“VELIKI SRPAN” – August

August is the time of harvest, the time of picking fruits. Our ancestors also associated this time with the goddess Živa, as a pillar of our life energy.

During this time, the goddess Živa appeared. The goddess of life and the goddess of water. She was depicted as a beautiful woman with a lush bust and long hair. Her attributes are an apple, wheat and a vine.

In the folk ritual, we know rituals where an apple is offered to the water, which is a symbol of fertility and health. The godess is also known as the protector of children. Representations of her and children are also easily manifested in the image of the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus.

In folklore, however, we find quite a few fairy tales where parallels between the goddess Ziva and the white woman are visible.

A fairy tale from Bohinj: “A white woman sits on one of the peaks in the Julian Alps. She wears a snow-white dress studded with sparkling jewels. If the hunter climbs up the steep and stony path to her, he stops, charmed by her beauty, and she makes a gesture with her hand as if to greet him. But if he dares to come closer, he is destined to die. The moment he stretches out his hand towards her, a stone avalanche pulls him into the depths. The virginal white woman weeps, full of longing for faithful love and full of sorrow that she will always be denied. Her tears drip onto the frozen stone ground, from which sprouts a beautiful white flower called the orbicularis.”

A story from Bistriška Planina in Notranjska region: “Many years ago, on a Christmas eve a pious woman went to the spring to get water. At twelve o’clock, when she came to the stream, she saw a woman of unnatural size sitting on a steep rock and washing her feet in the clear water. She was white like snow. The woman was scared that almost not a drop of blood remained in her. When she raised his eyes again, there was no sight or hearing of the white woman. The woman grabs the water and rushes home in fear. But how they were surprised when they began to drink the best wine from the cask with a cork instead of water she collected.”

A tale form Koroška region: “A young farmer was dissatisfied with everything, with his wife, with the harvest. Once, when he was returning home at night in the moonlight, he heard a friendly woman’s voice behind him: “Broad beans, broad beans!” He looked back over his left shoulder and saw a beautiful woman behind him… The very next day in the afternoon he went to the field and sowed beans, even though there was still snow and people laughed at him. His beans, however, prospered nicely. Once he heard her voice again in the field and followed it, but the voice was moving away. When the moon finally rose, he saw the beautiful woman in front of him. The young farmer realized that he was standing in front of a white woman, the most beautiful creature that the earth bears. “I’ll give you everything I’ve got!” he muttered. And she: “What are you going to give me when you have nothing!” There wouldn’t be a thing without me…” Then she orders him to answer every question asked at home: “Me”. Even if it’s so hard. If he passes the test, he is allowed to come visit her again. But he did not pass the test. Nevertheless, he went looking for her and wandered through the field. When the moon rose from behind the mountains, he realized that he was in the forest, in a completely foreign place. The moonlight was now as bright as sunlight. Somewhere, the birds started singing so beautifully that the farmer’s heart stopped in his chest and he thought that he would rather die. Then he came to the stream and saw her, a beautiful woman, who was bathing in the clear, cold water… “Oh, that I could come near you!” “You made a promise in the morning. If you go with me, it will be a disaster for you.” But in that instant she obscures the beauty of the mist.”

Let the eighth month of the year be full of gratitude to the earth and good energy.