Čuma or kuga ( sr, чума, куга) is the
personification
Personification occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
of
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
in
Serbian mythology
Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, te ...
.
It was imagined as an old (rarely, as young)
woman
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
dressed in
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
.
[ Mentioning čuma was avoided, so ]euphemism
A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...
s ''kuma'' (godmother) or ''teta'' (aunty) ( sr, кума, тета) were used.[
Čumas were believed to live in a far away land, from where they set out to infect people.][ They hate dirtiness and are especially eager to infect a dirty house, hence if plague would appear in the vicinity, it was believed that every house and its occupants must be thoroughly cleaned;][ which was a useful belief that actually helps with real plague. Offerings of food, clean water, basil and a comb could also be made to her.][
]
See also
* Pestilence
References
{{Slavic mythology
Slavic legendary creatures
Serbian folklore
Personifications
Legendary Serbian people