Mavka (Patreon)
Published:
2018-05-28 08:08:59
Imported:
2024-05
Content
I am very inspired by Slavic mythology and I feel a strong connection with all these strange mystical creatures. In this picture I painted Mavka.
Mavka is a female spirit in the mythology of the southern Slavs.
The spirits known by this term represented the souls of girls who had died unnatural tragic or premature deaths. Mavkas often appear in the form of beautiful young girls who entice and lure young men into the woods, where they "tickle" them to death.
There is a legend that thethat the first mavka (or rusalka) was Kostroma, when she discovered that her newlywed husband Kupalo is her brother and they cannot be together. According to the legend, Kostroma and Kupalo once ran into a field to listen to songs of bird Sirin, but Sirin stole Kupalo and carried him into the Nav. Many years later, one day, Kostroma walked the shore of the river and made a wreath. She boasted that the wind would not blown wreath off her head. According to the belief, it meant that she would not marry. This boast was not approved by the gods. The wind become stronger, and wreath was blown by the wind from Kostroma's head and fell into the water, where it was picked up by the Kupalo, who was near by in the boat. According to the Slavic customs, the one who picked up the wreath must necessarily marry the girl who made it. Kupalo and Kostroma fell in love and shortly were married without any knowledge that they were brother and sister. After the wedding, the gods told them the truth. That is why Kupalo and Kostroma committed suicide. Kupalo has jumped into the fire and died, while Kostroma ran to the forest, threw herself into the forest lake and drowned. But she did not die, she became a mavka. Since then, she walks the shores of that lake. If she should see a young man, she immediately seduces him and pulls into the water abbys. When Mavka realises that the young man is not her lover, it is already too late and the young man has already drowned.
This picture has a size of 20 by 20 cm. And it is already available in my Etsy store.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/603358066/original-oil-painting-mavka
Mavka is a female spirit in the mythology of the southern Slavs.
The spirits known by this term represented the souls of girls who had died unnatural tragic or premature deaths. Mavkas often appear in the form of beautiful young girls who entice and lure young men into the woods, where they "tickle" them to death.
There is a legend that thethat the first mavka (or rusalka) was Kostroma, when she discovered that her newlywed husband Kupalo is her brother and they cannot be together. According to the legend, Kostroma and Kupalo once ran into a field to listen to songs of bird Sirin, but Sirin stole Kupalo and carried him into the Nav. Many years later, one day, Kostroma walked the shore of the river and made a wreath. She boasted that the wind would not blown wreath off her head. According to the belief, it meant that she would not marry. This boast was not approved by the gods. The wind become stronger, and wreath was blown by the wind from Kostroma's head and fell into the water, where it was picked up by the Kupalo, who was near by in the boat. According to the Slavic customs, the one who picked up the wreath must necessarily marry the girl who made it. Kupalo and Kostroma fell in love and shortly were married without any knowledge that they were brother and sister. After the wedding, the gods told them the truth. That is why Kupalo and Kostroma committed suicide. Kupalo has jumped into the fire and died, while Kostroma ran to the forest, threw herself into the forest lake and drowned. But she did not die, she became a mavka. Since then, she walks the shores of that lake. If she should see a young man, she immediately seduces him and pulls into the water abbys. When Mavka realises that the young man is not her lover, it is already too late and the young man has already drowned.
This picture has a size of 20 by 20 cm. And it is already available in my Etsy store.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/603358066/original-oil-painting-mavka