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| Devana | |
|---|---|
Goddess of the hunt, wild animals, forests | |
| Other names | Zevana, Dziewanna |
| Weapon | Bow and arrows |
| Animals | Sighthounds |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Artemis |
| Norse | Skaði |
| Roman | Diana |
Devana (Polish:Dziewanna[d͡ʑɛˈvan.na]ⓘ,Latin:Dzewana),Zevana (Polish:Ziewanna), less oftenZievonia (Polish:Ziewonia, Zewonia) is the goddess of wild nature, forests, hunting and the moon worshiped by theWestern Slavs. In the sources, she was first mentioned in the 15th century byJan Długosz, who compared her to the Roman goddessDiana.Dziewanna is also a Polish name forVerbascum, and the etymology of the word is unclear. After strong criticism fromAleksander Brückner, researchers rejected her authenticity, but nowadays it is accepted by an increasing number of researchers. Sometimes, in folk rituals, she performs together withMorana.
Proto-Slavic name forVerbascum is reconstructed as*divizna (cf.Polish:dziwizna,[1]Czech andSlovak:divizna,Serbo-Croatian:дивѝзма,divìzma), with secondary form as*divina (cf.Polish:dziewanna,Ukrainian:дивина́,romanized: dyvyná). That word has aProto-Balto-Slavic origin and appears inLithuanian language as e.g.devynspė͂kė,devynjėgė. The onlycognate from outside theBalto-Slavic group may beDacian wordδιέσεμα/diésema (Dioscorides), which is being derived from*diu̯es-eu̯smn („burning sky”) and compared toGermanHimmelbrand (Verbascum; „burning heavens”), but exact etymology of Slavic word is unclear.Russianlinguist andetymologistAleksandr Anikin notes a similarity between the Lithuanian terms forVerbascum and the Lithuanian worddevynì "nine".[2]
There are several interpretations of Devana's name. The most obvious etymology are words such asdziewa,dziewka, "girl, young woman, maiden", anddziewica, "virgin", a word derived from thedziewa.[3][4] This etymology can be supported by fact, that Diana (andArtemis – her greek equivalent) is usually depicted in myths as a virgin and has never had any offspring or a consort.
Another word, from which the name of the goddess may come from, may be theold Polishdziwy, "wild".[5][6]
It was also proposed to combine Devana's name with theProto-Indo-European god of heaven*Dyēus.[5] Slavic folklore includes demons with a similar name, e.g.Polish andCzechdziwożona,Russiandiv,Bulgarian andCroatiansamodiva ("rusalka,boginka, the magical creature"), etc. It is assumed that the feminine demons-divas derive from the Proto-Slavic word*diva, and this word is the feminine form of the word*divъ ("div (demon)").*divъ is derived from thePIE. word*Dyēus ("god of heaven") through the intermediate *deywós ("heavenly") and its closest related word isDievs – god of heaven inBaltic mythology.*Dyēus in the Slavs has acquired demonic characteristics as a result of cultural contacts withIranian peoples, who have demonized the Iranian continuator of*Dyēus as a result of theZoroastrianist reform.[7][5][8] An argument for such an etymology is that Diana is also etymologically derived from*Dyēus. Anikin notes thatVerbascum has sometimes been used to lighten hair, and combines the word with PIE. the root*dei-u̯- or*dī- ("to shine, to be bright"),[2] from which also comes*Dyēus.
The suffix-ana,-anna, which occurs in the names of many goddesses, may be derived from the PIE. word*ansu meaning "lord, ruler, god".[9][8]
The first source to mention Devana is the CzechMater Verborum - a Latin dictionary dating back to the 13th century. The text of the dictionary can be read: "Diana, Latonae et Iouis branch" ("Diana, daughter ofJupiter andLatona") and a Czechgloss: "Devana, Letuicina and Perunova dci" ("Devana, daughter of Letuna andPerun").[10] However,Mater Verborum was discovered in the 19th century byVáclav Hanka, who was proved to have falsified texts on Czech history, making this source unreliable.[11][12]
The main source about Devana isJan Długosz'sAnnales:
And since theLechitic state happened to be founded in an area containing vast forests and groves that the ancient people believed to be inhabited by Diana and that Diana claimed power over them, Cerera, on the other hand, was considered the mother and goddess of the harvests the country needed, [therefore] these two goddesses: Diana in their language called Dziewanna and Cerera called Marzanna enjoyed a special cult and devotion.[13]
— Jan Długosz,Annals or Chronicles of the Famous Kingdom of Poland, 1455.
