This article describes Serbian folk astronomy.

Sun

In Serbian belief, the Sun is

anthropomorphised Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

as a

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

. Sometimes, Moon is described as

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

uncle An uncle is usually defined as a male relative who is a sibling of a parent or married to a sibling of a parent. Uncles who are related by birth are second-degree relatives. The female counterpart of an uncle is an aunt, and the reciprocal rela ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

as his

daughter A daughter is a female offspring; a girl or a woman in relation to her parents. Daughterhood is the state of being someone's daughter. The male counterpart is a son. Analogously the name is used in several areas to show relations between group ...

or (in one song)

wife A wife (plural, : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally Dissolution (law), dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, ...

, or both

stars A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...

and

as his sisters. Of Sun's parents, only

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

is ever mentioned. Some common Proto-Indo-European religion, Proto-Indo-European beliefs about Sun are preserved: a belief that Sun is riding in a cart or riding a horse, or that it is

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

's eye. Various beliefs exist that explain Sun's role regarding day and

night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends ...

: that it travels underground or under the sea during the night to emerge again during the day, or that it dies every sunset to be born anew the next sunrise. Sun is also present in a number of other folk beliefs and customs.

Moon

Moon is also

as a

. The Moon is sometimes described as

, and

as Moon's

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

. Also, sometimes Moon's

or children (''mesečić'') are mentioned, apparently not referring to any astronomical objects. A great deal of attention in folk beliefs is given to

Moon phase Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...

s, with new Moon respected as bringer of good fortune, and

full Moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means ...

also viewed positively. There are various explanations about the

Man in the Moon In many cultures, several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body are recognized in the disc of the full moon; they are generally known as the Man in the Moon. The images are based on the appearance of the dark areas (known as lunar ma ...

, which is viewed as a head of an animal, or as a human.

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

Depending on how it appears, Venus may be called differently: * ''Danica'' - Day star, signifying that it could be seen during the day; Danica is also a female given name. * ''Zornjača'' - Morning star, when it appears in the morning. * ''Večernjača'' - Evening star, when it appears in the evening. * Sometimes, ''Prehodnica'' or ''Preodnica'' - literally "crosser over", signifying that it appears on both sides of the sky (Eastern and Western) and the understanding that it crosses from one side of the sky to the other. Venus is

as a

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, sometimes described as

or (in one song)

, Sun's or

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

's sister, Moon's wife and in some songs as blood sister ('' posestrima'') of

Prince Marko Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...

. It is regarded as harbinger of

dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's hori ...

and day.

Meteorites

Serbian mythical creatures called '' zmaj'', usually translated as dragon, are described variously, as either snake-like monsters (see also aždaja), humans with supernatural abilities, or flying fiery creatures; these fiery dragons can be identified as meteorites. They are described as flying across the sky while shining, generally at night, with fire flowing from their wings, and producing a loud noise. In some regions it was believed that a shooting star indicated a captive, slave or soldier had broken free, or that one man is chasing another to fight with. It was a custom that the person who saw the shooting star remained silent at that moment, as uttering a sound might disclose the fugitive. By another custom the person should say, "Behind a bramble, behind a bush, hide!", "Run to the mountain!" or similar.

Stars

Stars are

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, sometimes described as sisters of

and

. A variety of beliefs about them exist.

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

Serbian name for Sirius is ''Svinjarka'', ''Svinjaruša'' (''svinja'' =

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

), ''Volarica'' or ''Volujara'' (''vo'' = ox). In some regions, appearance of Sirius signifies that pigs should be released to pannage on acorns.

Asterisms

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show * ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show present ...

and

Little Dipper Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

are called ''Velika kola'' 'big cart' and ''Mala kola'' 'little cart' in Serbian. Another Serbian asterism is ''Porednice'' (''red'' = '

queue __NOTOC__ Queue () may refer to: * Queue area, or queue, a line or area where people wait for goods or services Arts, entertainment, and media *''ACM Queue'', a computer magazine * ''The Queue'' (Sorokin novel), a 1983 novel by Russian author ...

'), identified as

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt or the Belt of Orion, also known as the Three Kings or Three Sisters, is an asterism in the constellation Orion. It consists of the three bright stars Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Looking for Orion's Belt is the easiest way to ...

and Sword. Other asterisms are recorded, such as ''Volovi'' ' oxen' and ''Trougao'' '

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

', but it is unclear what stars they refer to.

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

In Serbian, the Pleiades are called ''Vlašići'' or ''Sedam vlašića'' (''sedam'' = ' seven'). While the name is identical to "Little

Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other E ...

" 'Seven little Vlachs', this is a folk etymology, and it is in fact derived from

Slavic god The pagan Slavs were polytheistic, which means that they worshipped many gods and goddesses. The gods of the Slavs are known primarily from a small number of chronicles and letopises, or not very accurate Christian sermons against paganism. Addi ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

and

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

, Veles. A number of stories about the Pleiade's origin exist. The stars are described as seven brothers, or six brothers and a sister. Several sets of their names are recorded, for example: * ''Mika'' and ''Mioka'', ''Raka'' and ''Raoka'', ''Orisav'' and ''Borisav'' and seventh ''Milisav''; * ''Vole'' and ''Voleta'', ''Rale'' and ''Raleta'', ''Mile'' and ''Mileta'' and little ''Pržožak''. Pleiades are used to determine appropriate dates for various field works, or to measure time by night. Sometimes, when they appear on the sky, they are called ''kvočka s pilićima'' 'hen with chicklets'.

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

In Serbian, the Milky Way is called ''Kumova slama'' ' godparent's's straw'. A legend explains that once, a godparent stole straw from another, but as he was carrying it away, he was losing some of it. Then,

put the straw in the sky as a permanent warning not to steal.

References

Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Serbian Folk Astronomy

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

Serbian

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

Sun

Moon

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

Meteorites

Stars

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

Asterisms

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45 and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus. At a distance ...

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

See also

References

Literature