Also known as Lady of the Flowers. She is the goddess of love, desire, spring, marriage, fertility, harvests, women and children, she is said to be the overseer of the harvests, protector of lovers, couples, marriage and family, women and children. Lada usually appears as a young woman with golden long hair wreathed as a crown on her head, carrying wild roses. She tends to be associated with the Sun, but also rain and hot summer nights, the ideal time to pay respect to her.
Her symbols are roosters, deers, ants, eagles, bells, birch, cherry and linder trees, dandelions and peonies. A white rooster is the only animal that can be sacrificed in her name while one of her songs is sung. Other of her songs are sung by women during planting, harvesting and wedding ceremonies. Her rituals are often linked with contracting marriages, or choosing a spouse, and they sometimes include jumping over a bonfire. Her temples tend to be decorated with flowers and are built to resemble her symbol, a structure held with four pillars representing faith, freedom, righteousness and honor, and with a belltower. Lada is the wife of Svarog, with whom she created the world, and the mother of Perun.
Festivals/holidays
??? – her marriage with Svarog is celebrated
21th of March – beginning of Spring and her reign, the Great Lada festivities, first part of the day is for work and for planting, the second part celebrated over a bonfire with dances and songs
3rd Monday of April – „The six o’clock ringing of the bells“, another day to welcome Lada, a seed is watered with winter’s water (snow or an ice cube melted), a bell is rang in every room of the house and flowers are picked and left inside, it is a tradition to serve and enjoy birch beer
1st Sunday of June – Ladarice, about ten younger girls visit villages to find young women and men of marriageable age
22nd of September – september equinox, a big bonfire is made to send Lada back to other gods, her songs are sung and flowers that were picked that day, are all thrown in the fire, sometimes an effigy of her is built and burned as well
Trivia
The bell in her temples’ bell towers are rang when a couple is married and when a baby is born; people ring little handcrafted bells to welcome them as well.
Children weave and wear dandelion crowns for Lada’s rituals.
Cherry trees are, because of her, considered to be the tree of lovers.
Wedding ceremonies are supposed to be held in summer due to her presence.