Nëna e Diellit
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Nëna e Diellit ("the Mother of the Sun" or "the Sun's Mother") is a mother goddess in Albanian folk beliefs, the mother of Dielli ("the Sun"). A sacred ritual called "the funeral of the Sun's Mother" was very widespread in southeastern Albania until the 20th century.[1] She has been described by scholars as a heaven goddess[2] and a goddess of agriculture, livestock, and earth fertility, as suggested by the sacred ritual dedicated to her.[3] Nëna e Diellit also features as a deity in Albanian folk tales.[4][5] Nëna e Diellit represents a manifestation of the personification of the Sun in Albanian mythology.[6]
A sacred ritual called "funeral of the Sun's Mother" consisted in burying a female figure that probably personified a seasonal phase of the mother goddess. Occurring at the end of May, it was the last festival of the spring cycle, coinciding with the feast of Pentecost (Rusica).[7] It was very widespread in southeastern Albania until the 20th century.[8] During the custom the girls and young women gathered flowers, danced and sang, celebrating together with meals. After lunch or at the end of the day, they made a clay doll that they called Sun's Mother (Nëna e Diellit), put it on a tile and went outside the village to bury the female figure.[9] It was performed in silence and with all the appropriate seriousness of the death ceremony.[10] The girls and young women mourned the mother goddess, pronouncing the typical verses Nënë moj nënë, kuku / erdhi dielli e s'të gjeti "Mother oh Mother, Alas, / the Sun came and didn't find you".[11]