Mokosh

How to recognise Mokosh

1. Tall, matronly figureLook for a standing, fully clothed adult woman, modest and maternal, since no securely identified ancient image of her exists and modern art is a reconstruction.
2. Spindle or distaffHer main sign is a spindle or distaff with flax or wool thread, for the spinning that is at the heart of her tradition.
3. Hair or headclothHer hair is long and loose, or covered by a plain headcloth; modern art shows both, and she has no halo or horned crown.
4. Embroidered linen dressA flowing linen gown with Slavic folk embroidery, often red on white and sometimes with sheaves or flowers, ties her to women's household work.
5. Flax, grain, spring or riverFlax flowers, a sheaf of grain, a well or a stream at her feet point to moisture and the fertile earth that her name speaks of.
6. Big head and long armsThe Russian North remembered her as a tall woman with a large head and long arms; this is a folk description rather than temple imagery.
7. SheepSheep are an optional companion, because she is said to shear them.
8. Horn of plenty (optional)Some reconstructions give her a cornucopia, based on a reading of the Zbruch Idol that later scholars have rejected, so it is an optional extra and not a mark of identity.

Names and titles

• She Who Spins by NightFolk memory of the Russian North pictured her spinning flax at night and shearing sheep
• The Moist OneHer name is linked to a root meaning 'wet' or 'moist', tying her to the fertile earth and water
• Keeper of Women's WorkShe watches over spinning, weaving, shearing and women's fates
• The Lone Goddess on Kyiv's HillThe only female deity among the idols Prince Vladimir set up in Kyiv in 980
• Mother of Good FortuneA folk etymology linked her name to a phrase meaning 'mother of good fortune'

Feast days

• Mokosh's Feast (Święto Mokoszy)15 August, every year

  A harvest-time observance kept by many Polish Rodnover groups for Mokosh, whom they see as a goddess of fertility and moist earth. It falls on the day Poles traditionally call Matka Boska Zielna, when herbs are blessed.

  How it's celebrated. Rodnover groups use the herb-blessing day to prepare herbs for winter and honour Mokosh. Bouquets and wreaths of herbs, flowers and grain, traditionally gathered the day before, are offered; in Catholic Poland the same bundles are blessed in church. Some Rodnovers see an older Mokosh rite beneath the day, but one Rodnover site calls it a presumed feast.

  Sources: Isap.info.pl: Matki Mokosz, Matki Boskiej Zielnej · Slawoslaw: Mokoszowe na tle innych świąt · Wolni Słowianie: 15 sierpnia Święto Matki Ziemi i bogini Mokoszy

• Festival of Mokosh28 October, every year

  The autumn feast of Mokosh in the calendar Linda Ivanits drew from Boris Rybakov's work, set on the day of St Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa. It is the same celebration as the Russian Rodnover Day of Mokosh, reckoned by the Old Calendar.

  How it's celebrated. My sources say little about how Rodnover groups keep this entry; it is mainly known as a calendar listing. On the overlapping folk-Christian day, women were said to show one another their handiwork, and in some places the whole week counted as Pyatnitsa's. Orthodox Christians honour St Paraskeva in church, and Russians once brought fruit to be blessed.

  Sources: Wikipedia: Slavic Native Faith's calendars and holidays · VK: Макошь или Параскева-Пятница? · St John the Baptist Orthodox Church: Great-martyr Parasceva

• Day of Mokosh (Мокоши день)10 November, every year

  The Russian Rodnover day honouring Mokosh as great goddess of the Earth. It falls on the Gregorian date matching St Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa's feast on the Old Calendar, and is the same celebration as the Ivanits–Rybakov Festival of Mokosh.

  How it's celebrated. Rodnover groups mark it as a women's day for Mokosh. Popular Russian accounts of the folk day describe taboos on spinning and washing, and young sons-in-law treating their wife's parents to kissel. Orthodox Christians keep the saint's memory in church. Many of these accounts are popular rather than scholarly, and customs differed by region.

  Sources: Wikipedia: Slavic Native Faith's calendars and holidays · Sofia42: Праздник Параскевы Пятницы 10 ноября · Inpearls: День богини Макоши

• Autumn Mokosh Friday30 October 2026 (date to be confirmed)

  One of the twelve "Mokosh Fridays" kept by some Rodnover writers; the tenth, in late October, is counted the most important. It is the same observance as the other late-October Mokosh Friday in this list.

  How it's celebrated. Rodnover writers describe women resting from spinning, weaving and embroidery on these Fridays, and turning to Mokosh as lady of fate. One site extends the tenth Friday into a Mokosh week ending on the first Friday of November. Sites reckon the twelve Fridays differently, one using the lunar cycle.

  Sources: Wetfield (LiveJournal): Макошина неделя началась! · Mifologia: Mokosh · Pskov Library: День богини Макоши

• Spring Mokosh Friday7 May 2027 (date to be confirmed)

  A spring Friday among the twelve "Mokosh Fridays" kept by some Rodnover writers, one of whom names the early-May one Vesnee Makosh'e. It is the same observance as the second-Friday alternative listed next.

  How it's celebrated. Writers describe Vesnee Makosh'e as a day for the awakening Earth: bread and eggs left in a field, washing in spring water, and listening to the ground. Digging, ploughing or driving stakes into the earth is said to be avoided. Dates vary: some sources give 9 May, others 22 May, and Friday counts differ.

  Sources: Stihi.ru: День богини Макоши - пятница · Красный Север: Вешнее Макошье · Northern Fable: Пятница Макошь