rrufeja, related to the Thracian rhomphaia, an ancient pole weapon. Albanians believed in the supreme powers of thunder-stones (kokrra e rrufesë or guri i rejës), which were believed to be formed during lightning strikes and to be fallen from the sky. Thunder-stones were preserved in family life as important cult objects. It was believed that bringing them inside the house could bring good fortune, prosperity and progress in people, in livestock and in agriculture, or that rifle bullets would not hit the owners of the thunder-stones. A common practice was to hung a thunder-stone pendant on the body of the cattle or on the pregnant woman for good luck and to contrast the evil eye. In Albanian culture, the heaviest type of oath swearing (Alb. beja më e rëndë) is taken by a thunder-stone "which comes from the sky" (beja me gur/kokërr reje/rrufeje që vjen nga perëndia). It was a very serious oath and people were afraid of it even though they were telling the truth. The act of absolving himself of any allegation of theft was performed in the following way: the thunder-stone was taken in the left hand and was touched by the right hand saying: Rainmaking The word perëndi is especially invoked by Albanians in incantations and songs praying for rain. Rituals were performed in times of summer drought to make it rain, usually in June and July, but sometimes also in the spring months when there was severe drought. In different Albanian regions, for rainmaking purpose, people threw water upwards to make it subsequently fall to the ground in the form of rain. This was an imitative type of magic practice with ritual songs. In Nowruz or in the Albanian Spring Day (Dita e Verës), in particular, in some villages of the region of Kurvelesh in southern Albania people addressed the following prayer to the deity for plants and cattle: In rainmaking ritual songs from southwestern Albania, people used to pray to the Sun, invoking the names Dielli, Shën Dëlliu, Ilia or Perëndia. After repeating three times the invocation song, they used to say: Do kemi shi se u nxi Shëndëlliu ("We will have rain because the Holy Sun went dark"). Fate deities Among the Albanians of Ukraine there is a belief about the determination of a child's fate by the parandí(të) "gods/deities". The belief is referred in the local Albanian dialect as Parandítë të gjithtë