Dragon who stole rain

In the past, during spring droughts, Serbs used to go to mountain lakes and pray for rain on their shores "to a dragon living in the lake who swallowed the rain"...

Procession lead by a man holding a cross would walk around the lake, after which the cross was throwh into the lake...As a sacrifice to the dragon...

These kind of ritual prayers used to be organised in many mountains like Stars Vlah, Mokra, Vinik, Bjelasica...

Rain swallowing, drought causing dragon is a common theme in Slavic folklore...And when a hero kills such a dragon by cutting his head(s) off (the only way to kill a dragon by the way), "rivers (of fertility) flow from each of his necks"...

We even know the name of the dragon to whom Serbs prayed for rain. Jarilo, Slavic sun god, whose name means "The brightly burning one", "The scorcher". He represents the sun's heat...Sun's heat which is life bringing in spring and life destroying in summer...

His symbol is snake, also symbol of sun's heat, because snakes only come out during warm part of the year. I talked about the snake as the symbol of the sun's heat in my article "Enemy of the sun" and "Chthonic animal". During the hottest period of the year, summer, snake turns into dragon, fire breathing, drought causing monster...The scorcher...Jarilo...

That Dragon is directly linked to the sun, is the sun, can be seen from Serbian folklore where "Sun ray calls Dragon his brother" and where "Dragon marries Sun's sister"...

We know this because when spring droughts come, Serbs, both Christian and Muslim living on mountains Šara and Korab, used to come together on the lakeshore on St George's day, old Jarilo's day, and sacrifice a ram whose blood was let flow into the lake. For the dragon...Jarilo...

Sacrificing a lamb on St George's day was a must for every Serbian family. This was originally blood sacrifice to Jarilo, the Dragon. Even after Jarilo was Christianised into St George, and became the Dragon killer, Serbs continued with their annual sacrifices...

Summer, time of scorching heat, time of the dragon, starts in Taurus (bull of summer). And for Taurus to start, Aries (ram of spring) needs to end (die)...I talked about this in my post "Aries must die". 

In the lakeside ritual killing of rams during droughts, on St George's day, Serbs explicitly equated St George, Jarilo with the Dragon...

Christian and Muslim Serbs also sacrificed young girls at the lake under Trojan fortress on Pešter highland...I talked about this in my post "Water bull"...

"According to the local legends, there once was a lake below the peak. The lake was a home to a three headed (!) dragon, or a water bull...Every year the local people sacrificed a young girl to the monster, so that it would leave them in peace. One year, it was Serbian king's daughter's turn to be sacrificed. But at the last moment, a knight, St George, arrived, killed the monster and saved the girl.

Interestingly, at the bottom of the Trojan peak lies Djurdjevica well (St George's well). This well is holly to both Christians and Muslims who live in the area, and they gather around every year on St George's day, to celebrate the Saint's day together..."

This legend equates dragon with the bull, the symbol of summer. Bull is the symbol of summer because summer starts in Taurus, bull... 

Source for the lakeside rain rituals: "Srpski Mitoloski Recnik - Grupa Autora"

PS:

Long ago, drought hit Kingsteignton in Devon.

There was not even enough water to baptise a baby.

The villagers sacrificed a ram in the dry bed of a stream. Water burst forth.

Ever since, the good folk of Kingsteignton have roasted a ram at Whitsuntide amidst much revelling...