Goddess of revenge and death Morana, daughter of the supreme god in the Slavic pantheon - Perun, represents the goddess of nature. Initially she is a young girl and a bride who then becomes an avenger and finally, with the arrival of winter, turns into Death itself.
Morana falls in love with the god of fertility and vegetation Jarilo, not knowing that he is her brother who was stolen from the crib by Perun's rival Veles who had taken him to the underworld where he raised him as his own son. Their nuptials were announced by a cuckoo, and Morana's brothers forged a wreath of gold, ring, and a key to the town as wedding presents. When Jarilo betrays her, Morana instructs her brothers to kill him and he returns to the underworld, which revives the hostility between Perun and Veles.
The whole nature grieves, withers and freezes, the winter is coming. Morana becomes a dangerous, old goddess of darkness and ice, gradually becoming Death itself. The myth recurs each year, with the arrival of spring Morana stops being maleficent and she reappears again in the form of a beautiful girl.
Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens) is an evergreen plant from the Cypress family. It symbolises sorrow and is frequently found growing in graveyards near graves.
(Željka Šaravanja)
