The White Wolf Ancestry of Romans, Genghis Khan, Turks, and Dacians

Rome, the Capitoline She-Wolf with Romulus and Remus, photographed by my daughter Lysandra Furstenberg

There are stories that refuse to stay in one place. They move through empires and forests, from the hills of Rome to the endless grasslands of the steppe, carried not in stone, but in memory and blood. Again and again, across distant peoples, the same figure appears: not crowned, not tamed, but wild: the wolf.

From the White Wolf and the Lupercal cave in Rome, to the wolfish-blood origin of the Mongols, the She-Wolf Asena ancestry of the Turks and, of course, to the fearless Zalmoxis and the Great White Wolf of the Dacians let’s follow the wolf.

29/04/202327/06/2024

Walpurgis Night vs Noaptea Sânzienelor, Celebrating Spring & Summer with Magic & Traditions

Spring and summer are magical times of the year and Walpurgis Night and Noaptea Sânzienelor, as ancient celebrations, capture the essence of these seasons. Both festivals are rich in tradition, legends, and folklore, and are celebrated in different parts of the world, throughout Northern & Central Europe and Romania, respectively.

16/04/202029/04/2022

Animals in Romanian Folklore and Mythology #Im4Ro

The way in which animals and nature are presented in folklore and mythology can tell us a lot about a nation’s cultural profile. Although in most cultures we encounter the belief that all animals were created / put on earth by a higher divinity to teach humans a lesson and challenge them, animal symbology and legends can vary.

30/01/202009/01/2024

4 Romanian Myths between Culture, History and the Sacred #Im4Ro

The Romanian Myths draw from a popular culture that is tightly blended with the history and the sacred and it spills into the rich Romanian culture.

Myths have a powerful significance to the cultures who tell them, for they explain sacred origins, bring forward human archetypes, and are a model for future aspirations. A myth unifies cosmic and social events, explaining them in a way that is in touch with the most fundamental values of a community.