Mokosh Cocktail – a Cucumber and Dill Vodka Drink Recipe for the Slavic Goddess of Moisture
Sip in the energies of youth, peace, abundance, and Spring love, with this Slavic kitchen witch drink recipe for the Slavic goddess of moisture. Using traditional Slavic ingredients like cucumber, dill, this vodka cocktail is sure to moisten your palate in honor of the goddess Mokosh! Read on to uncover my personal background with Slavic witchcraft, a bit about the goddess Mokosh/Mokosz, or skip ahead to the drink further down below!
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Inspiration for this Mokosz Slavic Goddess Cocktail Recipe
Recently, I was invited by my good friends over at Goddess Chat with Leos to join them for a podcast, as well as put together a concoction for that deity. I simply jumped at the opportunity to be on their episode about the Slavic goddess Mokosz, because if you don’t know it – I am actually Polish! Both sides of my family emigrated from Poland – the maternal side emigrated right after WWII as part of the Polish army, in order to escape the Russian occupation of Poland; and my paternal side emigrated a bit later while Russia was still occupying Poland (the occupation ended with the dismantling of the USSR in the early 1990s). I still go back on occasion to visit family, as well as attend World War II and Warsaw Uprising memorials. So, to say the least, I was very excited to join Nicolle and Gigi for this episode exploring the Slavic Goddess of Moisture (known as Mokos, Mokosz, Mokosh) and to craft a corresponding cocktail for this magical deity!
If you want to learn more about this goddess, please give the podcast a listen!
And if you haven’t checked the Goddess Chat Leos podcast yet, I highly recommend it! These two lovely, charismatic Leos explore various goddesses – many which don’t get a lot of attention in the magical community – in a fun, approachable way. To say the least, I enjoyed being on their podcast quite a lot. So if you love to learn about different deities, and like having a bit of fun while doing it – definitely check these ladies out!
The Recent Revival of Ancient Slavic Practices
With the attacks on Ukraine, Slavic practices have recently come into focus in the witchcraft community. Celebrating the culture of the people Ukraine, and providing both magical and financial support can be a really powerful and beautiful thing at this time – a way to use our power, focus, and resources to help. As part of the podcast, the Goddess Chat Leos hosts attached a fundraiser for Global Giving to help support the crisis. Please consider donating if you can!
Now is a time when many witches are discovering these ancient slavic practices, and others uncovering and celebrating their own Slavic heritage. And that is a very beautiful and magical thing! But as someone from an immigrant Polish family (with many family members still in Poland), I have always struggled with the matter-of-fact portrayal of ancient Slavic practices in Western magical culture, and this is because (quite frankly) there aren’t a lot of 100% reliable primary records on these practices, and additionally, the term “Slavic” applies broadly to what is realistically, a large area of numerous tribes that each would’ve had their own variations on myths and practices. But, I can only speak for my perspective as a Polish person – I have not done any research on other Slavic regions.
Luckily, archaeologists and historians have risen to the task, and through, as Mikołaj Gliński of Culture.PL says “drawing on the finds of other disciplines, such as linguistics, ethnology, archeology, comparative religion and Indo-European studies, as well as searching for surviving relics of the ancient pagan religion still present in the tales, legends, and customs of the Slavic folk” we have been able to uncover a much better idea about ancient Slavic pagan beliefs. So, before we get to the cocktail, I will spend a bit of time talking about this, from my own perspective. But for those of you looking for the cocktail only, you can go ahead and scroll past to down below!
Sources
A Note on Slavic Witchcraft and Native Slavic Beliefs
As we engage in learning about Slavic practices, I think is it important to keep in mind that the term “Slavic” encompasses a vast array of tribes, and that there are not a lot of surviving, reliable historical documents to create a solid, firm understanding of any single concept that extends across all Slavic regions. That being said, there is a general shared culture, and shared practices. For example, egg decorating or Pisanki, is common throughout many Slavic regions, but perhaps with different regional styles.
