Georgian Culture and Folklore with Ana Antadze

Ana

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[00:00:00] Ashley: Welcome everybody to Dine with the Divine. My name is Ashley, I'm your host and together we're going to be exploring the magical, the mystical, and everything in between. So on today's episode, we're going to be talking a lot about Georgia, the country, not the state, and a very lucky prince.

[00:00:23] I hope everyone's had a wonderful week, and if not, I hope it gets better soon. Today we have a fantastic guest. I'm at Todd's day. Anna is a nomadic Georgian artist, singer, cultural worker, and ancestral lineage healing practitioner. Anna's people come from various areas of the Caucasian Georgia. Anna's art, healing services, and cultural healing projects are dedicated to the remembrance of ancient wisdom and ancestral treasures.

[00:00:54] Anna enjoys bringing her voice and visibility to old wise [00:01:00] powers that have been concealed by colonists and imperialistic historical processes. Anna, how are you today?

[00:01:08] Ana: Oh, I'm good. Thank you, Eshi, for having me. I love the name. Dine with the Divine.

[00:01:15] Divinely.

[00:01:18] Ashley: I'm glad you like it. That's awesome. So I'd love to ask everybody. How did you start on, you do so many different things. So we'll talk about this first. How did you start on your path to learning more about like, your land and your, the ancestral processes of your land

[00:01:40] Ana: I Guess it starts like very early on because I'm a dual, dually raced culturally. I was just three years old as we moved away from Georgia. And I was then raised for ten years in Austria. And then we went back to Georgia again. [00:02:00] So I had this kind of I never really felt fully Georgian at that time, or neither did I felt feel Austrian.

[00:02:09] And so it was this feeling of estrangement and at the same time feeling a huge welcoming from the land. But at that time I wasn't really... Understanding what this welcoming is. Psychologically, it was like feeling like the outsider, like the stranger there. As I was again starting to go to school as we were back there.

[00:02:32] And because of this kind of a bit of aloof and at the same time. Loving my country in a weird way, not in a weird way, but in a way just at the point, I wouldn't really have understood it because there were really a lot of troubles like inherited troubles, unresolved troubles from the Soviet era which broke down just in the 90s.

[00:02:55] Then we had in Georgia, civil war, and As we went [00:03:00] back, it was early 2000s and the first couple of years I witnessed also, there would have been like electricity how do you call it when the light goes out and there is no electricity? Oh, like blackouts? Yeah, blackout for like ever for two years and there would be only rarely like electricity.

[00:03:20] So it was really harsh and not only that also like, for me also interpersonally but also a lot of love. A lot of love there and especially from the land and from like all grandmothers. I always love grandmothers. Yeah.

[00:03:38] Ashley: Yeah. Yeah. Women in any country seem to always make you feel good, right?

[00:03:45] Yeah.

[00:03:46] Ana: Yeah. My mother would tell me like, it was really small. If I saw a grandmother, I was like, run to this grandmother and hug her. So I [00:04:00] loved Georgian grandmothers especially because they would, hug me back. Yeah. And yeah. So in the school years, then I had like a lot of time to be a bit more from this.

[00:04:13] Like, okay, the dynamics, like what is happening here? They show. in the school. And it's easier when you don't feel completely in the thing to start to marvel about some dynamics. And I had already that feeling from there on in the school that it was not. Subjective psychological things, but it was more and it was a collective thing.

[00:04:39] More and more I was interested to understand like the historical dynamics and inheritances and what led to this very big, political and sociological Yeah, harsh dynamics and inheritances that people were not able to really name. [00:05:00]

[00:05:00] Ashley: Wow. Okay. About Georgian culture, first of all, it's so cool. Like just even, I can't wait to talk more about this, but there's just so many very like neat things about it. And it sucks that you're talking about because of different things happen, especially because of like the former USSR and there's a lot of these really awesome practices.

[00:05:28] We're so suppressed and they're meant right to keep everybody down. That's why these powers do that right because once they try to disconnect you from your culture , it's easier to control. I'm not a dictator, so I guess , like it makes sense , but like, Like that's probably a good thing. But when I see some of the different cultural things, like I was listening to some polyphonic singing and I was listening to watching some of the dancing, which I have [00:06:00] to talk about for at least three hours. , I was like. Me just being me. I'm like, how could anybody want to suppress this?

[00:06:08] it's so cool. There's just, like every culture just has such unique. I didn't even sound like, how could anybody not want to see this? This is beautiful. So yeah. And I think all of that political stuff when it comes in and another place is trying to oppress people, it does give a big disconnect to everybody.

[00:06:28] So no matter what's going on, like you said, you felt like a thickness in the, like, why is the community feeling like this? Because it's like, yeah, you're all being forced, to disconnect from something that you know, in your bones. And that's just rude and mean and nobody, don't be a dictator, everybody.

[00:06:49] That's mean. I

[00:06:51] Ana: know, please don't.

[00:06:54] Yeah, exactly. [00:07:00] So it is it is such a harsh reality of being raised in a. In a space where, so let me say first about like, just like, so how do you say in a broader term in Georgia's history throughout the history, culturally. Oh, sorry for that. I thought I had.

[00:07:22] So throughout the history the Georgian culture has already this pattern from very early on to have been colonized by and imperialized from one big empire after the other, and one of the reasons, they say it's because it's geographically. And a place where, it's tiny, Georgia's tiny, it's not big.

[00:07:44] I think it's like around 70, 000 uh, quadrat kilometers or something like that. So around the size of Austria and it was never really big, there's an exception in the 13th century or [00:08:00] so, but otherwise it's it's small and around there were these huge imperias, and, like, Ottoman imperias or Seljuks.

[00:08:09] Paris or Arabic in Paris. And then there were also the Mongol invasions. From all this huge, in Paris. And then also the Russian in Paris, then the SS R. Yeah, so it had this repeated history one of another. So it in the Georgian culture. And on the other hand, you also.

[00:08:31] have two points from a side, you get then your character through your history as well. Are very versatile and it's partial to do it to, having been mingled with so many different cultures. And at the same time, having somehow miraculously kept that very ancient culture regardless of having been so tiny and being having been seized over for multiple [00:09:00] times.

[00:09:00] That's very interesting as well. How The identity had been kept still. But coming back to the in the Soviet era, that was then really a profound, as you were saying exactly, like there were really very specific attempts to unroot the people. And there they started the very big, like in the most, in the regions where the people had the most kept ancestral knowledge and we're like very much connected to the place and the land.

