In modern paganism, it has long been accepted that the goddesses spinning, that is, the goddesses weaving the thread of a person’s fate, are two goddesses - Dolya and Nedolya (Srecha and Nesrecha), and the patron goddesses of birth - Rozhanitsy are three goddesses - Makosh Lada and Lelya. But is it? Is it possible that both statements are partially false? In this article, I will not claim that all of the following assumptions are facts. Rather, it is a version and material for reflection.
Let's start in order. First, let's analyze Who are Share and Nedolya and is it possible that there are not two spinning goddesses at all, and then we will try to deal with Rozhanitsy.
Dolya and Nedolya, who are also called Srecha and Nesrecha, are considered goddesses who weave the thread of fate. Share weaves a smooth and happy life, and Nedolya weaves problems, suffering and the death of a person. Surprisingly, when mentioning Doli and Nedol, for some reason everyone forgets to point to, although Makosh, judging by the mythology of the Slavs, is the mistress of a person’s fate. If we bring similar beliefs of other ancient peoples, then we will see the amazing fact that almost everywhere there are exactly three goddesses of fate.
1. The Romans have parkas: Nona pulls yarn, creating destiny; Decima winds the tow on a spindle, distributing the various paths of life; Morta - cuts the thread, ending a person's life.
2. Among the Greeks - moira: Cloto - spins life, Lachesis - determines fate; Atropos - cuts the thread of life.
3. Norns among the Scandinavians: Urd - creating fate (past); Verdandi - the formation of fate or the path of fate (present); Skuld is the future.
4. The southern Slavs have suzhenitsy. The names of the suzhenits are unknown, but the fact that there were three of them is evidenced by the fact that during the period of dual faith, the images of the suzhenits were transferred to three Christian saints - the Mother of God, St. Petka (Paraskeva Pyatnitsa) and Holy Week (St. Anastasia).
The fact that Slavic, German-Scandinavian, Roman and Greek paganism have the same origin, leading its history from the Indo-Europeans, has long been proven. Naturally, many of these beliefs have been greatly distorted over the millennia, however, as we can see, some fundamental things have remained in place. Thus, it can be assumed that we unfairly call only the two goddesses of fate Dolya and Nedolya, and Makosh, only as their mistress, because, apparently, Makosh, Dolya and Nedolya are three spins (and as you will learn a little later, the goddesses of spins only two goddesses can appear, they are the mother goddesses Makosh and Share). Makosh creates the thread of life (here, by the way, we can see her status as a Rozhanitsa), Dolya weaves fate (possibly not only good, but also bad), and Nedolya cuts the thread of life.
Now it’s worth making out who the Share and Nedolya are. If we go back a little to the ancient Roman parks, we will see that the third spinning goddess who cuts the thread of life is Morta. Morta is very consonant with our goddess. Of course, it can be assumed that this is just a consonance, but if we analyze the image of Morana in more detail, then this does not seem to be such an implausible version. Moran's Slavic mythology- the goddess of death, the goddess who takes life. Are two goddesses at once - Morana and Nedolya - involved in the death of a person? I am not trying to refute this option, but it seems doubtful to me that the ancient Slavs or the proto-people from which the Slavs came out had such a complex and not entirely logical pantheon. If we take into account the fact that Morana is the goddess of death, who cuts the thread of life, then it turns out that she is this very Nedolya, Nesrecha, Morta, Atropos, Skuld.
Let's look at the other side, why Morana could be the third goddess of fate. Let's compare the related pantheon of gods. From the Roman pantheon, we see that the goddess of the dead, Proserpina, who corresponds to our Morana, is the daughter of Ceres, who, in turn, is a correspondence to our Mokosh. In the Greek pantheon, Persephone (Morana) is the daughter of Demeter (Makosh). Thus, it is quite possible to assume that Morana was the third spinner because she is the daughter of the main spinner - Mokosh. Therefore, it is Mara, Morana, Marena, the daughter of Mokosh and the goddess of death, who is the third goddess of fate that ends a person’s life.
