Slavic mythological. Mythology of the ancient Slavs

Map of Slavic lands
Territory of the Slavs

Unlike ancient mythology, well known from fiction and works of art, as well as the mythologies of the countries of the East, the texts of the myths of the Slavs have not reached our time, because at that distant time when the myths were created, they did not yet know writing.

In the 5th – 7th centuries after the Great Migration of Peoples, the Slavs occupied the territories of Central and of Eastern Europe from the Elbe (Laba) to the Dnieper and Volga, from the southern shores of the Baltic Sea to the north of the Balkan Peninsula. Centuries passed, and the Slavs became increasingly separated from each other, forming three modern branches of the largest family of related peoples in Europe. Eastern Slavs are Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians; Western - Poles, Slovaks and Czechs (the Baltic Slavs were assimilated by their Germanic neighbors in the 12th century); southern - Bulgarians, Macedonians, Serbs, Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians. Despite the division of the Slavs, their mythologies have retained many common features to this day.

Thus, all Slavs know the myth about the duel between the thunder god and his demonic opponent and the victory of the thunderer; All Slavic traditions are familiar with the ancient custom of burning an effigy at the end of winter - the embodiment of dark evil forces or burying a mythical creature like Maslenitsa and Yarila among the Russians and Belarusians and Herman among the Bulgarians.

Slavic mythology and the religion of the Slavs were composed of the deification of the forces of nature and the cult of ancestors. The only supreme god, the “creator of lightning”, like Indra among the Hindus, Zeus among the Greeks, Jupiter among the Romans, Thor among the Germans, Perkunas among the Lithuanians - among the Slavs Perun. The concept of the thunder god merged among the Slavs with the concept of the sky in general (namely, the moving, cloudy sky), the personification of which some scientists see in Svarog. Other high gods were considered the sons of Svarog - Svarozhichi; such gods were the sun and fire.

The sun was deified under the name Dazhdbog, and Khorsa. Brother of Svarog, the most mysterious god and guardian of herds Veles originally also a solar god. All these names of the highest god are very ancient and were used everyone Slavs. Common Slavic ideas about the highest god received further development among individual Slavic tribes, new, more defined and more bizarre forms.

Thus, among the Western Slavs the highest god was considered Svyatovit, and corresponded to it Triglav- a three-headed idol that was worshiped in Shchetin (Stettin) and Wolin. In the city of Retra, the same highest god, the son of Svarog, was called Radegasta, and in Czech and Polish legends he appears under the name Kroka or Kraka.

Already ancient writers assumed that the name Svyatovit appeared as a result of the confusion of the pagan god with the Christian saint Vitus; the name Radegost was also supposed to be transferred to the god from the name of the city, and the city received this name from one of its princes. Krak, according to the legend of Kozma of Prague, was a wise and fair judge and ruler of the people. Whatever these guesses may be, there is no doubt that all the names listed meant the same high god and that they all appeared later.

The vague evidence that has reached us about the Slavic gods, which is explained in folk tales and songs, boils down to the struggle between the light and dark forces of nature, fertility and infertility, summer and winter, light and darkness, life and death, Belbog and Chernobog. Intertwined with these ideas were views on the afterlife and the cult of ancestors. The souls of the deceased lived in some distant country at the end of the world, where the sun sets; this country was called by the Slavs navyem, vyryem, iriya, paradise, hell. The deceased must be prepared for this country as if on a long journey, which is achieved by proper burial.

Fight of Dobrynya Nikitich
with Zmey Gorynych

Until the funeral rites are performed, the soul wanders on earth; among the southern Slavs the soul in this state is called Vidogonya. The soul is doomed to eternal wandering on earth if the correct ritual has not been performed; Thus, the souls of girls or children who drowned in water become mermaids, waving, with a pitchfork. To make it easier for the deceased to travel to the kingdom of the dead, the Slavs resorted to burning: the fire of a funeral pyre instantly separated the soul from the body and sent it to heavenly dwellings.

In this cult fire of the funeral pyre, P. N. Milyukov sees a connection between two independently emerging systems of religious ideas: the deification of the forces of nature and the cult of ancestors. On the one hand, fire was a manifestation on earth of the heavenly solar god, a messenger of the heavenly gods; on the other hand, he contributed to the purification of the soul of the deceased and thus himself turned into a symbol of the soul of the ancestor, which under the name Rhoda, Chura,brownie became a household deity, guardian of the family and clan. On the hearth, both of these meanings of fire merged into one inseparable whole; it equally honored the elemental heavenly god and the tribal deity of the family community.

This dual meaning of fire finds the most striking confirmation in the belief of the Western Slavs about a domestic creature (its Czech name is Křet, Slovenian Skrat), which, under the guise of a fiery serpent, flies through a pipe and brings the owner all kinds of bread and other fruits of the earth, and sometimes various treasures. In the Tula province there is a belief that from the day of Epiphany (winter solstice) a fiery serpent (sun) appears and visits red maidens (earth). By the time Christianity began to spread among the Slavs, Slavic mythology had not yet created such clear ideas about the gods as, for example, the Greeks had come to: the Slavic gods continued to merge with the elements that they personified and did not yet have clear anthropomorphic features. Likewise, the cult of ancestors among the Slavs had not yet developed into such distinct, complete forms and did not have such strict legal consequences as among the Greeks and Romans.

The religious views of the Slavs come down to those most ancient layers of religious beliefs that make up common property peoples of the Aryan tribe: they formed before the beginning of the history of the Slavs as a separate tribal group and hardly moved further. Accordingly, they did not develop strict forms of cult, and there was no special priestly class. Only among the Baltic Slavs do we find a strong religious organization: idols for whom temples were erected, priests who performed divine services according to a certain order, with known rituals, who had a hierarchical structure and over time acquired the significance of a leading caste. Other Slavic tribes had neither public idols, nor temples, nor priests; Representatives of clan unions made sacrifices to the clan and heavenly gods. It was only under the influence of the Varangians that the Russian Slavs came to the idea of ​​depicting their gods in idols.

The first idols were placed by Vladimir, Prince of Kyiv, on the hill to Perun, Khorsu, Dazhdbog, and in Novgorod, Dobrynya - to Perun over Volkhov. Under Vladimir, for the first time, temples appeared in Rus', probably built by him, in which, according to the saga of Olav Trygveson, he himself made sacrifices. But under the same Vladimir, Christianity was introduced into Russia, which put an end to the development of the Slavic cult, although for a long time it was not yet able to supplant the remnants of pagan beliefs.

After the adoption of Christianity, the popular consciousness of the Slavs mixed new faith with the old, partly merged its gods with Christian saints, partly relegated them to the position of “demons”, partly remained faithful to its ancestral gods. Kozma of Prague († 1125) says: “and hitherto among many of the villagers, just like among pagans, some honor springs or fires, others adores forests or trees, or stones, others make sacrifices to mountains or hills, others bow to idols, deaf and dumb. which he made for himself, praying that they would rule his house and himself." By these idols Kozma obviously means the household gods, which the Czechs called with skrits And with grilles, among Russians - brownies, etc.; The Czech brownie Křet was depicted by the Czechs in the form of small bronze figurines, the size of a finger, which is why he was called Paleček (boy the size of a finger).

The most interesting reflection of Slavic mythology is the association of pagan beliefs with Christian holidays. Like other Aryan peoples, the Slavs imagined the entire cycle of the seasons as a continuous struggle and alternate victory of the light and dark forces of nature. Starting point This cycle was the onset of a new year - the birth of a new sun. The Slavs incorporated the pagan content of this holiday into the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, and the celebration of Christmastide itself received the Greco-Roman name. carols. The rituals with which the pagan Slavs greeted the onset of spring and the summer solstice were also, to a greater or lesser extent, timed to coincide with Christian holidays: such as Rusalia, Semik, Kupalo. Given the pagan nature of the holidays, the name of the holiday turned into the name of the deity in whose honor it was once celebrated. Thus, other Slavic gods appeared like Yarila, Kostroma, etc., the number of which probably increased thanks to the narrow-minded accusatory zeal of Christian missionaries, who did not think about the general religious thought of the Slavs and saw a special god in every name.

The originality of Slavic mythology, which, like any other, reflected the worldview of its creators, lies in the fact that their life was directly connected with the world of lower spirits that live everywhere. Some of them were credited with intelligence, strength, and benevolence, while others were credited with cunning, malice, and deceit. The ancients believed that all these creatures - beregins, pitchforks, watermen, field workers, etc., constantly interfere in their lives and accompany a person from the day of birth until death.

The Slavs believed that good and evil spirits were near them, that they helped to harvest a bountiful harvest and brought illnesses, promised a happy family life, order in the house and punished for unseemly deeds. The Slavs feared and revered the gods, of whom there were relatively few and who controlled natural phenomena and elements - thunderstorms, fire, rains, trying to appease them with prayers and sacrifices. Since the actual Slavic texts and images of gods and spirits have not been preserved due to the fact that Christianization interrupted pagan tradition, the main source of information is medieval chronicles, teachings against paganism, chronicles, archaeological excavations, folklore and ethnographic collections. Information about the gods of the Western Slavs is very scarce, for example, “The History of Poland” by Jan Dlugosz (1415 - 1480), which gives a list of deities and their correspondence from Roman mythology: Nyya - Pluto, Devana - Venus, Marzana - Ceres.

Czech and Slovak data on the gods, as many scientists believe, need a critical attitude. Little is known about the mythology of the southern Slavs. Having early fallen into the sphere of influence of Byzantium and other powerful civilizations of the Mediterranean, having adopted Christianity before other Slavs, they largely lost information about the former composition of their pantheon. The mythology of the Eastern Slavs has been most fully preserved. We find early information about it in the “Tale of Bygone Years” (XII century), which reports that Prince Vladimir the Holy (? – 1015) sought to create a nationwide pagan pantheon. However, his adoption of Christianity in 988 entailed the destruction of the idols of the so-called Vladimirov pantheon (they were solemnly thrown into the Dnieper), as well as the ban on paganism and its rituals. The old gods began to be identified with Christian saints: the thunderer Perun turned into Saint Elijah, the god of wisdom Veles into Saint Blaise, the sun god Yarilo into Saint George. However, the mythological ideas of our ancestors continue to live in folk traditions, holidays, beliefs and rituals, as well as in songs, fairy tales, conspiracies and signs. Ancient mythological characters such as goblin, mermaids, merman, brownies and devils are vividly imprinted in speech, proverbs and sayings.