To paint more of a picture, “Slavic” encompasses a range of cultural groups, of which are further divided into even more groups – the East, West, and South Slavs. When you take into consideration that each of these categories includes regions from multiple countries, and that each country encompasses even more division of various tribes – you can imagine how many different Slavic tribes are included in the overarching “Slavic”!
For example, the term “West Slavs” usually includes the general groupings of Slavic tribes: Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, and Wends. In looking at one part of that list (more familiar to me namely), Poland, there are further subdivisions of regional Slavic tribes (i.e., Wislanie, Gorale – mountaineers, etc). Even within Polish traditional folk dancing, varying outfits are used to depict and display the ethnic cultural diversity within the various regions of Poland. So, when you consider how many different variations of Slavic practices exist within each region, listed under the categories of East, West, and South – you can understand how vast of practices are included under the umbrella of “Slavic”.
And this is in part why when you try to do through research on any Slavic deity or pantheon, you are going to find very different information from each resource – because likely, these varying tribes each developed their own renditions and variations of myths and practices, all of which were passed down verbally. But that is just one piece of the puzzle.
Another aspect is that for a lot of Slavic practices, there are not a lot of reliable historical sources, because (at least in the case of Poland) these traditions were largely verbal, and it was only until Christian monks arrived that many Slavic regions had a form of writing. But of course, at this point, most recorded information would’ve been through the lens of Christianity – with some practices being marked as of the Devil, and others being adapted through Catholic Saints and Slavic Christian Practices. That being said, there is no pure, indoctrinated resource of ancient Slavic practices. Even the “Primary Chronicle,” which many people rely upon to piece together what they can, has been shown to have various historical inaccuracies.
Nonetheless, the reclamation of Slavic practices is indeed powerful – bits and pieces of archaeological evidence are filled in with mythological information from similar myths from other cultures. All of these renditions are valid, as Slavic people try their best to re-piece their cultural heritage before Christianity. But I do think it is worth mentioning and keeping in mind, that these terms overarch numerous variations of traditions, which are pieced together from sparse surviving resources. And again, this is through my perspective as a Polish person – I cannot speak on Slavic practices from other regions.
Many Slavic witches (such as myself) have to put together what they can from the varying research, and explore what resonates with them. Through personally connecting to various Slavic deities and ancestors in meditation and path working, they reclaim what they can. If you are interested in beginning to learn more about these practices and deities (keeping in mind this information), check out the two sources below!
So to say the least, I was very excited to put together a cocktail for the Slavic goddess Mokosh (also known as Mokos, Mokosz, and thought to *possibly* originate from Mat Zemlya). It ended up being a very healing experience for me, using my own rich cultural Polish heritage and the various foods and ingredients we enjoy in Polish cooking, to channel that knowledge into a cocktail that could (to the best of my ability) represent the energy and power of this Slavic deity. (So a very special thank you to Nicolle and Gigi from Goddess Chat Leos!).
Resources
Gliński, Mikołaj. “What Is Known about Slavic Mythology.” culture.pl, 29 Mar. 2016, https://culture.pl/en/article/what-is-known-about-slavic-mythology. (A great resource, put together from an actual Polish website!).
Wigington, Patti. “Introduction to Slavic Mythology.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 17 Sept. 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/slavic-mythology-4768524. (I was delighted to realize this resource was put together by fellow Witchcraft author Patti Wigington!).
Another worthy mention to begin to unravel some Slavic practices, is Madame Pamita’s “Baba Yaga’s Book of Witchcraft: Slavic Magic from the Witch of the Woods.” While I am eager to dive into this book (patiently waiting on my shelf), I have heard a lot of good things about it. Of Ukrainian descent, Madame Pamita also has some Slavic Magic items and workshops on her website Parlour of Wonders, in addition to ways you can donate to support the people of Ukraine at this time.