The question is: who then is the goddess of fate - the Share that spins the fate of man? You can also look at this from two sides - by family ties and by the type of activity of the goddess. Everyone who is familiar with paganism is well aware that the daughter of Makosh (the main spinner) is. Who else to be Dole, if not Lada - the daughter of Mokosh and the sister of Morana ?! Moreover, Lada in Slavic mythology is the goddess of life, the goddess of love and marriage, the goddess of spring, the patroness of women in childbirth. It is she who is the best fit for the “role” of the very Share that is engaged in weaving the fate of a person. Here we can assume that the three goddesses of fate in ancient times were Makosh and her daughters Lada and Morana. Share and Nedolya could subsequently appear not as the names of the goddesses, but as a designation of their activities, that is, Lada weaves a share (the fate of other glory), and Makosh cuts the thread of life, that is, it is not a share (the end of fate).
We have dealt with the three goddesses of fate, and now you can go to the goddesses Rozhanitsa. Today it is believed that there are also three goddesses of Rozhanits - Makosh, Lada and. Since we did not mention this name before, it is worth recalling that Lelya is the daughter of Lada - the patroness of spring and love. The goddesses Rozhanitsa, judging by the studies of Slavic historians, in particular, the works of Boris Rybakov, are among the most ancient gods. Their images in the form of moose are found on the oldest archaeological artifacts. Interestingly, there were two, not three, ancient moose cows. Two Rozhanitsy are depicted both on dishes and in the form of various products, jewelry and even idols. The third Rozhanitsa appeared after researchers of Slavic culture became interested in architecture, embroidery and various images, where for the most part exactly three goddesses are represented - one in the center, often on a horse, in the form of a horse or elk, and two goddesses on the sides. It is believed that these are three goddesses in childbirth, but is this true? Perhaps this opinion is erroneous and in the form of three goddesses the ancient and medieval Slavs depicted goddesses of fate, and not Rozhanitsy?
Apparently, this may indeed be the case. Apparently there should be two goddesses in childbirth - Makosh and her daughter Lada. The Slavs could not rank the goddess of death Mara among the Rozhanitsy! Of course, the daughter of Lada - Lelya is perfect for the third Rozhanitsa, as she is the patroness of love and marriage, spring and youth, birth and women in childbirth. Such a beautiful goddess is surprisingly conveniently built into the belief about the three Rozhanitsy, however, the facts indicate that there were two of them initially, and under the guise of three they portrayed the goddesses of fate, although, as you will learn later, there is no significant difference between them.
This is not the last puzzle in terms of Rozhanitsy and the goddesses of fate. Here it is also necessary to recall the belief in and Rozhanits. Looking ahead, it’s worth saying right away that, most likely, the Rozhanitsy and the goddesses of fate were understood to be the same deities, and different names were necessary to indicate certain areas of activity of these deities, that is, for example, Makosh as a goddess- a woman in labor and Makosh as the goddess of fate, Lada the woman in childbirth and Lada the goddess of fate. For example, the Slavic historian I. I. Sreznevsky compared Rozhanits or Rozhanitsa with the Greek moira - goddesses of fate. But according to the historian N.I. Zubov, it is more correct to say not “Kin and Rozhanitsy”, but Rozhanitsa and Rod. In his opinion, Rozhanitsa is the mother of the god Rod. It is not known whether Rod's mother had a name, or to understand her greatness, it was enough to call her the birth of Rod. According to other versions, Rozhanitsy are the same souls of ancestors, who were also called mermaids, coastlines, pitchforks. Therefore, in ancient world they believed in the supreme god Rod and Rozhanits, that is, countless ancestral spirits that live in this world or between two worlds. It is also worth mentioning the version according to which Rod and Rozhanitsy are in a “marital” relationship, that is, Rod (genus - give birth, give birth) and Rozhanitsa (childbirth), as a male and female deity, patronizing fertility on earth, that is, patronizing the birth and prosperity all life on earth. However, all the versions given, except for the version of Sreznevsky, seem to me personally untenable.
Rod and Rozhanitsy patronize life. In the views of the ancient Slavs, the patrons of life were not only life-giving deities, but also predetermined the fate of man. Some historians make the assumption that such a belief came from the fact that fate ancient man depended on the harvest this year, that is, on how Rozhanitsy will dispose. Subsequently, such a belief led to the fact that the original goddesses of the birth of life and fertility became the goddesses of fate, who weave the fate of all living things.
