Mat Zemlya Explained

Mat Zemlya (Matka Ziemia or Matushka Zeml'ja)^[1] is the Moist (or Water) Earth Mother^[2] and is probably the oldest deity in Slavic mythology^[3] besides Marzanna. She is also called Mati Syra Zemlya meaning Mother Damp Earth or Mother Moist Earth. Her identity later blended into that of Mokosh.

Mythology

In the early Middle Ages, Mati Syra Zemlya was one of the most important deities in the Slavic world. Slavs made oaths by touching the Earth, and sins were confessed into a hole in the Earth before death. She was worshipped in her natural form and was not given a human personage or likeness. Since the adoption of Christianity in all Slavic lands, she has been identified with Mary, the mother of Jesus.

An example of her importance is seen in this traditional invocation to Matka Ziema, made with a jar of hemp oil:

East  - "Mother Earth, subdue every evil and unclean being so that he may not cast a spell on us nor do us any harm."

West  - "Mother Earth, engulf the unclean power in thy boiling pits, and in thy burning fires."

South  - "Mother Earth, calm the winds coming from the South and all bad weather. Calm the moving sands and whirlwinds."

North  - "Mother Earth, calm the North winds and clouds, subdue the snowstorms and the cold."

The jar, which held the oil, is buried after each invocation and offering is made at each Quarter. (Slavonic mythology 1977:287)^[4]

Old Slavic beliefs seem to attest some awareness of an ambivalent nature of the Earth: it was considered men's cradle and nurturer during one's lifetime, and, when the time of death came, it would open up to receive their bones, as if it were a "return to the womb".^[5]

The imagery of the terre humide ("moist earth") also appears in funeral lamentations either as a geographical feature (as in Lithuanian and Ukrainian lamentations)^[6] or invoked as Mère-Terre humide ("Mother Moist Earth").^{[7] [8]}

Cultic practices

Up until World War I and the fall of the Russian Empire, peasant women would perform a rite to prevent against plague by plowing a furrow around the village and calling on the protection of the Earth spirits by shrieking.^[9]

Related characters

The Slavic bogatyr Mikula Selyaninovich, or Mikula the Villager, is closely connected with Mat Zemlya.^{[10] [11]}

See also

• Māra in Latvian folklore
• Mother Russia
• Mother Earth
• Zam

Further reading

• Pushkina, V.. "ОБРАЗ МАТЕРИ - СЫРОЙ ЗЕМЛИ КАК ЭКСПЛИКАЦИЯ АКСИОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ДОМИНАНТ ВОСТОЧНЫХ СЛАВЯН" [THE IMAGE OF THE MOTHER - RAW EARTH AS THE EXPLICATION OF AXIOLOGICAL DOMINANTS EASTERN SLAVS]. In: Аксиологический диапазон художественной литературы : сборник научных статей. - Витебск: ВГУ имени П. М. Машерова, 2017. pp. 290–293.

External links

• Day of the Divine Mother of Herbs

Notes and References

1. [Marija Gimbutas|Gimbutas, Marija]
2. Book: Thomas F. Rogers. Myth and Symbol in Soviet Fiction: Images of the Savior Hero, Great Mother, Anima, and Child in Selected Novels and Films. 1992. Mellen Research University Press. 978-0-7734-9849-5.
3. Book: Carolyn Emerick . The Three Golden Hairs: Slavic & Germanic Myth in Czech Folklore . Carolyn Emerick . 47 . GGKEY:SXE7T3JFNTY.
4. Book: Johnson, Kenneth. Slavic sorcery: shamanic journey of initiation. Llewellyn Publications. 1998. 1-56718-374-3. St. Paul, MN. 83–85. 37725456.
5. Васільчук, А. А.. "СЛАВЯНСКІЯ НАРОДНЫЯ УЯЎЛЕННІ ПРА ЗЯМЛЮ" [Slavic folk beliefs about the Earth]. In: МОВА–ЛІТАРАТУРА–КУЛЬТУРА. Матэрыялы VI Міжнароднай навуковай канферэнцыі г. Мінск, 28-29 кастрычніка 2010 года [LANGUAGE–LITERATURE–CULTURE. Proceedings of the VI International Scientific Conference in Minsk, October 28–29, 2010]. Minsk: БДУ. 2011. pp. 52-53.
6. Nevskaja, Lidija; Toucas-Bouteau, Michèle (traduceur). "Les lamentations balto-slaves: sémantique et structure". In: Cahiers slaves, n°3, 2001. La mort et ses représentations (Monde slave et Europe du Nord) pp. 201-202. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/casla.2001.904]; www.persee.fr/doc/casla_1283-3878_2001_num_3_1_904.
7. Adon'eva, S.B.; Kabakova, Galina (traducteur). "Lamentation dans le Nord de la Russie: texte et rituel". In: Cahiers slaves, n°6, 2002. Les études régionales en Russie (1890-1990). Origines, crise, renaissance. pp. 434. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/casla.2002.962]; www.persee.fr/doc/casla_1283-3878_2002_num_6_1_962
8. Labriolle, François de; Sériot, Patrick. "Lise Gruel-Apert, La tradition orale russe (compte-rendu)". In: Revue des études slaves, tome 68, fascicule 1, 1996. p. 138. www.persee.fr/doc/slave_0080-2557_1996_num_68_1_6318_t1_0137_0000_1
9. Book: Farrar, Janet. The Witches' Goddess : the Feminine Principle of Divinity. Phoenix. Farrar, Stewart.. 1987. 0-919345-91-3. Custer, Wash.. 245. 17759547.
10. Leonard Arthur Magnus, "The Heroic Ballads of Russia". K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, Limited, 1921, pp. 23-26.
11. Dixon-Kennedy, Mike (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. pp. 189-191. .