Slavic Mythology · deity
Mokosh
Mokosh
also: Mokosh · Mocoš
deityfertilitythe earthweavingthe fate (the spinning of destiny)women's workattested
The goddess of fertility, the earth, weaving, and the fate (the spinning of destiny); in the Kiev pantheon. Her name is the root of the common Slavic word for 'moisture/wetness'.
The account
Who they are
Mokosh (Mocoš) is the goddess of fertility, the earth, weaving, and the fate (the spinning of destiny) [S1]S1 · Primary Chronicle (Povest' vremennykh let / Latopis povest' vremen'nykh let)c. 1113 CE (describes 10th c.)textOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Hypatian / Hletovskaya Chronicle (Kiev idol list)14th-15th c. (later copy)text[S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic[S5]S5 · 19th-20th c. Slavic ethnographic collections (Volkov, Ivanov, etc.)19th-20th c.academic. Her name is generally interpreted as related to the common Slavic word for 'moisture/wetness' (the life-giving wetness of the earth) [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic. Mokosh is the patroness of women's work (weaving, spinning) and of the fate — the 'spinning of destiny' (the threads of life) [S5]S5 · 19th-20th c. Slavic ethnographic collections (Volkov, Ivanov, etc.)19th-20th c.academic. In folk belief, the 'Mokosh' is associated with the earth-mother, the fertility of the land, and the fate of the household [S5]S5 · 19th-20th c. Slavic ethnographic collections (Volkov, Ivanov, etc.)19th-20th c.academic. She is named in the Kiev idol list [S1]S1 · Primary Chronicle (Povest' vremennykh let / Latopis povest' vremen'nykh let)c. 1113 CE (describes 10th c.)textOpen source ↗[S2]S2 · Hypatian / Hletovskaya Chronicle (Kiev idol list)14th-15th c. (later copy)text. Her relationship to the 'fate-spinning' (the Moirai/Norns equivalent) is a reconstructed parallel [S6]S6 · Modern comparative reconstruction (e.g., Ivanov & Toporov, 'Theses on Slavic Mythology')1970s-2000sacademic.
Worth knowing
- Goddess of fertility, the earth, weaving, and the fate [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic[S5]S5 · 19th-20th c. Slavic ethnographic collections (Volkov, Ivanov, etc.)19th-20th c.academic.
- Name related to the Slavic word for 'moisture/wetness' [S4]S4 · Vsevolod Miller, 'Slavic God-Concepts' (Slavjanskije bozhestvennye predstavl'enija)1860 (19th c. ethnographic)academic.
- The 'spinning of destiny' (the fate) [S5]S5 · 19th-20th c. Slavic ethnographic collections (Volkov, Ivanov, etc.)19th-20th c.academic[S6]S6 · Modern comparative reconstruction (e.g., Ivanov & Toporov, 'Theses on Slavic Mythology')1970s-2000sacademic.
Uncertainties & variants
- Mokosh's 'fate-spinning' role is a reconstructed parallel to the Moirai/Norns, not a single attested myth [S6]S6 · Modern comparative reconstruction (e.g., Ivanov & Toporov, 'Theses on Slavic Mythology')1970s-2000sacademic.
Relationships (1)
Connections
Partners
PARTNER_OFPerun — (Reconstructed) Mokosh is sometimes seen as Perun's consort (the earth-mother to the sky-father).[S6]
Local graph
Their corner of the divine world
Viewhierarchical — generations top → bottom, partners side by side
Overlays
FocusMokoshSlavic
- parentage
- marriage ♥
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Depictions
