On 21 March, if you happen to come upon a strange scene of people gathered at the river banks, singing songs and setting fire to a woman’s effigy and then throwing it into the river, do not be alarmed.  Stay and watch as this is the drowning of Morana which is an interesting ancient Slavic pagan ritual celebrating the death of Winter and the birth of Spring.  Nowadays mostly schoolchildren still celebrate this in villages and towns throughout the Czech Republic.