Developing, Slavic mythology went through three stages - spirits, nature deities and idol gods (idols). The Slavs revered the gods of life and death (Zhiva and Moran), fertility and the plant kingdom, heavenly bodies and fire, sky and war; not only the sun or water were personified, but also numerous house and forest spirits; worship and admiration were expressed in the offering of blood and bloodless sacrifices to them.
In the 19th century, Russian scientists began to explore Russian myths, tales and legends, understanding their scientific value and the importance of preserving them for subsequent generations. The works of F.I. were key to the new understanding of Slavic mythology. Buslaeva, A.A. Potebnya, I.P. Sakharov, such specific works as the three-volume study by A.N. Afanasyev “Poetic views of the Slavs on nature”, “Myths of Slavic paganism” and “A brief sketch of Russian mythology” D.O. Sheppinga, “Deities of the Ancient Slavs” by A.S. Famintsina.

The first to emerge was the mythological school, which is based on the comparative historical method of study, the establishment of an organic connection between language, folk poetry and folk mythology, and the principle of the collective nature of creativity. Fyodor Ivanovich Buslaev (1818-1897) is rightfully considered the creator of this school. “In the most ancient period of language,” says Buslaev, “the word as an expression of legends and rituals, events and objects was understood in the closest connection with what it expresses: “the name imprinted a belief or event, and from the name a legend or myth arose again.” "Epic ritual" in the repetition of ordinary expressions led to the fact that what was once said about any subject seemed so successful that it no longer needed further modification. Language thus became a "faithful instrument of tradition." A method originally associated with comparison languages, establishing common forms of words and raising them to the language of the Indo-European peoples, for the first time in Russian science was transferred by Buslaev to folklore and applied to the study of the mythological legends of the Slavs.

Poetic inspiration belonged to one and all, like a proverb, like a legal maxim. There was a whole people who were poets. Some individuals were not poets, but singers or storytellers; they only knew how to tell or sing more accurately and skillfully what was known to everyone. The power of tradition reigned supreme over the epic singer, not allowing him to stand out from the group. Not knowing the laws of nature, neither physical nor moral, epic poetry represented both in an inseparable totality, expressed in numerous similes and metaphors. The heroic epic is only a further development of the primitive mythological legend. The theogonic epic gives way to the heroic at that stage of the development of epic poetry when legends about the affairs of people began to join pure myth. At this time, an epic epic grew out of the myth, from which the fairy tale subsequently emerged. The people preserve their epic legends not only in epics and fairy tales, but also in individual sayings, short spells, proverbs, sayings, oaths, riddles, signs and superstitions.

These are the main provisions of Buslaev’s mythological theory, which in the 60-70s of the 19th century gradually developed into a school of comparative mythology and the theory of borrowing. The theory of comparative mythology was developed by Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev (1826-1871), Orest Fedorovich Miller (1833-1889) and Alexander Alexandrovich Kotlyarevsky (1837-1881). Their focus was on the problem of the origin of myth in the very process of its creation. Most of the myths, according to this theory, go back to the ancient Aryan tribe. Standing out from this common ancestral tribe, the peoples spread its legends throughout the world, therefore the legends of the “Dove Book” almost completely coincide with the songs of the Old Scandinavian “Elder Edda” and the most ancient myths of the Hindus. The comparative method, according to Afanasyev, “provides a means of restoring the original form of legends.” Epic songs are of particular importance for understanding Slavic mythology (this term was introduced into use by I.P. Sakharov; before that, epic songs were called antiquities).

Russian heroic epics can be ranked alongside heroic myths in other mythological systems with the difference that the epics are largely historical, telling about the events of the 11th-16th centuries. The heroes of the epics - Ilya Muromets, Volga, Mikula Selyaninovich, Vasily Buslaev and others are perceived not only as individuals related to a certain historical era, but above all - as defenders, ancestors, namely epic heroes. Hence their unity with nature and Magic power, their invincibility (there are practically no epics about the death of heroes or about the battles they fought). Initially existing in an oral version, as the work of singer-storytellers, epics, of course, have undergone considerable changes. There is reason to believe that they once existed in a more mythologized form.
Slavic mythology is characterized by the fact that it is comprehensive and does not represent a separate area of ​​​​the people's idea of ​​the world and the universe (like fantasy or religion), but is embodied even in everyday life - be it rites, rituals, cults or the agricultural calendar, preserved demonology (from brownies, witches and goblin to banniks and mermaids) or a forgotten identification (for example, pagan Perun with the Christian Saint Elijah). Therefore, practically destroyed at the level of texts until the 11th century, it continues to live in images, symbolism, rituals and in the language itself.

The fundamentals therefore, along with many unique features, also bear many similarities with the primitive religion of the Germans, Greeks, Lithuanians and Persians. A relatively young people who adopted Christianity early and quickly, the Slavs did not have time to develop a completely complete mythological system. On the other hand, their mythological views were not enshrined in such whole works, like the poems of Homer and Hesiod or the “Edda” of the Scandinavians, but were preserved only in songs, fairy tales, riddles and other works of folk art that do not stand in a complementary relationship in content, which, in addition, often bear the darkening and distorting stamp of later beliefs. Slavic legends about the creation of the world and man, views on the meaning of their deities and the names of the latter, therefore, differ among different tribes. By coordinating and complementing these options, we can generally establish the following scheme of Slavic cosmogony and mythology.

Gamayun, the prophetic bird. Painting by V. Vasnetsov on the theme Slavic myths. 1897

Gods of Slavic mythology

They are based on dualism, that is, the recognition by the Slavs of a good principle in the person of Belbog and a subordinate, but still harmful element - in the person of Chernobog. By the united creative powers of both gods, a world arose from the boundless air space or heavenly ocean, among which there was a bright Iriy(paradise) or Buyan Island, blessed abode of the gods. Then Belbog created man from clay, and Chernobog did not fail to make his unclean contribution to the nature of the new creation. Jealous of Belbog's power, Chernobog tried to fight him, but was defeated and transferred his hatred to the first man (androgyne), who possessed titanic powers and lived in harmony with Belbog. In the absence of Belbog, he intoxicated a man “at God’s table” with the wine he had invented, and this brought upon him the wrath of Belbog, which resulted in the physical and moral destruction of the human race.

Shying from the inevitable evil in the world, Belbog (otherwise called Prabog or simply god, Belun, Svarog, Rod, Triglav, Diy) did not rule the world himself. With his wife Diva, the goddess of the earth, he reigned behind the clouds, leaving the rule of the world and the possible fight against evil to the four lower world lords. Between them, the first place in Slavic mythology was occupied by Perun, the heavenly ruler, a powerful and angry black-haired god with a fiery mustache and beard, protecting and guarding people and waging a continuous struggle with Chernobog with the help of a thunder hammer, a bow - a rainbow and arrows - lightning. Perun's wife, Simargla, Zhiva or Siva, was the goddess of lightning, summer thunderstorms and fertility. According to the myths of the Slavs, he ruled over the water and air elements, Stribog, the father of the winds and the god of the sea, along with whom in the people’s memory stood the elemental sea deity - Vodyanik, an ugly and angry giant, raising a disastrous storm on the sea with his frantic dance.

Baba Yaga. Character from Slavic mythology. Painting by V. Vasnetsov, 1917

Next came the king of fire: Zhizhal of the Belarusians Svarozhich or Radagast of the Pomorians, the god of hospitality and the keeper of the hearth, and the ruler of the underground kingdom, Niy of the Poles, Cityvrat or Karachun of the other Slavs, a gloomy winter deity, the husband of the goddess of death and the deadening winter cold, Morana. Below the named world lords stood the descendants of Perun in Slavic myths: his son, the sun god Khors, Dazhdbog or Lado, the most revered deity of the Slavs, the husband of the sea princess Lada or Kupala, the goddess of spring, rain and fertility, and his brother Veles or Volos, the god of the month, the inspirer of the singers, the “grandsons of Veles,” and the patron of herds and wild animals. Host higher gods bringing up the rear were the sons of Khorsa, Lel and Polel, the gods of legal love and marriage; Chur, guardian of borders, patron of trade and all profits, and Yarilo, priapic deity of sensual love and fertility.

Spirits and mythical creatures among the Slavs

In addition to these deities of the highest order, Slavic mythology knew many earthly, elemental spirits. All nature seemed inhabited in it supernatural beings. The forest was dominated by angry and hot-tempered people, but they were honest and did not do unnecessary evil. goblin. In the waters lived water grandfathers and beautiful, but crafty seductresses - mermaids. Spirits lived in the mountainous areas pitchfork, sometimes insidious and evil, but who loved heroic prowess and patronized brave warriors. IN mountain cave women in labor, goddesses of fate, who predicted their fate for newborns, etc., were hiding.

Mermaids emerge from the water in front of Trinity. Painting by K. Makovsky, 1879

Temples and priests among the Slavs

The Slavs shared the beliefs of other Aryan tribes in the immortality of the soul, reward after death for good and evil deeds and the end of the world, but legends about this merged so early and closely with Christian ideas that it is very difficult to isolate purely pagan elements from this amalgam. Slavic mythology reached its greatest development among the Pomeranian Slavs, who, according to medieval German annalists, had luxurious temples, precious idols and a powerful priestly class. Regarding the cult, other Slavs did not preserve definite instructions, but the widespread existence of temples and priests cannot be doubted and is directly attested for the main cities of Rus' in the times preceding the adoption of Christianity.

Zbruch idol. Monument of Slavic paganism, dating back to approximately the 10th century

Literature about Slavic mythology

F. Buslaev, "Essays on folk poetry and art"

Afanasiev,"Poetic views of the Slavs on nature"

Averikiev, “Mythical Antiquity” (“Dawn”, 1870)

Batyr, monograph about Perun

"Belarusian songs" Bessonova

Kvashnin-Samarin, "Essays on Slavic mythology"

West Slavic twin idol

The beliefs of the Slavs and Balts were very close. This applies to the names of such deities as Perun (Perkunas) and Veles. There are similarities in the names of the gods of the Slavs and Thracians (Dazhbog is most often cited as an example). It also has a lot in common with Germanic, in particular with Scandinavian, mythology (the motif of the world tree, the cult of dragons, etc.).

During the same period, with the division of the Proto-Slavic community, tribal beliefs of the Slavs began to form, which had significant regional differences. Along with the common Slavic deities (Svarog, Perun, Lada), each tribe developed its own pantheon of gods, the same gods received different names. It can be argued that in the early Middle Ages the beliefs of the Western Baltic Slavs and the Eastern Dnieper Slavs were divided, while the paganism of the southern, eastern and Polish Slavs largely maintained unity.

During the settlement of Slavic tribes in - centuries. their culture mixed with the beliefs of local Finno-Ugric, Baltic and Turkic peoples.

Worldview of the Slavs

Nature of Beliefs

Slavic paganism belongs to polytheistic religions, that is, the Slavs recognized the existence of many gods. The pagan, using the word “god,” did not mean a specific deity.

