Friday, July 13, 2018
Yana Castle––more news from Romania
Dear Dorothy and Gloria,
Even though we have been here for 5 days, not much happening yet. I am eagerly awaiting thunder and lightning storms that are predicted almost everyday but even though the sky turns quite dark, nothing. I read today there is a Romanian Saint Ilie who is directly linked to thunderstorms and is the most fierce enemy of the devil whom he pursues and tries to destroy with lightning and thunderbolts. St. Ilie is celebrated on July 20th, the same day as Perun, the Slavic storm god. So luckily, I will be here for that. I can’t help but notice the name ‘Ilie' is curiously close to the term used for fairies here, ‘Ielle.' I am going to ask a folklore scholar friend who lives in the University town of Iasi what he thinks about this. I would not be surprised that this saint’s earlier incarnation was a woman. Ielle of Romanian lore, for instance, were the extremely beautiful but injurious fairies. Said to reside in the forests and dress in white, they could cause general mischief, illness and STORMS.
In the meantime, I have also been researching the Cucuteni culture, reviewing what I had explored 5 years ago, the last time I was here. Chris, my husband, is cataloging his quite shamanic interpretations of this ancient culture. He has a way of communicating with the spirits of the place and rendering the patterns and energies of the land.
The weather here has been chilly, the opposite of what I expected in July. In Romania, they refer to July as 'the hot as an oven month.’ Of course, I brought all the wrong clothes and just one sweater. But, I do expect it will get hot during the time we are here… a month to go and adventures await!
Love to you both,
Yana