So with that in mind, let’s explore what I was able to put together about the goddess Mokosh, and the herbal, refreshing cocktail I made for this goddess of Moisture to feature in this podcast.
About the Slavic Goddess Mokosh/Mokosz
In Polish, we use the word ‘mokry’ to describe something as wet, so it made sense to me, to learn this Slavic deity is commonly referred to as a goddess of moisture. Here is a summary of some information I was able to gather, with sources below!
As an earth goddess of moisture, Mokosz would’ve represented the fertile force of the earth and been a prime creator goddess, for when the earth is moist, it is often plentiful with life. In some depictions, Mokosh is represented as the only primary female deity (there would’ve been other goddess, but perhaps they were not considered principle ones), and thus also associated as a protector of women, theirs roles, and also destinies. As spinning and weaving goddess, she was thought to weave fates. In some situations, Mokosz is seen as wife of dry thunder god, Perun, but also possibly linked (adulterously) with Veles. In some cases, she is see as mother of twins Jarilo and Marzanna/Morana, but in other depictions, she is instead a possible consort to Jarilo. Regardless, her associations with these other deities is a symbol of the various ways her power (moisture) was intwined with other aspects of life, and gave birth to all things.
If you wish to learn more about the varying ideas of this goddess, check out the podcast by Goddess Chat Leos where they talk about this deity in detail! Otherwise, here are the sources I primarily relied upon:
Hirst, K. Kris. “Mokosh, Slavic Mother Earth Goddess.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 28 Oct. 2019, https://www.thoughtco.com/mokosh-4773684. (Resource written by an archaeologist)
So, when considering what kinds of ingredients to use for this goddess – herbs were her domain, as well as ingredients that represented moisture. There were a lot of ideas as to where to take such a cocktail in her honor (perhaps some of these other ideas will make future appearances), but in favor of choosing more accessible ingredients and some very traditional Polish flavors, I crafted the concoction below!
Cocktail Recipe for Mokosh – the Slavic Goddess of Moisture
Sip in the energies of youth, peace, abundance, and Spring sensuality, with this Slavic kitchen witch drink recipe for the Slavic goddess of moisture. Using traditional Slavic ingredients like cucumber, dill, this vodka cocktail is sure to moisten your palate in honor of the goddess Mokosh!
Cocktail Recipe for Mokosh – the Slavic Goddess of Moisture
Energetic Alignment: Youth, Fertility, Peace, Love, Sensuality
Sip in the energies of youth, fertility, and peace this Spring with this Mokosh Slavic-inspired cocktail. Featuring ingredients popular in Slavic cooking, such as such as cucumber, dill, poppy, honey, and apple, this a cocktail packed with moisture-associated energies, to celebrate the fertility and abundance of the Slavic spring, in honor of this goddess of Moisture. Vodka, a Polish favorite, makes the main alcohol of this concoction, while traditional apple flavors come through with the addition of apple brandy for fertility, wisdom, and magic. Enjoy as is for an herbal, garden cocktail, or top with optional red wine for more abundance, fertility, and to celebrate the renewal of life.
Mokosh Cocktail
Ingredients
- 2 slices cucumber
- 1 pinch fresh dill
- 1 ounce poppy seed honey syrup* see details in instructions
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce apple brandy
- 1.5 ounce vodka
- 1/4 ounce red wine (optional)
Instructions
- To make poppy seed honey, pour 1/2 cup of hot water over 1/2 tablespoon of poppy seeds. Let steep, then stir in 1/2 cup honey until mixed. Let infused for an extra 24 hours if desired, then strain, or use once cooled.
- Place cucumber, dill, and poppy seed honey in cocktail shaker. Muddle the cucumber and dill into the syrup, so that they express their flavors better in the drink.
- Add in lemon, apply brandy, vodka and ice. Shake well
- Double strain into coupe glass, and if desired, float a small amount of red wine.
- Garnish with cucumber and dill for peaceful aromas to greet the nose upon sipping.
