Patricia Furstenberg, Writer of Historical Fiction, Children's Books
Travel via Stories
Between 1 and 25 December enjoy on my blog, all free on this page, my Christmas gift: an Advent Calendar of riddles leading you to Romanian winter legends, first snow songs, and recipes to a seasonal dish to feast on! May your Christmas be Merry and your winter full of peace!
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Join me on a wintry pilgrimage through the heart of Romania. Snow on the Tracks: Shadowing Vlad the Impaler to Sighișoara is a travel essay close to my heart, recently featured as a finalist in the Pilgrimages writing competition on Intrepid Times. This journey by train, from Bucharest to the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, the medieval town of Sighisoara, threads through snow-dusted forests, ancestral echoes and the pulse of a country still shaped by its legends.
It’s a story of looking out the window. And into the past.
Read the full piece here: Snow on the Tracks: Shadowing Vlad the Impaler to Sighișoara.
With thanks to Intrepid Times for publishing my travel story and to my wonderful husband for supplying those gorgeous pictures.
Today we unveil the shadows of the past, taking a historical journey into Witchcraft and Witch-Hunting in spellbinding Transylvania. I am taking this trip to understand the main character of the book series I write.
I’ll attempt to shed a light on the ancient pagan traditions of Transylvania, Romania, its rich folklore and supernatural practices. I’ll take a peek at the local cultural beliefs surrounding witchcraft, at the witchcraft hysteria that seized Europe and choked Transylvania too, followed by witchcraft persecution and witch-hunting methods, as well as the impact that witch-hunting had on communities. I’ll touch on notable witch trials in Transylvania, and – how else – look into local witch legends and stories.
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A Clock in a Tower at Sighisoara Fortress, is a 100-word story inspired by the tumultuous history of a land and by the pioneering spirit of its people. Enjoy!
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Early Middle Ages, history tells us, found the rich lands of Transylvania and the Romanian territories south and east of the Carpathians, Muntenia, Oltenia, and Moldavia respectively, as a lively congregation of various cultures and traditions, brought together by the need for trade, the hope for a better life, but mostly by the local’s love and respect for their ancestor’s land.
But what was happening in the western Europe right about now? For no land can ever be isolated from the rest of the world, nor can it be observed on its own. Just as no level of the emerging, yet highly hierarchic feudal system can be understood as an isolated occurrence.
Continue reading “Stories and History of Transylvania, the Middle Ages #Im4Ro”