The Drowning of Marzanna

Work in progress. The pagan-originated spring equinox folk custom of Poland called The Drowning of Marzanna. Marzanna is the Polish incarnation of the old Slavic goddess of winter, plague and death. The effigy is built of straw and dressed in clothes, ribbons, and flowers. Marzanna is taken to the nearest riverbank and thrown to her watery grave as the children sing: As the spring sun rises in the sky of blue, in this swollen river we are drowning you.

 At the end of the year, I will be ending this blog. Followers of my work will be able to see my works in progress on Instagram instead! I just can't keep so many sites going. I'd rather be painting.  @mygoodbabushka

The Drowning of Marzanna

The pagan-originated spring equinox folk custom of Poland called The Drowning of Marzanna. Marzanna is the Polish incarnation of the old Slavic goddess of winter, plague and death. The effigy is built of straw and dressed in clothes, ribbons, and flowers. Marzanna is taken to the nearest riverbank and thrown to her watery grave as the children sing: As the spring sun rises in the sky of blue, in this swollen river we are drowning you.

The Ivy Girl

It's slow going, putting all this ivy in.
There was an old custom in some parts of England of the ‘Ivy-Girl’, wherein the girls in the village built an effigy of ivy known as the ‘Ivy-Girl’. It was stolen by the young boys in the village and then burned.
Here is my fantastical and macabre interpretation of the folk tradition. Acrylic on canvas board 8" x 10".