Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

Aunt Magda's Mystical Mayhem or Step Deeper into the Supernatural

• Natalie Zett

Share episode

Send us a text

“You’ll always have more to fear from the living than the dead.” Magda Vrabel Velgyak.

Welcome back to Flower in the River podcast, Episode 12. Get ready to tiptoe deeper into the bewitching wilderness of the supernatural on this week’s episode. We’ll learn about a place where traditions come wrapped in the cloak of magic, and the air is laced with the allure of mystic herbs. The place? Slovakia. Formerly known as Czechoslovakia and even more formerly known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Did you follow that? Now, that’s a place that knows how to keep up with change!

Prepare to be charmed by the extraordinary Aunt Magda. Zara’s aunt and a maestro of the arcane. She’s got a knack for future-gazing and a talent for reading souls as if they were open books. It’s this magnetic aura that Zara finds irresistible, but that’s not all there is to this story.

Feel the tension in the air as we delve into the intriguing family drama. Zara is torn between her scientifically minded mother and the ethereal enigma that is Aunt Magda. Will the lure of the mystical prove too strong for our protagonist, or will science rule the day?

Get ready for some delectable gossip as I reveal the relatives who breathed life into the character of Magda. Spoiler alert: a real-life once Aunt Magda walked amongst us! Stick around for pearls of wisdom that could have only come from a life lived amidst the extraordinary.

And finally, ever wondered if Slovakia and Slovenia are twins separated at birth? Well, this directionally challenged author is about to crack the code. Hold on to your hats, folks; it’s about to get exhilarating!

Links:

Witches’ Days prepared by museum, hailing old traditions. Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská.  Slovak Spectator - 11. Dec 2015 

Music: 

  • Scorched Earth - Maya Belsitzman (Artlist)
  • The Day After Tomorrow-  Maya Belsitzman  (Artlist)
  • Once Upon a Time - Maya Belsitzman & Matan Ephrat (Artlist)