[00:09:36] And that's the area where I also researched in Pepsuretti, this project of mine, the Kallagi project. They because of that reason to unroot them and to make an amnesia culture in amnesia, they displaced lots of people from there to, other places in Georgia. And and the reason was [00:10:00] to, they explicitly would say that every land shall be used and be in good usage, but, it was definitely also to make people cut away from their roots. When you don't remember much about yours, then it's so much easier to be, becoming a part of the program of what's the Soviet Union wanted to become, the new human and all that, gigantic. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:10:28] Ashley: Yeah, that was dumb.

[00:10:30] We don't like it.

[00:10:33] Ana: Yeah,

[00:10:37] Ashley: I'm sure I, yeah, I've read about it. Sounds pretty awful. So my next question for you is your art and your healing, when did that start for you? When did you get started with all of that?

[00:10:55] Ana: With the healing and as so with ancestral lineage [00:11:00] healing I started, it started actually for me personally, just conscious or obvious or direct encounter with my ancestors like that in spirit started actually around COVID.

[00:11:14] Oh,

[00:11:14] Ashley: wow.

[00:11:15] Ana: Yeah. So my, my teacher, Daniel Foer who founded the organization Ancestral Medicine had then at that time, he offered a free public ritual that was named, bring out your dad. I love the name.

[00:11:40] And it was just sometime before that I had purchased his. Book and I really liked it. And I was always interested in my ancestors and history and heritage and so forth, but I had never encountered it in this specific approach to, contact them in spirit, really directly. So that was he teaching.

[00:11:59] And at the [00:12:00] same, at that time in COVID, he offered that free ritual and I joined and it was like. Really powerful. At that point, my ancestors, that was my mother lines ancestors was also the first line with whom I got engaged in and worked with and so forth. And since then she was like all the time with me, she was like You are now let's dive into that, please.

[00:12:31] And I would, from there on, I started to, that I did the course that Daniel offers always also today several times in a year, ancestrally in the chilling course, for self to use it for yourself. And then I didn't have anything in the idea to become a. Professional practitioner or professional ritualist or something at that point, but it just somehow organically came to that.

[00:12:58] Oh, that's

[00:12:59] Ashley: [00:13:00] wonderful. They just found you. They're like you're at home right now. Anyway, it's COVID.

[00:13:03] Ana: And I was at that point in a tiny town called Tildesheim. And. And the flatmates, they got in, COVID. How was it called? COVID where you couldn't leave your home.

[00:13:20] Ashley: Oh, like quarantine?

[00:13:21] Ana: Yeah, COVID quarantine somewhere else. So I was all alone in this and not knowing anyone and tiny town anyway. So I was little, literally for three months and I'm someone who, enjoys also being alone, like quote unquote alone, like in the nature and so forth, but that three months were really with no other humans.

[00:13:45] And my ancestors really used. That's time very well.

[00:13:54] Ashley: They're keeping you company. It's good to be alone, but too much alone. Time is not good. so [00:14:00]

[00:14:01] Ana: let's drink a cacao

[00:14:02] Ashley: together.

[00:14:06] Oh, I love that. Oh my God. So we're going to talk about next. Since we're dying with a divide, we're going to talk about some food. So we found, one of these lists that I love to find on the internet. So it's always this thing, 10 dishes that'll make you fall in love with Georgian food.

[00:14:26] Ana: Oh, Georgian

[00:14:27] Ashley: food.

[00:14:27] Oh my god. So you can tell me what the real deal is, because I read these sometimes and people are like, no, not that one. Okay, so the first one, and I'm so sorry too, I'm not going to be able to pronounce these properly, so I, just forgive me in advance, I apologize.

[00:14:43] Yeah, you are forgiven. Okay, I'm not trying to butcher your language. Oh geez we have, I'm going to try to announce this one, it's Kajapuri? Kajapuri. Okay. [00:15:00] Kajapuri? Oh, it's really good. Okay. Yes. And it's so funny. I've seen this before. I saw, I think I saw it on TikTok or Instagram, and somebody was making this, and I was like, whatever that is, I need it in my mouth immediately.

[00:15:19] I need to keep that right. Yeah. It's

[00:15:23] Ana: better than it looks.

[00:15:27] Ashley: I don't know how it can be better than it looks, because it looks so... Like

[00:15:34] Ana: imagine a fondue made with bread, like crunchy bread, and you can eat the... tHe the, not the table the plate part as well. Yeah. And the plate is a crunchy bread. Oh my God.

[00:15:46] Ashley: Yeah. It looks so, I yes.

[00:15:49] So I saw somebody making this online and I didn't know. So the other thing is if anybody doesn't know, in Georgia, the alphabet is different. It's not the [00:16:00] like the Roman alphabet. Because I didn't know what country it's from, I'm stressed, right? I'm watching this video, I want to know where they make this, but I can't read it.

[00:16:11] Like, I can't even guess, because it's a completely different alphabet that I had never even seen before. I was like, I don't know this alphabet. And then, so this must have happened like a year ago, because then a couple months ago we did a episode with Seta, who is our friend of the show from Armenia, and the, and I was like that alphabet looks a little similar.

[00:16:33] to the one I had seen. So then when I saw this picture, when I was reading this article, I was like, aha, I found you. I found you delicious bread dish. So the way this is described it says in the article, a molten canoe of carbohydrates and dairy, who doesn't want to eat that unless you're allergic to dairy or lactose intolerant.

[00:16:55] But if you like cheese and [00:17:00] deliciously. Beautifully baked bread. You want to eat this thing. So there's eggs in it too, like a raw egg. And I'm like, that's fine. I'll, yeah, butter, cheese, bread and eggs. Like, come on, what else do you want?

[00:17:21] Ana: They will bring it in this bread. Can you? And they will bring this cheese and the butter melts inside and really the egg is raw but you scramble it inside so because the cheese is really hot it's like cooked right away inside.

[00:17:35] Oh my god. But you do it yourself, so that, that is one of the variations of the very like typical Georgian dish khachapuri. Khachapuri means like cheese bread.

[00:17:47] Ashley: Okay.

[00:17:47] Ana: Yeah. And this acharuli khachapuri, this canoe cheese bread, this kind, is known in the western part where the Black Sea shore is.

[00:17:58] So we have a Black [00:18:00] Sea shore along on the west, and there you get that. You get it, of course, also in Tbilisi, in the capital, and, in the restaurants now everywhere, that's where it comes from. Oh,

[00:18:11] Ashley: all right. I'm gonna, Ooh, I want that so bad.

[00:18:18] Ana: You have to come to

[00:18:20] Ashley: Georgia. I'm telling you, the more I've read about Georgia this week, the more I'm like, I think I have to go to Georgia.

[00:18:32] Ana: Like, not just because I'm from there, but it's really. And really, also, only for the food is amazing. It just is.

[00:18:40] Ashley: Oh, it looks so good. So then next we have this thing, and at first I was like, are these candles?