And one more thing that can clear up the confusion between Rozhanitsy and the goddesses of fate. It is worth remembering here historical fact that in ancient times the deity was supreme female- Makosh. Subsequently, when patriarchy set in and it was for the most part male gods that began to be revered, Rod suddenly appears, which performs the same functions as Makosh. That is, it can be said with a high degree of certainty that Rod is the male replacement for Mokosh, and then everything falls into place. Simply put, let's conclude:
In ancient times, there were goddesses of birth, that is, goddesses that give birth to all life on earth. Rybakov calls them two heavenly moose cows. For us, they are Makosh and her daughter Lada. Subsequently, Makosh turns into Rod (genus - birth). Lada remains Rozhanitsa. Under the influence of beliefs that the gods of birth are in charge of the fate of people, Makosh and Lada become the goddesses of fate. Here again there is seniority - the hostess Makosh, who creates a person (gives birth) and the goddess who spins the very fate of a person (Lada or Share). However, every person goes through birth, life and death. Therefore, to the spinning goddesses, a third goddess is added, who cuts the thread of life, Mara (Nedolya).
At first, the fate of a person was considered to be contained in a certain object: it was enough to destroy it - and death immediately overtook the victim. For example, this happened to Meleager, a participant in the Argonauts' campaign and the initiator of the Calydonian hunt. His fate was hidden in a log from the hearth: it was predicted that as soon as it burned down, Meleager would leave the world of the living. In the future, the concept of fate has changed. They began to believe that it was in charge of individual deities, having their own personality and inexorably following the fulfillment of what was destined.
Moira - these are the very ancient Greek goddesses who control the embodiment of rock. According to various legends, there were from one to four of them, but the most common myth is about three sisters spinning the threads of fate. In the case of Meleager, to keep the hero alive, it was enough to keep the log intact. But when the moira took permanent place in the divine pantheon, the situation has changed. From now on, no actions of people could change the course of predetermined events and prevent the fulfillment of fate.
Moira: names of sisters
Each of the three goddesses was responsible for own site works:
- Lachesis (Lachesa)- Fate itself, which gives lots and monitors its execution; responsible for the past
- Clotho- A spinner who directly works on spinning the thread of fate; considered the goddess of the present;
- Atropos (Atropa, Aisa)- Inevitable, cuts the thread, in due time cutting off the life of a mortal; correlates with the future.
The "division of labor" in moira is very clear. Lachesis measures the length of the thread and winds it on a spindle, Clotho spins it, Atropos cuts it. Three moira never dispute each other's rights and always fulfill their duties accurately. They are relentless and incorruptible. Most often, sisters were considered old women, less often - young girls. They were sometimes described as women of various ages, with Lachesis the youngest and Atropos the elderly.
Moira: attributes of the goddesses of fate
The objects owned by the three sisters are directly related to their occupation. Moirai in ancient Greek mythology were traditionally endowed with the following property:
- Scroll. It recorded the fate of all living in the world, even the immortal gods. Nothing could change what was written - Lachesis strictly followed this.
- Distaff. The device was necessary for spinning the thread. Its owner is Clotho.
- Scissors. They symbolize both the whole (two connected parts) and separation (the ability to cut). Birth and death, life and non-existence. Atropos took scissors in her hands to break the thread.
Sometimes scales are mentioned among the attributes of moira. But they are more suitable for Nemesis - the daughter of Nyukta and the goddess of retribution, punishing for violation of moral standards. It is with the help of scales that she determines whether a person is guilty. The Moirs do not need such a thing: they already know the truth about any event, and their indifferent attitude towards others leaves no room for the scales to fluctuate.
Where did moira live?
There are many versions regarding the permanent residence of the goddesses of fate. But mostly moira settled:
- On the bright Olympus. Such a dwelling corresponds to the high status of the three sisters, who, according to one of the myths, were the daughters of Zeus, the supreme god, and Themis, the goddess of justice. Their father was also called Morya; he knew what and to whom the Moirai predestined. Sometimes God personally weighed the lot on the scales, wanting to know the answer of fate.
