Mokosh

Mokosh
Life-giving and life-taking, fertility and moisture

Modern wooden statue in the Czech Republic
Symbol Sun
Consort Perun & Veles
Children Jarilo and Morana
Roman equivalent Paraskevi of Rome
Christian equivalent Paraskevi of Iconium, Virgin Mary

Mokoš (Old Russian Мокошь) is a Slavic goddess mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, protector of women's work and women's destiny.[1] She watches over spinning and weaving, shearing of sheep, and protects women in child birth. Mokosh is the Great Mother, Mat Zemlya.[2]

Mokoš was the only female deity whose idol was erected by Vladimir the Great in his Kiev sanctuary along with statues of other major gods (Perun, Hors, Dažbog, Stribog and Simargl).

Etymology and origin

Mokosh probably means moisture. According to Max Vasmer, her name is derived from the same root as Slavic words mokry 'wet' and moknut(i) 'get wet'. She may have originated in the northern Finno-Ugric tribes of the Vogul, who still have the divinity Moksha.

Myth

Mokosh. Embroidery pattern ca 19th century.

Mokoš was one of the most popular Slavic deities and the great Mother Goddess of East Slavs and Eastern Polans. She is a wanderer and a spinner. Her consorts are probably both, the god of thunder Perun and his opponent Veles. In saying the former Katičić follows Ivanov and Toporov (1983) without further corroborating their claim.[3] Katičić also points to the possibility that as goddess Vela she is the consort of Veles, and might even be interpreted as another form of the polymorph god Veles himself.[3]: 167–198 Mokosh is also the mother of the twin siblings Jarilo and Morana.

Archeological evidence of Mokosh dates back to the 7th century BC.[4] As late as the 19th century, she was worshipped as a force of fertility and the ruler of death. Worshipers prayed to Mokosh-stones or breast-shaped boulders that held power over the land and its people.[5]

In Eastern Europe and especially in modern day Russia, Mokosh is still popular as a powerful life giving force and protector of women. Villages are named after her. She shows up in embroidery, represented as a woman with uplifted hands and flanked by two plow horses.[6] Sometimes she is shown with male sexual organs, as the deity in charge of male potency.[7]

A the key myth in Slavic mythology, is the divine battle between the thunder god Perun and his opponent the god Veles. Some authors and the original researchers Ivanov and Toporov believe, the abduction of Mokosh causes the struggle.[8][9]

According to Boris Rybakov, in his 1987 work Paganism of Ancient Rus[10] Mokosh is represented on one of the sides of the Zbruch Idol.

Christianization

Warning from the Christian church against worshipping Mokosh

During Christianization of Kievan Rus' there were warnings issued against worshipping Mokoš. She was replaced by the cult of the Virgin Mary and St. Paraskevia.[11]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mokosh.

References

  1. ↑ Russian folk belief By Linda J. Ivantis
  2. ↑ Katičić, Radoslav (2003). Die Hauswirtin am Tor: Auf den Spuren der großen Göttin in Fragmenten slawischer und baltischer sakraler Dichtung. Frankfurt am Main: PETER LANG. p. 40. ISBN 3-631-50896-4.
  3. 1 2 Katičić, Radoslav (2010). Gazdarica na vratima: Tragovima svetih pjesama naše pretkršćanske starine. Zagreb: IBIS GRAFIKA. pp. 209–210. ISBN 978-953-6927-59-3.
  4. ↑ Harald Haarmann (2008). "". Introducing the Mythological Crescent: Ancient Beliefs and Imagery p. 98
  5. ↑ Patricia Monaghan (2010). "". Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines p. 516
  6. ↑ Russian folk belief
  7. ↑ Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture By Joanna Hubbs p. 26
  8. ↑ Though it should be noted that Ivanov and Toporov nowhere quote original sources indicating that fact. Compare: Katičić (2010):210
  9. ↑ Pushkin's Historical Imagination by Svetlana Evdokimova p. 216
  10. ↑ Boris Rybakov (1987). "Святилища, идолы и игрища". Язычество Древней Руси (Paganism of Ancient Rus) (in Russian). Moscow: Nauka.
  11. ↑ Vyacheslav Ivanov, Vladimir Toporov. Mokoš./ В. В. Иванов, В. Н. Топоров - «Мокошь». Мифы народов мира, т. II. М.:Российская энциклопедия, 1994.
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