Patterns dedicated to Mothers were special in Russian tradition. Before the 19th century they embellished only articles used for fertility rituals (like wedding, birth, and harvesting). To 1870s, Mothers' worship degraded to just "family", "household" customs. But in ancient times, Mothers were believed as owners of the world, of animals and prey, and of the soil and water.

In "The Word Of Idols" - the Russian manuscript of the 12th century - the author describes the pagan cult of a divine family: Rhod the Creator, and Rozhanicy (Ladies of Fertility, Creator's wife and daughter). Scientists believe that Rozhanicy goddesses were much more ancient than Rhod. According to archaeologic data, Rozhanicy were worshipped even in Paleolith, whereas a cult of Rhod was established in agricultural epoch only. Researchers compare Rozhanicy with Greek goddesses Rhea and Cybele, and Rhod with Zeus. But, in contrast with Greece, where Zeus displaced Rhea and Cybele from the main pantheon, Rhod and Rozhanicy had been revered together. Moreover, in the 15th century village people forgot about Rhod completely, whereas Rozhanicy became the most prominent spirits in agricultural rituals.

In accordance with ethnographic data, hunter-gatherers of almost all the world had (and have till now) a myth about two Ladies of the World: half-women, half-female elks. These Ladies are responsible for abundance of prey and for plentifulness of fruits and berries in a forest. On the other hand, they are patronesses of childbearing. Obviously, Russian Rozhanicy are "descendants" of these archaic Ladies. They also have another nature of elks. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, Russian farmers told the story about two female elks, who came from a forest to the Rozhanicy's celebration in September (as Russia was a Christian country, village people combined Rozhanicy's day with the birthday of Holy Mary). Traditional embroidery reflected animal nature of Rozhanicy: many patterns depicting women show them crowned with horns.

In agricultural epoch, Rhod became the main god of a farmer's pantheon. Rozhanicy changed their place of Mothers and Ladies of the World to more modest role of the wife and a daughter of the Creator. For now, they became Ladies of fertility of a grain field and livestock, not of a forest. Embroidery reflected these changes. Patterns with Rozhanicy started to include:

• flowers and plants (and Tree of Life)
• the Sun as a crown
• symbols of water (both rivers and rain)

Ornaments dedicated to The Sun (the embodiment of Rhod the Creator) got a frieze of women's figures. This complex symbol was a "graphic spell" for a good harvest: a combination of male power of the Sun and childbearing ability of Rozhanicy blessed gardens and grain fields.

Besides, in agricultural epoch the formerly unite symbol of Rozhanicy was separated into two different ones, reflecting two different ideas: Mother (summer, harvesting time) and Daughter (spring, planting time) (there is a hypothesis that the divine family of mother Lada and daughter Lelya is a different form of Rozhanicy). In embroidery, Mother and Daughter obtained distinguished features:

• Daughter holds her hands raised, whereas Mother holds them down. Scientists have a hypothesis that such positions reflect ancient rituals of a prayer for the rain (lifted hands), and pouring water to a ground, imitating rain symbolically (lowered hands).
  
  
• Daughter represents Spring and potential energy, whereas Mother is Summer and Birth. Accordingly, Daughter has a Sun crown (the Sun fertilizes the Earth in spring), and Mother has horns, like a cow or an elk (as a symbol of giving birth).

One more shadow of meaning. In Russian, the word "Rozhanica" means the woman in a process of delivering a baby. On women's headdresses, wedding ritual outfits, and bed sheets you can see very stylized image of a woman exactly in the position of delivery. The more ancient the design is, the more realistic the picture is. Village people called this design "a pretty frog". Later, people replaced "a pretty frog" with a small figure of the Daughter in front of a Mother's skirt.

There is one more motif with Mother in Russian embroidery: a picture with only one Lady of the World.

• A triptych: large female figure in the center, and two horsemen (sometimes horsewomen) by her sides. Two types of this composition exist.
  1) The Lady holds bridles of both horses. Horsemen are similar to the central figure: all three are shown full-face, with Sun-crowned head, and lowered arms.
  2) The Lady is shown full-face, and horsemen are half-faced. This type of the design has a lot of everyday-life details: horsemen have hats, cowboy-like boots, saddles. Scientists believe this type is a degradation of the first one (this type appeared no earlier than 1500s).
  
  
• Female figure in the center holds birds in her raised arms. This composition depicts the autumn ritual of releasing birds (birds symbolize sun rays and sun energy, so it means that people reimburse the Sun for its energy spending for producing harvest).
  
  
• Around the beginning of 19th century, the large female figure degraded to Tree of Life (at first), and then to the fantastic unclear shape: half-woman, half-plant. To 1809s, the design of women and trees devaluated to just "Walking around the garden" pictures, with a lot of everyday details.

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2. G.S.Maslova "Designs of Traditional Russioan Embroidery".
3. "Folk Russian Embroidery", a photoalbum
4. I.Ya.Boguslavskaya "Russian Embroidery"
5. I.P.Rabotnova "The composition of Nothern Russian embroidery"
6. A.F.Anisimov "Cosmology of the Peoples of the North"
7. A.K.Ambroz "The Symbolic Language of Russian Archaic Embroidery"
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9. E.V.Anichkov "Paganizm and the Ancient Russia"
10. N.M.Galkovsky "Christianity and Paganizm in Ancient Russia"
11. I.I.Sreznevsky "The Ladies of Fertility: Not Only Slavic Goddesses"
12. V.A.Gorodtsov "The Scythian Elements in Russian Arts and Crafts"