- In a deep cave. Often the trinity is called the daughters of Nyukta - the night, which also gave birth to the Erinyes, the goddesses of revenge. Moira and Erinyes are allies and sisters. According to another version, the spinning goddesses were the children of Ananke, who personifies rock and is responsible for inevitability. In both cases, the place where moira live was called a remote cave in an impenetrable thicket. No one could get there on their own.
According to legend, moira sometimes leave their homes. For example, Lachesa was present next to Leto at the birth of Artemis and Apollo. Sisters always come to the cradle of a newborn to determine the fate of the child. It is impossible to eavesdrop on the words of the goddesses and spy on them: they prefer to remain in secret. Some tried to appease the moira. To do this, in the evening they left money, wine and three pieces of bread by the baby's bed. The offering that disappeared by morning is a sign of a long and happy life baby.
Moiras and parks - is there a difference?
culture Ancient Greece became a nutrient source for the development of the traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. In fact, almost everything was “borrowed”, but under new names and sometimes in a slightly modified form. Ancient Greek moira also found refuge among the ancient Roman gods. Have their functions changed? No. Roman moiras simply became known as parks. They were also considered the goddesses of fate, controlling everything that happens in the world. The parks are named as follows:
- Decima - corresponds to Lachesis, determines fate;
- Nona - performs Clotho's work, spins the thread;
- Morta - took away the functions of Atropos, cuts off life.
Moira and parks look the same. They are described as either young maidens or ugly old women. Sometimes each parka is in its own age: Decima is the youngest, Nona is the middle one, Morta is the older sister.
Moiras and grays: different facets of ideas about life and death
In ancient Greek mythology, there is another trinity of sisters - grays. They are sometimes erroneously called moirae; This confusion is due to the following factors:
- The same number and identical family ties. Three sisters are the most common association for goddesses of fate. Nevertheless, grays also correspond to this characteristic.
- Appearance. Moira are often depicted as elderly. Grays have always been considered ugly ancient old women.
- Possession of information about fate. Both moiras and grays are privy to the mysteries of the inevitable and know about the future.
But if the spinners are directly involved in "production", then the second trinity of prophetic sisters does not control fate in any way. The moiras, with their power, cover three main gaps - the past, present and future, while the grays are "stuck" in last step cycle of earthly existence. They are the personification of old age and decay. Grays have proper names most often in the literature are:
- Dino (Dino) - Wasp, responsible for trembling;
- Porfredo (Pemfredo, Pefredo) - Storm, alarm in its area of responsibility;
- Enyo - Anger, correlated with horror, sometimes considered a companion of the warlike Ares.
The Grays were born in the union of Phorky (the god of miracles and the stormy sea) and Keto (the goddess of the deep sea and the monsters living there). Among the sisters' relatives are gorgons. Grays are easily recognizable by the following signs:
- They have one eye for everyone and use it in turn.
- They have only one tooth, which they also have to share with each other.
- They are born immediately gray-haired.
While the moira are busy with their peaceful "craft", the grays guard the gorgons. It was with them that Perseus, who came to kill the Gorgon Medusa, had to deal. He tricked the sisters into stealing an eye and a tooth, demanding magic items in return. The deal was a success - the Gorgon was killed. Any deity, one way or another connected with fate, aroused interest and respect.
Moira - goddesses who instilled awe in the hearts of people. They came to Corinth to bow to the sisters, where a temple was built in their honor. Despite the fact that the trinity belongs to ancient Greek mythology, their image is still used in art: the archetype of eternal spinners remains in demand in the modern world.
In ancient Greek mythology, the Moira are the goddesses of fate. MOYRA - (Greek Moirai share.) Goddess of fate, 3 daughters of the Night; birth and death are under their special protection.
This deity spoke his will to him, and also determined his future life. Moira was now understood as fate ("what is spoken") and fate ("what is destined"). Initially, it was believed that each person has his own destiny. However, with the development of Olympic mythology, ideas about one, two, and then three moira became stable. Plato calls them the daughters of the goddess Ananke ("necessity"), who turned the world's spindle.
She spins fate, on which the events of the present time in a person's life were strung. The relationship between the Moirai and the Olympian gods was complex. So, Zeus, wanting to know the dictates of fate, personally weighed the lots of human lives on golden scales. However, there is a variant of the myth, according to which it was Zeus who was the father of the moira, born by Themis.