[00:18:46] I didn't know what it was. So

[00:18:48] Ana: it's, Oh, I have it myself here.

[00:18:51] Ashley: Oh really? Are these

[00:18:55] Ana: candles? They always, when my mother would bring it to Austria [00:19:00] for presents, they would say like, Oh, candles. Thank you.

[00:19:03] Ashley: Yes. Yes. That's what it is. I was like, Oh. Thank you. Thank you. It's a camp. I was so confused. I was like, why is this on this list?

[00:19:09] That looks like a candle. You can't eat that. This is my most favorite

[00:19:17] Ana: favorites for like

[00:19:18] Ashley: every over everything. Okay, cause, okay, so it's called Church, Churchkila? Churchkila? Churchkila. Okay, there we go, thank you so much. Okay, this is how they describe it in the article.

[00:19:31] Lumpy, colorful confections, and they hang it, people hang them, this makes sense, in store windows. Cause if I saw that in a store window, I'm going in. Because like, I'm like, what's that? Apparently it takes time to make it's concentrated grape juice and they pour it over a strand of walnuts And then on the outside, it looks like it looks waxy That's why we're saying it looks like a candle, but it's packed with protein and sugar and apparently, the georgian military[00:20:00] used to take it along because it was a really good way It's like almost like a protein bar like to eat one So they used to take them when they're going to war, you know for the soldiers like hey You guys need a snack in the middle of fighting people eat this thing.

[00:20:14] Yeah. That makes sense walnuts grape juice It's like it's a pick me up. But now it's a lot of time. It's served with coffee And something people just like eat on the go. That sounds really good. Okay, that's cool. So now we know it's not a candle, but it does look like a candle. It's very cool.

[00:20:31] It has different colors. It's very pretty. Alright, so the next thing we got is Khinkali? Khinkali? Khinkali. Yes. Thank you. It sounds so much better when you say it. Close, close. Yeah, these are soup dumplings. And these are like your typical, we have a, we've talked many a dumpling on this podcast.

[00:20:58] Whenever we're in a... [00:21:00] Eastern Europe, Western Asia, we get a dumpling. I want to try them all. I want to have a dumpling sampler from every country of their different type of dumpling. And I'm sure they're all delicious. Okay, this one's going to be a hard one, but I'm going to attempt it. Here we go.

[00:21:18] Ajap Sandali. Oh, yeah, that's really good. Okay, and you said it's actually right.

[00:21:26] Ana: Oh, really?

[00:21:29] Ashley: Oh, yes, I got one This is like it's like a vegetable dish it's A medley it says here a medley oven roasted medley of firm eggplant and crisp bell peppers lightly bound with Fresh tomato puree And some chopped cilantro.

[00:21:50] Okay This sounds, ooh, okay, this is saying it's something that's a lot of times served at the end of summer and it's, it says it will clear out your [00:22:00] sinuses. Ooh, so I guess it's a little spice, a little, those are good for spicy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, it says it'll clean out your sinuses, which sounds delicious.

[00:22:13] Alright, now, here we go. Everybody, this dish, remember that rhyme? Beans, they're healthy for your heart. The more you eat, the more you fart. This is how this one sounds. This is lobio? Lobio. So this is like a kidney bean dish. And it's like, it comes out like a slow cooked kidney bean. So like in a...

[00:22:36] stew kind of consistency. aNd it has fried onion, cilantro, vinegar, dried marigold and chilies. All

[00:22:44] Ana: And they cook it often or traditionally it's cooked

[00:22:49] Ashley: in clay pots. Oh, okay.

[00:22:53] Ana: I love that dish. It's one of my favorites as well. And it's best with Georgian [00:23:00] cornbread. I wonder if that is also on your list.

[00:23:04] Let's see,

[00:23:04] Ashley: I don't, no, we have another bread called Lubani, but I think it's different.

[00:23:13] Ana: Yeah, Lubiani is like this cheese bread, but instead of cheese, there is this Lobi or this bean thing

[00:23:19] Ashley: inside. Oh, okay, so that's our, okay, yeah, no, we don't have the Georgian corn bread on here, but. That also sounds delicious.

[00:23:28] All these foods sound like I'm getting hungry right now. So So then we have another, this is another version of like a kebab. I think it's called, there's too many consonants, it's two together. Misvadi? Misvadi, yep. Okay. And this is like a kebab. Think of your regular kebab, but there's just some, one thing that they put on this kebab, it says is a sour plum.

[00:23:56] Like sauce sometimes that actually sounds really good. I would eat [00:24:00] that. And they eat it and the sour plum sauce can be poured over a lot of different things They say like tomatoes bread fried chicken. That sounds actually really good we have this other thing that also looks flaky. I don't know what kloppy Yes this is very, I don't know, you guys really like the colors because everything is very colorful.

[00:24:26] Ana: Yeah, they're beautiful, yeah, it's purple you have purple

[00:24:30] Ashley: lapis. Yes, purple, orange, red. I'm like, you guys really like, you're not just eating good food, you want it to be very exciting to the eyes, which I love. These are like, it's like your, like a fruit roll up, but probably way better. It's pureed fruit that's spread thinly onto the sheet and then sun dried.

[00:24:51] Okay, so it's like a natural fruit roll up. Sounds delicious. And then we have, is this a [00:25:00] lot? Oh, two more. We have Karcho? Karcho. Karcho, okay. It's a comfort food and it's like, it looks like a soup, there's, it has garlic, it has a called Cle Meli sen eli, which is a, like a blend, a Georgian spice blend.

[00:25:22] Cilantro, and you can put chicken or beef in it. Ooh, walnuts. Oh yeah, you guys love them walnuts. Yeah, a lot. A

[00:25:31] Ana: lot

[00:25:31] Ashley: of walnuts. And cilantro. Yes, a lot of walnuts and cilantro and I'm not mad at it. And... You can eat it with some bread on the side. Okay, that's nice. And the last one we got here is the Kali which is a Elaborate it says it elaborate vegetarian dish you can have you use basically it's like a vegetable [00:26:00] pate and it has whatever vegetables you got.

[00:26:02] So you got beets, carrots, spinach are common and it's served over bread. You just boil the vegetables, you puree, you put some lemon sauce, again some cilantro, some garlic and some ground walnuts. I've had something like this before and it's. I'm not Georgian, but like something similar in a Persian, oh yeah, they have pomegranate.

[00:26:23] I've had something like that in a Persian restaurant and it's thick. I don't know if it's similar to this one, but it's thick and it sounds like interesting like the flavors together, but it's really good and I couldn't eat it. It was really good and I couldn't eat too much of it because I got really full, but I really enjoyed it.

[00:26:38] Yeah, because

[00:26:38] Ana: of the walnuts, right?

