Victoria Raschke > Quotes

“The longer Gustaf was there, the better he understood that the heart of the strangeness of this city was the river — the river of seven names. Its waters rose from and disappeared into the karst six times before bubbling up again in the marshes, where it became the brief but important Ljubljanica. Ten kilometers east of the capital, the murky river joined the glass-green Sava, found the Danube, and finally emptied into the Black Sea. It carried all the mundane debris and supernatural detritus of eastern Europe to be discarded in that basin, coloring the lives of those who lived along the way. There was a reason this was a part of the world that would never find peace.”
― Victoria Raschke, Who by Water: Voices of the Dead - Book One

“Why do dead people keep telling me to calm the fuck down?”
― Victoria Raschke, Who by Water: Voices of the Dead - Book One

“Someone walked into the courtyard behind her. Jo turned, surprised to find Mary standing in the archway, her holy nimbus glowing even in the bright daylight. Jo let out a long breath. “Is Dušan sending you off somewhere too?” Mary laughed. “There are advantages to being part of several thriving traditions.” Jo cocked her head. “Several?” Mary shrugged. “I belong to many others besides the Roman Catholic Church. The Board has no power over me.”
― Victoria Raschke, Like a Pale Moon: Voices of the Dead: Book Three

“The Goddess of the Witches?” After Ana had met Breda, she had made Veronika promise to light a black candle for Morana every time she tried to do magic. Her sister’s spells had a way of going wrong in the worst possible way. “Yes. She is also the goddess of winter and of death.” “Goran gave me a book. It has a picture of girls drowning Morana in the river, so the spring can return.” Ana wrinkled her nose. “You didn’t like the story?” Breda smiled at her. “It said Vesna, the spring, and Morana can’t exist at the same time. I know it can’t be summer and winter both, but the seasons are one thing, a cycle.” Breda’s smile broadened. “Well done. In older stories, Morana was first the goddess of life—that whole cycle, as you said, from birth to death. Dažbog, the Sun God, loved her—and she loved him as all life loves the Sun. But she was the goddess of every living thing and had many lovers. In jealousy, Dažbog cast her into Nav, the place of the dead. He still loved her though and had to be with her, even there. So for half the year he joined her in the Nav, bringing winter.”
― Victoria Raschke, Like a Pale Moon: Voices of the Dead: Book Three

“So Vesna and Morana are the same goddess?” Ana pulled her knees up to her chin and tucked the hem of her nightgown under her toes. Her shins and feet were still cut up and swollen, but Breda’s magic had taken most of the pain away. “They were. But the gods become, to some extent, what we believe them to be. For many years people believed Vesna and Morana were separate goddesses and they became so: Vesna bright and beautiful, a young woman with flowers in her hair, and Morana, the old hag who carried all of our fears of death and the darkness.” Breda stopped and looked at the witch light that still hung in the air.”
― Victoria Raschke, Like a Pale Moon: Voices of the Dead: Book Three