In another place he writes that whenMieszko ordered the drowning of the idols of pagan gods, "this destruction and drowning of the idols is still present and renewed in some Polish villages, where they carry the images of Devana and Morena on a long stick and throw them into the swamps and sink onLaetare Sunday".[14] However, the information of Długosz that the custom of drowning Death is a legacy of the destruction of Slavic idols by Christians is false, because this custom is already condemned in theProvincial statutes in short, which were written before Długosz'sAnnales (1420s). In thePolish Chronicle a similar custom is described byMarcin Bielski:
It was still in my memory that on White Sunday they drowned an idol, one, having dressed a sheaf of hemp or straw in human clothing, which was shown around the whole village, at the nearest lake or puddle, after removing his clothes, they threw it into the water, singing mournfully: Death twists at the fence, let us seek trouble; then they would run home from that place as soon as possible, whoever fell then had this prophecy that he would die that year. They called this idol Marzana, I would say it's the godMars, Ziewanna as Diana.[15]
— Marcin Bielski,Chronicle of Poland, 1597.
In Poland, the goddess is also mentioned byMaciej Stryjkowski: "Diana, the goddess of hunting, was called by theSarmatians Zievonia or Devana in their language", "Christ, you enlightened Mieszko who was born blind, and you brought Poland to your baptism.Grom,Ladon, Morana,Pogvizd, Zevana gave up to you".[16] Devana is also mentioned byMiechowita,Guagnini,Kromer and priestWujek.[17]
Aside from Długosz, this goddess is mentioned byOskar Kolberg in his work onLusatia: „Dživica, goddess of forests and hunting, peculiarly in southernSorbs. This beautiful woman with a bow and arrow has greyhounds. They also talk about someone who stayed in the forest at noon: Hladaj so, zo dživica k tebi ńepřindže. They think that she is hunting also by moonlight. Džiwi [means here] wild, and dživina [means] wildmeat.”[6]
Devana can also be confirmed bytoponymy, e.g. theDěvín peak in thePavlovské Hills [cs],Devínska Nová Ves, or Devin – a Slavic name forMagdeburg[18][a] and others.
The only potential, non-Western Slavic source isSermon by Saint Gregory, which lists the figure of Diva alongside other gods such asMokosh and Perun. Diva passed fromOld Russian toCzech and was considered byJosef Jungmann to be another name of the goddessLada.[18]
Devana, apart from the sources mentioned above, does not appear directly in folklore, but some legends may point to her. Devana may be indicated by the legend ofŁysa Góra, which was presented as "Polish Olympus" in Polish culture. According to local legends, before the monastery was built there, on Łysa Góra in pre-Christian times stood agord (Wielkopolska Chronicle) or a castle (Długosz). According to Długosz, the castle was to be built bygiants, and in the folk version by the "Proud Lady", which was her seat. The Proud Lady, who was to defeatAlexander the Great, fell into pride and declared herself Diana. God did not bear it and destroyed the castle with lightning.Marek Derwich [pl] andMarek Cetwiński [pl] interpret The "Proud Lady" as Devana.[20][21]
Later on, Devana is mentioned by the ScottishfolkloristJames G. Frazer in hisThe Golden Bough, who describes aSilesian custom where the figure of Death (Marzanna) is melted or destroyed. Then, the young people go to the forest, cut down a smallfir, strip away the bark and then decorate it withfestoons, paper roses,pisanki, etc. The tree is calledMay orSummer. Then the boys walk with this tree from house to house and sing songs:
Polish text
|
Frazer continues: "Sometimes they also bring from the forest a nicely assumed doll, which they callSummer,May orFiancée. In Poland they call her the Devana, the goddess of spring".[22] A similar practice is described byMarcin Kromer inDe origine et rebus gestis Polonorum libri XXX.[23] InPodlasie region, thePrincess, a beautiful girl dressed in colorful robes, flowers and red beads was shown around, which may be related to the Silesian custom.[24]
