Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Marzanna is the Polishish goddess of death and winter. Her name comes from Slavic words meaning to "freeze" or "frozen," and is the meaning of the month of March. She was ritually burned and drowned yearly; effigies made with the last straw of last years’ harvest, dressed in white with a broom and cycle. She is decorated with ribbons, myrtle, or woodruff and was carried in a procession of the people to a river. They burned and drowned her to rid themselves of the cold, dark season of death to welcome the spring. Both were necessary as Sun (fire) and Rainfall (water) were necessary for the fertility of the year’s crops. In Christian times she is equated with Saint Maria, and is the consort of Dazbog, who is associated with Saint Ivan. On Saint Ivan’s day(summer solstice again); Mary is said to bathe with together with Ivan in a ritual purification. Mary sits on a stone or a golden throne and sews, suggesting that she might be associated with fate and death. Mary is also associated with swans. See also Polish mythology This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.