Also called Beregini, Berehynia.
Their story
The Old Russian Sermon on Idols says that the Slavs first made offerings to upyri and beregini, before turning to Rod and the rozhanitsy and finally to Perun. The word may come from bereg, a shore, or from berech, to guard, and nothing else about them is recorded. In the twentieth century the archaeologist Boris Rybakov linked them to the embroidered goddess figure with raised arms, and in modern Ukraine Berehynia has become a popular national symbol of the protective mother.
Best times to give to them
- Semik
- Kupala Night
- the blessing of a new home
What they like being given
- an embroidered cloth
- bread
- flowers
How to honour them
- Hang an embroidered cloth or towel near the door as a protective sign.
- Honour the women who have protected your family.
How they can help you
- protection of the home
- family
- safety near water
Symbols
- a female figure with raised arms (in modern embroidery)
- riverbanks
- embroidered towels
Named once in a medieval sermon; the modern mother-goddess image is a twentieth-century interpretation.
Sources
- Old Russian sermon "Slovo o idolakh" (Sermon on Idols)
- Boris Rybakov, Iazychestvo drevnikh slavian (1981)