The White Doves
We began archaeological reconstruction of pre-Christian Slavic ritual performance by identifying the major tenants of the White Doves, the Slavic pagan cult that had held rituals for centuries.
Though a series of interviews with Olga Chernyarskja, (a White Dove) I was able to discern an outline of the White Dove ritual practice. The White Dove ritual practice was a resource from which the group work could refer.
What follows is a synopsis of the White Dove divination ritual most significant to the group’s work.
The White Doves believe human’s can reach a state of God on earth.
They must be protective of outsiders who might resent, challenge, or be threatened by such ability. As a consequence they have organized themselves into groupings referred to as ‘ships’.
These ‘ships’ are able to voyage to the state of Godness.
Each ship is organized in a hierarchical fashion and has a leader called the ‘helmsman.’
The leader can be either male or female. However, each ship has a ‘prophet’ as its center. This prophet is a woman and considered the manifestation of the ‘Mother of God.’
The Helmsmen conducts the ritual and facilitates the speaking of the Mother of God through the ship’s prophet.
At the physical center of the ritual is a spiritual font. Criss-crossed with two long white towels, the font is a bowl of water, representative of cleanness.
The towels are the white roads to Godness. During the ritual each member of the ship calls upon the water element/spirit for its purifying powers.
By washing him or herself with the water for self-purification each member becomes a clean temple for the spirit to enter them.
The adoration of water enables them to save themselves with its life-giving power. Water is the medium by which to call the spirits.
To call the spirits and bring Godness to humanity is the objective of the ritual.
The White Dove members then dry themselves on the towels (white road) with the Helmsman supervising.
The function of the White Dove ritual itself is to create a connection between heaven, water, and the earth.
The sound chant Dooch is used to call the spirits.
Being led by the prophet and beginning with hand clapping and foot stomping the White Doves then initiate a ritual dance and singing.
Then the Helmsman puts towels around each of the member’s necks and each creates whip-like actions and sounds with the towels.
The towel whips on the person’s back and body as they dance with a spinning motion.
The towel becomes a device by which to transform self and to enter a spiritual level of self.
With the towel around their shoulders they begin spinning, becoming like a bird, White Doves spinning into an ecstatic trance and to spiritual purity.
They continue to sing and hit their body with slaps as they spin. Their song is a one-sentence chant repeated with high, quick, and rhythmic breathing.
They consider their bodies as instrument’s sacrificed to the gathering of information from the spirits.
They spin to bridge the human and spiritual reality with their white roads (towels) and in this way catch information from the spirits.
When they have gathered information they have reach a state of Godness.
When the force of spirits leaves or when they fill with the spirit, they collapse to the ground. It is then, with the vibration of the spirits in the air, that the prophet questions the spirits.
Each White Dove articulates what they have learned from the spirits in turn. Often those that speak do so in a secret language.
The Helmsman then deciphers the prophet’s words and offers it as a divination to the group, village or community.
The speaking of the spirits is also a healing device.
The White Doves may do their ritual to address specific issues concerning the community.
The body is a medium of God and the spirits.
No musical instruments are used.
METAMORPHOSIS WARM-UP SERIES
• Sit on haunches, breathing easily in and out
• Stand up with a deep inhalation
• Breathe in deeply and move forward with the inhalation then exhale fully and move backwards--repeat several times to create a bird-like movement that is connected to the inhale/exhale of breath
• Stand in neutral and reach with the top of the head in all directions with the rest of the body following
• Exhale and stoop
• Stand in neutral then lead with the shoulders in all directions
• Bring the arms in to the shoulders then lead with elbows--take in as large a space as possible
• Lead with hands, fingers (working strong movements)
• Lead with the chest--forward and backwards with the rest of the body following
• Lead with hips--with arms and hands stretching in the opposite direction as to achieve the maximum width.
• Leading with knees--in each direction--as high as you can, and use arms to counter balance--balance on one foot--do each knee individually.
• Lead with the foot--balance in each direction--low, high--cock and extend the leg--explore and expand in the space.
• Arms in opposite directions--extend and stretch in every direction
• Expand and extend both arms and one leg in each opposite directions
• End each movement by pointing fingers and foot
• Energy of hands--circle without touching, moving with invisible control, the hips--pulling the hips out and around.
• Run wide--hips wide, shoulders wide and run large—i.e. extend the body and take up as much space as possible
• Actively and quickly throw out body parts: wrists, shoulders, chest, and foot.
• Stoop--on haunches--inhale and rise to standing, pulling energy into yourself--exhale and return to the haunches position.
• Stand—create a bird-like arm movement forward and back--inhale and move the arms back, exhale and move the arms forward, then opposite--inhale and move the arms forward and exhale moving the arms back
• Lead with the stomach and move in a close group--no contact
• Motorcycle--move in the group as if riding a motorcycle, avoiding contact and making motorcycle sounds.
• Horses--move in the group as if riding a horse and make horse sounds--avoiding contact.
• Spin clockwise--hands and arms extended and spinning throughout the space--avoid contact and be aware of where you are.
• Breathe with the entire body--stomach relaxed and with hands taking in the air from the space--inhale--filling up the body as much as you can, getting as big as you can--then exhale until empty and lie flat on the floor.
• Hips--bring tension to the hips, and then relax them.
METAMORPHOSIS VOCAL WARM-UP
• Establish a deep sound from the stomach--mouth opened wide
• Gently hit the chest and torso cavity front and back—with closed eyes.
• Sound production: yah, yae, you, yaa--repeat several times then repeat the movement but without the sound.
• Head voice: sound up through the nose into forehead: ahh, nah sound--attempt to maintain the head tone in forehead--massage the forehead.
• Produce a sound to determine where the sound’s origin is from within the body: woo-ah; wham-ma; ram-ma; jun-ka; om-m--the second sound is completing the sound and is not emphasized.
• Pick an animal sound and find, explore where the sound is centered in the body: cow-moo; raven-kah; cat-meow; duck-quack; sparrow-whistle; lamb-bah--hear an feel how the sound travels in the body and where and how it resonates.
• Sending sound out through the body--hands and arms extended: vom--work for vocal expansion and expressiveness.
warm-up series developed with Metamorpohsis Theatre