In Slavic folklore there are devony (Polish:dziewonie) – female mountain spirits or demons living in the caves, engaged inspinning, related to the forest fleece,[25] who may be a demonized Devana.[8] It can be similar withdziwożony.[8]
in Polish,dziewanna (less oftendziwizna[1]) is also the name forverbascum, used for skin care and treatment of respiratory problems. Szyjewski notes, however, that thedziewanna was sometimes called thebraid of the Virgin Mary,[22] and Kolankiewicz that in medieval iconography theBlessed Virgin Mary was sometimes depicted with theverbascum in her hand, andmarzanna (name for six plants), was also a synonym for thedziewanna in the 16th century.[26]
The first studies on the "pantheon of Długosz" denied the existence of all or most of the gods he mentioned. The main critics wereAleksander Brückner andStanisław Urbańczyk. After rejecting the hypercritical approach to "pantheon of Długosz" many researchers, such asAleksander Gieysztor,Andrzej Szyjewski,Vyacheslav Ivanov andVladimir Toporov,[4] have been inclined to acknowledge the authenticity of at least some "Polish gods", including Devana.
In Greek mythology,Artemis' helpers arenymphs, whose closest Slavic equivalents areboginki, which are found in Western Slavs, mainly in Poland. Boginki are young girls dressed in white or naked, who inhabited the shores of reservoirs, forests and caves from which they come out at night, especially on summer moon nights. They took care of wild animals and were often hostile to people, especiallymen. Themoon was their "god" – it ruled their activity. Boginki were also supposed to shoot from a bow.[27] In theRuthenian legends, the number ofvilas (similar to boginki) which are sisters, is 27 ("three times nine") or, in another version, 30, and this may be related to theecliptic division into 27 zodiacs (egNakshatra in Hinduism) andlunation. These features of boginki-nymphs may tie them to Devana-Artemis – goddess of forests and the moon.[28]
Due to the multiple appearances of the pair Devana andMorana in the spring ceremonies, some researchers have suggested that both of these goddesses could be the two faces of one goddess of life and death. A similar motif occurs in Indo-European religions, e.g. the ScandinavianHel ("one half of her face had a handsome and pleasant expression, the other half dead and hideous") or the Greek couplePersephone-Kora, who spent half a year underground and half a year on earth.[24] According to Kolankiewicz, double goddess may be indicated by alleged connection of Devana withProto-Slavic*diva ("female spirit, boginka") and Iranian deva ("demon"). The archaic nature of Devana and Morana may be indicated by a connection to vegetation, and that connects them toMother Earth.[29]
During the Christianization, Devana could have been replaced by Our Lady of Thunder Candle (Polish:Matka Boża Gromniczna).[30] Polish legend says that she walks on February nights and protects fields from freezing. The iconography depicts her with the wolf (or wolves) she protected from death from the peasants, and whom she made her servant, with a basket or a nest oflarks at her feet, whose squeal was to herald the imminent coming of spring. In her hands, she always holds a "thunder candle" (Polish:gromnica, fromgrom "thunder"), which was used for fortune-telling, protect the house from wolves, lightning or evil, and used to burn the hair of children to protect them from ear disease. Thunder candle often occurs in sayings about the coming of spring.[31][30] In the past, thunder candle wicks were made ofverbascum[30] and sometimes was namedknotnica (fromknot "wick"),royal candle[1] orbraid of the Virgin Mary.[22] Connecting the feast of Our Lady of Thunder Candle (Candlemas) with wild animals appears in other Slavic countries.
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