Magpies are known to make a rattle when they see a person or an animal – they are worst enemy of any hunter, for they always seem to warn the prey of his presence (this trait of magpie’s was valued by partisans that knew of enemy approaching by magpie’s fuss). They arte also prone to stealing small shiny objects to adorn their nests with, which is why it is a bad idea to leave rings and coins on the windowsill when a window is open in the area that they inhabit. These two habits of theirs gave them a reputation of wicked, “witch-birds”. However, they are also known as some of the few species of birds that can recognize their own reflection in the mirror, which is why they are also known as “wise”, intelligent birds of the forests and fields.

Southern Slavs tell tales about “veshtica” – a wise woman and an evil witch that steals human hearts with her magic staff from people when they sleep, as well as babies from their mothers’ wombs. Veshticy (multiple from “veshtica”) were believed to shapeshift themselves into magpies. Eastern Slavs believed that seeing a magpie near a place where woman gives birth is a bad omen for magpie may take the child’s soul at the moment of birth – the baby whose soul has been stolen by a magpie dies at birth. An evil witch in Northern Russia could give a young girl a drink made of chicory root – and the girl would start “rattling” like a magpie.

According to a legend, magpies don’t live in Moscow because tsar Ivan the Terrible banished them. He ordered to catch witches and shapeshifters and bring them all into Moscow, where they were brought to the main square. There the tsar himself came and ordered to surround them with straw. As they piled the straw around them in a circle, he ordered to light it on fire from every side, so that all magic in Rus would be eradicated. Flames engulfed the witches, and they started yowling, screaming, and howling. A thick black pillar of smoke rose, and lots of magpies flew out of it, one after another – plenty of them… This means that all the shapeshifting witches turned themselves into magpies and flew away, tricking the tsar. However, ever since that, they never came back to Moscow.

In Slavic lore and beliefs of XIX-XX centuries, magpie has been labeled as a prophet, seer, and a witch associated with veshtica, veshcheika, or veshchunya. A pair of witches may shapeshift themselves into magpies and steal milk from the cows, hex people, sometimes fly to Sabbath and even steal the Moon.

A tailless magpie was believed to steal the baby from its mother’s womb. In Perm County, Russia, people thought that magpie witches fly into homes at night and abduct unborn babies, replacing them with burnt logs, brooms, or pieces of raw pork. In Samara County, Russia, unborn babies were replaced with leafless brooms or frogs that were later born with “a gift of speech”.

A famous Russian linguist and ethnographer V. Dahl mentioned a common Russian belief in 1880: “Two witches are more likely to harm a pregnant woman when her husband is away. In order to defend herself from them, a woman, if she sleeps alone, needs to have her husband’s belt with her or his other belongings.”

I would dare to suggest that veshtica is a folk representation of a midwife: a wise woman that is known to assist in childbirth (including the unsuccessful one) and sometimes perform abortions on women willing for one or another reason to get rid of a child.

Veshtica witches are dangerous to those who go to bed without crossing themselves or sleep without a cross (a protective charm) or on their stomachs. Upon entering the cabin, a shapeshifting magpie seems to paralyze a pregnant woman that is unable to move.

A shapeshifter can be distinguished from a regular bird by the barely visible “bluish glow” that she emits when she flies. According to the tales of Tomsk county, Russia, veshticy enter the house through the chimney that wasn’t blessed.

A magpie – a witch, a man-eating bird is a representation of fate and death at the same time. Image of dying as being consumed by a monstrous beast is very common in world cultures.

Despite such a negative portrayal in folk tales, in pysanka art of Ukraine, magpie is a sacred bird – a messenger of the Old Gods and Ancestors. Pysanki with magpies were often written on a holiday of Soroki (March 9/22) where these birds represented Ancestral souls returning to visit our world in spring. One kind of pysanka from Boykivshchina region that covers parts of Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland portrays solar symbols (sunflowers) and small bird footprints – this pysanka is called Magpie’s Feet, where such footprint reflects that ancient, almost prehistoric belief of a Sun Deity being portrayed as a bird. Bird footprints on pysanki represent the track left by the Sun God Himself, His blessing and protection.

In Northern Russia’s lore, magpie is a messenger from Leshi – the spirit of the forest. Seeing a magpie is equal to receiving a warning from the Master of the Woods. Some hunters considered seeing (and alarming) a magpie bad luck, and turned around towards home soon after that (which is no surprise considering that magpie would probably warn the whole forest of his arrival).

In Kargopol region, Russia, special dolls are made on the holiday of Soroki – Karkushi. They portray half-woman – half-bird: this doll is dressed in women’s clothes; however, it also features a very large gray beak, similar to the one of a magpie, jackdaw, or crow. As all of these birds have long been associated with witchcraft, it would not be surprising that such doll may become an amulet against malevolent witchcraft or a magical “helper” and a “guide” – a link between Ancestors and Their knowledge and an aspiring descendant willing to know more about the ways of her Ancestors.

Seemingly ordinary, noisy and thieving bird is really a “witchy sister” of raven and crow whose European lore made them a lot more famous companions of witches and Old Gods. Despite its negative association, it has been portrayed in folk arts and crafts as a link between people and the Old Gods and Ancestors, as well as carrier of their blessings.

Glad to share some of the magpie’s secrets with you,Yours, sincerely, MagPie (aka Olga Stanton)