Russian Goddesses

[JBRaven]

•Matka or Mata Syra Zjemlja

(MAHT-kah SIHR-ah ZHYEM-yah)


"...Matushka Zemlia, Mother Earth, giving suck from bountiful breasts to countless children. When the peasants spoke of Matushka Zemlia, their eyes, usually dull and expressionless, were flooded with love, like the eyes of children who see their mother at a distance." - Shmarya Levin



Moist Mother Earth, seems to have never been personified as other Earth Goddesses were (given human form), but worshipped in her natural form. She may, however, be the same Goddess as Mokosh. Along with the ancestral worship shown in the belief in household spirits, Earth worship was most adamantly clung to despite the Christianizing of the Slavic world. She had absolute sanctity and no one was allowed to strike her or begin farming until her birthgiving time at Maslenica. Memorial day and Assumption day (sorry - I have no dates as of yet) were her name days so no plowing or digging could be done then. Anyone spitting on the Earth had to beg her forgiveness.


Property disputes were settled by calling her to witness the justice of the claims. Oaths and marriages were confirmed by swallowing a clump of earth or holding it on the head. Boundaries were measured while walking them with a clump of earth on the head. Villages were protected from cattle plague & epidemic by plowing a furrow around them to release Mother Earth's power. If no priest was present, sins were confessed to the earth and into the 20th century survived the custom of begging the Earth's forgiveness prior to death.


Earth worship was transferred to the cult of Mary and is why she is such a central part of Slavic Christianity. Unlike other nature deities, Mata Syra Zemlja was never personified as a Goddess with human features.


In the early 1900's to save their village from plague of cholera the older women circled the village at midnight quietly getting the younger women to come out. Without the men's knowledge, they chose nine maidens and three widows who were led out of the village and undressed down to their shifts. The maidens let their hair down, white shawls covered the heads of the widows. They armed themselves with ploughs and items of frightening appearance such as animal skulls.The maidens took up scythes and the entire procession marched around the village, howling and shrieking, while ploughing a deep furrow to release the spirits of the Earth. Any man who came upon the procession was felled by the maidens "without mercy".

[JBRaven]

Kupula


Goddess of water, sorcery and herbal lore. Kupula personifies the magical and spiritual power inherent in water, and Kupula's devotees worshipped her with ritual baths and offerings of flowers cast upon water. Since fire as well as water has powers of purification, her worshippers also danced around and leaped over huge bonfires. Frequently her effigy was burned or cast into pools of water. Kupula's cult preserved an extensive lore of magical plants and herbs which gave men the power to read minds, control evil spirits, find hidden treasures, and win the love of beautiful women

[waterglyph]

Those are really interesting.

Its not often you hear about Russian deities. I think Kupula sounds cool - big suprise with my ID name, huh? blue_laugh

[JBRaven]

The Slavic and Russian traditions go so unnoticed because there are not books (Homer's works), plus unless you can speak Russian the names are prtty hard to pronounce.

Glad you liked it.

[JBRaven]

Lada (LAH-dah, WAH-dah)

Lada is the Slavic goddess of love and beauty. In Russia, when a couple is happily married, it is said they "live in lada", in love. Lad is also a word meaning "peace, union, harmony" as in the proverb "When a husband and wife have lad, they don't require klad (Treasure)" - Ralston, p.105. She is said to reside in the underworld, vrij, until the Vernal Equinox, Maslenica, when she returns, bringing the lark and springtime with her. Like Jarilo, Lada is often portrayed as a goddess who is born and dies yearly. Her sacred tree is the lime/linden, supposedly because its leaves are shaped like hearts. As a Slavonian love song goes:


"As the bee is drawn by the linden-bloom (or lime-perfume),
My heart is drawn by thee." - Leland, p.138


One story has her married to Swarog who without her could not have created the world. Other sources give her a brother/lover named Lado which would make them divine twins such as Freya and Frey. There is also some mention of her two sons, Lel & Polel, and occasionally that of a daughter, Liuli.

[5moons]

Thank you now I can add a new section to my BOS that I am making on god/goddess. I am trying to find them all and write them out in ink.

[JBRaven]

IF you have a certian type goddess ( ie goddesses of love) that you want to put down let me know and I will post some more info here. I hav emore knowlage about the Russian and Slavic lore than anything.

[hedge*]

Hey that's REALLy fascinating JBRaven. Wasn't Matushka the origins of Russian dolls?


hedgewitch

[JBRaven]

Yes, she was. Most people don't know that.

[waterglyph]

**ponders** Is there a relation between the expression "living in Lada" and "living in la-la land"? Its phonetically similar....

[hedge*]

I work with a Russian girl


hedgewitch

[Aloron]

JB do you know how much I love you right now. You are F*ing AWESOME. The god I was talking about in my other post. The one I was able to identify was Dazhbog. Damn I love Slavic mythology. You go up in my cool book a thousand points for being so freaking awesome.

[[scifichick]]

Hey JB This is a really neat post. If you need anything translated or so forth, just ask me - Russian is my first language I would correct you a little on prononciation, if you don't mind. Mat Syra Zemlya, and Kupala. I always thought Kupala was a male, since we celebrate Yanka Kupala and Yanka seems to be male name, but I guess can be female. Part of the celebration is for the maidens to weave wreaths (for their heads, word is escaping me), put a candle in it, and set it on a river. If a guy would fish the wreath out of the water, he would marry this girl that year. And I think if it drowns than you don't get married either this year or at all. I can try to look it up if anyone's interested. Also, everyone would jump through fire.
Also, Mat Syra Zemlya is often called Matushka, or Matushka Zemlya.