"One goes to the water and makes his prayer and greets the water thus:-- "Hail to thee, Water! Thou Water, Oliana! Created by God, And thou, oh Earth, Titiana! And ye the near springs, brooks and rivulets, Thou Water, Oliana, Thou goest over the earth, Over the neighbouring fountains and streams, Down unto the sea, Thou dost purify the sea, The sand, the rocks, and the roots-- I pray thee grant me Of the water of this lake, To aid me, To sprinkle my bees. I will speak a word, And God will give me help, The all-holy Mother of God, The mother of Christ, Will aid me, And the holy Father The holy Zosimos, Sabbateus and the holy Friday Parascabeah! "When this is said take the water and bear it home without looking back. Then the bees are to be sprinkled therewith." The following Malo-Russian formula from the same authority, though repointed and gilt with Greek Christianity, is old heathen, and especially interesting since Prof. Dragomanoff traces it to a Finnic Shaman source:-- "Charm Against the Bite of a Serpent. "The holy Virgin sent a man Unto Mount Sion, Upon this mountain Is the city of Babylon, And in the city of Babylon Lives Queen Volga. Oh Queen Volga, Why dost thou not teach This servant of God (Here the name of the one bitten by a serpent is mentioned) So that he may not be bitten By serpents?" (The reply of Queen Volga) "Not only will I teach my descendants But I also will prostrate myself Before the Lord God." "Volga is the name of a legendary heathen princess of Kief, who was baptized and sainted by the Russian Church. The feminine form, Olga, or Volga, corresponds to the masculine name Oleg, or Olg, the earliest legendary character of Kief. His surname was Viechtchig--the sage or sorcerer" (i.e., wizard, and from a cognate root). "In popular songs he is called Volga, or Volkh, which is related to Volkv, a sorcerer. The Russian annals speak of the Volkv of Finland, who are represented as Shamans." Niya Predania i Raskazi ("Traditions and Popular Tales of Lesser Russia," by M. Dragomanoff, Kief, 1876) in Russian.