A feature of Slavic paganism is often the identification of each tribe with its own main deity. Thus, in the treaties between Rus' and Byzantium, Perun is called “our god,” “in whom we believe.” Helmold speaks of the worship of Svyatovit, “to whom they dedicated a temple and an idol with the greatest pomp, ascribing primacy among the gods to him.”

At the same time, the Slavs, like the Balts, had an idea of ​​the supreme deity.

Animals and a bird woman, figurines of the Ant type of the 6th-7th centuries, Velestino

Paganism is often described as the deification of natural forces. Slavic pagans glorified their ancestors and surrounding nature(thunder and lightning, wind, rain, fire). The Slavs are characterized by the veneration of animals (bear, wolf, lizard, eagle, horse, rooster, duck, aurochs, wild boar). But totemism is practically unknown.

The sun, moving around the world of people along its own path (“the path of Khorsa”), visits both the sky and the underground kingdom (the night Sun). A special place is occupied by the moments of sunrise and sunset (images of the evening and morning Dawn).

The Slavs identified four or eight cardinal directions. The most significant were west, as the orientation of the body of the deceased in the grave, and northeast, as the orientation of the temples to the point of sunrise on the summer solstice.

For the Slavs, the element that connects the universe was fire. It was used when making sacrifices, at funerals, at holidays, for protective purposes, etc. Fire was a symbol of eternity. The personification of fire was Svarog. Researchers call Svarog the god of the universe. Arab authors call the Slavs and Rus fire worshipers.

It is believed that the Slavs had ideas about “paradise”, which in East Slavic folklore is called Iriy (Vyriy), this place is associated with the Sun and birds, located in the south or underground (underwater, in a well). The souls of the deceased move there. There are also ideas about the island of Buyan, also identified with the other world. In medieval Novgorod, there was an idea that heaven could be reached by sea, and that one of the Novgorodians supposedly did this by traveling to the east. Ibn Fadlan (century) conveys the views and vision of paradise during a funeral among the Rus as follows:

And there was a certain husband from the Rus next to me... and he said: “You, O Arabs, are stupid... Truly, you take the person most beloved to you and the most respected by you and throw him into the dust, and eat his dust and vileness, and worms, and we burn him in the twinkling of an eye, so that he enters heaven immediately and immediately.”

The Eastern Slavs associate the origin of people with Dazhbog, the son of Svarog. In the “Tale of Igor’s Host” (XII century) he is called the ancestor of the princes and Russian people in general, and in the “Sofia Temporary” (XIII century) - the first king of the Slavs.

The Slavs considered the Danube lands their ancestral home. Procopius of Caesarea (VI century) called the ancestral home of the Slavs “the country of Sporaden”; the Bavarian Geographer (IX century) left the following legend about the Danube region of Zariania: “Zeruyans (Zeriuani), who alone have a kingdom and from whom all the tribes of the Slavs, like them claim, originate and lead their family.” In the chronicles of the 17th century, in the legend about the ancestor Sloven, Zardan is named among the Danube ancestors. Some historians also note that among the Slavs there were ideas about the Carpathians as the Holy Mountains, where their ancient ancestors (“foremothers”) lived. The personification of such ideas is the epic giant Svyatogor.

Each tribe told about its migration from its ancestral home, naming its ancestors: Radim and Vyatko, Kriv, Chekh and Lech. Legends were passed on about the founders of dynasties and cities - Kie, Krak (Krok), Piast.

The Slavs believed in life after death, they believed in immortality, and, according to some researchers, in reincarnation.

Periodization of the development of Slavic paganism

There were also ideas about the Stone Age and the Iron Age. The legends about the giants Asilka say that they did not know God and threw stone clubs into the sky. In the north of Rus' there were legends about “wonderful people” who exchanged fur for iron things. Back in the century, the Slavs, according to Theophylact Simocatta, spoke about the production of iron as follows:

There were also tribes that had personified gods and those that did not have idols. Helmold (12th century) writes that some Slavs did not have idols:

"The Slavs have many different types idolatry. For they do not all adhere to the same pagan customs. Some cover the unimaginable sculptures of their idols with temples, such as the idol in Pluna, whose name is Podaga; Others have deities that inhabit forests and groves, like Prove, the god of the Aldenburg land - they do not have any idols.”

B. A. Rybakov also draws attention to the ideas of the ancient Russian scribe that before the establishment of faith in Perun, the Slavs believed in Rod, and even earlier - only in ghouls and beregins. Thus, paganism developed from beliefs with less personification of deities to idolatry. B - centuries part of the tribes preserved paganism without personification of gods and without idols, another part worshiped idols of gods.

The issue of idol worship in Europe was discussed back in the time of Pythagoras, who lived in the century BC. e. Iamblichus (-3rd century BC) and other authors describing the life of this ancient Greek sage say that a Scythian priest of Apollo named Abaris, who was interested in particular in the veneration of the gods through idols, came to him:

“When Pythagoras was in captivity... a wise man, a Hyperborean by birth, named Abaris, came to him, who had arrived precisely to talk with him, and asked him questions about the most sacred objects, namely about idols, about the most reverent way of worshiping God...”

The very first Slavic idols can be dated back to the 7th century, although there are also earlier datings of idols - centuries. D. N. Kozak and Ya. E. Borovsky tend to combine into a common branch of evolution all the monuments of paganism of the Zarubintsy culture with monuments of a later time, supporting the “Scythian” concept of B. A. Rybakov, who sees in the Scythian funeral idols of the 7th-4th centuries. BC e. statues of the Slavic-Scythian god Goitosir. Apparently, the personification of Slavic gods took place in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e., when the “Iron Age” began, and at the beginning of our era. By the century, the Slavs knew both weapons (Przeworsk swords) and strong princely power (Prince Bozh), and, probably, the first gods. This is evidenced by indirect references to names derived from the names of deities. In the 5th century, the Vandals were led by a leader named Radigast (Radogais), which was also worn by the god of the Baltic Slavs (Veneti) Radegast. In the century, among the mercenaries in Byzantium there was a Slavic warrior named Svaruna, whose name contains the same root as the name Svarog. In the description of Procopius of Caesarea (c.), the main god of the Slavs and Antes is the Thunderer, therefore we can talk about the personification of Perun. There are also studies connecting the already mentioned Apollo and Leto with Kupala and Lada, the personification of which was never completed, but occurred from the earliest centuries of the development of Slavic paganism.

The third stage, identified by Rybakov, is recognized by most researchers who tend to separate pre-state paganism (“paganism of the ancient Slavs”) and paganism of the state period (“paganism Ancient Rus'"). In the most general terms, this period is limited to the 12th century. It is generally accepted that with the advent of the state, Perun becomes the head of the gods of the Eastern Slavs, as the patron of the prince and the squad.

In addition, state paganism evolved into state polytheism, when the prince selected some gods into the pantheon and did not accept others.

It is also necessary to highlight the period of development of paganism after the adoption of Christianity, when the latter significantly influenced traditional beliefs and mythology. This period in the most general terms can be limited to the XIV centuries. This period is characterized by “dual faith”, and for Rus' of the 12th-13th centuries they even talk about a pagan renaissance.

In the future, open manifestations of paganism among the Slavs can rarely be found. Pagan beliefs become part of folk culture, remnants that are found in Christian culture to this day, but are not seen as opposed to it (except for the church's fight against superstition).

At the present stage, pagan beliefs are being revived in the form of neo-paganism, including Slavic Rodnoverie.

Myths of the ancient Slavs

Sources of information about myths

Quite a lot of texts, collections of myths, Russian fairy tales and significant visual compositions on mythological themes such as “The Tale of the Prophetic Oleg”. "The Tale of Bygone Years" says: “All these tribes had their own customs, and the laws of their fathers, and legends, and each had their own character.”

Scientists also reconstruct Slavic mythology from various other sources.

Firstly, these are written sources. Texts of Byzantine authors - centuries: Procopius of Caesarea, Theophylact Simocatta, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Leo the Deacon and others. Western European authors - XIII centuries: Bavarian Geographer, Thietmar of Merseburg, Helmold, Saxo Grammaticus and others. Arabic authors - XIII centuries: al- Masudi, Ibn Fadlan, Ibn Ruste and others. In the Scandinavian sagas of the 13th century, in the Elder and Younger Eddas there is also information that can be used to reconstruct Slavic paganism. Russian, West Slavic (Kozma of Prague) and South Slavic sources - centuries: chronicles, teachings and instructions against pagans (Cyril of Turov, Kirik Novgorod, etc.) and insertions into translated literature, including the Apocrypha. A special place is occupied by “The Tale of Igor’s Host”, which reflects a significant layer of pagan myths mentioned by the heir and bearer of pagan culture - the anonymous songwriter. All these texts do not contain any holistic presentation of mythology or individual myths.

Secondly, written sources from the 17th century. and folklore sources of the 18th century, which are less close to paganism, but contain a number of information from earlier sources that have not reached us, as well as detailed records of legends, fairy tales, epics, conspiracies, byliches and byvalschinas, proverbs and sayings, from which it is possible to reconstruct ancient myths. A special role is played by information from Polish, Czech and German authors and historians who recorded local legends of the Western Slavs and preserved information from ancient Russian sources. In Russia XVI-XVII centuries. some information was recorded by Western diplomats, military men and travelers (Sigismund Herberstein, Olearius, etc.). Among folklore subjects, epics about Svyatogor, Potyk, Volga (Volkh), Mikul are usually attributed to paganism; tales about Kashchei the Immortal, the Serpent Gorynych, Baba Yaga, Alyonushka and Ivanushka. The difficulty of interpreting these sources lies in the fact that ancient ideas are overlaid with later layers, fabrications of authors, storytellers, and folklore collectors. Among the authoritative researchers of folklore are I. P. Sakharov, A. N. Afanasyev, V. Ya. Propp, etc.

Archaeological sources are more reliable, but less informative: information from excavations of religious places, finds of idols, ritual objects, jewelry, pagan symbols, inscriptions mentioning pagan gods or pagans, remains of sacrifices and ritual actions. Significant contributions to the study of pagan antiquities were made by L. Nederle, A. N. Lyavdansky, I. Hermann, E. Kyassovskaya, E. Gyassovsky, V. Losinsky, A. Lapinsky, V. V. Sedov, P. N. Tretyakov, Rybakov B. A., Vinokur I. S., Tolochko P. P., Kozak D. N., Borovsky Ya. E., Timoshchuk B. A., Rusanova I. P. et al.

No less important are information from linguistics, comparative religion and the study mythological stories from other peoples. In addition to the worldwide authority in this area of ​​Fraser D., one can name Tokorev S.A., Toporov V.N. and Ivanov V.V. Many Slavic myths are known from scientific reconstructions.

