Serbia

Lord of the river

Illustration: https://www.bajke.in.rs/sadrzaj/srpske-bajke-i-pripovetke/gospodar-reke/

Once upon a time there lived a boy who loved the river very much. He bathed every day, and even started to take a bath even when the water came up.

“Don’t go today, son,” his mother and father told him, but the little boy disobeyed. When he reached the water, he took off his clothes and entered. The powerful current immediately managed to overtake and carry him away. In vain, the little boy waved his arms, fought and called for help.
His helpless voice reached the mighty Lord of the river who was staying in his underwater courts. At that moment, the boy had already been betrayed by his own strength. Water was entering his mouth and nose and he was loosing consciousness.
The master swam up to him and wanted to drown him, because until then he had not allowed anyone to reach his water kingdom alive. But he was unusually drawn to the helpless boy and somehow felt sorry for him.
The Master was lonely in his green courts, so he thought that a beautiful little boy would bring him joy and entertainment. He tore him away from the swollen waves, held him fatherly and gently and carried him into his courts. Never before had a living human being crossed the threshold of his kingdom. The master lowered the little guest into a glass bed in the middle of the glass hall.
He walked away and waited for the little one to wake up. After a while, the boy opened his eyes and began to think about where he was. His gaze fell on the glass table by the bed, full of beautiful crystal toys that no other child had ever had. His hand began following the flash of light reflecting the glass, so he waved his toy and played for a while.
And then the image of his dear house came out before his eyes and he cried. – Why are you crying, my little one? The river lord asked. “My house,” replied the boy. The master found it strange and asked: – Is your house more beautiful than these courts? “It is,” the little boy replied, tears streaming down his cheeks. The master saw that all that reflective glass and its glare was in vain, so he left. The boy cried and cried until he fell asleep.

Then his host approached him on tiptoe, and carried him quietly into a nicer hall. When the boy woke up, he found himself on a silver bed, in the middle of a room where everything was made of pure silver. Even the toys on the silver table by the bed were made of silver. The child took them in amazement and played for a while. But the toys reminded him of his brother and sister with whom he always shared the game, so he began crying bitterly.
The master watched all this carefully behind a rich curtain. “Who are you crying for now, dear child?” He asked carefully and approached him. “For my sister and brother,” sobbed the unfortunate guest. The master realized that all that silver would not comfort him, so he let him cry and fall asleep. Then he moved him as carefully as he could to the third chamber. The boy later opened his eyes and noticed that his bed was made of the purest gold. And not just the bed. The table, the chairs, even the toys – everything
was golden. The little boy had heard before about golden treasures and miraculous courts, but he could never imagine so much splendor and beauty. Enchanted, he carefully selected a few gold toys and surrendered to the game. But then, it seemed to him that his mother and father were looking for him from a distance, so he sobbed more painfully than ever before. – Why are you crying now, boy? Do you know that you got
what no child has? – I want my mother and father! The little boy sobbed. “Are they dearer to you than pure gold?” The river lord barely uttered. He knew nothing of his father, nor of his mother or brothers. “They’re nicer,” the boy admitted. The master then went and picked up all the pearls that were hidden lying in the depths of his water kingdom.
He brought handfuls of them and began to shower the boy until he filled the whole room. – Are your parents even dearer than this beauty and treasure? He said. The boy closed his eyes before all the reflective surface. Everything around him shone and trembled. However, the treasures the river lord had presented him could never have the same loving and affectionate glow like his house. “Your labor is in vain, my lord,” he
said at last. – My father and mother are dearer than those pearls and gold and all the treasures that this world has seen on earth and is hiding under it. The river lord realized that everything was in vain and it became clear to him that he would never comfort the little one. He waited for the child to fall asleep and carefully took him in his arms and carried him to the river bank. The clothing the child took off before stepping into the water were still there.
The river lord filled the child’s pockets with gold and pearls, said goodbye to the boy and sank into the green waves with a lot of sadness. The boy woke up on the banks of the river. He got up and dressed, not knowing whether the river lord’s kingdom was a dream or not. But when he put his hands in his pockets and took out the gold and pearls from them, he realized that he had indeed been in the halls. He ran home and found everyone there in tears.
They thought that the child had drowned, so the joy was endless when they saw him.
There was no end to their pleasure. Only when the child handed over all that wealth, poverty and misery escaped from the house in which happiness continued to live on forever. The river lord felt the burden of his loneliness stronger than ever. Until then, he believed that his castle was the most precious treasure in the whole world.
When he lost the boy, he realized that people have something much more expensive and dearer than that: They have brothers and sisters and love that he had not known about before. He was so sad that he cried for three whole days and three whole nights.
From his tears the water swelled more than ever before. The Lord left his mighty kingdom and went to roam the world, looking for the treasure that people carried within themselves …