Be that as it may, both in the first and in the second case, the three sisters of Moira are involved with Zeus, who is called Morius. The first, in the form of a spinning woman, personifies the steady and calm action of fate, the second - her accidents, the third - the inevitability of her decisions. A.F. Losev points out that in the Hellenistic era, the goddess of chance Tycha, who characterizes the instability and variability of life, competes with moira.
Presenting themselves as the daughters of Themis, moiras act as goddesses of regularity and order. In ancient art, moira were depicted rarely and in different ways. The fate of Zeus himself is in their hands. Doom rules over mortals and over the gods.
The Romans called these goddesses parkas. In the initial ideas, the moira-destiny of everyone is embodied in a certain material object - a fetish, a carrier of vital potentialities. Plato believes that these three M. are the daughters of the goddess Ananke (“necessity”), who rotates the world spindle (Plat. R. R. X 617 b-e). The relationship between M. and the Olympic gods is complex. They were depicted as a stern-looking old woman: Clotho with a spindle in his hand, Lachesis with a measure or scales, and Atropos with a book of life and scissors.
Cloto, who spun the thread of life, Lachesis, who pulled this thread, Atropos, who cut it) - in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus and Themis, the goddess of inevitable fate.
Daughters of Zeus and Themis. Over time, moira are understood as fate ("what is spoken") and fate ("what is destined"); it is a dark force that does not have a distinct appearance. The most common myth is the myth of the three Moira sisters, daughters of the Night, which also gave birth to Death, Hypnos, Nemesis, Eris and Hesperides. Their names are Lachesis ("giving lots"), Clotho ("spinning") and Atropos ("inevitable").
Goddesses of Fate - Three Sisters of Moira
In Roman mythology, parks correspond to them. The parks, the Roman goddesses of fate, at the birth of a child determined his fate in the form of a thread that they spun, measured and cut off. Zagreus is the god of fertility, the son of Zeus and Persephone. Mom is the son of the goddess of the Night, the god of slander. Even in ancient times, the power of the Great Goddess over time was expressed in ideas about her as the goddess of fate.
The Germanic peoples also had three sisters, distributing human destiny and called norns. The Greeks called them Cloto, Lachesis and Atropos (“giving lots”, “spinning”, “inevitable”, all of them are the daughters of the goddess Ananke).
The word "moira" translated from Greek means “share”, “part”, with the meaning “fate”, which each person receives at birth. The goddess Lachesis was in charge of the past. Clotho was the real moira. Atropos is the moira of the future. In this case, he was regarded as Moiraget - "the driver of the moira", revered in this capacity in Delphi along with Apollo, who acted as the prophet Zeus and the protector of the order he established. According to the inscription on the altar at Olympia, Zeus is called "the arbiter of fate."
MOYRA - (Greek) or PARKS (lat.) Goddesses of fate. The Fates, otherwise known as the three moiras, the daughters of Zeus and Themis, are goddesses who do not predict fate, but only monitor its execution.
Moira - in ancient Greek mythology were the goddesses of fate.
It was customary for the ancient Greeks to give form to deities and gods who represented and explained the meaning of life.
The Moirai were in some ways more than just fortune tellers, they took control of the entire human cycle - from birth to death. In fact, they guided people's lives in various ways.
moira
According to myth, the goddesses were the daughters of Zeus and the goddess of justice, Themis.
The names of the three Moiras were Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, each of which owned a separate gift that turned them into unique creatures.
Initially, it was believed that each person has his own destiny - moira. Later, they began to believe that all three sisters participated in the life fate of every person from his very birth.
Clotho spinning thread human life, Lachesis- unwound and passed it through life's hardships, and Atropos- cut the thread of human life (cut off life).
The gods, despite their power, also obeyed the Moirai. An unrelenting fate also ruled over them. The Greeks represented moira in the form of stern old women: Clotho with a spindle in his hand, Lachesis with a measure or scales, Atropos with a book of life and scissors. In Rome, moiras were called parks.
It was believed that the Fates would appear within three days of someone's birth to decide their fate as a person. The Three Moiras represented the cycle of life, essentially responsible for Birth, Life and Death.
