Mavka

Mavka (Ukrainian: Мавка,[1] навка,[2] нявка,[3] Bulgarian: нави (plural) – from Proto-Slavic *navь 'the dead') is a type of female spirit in Ukrainian mythology. She is a long-haired figure, sometimes naked, who may be dangerous to young men.[4][5]

The spirits known by this term represented the souls of girls who had died unnatural tragic or premature deaths, particularly unchristened babies.[1] Mavkas often appear in the form of beautiful young girls who entice and lure young men into the woods, where they "tickle" them to death. Mavkas have no reflection in water, do not cast shadows, and have "no back" (those are more often called "Nyavka" and they are believed to live in Western Ukraine, that has more dangerous mountain rivers than Central Ukraine, while Mavkas, who are believed to live in Central Ukraine, have their backs.), and so their insides can be seen. In some accounts, they were also said to help farmers by looking after cattle and driving out wild animals.

They were believed to live in groups in forests, mountain caves, or sheds, which they decorated with rugs. They made thread of stolen flax and wove thin transparent cloth for making clothes for themselves. They loved flowers, which they wore in their hair. In the spring they planted flowers in the mountains, to which they enticed young men, whom they tickled to death. On Pentecost (known as Mavka's Easter, Ukrainian: На́вський Вели́кдень)[6] they held games, dances, and orgies. A demon accompanied them on a flute or pipes.

To save a dead unchristened baby's soul, one had to throw up a kerchief during Pentecost holidays, say a name and add "I baptise you". A rescued soul would then go to heaven. If a soul lived up to seven years and did not go to heaven, a baby would turn into a mavka and would haunt people.

It is believed that the first mavka (or rusalka) was Kostroma, when she discovered that her newlywed husband Kupalo is her brother and they cannot be together[7]. According to the legend, Kostroma and Kupalo once ran into a field to listen to songs of bird Sirin, but Sirin stole Kupalo and carried him into the Nav. Many years later, one day, Kostroma walked the shore of the river and made a wreath. She boasted that the wind would not blow wreath off her head. According to the belief, it meant that she would not marry. This boast was not approved by the gods. The wind become stronger, and the wreath was blown by the wind from Kostroma's head and fell into the water, where it was picked up by the Kupalo, who was near by in the boat. According to the Slavic customs, the one who picked up the wreath must necessarily marry the girl who made it. Kupalo and Kostroma fell in love, and shortly after were married without any knowledge that they were brother and sister. After the wedding, the gods told them the truth. That is why Kupalo and Kostroma committed suicide. Kupalo jumped into the fire and died, while Kostroma ran to the forest, threw herself into the forest lake and drowned. But she did not die, she became a mavka. Since then, she walks the shores of that lake. If she should see a young man, she immediately seduces him and pulls him into the water abyss. When Mavka realises that the young man is not her lover, it is already too late and the young man has already drowned[7].

And then, the gods repented, realizing that their revenge was too cruel. But to give Kupala and Kostroma again the human body was impossible, and they turned them into the yellow-blue flower, in which the fiery yellow color was the color of Kupala, and the blue one, like the waters of a forest lake, was the color of Kostroma. The Slavs gave the name Kupalo-da-Mavka to the flower. Later, in the time of the Christianization of Kievan Rus', the flower was renamed to the Ivan-da-Marya[7].

Mavkas are depicted in literature, most notably in Lesia Ukrainka's The Forest Song and Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Словарь української мови / Упор. з дод. влас. матеріалу Б. Грінченко : в 4-х т. — К. : Вид-во Академії наук Української РСР, 1958. Том 2, ст. 395.
  2. ↑ Словарь української мови / Упор. з дод. влас. матеріалу Б. Грінченко : в 4-х т. — К. : Вид-во Академії наук Української РСР, 1958. Том 2, ст. 471.
  3. ↑ Словарь української мови / Упор. з дод. влас. матеріалу Б. Грінченко : в 4-х т. — К. : Вид-во Академії наук Української РСР, 1958. Том 2, ст. 573.
  4. ↑ Словник української мови: в 11 томах. — Том 4, 1973. — Стор. 587.
  5. ↑ Dmitriy Kushnir Creatures of Slavic Myth 1505628024 - 2014 "Mavka is different from other types of female spirits is that her evil is not intentional. At the sight of a young man, she falls into a trance and realizes her actions too late to change anything. Mavka is a very beautiful young maiden with very long hair ..."
  6. ↑ Словарь української мови / Упор. з дод. влас. матеріалу Б. Грінченко : в 4-х т. — К. : Вид-во Академії наук Української РСР, 1958. Том 2, ст. 474.
  7. 1 2 3 Buynova Tatyana Yuryevna 2008, p. 256.

Sources

Buynova Tatyana Yuryevna (2008). A book based on Eastern Slavic Mythology (in Russian). Akvilegia. ISBN 978-5-901942-61-1.
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