A song to Vodan and his son Moran

Illustration: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TWiw2Imkrss/UxpLcEXw96I/AAAAAAAAAT8/QHSqJ_nHOyw/s1600/Vodan.jpg

On New Year’s Eve, http://www.starisloveni.com/ZimskePesme.html
Before the New Year (Serbian Christmas, also known as Vasiljevdan on January 14th), girls from the village bring water from various springs, pour it into a cauldron and put dried flowers and their rings in it, and then they preform rituals to determine their faith.
When they come to the water, they sing songs to Vodan (the male variation for Water and his son Moran, from the Serbian word for grieving).

“Oh Vodan, Vodan
and your son Moran!
Don’t bother the water we take.
Don’t let Morica into it.
We need the water
for our wedding rings.
Pure water, the purest,
so our love is as pure
Without your son Moran
and his sister Morica,
for our men they disturb.
From our arms they take them,
they love them.
They take them into the depths,
those cold depths
and damn whirls.”

In this song, water is presented as the habitat of evil beings. The name of the master of water is derived from the name of the element he rules (water is voda in Srerbian). He is accompanied by his son Moran and daughter Morica. The names of these creatures contain the same root as the verb “moriti” which means to grieve, and they can also be connected with the name of the goddess of winter and death, Morana. In any case, the water is inhabited by demons that cause death. The destructive effect of female demons is especially emphasized as a contrast to the girls who are trying to appease them.

Destiny

Illustration https://www.detinjarije.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Sinisa-Banovic-Usud.jpg

Two brothers lived together as one household. One did everything and the other was equally idle, and ate and drank all day long. God had given them plenty of everything: cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, even in harnesses and in everything else. The one who worked once thought to himself: “Why would I work for this lazy person? I’d better separate, so I can work for myself, and he can do as he wishes! “And so he said to his brother one day:” Brother, it’s not right I do everything and you don’t help in anything, you just eat and drink. I want us to separate. ” The other began to beg him: “Don’t, brother, it’s good for both of us, you have everything in your hands, yours and mine, and I’m satisfied no matter what you do.”

The first stayed with his initial decision, and so the second brother agreed and said to him: “If that’s the case, it’s simple for you, you share it as you know how.” They divided everything in order, the second (idle) brother took his half and took on servants for each of his duties: for the cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs and even blacksmiths for the harnesses. He said to them: “I leave all my good to you and to God”; and again he began to live as before. The other brother worked hard for his goods as before, guarding and supervising, but he saw no progress, only ruin, which got worse day by day, until he became so impoverished that he no longer had shoes but went barefoot. Then he said to himself, “I am going to my brother to see how he is.” 

He went and found a flock of sheep in the meadow, and there was no shepherd there, but a beautiful girl sitting and spinning a golden wire. Calling her, “God help you,” he asked her whose sheep they were, and she replied, “Whose am I, whose are the sheep!” And he said to her, “And whose are you?” She replied, “I am your brother’s happiness.” The first brother got angry and asked: “And where is my happiness?” The girl answered him: “Your happiness is far from you.” “Can I find it?” He asked, and she replied, “You can, just look for it.” When he heard this and saw that his brother’s sheep are good, so good that they can’t be better, he didn’t even want to go and look at other cattle, but from there he just went to his brother. When his brother saw him, he laughed at him and cried, “Where have you been for so long?” Seeing him naked and barefoot, he immediately gave him some slippers and money. After that, after a few days of communion, the first brother got up to go back to his own house.