[00:26:40] Ashley: Yeah! You get really full fast. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's delicious. So everybody, of course, as always, the link is in the show notes. So if you want to go and be like, what are you guys talking about? You can go and see and all these different foods and then you can go to Georgia and eat them.

[00:26:55] So yeah, that's

[00:26:57] Ana: the best place to eat them. [00:27:00] I'd say all of those what you just named from the list, they are really delicious. No, no lies.

[00:27:10] Ashley: It sounds so, so good. So everybody, that's what we're doing. Our next field trip in life is Georgia. So next I'm going to plug myself before we move on. So if you guys are enjoying the show, you can follow us on all the socials.

[00:27:25] We're on Instagram. We're on Tik TOK, Facebook, YouTube. And if you really like this show, I really appreciate it if you give us a rating on Apple or Spotify. I really appreciate that. It helps the show a lot. It helps other people find us. If you feel so inclined, you can even give me a tip, a little money to support the show.

[00:27:49] I always appreciate that. And of course, if you have any suggestions for episodes, any questions, any comments, feel free to email me at dinewithadevinepod at gmail. [00:28:00] com. Okay, now we're going to talk a little bit about Georgian culture. Now there's a couple things. I'm all over the place with this, so everybody forgive me.

[00:28:09] Usually I'm a little more organized. But I couldn't figure out what I wanted to talk about. So we're just going to talk about a bunch of stuff.

[00:28:17] Ana: That's very Georgian.

[00:28:18] Ashley: So you are in the spirit. Okay, good. Very not organized. So we like that. Good. Because I was like, I don't know what do I talk about?

[00:28:29] There's like so many different things that are so cool. So once again, as I said in the beginning, I was on TikTok. And for some reason, TikTok Okay, I follow a lot of like, I used to do flamenco dancing. So I started, I follow a lot of flamenco dancers. Then all of a sudden I see this other type of dancing and I'm like, just different countries.

[00:28:51] I see this dance where there's a bunch of women in a line the women are dancing. And it looks like they're gliding, like you can, you [00:29:00] can't see their feet, so they're usually wearing really long dresses, and their feet, I don't know what they're doing under there, so I was like, they're just, I was like, what's going on, they're just women in a line, and they're like walking in circles, like perfect circles of women.

[00:29:18] It's like conga line, but very organized and they're making shapes like they're walking like an S and they're separating and they're going back there. So I'm like, what the hell is this? This is months, guys. Months, I can't see this. And again, I can't read Georgian. I don't know what country. And then finally, I'm looking in the comments trying to figure out where is this from?

[00:29:38] And somebody mentions the Caucus Mountains. So I'm like, okay, so I'm Googling, because I've forgotten where the Caucus Mountains are. I was like, where are the Caucus Mountains again? And then they start talking about, somebody mentioned Georgia. And I was like, okay. So now I'm watching all these videos, right?

[00:29:56] Now I'm getting tons of just Georgian dancing on my Instagram [00:30:00] feed. And there's another one. Where these men are wearing like boots, but the boots look like ballet shoes, a little bit like tip shoes. And they're just leaping . They're just leaping through the air everywhere and every, I don't know where they're going.

[00:30:18] they're wearing big curry hats. 'cause I'm like, that makes sense. It's cold up there and they're just leaping through the air. Like you, the way these people are jumping is impressive. So I was like, I need to learn everything there is to learn about Georgian dancing. And then I was looking it up and there are many different types of Georgian dancing.

[00:30:39] They're very specific reasons for the dance. And they have like stories. Behind each dance, which I thought was really cool. So I was gonna talk a little bit about a couple of them. I won't go through the whole list, just a few. So we got cartoon, cartouli. This is a romantic dance or a wedding dance.

[00:30:58] And it's usually performed by a [00:31:00] couple. And during the dance, the man is not supposed to touch the woman. And there's supposed to be a certain... Distance away from each other, and usually it's the woman moving around the man, which is pretty interesting. Also, there's tons of like Georgian dance groups that like show all these different dances.

[00:31:16] You can find a lot of it on YouTube. It's very neat. There's Korumi. Which is a war dance, and this is usually per, performed by mostly men. And it's supposed to demonstrate different themes about war, and celebrating, and victories, and glories. But also like the hardship of war, which is really interesting.

[00:31:42] So they have specific rhythms they use even specific dance beats and specific like instruments bagpipes and drums that they usually use during these dances then they have Juli, which is like what we were talking about the bread before, but not the [00:32:00] bread. This is a dance . , but it comes from a Jura, which is where it gets its name.

[00:32:06] And they usually have really colorful costumes during these dances, and they usually have soft, graceful movements. And they're like. Usually it's a men and women and they're like being a little flirty and like fun during the dance But it's supposed to be a little bit more fun and light hearted and just fun.

[00:32:25] They have parts that is a fast paced rhythmic colorful dance And it's very fast, but it's also graceful Then we have the Cosberg Ruli, which is A dance that comes from the mountains, and it is cold up there, so the dance actually shows you how, about the landscape of the time.

[00:32:50] So it's, the movements are very, strong and stiff, because it's cold and they're talking about the mountains. It, all of this is performance art, obviously, [00:33:00] but it's just, so neat how every single dance is showing you, it's like watching a movie. It's every dance isn't just like a dance.

[00:33:08] It's telling like a story and they come from the different regions And they're explaining what those people experience which is or like situations like I said Some of them were about marriage and like fun and like being flirty and some of them are about war So it's really neat then we have there's so many more I'm just gonna read one or two more we have Pariko, Parikalba, which is from northeastern Georgia, which is the area we're going to talk about in a minute also.

[00:33:37] And usually it enters like a woman who's looking for her beloved, and then the beloved enters from like the other side, but he enters like, Haha, I'm here. Hello. . . So it's usually a man and a woman jumping in. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, I've come and she's like, yay,[00:34:00] . Like, so it's very exciting. , like everyone gets excited.

[00:34:03] And usually the costume's true. The men, a lot of, it depends on the dance, but a lot of the time, these men are wearing these big hats, big furry hats, and these women are also wearing headdresses. And in this particular dance the woman, when she decides to throw down her, When so it's like the men around start like play fighting and when she puts her headdress down Everybody's got stopped because she has announced that the dance is over which is neat And there's some other like war kind of dances and then I'm gonna go back to The dance for the now you said it before what is the region that you were doing a lot of your research with the

[00:34:49] Ana: Yeah, that is all in the north eastern Area have to ready.

[00:34:55] Yes. I'll have to ready.

[00:34:56] Ashley: Yeah Yes, so they have a dance [00:35:00] too. And this is a dance that unites love courage respect for women toughness competitions skill, beauty, and colorfulness all in one performance. It starts out with a couple being a little flirty, and then another dude appears, and then... This other so it's usually yeah.

