Zorya

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William-Adolphe Bouguereau: The Night

Aurora (1881)

The Zorya ( Polish "Zorza" or "Łuna") are three goddesses of heaven and light in Slavic mythology . In the myths they appear sometimes as two, sometimes as three goddesses: Utrennjaja , the morning star ; Vechernyaya , the evening star ; and Polunochnaja , the midnight star . In Polish mythology they are called Gwiazda Poranna, Gwiazda Wieczorna and Gwiazda Północna , in Serbian / Croatian also Zvezda Danica or Zvijezda Danica, Vecernja Zvezda or Viječernja Zvijezda and Mesecarka or Mijesečarka .

Together they guard the dog Simargl , who is chained to the North Star and tries to eat the constellation Little Bear ( Ursa Minor ). It is said that when this dog breaks free, the universe will end.

There is also a trio of goddesses of fate in Greek ( Moiren ), Roman ( Parzen ), and Germanic mythology ( Norns ).

In Slavic mythology, Zora is associated with the sun god Dažbog . As such, it appears - in contrast to the Greco-Roman Autots or Eos - not only as dawn. In the morning at dawn it opens the gates of heaven as dawn and closes them again in the evening. She thus appears as a “triune” deity - as morning, evening and night, as a girl, mother and old woman.

literature

• Zdeněk Váňa: Mythology and gods of the Slavic peoples , Stuttgart 1992, ( ISBN 387838937X )