A letter for women: a greeting for March 8 from Pavel Pashkov

Today, March 8, 2025, I want to congratulate all our female readers—our dear companions—on International Women’s Day! I’d like to share this brief letter with you.

You know, it is precisely women today who have truly not lost their connection to living nature! And it is women who bear the greatest responsibility for protecting wild nature: awakening men, raising children with a love for Life, and curbing the callous thoughts in men’s minds when they suddenly decide to pick up a gun and shoot animals “for fun.”

Every time I protect nature and speak out against environmental issues, it’s actually very difficult for me to see that, as a rule, women are the ones entering the fight for Life. But after many years of work, I’ve noticed that everything around is changing—and thanks to our Bereginyas—mothers, wives, sisters, grandmothers, and friends—more and more men are waking up! Stern, strong, laconic—like giants in the Russian Taiga, mighty trees—they stand around nature to protect her.

This happens because the blood that boils in men’s veins, and the ancient bond with wild nature, is awakened precisely by our beloved women. Our Bereginyas.

In the Slavic tradition, Bereginyas are female spirits who serve as protectors of the kin and of nature. In folklore, they are often described as guardians of rivers, lakes, fields, and forests. Bereginyas are associated with Mother Earth, who provides the harvest and protects the home and children.

Later, this understanding was distorted, and women began to be constrained:

“Stay at home, tend the hearth and raise the kids!” men said, and went off to hunt.

But what about a beloved woman’s bond with nature, the feeling of freedom in her steps, and the wind in her hair? Women have needed freedom since ancient times, not to just “sit at home.” It’s precisely this freedom they can teach their children, passing on knowledge of nature’s hidden mysteries! They will teach little ones to love, rather than spend day and night just throwing logs on the fire, waiting for the men to return from the hunt.

In Scandinavian legends, there are also images of women who are guardians of nature. They were called völvas or seeresses. They practiced prophecy and knew how to “weave fate” into the surrounding reality. At the roots of the World Tree Yggdrasil sat three Norns—mythical women named Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld—symbolizing the past, present, and future. They wove the threads of fate at the roots of the mighty tree! This directly links women to the structure of the universe and destiny, which can be seen as the natural order of things—a deep understanding of the finest connections in the world around us.

In the Celtic tradition, a woman often embodied the idea of Mother Earth and the sovereign of fertile lands, giving life and protecting the entire tribe.

Or take the Greek tradition, where the goddess Demeter—ruler of agriculture and fertility, patroness of the harvest and Mother Nature herself—was one of the most revered deities in ancient Greece. The feminine image was often credited with managing the cycles of nature, the changing of seasons, and plant growth—i.e., the very awakening of Life.

Many of my readers, I’m sure, know the roots of Hinduism. In the Indian tradition, the goddess Prithvi (or Bhumi) is widely revered as Mother Earth. She is considered to be the embodiment of the earth and nature. In Hinduism, female deities (Devi) represent the creative force that sustains dharma (the cosmic order). I have traveled many paths and know that, in various branches of Hinduism, the feminine aspect is closely tied to the protection of nature and life.

DO NOT STAY AT HOME

Looking at all cultures and traditions, we see that the image of a woman was originally closely associated with nature and the mysteries of the world around us. Yet somehow, everything got distorted: women were told to sit in their homes, stoke the fire, and wait for the men to come back.

This idea wove its way into culture and tradition, gradually extinguishing the living connection between women and nature. Men took up axes and guns, heading out to chop down the World Tree Yggdrasil, where the seeresses wove the threads of fate at its roots. Along the way, they shoot animals not for sustenance, but merely because they crave destruction and killing.

It is against this that we fight relentlessly today! And I see more and more true, strong men waking up. They love their women, protect their families, do not harm wild animals unless absolutely necessary, do not cut down ancient trees without good reason. Strong warriors, fathers, and husbands understand that you should take from nature only little by little, with reverence and respect, and give back much more.

And a kind word on behalf of men is carried through the wild heart of nature by our dearly beloved women!

Do not stay at home! We’ll light the hearth together, weaving the threads of our destinies, keeping our children warm, telling them ancient stories and legends. We’ll face all hardships together, protect our hearth, and raise our children!

Together, we’ll protect nature and help awaken others, guiding them toward Life!

Today, on March 8, I take the liberty, on behalf of all true men, to congratulate our wonderful women—our Bereginyas.

We love you! And we will fight for you,

for your beauty, for your Magic, and for our mutual Love!

© PAVEL PASHKOV