When he came home, he took a bag on his shoulder, put some bread in it, grabbed a stick in his hands and went out into the world to seek his happiness. Traveling like that, he came to a large forest and, going through it, he found a gray-haired old girl under a bush, sleeping, so he swung his stallion and hit her from behind. She barely got up and opened her eyes from the grime in them, and spoke to him: “Pray to God that I fell asleep, as if I was awake, you wouldn’t even have those sandals.” Then he said to her, “And who are you, since I wouldn’t even have these sandals?” She answered him, “I am your happiness.” When he heard that, he began to shout, “And you are my happiness?! Who gave you to me?” And she immediately replied: “Destiny gave me to you.” He then asked her: “And where is that Destiny?” “Go and look for it”, she said. At that moment she disappeared. The man went to look for his Destiny. 

Going like that, he came to a village, and saw in the village a big manor house, and a big fire in it, so he thought to himself : “There should be Destiny here”, so he went inside. When he looked inside, he saw that there was a large cauldron on the fire, dinner cooking in it, and the host was sitting next to the fire. The man, entering the house, called the host: “Good evening!” And the host accepted him: “God bless you!”, and he told him to sit next to him as he started asking him where he was from and where he was going. The traveler told him everything. He told him how he was a landlord and how he became impoverished, how he now plans to go to Destiny to ask her why he is poor. He asked the host why he prepared such a strong meal, and the host said to him: “Well, my brother, I am the landlord and I have a lot of everything, but I can’t feed my children, nothing seems to be enough from them; when they sit down to eat dinner, everything is snatched from each other, and that big cauldron of food disappears in an instant. After they finished dinner, the landlord’s wife came and picked up all the bones in one pile, and threw them aside for the furnace. The brother wondered why the landlord’s wife threw the bones for the furnace, when in unison two old figures came out, dry as ghosts, and began to suck on those bones. He asked the host, “What is behind the furnace, brother?” And he answered him: “It is, brother, my father and mother, as if they are chained to this world, they did not want to die.” The next day, while they were hunting, the host said to him: “Brother, warn me too if you find Destiny anywhere, ask him what kind of misfortune this is that I can’t satisfy my company in any way, and why my father and mother didn’t die.” He promised to ask him, said goodbye and went on to look for Destiny. 

After some time, he came to another village one evening, and asked in one house if he could be given a room, and they welcomed him and asked him where he was going. He told them everything, all in order how and what happened. Then they began telling him: “For God’s sake, brother, when you go there, ask for us why we have not been not given good cattle, but only one that goes backwards.” He vowed to ask Destiny, and went on the next day. 

Going like that, he came to water, and began to shout, “Oh water! Oh water! Carry me! “And the water asked him,” Where are you going? ” He told her where he’s going, and as the water carried him, it said “Please, brother, ask Destiny why I have no life in me.” He promised the water that he would ask, and then he went on. 

After going so long, he finally came to a forest and there he found a hermit asked him if he could tell him what about Destiny. The hermit replied, “Go this way over the mountain, and you will come right in front of his court, but when you go out before Destiny, say nothing but whatever he does, follow suit, until he asks you himself. ” The man thanked the hermit, and went over the mountain. When he came to Destiny’s court, he had something to see: the court was like if a kingdom. Servants and maids were rushing in all directions and Destiny was sitting alone at the finished table and having dinner. When the man saw that, he sat down at the table and started to have dinner. After dinner, Destiny went to bed, and the man followed suit. When it was about midnight, it started to thunder terribly and an indistinctive voice said: “Oh Destiny! Oh Destiny! Many many souls were born today, give them what you are going to do. “Destiny got up and opened a box next to his bed, filled with money. He began to throw all the gold coins around the room, saying: “As I had today, may they have forever”. 

