Perhaps the most intriguing and central mystery of the Polish Pantheon is the relationship between Jasień, Łado and the various fertility rites practiced in the Polish countryside. According to Długosz, Jasień/Yessa/Yassa is the Supreme God (Jove) while Łado is the God of War (Ares). This neatly but I think rather simplistically describes the functions of these two Deities.
I have instead close to zero doubt that Jasień the Rider is of the same origin as the Greek Iasion. The myth of Iasion and Demeter is the myth of the fertilization of Earth. But in the Polish version there is no vengeful Zeus equivalent. Why is this? It seems that the answer is provided by the Latvian historian of religion Haralds Biezais who notes that the the Latvian equivalent Deity – Ūsiņš – was often referred to as Dieviņš Ūsiņš or just Dieviņš (a diminutive of Diev which in ancient Baltic languages just meant “sky” and whose Suavic equivalent is dziw meaning “strangeness”). However, both Names refer to the same Deity and indeed Dieviņš is also used with Dieviņš Pērkons raising the suspicion that Pērkons and Ūsiņš were the same Deity. In other words, Dieviņš was just a title that the Greeks may have made into another Deity – Deus – or, ultimately, Zeus. As already noted in Polish piorun refers merely to the thunder but a similar word in Greek (piroúni) and Venetian (piron), refers to a “fork.” And, indeed, in Polish piorun may also refer to the “arrow” or a sky “stone.” In other words, piorun (Perun in Ukraine) is simply the tool of Jasień.
With that in mind, is there a room for Łado? Indeed, there is. Here the best guide is James Frazer whose study of the European fertility rites is the best by far to this day. It seems that the Polish agricultural society preserved the myth of the Sky God who came down to Earth and made life out of it. That Earth became impregnated with the “Son of God” Who then was born of the Earth. When? Around Christmastime, of course. At that point the Earth “dies” or falls asleep. That Son, in turn, arrives in strength and impregnates or “wakes up” the same frozen Earth again in the spring. His powers peak, also of course, in mid-summer and it is then that He is referred to as the warrior Łado. This Łado is a Son of Jasień and is, thus, the Jasieńczyk. Note also that the fertility rites start prior to mid-summer. In fact, that happens a little after the “drowning” or really melting of the Earth – the Marzanna. Soon after the spring storms arrive and the Earth is impregnated. These rites happen to proceed full steam around Easter go through the Green Holidays (aka Pentecost) and culminate on Saint John’s Eve. Whether Łado passes away with the harvest is unclear although Frazer would speak of the Fertility God being sacrificed. If that were to happen, then the winter dziady holiday would seem the proper time for that. In any event, Łado is again, reborn at Christmas.
Łado is akin to Odin (the first – perhaps the first child of Jasień’s) who, after all, is also referred to on the continent as Wodin or Wodan or, even, Wadon.
Musings from Mannhardt
As already discussed, in Adam of Bremen’s description of the Uppsala temple we are reminded that the Top Swedish Deity may have been Thor, aka Asa-Thor whereas Odin was the God of War. Much as Łado, Odin too goes to sleep periodically. He is the first of the Aessir. Here we can compare the Polish word jeden meaning “one” but also pierwy meaning “first” or prawy meaning, physically, “right”. That is, the right hand, perhaps, of Asa-Thor or perhaps of Yggdrasil (an ash or jesion). A right hand, however, is part of the body and is not a separate thing of itself. This interpretation seems rather appropriate for the Jasień-Łado relationship. (Note also that Asa-Thor seems to be a combination of perhaps an earlier (or only differently sourced?) Ass or Esus with Taranis/Turoń, the Bull (or, in Polish, the auroch).
Thus, in this view, Łado is a continuation of Jasień. In that sense He IS Jasień reborn.The new Jasień/Łado is reborn mid-winter and the cycle repeats itself. Does Łado have a Name other than Łado? It seems Długosz may have been onto something calling Łado the Polish Mars. There is a Suavic Deity with a similar Name and that is the Suavic Ares, that is Iarovit (Gerovit) Whose Eastern Name was Iarilo. In any event, the question about the exact relationship Father and the Son will likely be unanswered much as the question of Horus’ identity with Osiris has always remained never fully explained. It may also behooves to note here, as indicated above, that the Germanic Thunar – presumably the same as Thor – may be the same, in origin, as Wodan/Wadon. That woda means “water” in Suavic is also suggestive of the common origin of these Deities.
In any event, Łado, like the Sun lives and dies and is reborn but Jasień after His first act of creation may be away somewhere else. In that sense Łado is the “local” caretaker, the Prometheus (compare with the Polish/Suavic promień meaning “sun ray”) the Svarozic of that other Svarog, that is of Jasień/Piorun.
Łado’s Earth consort is, of course, Łada. Why, of course? Well, because already in Luwian lada referred to the “beloved” or “consort” or “wife.” Thus, it seems, this too is a title. Note that Leto was impregnated by Zeus and Leto’s Doric Greek name is Lātṓ. Of course, lato means summer in Polish and other Suavic languages. Does Łada have a Name other than Łada? There are at least two possibilities here. The consort of Iarilo/Ares/Mars could be Marzanna. The Name Marha/Marcha is known from Sarmatian war cries. The term “march” refers to borderlands and so on. Another Name, however, may be Nyja. That is the Goddess of Nothing of Decay, the Pluto of the underworld as well as the Goddess of Death and of War. The Amazon And yet, also the Mother, to whom we all go back to. Note that there were graves of the Przeworsk Culture where the deceased were placed in fetal positions. That would be indicative of going back to the “womb”.
So was Łado , like Oedipus, sleeping with his Mother? Not necessarily. The relationship may well be that of siblings (certainly also offensive but Deities do not have many consorts to choose from). That is, Jasień may have been thought of like the Hebrew God as creating a local “Man” version of Himself. His Son Łado’s task is then to recreate Himself out of the Earth Who thus becomes His Consort.
What else remains to be said? I suspect that the myth of Iasion is the key here. It is also likely of similar origin to the myth of Jason and his golden fleece (the Sun?). In fact, it is likely that Iasion occasionally referred to as Iasius served as a model for the Christian Church Farhers who could not then resist but note the potential parallels of the story of Jesus of Nazareth to the preexisting myth of Jason/Iasion, a myth that was likely well known to the peasant class of Anatolia and Greece. It is perhaps for this reason that Yehoshua or Yeshua became Jesus and was effectively grafted onto the earlier story. That story, however, seems to be Indo-European or, perhaps, even pre-IE (note the myth of Isis-Osiris-Horus) dating back to the earliest memories of human civilizations.
Of course, this is not the only interpretation and many others have already been discussed here (for example, Łado as the child, but not the consort, of Mara/Marha/Marcha/Marzanna with Jasień being the Father).
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