Mara – the goddess of death ancient Slavs

In old times, the Gentiles of many nationalities had their own goddess of death in mythology. They were feared and worshiped to protect your home from diseases and grief associated with the loss of loved ones. Our ancestors were not in this exception. The goddess of death among the Slavs bore the name of madder, which reduced sounded like Mara. In Sanskrit, the word "mara" stands for “destroying”, “kill”. The roots of this name are drawn to the Indo-European «Mar/sea” associated with pestilence and epidemic. Note that the goddess of death in the mythology of the Slavs was not only to transition into the world of the dead, but also to the rituals of invoking rain and seasonal periods Sunday and dying of nature.

Genealogy

According to one myth, Mara – daughter of the Black Snake that guards the transition of the Kalinov bridge from Yav to NAV, and the granddaughter of a Lizard, father of universal evil and Lord of the underworld. Her husband is the wizard (one of the images of a black God) that the father accounts for her brother. From it the goddess of death gave birth to daughters: Ledenice, NAMOCU, Vodenica, Zamora, the three bears and other poor harvests, dying, murrain, etc.

The Image of Mara

In the Slavic beliefs related to the character is dual in nature. In some myths the goddess of death appears in the form of a hunched old woman with flowing locks and long hair, or shaggy tall women, dressed in rags and black. In other tales, madder – beautiful dark-haired girl in a white or red dress, that sometimes appears among the ripening grain. From this we can conclude that for the Slavic goddess of death was neither good nor evil. For ancestors it was the epitome not so much of a nightmare, how much of fate, which depended on changes in the lives of the inhabitants of the house. On the one hand, it brings death, however, she gives new life. Favorite pastime Madder is needlework. Moreover, the ancient Slavs believed that it uses yarn-threads of fate living on earth creatures. Depending on how they are woven into the generated pattern by the goddess, there are certain turning points in life. But if the thread will be cut, the person or other living creature will cease to exist.

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Capacity of Mara

The Slavic goddess of death can stop the passage of time, both locally and globally. Its possibilities are infinitely great: she controls death and life, not only to ordinary beings, but immortal gods. In addition, Mara – this is a beautiful magician, able to change the world, but only for a short time.

Worshiped As the goddess of death

After the Madder had been taken to build temples. The goddess of death had a few regular places in which she honored. At the same time, the rituals took place not just in the open, and have a carved wooden idol. In addition, for the same purpose sometimes on earth have established a straw image of Mary, surrounded around the stones. After the ceremony was completed, all this was sorted and either burned or thrown into the river. Revered Madder February 15, and as a gift she brought straw, flowers and various fruits. Very rarely, only in years of great epidemics, the goddess of death brought animals, depriving them of life itself at the altar.