When the day dawned in the morning, there were no courts, but in their place a middle sized house, but there was plenty of everything in it. When it is before evening, Destiny sat down for dinner, and as before, the man sat down with him, without saying a word. After dinner they went to bed. When it was about midnight, it began to thunder terribly, and an indistinctive voice said “Oh Destiny! Oh Destiny! So many and so many souls were born today, but give them what you will. “Then Destiny got up and opened the chest next to his bed, but there were no gold coins, but silver coins and some regular bronze ones. Destiny began to scatter money around the room, saying:” As for me today, so to them forever. ” When the day dawned in the morning, there was no house from yesterday, but a smaller one in its place. Destiny worked every night, and his house shrank every morning, until finally it became a small barrack, and Destiny took a showel and started digging, and the man followed suit. They dug the entire day, and when evening came, Destiny took a piece of bread, broke it in half and gave to the man. They dined, and after dinner they went to bed. When it was about midnight, it started to thunder terribly again, and an indistinctive voice said: “Oh Destiny! Oh Destiny! So many and so many souls were born today, give them what you will. “

Just as before, Destiny got up and opened the chest, and began to spill its content, random trinkets and the odd coin, saying: “Like me today, so with them forever.” When dawn broke, the barrack turned into large courts as they had been the first day. Destiny then asked, “What have you come for?” The brother finally told him everything in order about his troubles and that he came to ask him why he gave him bad luck. Then Destiny said to him: “You saw how I spilled gold coins the first night, and what happened afterwards. As it was for me that night when someone was born, it will be like that forever. You were born a poor night, so you will be poor forever. Your brother was born on a happy night, so he will be happy forever.  But, since you came all this way and tried so hard, I will tell you how you can help yourself. Your brother has a daughter, Milica; she is as happy as her father. When you go home, take Milica in as if she were your ow child, so whatever you get, say everything is hers. ” 

He thanked Destiny, and said to him again:” There is a rich landlord in this village and he has plenty of everything, but is unhappy that his family can never be satisfied. He prepares a full cauldron of food for his children, but that is still not enough for them. And the father and mother of that landlord seem to be chained to this world, aged, blackened and withered like ghosts because they can’t die. He begged me, Destiny, when I was with him at his house to ask you why this is and what he can do. ” Destiny answered him: “It is all because he does not respect his father and mother. He threw them behind the stove to eat. If he puts them at the head of the table, and to gives them the first glass of wine and brandy of the night, the children wouldn’t be perpetually hungry and his parents’ souls would say goodbye. “Then he asked Destiny again:” In a village next to that one, when I spent the night in one house, my hosts complained to me that their cattle walking backwards so they begged me to ask you why that is. ” Destiny answered him: “It is because he slaughters the worst cattle for his closest. If he would slaughter his best, instead of selfishly hiding it, it would all be as I should.” Then he asked him about water: “Why is it that water has no life in it? ” Destiny answered him: “Because water has not yet drowned any man. But don’t tell her until she carries you over, she’ll drown you right away. “

Then he thanked Destiny, and went home. When he came to that water, the water asked him, “What is the matter with Destiny?” And he answered her, “Carry me, and then I will tell you.” When the water took him to the other side, he ran, and when he moved away enough, he looked back and shouted: “Oh, water! Oh water! You haven’t drown any men, that’s why you don’t have life in you. “When the water heard that, and it tried spilling over the shore and after him, but he ran away, you barely escaping. 

When he came to the village where the man with bad cattle lived, he could hardly wait for the traveler to return with an answer: “What the hell, brother! Did you ask Destiny?” He answered him: “Yes, and Destiny says: when you celebrate your closest, you slaughter the worst. Slaughter the best cattle you have, and all your cattle will walk normally.” When he heard that, he said to him: “Stay, brother, in are not even three days away from our celebration, so if it is true, I will give you an apple. ” He stayed there until the celebration. When the day came, the host killed the best bull, and from that moment on, the cattle were always well. After that, the host gave him five cattle, and he thanked him and went on. 