[00:35:18] Okay. Okay so now this usually men and women. So it's usually a woman. She's there. She's like all cute and be like, Oh my God. And then a guy comes out and he's like, Oh my God, you're so cute. And she's like, Oh my God, you're cute. And then another dude comes and he's like, but wait, I think you're cute too.

[00:35:34] And now what's she going to do? There's two dudes and she doesn't know what to do. Yeah. So then the men start to yeah. Fight and this is a dance guys. This isn't a play. This is a dance. So like the men start to fight And then the woman she like gets her she like she puts her veil down and she's like everybody stop fighting I'm gonna leave because now I'm pissed off.

[00:35:59] You [00:36:00] guys didn't need to fight. Like I just wanted to be flirty. So then they leave and then The other men they attack each other they keep fighting and at the end the woman comes and she stops the fight again And once she stops the fight the second time it means that The dance is over, but you never get to know who won.

[00:36:22] It's interesting. It's very cool. And apparently it's very technical and requires intense practice and the utmost skill in order to perform the dance without hurting anybody. Because, remember, this is a play fight. They're not really fighting, but they're supposed to show that they're fighting because it's part of the performance.

[00:36:38] You don't actually want to cut somebody's hand off. You just want to pretend you did. Because it's supposed to be fun. So there's a lot of these really interesting oh, and this one, this is the last one I'll mention because it's very neat. Actually, sorry, I have to mention two more. This is the second last one.

[00:36:54] This is another mountain dance. It's called Mituluri. And this is similar to our previous [00:37:00] one we were just talking about, but this one's based in competition, the same way. But in this dance, it's between two groups of young men. They'll, , pretend to fight also, and it's, and they'll also do tricks, who, it's basically a dance battle between two groups of dudes, who can be the coolest, and a lot of it has, a really cool finale, and a lot of these are festivals used to happen at festivals they used to have, in the highlands, in the mountains And it's supposed to just be fun for everybody to watch.

[00:37:30] And then, people get to say oh, who won? So it's supposed to, it's a good time. And then the last one is another one that I saw on Instagram is Samid and Khonga, which are Austen folk dance. These costumes have, they have really long sleeves for the men and the women. There's wedding dances, and there's Demi Pointe, this is what I've seen, oh yes, where they're completely on the balls of their feet.

[00:37:55] This is what I had seen on Instagram, and it's [00:38:00] really, it must take years to really learn how to perfect this, because these people look like they're gliding, they don't look like they're walking, it's very cool. So that's my obsession with Georgian folk dancing. You describe them very well.

[00:38:19] People are seeing it. I was like, this is amazing.

[00:38:27] So now we're going to go back to talking about The area that I know Anna has done a lot of research in. So this is an area, it's like northeastern Georgia. So it's up in the mountains. And I know from reading some of your research and reading about it other places, they were saying that this area, because of where they were, they they got to retain a little bit of their practices for longer, right?

[00:38:54] Because it was more hard to get to, yes. So they still have [00:39:00] some of their like, even like pre christian practices that they also have. Just like, you, your neighbor to the south, Armenia Georgian. Christianity started in the 4th century so it's been, they have a long history of Christianity, but up in these mountains, because it was hard for people to get there, they retained some of the culture.

[00:39:25] It's very, like, if you look at the pictures of these areas, It's gorgeous. Think like how people talk about the Alps and people talk about these other mountain ranges. I never knew, and I don't know why nobody told me, but I never knew the Caucus Mountains were so beautiful. My god, like, it is gorgeous.

[00:39:50] I don't know why they're not out here making more postcards. Because it makes me want to go there. It's beautiful.

[00:39:57] Ana: They're very beautiful. [00:40:00] beautiful and incredible feeling to be there. And it's like, also just the region of Khevsureti, but there is also Tusheti, another region more far to the east, which is also beautiful, miraculous.

[00:40:14] And and only Khevsureti as well is You can go to the, let's say, from the side from Tbilisi, from the capital, you call it the other side. So there is the highest point where you drive over the pass. And from this side, you call it the other side, and the other side looks very different than...

[00:40:35] Let's say this side. And so depending on, in which gorge you are the landscape again changes, that's like also amazing how the landscapes change and beautiful. Yeah. In cliffs and in, in rocks or in, but it's a very harsh nature. Like it's very harsh and you can also feel like the cultural.

[00:40:59] Or let's [00:41:00] go back to that, what you were sharing right now with the that's true. Khevsureti has been one of the regions with others as well, also Svaneti, another mountain region, but this mountain regions and especially Khevsureti have kept a lot of knowledge the most of the time, like, the most.

[00:41:19] From the others because of their being very far in this in this mountains and it was hard to reach there. As Georgia became officially a Christian country, I think it was officially the second. The first one was Armenia officially something, and then the second Which in Georgia.

[00:41:41] And there has been, a huge, like, Christian imperialization cultural one as well there, forceful on the people who were worshipping local deities. But there in the they couldn't touch the mountains. Only the Queen Tamar, there [00:42:00] was like one, a time there, a big, she's called the King Tamar.

[00:42:05] But she was ruling herself, so she was not the wife of a king, so that's why they call her the Queen Tamar. King Tamar. And she was the only one who went in and she has not the best reputation. Like, also today you get that they, some don't really like much like her, even though she's also revered as well.

[00:42:28] So it's,

[00:42:29]

[00:42:29] Ana: Yeah, but the first ones really who were able to touch that culture was the Russian Imperia. And so we became at the end of the 18th century, officially Georgia had signed At the time, it was an attempt of becoming that Russia was just becoming a patron of Georgia.

[00:42:54] They had to protect Georgia, but instead of protecting Georgia, they started to to [00:43:00] colonize regions slowly, one after another. And that, and there were, long attempts to do that in Hapsureti as well. And it was the hardest there because they are... Also, from mentality and from the character, they're not the most how to say, they won't, obey so easily,

[00:43:18] they're really warriors and, like, very independent thinkers and they're also very devoted. to their local traditions. That's so important to them. You feel that even today. And so because of this history, so only after that the Russian imperial touched it, but also it remained it for still many pre Christian customs.

[00:43:44] And then in the Soviet era the Soviets just deplaced many of them. From the mountain regions because they had this very strong identity with their land. aNd still they have a lot of knowledge kept, [00:44:00] which is super precious. And it was only until the seventies and eighties and nineties of the 20th century that many of these professions like this Kadaghi, where I was researching about, so the Kadaghi.

[00:44:13] Let me explain who these people were. They were like the the, they would call them the tongues of the gods because they would voice that what's the deities, the local deities wanted to, have been noticed to the village. And they would be the mediators between the human. People community and the deities.

