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Episode Description
This episode was created and recorded by Sofia Lukie in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.
Content warning: implied suicide, language, sadness, pandemic hysteria.
Sofia explores the cycle of the seasons, the Death of Spring, or “Vesna” and the Birth of Summer “Lito”. Endings met with Beginnings. Loss met with Love. This story is fueled by her Ukrainian roots, the hysteria of the pandemic, and using nature to cope. “Lito the Rusalka” takes us through emptiness, confronting queerness, and the natural unknown, by using a Ukrainian cautionary tale as the catalyst. Sofia confronts her own childhood fears of not knowing what lies beneath the surface of the water, and her adulthood fears of losing every swimmable lake due to the carelessness of our species, the invasiveness of other species, and unknown species’ yet to come. She hopes you find endings and beginnings in this pandemic, and that you always find the water, whatever that means to you!
00:36 Part 1: Welcome, Bitaemo
01:39 Part 2: Vesna’s End, Lito’s Beginning
03:58 Part 3: Beware of the water
05:52 Part 4: Walking to where, exactly?
07:16 Part 5: Relief
Want the transcript, more info about what you heard, or a way to connect with other wanderers? Check out our website or connect with us on Instagram. If you have an idea, feedback, or story you’d like to share, give us a shout at wouldyouwander@gmail.com.
Edited by Sam Jeffery in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 territory.
Meet the Storyteller: Sofia Lukie (she/her)
Where did you grow up?
Winnipeg! spent my summers at Ukrainian Park, and Riding Mountain National Park
What's your favourite plant?
Chives! They look so simple but pack such a punch!
Favourite random nature fact?
If you sing to them, your plants will grow faster. Beavers work the hardest!!
What's something nature has taught you that's stuck with you?
Nature has a heartbeat, nature has a soul, nature is spirit, and nature is breath.
Further Readings from the Storyteller
Some Ukrainian traditions rooted in nature:
In Ukrainian tradition when you get married, the women from the village come together and decorate a ’tree of life’. This is bestowed to the couple and represents the combining of lives.
On summer solstice we celebrate “Ivana Kupala”. The women in the village make wreaths, and throw them into the river. In certain areas the matriarch baba of the village will give you your ’nature name’. Mine are Pretty Bird and Little Fox!
On christmas eve, the youngest in the family has to spot the first star in the sky before the family can eat!
It’s customary to welcome in the night with song, you all hold hands and sing “good bye sun, hello night”.
Still curious? Check these out:
Invasive species of Manitoba
Ukrainian Translations
Vesna ( Весна) - Spring
Lito (Літо) - Summer
Malenka ruhbka (маленька рибка) - Little Fish
Malenky Holos (маленький голос) - Little voice
V yiyi holovi (в її головi) - In her head
TRANSCRIPT - Wander 1: Lito the Rusalka
Note: Transcripts may contain errors. If you wish to re-use all, or part of, a transcript, please contact Would You Wander for permission.
Wander 1: Lito the Rusalka
Sam: Welcome to Would You Wander, the storytelling nature podcast. Whether you're in a city, the wilds, or anywhere in between, nature is always beside you. You've come to the right place - exactly where you are. So come on - would you wander with us?
This wander is by Sofia Lukie. It's called "Lito the Rusalka". This wander has content warnings from the storyteller for implied suicide, language, sadness, and pandemic hysteria.
Sofia: Part 1: Welcome, Bitaemo
Are you sitting? Or are you standing? Are you laying down, are you walking and wondering. OR are you walking and wandering.
Whatever you’re doing, wherever you are, thanks for being here, with me, and with these stories. One that you might recognize as your own. The other, a cautionary tale from my ancestors. Morphed and molded through the malleability of oral history. Dark, but filled with light.
If you zone out, if you think about other things, if you get distracted by words from another language that you don’t recognize, it’s okay, just be.
Part 2: Vesna’s End, Lito’s Beginning
Vesna was a beautiful girl, most of the women in her Ukrainian village were. deep olive skin, and exquisitely braided hair. Bright green eyes that were powerful, but tired.
She loved the water. The lakes, the ponds, even the raging river she wasn't allowed in.
When she swam, she felt nothing.
And feeling nothing was easier than feeling everything.
See Vesna, was sad. She was really really sad.
Her story.
She loved her mom. She missed her dad. She barely knew her brother.
And she yearned for relief.
She thought that might come in the form of her soul mate.
