Srbska zagonetka:
Pitanje: Visok otac, široka majka
Odgovor: nebo i zemlja
Serbian riddle:
Question: Tall (high) father, wide mother
Answer: sky and earth
The ancient belief in Father Sky and Mother Earth, preserved in Serbian tradition.
Father Sky and Mother Earth are at the core of the old European belief system.
In Serbian tradition the Father Sky and Mother Earth are known as:
Father Sky:
Dajbog - giving god
Djed - grandfather, male ancestor
Mother Earth:
Dajbaba - giving goddess
Baba - grandmother, female ancestor
The Father Sky was seen as three headed (Triglav, Troglav) or three faced, triple (Trojan) Sun god. He consisted of Jarilo (sun as a young man), Vid (sun as an adult, husband), Perun (sun as an old man, grandfather).
The Mother Earth was seen as three headed (Triglava, Troglava) or three faced, triple (Trojana) earth goddess. She consisted of Vesna (earth as young girl), Mokoš (earth as an adult woman, wife), Morana (earth as an old woman, witch).
It is the dynamic interplay between the Sky and the Earth, the intercourse between the Father Sky and Mother Earth, which creates all life.
The Mother Earth was seen as three headed (Triglava, Troglava) or three faced, triple (Trojana) earth goddess. She consisted of Vesna (earth as young girl), Mokoš (earth as an adult woman, wife), Morana (earth as an old woman, witch).
It is the dynamic interplay between the Sky and the Earth, the intercourse between the Father Sky and Mother Earth, which creates all life.
I knew of Triglav, but not Triglava. Thank you for posting since I knew almost nothing of our pre-Christian beliefs until recent years. Anyone can study Greek, Norse, or Indian mythology, but not much attention is given to Slavic mythology here in the West.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't already, I very strongly recommend you read, E. J. Michael Witzel's "The Origins of the World's Mythologies," Oxford University Press, 2012.
ReplyDeleteWitzel has a very extensive discussion of the sky/earth myths and the closely related tree myths. He also points out that there are two basic mythologies: an African/Australian mythology and an Eurasian/American mythology. Indo-european mythology is a subset of the latter.
Thank you very much Sykes for this info. I never heard of this book but interestingly I am coming to the same conclusion based on my research. This is great actually. Kind of sanity check :) I actually believe that the Eurasian/American mythology comes from the one common root which spread from probably Anatolia after the last glacial maximum and which reached North America via the north atlantic trading route at some stage during Mesolithic. But that is a long story... The key, for me, was Crom Dubh, Hromi Daba, Grom Div. It unlocked everything. I am curious if he features in this book.
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