| Rozhanitsy | |
|---|---|
fate, destiny, luck | |
 Rodzanice, Marek Hapon, 2015 | |
| Other names | narecnitsy, sudzhenitsy |
| Artifacts | Spindle,golden thread |
| Consort | Rod |
| Equivalents | |
| Albanian | Ora,Fatia |
| Greek | Moirai |
| Roman | Parcae |
| Celtic | Brigid |
| Baltic | Laima |
Rozhanitsy,narecnitsy, andsudzhenitsy are invisible spirits or deities of fate in thepre-Christian religion of the Slavs. They are related to pregnancy, motherhood, marriage[1] and female ancestors,[2] and are often referenced together withRod.[3][4][2] They are usually mentioned as three together, but sometimes up to 9 together, of whom one was a "queen" or singular.[2] They are related to Dola, but it is not known on what terms. In Poland they were worshipped aszorze (auroras).[5]
In different regions of the Slavs and languages they were named differently:[2][6]
The termsrodzanica,rodjenica orrojenica come from the wordroditi ("giving birth") and literally mean "[female] birth attendant".[10]
The termssudiczka,sudica, orsojenica come from the wordsud ("judgment", "judge", "court") and literally mean "[female] judge".[10]
The termsnarecznica,nerechnitsa,narucnica mean "[female] name-giver".[10]
The termudelnica means "[female] granter" or "partitioner".[2]
The Bulgarian termsorisnici,urisnici,uresici come from the Greek wordόρίζοντες (orizontes "establish") and mean "[female] establisher”.[2]
Among theEastern Slavs, the personification of good fortune was also known as Dolya, whose name means "division", "participation", while bad luck was personified as its opposite, Nedolya.[2][11] AmongSerbs andCroats, on the other hand, personified good fortune was known as Sreća, meaning simply "luck".[12][3]
In some regions of Poland, the functions ofrozhanitsy were fulfilled by other figures:boginki inLesser Poland,kraśniki inPomerania.[13] InThe Catalogue Of Rudolph's Magic, written byEdward Karvot, who wrote the information collected byBrother Rudolf about the customs of paganWestern Slavs, we read that the Slavs "make sacrifices to their three sisters, which the pagans callClotho,Lachesis andAtropos, to lend them wealth." Rudolph, probably not knowing the language of the Slavs, gaverozhanitsy the names of Moirai, which he knew from Greek mythology, and who perform the same functions as therozhanitsy.[14]
After Christianization, therozhanitsy were replaced by theMothers of God or by female saints. In Russian charms for protection of adolescent boys,Parascheva,Anastasia, andBarbara were frequently called upon, while in Bulgarian folklore the Mother of God, Parascheva and Anastasia were more commonly invoked.[10]Angels or evenChrist Himself could also assume the functions ofrozhanitsy.[13]
The 11th-centuryWord of St. Gregory the Theologian about how pagans bowed to idols is the first source mentioningrozhanitsy:[15]
Also, this word reached the Slavs, and they began to offer sacrifices to Rod and the Rozhanitsy before Perun, their god. And earlier, they offered sacrifices to vampires [upyrí] and bereginyas [water-sprites?]. But even now, on the outskirts, they pray to him, the cursed god Perun, and to Khors and Mokosh, and to the vilas - they do this in secret.
The RussianWord of a certain Christ-lover:[16]
...we also mix some pure prayers with cursed idolatrous offerings [when] others, in addition to the "lawful table", set out tables and dishes dedicated to Rod and the Rozhanitsy, offending God.
The cult ofrozhanitsy was still popular in 16th-century Rus', as evidenced bypenance given during confession byOrthodoxpriests described in thepenitentiaries ofSaint Sabbas of Storozhi:[17]
A clergyman should ask if she has mixed pagan beliefs with Christian ones, and if she has prayed to the vilas, or if she has eaten and consumed alcohol in honor of Rod and the Rozhanitsy and different gods such as Perun, Khors, and Mokosh: three years of fasting with prostrations as penance.
Izmail Sreznevsky collected the following sources in hisMaterials for the Old Russian dictionary:[12]
Pledging sacrifice to rozhanitsy - filling a mug to the demon
pledging Bod (or Rod and rozhanitsy) a sacrifice and preparing a mixed drink for rozhanitsy (devils)
with the children cut their first hair and the women boil groat for rozhanitsy
if to rozhanitsy they are eating bread and cheese and honey strictly forbidden in one place, says (Isaiah): woe to those who drink and eat in honor of rozhanitsy
who is worshipper of kolach, or worshipper of rozhanitsy
Narecnitsy often appear in variousSouth Slaviclegends and epics. One of these is the epic ofPrince Marko:[18]
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The first to record the cult of auroras was the ethnographerZorian Dołęga-Chodakowski. He wrote about it in his workAbout Slavdom before Christianity:[19]
You have to go and descend under the villager's thatch in different distant sides, you have to hurry to his feasts, games and various adventures. There, in the smoke rising above their heads, old rituals still roam, old songs chant and the names of forgotten gods are spoken among the dances of the people. In this bitter darkness you can see three moons shining, three virgin auroras, seven wagon stars (Big Dipper).