Mythological connections in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, XII century.

A figurine in the Anta style from the city of Velestino of the 6th-7th centuries, which depicts a baby lizard in the arms of a mother holding a seven-stringed harp with the image of a nightingale.

Have you ever sung the things of Boyana, Velesov’s granddaughter... About Boyana, the nightingale of old times!

Div, sitting on top of a tree (possibly the world tree), predicts trouble with his cry, like an eclipse of the Sun

The sun blocked his path with darkness; night, moaning to him with a thunderstorm, wake up the bird; the animal whistles; the wild Div calls out to the top of the tree

If only you had tickled these regiments, galloping along the path of Troyan through the fields to the mountains... There were Troyan's eves... There was resentment in the forces of Dazhdbozh's grandson, a maiden entered the land of Troyan... On the seventh century of Troyan, Vseslav made a foe for the maiden he loved.

Behold, the Slovenians began to put rags to Rodou and the Rozhanitsy, before Perown their god, and before that they laid demands on the Oupir and the Berehynyas... Likewise, even before the Sloven came these words, and you began to put demands on Rod and the Rozhanitsy,... and behold, the Egyptians laid demands on the Nile and Ognev, the river Nile is a fruit-bearer and a classy planter.

Pagan wrote, Novgorod. Miniature idols are depicted: a lizard, twins, a lizard, a four-faced god.

Reconstruction of the myth about Svarog and Svarozhichi

The fourth idol is Lado. This is the name of the God of joy and all prosperity. Those who are preparing for marriage make sacrifices to him, with the help of Lada imagining good things, joy and kindly acquiring a life. This charm came from the most ancient idolaters, like certain gods Lelya and Polel, and their godly name is still proclaimed in some countries at playful gatherings with the singing of Lelyum-Polelem. Likewise the mother of Lelev and Polelev - Lado, singing: Lado, Lado! And they sing of that idol of old beauty to the devil at the wedding celebrations, splashing their hands and beating the table.

The simplest form of a specially organized cult place among the Slavs is cult platforms with idols and sacrificial pits. Similar places were supposedly called "treasures", on which “requirements were performed”, or "temple"-from “kapi”, that is, they performed what was necessary to glorify their native gods. Sacrificial pits were located on the outskirts of villages and did not have fences. Sometimes several drop idols were located on cult sites in a geometric order: the main idol stood in the center or behind, and the secondary ones stood around or in front.

Sometimes places of worship and idols were fenced off. The fence could consist of "stamens", on which the skulls of sacrificial animals were hung, or from pillars on which the curtain was attached. The fenced place became a sacred zone. The most common form of fencing was a rampart, a ditch and an artificial elevation. Some temples are oriented to the northeast, in which case the entrance was in the southwest, and upon entering the temple one could watch the sunrise on the day of the summer solstice.

Among the ancient settlements-sanctuaries there are large cult centers, which included a temple, several temples, sacred paths (roads to temples), temple buildings with idols, wells, springs and buildings for holidays. On the territory of the sanctuaries there were ritual burials of senior members of the clan, which became objects of veneration.

Servants of cults, sacrifices and predictions

The sources contain references to special men and women who performed pagan rituals and took care of the temple. Their names, according to various sources, are as follows: Magi (“magician” - wolf, from “hairy” - shaggy, derived from the custom of putting on clothes with the fur outward when performing certain rituals), princes (among the Western Slavs, close to “prince”), guardians ( creators of amulets-amulets), indulgers and potvors (“potvors” - secret ritual actions), cloud-bangers and wolf-crawlers (from “wolf” and “skin”), blasphemers (“koshchi” - words for burial, keepers of the wisdom of departed ancestors), sorcerers and sorceresses, enchanters and enchantresses (from “charms” - ritual vessels and magical actions), accordions (“bayat” - talk, tell), “healers”, sorcerers, witches (from “ved” - know) and soothsayers (from “ broadcast"), magicians (from "kudesy" - tambourine), obavnitsy, kobniks ("kob" - fortune telling about fate, fortune telling by the flight of birds, "kobenitsya" - unusual body movements), sorcerers (from "vor" - fence), nauzniki and nauznitsy (from “nauzy” -in a special way tied knots). In synchronous Russian sources, the word “magi” was most often used.

The various names of pagan priests are related to their status, the cult they served, and the actions they performed. Most often, the main duty of the priests was to conduct rituals, glorify the gods and make sacrifices in accordance with which god the holiday was in honor of. In addition, such designations for victims as “treat” and “requirement” were used. Beverages (wine), food (pie), part of the harvest (grain, straw) were used as sacrifices; birds (roosters and hens) were used to celebrate Perun's Day.

Sacrifices are closely related to predictions. Procopius of Caesarea (c.) writes about the faith of the Slavs and Antes:

When they gather there to offer sacrifice to idols or to soften their anger, they sit while the rest stand nearby; secretly whispering to each other, they dig the ground with trepidation, and, casting lots, learn the truth in matters that raise doubt. Having completed this, they cover the lot with green turf, and, having stuck 2 pointed spears crosswise into the ground, with humble obedience they lead through them the horse, which is considered the largest among the others and is therefore revered as sacred; despite the already cast lot, which they observed earlier, through this supposedly divine animal they carry out fortune-telling a second time. And if the same sign appears in both cases, the plan is carried out; if not, the saddened people abandon the idea. An ancient legend, entangled in various superstitions, testifies that when they are in dire danger of a long rebellion, a huge boar with white tusks, shining with foam, emerges from the said sea, and, joyfully wallowing in the mud, reveals itself to many.

When it was supposed to start a war against any country, according to custom, the ministers placed three spears in front of the temple. Two of them were stuck with tips into the ground and connected [by the third] across; these structures were located at equal distances. To them, during the march, after a solemn prayer, the horse was led out in harness by the priest from the entrance. If he stepped over the erected structures with his right foot before his left, this was considered a sign of a successful course of the war; if he stepped with his left before his right, then the direction of the march was changed. Also speaking at various enterprises, predictions were received based on the first movement of the animal. If it was happy, they joyfully set off; if unhappy, they turned back.

Three wooden planks, white on one side and black on the other, were thrown into the pit as lots; white meant good luck, black meant bad luck.

They said: “The gods tell us: you can’t do anything to us!”... When they were beaten and their beards were torn out with a splinter, Yan asked them: “What do the gods tell you?” They answered: “We should stand before Svyatoslav... But if you let us in, much good will come to you; if you destroy us, you will accept a lot of sadness and evil”... Such a sorcerer appeared under Gleb in Novgorod; spoke to people, pretending to be God, and deceived many, almost the entire city, after all, he said: “I foresee everything.”

So it is said that his mother was a prophetess... Such was their custom that on the first evening of Yule they had to bring her to the chair in front of the high seat of the king. And... the king asks his mother if she sees or knows of any threat or damage hanging over his state, or the approach of any unrest or danger, or someone’s attempt on his possessions. She replies: “I don’t see anything, my son, that, I know, could bring harm to you or your state, as well as something that would frighten away your happiness. And yet I see a vision great and beautiful. At this time the son of the king was born in Noreg..."

The Magi differed from other people in their clothes, long hair, a special staff (for example, in Novgorod - with the head of a god) and way of life. Only priests in some cases could enter the sacred zone of temples, temples and sacred groves. The priests were held in high esteem by the people.

In individual tribes or among the priests of individual gods, a hierarchy developed and high priests emerged. Saxo Grammar about the priests of Svyatovit:

To maintain the idol, each inhabitant of the island of both sexes contributed a coin. They also gave him a third of the spoils, believing that his protection would bring success. In addition, he had at his disposal three hundred horses and the same number of horsemen, who handed over everything gained in battle to the high priest... This god also had temples in many other places, controlled by priests of lesser importance.

They honor the priest more than the king. They direct their army wherever fortune-telling shows, and when they win, they take the gold and silver to the treasury of their god, and divide the rest among themselves.

They have healers, some of whom command the king as if they were their leaders (Rusov). It happens that they order that sacrifices be made to their creator, whatever they please: women, men and horses, and when the healers order, it is impossible not to fulfill their order in any way.

The highest among the priests of the Slavs, Bogomil, who was named Nightingale because of his sweet speech, strictly forbade the people to submit to forced Christian baptism.

B. A. Rybakov recognized the historicity of Bogomil and even attributed to him the Novgorod harp of the 11th century with the inscription “Slavisha”.

Only a few names of people who can be classified as pagan ministers are known from sources. Firstly, this is Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, who, being a Christian, according to the chronicle, was born from sorcery, “in a shirt,” and “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” endows him with such traits of the Magi as the ability to guess about fate by lot, werewolf ( “Run away from them like a fierce beast”, “Run away like a wolf”) and induction (“Go crazy in the blue darkness”). Another character is the Kiev witch Potvora, whose name is written on a spindle whorl from a 13th-century treasure. A knife, possibly of a ritual nature, was found along with the spindle whorl.

Holidays and rituals

Pagan holidays: dancing bird-woman, guslar, military games, treating the deity, running, feast. Draw images of ancient Russian bracelets of the 12th-13th centuries.

Calendar holidays

The calendar holidays of the Slavs were associated with the agricultural cycle and astronomical phenomena. There are a huge number of reconstructions of the calendar of Slavic holidays, while synchronous sources according to this issue quite a bit. Important information Archeology provides information about festive rituals, but all this data again has to be interpreted through the late folk calendar.

According to most researchers, pagan holidays include Maslenitsa (“komoeditsy”), Ivan (Yanka) Kupala Day, Kolyada. Less known is Tausen (Ovsen), which belongs to a number of these holidays associated with the days of the solstice and equinox. The symbolism of these holidays is associated with the sun, fertility and procreation. The burning of an effigy of Mary (the goddess of winter and death) on Maslenitsa and round dances on Ivan Kupala record the ritual dances and marriage customs of antiquity. The Kupala cult is noted on the Slavic calendars of the 4th century from the village of Romashki and the village of Lepesovka, as well as on the Zbruch idol of the 10th century.

The Romashkin calendar marks the holidays of Perun on July 12 and 20 - which was replaced by Christians on “Ilya’s Day”. Veles Day (patron of wisdom and household) - was also replaced by Christianity on the day of St. Blaise (patron of livestock)

The calendar also records holidays that lasted several days or even weeks: “Russian Week” and “Ladovanie”, which preceded the Kupala holiday. A similar holiday is known to many peoples and at the beginning of autumn - “Indian summer”, it lasted from one to two weeks.