When he came to that village to the host who had an unhappy family, the host welcomed him: “How is it, brother, for God’s sake! What does Destiny say? “And he answered him:” Destiny says: you do not respect your father and mother, but you throw in the stove for them to eat. If you put them at the head of the table and give them the first glass of brandy and wine, you would solve all of your problems. ” When the host heard that, he told his wife, and she immediately washed and combed her father-in-law and mother-in-law, changed their clothes nicely, and when evening came, the host put them at the head of the table and gave them the first glasses of brandy wine. From that hour, the family could not eat as slowly as they ate, and the next day, both the father and mother were at peace. The host gave him two bulls as a sign of gratitude, and the traveling brother thanked him and went home. 

When he came to his homeland, acquaintances began to meet him and ask: “Whose cattle are those?” And he answered everyone: “Brothers, they belong to Milica, my nephew.” When he came home, he immediately went to his brother and began to beg him: “Give me, brother, Milica to be mine. You see, I don’t have anyone. “And his brother answered,” All right, brother, here’s Milica. ” He took Milica and took her home, and after that he gained a lot, but he said everything was hers. Once he went out into the field to visit the grain, the grain is beautiful, it couldn’t be better. A passerby asked him: “Whose grain is this?”. He was deceived and said: “Mine.” As soon as he said that, the grain ignited and began to burn, and when he saw that, he ran after the man: “Stop, brother, it’s not mine, it belongs Milica, my nephew.” The grain was immediately extinguished, and he stayed happy with Milica around.

Ivanday songs, Morana doll

Illustration https://www.rokselana.com/ritualna-kupanja-pletenje-venaca-preskakanje-vatri-docekujemo-kupala-ili-nam-se-smesi-ivanjdan/

In some parts of Serbia, it was customary to make a doll out of Ivan and Petranj flowers, place a wreath on its head, and then release it to float down the river, while certain songs were sung.
The doll was called Murena, Morana or Čojčole.

Oh, our Mureno,
Oh, our dear Čojčol!
Float, float through the water
From there further into the sea.
When you’re in the sea
The big black one,
Say to them Mureno
Tell them Čojčole!
I swim, I swim young ones,
I swim, I swim my friends
From a far country
Where there is Kupalo
And with him Koledo
Both brothers, equal.
And only good they gave,
Every was a good year
Every fig white.
I’m chased by girls
Without men by their side,
For the great comrades,
That country had raised
Country that raised them they defend.
It already amazes me, sea,
Send those troops there
And strong Lord Dušan
Who leads them to the sea.
The girls wanted men,
The emperor didn’t give them,
But took them to fight.
If he doesn’t give them to their women,
They will die waiting,
Cherry to pity God.

If the semantic layers regarding water as the habitat of the souls of the dead, and puppets as substitutes for human sacrifice are neglected, this poem can also be interpreted in a way concerning fertility. The previously mentioned deities, the brothers Kupalo and Koledo, provided
abundance in food, and now numerous births are expected as a result. Fertility and renewal concern nature and the human community alike.
Kupalo (June 22) – a holiday of the summer solstice. On this day, ritual bathing was practiced and a doll called Kupalo was ritually burned or thrown into the water. Later, this holiday in Russia became the holiday of Ivan Kupalo, also known as the day of St. John.

Morana, Goddess of death

Morana is a general Slavic deity of death. It appears under the names Maren, Marena, Mora, Kikimora. The name Morana comes from the Indo-European root MOR which means death.
Words with the same meaning in many languages ​​(death, dying, moro-morire in latin for instance) come from that root. As in many other pagan religious systems, Morana is a female deity (for Greeks it is Persephone, the Romans Proserpine, for the Celts Morigen or Morgan), which must certainly be understood as a logical consequence of the fact that female beings are
clearly associated with giving life, by birth, therefore it is somehow logical that the taking of life is connected with a female being.

