Morana (in Czech, Slovene, Bosnian, Croatian and Montenegrin), Morena (in Slovak and Macedonian), Mora (in Bulgarian), Mara (in Ukrainian), Morė (in Lithuanian), Marena (in Russian), or Marzanna (in Polish) is a pagan Slavic goddess associated with seasonal rites based on the idea of death and rebirth of nature.

In modern times, the rituals associated with Marzanna have lost their sacred character and are a pastime – an occasion to have fun and celebrate the beginning of spring.

[2] The Slovak form of the theonym – Ma(r)muriena – suggests that the goddess may have originally been connected to the Roman god of war Mars (known under a variety of names, including Marmor, Mamers and Mamurius Veturius).

[4] The tradition of burning or drowning an effigy of Morana to celebrate the end of winter is a folk custom that survives in the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, and Slovakia.

It concerns the "drowning of Marzanna," a large figure of a woman made from various rags and bits of clothing which is thrown into a river on the first day of the spring calendar.

Very often she is burned along with herbs before being drowned and a twin custom is to decorate a pine tree with flowers and colored baubles to be carried through the village by the girls.

Following the principles of sympathetic magic – as described by James Frazer – it was believed that burning an effigy representing the goddess of death would remove any results of her presence (i.e., the winter) and thus bring about the coming of spring.

In the evening the effigy passed to the young adults; the juniper twigs were lit, and thus illuminated Morana was carried out of the village, burned, and thrown into water.

In 1420, the Synod of Poznań instructed the Polish clergy: Do not allow the superstitious Sunday custom, do not permit them to carry around the effigy they call Death and drown in puddles.

At the turn of the 18th century there has been an attempt to replace it (on the Wednesday preceding Easter) with a newly introduced custom of throwing an effigy symbolizing Judas down from a church tower.

Typically the effigy or doll representing Morana is made of straw and dressed in traditional local costume, rags, or even bridesmaid's clothes.

[7] Depending on local tradition, the ritual that takes place after the procession reaches its chosen destination can be performed in various ways: sometimes the effigy is first torn into pieces, its clothes ripped off, and then drowned in a lake, river or even a puddle.

This type of a two-part ritual (destroying the effigy and then returning with the copse) had been observed in the Opole region, the western parts of Kraków Voivodeship, Podhale, Slovakia, Moravia, Bohemia, Lusatia and Southern Germany (Thuringia, Franconia).

[8] In the 19th century Oskar Kolberg noted that the copse had been carried around as a standalone custom (without the prior destruction of Morana) around Kraków and Sandomierz, as well as in the regions of Mazovia (on Easter Tuesday) and Lesser Poland (beginning of May or the Green week).

Although the Catholic Church considered these to be pagan traditions, and persecuted them accordingly, the custom nevertheless survived in Silesia even at times when it had been almost extinct in other regions of Poland.

Drowning Morana in water (an element of high importance in season-related folk celebrations) is understood as the goddess' symbolic descent into the underworld, to be reborn with next winter.

The authors of Wyrzeczysko propose that Morana is sacrificed to the demons of water, whose favour was necessary to ensure a plentiful harvest in the coming year.