[00:44:37] So they were very important people. And this was really a profession and that went along until the 70 70s. After that, it started to come into extinction and today there are no cadavers anymore. But there were many such professions. There were also Mesultanists. Mesultanists were also mediums, but they would be the kind of, [00:45:00] a bit more like, psychopom slash medium, people would go there for, Individual souls would go there or some individual ancestors and share, talk with, there were women, Mesopotamians were mostly women, they would talk with her and tell her what they wanted their a family to know or a family members would come to her and ask about a certain disease.

[00:45:27] But the Meselkane was specifically for, human disease. And Hadagi's role was to be the medium of deities. So that was the difference. And there were many such there were many professions all with their very distinct function and Yeah, and that's one of the characterization of the, of this of this community, the Hefsurs.

[00:45:49] They had many very specific ways of how things needed to be tended. So many festivities and the rituals and the songs and [00:46:00] a lot of ancestral reverence festivities and days and exactly how it was going. There were many lamenters. Professional lamenters and different ones even so there would be several professional lamenters who had different functions.

[00:46:19] Ashley: Yes, I was actually reading about and thank you for going over that because I was just gonna read from your website. So I'm glad that you we can hear it from you. But one of the things I saw that was about the professional Lamenters and I put that in the show notes everybody so you guys can read it, too but I thought that was interesting that it's like, These are people who are literally their job is to Just like mourn and you do see that in a couple different cultures.

[00:46:56] I just found out this actually the other day There's this happens [00:47:00] And I know in Mexican culture in some areas in Chinese culture in some areas But there are these people who are literally that is their job for the community Is to mourn other people and I'm just trying to get to the link that I put in the show notes for us.

[00:47:19] So I can tell you better from Anna's website, which is where I got it. Oh, here we go. They're called Greenie. Is that how you would say it? Or no, sorry. That's the song that they sing, right? The

[00:47:35] Ana: green one, that is a specific Sky Thing song. Oh, okay. Yet another thing. The Lament in Voice is I translated it naming Lament in Voice.

[00:47:47] That's a specific way of mourning. Okay. In poetry and song, yes. Yeah. They would not just like cry over the person, but their job was to impromptu at that [00:48:00] moment in the ritual setting to start Poetically voicing through music and song the morning.

[00:48:09] Ashley: Yes. Yeah. Yes. And I love how you talk about too, like, that they, how they like, okay, first of all, you have to be talented to do this job because it's, you don't just like.

[00:48:23] You're not just like, Oh, it's so sad. No, you have to talk about the person and like, why it's so sad and like who they were and this kind of thing. You're it's almost like being a what do they call it? Like a bard or like a singer, but you're making songs about the person and you're helping everybody remember, right?

[00:48:42] This person. And you're talking about like, Oh my God, it's, you're not just saying it's sad. They're having people Oh. Like this person's going over the family house And while everybody's, maybe having a meal and talking about the person and they're like, oh my gosh, like Matthew was such a good [00:49:00] dude and remember that time that he did this and blah blah blah and that's why we love him and He was good at his job like they're just Singing about a person.

[00:49:08] This is not an easy job. This is like, you have to really, you have to have some good talent. And this is usually done by a group of men. And, go ahead.

[00:49:20] Ana: You're mixing it up, perhaps with the green one. Oh

[00:49:24] Ashley: yeah, I think I am. I'm sorry. Okay, but this

[00:49:26] Ana: one like this was the lamenting voice. Where were

[00:49:30] Ashley: women female?

[00:49:31] Oh, okay. I apologize. So all of these jobs are a lot of they take up and I love how they have all these specific jobs in the community for these people and Another thing that I had read earlier about this specific group that we were talking about in the mountains is a lot of the time throughout history, a lot of the Georgian kings and queens, the royalty would hire bodyguards and people from this region [00:50:00] because they were known to be like the tough, really tough people because they're from the mountains, like you said, where it's not an easy area to live.

[00:50:10] So they were used to, the roughness of the landscape. So they were really good at fighting. Plus, this is another kind of world concept that I love. A lot of times when people are from mountainous areas, they have to be good at mapping things out because They have to walk up and down the mountains all the damn time.

[00:50:28] They know where everything is. So a lot of these people were really good at fighting because also they knew where they could hide. They knew the mountains better than other people because they lived there. So these people were just really interesting and I'm glad we got a chance to talk about them.

[00:50:45] And thank you for explaining about the Kedahgis and it's a very interesting concept. Their whole culture is very cool. Thank you for being interested. Oh yeah, it's very cool. Yeah now we're going to talk about our [00:51:00] story time today. Today, our story is a Georgian folktale. I read a few of them.

[00:51:08] There is a, again, a link in the show notes. I think it's like... a website where there's like books that are out of print and they're free. So if you want to read a couple Georgian folk tales, there's a bunch of good ones. I read one that was really long and then I read one that was shorter. I was like, I don't know, they're both really good, but I think I'm going to read the shorter one.

[00:51:29] It's called the prince. So if you click on that link and you want to read it, it's called the prince It's a really good story. It's really interesting we love a folktale.

[00:51:37] So instead We're going to read the Serpent and the Peasant folktale. Again, this is a Georgian folktale. I love that one. Okay. Okay, good. I'm glad you like it. Okay good. Oh, I'm so happy. Yeah, I know.

[00:51:50] Ana: This is also on my, I translated it as the one on on my blog.

[00:51:55] Ashley: Oh, really? Oh, good. Yeah. I didn't even know that.

[00:51:59] Yes! [00:52:00] We're cool! Yay! Okay! Oh, I'm so happy now! Okay! I was so nervous because I was like, Oh, I want to tell this other story, but it's so long, and I know I'm going to mess it up, so no. And some of the, and I also had to pick a story where I could pronounce everybody's name, like, so this one doesn't have specific names, so we're good.

[00:52:18] Okay, we're gonna tell the story. This is the serpent and the peasant.

[00:52:21] Once upon a time, there was a king, and everything was fine. He was great. Everything was fine. So then, he started having dreams. So he had a real weird dream. So he woke... In his dream, there was a fox, and the fox was suspended from the ceiling by its tail. So when he woke up, he didn't know what the dream meant, and he was worried, because he's like, that was weird.

[00:52:42] So he assembled all his the top people in the kingdom. And he's like, you guys... What is going on? I had this weird dream and they're like, Oh, we don't know. We don't know. So he's like, okay, this is what we're going to do call everybody in the kingdom together because somebody is going to be able to figure this out.

[00:52:57] So they call everybody and [00:53:00] on the third day. Everybody came to the palace and among the people who are there was 1 peasant guy. So now the peasant guy on his way to the palace after he heard everybody was going there, he had been traveling around along a path. And now on both sides of the path, there was mountains, but when he got closer to the mountains, there were There was a serpent lying in the middle of the road and stretching its neck and putting its tongue out.