Polish literature historianStefan Vrtel-Wierczyński inMedieval Polish secular poetry wrote a spell discovered byBrückner:[20]
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The Polish folklorist Stanisław Czernik in his bookTrzy zorze dziewicze: wśród zamawiań i zaklęć (Three virgin auroras: among orders and spells) cites the following spell:[21]
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TheWisła geographical and ethnographic monthly gives the following spell over a baby crying at night, that is spell for three days during sunset,[22] and a prayer for a good husband:[23]
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In the folklore of the Southern Slavs,rozhanitsy are described as beautiful girls or as good-natured elderly women. Sometimes they are also represented as three women of different ages: a girl, an adult woman and an elderly woman. Southern Slavs described them as beautiful figures with white, round cheeks. They were said to be dressed in white clothes, to have a white cap (mobcap) on their heads and to have silver and gold jewelry. In their hands they were said to hold burning candles through which their silhouettes were easily visible in the moonlight.[2]
Czech sources described them as white-dressed virgins or old women. They were said to be tall and transparent, their cheeks pale, their eyes apt to sparkle and charm people and their hair decorated with precious stones. Like the southern Slavs, they were said to wear white bonnets or veils.[2]
They were said to look after pregnant women,[1] and after giving birth to a child, they determined his fate for the rest of his life.[13] Therozhanitsy appeared at midnight three days after the birth of the child, at his cradle, when they were supposed to foretell the child's good or bad fate for life.[10][24] After determining the fate of the child, it was saved as an indelible mark on the forehead.[10][24] Therozhanitsy's opinions on the future of the child were often contradictory, and the final, oldest parent makes the final decision. The first, youngestrozhanitsa spins, the second measures and the third cuts off the thread of life – the longer the thread, the longer life will be.[2] Among southern Slavs,rozhanitsy were sometimes distinguished fromsudzhenitsy, who were said to appear before death and during important moments in life.[10]Rozhanitsy were sometimes called upon to protect the family from illness.[25]
According toProcopius, Slavs did not believe in destiny:[26]
For they believe that one god, the maker of lightning, is alone lord of all things, and they sacrifice to him cattle and all other victims; but as for fate, they neither know it nor do they in any wise admit that it has any power among men, but whenever death stands close before them, either stricken with sickness or beginning a war, they make a promise that, if they escape, they will straightway make a sacrifice to the god in return for their life; and if they escape, they sacrifice just what they have promised, and consider that their safety has been bought with this same sacrifice.
— Procopius
According to sources, a trapezoidal table with bread, honey, cheese and groat (kutia) was prepared in honor of therozhanitsy,[27][24] sometimes the meal was left in the shrines.[25] The hair cut during a child'sfirst haircut was also sacrified to the rozhanitsy.[10][24]Slovenes and Croats used to put candles, wine, bread and salt in the room where the woman lies the day after delivery. Failure to do so threatened that rozhanitsy would determine a child's bad fortune. Slovenians living inIstria laid bread under the boulders next to the caves in whichrozhanitsy were said to live, and in Bulgaria suppers were prepared for them. In Czechia, a table was prepared at which white clothes and chairs were waiting for therozhanitsy along with a chair on which bread, salt and butter were laid, and sometimes cheese and beer.[2] One of Rod and therozhanitsy's holidays was said to beDecember 26, which after Christianization was replaced by theOrthodox Church with theFeast of the Mother of God.[28]
Therozhanitsy were said to live at the end of the world in the palace of the Sun, which could connect them to the solar deity.[10]
In many European religions, there are three female figures foretelling the child's future, which indicates theIndo-European origin of therozhanitsy:
Old Russian sources also mention Rozhanitsa as a single person, usually in the pair of Rod and Rodzanica.[24] An example of such a source is the 12th-century chronicleGesta regum Anglorum, which describes the cult ofSvetovid among theSlavs of the Elbe, comparing him to the RomanFortuna and GreekTýchē. The 13th-century Russian translation of this chronicle translates Fortuna as Rozhanitsa (Рожданица).[29][30] Another example could be theWord about how pagans bowed to idols: "Artemis and Artemisa called Rod and Roshanitsa".[31] In such a situation, Rozhanitsa could be interpreted as aMother Goddess – the goddess of fertility and motherhood.[32][33] According to mythologists, the triple deities of fate are the hypostasis of the ancient goddess of fate. ProtogermanicUrðr and early GreekClotho are thought to be such goddesses. A similar process probably took place among the Slavs, and in that situation Dolya could be the original goddess of fate.[34]
Boris Rybakov linked Rozhanitsa withLada, claiming that Lada was Rod's partner and also the firstrozhanitsa.[35]
... the goddesses of fate (Ursitoare) who preside over the birth of each child and assign its destiny [are] present among the Slovenes of northern Yugoslavia. There, theSojenice orRojenice decide a child's fate and the time and manner of its death.
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