Moon Shadows - Zdenko Bašić

Join us in celebrating the launch of the English translation of MOON SHADOWS, a richly illustrated treasure trove of Slavic folk tales and beliefs from Croatia. Zdenko Bašić chronicles the memories of more frightening accounts of witches, sorcerers, devils, and night creatures.

The event will feature a talk about Slavic/Croatian mythology and beliefs by the author Zdenko Bašić, the reading of selected tales by the translator Filip Krenus, accompanied by video projections, and a book signing.

The additional program includes the presentation of Magical Istria, the book about mythological creatures from the Istrian peninsula in the Northern Adriatic. Moon Shadows is a unique art book and a collection of folk tales and beliefs of the Northwestern Medvednica mountain and the Samobor region in Croatia, molded and retold as a family heirloom. This area still has a unique Celto-Slavic blend of mythology and traditions. The tales have been passed down through generations, and the author Zdenko Bašić has been penning them down since his early childhood.

The first collection of stories he recounted in this way was The Tales of the Wind, a book about the faeries and the woodland creatures. In Moon Shadows, however, the author chronicles the memories of more frightening accounts of witches, sorcerers, devils, and night creatures. Although these were the folk tales usually told late at night or used to frighten children into rushing sooner to their beds, these are still the traditions that people believed in and abided by, as witnessed by the author in his childhood. They reflect the cruel and frightening aspect of folk beliefs and healing practices, but also a humorous attitude towards life and the relativity of the black-and-white notion of the world. These tales sometimes offered solace to older souls when they faced inexplicable events, and at other times filled them with fear by reminding them of the inexorable transience within the circle of life.