Who I Am

My name is Katerina Sarpionova. I am a Bulgarian practitioner, researcher, and storyteller devoted to the living traditions of Balkan magic – the kind that survives not in books alone, but in habits, deeds, and quiet beliefs carried through everyday life.

Tales of Balkan Magic is both a personal path and a long-term documentation project. It exists to gather what time has scattered: folklore, rites, symbols, and ways of thinking that sit at the crossroads of ancient belief, traditional practice, and contemporary life. I do not approach these traditions as relics of a distant past, but as practices that have adapted, endured, and continue to evolve.

On most platforms, I use the name Sarpione (pronounced Sar-pee-on) – a simplified form of my surname, drawn from a family nickname and chosen for ease in a global, multilingual space.

I work between lived practice and historical context, telling stories not as fantasies, but as traces of real people, real places, and real needs. One custom, one tale, one spell at a time.

My Path

For more than two decades, I’ve walked through many magical traditions – learning, unlearning, and circling back to the beginning. Every step brought me closer to where I started and where I stand: the Balkans, where folklore and daily life still intertwine, and where even the daily routines hold memories of tradition.

I return to these roots not out of nostalgia, but out of reverence – to keep alive a living current that runs beneath modern life. My practice is shaped by study, experience, and the wisdom carried through generations, spoken in kitchens, fields, and mountains.

Between History and Magic

My formal education in history and cultural studies has taught me that folklore is more than a remnant of the past – it’s a living language of meaning. I approach the concept of magic the same way: not only through understanding, but through experience.

In my work, I weave together academic insight with lived tradition. The result is not reconstruction, but continuity – a bridge between the scholar and the sorceress, the written record and the living breath. I aim to share our traditions with an audience eager to explore the wisdom of the Balkans – wisdom that remains largely confined within the many languages of the region.

Why I Share

Tales of Balkan Magic was born from a wish to preserve what still whispers beneath the surface – the rituals, beliefs, and stories that connect us to those who came before.

Through storytelling, visual expression, and practical experience, I invite others to witness and rediscover the spirit of the Balkans: its wild beauty, its quiet strength, its deep sense of the sacred in the everyday.

If you feel that same pull toward memory and meaning, I welcome you to walk this path beside me – and to help, in your own way, keep the magic alive.