CURICULUM MORTIS – THE LIFE OF DEATH

Morana is the goddess of death. She is one of the three emanations of the great white goddess.
She was born in the love embrace of Rode-.Eurinoime and the Great North Wind (Ofion, Northern 28, Stribor), those are her parents. She is the mistress of fertility and the mistress of waters of rivers and the sea. When in her human form, Morana is a slender young woman, with long black hair. Occasionally, she takes on her animal figure, the figure of a large Moruna fish.
A large number of different demons are in her service, the most famous being midwives and the sea. She is friends with the Plague, the demon of disease, with July-black god, the god of evil, with the deities of war, with the demons of Winter and Hunger, but her friendship with them is not permanent, she is not completely faithful to her friends, because she has her other face. The face of fertility. Morana moves between worlds, between the Real and Realm, she is a chthonic deity. The birds that announce her arrival are the raven and the cuckoo, a small owl that emits a characteristic cry.
When Dabog got married for the first time, the Russians knew his first wife as Golden Maya, the Serbs knew her as Zlatka. She gave birth to her daughter Ilu, whom Serbs know as Poljelja, but died and went to the Realm. Dabog went after her, to look for her. Arriving there, he met the beautiful Morana. She decided to seduce him, and for that purpose gave him the water of oblivion, Jahorika, to drink , and he forgot who he was and why he came to the Realm. He became Moran’s husband and slave. Morana is, of course, unfaithful, fell in love with Jul-the black god, so she wanted to poison Dabog. She offered him a cup of poisonous water with Trusovina, but her sister Živa (the Living One) replaced Trusovina with her own drink, the wanter of life. Thus, Dabog avoided death, remembered who he was, and left the Realm with Živa. The sun returned to the world of people.
With Dabog, Morana has a son, Van. Van is the child of parents who no longer love each other, who actually hate each other. His mother transfers part of her hatred towards Dabog to her son, thus she blinds and throws him into a pit. His white horse screams at the edge of the pit while his
master falls. Radgost, the envoy of the sun gods and Dabog’s brother, hears him and rushes to Van’s help. When he pulls him out of the pit, he is taken to Živa, who heals Van’s eyes with her “living water”, so he can once again see. He then returns to his father Dabog. Who is a powerful god, who catches Morana and burns her at the stake (on White Sunday), to purify her with fire and forsake her back to the Realm. While burning at the stake, Morana curses her son Van to become a WOLF, and it happens immediately. But, at that moment, Dabog’s daughter Poljelja, Van’s sister, learns from the gods that she can save her brother from his wolf’s destiny. He will be saved if she is silent for seven years. Van’s faithful sister pledges that she will do so, and doesn’t speak not even when she is married or when her husband goes to war. She doesn’t even speak when her evil mother-in-law throws her wonderful sons into the river and replaces them with puppies. Her brother, Van, still a wolf, saves the children from the river, takes them to the forest and takes care of them. When Poljelja’s husband returns from the war, the evil mother-in- law shows him the puppies that his wife allegedly gave birth to. The angry husband wants to burn her at the stake. But, at that moment, seven years of her silence come to an end, her brother is saved and he gets his human face again. He comes from the forest and brings three of her wonderful sons. Poljelja and Van tell everyone the truth about their suffering. Van is no longer a wolf, but he is not a god either, because he was cursed by his mother. He can only be a man while his days on earth last. That is how he became the ancestor of the Serbs, their mythical
ancestor.
This, of course, means that DEATH (Morana) is our great-grandmother, in whose arms we always return in the end.

From the book: ” Slavic Gods in the Balkans ”, Dr Aleksandra Bajić, Publisher ” Pešić and Sons ”, Belgrade, 2008, Serbia

The Changa Project conveys its personal exploratory spirit and willingness to dive deep into ourselves and the idea of this band. The song Hello Morano was created from their research of the traditional knowledge, but also traces of deeply hidden emotions and visions, related to the Old Slavic gods. The encounter with Morana, the Goddess of Death, purification and new birth, the one who teaches us that the fear is our allies, as the the pain is one of the important teachers, turned into sound and rhythm. This musical texture develops before us in a context in which the words of the song are written by Ivan Seferović, becomes alive and are processed directly by our unconscious mind,  and, like an invocation, making Morana alive before us. Faced with the cruelty of this mythical being, we question our conformism, drowsiness and awaken in ourselves new shoots of hope and will to strongly continue our life in accordance with our will.