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 what we doul call today extrasensory or supernatural abilities. 

The root behind the word Harakternk most likely lies in a 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 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, control weather, foresee the outcome of battles, heal any sickness and processed many other extraordinary talents. When common people saw what Harakterniki could do, they considered it to be supernatural or magical 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 systems, this ancient wisdom was a secret and even persecuted at times. It was passed down through generations from a father to his children or from a grandfather to his grandchildren. It has only been few decades since the secrets of Spas are being shared openly.