Hope.
She had a strong sense that she would meet her soul mate by the water. She can't feel this connected to the water, for nothing right?
In the last week of June, the darkness overwhelmed her.
She looked into the raging river filled with dangerous currents.
She put one hand in. She could feel the strength of the underwaves.
“Is my soulmate in the water? Is my soulmate the water? Where is my relief?”
One by one she took her shoes off.
She slipped into the water.
An underwater whirlpool engulfed her.
Fear.
But then….
She was met with others
A school of mesmerizing water nymphs. searching and seeking, just like her.
No longer Vesna. She is Lito now. Lito the Rusalka. Forever.
Part 3: Beware of the water
She grew up on the river. Her mom would tell her the fable of the Rusalka…..of the striking and hypnotic water nymphs that lived in the depths of the river. Seeking their soulmate, they seduce young men walking by the river, and convince them to come to the water, and then they attack him and drag him into the bottom and how he lives there trapped forever in the water underworld. His family, not even left with a body to mourn.
She knew her mom was probably telling her this so that she didn't go to the water and drown or whatever, but it still had a pretty chilling effect. I mean she was 8.
To her mom's credit it was a genuine concern...her mom used to call her маленька рибка, “little fish” because she loved the water so much. Maybe it was the water birth, but something made her crave the feeling of being completely immersed in water.
So she took baths. Because her mom was probably right…..the currents of the river behind their house were really strong. She told herself it was for her own safety.
But really….she knew….
маленький голос “Little voice”
в її головi “in her head”
It was because even at that age…she knew how easily she would be seduced by a striking young woman.
SHE is the young man in the fable, who would get hypnotized by a beautiful water nymph.
She grew up loving the water.
She grew up fearing the water.
Well, she grew up fearing the women IN the water.
Scared of how much she liked the idea of her soul mate being a woman.
Part 4: Walking to where exactly?
She could hardly believe it’s been over a year that “walking” has been her hobby. Sure the pandemic has been hard, just in general, but she misses the little things more than ever. Playing a game of human twister to try and get to the bartender
Talking to a stranger, and seeing their soul through their smile
The long, lingering hugs from a first date that went really well, or just….sitting on the same blanket as her friends…. at the park. Not worried about how much distance is between them.
She’s thankful to have her girlfriend. Although, at this point, she could probably call her, her roommate. She isn't….unhappy. She’s just. Well. quarantined?
Body and Mind.
It’s all sort of been a blur for her. She dove headfirst into puzzles, and a shitload of wine.
Now, these walks, are saving her. Saving her from what exactly. Walking to where exactly.
The water. She’s always loved water.
Water heals.
Part 5: Relief
There’s been a shift. She can feel her girlfriend pulling away. She can feel her girlfriend moving beyond this. Whatever this is.
She didnt think through all this that her girlfriend would be the one to make moves forward.
I mean she’s always been the stable force.
She’s always been the ear, the shoulder, the solid one to her.
I mean sure she’s not exactly been the happiest or the most joyous to be around,
but can you blame her? The world is on fire. And it’s not like she’s crying every night.
She’s just not really feeling anything.
Maybe this is a good thing, she thinks.
She knows it’s super dumb but I feel like she has never really felt that her girlfriend isnt “the one”.
She really does believe there is one girl out there for her. She’s just never been able to say that out loud because most of her friends would probably just eye roll.
She walks. This will help.
She stops. She’s hungover as shit today and walking isn't helping her situation.
She sits…...dangerously close to the river, because she loves the water.
She notices something in the water. A glimmer.
She looks around. Nobody is around her. Nobody is here to see this.
What is in the water.
She wipes her eyes. It’s just her hangover.
It’s not just hungover.
She sees a very clear picture in the water.
There seems to be some sort of woman? Is that a woman? In the wa- Does she need saving. She doesn't look like she needs help. She looks content.
Or even….happy to see her? She can't help but notice that the woman is….really attractive?
The woman in the water starts coming out. She sings.
“Like a river flows, surely to the sea, darling so it goes, some things are meant to be, take my hand take my whole life too, for I can't help falling in love with you”
She…..feels…..relief.
Sam: If you'd like to keep wandering, head to another episode now. If not, thanks so much for coming with us. Check out our website for transcripts, resources, and connection with fellow wanderers. Are you a storyteller yourself? I would love to hear from you. The website, email, and more are all in the episode description. We can't wait to wander with you again soon.