Speaker 1:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River. Flower in the River is a podcast about a book I wrote of the same name. And that book is about the Eastland disaster that took place in 1915 in Chicago and how that long ago tragedy affected my family. For generations. I'll talk about writing and family history and what to do when the supernatural comes into your life when you're innocently doing a family history research project. Come on and let's have some fun with this Why. Hello again. So this week we will continue our festive journey through the world of the supernatural. Yes, indeed. More precisely we'll be looking at the various supernatural elements that are in this book. For those who listened to the last episode, you'll remember that our character, Zara, is stuck at that kitchen table. She is reading the document given to her by her aunt. She's looking at the newspaper clipping from 1915 where she's fixated on the beautiful photo of her great-aunt who was killed at age 19 on the Eastland. And then she remembers that she's seen her great-aunt before. Many years ago, her great-aunt came to her as an apparition when she was innocently watching the Wizard of Oz with her parents. And she dismissed that memory for a long, long time. And it came back and I hope you can see that these events are not scary at all. They might be a little weird, a little unexpected, but there's nothing to be afraid of. And if nothing else with this next character that I'm introducing to you, there's quite a bit of humor that this character exhibits. So what is happening in the scene is that Zara is still stuck at that kitchen table, reading the family history, thinking about the past , worrying about the present, and concerned about the future. She's at someplace in her life that's akin to an intersection where the light has gone out and everything is trying to cross that intersection at one time. Good luck. And that's the best way I can describe what's happening to her. In early writing classes, we were always taught to make things easy for the readers so they can follow things. However, life doesn't happen that way, and I wanted to definitely reflect that in this book. One thing I learned earlier in my writing career is trust that your audience is smart enough to be able to get in there and delve and learn and untangle and even reinterpret what you are doing because the emphasis is on your audience. Get it. Not everyone is your audience, nor should they be. When we're starting out, we do the best we can and we often try to please everyone, and that doesn't work in life, and it certainly doesn't work in any of the creative endeavors. Speaking of not pleasing everyone because of the nature of the story, the topics and the fact that I do go into some fairly controversial places in the book, I knew that it would not speak to everyone nor did I want it to, but as people are often extol to quote unquote find their people. So a book has to also find its people. And sometimes that takes some doing for those who resonate with this book. My continual wish is that you will be inspired, inclined to take some action, whether the action is to see your own life and your own family history differently, or to say, oh my God, at least my family isn't as screwed up as this family, whatever. Well, now I want to introduce to you Aunt Magda . She is very much based on at least four women relatives on my father's side who brought with them from the old country the practices of their folk medicine folk magic . And they fairly seamlessly integrated these folk magic elements into their Slovak Roman Catholic and Carpatho Rusyn Byzantine or Greek Catholic parents' religions and didn't think twice about it. They were all meant to work together, which I find also quite interesting. This gave me an opportunity to step back and realize that all four of my grandparents married outside of their respective religions in which they were brought up, which for the time was pretty fascinating and kind of foretells some of the things that would happen with their descendants as time went by. So even though this character is based on four female relatives, this character Aunt Magda , well, my father actually did have a sister whose name was Magda and that name just seemed perfect for the book, so I used it. Magda's dynamic persona serves as the ideal blueprint for developing this character. So Magda provides the outer layer of this character, but the inner core of this character is someone entirely different. And I had the good fortune of growing up with her, and she still, even though many years past her death, she remains a guiding light and an influence in my life. I'll take a little time to describe the real person behind this character. She was a cousin, but she was my parents' age, so I thought of her as just another auntie in my life. She was not like anyone I've met before or since. I asked one of her nieces if she would describe her as effortlessly elegant, and her niece said, yes, absolutely, that was her. So unlike the Magda character, this cousin kept a very low profile and indeed did not want attention drawn to her for some very good reasons. However, it was just in her nature for people to be attracted to her regardless of whether she wanted that or not. This cousin was actually a model for various department stores in Johnstown, and in terms of who she was, like if you know the 1940s actress Lizabeth Scott and that sort of s moky allure that was pretty close to the this cousin's representation in the world. So this cousin actually was an ethereal mix of telepathic titan and visual Venus, but she had the social footprint of a ninja on tiptoe. Despite her dazzling duo of psychic prowess and aesthetic allure, her introverted inclination cast he r i n the world like a beautiful secret whispered only to the wind. As a child, seeing someone like that, it left a profound influence. And besides everything else this woman could do, everything about her was authentic and true to who she was. She did not pander and she did not seek attention. And how rare is that throughout life, but particularly these days. And that's what ironically makes her such a standout person. However, in terms of the book, I had to jazz her up with my Aunt Magda's wacky personality, and the two kind of do go together, but I just wanted to be clear that the actual person was quite different than the person who is portrayed in the book in terms of her abilities. Now, she always described herself as a white witch. That is not a political statement. It's nothing like that. This description predates Wicca . It goes back probably hundreds of years in Eastern Europe as a particular style of folk magic , if you will. The impression I got is that these practices were handed down from mother to daughter and they varied greatly by village or by family, and most of these women seem to be sole practitioners. I could be wrong, but that's what it seems. This cousin was particularly confident in her