[00:53:33] When the peasant went near the serpent said, Good day! Where are you going, peasant? And the peasant was like, Oh, I'm going to the king because he called everybody and the serpent's like, okay. No, no problem. Let me help you out here I'm gonna tell you what you need to tell the king and The peasant was like what this is awesome.

[00:53:54] It's like great I'm gonna be the one to tell the king this news and he said, okay, no problem[00:54:00] I'm gonna tell the king what you told me and I'll bring you half of the riches that whatever the king gives me like the present for me telling him What's happening in his dream and the serpents like okay cool so I'll divide it up and half will be mine and half will be yours and Just tell the king this the Fox means that the kingdom is that look the dream about the Fox It means that in the kingdom, there's cunning, hypocrisy, and treachery.

[00:54:32] So the peasant was like, okay, I'll keep this in mind. So he goes to the king, he tells the king, and he's like, this is what the ser He doesn't tell him what the serpent told him. But he says, this is what your dream means. So the king was so happy, and he gave him a whole bunch of gifts. So now, The peasant was like, actually, now that I got all these gifts, I really don't want to share it with the serpent.

[00:54:53] Oh, that's not cool, but okay. So he's like, I'm gonna go a different way. Yeah, like, it's meta [00:55:00] now. Yeah. So he went a different way. So that he didn't pass the serpent again. So now some time passes, and the king has another dream. So in this dream, a sword, like a sword without a sheath on it, is hanging suspended from the roof.

[00:55:14] And the king, then again, calls the peasant. And he says, come, I had a dream. What do you think this dream means? And the peasant was like

[00:55:22] and he's like, actually king if you give me a day or two, I'll be able to figure it out. And the king's like, okay, fine. So what does the peasant do with his petty self? He goes back to the footpath where he saw the serpent. Okay, so disrespectful. So he goes back and he's like, Serpent! Serpent! Where are you?

[00:55:45] And the serpent comes out. And the serpent's like, What do you want? What's the problem? And the peasant's like, I got a problem. The king needs me to help him again. And the serpent was like, all right, go tell the king. So the [00:56:00] peasant tells the serpent what happened about the dream. So the serpent's like, go tell the king that the naked sore means.

[00:56:10] naked sword means that there's war coming and that the enemies are in and out. So he has to prepare for battle. There's people in the kingdom plotting against him and outside. So go tell him to prepare for battle. So After he heard that he thanked the serpent and he left so he went to the king and he told the king and he said Okay, this is what the sword means.

[00:56:32] So the king was super happy. He's like, oh my god Thank you so much, and he gave him more gifts now the peasant went back to Where the serpent was and because he went the same path. Maybe he was tired this time. He didn't want to go a different path. So he went back on the same path and the serpents like So now that you're here, can we chat about how you didn't give me my money last time?

[00:56:54] And he's like, and can you give me some money? So then [00:57:00] he got super mad the peasant he's like i'm not giving you any of my money I'm gonna give you a black stone and burning cinder and he takes out his sword and chases the serpent He the serpent tries to go into a hole, but he as a serpent slithering in he cuts off part of his tail So whatever.

[00:57:18] So now he's going home. We'll talk about the disrespect in a minute. So now he goes back home, right? And once again some time passes and the king has another dream. So this time the king sees a slain sheep that's hanging from the roof. And the king asks the peasant, Peasant, what do you think? And once again, the peasant doesn't know because it's not him, right?

[00:57:44] It's the serpent. So now, he's like, oh shit. He's like, number one, I don't know what's going on. Number two, the only person who does know what's going on, I tried to kill him. Like, this is no good for me. Alright the [00:58:00] peasant's like, I'm gonna have to swallow my pride and try and go back to that footpath and find that snake.

[00:58:06] So he goes back to the footpath, and he gets there, and he's like, Serpent, Serpent, can you come here? I need to talk to you, please. And here comes the serpent, and the serpent, and he, the man the peasant tells the serpent what the problem is. And the serpent said, if you give me half of what the king gives you, I'll tell you.

[00:58:29] Okay? This is what our agreement was every single time, but you keep seeming not to understand. Like, this time But how generous of the serpent to The serpent Again, this is the third

[00:58:39] Ana: time that very

[00:58:41] Ashley: chill serpent. Anna, this is the nicest serpent I've ever seen in my life. They are good folks.

[00:58:50] Because if it was me, I'm not coming out with this guy's calling my name. I'm locking my door. So this serpent is like, okay this [00:59:00] time you have to give me half your stuff. And he's like, the peasant is like, I promise. I promise. I promise. Now, the serpent says, this is a sign that there's peace everywhere, and the people have become quiet and gentle like sheep.

[00:59:14] This peasant is like, oh my god, thank you so much. He goes back on his way. When the peasant comes to the king, he tells the king what the serpent told him. The king was so happy, and he gave him more gifts this time than he ever gave him. The peasant returns, and he goes to where the serpent's waiting, and the serpent came out.

[00:59:32] And they divided everything up, and the peasant was like here's half your stuff, uh, by the way, you've been really good to me, and I've been a dick to you I'm so sorry about that, and he's like, I'm going to give you, Everything that you're meant to get, here you go. And the peasant is like apologizing profusely for how he acted.

[00:59:58] And the serpent [01:00:00] says, you know what? Don't even worry. Don't even worry about it. It's not your fault. The first time, when the people were being deceitful, and I told you there was treachery and hypocrisy in the land, you too were being deceitful and you were being a hypocrite. And, despite your promise, you left and you went the other way and tried to avoid me.

[01:00:21] The second time, when there was war everywhere, and there was quarrels, and there was issues, You too fought me. You cut off half my tail. Don't forget how rude you were to me. And he said, but now when peace and love has fallen all through the land, you brought me gifts and you shared with me. And then the peasant said, go, my brother, may the peace of God rest with thee.

[01:00:43] And I don't even want any wealth. And the serpent went away and cast itself into the hole. He was basically just saying that the guy was a reflection of what was going on in the kingdom. And the serpent forgave him. And we all love the serpent because he was teaching [01:01:00] lessons. And the guy is a better person now.

[01:01:01] Yay!

[01:01:03] Ana: Yeah, and I love this one because it shows so much about how much... How to say we are not only, individuals, but we are like part of this collective and all of this plan, we could also I would like to say, from astrological terms, when when there are transits and Pluto is going over, yes, transit collectively, things are happening like, like the Pluto Saturn transits COVID happened.

[01:01:32] Like, things are collective and that's a kind of the message that I'm reading through this folk tale. Yes. And I so appreciate that you chose this one. Oh. Funny.

