One of my favorite mythological characters with whom I have worked in audiovisual and the written art since 2013, is Wild Sarka, the Czech mythological maiden. In 2012-2013, I lived for nine months in Prague and learned there about the old Bohemian legends. The stories affected me. I refer to Sarka in my Dutch mythic fiction book ‘De rode regen‘ (2024). In 2022 I returned shortly and realised that I am still drawn to these old stories and lands. That is why I started to write some blogposts. In October 2025, I will return for almost a month to Prague, to start my sabbatical and see what will happen there. In the meantime, I started an Instagram account where you can learn more: https://www.instagram.com/wild_sarka/#
This page collects all the blogposts that engage with the old stories and lands. (Update 19 January 2025).
Rewilding the Czech legend of Libuše’s vision and Wild Sarka
I met Libuše and Sarka nine years ago. I lived in Prague for a year, because I was enrolled in a vocational training in film making, with focus on video editing and script writing. My final project had ecofeminist themes and I went location scouting. That is how I, toward the end of my stay, discovered Divoká šárka, a nature reserve in Prague itself, and the legend. I was immediately hooked, because the Amazon warrior theme was already growing in a new story project. In the same time, the opera house performed also Bedfich Smetana’s version, immersing me more. However,…
There is no such thing as an Empty Landscape.
Last summer, I was for a week in Czech Republic, visited Prague and dreamed about a rewilded story of Sarka. Afterwards, I participated in the Summer training school programme “Tracing & dwelling in post-anthropocentric landscapes”, organised by the Czech Academy of Science. The training school focused on “conceptual and methodological issues related tomore-than-human entanglements constitutive of landscape and ensuing challenges forresearch. The aim was to explore innovative methodological avenues for engaging with traces oftransformation in/of a post-mining / post-military landscape.” We went to Ralsko, an area which was closed for the public after the World War until the fall of…
Changing the stories we live by #7: Czech Month Names Reflecting Nature’s Connection
Language can encapsulate distinct worldviews and connections with nature, emphasizing the importance of preserving languages, words, grammar, and ideas. This preservation aligns with the efforts of individuals like Robin Wall Kimmerer in Turtle Island, Robert McFarlane in the UK, and Manchán Magan in Ireland, who advocate for a deeper understanding and respect for our linguistic heritage as a way to foster a closer relationship with the natural world. The Czech month names, with their deep reflections of nature’s cycle and seasonal rhythms, remind us how worlds can be spells that transform and bring us back into another, an old or…
Stories from the Wood Wide Web 