Tara is the ancient Slavic patron goddess of wildlife and, in particular, forests. The youngest daughter of Perun, sister of Tarkh-Dazhdbog. Belovodye (the territory of Western Siberia, into which the Slavic-Aryan clans moved from Daaria) is sometimes called the Great Tartaria, that is, the land of Tarkh and Tara.
Tara is a pure, sincere female image that exudes kindness, all-encompassing love and warmth. This is not young Lelya, not stately Lada, not sophisticated Makosh. She is the patroness of all living things, including humans, because each of us is a part of a single world of Nature.
At the same time, Tara is most often called that - the goddess of nature. And this is, in general, the correct interpretation, albeit not deep enough. After all, the image of Tara, like the image of any other Slavic goddess, extends far beyond those functions that were determined to her by the Parent-Rod.
Tara is called Ever-beautiful, because her beauty is perfect, because is it possible to find a flaw in the smile of the Silver-Beard Moon or in the blue-black bosom of a quiet forest lake? This is an attentive, sensitive and caring goddess; every living creature is under her protection.
Tara - Heavenly Keeper of the Sacred Oak Trees, Forests and Groves. Trees that have special reverence among the Slavs are associated with the energy of this goddess - Birch, Oak, Ash, Cedar and Elm.
Our ancestors portrayed Tara as a young girl with brown eyes and a tight braid of long dark hair. Although, as for the color of hair and eyes, these are, so to speak, not canonical moments. That is, Tara could very well have been blue-eyed and blonde. At the same time, she was always dressed in a simple white sundress with protective embroidery in red and gold shades.
Her hair was adorned by the Bereginya, an ancient Slavic wardrobe element that, among other things, has not only aesthetic, but also practical functions. In mythological stories, Tara can most often be found collecting healing herbs in the forests of Midgard-earth filled with mysterious life.
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Tara is a knowing goddess, and her sphere of knowledge can spread to various elements of the Universe. Some researchers believe that Tara's patrimony is exclusively a forest, which means that, like Veles, she knows everything about forest life, its secrets and sacred mysteries.
However, there is an opinion that in this context the forest means the living world, in all its diversity. Following this interpretation of the image of Tara, we can assume that this is a deeper and more significant image that accumulates a lot of fundamental knowledge about the structure of the Universe. Moreover, the second option is harmoniously combined with the fact that Tara has always been one of the most revered Slavic goddesses. Moreover, it would be a mistake to attribute it to an exclusively female energy direction (like, for example, Rozhanu).
There is an opinion that Tara was originally called Dara, that is, the bestowing goddess. In light of the fact that her brother Tarkh has a second name - Dazhbog, this version looks quite plausible. Only if Tarkh received an additional name as a result of specific actions (the plot with the destruction of the Kashcheys on Lele), then, obviously, Daru was called so because it was she who gave (bestows) the world warmth, love and joy.
Legend of the Goddess Tara
Once it happened that the Rassen family and the Svyatorus family perished from drought and hunger, then the god Mithra saved them, giving them food and water, and showed the fertile and flourishing lands where these two families moved. The dark forces were angry with God Myrta, because he saved this people and punished them by chaining them to the Caucasus mountains, every day wild birds flew in and pecked the flesh of God. For three days from such tortures, his strength had already left and he was almost dying.
At this time, the Svyatorussy equipped a squad of the most courageous and brave warriors in order to save God Myrta, led by a priestess - Militant Astara. The priestess led the squad to the mountain, where dark forces guarded God, after a hard battle, Astara revived Mirt with her love. For her love and devotion, God took Astara away in his Fiery Chariot to Heaven. So Astara became the Goddess who saved the Highest Love and the rebirth for this she is revered by the peoples of Scythia.
Legend of Tarkh Dazhdbog
Once Tarkh Dazhdbog met in a duel with the dark forces, there was a fierce battle and the dark forces began to surrender and began to ask for mercy. In honor of the truce, they arranged a feast, at the holiday they added a sleeping potion to the drink of Tarkh, and when he became weak and fell asleep, they put their insidious plan into action. They tied him with strong chains and chained him on the top of the Caucasus Mountain so that birds of prey would peck on the flesh of God. This painful ordeal lasted three days, as did Myrtle's.
The Goddess Jiva noticed the suffering of Tarkh, she flew up to him and freed him from his shackles, she had huge swan wings, with the help of them she transferred God to the temple of the Goddess Tara. Tara helped Jivi to heal Tarkh's wounds, and then the Goddess Jiva breathed life into him with the help of the Higher Power of Love and Revival. Tarh renewed his strength, and played a wedding with the Goddess Jivi.