Stricha

Did You Know?

• In Serbian mythology, Srecha is the goddess of fate who spins the thread of life as an assistant to Mokosh, with a role identical to that of Dolya.
• Srecha is also responsible for the protection of flocks and fields of farmers.
• Srecha's name can also be pronounced as Sreka or Sretya.

Description

Dolya should always be propitiated by bringing her gifts, which included porridge, wool, threads, wine, handkerchiefs, dishes, ribbons, bread, honey, and milk. She appears as a beautiful young woman who spins a strong, even golden thread of human destiny. The Ukrainian word for fate is Dolya, and her symbols are a spindle, a spinning wheel, and a ball of threads. Doli-Strichi is dedicated to the day of the Annunciation, which falls on February 1-2 according to the restored pagan calendar. On this day, popular belief holds that the Goddess of Winter meets the Goddess of Spring: Spring is imagined as a young girl decorated with flowers and potions, a joyful and sunny beauty, while Winter appears as an evil old woman in snowy furs from whom cold and frost blow. The two rivals compete to see who will beat whom, and the weather on this day determines what the summer and harvest will be like. Astronomically, the Feast of the Annunciation comes much earlier than the Orthodox Church's holiday, which borrowed the name. Western Slavs still have the custom of inviting the Goddess Strycha to a feast on this day, treating her to a good meal so she will be generous and give happiness to the owners. Songs are sung to pray for warmth and a good summer, and fortune-telling takes place, with a typical prayer being: "Dolenka, Dole, give me grain, warm clothes and the strength of a bear." Strechy's opponent is Nestricha, or evil fate (misfortune), which befalls people who betray the Native Faith, the laws of Righteousness, and the ancestral Custom. There is a belief that Nestricha should be chased away and sent to one's enemies. In autumn, on the holiday of Fate (November 24), girls prepare porridge and carry it in a pot over the threshold, calling: "Dole, Dole, come to us to eat porridge!" In the Book of Veles, Dolya-Stricha also has the name Yasna, and is mentioned at the birth of Dazhbo's grandchildren: "already Yasna weaves to him" (plate 16), referring to the thread of life that the Goddess weaves. Stricha (Perunytsia) is also a female lightning power next to Perun, representing the male thundering power (Boards 7-B, 28).