In the old days, the pagans of many nations had their own goddesses of death in mythology. They were feared and worshiped to protect their home from illness and grief associated with the loss of loved ones. Our ancestors were no exception in this regard. The Slavic goddess of death bore the name Marena, which was abbreviated as Mara. In Sanskrit, the word "mara" means "destroying", "killing". The roots of this name stretch to the Indo-European "mar / pestilence", associated with pestilence and epidemic. Note that the goddess of death in the mythology of the Slavs was related not only to the transition to the world of the dead, but also to the rituals of calling rain and to the seasonal periods of resurrection and dying of nature.
Genealogy
According to one of the myths, Mara is the daughter of the Black Snake, who guards the transition along the Kalinov Bridge from Yavi to Nav, and the granddaughter of the Lizard, the father of universal evil and the lord of the underworld. Her husband is Koschey (one of the images of Chernobog), who is her brother on her father's side. From him, the goddess of death gave birth to daughters: Ledyanitsa, Nemocha, Vodyanitsa, Zamora, Snezhana andothers related to crop failure, dying, pestilence, etc.
Image of Mary
In Slavic beliefs, the attitude towards this character is ambivalent. In some myths, the goddess of death appears in the form of a hunched old woman with loose and long hair, or a tall shaggy woman dressed in rags and all black. In other legends, Marena is a beautiful dark-haired girl in white or red clothes, who sometimes appears among the ripening bread. From this we can conclude that for the Slavs the goddess of death was neither good nor evil. For the ancestors, she was the embodiment not so much of a nightmare as of fate, on which the changes in the lives of the inhabitants of the house depended. On the one hand, it brings death, but at the same time it also gives new life. Marena's favorite occupation is needlework. Moreover, the ancient Slavs believed that she uses the threads of fate of creatures living on earth in the yarn. Depending on how they are woven into the pattern created by the goddess, certain turning points in life will occur. And if the thread is cut, then the person or other living being will cease to exist.
Mara's abilities
Slavic goddess of death knows how to stop the passage of time, both locally and globally. Its possibilities are infinitely great: it controls the death and life of not only ordinary beings, but also the immortal gods. In addition, Mara is a beautiful sorceress who can change the world beyond recognition, but only for a short time.
How the goddess of death was worshiped
It was not customary to erect temples in honor of Marena. The goddess of death had several permanent places in which she was honored. At the same time, rituals took place not just like that, in an open place, but near an idol carved from wood. In addition, for the same purposes, sometimes a straw image of Mary, surrounded by stones, was installed on the ground. After the ceremony was completed, all this was taken apart and either burned or thrown into the river. Marena was revered on February 15, and straw, flowers and various fruits were brought to her as a gift. Very rarely, only in the years of great epidemics, animals were sacrificed to the goddess of death, depriving them of their lives right at the altar itself.
