By Valeri Nistratov

Deep in the forests of central Russia, an elderly babushka mutters a prayer to the Sun-God Kugu Yumo for her family. As she clutches a white goose to her breast, her daughters, standing beside her, briskly make the sign of the cross. A few hours later the bird has been beheaded, plucked and boiled, and is ready to serve, as the family prepares to share a feast with its gods.