Just a few centuries ago, north of the Black Sea, between the East and the West, there were Cossacks. They were freedom fighters who lived on the banks of the Dnieper River, on the territory that is now known as Ukraine. Cossacks, which according to some historical sources literally means a “free man”, lived in democratic, self-governing, semi-military communities.  Among them, there were “shaman warriors” or “Jedi knights” called Harakterniki, who seem to have what we would call today extrasensory or supernatural abilities. 

The root behind the word Harakternik most likely lies in the Slavic word “harakter” which means “willpower / strong character”. In more ancient languages “Ha” is the positive force, and “Ra” is light or radiance, thus “Ha-Ra-kternik” can also be described as the one who radiates a great positive force of light through their willpower. There are many historically recorded legends about their mysterious abilities.  Allegedly, it was impossible to kill a Cossack Harakternik with a mere bullet or a sword. They could play mind tricks with enemies, see and interact with the energy fields of people, animals, and plants. They knew how to control the weather, predict the outcome of battles, heal any sickness, and possessed many other extraordinary talents. When common people saw what Harakterniki could do, they considered it to be supernatural or magic simply because they could not explain it. Not many know that the secret behind their abilities was the knowledge of “Spas” tradition. For many centuries, just like many other spiritual teachings, this ancient mystical wisdom was a secret and even persecuted at times. It was passed down through generations from a parent to his children or from a grandparent to the grandchildren. It has only been a few decades since the secrets of Spas are being shared openly.