Dheut-e-Zonja, or Zôja-e-Dheut ("Lady of the Earth"), was the Illyrian/Albanian Earthmother of the ancient Balkans, also called Dheun, Dheu, and Toka ("Earth"), and Mëmë-dheu ("Mother Earth"). The Romans identified her with Tellus Mater, Terra Mater, or Magna Mater (Cybele). The very soil of Dheut-e-Zonja was believed to have the powers of an all-seeing eye that watched humanity from the ground up, knowing everywhere each of us goes. When an Albanian moved to a foreign land, he or she took with them a container of Mother Earth, as the concept of the Earthmother was regionalized. She was Mother of the Sun-goddess, rebirthing Her every morning. She cared for the dead, their remains buried and their soul going to an underworld paradise. Mourners would get on their knees making forlorn wailing sounds, then place their foreheads on Mother Earth. She was sometimes paired with Zoh-z, the Albanian Sky-god, with many formulaic sayings or prayers to Earth and Sky. Presumedly he was her husband. Dheut-e-Zonja was mother of vegetation. Her sacred groves were designated natural sites of great beauty, where it was forbidden to cut down trees, and no house or settlement was permitted, or the offenders' families would suffer longlasting misfortune.
An Albanian and Kosovan folk practice that lasted into the 20th Century provides lingering evidence of an Earthmother cult. Infants and children who were not thriving would be taken to a ritual location by an elderly woman of the family or village, there laid upon the ground, and covered with fresh earth, all except the head, the while reciting prayers or spells of healing. This was believed to impart the Earth's strength to the child.
Figurine: Copper Age ceramic goddess figurine found at Maliqi, Albania.