ability to talk to the departed, and she didn't treat it as if it was something special. In fact, she treated it as if it was very much matter of fact , and this is what you do, and go on and wash the dishes and do the laundry and do the cooking while you're at it. She didn't make a big deal about any of this. She treated it with respect, and she never talked about or used her abilities or practices as a prop. The fascinating thing about this particular cousin was that although she never advertised , she never tried to draw attention to herself. She did have to move at least a couple of times because she had so many people coming to her at all hours of the day and night for psychic readings, and that was without her trying to make this happen. So I very much wanted to share her, this particular cousin, with the scaffolding of my actual Aunt Magda to create this character. And also it gave an opportunity to share some of the wise words that she shared with me. Who knows, they might resonate with you. Now, I want to interject something else, and I'm using a broad brush here, but when it comes to countries that are in Eastern Europe such as Slovakia, the land of my paternal grandparents, a lot of that history is not known and its traditions are not necessarily understood. For example, a lot of people don't know the difference between the country of Slovakia and the country of Slovenia. Oi , but they're not. So , um, one thing I can say that I just learned recently when I was growing up, my grandmother from Slovakia used to refer to herself as a Striga, and I thought she was speaking Italian all of a sudden, which was kind of a surprise. And what I learned from reading an article in the Slovak Spectator is that witches were indeed referred to or referred to themselves as Striga. Probably that's the pronunciation I'm going to read a little bit from this article because I find it really fascinating. It is from the , uh, December 11th, 2015 issue of the Slovak Spectator. And there was, or maybe still is, a museum that is set up to honor the old traditions. And that museum is located in the area where my grandparents came from. I'm just going to read a little bit about this. So the time between St . Catherine's Day, November 11th and St . Lucia December 13th used to be called Witches Day as women who could tell people's fortunes were perceived as witches or sokas or Strigas and Slovak . The rest of the article is a translation from the Slovak . And quite honestly, I think some pieces are missing in it, so I'm not going to read it and try to reinterpret what I think they meant because I don't know what they meant. And my Slovak abilities reside somewhere between first and second grade . So I'm not , equipped to, translate that. But I wanted to say that. So the difficult thing about literature in certain eastern European countries as well as journals, et c etera, it's not as accessible or readily available to people in the United States as say even information and books, et c etera from Russia. So it has been a challenging thing for me when I do find a book that I know has a lot of the information and I can make out some of the words. It's not translated into English, so I have to really work hard at brushing up on my S lovak. But again, I know I'm not getting the gist of a lot of this. Nonetheless, um, it is important to to understand that the traditions in what is now Slovakia are very different than what is here in the United States. In eastern Slovakia where my grandparents came from, there are so many traditions, so many different religions, and within those different traditions and religions, it really does depend on which small village the people are living in. It's not as if they get together and have a convention and talk about this stuff. They, they each have their own ways of being that they've learned from their ancestors. And again, for the most part, they probably are sole practitioners. So that's a little backstory On a backstory of a backstory, and I'll stop now and I'm going to continue reading from Flower in the River, Annie's granddaughter, and we're going to meet Aunt Magda again. What just happened? Zara finally remembers that years ago she saw an apparition in her parents' living room, and the woman who appeared to her is the same one that is now looking back at her in this newspaper clipping her Aunt Martha, who was killed in the Eastland disaster of 1915, enter Aunt Magda . Magda Rabel Valk . Her dad's sister was Zara's favorite Aunt Zara's mother, however, was no fan. Tell your sister to stop filling Zara's head with superstitions and ghost stories. No wonder she can't sleep, said Helena. Ah , Helen layoff. It's Magda's way. And besides we grew up on those stories, we believe him , said, Joe , well, I don't like it. One bit said Helena. In the mid 1960s, the newly widowed Magda by then on the cusp between middle age and old age sported, a bleached blonde Veronica Lake style hairdo and tooled around town in a lemon yellow 1965 Mustang convertible, leaving a path of speeding tickets in her wake. Her hair protruding eyes and dramatic gestures caused a striking resemblance to Betty Davis and all about Eve enough so that even strangers frequently approached her for autographs. Magda obliged and years later, Zara wondered how many Betty Davis autographs on eBay actually belonged to Magda . Magda though was a star in her own right, a still life artist and renowned psychic kids in the family loved being around an adult who didn't act like one. Magda was fun, mischievous, irreverent, and told spellbinding tales. Although Helena forbade Magda's yarn spinning around the children, Zara seized every opportunity when the two were alone to Weedle tales of the supernatural. From her, it fitted that Magda lived in a hundred year old two-story home next to Kotei monuments on Cleveland southeast side at Cote . Workers cut and engraved marble and granite tombstones at all hours. Magnus house was also two blocks from Calvary Cemetery, a sprawling memorial park established in the 1890s for Cleveland's Roman Catholic population. As a child, Zara often spent weekends with Magda once they stayed awake most of the night drinking cocoa while the rain wallop the tin roof nearly drowning out the clanging hammers next door at Cote . That night inspired Magda to tell more stories. On the night my sister died. Well, I didn't even know she was that sick at Magda . I was sitting in the kitchen in this very chair when a flash of yellow light blasted through the door and then shot out the kitchen window. It looked like a glowing baseball, except it didn't shatter the window. Then not five minutes later, I got the call that Ava had died this window, Sarah stood up and walked to the window. Magda's backyard was overflowing with a crazy quilt of flowers, primarily pese marigolds and wild roses. She welcomed weeds, which grew alongside basil, thyme , lavender balm , fennel and garlic, which she used for potions and SVEs. There must be something about