They turn (Clotho), draw out (Lachesis) and cut (Atropos) the thread of Life.
Unlike the horai, their siblings were portrayed as ugly and elderly women who made people fear their own fate.
In all cultures the image Goddess of Fate associated with weaving and weaving, as a result of this, human destiny itself in the myths of the whole world is presented in the form of a thread. An even and pure thread is an even and pure life; a crooked and dirty thread - a crooked and dirty life. The Goddess of Fate weaves the threads of the life of all people, weaving them into patterns, twisting and tying special knots, and thereby brings people together and fills their lives with blessings. But a person also affects his fate, by his behavior he can ruin the thread, knock off the pattern or tighten the wrong knot on his thread, in which case his life becomes hard and filled with suffering.
Despite the fact that the images of the Goddess of Fate differ slightly in the myths of different peoples, She can be easily recognized by the qualities and actions described. Along with her in myths, there are often other characters who are associated with fate and are actively involved in its implementation. It also happens that the image of the Goddess of Fate appears in several Goddesses at once engaged in a joint business. No matter how these images are disguised, the Goddess of Fate always appears in them as the patroness of childbearing, agriculture, weaving, and she herself is the Mother of the Gods, the Giver of Harvests and the Patroness of Women. She often corresponds to the images of the Sacred Cow and the Spider. She is the progenitor of the Elements, which is displayed in one of the appeals to Her - the Mother of Fire. The image of the Goddess of Fate is almost exactly reproduced by all Indo-European cultures, since it appeared and was comprehended by people in such ancient times, when the division into nations had not yet occurred or was not significant.
A great example of this is Greek mythology. So in Greek mythology, it is customary to consider the Moira Goddesses of Fate, but they themselves do not determine the fate of a person, but rather follow it. They are probably a manifestation of an older Goddesses of Era or Yara, which later became known as Hero. The name of this Goddess is translated as - Guardian, Defender or Mistress. The image of one of Her sons - Typhon - is directly connected with the earth, and the other - Ares - with fire. One of the epithets indicating the correspondence of the Goddess Hera with the Goddess of Fate is Volookaya. In terms of its qualities, the Goddess Era completely coincides with the image of the Goddess of Fate.
In Roman culture, the Goddess of Fate appears in the form Goddess Juno. The Etruscans Goddess Uni. The Celts - Goddess Anu(Dana, Don) and Goddess Brigid. The Slavs - Goddess Makosh and Goddesses Dole and Nedolya. Scandinavians - Goddess Erd and Goddess Frigga. The Iranians have Goddess Anahita. And in Vedic India - Goddess Aditi. And, of course, the image of the Goddess of Fate was also reflected in the Christian Mother of God.
AT different nations The Goddess of Fate was called different names, her name on different languages means almost the same thing - “Mother”, “Mistress”, “Ancestor”, “Protector”. In one of the most ancient and legendary languages of the Mages, her name sounds like - "Ani".
The Goddess of Fate ties knots in the threads of life and thereby determines the past, present and future. The knots are connected into an intricate ornament in which there is everything: happiness and sorrow, meetings and partings, successes and failures. By tying one or another Nauz - a magic knot, the Goddess creates an event in a person's life. But the person himself, having knowledge and strength, is able to create Nauz through the ritual, which will have an impact on his life.
Nauz magic is an art handed down to people by the Goddess of Fate herself. Once this direction of magic was so widespread that it was used in almost every family. Today, this direction is not so common, but it has not lost its effectiveness. By doing the ritual and tying a special knot on the cord, we get the opportunity to influence our destiny or fate. loved one and fill life with blessings.
There are a huge number of magic knots - there are simpler ones, there are more difficult ones. You need to start studying this difficult art from the simplest and at the same time the most important magic knot "3 Forces". This node bears this name for a reason, but only those who take up the practice will understand this. The importance of this node is determined by the fact that it underlies many nauzes, and without mastering it, it will not be possible to practice knot magic.
Magic Knot "3 Powers"
To tie the “3 Forces” knot, take a cord with a cross section of 3-5 millimeters. You can train to tie on any cords, but it is better to make nauz from linen, silk, woolen or cotton cords.
