“KIMAVEC” – September

»Kimavec« – a time when the fruit on the trees nods. The autumn equinox is celebrated on the 23rd of the month, with which we say goodbye to fertility of the earth and welcome the arrival of autumn. The equinox also marks the second harvest festival. On this occasion, the houses were decorated with dried ears of corn and coloured corn cobs. Pumpkins and dry sheaves of grain also became decorations.

September is the month that marks the time of transition ruled by the goddess Morana. She is the Slavic goddess of winter and death, who is also associated with water. She is Mara, that transforms into Morana in autumn and represents the predominance of female energy at this time. However, we must not perceive her as a bad goddess, because everything in the world must die before being born again. Our Slavic ancestors followed nature and perceived it as it is, they did not divide it into good and bad. Every year Morana takes the earth into deep sleep so that it can rest and be fertile again in the spring. In Slovenian folklore, not much has been preserved about the goddess, she can be recognised as the mythical creature Mora. According to shell belief, it oppresses people at night that harm animals. Mora was imagined as a tall woman in white who could shape shift at will, most often into a horse or a werewolf. Mora – trutamora – sea leg, is also a six-leafed sign that was carved on house doors and cradles in order to ward off this mythical creature. Pentagrams and other signs were also carved with this purpose.

Goddess Mara or Morana, that we met in the mythological story, which you already read about in the story for the month of Rožnik (June), where the wedding between Jarilo and Mara takes place. However, Jarilo cheats on his wife, so she becomes Morana and takes revenge on him.