Lada

"Lada is a Slavic goddess of love and beauty and she is very famous among other tribes too. This mighty goddess is also showing up in a form of Freyja, Isis, Aphrodite and many others. She is linked with Venus and its power. Lada is presented as a girl with long golden hair in which is sometimes placed a wreath of wheat, which symbolizes her function of the goddess of fertility.

On her chest is sometimes seen a symbol of the sun, a sign of life-giving power. As a fertility goddess, Lada has an annual cycle that shows the belief that she dwells in the realm of the dead until the vernal equinox. This world of the dead is Irij, and besides Lada, Veles, horned god of cattle also lives in it. In the moment when Lada needs to go outside in the world and brings the spring, Gerovit opens the door to Irij, letting the fertility goddess to bless the land. At the end of the summer, Lada returns to the Irij.

Although her reign begins on March 21, Lada is, above all, the goddess of the summer. She follows Vesna, Slavic spring goddess. However, both of these goddesses are related to fertility and it is sometimes difficult to separate their functions. As we see, Lada’s rule begins in spring and lasts only as long as the period of fertility. In addition to being associated with the Sun, Lada is tied to the rain and hot summer night, which is the ideal time for the respect of a goddess of love.

Rituals Dedicated To Lada
The sun, warm night and rain belong to Lada. Her animals are cock, deer, ant, and plants, cherry, lime, dandelion and peony. Girls prayed to Lada for beauty, and there is also ceremony ladarice, which in Serbia is performed under the name of “Queen”. Queen sits on a chair while other girls dance around her, a king and bearer play for themselves. In this way, the Queen goes from house to house looking for girls to marry. One more ritual in the name of Lada is skipping fire."

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