this window set . Magda standing up alongside Zara. Another time I was standing here putting dishes away and looked out. I saw this little boy, probably six or seven playing in my backyard. How'd he get in? You keep everything locked up. Sadara . Exactly said mata . So I opened the door and said, Hey Nuk , what are you doing in my yard? And it was then I noticed it. Noticed what said Zara , his clothes. He wore the style of cap and short pants little boys wore in the 1920s. Kids don't dress that way now, even though I've seen many strange things in my life, I still get rattled. When I looked at him, he smiled, but was so pale, almost transparent. Then, he disappeared into thin air. Really and truly said Zara craning her neck to get a closer look at the backyard. Have you seen him since? Do you think he was a ghost? Of course he was a ghost, said Magda . Later I went next door to talk to Saul and Fanny . They'd lived here since 1915, so I figured they would've known something. They remembered a family with lots of kids living in my house. When the Great Depression hit, the father couldn't find work and became violent, beating the wife and the kids. Finally, his temper got the best of him, and he beat his six year old son to death. A dad beat his little boy to death. Was that the little boy you saw? Siara. Salan. Fanny described him as a pale, sweet faced blonde boy named Hank, who was killed around 1930, said , Magda , you haven't seen Hank since, said Zara . As soon as I knew the story, I told Hank that I saw him and I knew he was dead. I told him to go home and said, Hank, your mother and brothers and sisters are waiting for you. I told him that his father was sorry and would never hurt him again. Haven't seen Hank since. Jesus said, Zara, the dead who walk among us mean no harm. Sometimes they're lost and they need some help from those who can hear or see them. Oh , maybe help is the wrong word. They need assistance to make their last journey home. Said Magda , have you helped? Well, assisted lots of ghosts, said Zara . I've been doing it most my life, said Magda , sighing . Then there are the others. Others said , Zara . Yes, there are those who? Hmm . Oh dear, this is hard. Zara. I'm not used to talking about my work. I just do. It said Magda , tell me, said Zara. Remember when you told me how frustrating it is when your parents and sometimes friends don't always understand you? Yeah, I hate that sadara . I really hate that. Makes you feel isolated, right? Yes. Well, that's what it's like for the others who are spirits of a different stripe. They come because they want someone to listen and understand them, and they want to accomplish something too . Accomplish something said Zara. You mean like a job or a homework assignment? Yes. That is a good way to describe it. These spirits aren't lost, but they have left some things undone and they need support from people like me. When we help them, we help ourselves. Well, Zara, this is a lot for one night. Let's go to bed. Zara nodded solemnly but didn't understand. Zara slept upstairs in the attic bedroom and the persistent rain lulled her to sleep while she thought of Hank the ghost boy and other spirits who needed Magda . By morning , the rain stopped and the aroma of coffee, eggs and bacon filled the house while eating breakfast. Zara asked Magda if she read tarot cards since Zara had just learned about them from a Zola magazine. Cards. Magda , her Rued cards. Cards are for amateurs. I don't read cards. I read you Zara shrunk back as Magda moved into her face. So tell me, Zara, what do you think as Magda about life here ? And the hereafter said Magda , I don't know , said Zara . I'm almost 12 and I thought I'd know everything by now. You know, sometimes I feel kind of grown up . Well, almost then sometimes everything scares me, said Zara. What about death? Said Magda . I'm definitely scared of that too. My mom said, when you die, you turn back into chemicals. But still, Magda shook her head. Come on child, let's finish breakfast and then take a walk while walking. Magda was quiet letting Zara prole on . I think about God, aunt Magda . And you know what? I think I'd like to be a minister someday so I can help people too, but don't tell mom. Okay, Sadara a minister. Of course, dear, I forget you were raised in your mom's religion and aren't Catholic, then that would be a good thing for you, provided you have passion and love for it. But my mom, Zara's voice sank. She thinks people who believe in God are foolish. Well, what about your dad? You know dad? He'll go along with mom. Oh, never mind said Magda . If you want something badly enough, darling, you won't need anyone to buy into anything. You will just do it. That's how life works. Oh , we're here already. Zara was too busy rambling to notice where Magda had led them. What are we doing here? Said Zara. They faced the imposing wrought iron gates that opened into Calvary Cemetery. We'll walk around darling. There is no more peaceful place than a cemetery. The city of the dead, and look how the trees grow here. You will never see more majestic trees than the ones in a cemetery. There's nothing to be afraid of here. Zara surveyed the marble headstones and walked up to one. They made this one at CO said Zara. Yes, said Mata . Aren't you afraid of ghosts and stuff? Aunt Mata . Remember, I'm of the Carpathian Mountain people, the dead and the living. We see them all. There's no difference. You are part of these people too, so you can see them too. Zara shuttered if it's all the same, I'd rather not. Are they here in the cemetery? Aunt Magda . Magda looked around and shook her head, not today. They rarely hang out in cemeteries. You've never been afraid of the dead. Listen, said Magda . People think of me as wise to this day. They still come from everywhere for psychic readings and to contact the dead. When I lived in Johnstown, I had to move twice to get away from them and they still found me. Well, I suppose they're right. I am wise. That said, I will tell you that one sure thing. You'll always have more to fear from the living than from the dead. That's the end of the book reading. But we will continue next week because as you can see, there's more to Magda than what can be contained in a single podcast. In the meantime, remember her parting words. You'll always have more to fear from the living than the dead. So fear not at least when it comes to the dead. Until next time. Hey, that's it for this episode and thanks for coming along for the ride. Please subscribe or follow so you can keep up with all the episodes. For more information, please go to my website, that's www flower in the river.com, and I'll have that and more information in the show notes. I hope you consider buying my book because I owe people money and I'm just kidding about that. But the one thing I'm not kidding about is that this podcast and my book are dedicated to the memory of the 844 who died on the Eastland. Goodbye for now.

Head Shot

Natalie Zett

Host