*This article is an excerpt from "Habitrot and The Wood Maiden: Spinning Goddesses and Imagery in European Tradition ," European Fairy Tales Series​ Vol VII.

​We have discussed the role of the Fates in European folk tradition and briefly mentioned that they are typically depicted as three female spinners. However, as it has been discussed in previous volumes of this series, definitions can be somewhat blurry, and representations of figures tend to bleed into one another. 

There is certainly an association with spinning and weaving with the conception of fate and destiny. In fact, the concept of our fate, called Wyrd in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, is conceptualized as a great web made up of strands that are spun by the three spinners (the Fates, called the Norns in Germanic tradition). Wyrd can be seen as a cosmic tapestry of your life that exists in the spiritual plane.

*This article is an excerpt from "The Star Money: And a European View of Karma," European Fairy Tales Series​ Vol IV.

*This article is an excerpt from "The Three Golden Hairs: Slavic & Germanic Myth in Czech Folklore," European Fairy Tales Series​ Vol VI.

​I argue quite strongly that the phenomenon of holding a hybrid form of religion occurred clear across Northern Europe, from Britain clear to Russia. However, the manifestation of it occurred much more strongly in Slavic lands than elsewhere. In fact, the ancient faith of the Slavs was so overtly prominently practiced by the peasantry that the Slavs began to be referred to as the people of two faiths. Dvoeverie is a Russian word that is typically translated as “dual belief” or “double faith.”

These are dark days. Thousands of people are being caught up in mob mentality and literally attacking people for thoughts that they find "abhorrent." Whether these mobs are using internet bullying, harsh words, or literal physical assault, the effect is the same. We are being told that there is an institutionally approved narrative and those who don't get in line will singled out to be ruined by the mob. We have been here before. So, let us take a peek at what we can learn from history, shall we?