The festival in the temple of Svyatovit, which took place in August, is described in detail by Saxo Grammaticus:

Every year, after the harvest, a mixed crowd from all over the island in front of the temple of the god, sacrificing cattle, celebrated a solemn feast, called sacred. His priest... the small sanctuary... carefully cleaned... The next day, when the people stood at the entrance, he, taking a vessel from the statue, carefully observed whether the level of the poured liquid had dropped, and then expected a crop failure next year... Having made a round pie with honey wine shape, and such a size that it was almost equal to human height, proceeded to sacrifice. Having placed him between himself and the people, the priest, according to custom, asked if the Ruyans could see him. When they answered that they saw it, they wished that in a year they would not be able to see it. With this kind of prayer he asked not for his own or the people’s fate, but for an increase in the future harvest. Then, on behalf of God, he congratulated the crowd present, for a long time called on them to honor this god and diligently perform sacrificial rituals, and promised the surest reward for worship and victory on land and sea. Having finished this, they themselves turned the sacrificial dishes into feast food...

Wedding customs

Wedding customs varied among different tribes depending on the type of marriage. Slavic marriage was strictly monogamous, that is, it allowed only one wife or husband. “The Tale of Bygone Years” identifies two types of marriage and wedding ceremonies among the Slavs, which can conditionally be called patriarchal and matriarchal.

The Polyans have the custom of their fathers being meek and quiet, being bashful before their daughters-in-law and sisters, mothers and parents; They have great modesty before their mothers-in-law and brothers-in-law; They also have a marriage custom: the son-in-law does not go for the bride, but brings her the day before, and the next day they bring for her - whatever they give.

Similar customs were described back in the 6th century. The Russians called the bride price “veno”. The wedding ceremony of “taking off the groom’s shoes” is mentioned.

...And they didn’t have marriages, but they kidnapped girls near the water... And they dishonored themselves in front of their fathers and daughters-in-law, and they didn’t have marriages, but they organized games between the villages, and they gathered at these games, to dances and to all sorts of demonic songs, and Here they kidnapped their wives in agreement with them.

At the end of May - June, there were round dances ("ladovanie"), on Ivan Kupala, representatives of different clans (villages) gathered around the fire and chose brides and grooms from another clan (such a marriage is called exogamous). Women played the role of “eldest child” in families; when a husband changed, boys were sent to their father. The symbolism of such a marriage is two crosses, a wedding ring, wreaths, tufts of hair or a belt that was tied around plants or trees. Love conspiracies are considered traditional for the Slavs, with the help of which girls or boys could influence their destiny, attracting the attention of the chosen one. A number of conspiracies (in different languages) are read in birch bark documents of Novgorod - centuries.

Funeral rites

The funeral rites of different groups of Slavs were different at different times. It is believed that the ancestors of the Slavs were carriers of the culture of the “fields of funeral urns” (2nd millennium BC), that is, they burned the dead, and the ashes were placed in a clay vessel and buried in a shallow hole, marking the grave with a mound. Subsequently, the rite of cremation prevailed, but the form of burials changed: volotovki (round mounds-hills with a wooden fence) - among the Slovenes, long family mounds - among the Krivichi, cremation in a boat and a mound mound - among the Rus.

The Russian chronicle very briefly describes the funeral rites of the northerners, Krivichi, Radimichi and Vyatichi:

And if someone died, they held a funeral feast for him, and then they made a large log, and laid the dead man on this log, and burned him, and after collecting the bones, they put them in a small vessel and placed them on poles along the roads, as they still do now. Vyatichi

The described ritual is recorded among the Vyatichi and some Baltic Slavs - archaeologists note the absence of burials, suspecting the “scattering” of ashes, but ethnographic data and some written sources speak of domovinas (“theatres of death”) - funeral buildings at forks in roads where urns with ashes were kept. Outwardly, they sometimes resemble the “hut on chicken legs” of Baba Yaga of Russian fairy tales, and Baba Yaga herself is sometimes seen as a priestess who performed cremation. By the 13th century, the Vyatichi began to build mounds.

“Krada” (treasure, deck) is a funeral pyre. It is customary to distinguish between “trizna” (a celebration at the grave and military games) and “strava” (a funeral feast). Princess Olga describes the funeral feast this way in her address to the Drevlyans: “Now I’m coming to you, prepare a lot of honey in the city where they killed my husband, so that I may cry at his grave and perform a feast for my husband.” Ibn Fadlan describes an old woman and her daughters who presided over Russian funerals, killed sacrificial animals and a concubine; he calls her the “angel of death.” Funeral idols (“bdyn”), installed over the grave, are also mentioned. They depicted the deceased and had an inscription containing his name and the name of the prince.

In mythology, the deities of the wind (Stribog, Viy) and the sun were associated with the funeral rite. The wind fanned the fire, and the sun delivered the souls of the deceased to the world of shadows, so special importance was attached to the time of burial (sunrise, sunset or night) and the orientation of the grave during the disposition of the corpse. Animals such as a rooster, horse, and dog were associated with the burial. The collector of the bodies of the buried was the snake. In “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” Karna and Zhlya (Zhelya) are mentioned, who are preparing the burial of the dead soldiers; their names are reconstructed from the words “reproach” and “pity” (“zhalnik” - burial mound). The “Word of Saint Dionysius on Those Who Pity” says about behavior during burial:

“Is there any benefit from pity for the departed souls? The devil teaches pity and makes others rush over the dead, and forces others to drown in water and teaches them to choke.”

Mention is also made of women's white mourning clothes and the ritual of cutting off their faces and tearing out their hair.

The burial rites of the Rus and Slavs are described in detail by the Arab authors Ibn Ruste and Ibn Fadlan. The ritual of inhumation (body position) is also described, which is indirectly mentioned in the “Tale of Bygone Years” and legends in relation to princes and various kinds of revered characters. Burials of the inhumation type are characteristic of ritual burials.

The most famous pagan funerary monument is the Black Grave of the 10th century in Chernigov.

Calendar and writing

Ancient Slavic calendar

From the “Sofia Temporary” we learn about the presence of lunar and solar calendars among the Slavs. It is generally believed that the lunar calendar was adopted by the Slavs from the Bulgarians. But in the “Teaching of Numbers” by Kirik Novgorod (XII century) one of the options is described lunar calendar, other options were used in Easter tables, and in Russian chronicles - centuries. dates according to the lunar calendar are marked - all this allows researchers to assert that, along with the solar calendar of 12 months, a lunar calendar of 13 months always existed in Rus'. The earliest date of the lunar calendar is applied to the campaign of Oleg the Prophetic Year in the Chronograph of the Western Russian edition: “Summer is evil: it’s the 13th month.”

Due to differences in the solar and lunar calendars, as well as variants of the lunar calendar, the Slavs have the same names of months, but they do not coincide when paired with the months of the modern solar calendar, that is, the Slavs did not have a single chronology.

Calendar ornament on a Chernyakhov jug of the 4th century, the arrow marks the sign of the holiday of Perun on July 20

The number 5 is lunar in nature and is found on the Antic brooches and temple rings of the Slovenian tribe.

Some authors claim that the number 5 is the number of days in the Slavic week, which was later supplemented with Saturday and Sunday. There is no evidence for this, other than the five Slavic names of the days of the week; on the contrary, the number 7 is also sacred and is often found in the symbolism of idols. The days of the week were dedicated to different gods among the eastern and southern Slavs: Thursday to Perun, and Friday to Mokoshi. In Russian Orthodoxy, the veneration of 12 Fridays a year has been preserved. Friday apparently had an important meaning in connecting the lunar and solar calendars, since there is a Russian proverb: “Seven Fridays in a week.” For example, in some Christian calendars, the counting of time began from the creation of the world, starting on Friday.

There are several opinions on the question of when the year began among the Slavs. Most often called March. The March New Year was tied in Rus' for up to a century either to March 1 or to the 20th of the month. A number of researchers claim that the Slavs had a January New Year. In any case, all calendar calculations were consistent with the equinox and solstices. The conjugation of the lunar and solar calendars took place in the spring. According to an ancient belief, in April the sun meets the month, and from the first frost they disperse in distant directions: one to the east, the other to the west, and from then on they do not meet each other until spring (Indo-European motif of the wedding of the month and the sun).

Features and cuts

A number of sources mention writing among the pagan Slavs. Chernorizets Khrabr called this writing “lines and cuts,” with the help of which they “counted and told fortunes.” Al-Masudi speaks of multiple inscriptions on the walls (stones) in the temples of the Slavs, containing predictions. Ibn Fadlan mentions the inscriptions of names on the grave idol of the Rus. Thietmar of Merseburg knows about the inscriptions of names on the idols of the Baltic Slavs.

This kind of use of letters may indicate the runic nature of writing, when the letters had sacred, verbal and sound meanings.

Some archaeological finds allow us to talk about “features and cuts.” The inscriptions on the idols of the Baltic Slavs, which may form the alphabet, but are considered a fake, have analogues among the Prussians and on the “Novocherkassk eggplants” (Khazar lands), but there is no serious research on this issue.

Runic signs from the Lepesovka temple, II-IV centuries.

The earliest signs of the runic type, which can be attributed to Slavic, are found in the temple of the Chernyakhov time. Lepesovki. In the same temple, two fortune-telling bowls with clay rings on the handles were found. There are a lot of ceramics here Greek inscriptions, and the material culture of the settlement belongs to the Wielbar culture (presumably Goths). Three inscriptions were found. One of them is “astrakhan-shaped” on a spindle whorl, the other two are on ceramics and correlate with Germanic runes. E. A. Melnikova read one of the inscriptions as lwl, but could not identify it with the Germanic language.

Signs on ceramics, which are attributed to the Slavs, are also known in a later period, for example, on ceramics from the village. Alekanovka.

Literature

Literature of the 18th - first half of the 20th century.

