Jarilo

**Jarilo** (Russian, Ukrainian: Ярило) is the Slavic god of plants, spring, and forests.

## History

Jarilo is one of Perun's and Mokosh's sons.

In Slavic folklore, Jarilo was abducted by Veles, where he tended the herds of the underworld. He managed to escape at spring, where Morana, the goddess of winter and death, marries him at summer.

At autumn, she was angered by his unfaithfulness, so she kills him and uses his body to build a house. Without his youth, Morana ages rapidly and dies at winter. She and Jarilo are reborn every spring.

After the Slavs became Christians, he was identified with Saint George.

## Appearance

Jarilo is depicted as a young man wearing white and red robes, with blonde hair. He is seen riding on a white horse.

He holds a sheath of wheat, and is sometimes seen holding a skull.

## In the Rabydosverse

In Bujanski folklore, Jarilo's doom of being revived to marry Morana and then be killed by her every year was considered as a curse from Veles, as he was very angry that Jarilo escaped his clutches. Another Bujanski myth added that Perun rescued Jarilo. Although Jarilo is no longer bound to the curse of rebirth, his other curse of winter still remained, as magic weakened in the world, binding the seasons to the world's exposure to the sun.

Later legends from Bujanski Slavs depicted Morana as an example of an abusive relationship, exploiting Jarilo and then killing him. After he was freed by his father, he remained kind hearted and gentle, but he is angered by abuse, whether of innocent people or of the environment, causing him to become merciless. In those legends, Morana was not Jarilo's sibling, but a wild spirit. She is seen as an evil goddess, never worshipped out of contempt.

Jarilo is a popular deity among the Ontemazei of Bujan, as they were created from plants. They venerate him as "Father" or "Grandfather". Likewise, while Jarilo is one of the main gods of the Rukanian pantheon, the pink-haired Ontemazei are the most common worshippers in his temples, to the point that some visitors think that they are surrounded by a walking forest.

The leshi, forest spirits, are believed to be his subjects and servants. Instead of monsters, the leshi are even venerated as divine spirits of trees and plants.

He is also a popular deity among farmers. For example, Ljudmila and her friend Altansarnai built a shrine to him next to their rice paddies.

In Bujan, Jarilo is also considered as the patron of people who are neither male nor female. In schools, every ward where non-gendered students live has a shrine to Jarilo facing east. It is often visited by Ontemazei students who pray to him for his blessings.

### Jarilodan

Jarilodan or Jarildan is the sacred day of Jarilo, held on the 15th or 16th day of April after the new year.

Jarildan is celebrated with a procession, which begins when a young woman rides on a white horse, accompanied by several young girls or women who are usually her friends or classmates. She represents Queen Vesnovka, the firstborn of Jarilo in Bujanski folklore (or the embodiment of Jarilo in other countries), and she carried a wooden head with a beard made from dead roots. Before she begins riding on her steed, she must purify her body and mind with a bath and a prayer.

At the end of the procession, a *khorovod* dance is performed around a farm or field, and the Vesnovka must split the wooden head with an axe to usher the new year's blessings. Then, a lunch is held and the Vesnovka can take another ritual bath, and return to her daily life.

In ancient times, the Vesnovka woman or maiden was killed as a sacrifice, and her spirit was believed to be merged into the Vesnovka goddess or another deity. Although that horrific custom continued to persist in ancient Darros, it was strongly opposed in nearby Pogimmel. In fact, in one era when Darros used to rule over that part, women were chosen as sacrifices to Jarilo, and when the Pogimmelians fought and won their freedom, the souls of all women sacrificed to Jarilo were venerated as goddesses, the adopted children of Vesnovka wrongly killed for her and denied from a chance to live happy lives.

Aside from legends created in defiance to Zoltokrugist tributes, the Pogimmelians even believed that Vesnovka and her father willed that many, if not all of the sacrificial victims, were reincarnated. Before that, the souls of the sacrificial victims were raised as goddesses, unleashing terrible punishments towards the ancient Darroskei kingdom for its wickedness. One woman in Pogimmellian legends, Veselja, was believed to be a sacrificial victim in her previous life, and then a river spirit, before Vesnovka sent her soul to be born to another woman who wanted a child. She grew up to become one of the most beautiful people who ever lived, and when she died, a section of the forest was emptied of all the spirits, who mourned her departure. Veselja herself returned to godhood after her passing, as a patron of musicians and artists; her husband and some of her children also ascended to Heaven as more gods, joining her in the sky after they passed away.

This festival is very popular with Ontemazei, who regard themselves as the latter creations of Jarilo. One bad habit that is discouraged is between pink-haired Ontemazei women, who would sometimes brawl each other to become this year's Vesnovka and show off their pretty hair: their bad attitude negates the sanctity of the Vesnovka. Another friendlier woman takes their place, and the brawlers will be subjects of jokes and mockery for their bad, ungodly behaviour!

This was ultimately a test to those women: the winner will also learn to be humble, like the "losers", and not to waste their time on petty quarrels, but instead focus on higher goals.

## Trivia

* Jarilo's weapon is a sword.
* Jarilo's symbol is a stalk of wheat.
* The account of Veselja was somewhat influenced by the Russian fairy tale, Vasilisa the Beautiful.

## See also

* Shiva, another deity popular among the Ontemazei of Porashon.
* Freyr, a similar deity.