. The ability to be a Taltos was innate and not to be taught. 

The word Taltos clearly has multiple cultural evidence.

In Uralic languages it is related to the words meaning to know or understand. Tai haa.

Talt in Turkish means unconsciousness.

Taltos is related to Talt in Magyar. It means open wide.

You might wonder how traveling up The World Tree was thought of. The Taltos could climb the limbs but she or he could also ride a special horse.

How did a typical human know a child was meant to be a Taltos? Such a child liked to be solitary. Perhaps they were sickly. They had extra fingers, teeth, bones. In other words, they were peculiar.

// 

My meditation on this is that the genetics might indicate that the person meant to be a taltos was the result of inbreeding or, in the case of one of my relatives who had two sets of teeth and an extra rib, according to a physician, might have been a twin in a stage of development as a fetus. The tribe might have found all humans born within it to have value and ways to contribute. Shamans in some cultures took plant potions or used hallucigens as a way to travel. So far I haven't found any reference to this in Magyar shamanism. The emphasis seems to be on natural ability.

Horses were so important to the nomadic Magyar, it makes sense to me that riding a special was a way to "travel" the tree/ universe.

C 2021

Research for these posts comes from multiple sources.

FLYING CROW

 

MAGYAR PAGANISM ? SHAMANISM IS CORRECT #1

As you may know, the history of Hungary is that it became a country that affirmed Christianity and aligned itself with Roman Catholicism.

However, within Hungary there was a Protestant Reformation, Calvinism, Lutheranism, the Unitarians, as well as Greek Catholics, some Uniates, and Jewish beliefs, in particular Hassidic Jews. There were Masons (Freemasonry) which I think of as a religion too. There must have been people who didn't have faith or believe but, my guess is, felt the pressure to conform. 

This blog respects that acknowledgement of Christianity by Hungary and the Christian seasonal calendar - Easter, Christmas, Saint Stephen. 

Through my rather intensive work in genealogy and reading of documents I feel I've acquired more knowledge of Hungary and Hungarians than many Americans, except perhaps those were raised with the traditions or who are more recent immigrants here.  I acknowledge my heritage while being American.

I've become aware that as part of cultural awareness and pride in Hungary a New Pagan movement is happening. While I'm sure participants in Neopaganism or Native Faith around the globe research far more than me, in order to discover ancient lifeways, I'm also sure creativity is used to reimagine rituals and observances and values.

It's also confused in the usual mysterious origins of the people who evolved to self identify as Hungarian or Magyars today. Certainly there must have been multicultural influences along the way.

After reading around the subject of ancient Hungarian / Asiatic notions of human life and relationship to spirit, I feel it has much in common with certain tribal Native American notions. 

So, over the next few posts, I'm going to do a series of posts about Magyar Paganism.

I'm going to add my modern take on some of these, while trying to imagine a life lived so close to and subject to the natural world.

C 2021

THE WORLD TREE IN GODOLLO HUNGARY : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #7

The World Tree sculpture in Godollo is a modern take on the Magyar "native faith."

https://paganplaces.com/places/world-tree-in-godollo/

I've noticed that trees have figured in art installations at festivals in Hungary in recent years.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme.

CELEBRATE FARSANG in MOHACS : WONDERFUL PLACES IN HUNGARY #5

THE CULTURE TRIP : CELEBRATE FARSANG LIKE A LOCAL 

Beginning January 6th, a celebration that now blends old Hungarian Pagan beliefs with Christian ones.  Although celebrated around Hungary in various ways, including of course Budapest, the city of Mohacs has a noteworthy festival.

Excerpt: The history of this supposedly comes from a Turk invasion, when they occupied the town (Mohacs) and chased its inhabitants out into the nearby swamps. However, the local men dressed up as these buso and frightened the Turks, who insisted demons had attacked them.  Nowadays, they playfully chase people around the town during their parades, making loud noises and generally causing a ruckus.  There are mask-making events, competitions for children's costumes and numerous stalls selling food and drink.  On Shrove Tuesday there's even a bonfire where the Farsang coffin is set alight - the coffin symbolizing winter and, therefore, its end giving way to spring.

Click on the label Wonderful-Hungary to get to the entire series on this theme!

FROM PAGANS TO NOMADS TO CHRISTIAN KNIGHTS

KRAMPUS THE DEVIL - SAINT NICKS SIDE KICK - A HORRIFYING DEMON

Krampus: The Christmas Devil  : PICTURE from

December 10, 2011 by ppmhungary

 AND FROM THIS YOUTUBE CONTRIBUTOR DOCUMENTARY

ALONG THE DANUBE BLOG ABOUT HUNGARIAN PAGANISM ADDED TO MY BLOG LIST!

ALONG THE DANUBE link!

Found this one while researching about ancient hungarian pagan fertility rites, speaking of Spring time.  Very interesting and well written!