• Anichkov E. V.(1866-1937) Paganism and ancient Rus'. St. Petersburg, 1914. M., 2003.
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Popular literature of the mid-20th - early 21st centuries

• Bazhenova A.I.(ed.-comp.) Myths of the ancient Slavs. Saratov, Nadezhda. 1993.
• Belyakova G. S. Slavic mythology: a book for students. M., Education. 1995.238 p.
• Borovsky Ya. E. The mythological world of the ancient Kyivans. Kyiv, 1982.104 p.
• Bychkov A. A. Encyclopedia of pagan gods: Myths of the ancient Slavs. M., 2001.
• Vachurina L.(comp.) Slavic mythology: dictionary-reference book. M., Linor-improvement. 1998.
• Vlasova M. N. Russian superstitions. St. Petersburg, 1998.
• Voloshina T. A., Astapov S. N. Pagan mythology of the Slavs. Rostov-n/D, 1996.
• Gavrilov D. A., Nagovitsyn A. E. Gods of the Slavs: Paganism. Tradition. M., Refl-book.2002.463 p.
• Grushko E. A., Medvedev Yu. M. Dictionary of Slavic mythology. Nizhny Novgorod.1995.367 p.
• Mother Lada: Divine genealogy of the Slavs: Pagan pantheon. / Prev., dictionary, glossary and comments. D. Dudko. M., Eksmo.2002.430 p.
• Kazakov V. S. The world of Slavic gods. 5th ed. M.-Kaluga.2006.239 p.
• Kapitsa F. S. Slavic traditional beliefs, holidays and rituals: Directory. 2nd ed. M., Flinta-Nauka.2001.215 p.
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• Russian mythology: Encyclopedia. / Comp. E. Madlevskaya. M.-SPb, 2005.780 p.
• Mizun Yu. V., Mizun Yu. G. Secrets of pagan Rus'. M., Veche.2000.441 p.
• Mironchikov L. T. Dictionary of Slavic mythology and the origin of Slavic mythology and ethnicity. 2nd ed. Mn., Harvest.2004.302 p.
• Muravyova T.V. Myths of the Slavs and peoples of the North. M., Veche.2005.413 p.
• Nagovitsyn A.E. Secrets of Slavic mythology. M., Academic project. 2003.477 p.
• Nosova G. A. Paganism in Orthodoxy. M., 1975.
• Osipova O. S. Slavic pagan worldview. M., 2000.
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• Prozorov L. R. (Ozar Raven) Gods and castes of pagan Rus'. Secrets of the Kyiv Pentthew. M., Yauza-Eksmo.2006.317 p.
• Putilov B. N. Ancient Rus' in faces: gods, heroes, people. St. Petersburg, Azbuka. 1999.
• Semenova M. V. Life and beliefs of the ancient Slavs. St. Petersburg, ABC-classics. 2001.
• Semina V. S., Bocharova E. V. Religion and mythology in the culture of the ancient Slavs: A course of lectures. Tambov, TSU Publishing House. 2002.377 p.
• Seryakov M. L. Birth of the Universe. Pigeon book. M., Yauza.2005.573 p.
• Speransky N. N. (owner Velimir). Russian paganism and shamanism. M., 2006.607 p.3 t.e.
• Chudinov V. A. Sacred stones and pagan temples of the ancient Slavs: Experience of epigraphic research. M., 2004.618 p.
• Shaparova N. S. Concise encyclopedia Slavic mythology. M., AST.2004.622 p.
• Shuklin V.V. Myths of the Russian people. Ekaterinburg, 1995.

• Mash A. G. Treasures of Retra. / Per. with him. M., Glory! 2006.349 p.

Scientific literature of the mid-20th and early 21st centuries

• Slavic antiquities: Ethnolinguistic dictionary. In 5 volumes / Ed. N.I. Tolstoy.

T.1. M., 1995. T.2. M., 1999. T.3. M., 2004.

• Slavic mythology: Encyclopedic dictionary. AND I. M., 1995.414, 2nd ed. / Responsible editor S. M. Tolstaya. M., 2002.509 p.

• Belova O. V. Slavic bestiary: Dictionary of names and symbols. M., 2001.
• Vasiliev M. A. Paganism of the Eastern Slavs on the eve of the baptism of Rus': Religious and mythological interaction with the Iranian world. Pagan reform of Prince Vladimir. M., Indrik.1999.325 p.
• Veletskaya N. N. Pagan symbolism of Slavic archaic rituals. M., Nauka.1978.239 with 2nd ed. M., Sofia. 2003.237 p. See also www.veletska.lodya.ru
• Velmezova E. V. Czech conspiracies. Research and texts. M., 2004.
• Vinogradova L. N. Folk demonology and the mythological and ritual tradition of the Slavs. M., 2000.
• Vuytsitskaya U. From the history of Russian culture: Pagan heritage in traditional culture. Bydgoszcz.2002.265 from (in Russian)
• Gura A.V. The symbolism of animals in the Slavic folk tradition. M., Indrik.1997.910 p.
• Dubov I. V. And bow to the stone idol... St. Petersburg, 1995.100 p.
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Book 1. 351 p. Book 2. Ethnographic and folklore materials. 323 pp.

• Gimbutas M. Slavs are the sons of Perun. / Per. from English M., 2003.
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Book 1. System srpske mitoloje. 404 pp. Book 2. Mitološke mape sa pregledom juznoslovenskogo prosto. 312 pp. Book 3. Anthropologists of SRP ritual. 225 pp. Book 4. Mitology of coloring. 187 p. Book 5. Mitology, magic and customs: exploration of the entire region. 512 pp.

• Chausidis N. Mitskite slicks on juzhnite Slovenia. Skopju, 1994.546 p.
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News from chronicles, archaeological finds, and records make it possible to literally recreate, bit by bit, the complex and original religious system of the Eastern Slavs.

The ideas of the pagan Slavs about the earthly structure were very complex and confusing. Slavic scholars write that it seemed to them like a large egg; in the mythology of some neighboring and related peoples, this egg was laid by a “cosmic bird.” The Slavs have preserved echoes of the legends about the Great Mother, the parent of Earth and Sky, the foremother of Gods and people. Her name was Zhiva, or Zhivana. But not much is known about her, because, according to legend, she retired after the birth of Earth and Heaven.

In the middle Slavic Universe, like a yolk, the Earth itself is located. The upper part of the “Yolk” is our living world, the world of people. The lower “underside” side is the Lower World, World of the Dead, Night Country. When it's day there, it's night here. To get there, you need to cross the Ocean-Sea that surrounds the Earth. Or dig a well right through, and the stone will fall into this well for twelve days and nights. Surprisingly, whether it is an accident or not, the ancient Slavs had an idea about the shape of the Earth and the cycle of day and night.

Around the Earth, like egg yolks and shells, there are nine heavens (nine - three times three - a sacred number among the most different nations). This is why we still say not only “heaven” but also “heaven”. Each of the nine heavens of Slavic mythology has its own purpose: one for the Sun and stars, another for the Moon, another for clouds and winds. Our ancestors considered the seventh to be the “firmament,” the transparent bottom of the celestial Ocean. There are stored reserves of living water, an inexhaustible source of rain. Let us remember how they say about a heavy downpour: “the abysses of heaven opened up.” After all, the “abyss” is the abyss of the sea, the expanse of water. We still remember a lot, we just don’t know where this memory comes from or what it relates to.

The Slavs believed that you can get to any sky by climbing the World Tree, which connects the Lower World, the Earth and all nine heavens. According to the ancient Slavs, the World Tree looks like a huge spreading oak tree. However, on this oak tree the seeds of all trees and herbs ripen. This tree was very important element ancient Slavic mythology - it connected all three levels of the world, extended its branches to the four cardinal directions and with its “state” symbolized the mood of people and Gods in various rituals: green Tree meant prosperity and good share, and dried symbolized despondency and was used in rituals where evil Gods participated.

And where the top of the World Tree rises above the seventh heaven, in the “heavenly abyss” there is an island. This island was called “irium” or “virium”. Some scientists believe that the current word “paradise”, which is so firmly associated in our life with Christianity, comes from it. Iriy was also called Buyan Island. This island is known to us from numerous fairy tales. And on that island live the ancestors of all birds and animals: “elder wolf”, “elder deer”, etc.

The Slavs believed that migratory birds fly to the heavenly island in the fall. The souls of animals caught by hunters ascend there and answer to the “elders” - they tell how people treated them.
Accordingly, the hunter had to thank the animal for allowing him to take his skin and meat, and in no case mock him. Then the “elders” will soon release the beast back to Earth, allow it to be born again, so that fish and game will not be transferred. If a person is guilty, there will be no trouble... (As we see, the pagans did not at all consider themselves “kings” of nature, who were allowed to plunder it as they pleased. They lived in nature and together with nature and understood that every living creature has no less right for life than a person.)

Levels of Slavic mythology

Slavic mythology had three levels: highest, middle and lowest.

At the highest level were the Gods, whose “functions” were most important for the Slavs and who participated in the most widespread tales and myths. These are Svarog (Stribog, Sky), Earth, Svarozhichi (children of Svarog and Earth - Perun, Dazhdbog and Fire).

The middle level could include deities associated with economic cycles and seasonal rituals, as well as gods who embodied the integrity of closed small groups: Rod, Chur among the Eastern Slavs, etc. It is possible that most of the female deities belonged to this level, revealing close ties with the collective, sometimes less human-like than the gods of the highest level.

At the lowest level there were various highly specialized beings, less human-like than the Gods of the highest level. These included brownies, goblins, mermaids, ghouls, banniki (baenniks), etc.

The common Slavic word “God” was probably associated with the designation of share, luck, happiness: one can compare the words “rich” (having God, share) and “poor” (opposite meaning), in the Ukrainian language - nebogo, negoga - unfortunate, beggar. The word “God” was included in the names of various deities - Dazhdbog, Chernobog and others. Slavic data and evidence from other most ancient Indo-European mythologies allow us to see in these names a reflection of the ancient layer of mythological ideas of the Proto-Slavs.

For clarity, you can depict a diagram of the levels of the Slavic Gods:

Supreme Gods of the Slavs

Mother Earth and Father Sky

The ancient Slavs considered the Earth and the Sky to be two living beings, moreover, a married couple, whose love gave birth to all living things. The God of Heaven, the Father of all things, is called Svarog. This name goes back to an ancient word meaning “sky”, as well as “something shining, brilliant.” Scientists note that another name for Heaven was Stribog - translated into modern language as “Father-God”. Legend tells that Svarog once gave people blacksmith's pliers, taught them how to smelt copper and iron, and before, according to the Slavs - and this is very similar to modern ideas - the Stone Age reigned on Earth, people used clubs and stones. In addition, Svarog established the very first laws, in particular, he ordered each man to have only one wife, and a woman to have one husband. In “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” - a famous monument of literature created at the end of the 12th century - among the richest pagan symbolism one can find the allegorical name of the winds: “Stribozh’s grandchildren”. This means that the winds were considered the grandchildren of Heaven.

We still call the Earth Mother, and this is difficult to dispute. But people don’t always treat her as respectful children should.

The pagans treated her with the greatest love, and all the legends say that the Earth paid them the same. In one of the epics, the hero is warned not to fight with such and such a hero, because he is invincible - “Mother Earth loves him”...

On the tenth of May they celebrated the “name day of the Earth”: on this day it could not be disturbed - plowing, digging. The earth witnessed the solemn oaths; at the same time they touched it with the palm of their hand, sometimes they took out a piece of turf and placed it on their head, mystically making a lie impossible. It was believed that the Earth would not carry a liar.

Some scientists believe that the Goddess of the Earth was called Makosh (however, others, no less authoritative, argue fiercely with them.) You can try to carefully select the word according to its composition. "Ma-" means mother, mother. What does “cat” mean?

