FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WITCHES,
CALL U.VA. PROFESSOR, AND GOOD WITCH, NATALIE KONONENKO 

	Literature hasn't been kind to witches, but they're not all
bad, says Natalie Kononenko.

	Indeed, some witches represent strong and wise women who
work for good ends. But in Slavic culture, as in that of other
countries, strong women often have been demonized and turned into
hags who scare small children in dark forests.

	Kononenko, an associate professor in the Slavic Languages
and Literature Department at the University of Virginia, along with
two graduate students, Philippa Rappoport and Jeannette Lacoss, will
be speaking on "Goddess worship and witchcraft," using Slavic
folktales as illustrations, on Halloween Day, Oct. 31, from noon to
1 p.m. in Minor Hall room 225. Their talk is open to the public. 

	Unlike the familiar American witch, who sweeps through the
air on her broom on Halloween night, Baba-Yaga, the human-eating
witch of Russian and Ukrainian lore, flies through the air in a
mortar, propelling herself with a pestle. And Baba-Yaga is always
there, hiding, watching, biding her time, waiting for her next warm
meal to wander heedlessly by... 

	Kononenko discusses good and bad witches and the image of
women in folktales in her classes on Slavic folklore at U.Va. The
courses, which cover topics such as rituals, demonology and the
unquiet dead, are among the department's most popular.  In general,
Kononenko says she tries to show her students a non-western
perspective on women. Even simple cultural differences -- such as a
story that revolves around a plump heroine and a skinny witch -- can
be eye-opening.

	"There were a lot of large, powerful women in Russia and
Ukraine, but that was problematic even over there, even when
powerful women were idealized," Kononenko says.

	Witchcraft and folk healers stayed underground during the
Soviet years, which considered such activities superstitious and
unscientific. But since the breakup of the Soviet Union, those
claiming to be witches and healers in the Newly Independent States
have been moving into the sunlight. 

	As a child of Ukrainian parents, Kononenko remembers wearing
a coral talisman, a "waterstone," around her neck when very young.
There were other things that her mother did when Kononenko was a
little girl that only make sense to her now, as an adult who has
studied witches... 

	Kononenko, who wears an amber "firestone" amulet, considers
herself a good witch. She has studied herbal medicines for years,
learning from her father and grandfather, and from village men and
women in Ukraine. She gathers recipes for herbal teas to soothe sore
throats and stomach ailments, concoctions, she says, that friends
and family members recommend.

	"They're mild," she says. "If nothing else, they taste
good." 

	Kononenko also has edited a book retelling old Ukrainian
folktales, "The Magic Egg & Other Tales," to be published by
Libraries Unlimited and expected out this winter.

	For more information about witches, demons, forest sprites,
water sprites, goblins and the unquiet dead as seen in Slavic
folklore, call Kononenko at (804) 978-1942 or nkm@virginia.edu. 

###

October 4, 1996