PHOTOGALLERY: Luhačovice said goodbye to winter by bringing out the Morena

The fast between the end of Shrovetide and the beginning of Easter is not one of the merriest times of the year, but it brings to life many beautiful folk traditions. Like, for example, Death Sunday, which this year fell on 26 March. It may have a dark name, but it is full of joy and merriment. It's the day when the grim reaper is brought out, marking the final end of winter and the beginning of spring.

The ancient practice of bringing out the Morana, also called Morena, Morena, Marena, Smrtholka or the grim reaper, is still practiced in many places today. In some places the figure is woven from old branches, in others from straw, rushes and old dried grass. He dresses in old rags, most often in black and white, and adorns himself with necklaces of eggshells or empty snail shells. It is a symbol of winter: of sickness, long dark nights and everything that harms people. Wherever a river or stream flows, the grim reaper is thrown into the water; elsewhere it is burned or thrown off a cliff.

In Luhačovice on Sunday, girls from the Malé Zálesí Folklore Ensemble took up the task of bringing out the Moraine.Followed by a procession of members of the public, they set fire to the symbol of winter and death while singing folk ceremonial songs and then threw it from a bridge into the river.

Categories: Tourism, Why to Luhačovice, Luhačovice, Folklore, Spring, FS Malé Zálesí