Let's remember the words “WALLET”, where wealth is stored, “KSHAR”, where living wealth - sheep - is driven. “KOSH” is the name given to the leader of the Cossacks; “KOSH” was also used to describe lot, fate, and happiness. And also a box, a large basket, where they put the harvested crop - the fruits of the earth, but it was this that constituted the wealth, fate and happiness of the ancient man. So it turns out: Earth - Makosh - Universal Mother, Mistress of Life, Giver of the Harvest.

Dazhdbog Svarozhich

The ancient Slavs considered the Sun, Lightning and Fire - two heavenly Flames and one earthly - to be siblings, the sons of Heaven and Earth. The Sun God is called Dazhdbog (or, in another pronunciation, Dazhbog). His name does not come from the word “rain,” as is sometimes mistakenly thought. “Dazhdbog” means “the giving God,” “the giver of all good things.” The Slavs believed that Dazhdbog rode across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white golden-maned horses with golden wings. And sunlight comes from the fiery shield that Dazhdbog carries with him. At night, Dazhdbog crosses the lower sky from west to east, shining on the Lower World.

Twice a day (morning and evening) he crosses the Ocean on a boat drawn by waterfowl - geese, ducks, swans. Therefore, our ancestors attributed special power to amulets (this word comes from the verb “to protect”, “to protect” and means an amulet, a talisman) in the form of a duck with a horse’s head. They believed that the Sun God would help them wherever he was - in the Day World or in the Night World, and even on the road from one to the other. In “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” Russian people are called “Dazhbozh’s grandchildren” - the grandchildren of the Sun. Although it tells about events that took place almost two hundred years after the official adoption of Christianity. This shows that the influence of paganism persisted for a very long time even in the conditions of Christianity, and some elements of paganism entered deeply into Russian Orthodoxy.

The Morning and Evening Dawns were considered sister and brother, and the Morning Dawn was the wife of the Sun. Every year, during the great festival of the summer solstice (now known as Midsummer), their marriage was solemnly celebrated.

The Slavs considered the Sun to be an all-seeing eye, which strictly monitors the morality of people and the fair observance of laws. It is not for nothing that at all times criminals waited for the onset of night, hiding from justice - not only earthly, but also heavenly, and the eclipse in the same “The Word and Igor’s Campaign” is taken as a terrible sign. And since time immemorial, the sacred sign of the Sun has been... the Cross! It is not difficult to see if you squint at the Sun. Is this why the Christian cross, so similar to the ancient pagan symbol, has taken root so well in Rus'? Sometimes the Solar Cross was circled, and sometimes it was drawn rolling, like the wheel of a solar chariot. This rolling cross is called a swastika. It was turned in one direction or the other, depending on which Sun they wanted to depict - “day” or “night”. By the way, not only in Slavic legends sorcerers, casting their spells, walk “salt” (that is, on the Sun) or “counter-salt”, depending on whether their magic is good or evil.

Unfortunately, the swastika was used in fascist symbols and is now disgusted by most people as a fascist sign. However, in ancient times it was highly revered and was widespread from India to Ireland. It is often found on ancient Russian jewelry found by archaeologists. It can even be seen in the ornaments and patterns on clothes in the Ryazan Museum of Local Lore. As for the “fascist sign,” it is not difficult to see that it depicts the “night” Sun, rolling along the inner side of the lower sky. Thus, the real object of “worship” of fascist mystics is not the Sun, but rather its absence - the darkness of the night.

Interesting interpretation of the swastika in Buddhist tradition. It is called "manji" and is considered a symbol of perfection. The vertical line indicates the relationship between Heaven and Earth, the horizontal line indicates the struggle between the eternal opposites Yin and Yang, the essence of which we will not consider here. As for the transverse strokes, if they are directed to the left, then, from the point of view of Buddhists, this personifies movement, gentleness, compassion, goodness; to the right - firmness, constancy, intelligence and strength. Thus, the two types of manji complement each other: love and compassion are helpless without strength and firmness, and soulless intellect and strength without mercy lead only to the increase of evil. In general, “good must be with fists,” but it is Good.

Perun Svarozhich

Perun is the Slavic God of Thunder, the God of thunder and lightning. The Slavs imagined him as a middle-aged, angry husband with a red-gold, swirling beard. Let us immediately note that Red beard- an indispensable feature of the God of Thunder among a variety of peoples. In particular, the Scandinavians, neighbors and relatives of the Slavs in the Indo-European family of peoples, considered their Thunderer (Thor) to be red-bearded. The hair of the Thunder God was likened to a thundercloud. Scandinavian legends note that an angry Thor "shaked his hair." It is not definitely said what color Thor’s hair was, but the Slavic Perun’s hair is really like a thundercloud - black and silver. It is not for nothing that the statue of Perun, which once stood in Kyiv, is described in the chronicle as follows: “The head is silver, the mustache is gold.” The Slavs saw their God rushing among the clouds on horseback or in a chariot drawn by winged stallions, white and black. By the way, the magpie was one of the birds dedicated to Perun, precisely because of its black and white color.

The name Perun is very ancient. Translated into modern language, it means “He who hits hard”, “Striking”. Some scholars see a connection between the name of the Thunder God and words such as “first” and “right”. As for the “first”, Perun was indeed the most important God in the pagan pantheon of Kievan Rus and, probably, the eldest son of Svarog. The similarity of his name with the “right” is not without meaning: our ancestors considered Perun the founder of the moral law and the very first defender of Truth.

Perun’s chariot rushing desperately thunders across the uneven clouds - that’s where the thunder comes from, that’s why it “rolls” across the heavens. However, there were different opinions on this matter. They also said that thunder and lightning are the echo and reflection of the blows with which Perun rewards the Serpent Veles, who seeks to rob the Gods and people - to steal the Sun, cattle, earthly and heavenly waters. And in distant antiquity, it was believed that thunder was actually a “cry of love” at the wedding celebration of Heaven and Earth: it is known how well everything grows after a thunderstorm... According to some sources, Perun’s lightning was of two kinds: lilac-blue, “ dead”, striking to death, and golden, “living”, creating, awakening earthly fertility and new life.

It has long been noticed how clean and fresh the air is after a thunderstorm. The pagan Slavs found an explanation for this too. The whole point, they said, is that evil spirits scatter in fear before Perun’s wrath, hide in holes and do not dare to appear out for a long time.

Perun, who is largely “responsible” for fertility, has a special relationship with bread. A legend has been preserved about how a certain woman went to the field to work on the holiday of Perun (July 20), which, according to custom, was impossible to do. The angry Perun initially restrained his anger. But when the child, left at the boundary, soiled his diapers and the mother wiped him with a bunch of ears of grain (according to another version, a piece of baked bread was desecrated), a whirlwind arose and carried away the entire harvest into the cloud. They still managed to grind some of it back, but the bread never became “hundred-eared” (a hundred ears on each stalk) again...

The legend about the origin of pearls is also connected with heavenly thunder. The Slavs believed that it originates from the reflection of lightning captured in the eyes of a pearl mollusk at the moment when it fearfully slams its shell shut at the sight of a thunderstorm...

Perun's weapons were initially stones, later - stone axes and finally - a golden ax: The gods “progressed” together with people.

Since ancient times, the ax - the weapon of the Thunderer - has been attributed miraculous power. An ax was used to hit the bench on which someone had died: it was believed that by doing so Death would be “cut down” and expelled. The ax was thrown crosswise over the cattle so that they would not get sick and would reproduce well.

With an ax they drew the Solar Cross over the sick person, calling on two brothers-Gods for help at once. And symbolic images of the Sun and Thunder were often engraved on the blades of axes. Such an ax, planted in a doorframe, was an insurmountable obstacle to evil spirits seeking to penetrate human habitation. There are countless customs and beliefs associated with the axe.
Even the well-known “chicken god”, a pebble with a hole in the middle, which caring owners are now trying to hang in the chicken coop, is nothing more than a memory of an ancient stone ax, one of the symbols of the pagan God of the Storm...

Another symbol of Perun is the so-called thunder sign, similar to a wheel with six spokes. Scientists believe that ancient people used the shape of a snowflake here, because Perun’s sanctuaries were built as close as possible to the clouds and the Sky - on the most elevated places where snow appears first. This sign can still be seen on the old huts. It was cut both for beauty and for purely “practical” reasons - as a lightning rod...

When the Slavs had princes and fighting squads, Perun began to be considered the patron saint of warriors. Therefore, some researchers now write that Perun is an exclusively “army-princely” God, not at all popular among the common people. It is unlikely that this was really the case! After all, a thunderstorm is not only a heavenly battle, it is also necessary for a plowman waiting for the harvest. And Perun’s main feat was precisely that he returned fertility to the Earth, returned the Sun and rain.

An animal was dedicated to Perun - a wild aurochs, a huge, mighty forest bull. Unfortunately, in wildlife the last tour was killed back in 1627 and only the domesticated descendants of the tours - domestic bulls and cows - have survived to this day. The tour was much more aggressive than the angriest domestic bull. Predatory animals were powerless against him, and among people, hunting aurochs was considered a feat.

People believed that Perun, walking around the world, willingly takes the form of a forest bull. And on July 20 (the holiday of Perun), the turs allegedly ran out of the forest themselves and allowed themselves to be slaughtered for a sacred feast. Later, when people angered the Gods with something, the tours stopped appearing, and sacrificial bulls were specially fattened in the villages. This tradition was strictly observed in many places even in the last century. Only now a pagan feast was held near the church, and a Christian priest blessed it.

Perun also had his own tree - an oak tree, and he also had a favorite flower, which in Bulgaria is still called “perunika”. It has six lilac-blue petals (thunder sign), overgrown with golden hairs (lightning). It blooms in the spring, when the first thunderstorms thunder. This iris flower is Greek for "rainbow".

Perun's sanctuaries were built in the open air. They were shaped like a flower; in those sanctuaries that have been excavated by archaeologists, there are usually eight “petals”, but in ancient times, according to scientists, there were six.
The “petals” were pits in which unquenchable sacred fires burned. A sculptural image of God was placed in the middle. It is sometimes said that the ancient Slavs believed in idols. But this is the same as saying that Christians believe in icons. An altar was placed in front of the image of God, usually in the form of a stone ring. Offerings were placed there, sacrificial blood was shed: most often animal blood, and if the people were threatened with serious misfortune, then human blood. Life has always been considered a sacred gift of the Gods: human sacrifice was an extraordinary, exceptional act. And we must also take into account that, according to the plots of some films and works of art, the person designated as a sacrifice did not necessarily burst into bitter tears and try to escape. The sacrifices were also voluntary: a person went to the Gods to tell them about the needs of his people, to ask for help, to avert trouble - as we would put it now, he “closed the embrasure,” that is, he performed a revered feat...

