Also called Siren (source), Syrin.
Their story
Sirin is the sad companion of Alkonost, a bird with a woman's head whose song enchants and can lead listeners to their doom. Her name comes from the Greek Sirens, who passed into Russian lore through Byzantine books such as the Physiologus. Russian folk prints show her in the gardens of paradise, and she was also said to sing of the joys to come for the righteous.
Best times to give to them
- times of mourning
- Radonitsa
What they like being given
- a song of lament
- a candle
How to honour them
- Allow yourself to feel sorrow fully, then balance it with something that brings joy.
- Listen to music that moves you and reflect on what it stirs.
How they can help you
- grief
- emotional honesty
- resisting temptation
Symbols
- a bird with a woman's face
- a crown
- a tree of paradise
Like Alkonost, Sirin is a medieval Byzantine import rather than an old Slavic being.
Sources
- Russian lubok folk prints (17th to 19th centuries)
- Viktor Vasnetsov, Sirin and Alkonost: Birds of Joy and Sorrow (painting, 1896)
More Slavic beings
- Div The crying omen in the tree-top
- Vodyanoy The old man of the millpond
- Polevik The spirit of the fields
- Poludnitsa Lady Midday of the harvest fields
- Mavka Hollow-backed maiden of the Ukrainian woods
- Mora The night-mare who sits on the chest
- Zmey Gorynych Many-headed dragon of the byliny
- Firebird The glowing bird of the golden apples