[01:01:45] Ashley: Yeah. I'm so happy. I'm so happy that you like it and that you knew it. That's awesome. Because I was nervous.

[01:01:50] Ana: Ah, yes. I can give you also the link if you want from the well, I just say Oh,

[01:01:59] Ashley: yeah. Yeah. [01:02:00] Yeah. I'll find I'll go on your blog and I'll find it and I'll put in the show notes for everybody to read the story.

[01:02:05] Yeah, it's a really nice story. And that is a good point. I didn't even get that. I was just like, damn, this is a nice serpent. But like, I didn't even get that from the story. And that is such a good point. Like, it we're all part of this community collective. And also, it shows you how this guy was treating one person.

[01:02:20] So as a collective, When we are better to each other, we're better to people individually too, right? Like, whenever when there was peace in the land, the guy decided to not be an asshole anymore. And he decided to actually share with the serpent who was giving, who was the reason that he had all the good stuff that he had.

[01:02:39] Let's be better to each other everybody. That's the second thing you can take from this story. Thank you, Anna. That comes to the end of our show. So thank you,

[01:02:51] Ana: Ashley. Thank you so much.

[01:02:52] Ashley: Of course. So just let us know, Anna, if there's on the internet where we can find you. I know I have links to [01:03:00] everything, but if you want to announce, you can take time to announce anything you want to announce.

[01:03:05] Ana: I have my website shibianta. com where I'm offering my ancestral lineage healing practices and there I have also a blog where lately I'm blogging about this indigenous Georgian customs. My last blog was about flying shrines, pre Christian Georgian shrines that were Had this character, one of the characters, that they would change form and shapeshift and then fly to other places.

[01:03:37] Yeah. Yeah. I'm vlogging there and offering things. so That is one of the things where you can find me and I have a Patreon. You can... Yeah, link that as well, where I sing, I have also an anime singing project and the idea or less the idea, but we are the way we approach singing is that singing is a co [01:04:00] singing, even if there is not another human, which sometimes is, I think often also I love to sing with other humans, but also with trees or, my ancestors and Yeah.

[01:04:10] So it's a co creational act that's our Patreon, yeah.

[01:04:16] Ashley: I love that! Oh, that's so cool. And like I said, everything all of Anna's links will be in our show notes. So if you want to check out her Patreon. You want to check out her blog, which is very informative. Half the information I told you today, I got from her blog.

[01:04:30] She's like, does really good research. So if you want to learn more, please go there. It's really interesting. And yeah, everything, like I said, it'll be in the show notes. You can check out all of her offerings. So everybody, thank you so much. And thank you again, Anna, for listening to me stumble through that story.

[01:04:47] And I'm so glad that's a story that you're familiar with. I think you told it very

[01:04:51] Ana: well, and the

[01:04:53] Ashley: dances, yeah. Oh yeah, I'm obsessed. , I'm probably gonna, [01:05:00] today, now take another, hour going on, like, TikTok looking at, like, Georgian traditional dances. Oh my gosh, I love it. And, oh, I also put a link in the show notes, something I didn't mention before, but if everybody...

[01:05:13] I love polyphonic singing. I know some people may not know what it is, but Georgia is famous for being one of the countries that kind of like invented polyphonic singing, which is so cool. I didn't know that. So I found a trio. There's like three girls, women I believe, that they're like on youtube and I put a link there too.

[01:05:37] So if you don't know what polyphonic singing is these, Three women from georgia. They have a group and you can watch them And you'll see the polyphonic singing is this one is three women and they're doing different. Sounds. I'm not a music major, so I know I'm not describing it right, but you guys know what I'm talking about.

[01:05:55] They do different sounds or different, like, pitches with their voice. It's very beautiful. They're [01:06:00] singing songs in Georgian, so it's really cool.

[01:06:03] Ana: Ashley, please put also Hamlet Gonashvili. I can send you the link. Like, he's a treasure. Like, his voice is just amazing. As they...

[01:06:12] Put the satellite into the cosmos, like many collected songs from the earth. One of them was Georgian song sung by Hamlet, which is just like heavenly. When you listen to it, it's just amazing. I send you the link and then you can also

[01:06:28] Ashley: share that. Yeah, I will share it. I'll put in the show notes. Perfect.

[01:06:32] Oh my God. It's and the thing that's so beautiful about music in general, I'm not just Georgian music, but you don't need to know when people are singing to feel something. Like when I was watching, I love, like I said, I love polyphonic singing. I just love it. There's this Polish group that I always listen to.

[01:06:50] They do polyphonic singing, but when I was listening to these three women sing, you just feel like. I just felt warm. I felt good. And, they're just like [01:07:00] walking through their, town. This one girl has her donkey. It's very cute and very sweet. And you just feel, good. I was like, oh. This is so cool.

[01:07:08] Like, it's really And obviously, they could be singing about anything. And, there's another group I listen to and sometimes they have a whole album of like funeral songs, but even then I don't know what they're saying, but you feel it, and that's the whole point of music, right? Like, it's for you to feel something.

[01:07:23] I'm gonna put this Hamlet, you said is the man's name? Hamlet. Yeah.

[01:07:28] Ana: Okay.

[01:07:29] Ashley: I will put his stuff in the show notes too, so you can all feel what we feel. Cause it's really cool. All this, the music is amazing. And if this, the whole reason I do this podcast is so that we can all introduce each other to our cultures.

[01:07:44] If there's one thing is like, I, that's why I love doing this is because I love learning about all like about Georgia has been such a delight. I never, you never know that this tiny, country in the Caucasus Mountains, This tiny country that I knew barely anything about.

[01:07:59] I'm now, [01:08:00] I'm like, open to this, like, whole other world of culture, and I'm like, I'm so happy that, like, I learned something about this. You know what I mean? Like, this is just now, my world view is now expanded too, I hope this happens for everybody. I hope you guys listening to Anna explain stuff and like, just see how like cool the world is.

[01:08:19] Like, it's just awesome. Oh, I just love it. Thank you so much,

[01:08:22] Ana: Ashley. Thank you. It's been so fun. You're very appreciated. And my ancestors are happy that you are celebrating our

[01:08:30] Ashley: culture. Good! Like I said, so this is the end of the show. You everybody, this is Dine with the Divine.

[01:08:41] Thank you so much for listening. We're on all your favorite socials. You can find Dine with the Divine anywhere you listen to your podcast. And if you want to follow me, Ashley, I'm at SankofaHS on Instagram and most handles and that's. SaNkovic Healing Sanctuary on Facebook. [01:09:00] Thank you so much, everybody.

[01:09:01] We will see you all next week. Thank you. Bye.

[01:09:06] Ana: Bye, everyone. Yes.