Rite of Spring Pancakes
a high contrast kitchen ritual from beyond the veil
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere and with it comes an opportunity for us to participate in our own spiritual rebirth and the ancient and new rites of spring. Time is cyclical and natural magic teaches us this. Here we are and here we will be again. As we witness the new leaves growing on the branches, the flowers in bloom after the long dark winter we again have the opportunity to dance our own rebirth into existence.
This year we take our cue from Nina and her love of pancakes and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. It was the ballet that enraged and changed the world when it premiered in 1913 and incited a riot with its depiction of pagan ritual, dance, and a musical score that defied all reason and order.
The recipe we share with you today comes from Nina’s Dad, straight out of a family cookbook published by the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia. It is a recipe for Blini, a Russian pancake considered by early East Slavic people to be a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun.
We’ve transformed this family favorite into an enchanted rite for spring, complete with poetic incantations from our Dark Bush herself.
To experience the true magical power of this Spring ritual preparations must be made the night before. It will add to the poetic high contrast of a spring pancake best enjoyed in the early hours of a new day as a symbol of new life and light after sleep and dark.
Before going to sleep, mix together the following ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tbsp. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
2 cups like warm water
1 cake yeast dissolved in ½ cup warm water
As you mix your ingredients thoroughly perform the following incantation:
“within the frame of my withered cage
Deep breaths rage”
(take a deep primordial breath)
“Shadows gather like soft faces
velvet windows clear stone”
(gather the shadows that surround you, hold them in your hand like the face of someone you love...whisper gratitude to them. Then cast them like a soft stone you would skip across the surface of a still lake)
“Grounding deep into bedrock tombs
a fir tree bends and twists”
(with your feet firmly planted bend and twist your body in all manor of ugliness and beauty)
“Oh muse oh moon
Put me down suspended in ecstasy”
(visualize yourself asleep and peaceful in the light of the moon)
“I hate to leave so soon
But the sun she rises”
(with each final stir bring into mind your wild dreams of love, youthfulness and harvest for the coming summer months)
Now cover the mixture “sponge” and let it sit overnight in a warm place.
In the morning rise out of bed like a newborn lamb and put on the voices of Trio Bulgarka or listen to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring as you add 1 egg beat in 1 cup of hot milk to which has been added 1 tsp soda. Mix “sponge” well. Batter will be very thin and watery. Bake on a lightly greased pan. Pour about ½ cup batter in the pan holding the pan at a slight angle. Move the pan in a circular motion until the batter covers the entire bottom of the pan. Set on hot burners. When edges begin to curl, turn and brown on the other side. Blinna’s should be porous and very thin. Served with butter, syrup or jam.
