Mat Zemlya

 ( Agricultural Goddesses ) 

An example of her importance is seen in this traditional invocation to Matka Ziema, made with a jar of hemp oil:

:East – "Mother Earth, subdue every evil and unclean being so that he may not cast a spell on us nor do us any harm."

:West – "Mother Earth, engulf the unclean power in thy boiling pits, and in thy burning fires."

:South – "Mother Earth, calm the winds coming from the South and all bad weather. Calm the moving sands and whirlwinds."

:North – "Mother Earth, calm the North winds and clouds, subdue the snowstorms and the cold."

:The jar, which held the oil, is buried after each invocation and offering is made at each Quarter. (Slavonic mythology 1977:287)

Kenneth Johnson (1998). 9781567183740, Llewellyn Publications. ISBN 9781567183740

Old Slavic beliefs seem to attest some awareness of an ambivalent nature of the Earth: it was considered men's cradle and nurturer during one's lifetime, and, when the time of death came, it would open up to receive their bones, as if it were a "return to the womb".Васільчук, А. А.. "СЛАВЯНСКІЯ НАРОДНЫЯ УЯЎЛЕННІ ПРА ЗЯМЛЮ" Slavic. In: МОВА–ЛІТАРАТУРА–КУЛЬТУРА. Матэрыялы VI Міжнароднай навуковай канферэнцыі г. Мінск, 28-29 кастрычніка 2010 года LANGUAGE–LITERATURE–CULTURE.. Minsk: БДУ. 2011. pp. 52-53.

The imagery of the terre humide ("moist earth") also appears in funeral lamentations either as a geographical feature (as in Lithuanian and Ukrainian lamentations)Nevskaja, Lidija; Toucas-Bouteau, Michèle (traduceur). "Les lamentations balto-slaves: sémantique et structure". In: Cahiers slaves, n°3, 2001. La mort et ses représentations (Monde slave et Europe du Nord) pp. 201-202. DOI:; www.persee.fr/doc/casla_1283-3878_2001_num_3_1_904. or invoked as Mère-Terre humide ("Mother Moist Earth").Adon'eva, S.B.; Kabakova, Galina (traducteur). "Lamentation dans le Nord de la Russie: texte et rituel". In: Cahiers slaves, n°6, 2002. Les études régionales en Russie (1890-1990). Origines, crise, renaissance. pp. 434. DOI:; www.persee.fr/doc/casla_1283-3878_2002_num_6_1_962Labriolle, François de; Sériot, Patrick. "Lise Gruel-Apert, La tradition orale russe (compte-rendu)". In: Revue des études slaves, tome 68, fascicule 1, 1996. p. 138. www.persee.fr/doc/slave_0080-2557_1996_num_68_1_6318_t1_0137_0000_1