Dodola (also spelled Dodole, Dudola, Dudula etc.) and Perperuna (also spelled Peperuda, Preperuda, Preperuša, Prporuša, Papaluga etc.), are Balkan rainmaking pagan customs practiced until the 20th century. The tradition is found in South Slavic countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia), as well as in near Albania, Greece, Hungary, Moldavia and Romania. It is a ceremonial ritual of singing and dancing done by young boys and girls in times of droughts. According to some interpretations it was related to Slavic god Perun, and Perperuna could have been a Slavic goddess of rain, and the wife of the supreme deity Perun (god of thunder and weather in the Slavic pantheon). Names The custom's Slavic prototype name is *Perperuna (with variations Preperuna, Peperuna, Preperuda/Peperuda, Pepereda, Preperuga/Peperuga, Peperunga, Pemperuga in Bulgaria and North Macedonia: Prporuša, Parparuša, Preporuša/Preporuča, Preperuša, Barburuša/Barbaruša in Croatia; Peperuda, Papaluga, Papaluda/Paparuda, Babaruta, Mamaruta in Romania and Moldavia; Perperouna, Perperinon, Perperouga, Parparouna in Greece; Perperona/Perperone, Rona in Albania; Pirpirunã among Aromanians) and Dodola (including Serbia among previous countries, with variants Dodole, Dudola, Dudula, Dudule, Dudulica, Doda, Dodočka, Dudulejka, Didjulja, Dordolec/Durdulec etc.). They can be found among South Slavs, Albanians, Greeks, Hungarians, Moldavians, Romanians, Vlachs or Aromanians (including regions of Bukovina and Bessarabia). All variants are considered to be taboo-alternations to "avoid profaning the holy name" of pagan god. According to Roman Jakobson and others perperuna is formed by reduplication of root "per-" (to strike/beat). Those with root "peper-", "papar-" and "pirpir-" were changed accordingly modern words for pepper-tree and poppy plant, possibly also perper and else. Dimitar Marinov derived it from Bulgarian word for butterfly where in folk beliefs has supernatural powers related to rain, but according to Jakobson the mythological context of the customs and links explains the Bulgarian entomological names. Michail Arnaudov derived it from Slavic verb "pršiti" (spray). Petar Skok considered prporuša a metaphorical derivation from Slavic prpor/pŕpa (hot ash), pórusa ("when water is poured on burning ash"). Stanisław Urbańczyk and Michal Łuczyński put into question Jakobson's theonymic derivation, deriving instead from Proto-Slavic *perpera, *perperъka (in Polish przepiórka), name for Common quail, which has a role in Polish harvest rituals and the name of the bride in the wedding dance. These are also related to *pъrpati (onomatopoeic), cf. Polish dial. perpotać, perpac, Old East Slavic poropriti. Origin The rainmaking practice is a shared tradition among Balkan peoples, and it is not clear who borrowed it from whom.