Profs & Pints DC: Slavic Solstice Magic

Profs and Pints DC presents: “Slavic Solstice Magic,” a look at traditional paganism-based East Slavic rituals to embrace the longest night and the onset of winter, with folklorist Philippa Rappoport of George Washington University.

Rather than curse the cold and the darkness, people in Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus learned long ago to celebrate it, turning to various festivities and rituals as the days shorten and the snow falls.

With temperatures dropping and the winter solstice just a day away, you too can learn to find new meaning in the season with the help of Professor Rappoport, a folklorist who previously has captivated Profs and Pints audiences with talks on East Slavic nations' mermaids, place spirits, and netherworlds.

She’ll introduce us to a series of pre-Christian rituals performed in such nations between the winter and summer solstices. These included the creation of season-honoring effigies which would be paraded through town, given…