After the adoption of Christianity, Perun was not forgotten. Only a few customs that have survived to this day are mentioned here; in fact there are a great many of them. When the Orthodox Church forbade praying to the former Gods, the sanctuaries were destroyed with the same unnecessary cruelty with which churches were destroyed almost a thousand years later by militant atheists. However, scientists say that Christianity not only “smashed” paganism, but also tried to peacefully coexist with it, subordinating it to its hierarchy of values. It is no coincidence that particularly acute conflicts rarely occurred, because over time a kind of symbiosis arose. In particular, having been baptized, yesterday's pagans continued to honor the old Gods, only under new names. So Perun “transferred” many of his qualities to Ilya the Prophet, one of the most revered Christian saints. Another “heir” of the Thunder God is Saint George, the serpent fighter, whom we still see on the coat of arms of Moscow today.

Fire Svarozhich

The third brother of the Sun and Lightning, the third son of Heaven and Earth was Fire. We are still talking about the “fire of the hearth” - although most houses do not have fireplaces, but gas or electric stoves. In ancient times, Fire was truly the center of the world in which a person’s entire life took place, and even after death, a funeral pyre often awaited his body. In ancient times, Fire drove away darkness, cold and predatory animals. Later, he gathered around himself several generations of the clan - a large family, symbolizing its indivisible community.

During the meal, Fire was treated to the first and best piece. Any wanderer, a complete stranger, became “one of our own” as soon as he warmed himself by the fireplace. He was protected as if he were his own. Evil spirits did not dare to approach Fire, but Fire was able to cleanse anything defiled. Fire was a witness to vows, and this is where the custom of jumping in pairs over fires comes from: it was believed that if a guy and a girl were able to fly over the flames without releasing their hands, then their love was destined to live a long life.

What was the name of the God of Fire? Some scientists believe that the Western Slavs who lived along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea called it Radogost (Radigost). These researchers have serious evidence, and their no less authoritative rivals have refutations, so the final word has not yet been said. , the name of the God of Fire was so sacred (after all, this God did not live somewhere in the seventh heaven, but directly among people) that they tried to pronounce it out loud less often, replacing it with allegories. And over time, it was simply forgotten... This happened in the same way as the real name of the bear was forgotten: people tried to call strong and dangerous animals allegorically (in relation to a bear - “clubfooted”, “brown”). So the word “bear” means “knowing honey” - “loving honey.” Its real name is apparently lost forever.

But a great many signs and beliefs associated with Fire have not been forgotten. In the presence of Fire, it was considered unthinkable to swear: “I would tell you... but you can’t: stove in the hut!”

A Russian matchmaker, who came to woo the bride, would certainly stretch out her hands to the stove, warming her palms, no matter what time of year this happened: thereby she called upon Fire to be her ally and enlisted its support. The young husband solemnly led the newlywed three times around the hearth. And if at the moment of the birth of a child the Fire suddenly died out, then this was seen as a sure sign of the birth of a future villain. And here, finally, is why they break a plate in front of the newlyweds (“For good luck”), and before they broke a pot that had just been in the Fire: “How many pieces, so many sons!” Now most often they do not remember the meaning of this action.

A special sacred power was attributed to Fire, obtained in the most primitive way - friction. Why did everything ancient enjoy such honor, and still do today? The fact is that all the most ancient customs, techniques and tricks were believed to have been learned directly from the Gods by the forefathers and foremothers of living people. Let's remember the blacksmith's tongs and the plow, “fell from heaven,” or the “first” laws! Accordingly, all subsequent technical and social progress was partly a distortion of the ancestral “divine” wisdom, higher than which, in the opinion of ancient people, nothing could be.

So, Fire produced by friction was considered “pure”, not in contact with any defilement. The coming of the new year was celebrated every time by lighting such a fire. At the same time, it was believed that all the sins of the past remain in the past year along with the extinguished old Fire: thus, every year the world is given a chance to be reborn, to become kinder and better. Let us note in passing that the beginning of the New Year in Rus' was repeatedly postponed, it was celebrated either in March or in September, but scientists still recognize the New Year as one of the oldest, celebrated on the days of the winter solstice, December 22-23.

The pagan Slavs also associated the emergence of people with Fire. According to some legends, the Gods created a Man and a Woman from two sticks, between which Fire ignited - the very first flame of love... According to another legend, Perun and Fire competed in accuracy, and at the moment when the flame and lightning struck the same point. unexpectedly for the Gods themselves, the first people appeared.

And this is not all that can be said about Fire. Vivid examples modern traditions There are a great many of them that came to us from ancient times. Where, for example, did our “cheesecake” come from? This is from the Ancient word “vatra”, that is, “hearth”.

Other Gods of the ancient Slavs

Rod and Rozhanitsy

It has already been said that the light irium was considered by the ancient Slavs to be the source of all life, the ancestral home of plants, birds and animals. There were gods, especially
“responsible” for the prosperity and offspring of all living things in nature, as well as for the multiplication of the human race, for marriage and love between people. These are Rod and Rozhanitsy, mentioned in ancient Russian literature.

Scientists have long argued about how important the role the Slavs assigned to God named Rod. Some argue that this is a small “family” Deity like the Brownie. Others, on the contrary, consider Rod one of the most important, supreme Gods who took part in the creation of the Universe: according to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, it is he who sends the souls of people from heaven to Earth when children are born. In addition, researchers suggest paying attention to how many important words come from the root “clan”, which is consonant with the name of this God: RODNYA, UROZHAY, HOMELAND, NATURE.

The Goddesses of Birth are usually spoken of in the plural. Ancient manuscripts speak briefly about them, only mentioning bread, honey and “cheese” (previously this word meant cottage cheese), which were sacrificed to them. However, the manuscripts were compiled by Orthodox figures, so it is difficult to find detailed and accurate descriptions in them. However, modern scientists, having processed a large amount of archaeological, ethnographic, linguistic material, turning to information concerning neighboring peoples, came to the conclusion that there were two Rozhanits: Mother and Daughter.

The Slavs associated the Mother in Childbirth with the period of summer fertility, when the harvest ripens, becomes heavier, and becomes full. The ancient Slavs gave her the name Lada, and it is probably not connected with less words and concepts than with Rod. All of them have to do with establishing order: “GET GOOD,” “ESTABLISH,” etc.
The order in this case was thought of primarily as a family one: “LADA”, “LADO” - an affectionate address to a beloved spouse, husband or wife. "LADINS" - wedding conspiracy. Bulgarian “LADUVANE” - fortune telling about grooms. But the scope of activity

Lada is by no means limited to the home. Some researchers recognize the Great Lada as the mother of the twelve months into which the year is divided.

The ancient Slavs had a Goddess named Lelya - the daughter of Lada, the younger Rozhanitsa. Let’s think about it: it’s not for nothing that a child’s cradle is often called a “cradle”; a tender, caring attitude towards a child is conveyed by the word “cherish.” A stork that supposedly brings children is called “leleka” in Ukrainian. The Slavs believed that it was Lelya who took care of the barely hatched seedlings - the future harvest. Lelya-Vesna was solemnly “called out” - they invited her to visit, they went out to meet her with gifts and refreshments.

The holiday of Rozhanitsa was celebrated in the spring - April 22-23. On this day, sacrifices were made of vegetable and dairy products, which were solemnly eaten at a sacred feast, and then at night bonfires were lit: huge, in honor

Lada, and around it there are twelve smaller ones - according to the number of months of the year. According to tradition, it was a women's and girls' holiday, and men watched it from afar.

Yarila

Often, unfortunately, Yarila is mistakenly considered the God of the Sun. Among the ancient Slavs, Yarila had a different role. What do we mean by the word "rage"? In Russian language dictionaries you can find: “fury; a mash of blind, spontaneous, often senseless force.” And there are many more related words, and they all talk about strong emotions uncontrollable by reason. This side of love, which poets call “ebullient passion,” was “under the control” of the Slavic God Yarila. Even in the last century, in some places in Russia they celebrated the holiday “Yarilki”, timed to coincide with April 27, the very peak of the spring riot of nature.
It was believed that this love increases the harvest, which meant so much to the ancient farmer. After all, as we remember, the pagans did not oppose themselves to nature and did not reject its laws.

Yarila was imagined as a young man, an ardent, loving groom. In some places, wanting to emphasize his youth and beauty, they dressed up a girl as “Yarila”. They put her on a white horse, put on a wreath of wild flowers, and gave her left hand ears of corn, and on the right... a symbol of death - an image of a human head. The horse and “Yarila” were led through the fields, saying: “Wherever you step, there is a heap of life, and wherever you look, an ear of corn blooms!”

According to another version, Yarila appeared before people in the spring as a boy on a young stallion, in the summer as an adult man on a strong horse, and in the fall as an old man on an old horse. The ears symbolized life, and the image of the head may be due to the fact that he, like the Egyptian Osiris, died and was reborn every year. The holiday was also dedicated to the farewell and “funeral” of the bald, aged Yarila. People knew: winter would pass and Yarila would return and rise.
Just like a grain buried in the ground is resurrected as a stalk, an ear, and ultimately a new grain. It is no coincidence that grain crops that are sown in the spring (as opposed to winter crops) are called “spring”...

Snake Veles

Scientists write that a fairy tale is a myth that has ceased to be sacred for those who tell and listen to it. This is a myth that is no longer widely believed. (By the way, in Ancient Rus' the word “fable” denoted a reliable story, more often a written one. And what we now call a fairy tale was then denoted by the word “fable”. From it came the modern “fable” and the expression “fabulous” - embellished, fantastic , legendary.

So, there are many fairy tales about the Serpent Gorynych, who kidnaps (or is given as tribute to) beautiful girls and with whom heroes and heroes fight - from the epic Dobrynya Nikitich to Ivanushka the Fool. But this is also an echo of an ancient pagan myth that has survived to this day.
The myth about the struggle of the thunderer Perun with his eternal enemy - the monstrous Serpent. Similar legends exist among many nations.

In Slavic pagan mythology, the “bestial God” Volos (or Veles) is known, clearly contrasted with Perun. His connection with the “cattle” (that is, animal) kingdom follows from his name: Hair - hairy - shaggy - shaggy. It is possible that the word “magician” comes from the name of this God and from the custom of his priests to dress in “shaggy” fur coats turned outward to imitate their Deity. Meanwhile, the name “Hair” just as definitely takes us into the world of snakes and worms. Anyone who has ever been to a village in the summer has probably heard chilling stories about “living hair” that lives in a river near the shore and can bite and be sucked under the skin. There is also a belief that a hair - animal or human, especially from a bad person - dropped into water or entangled in an egg comes to life and begins to do evil deeds. In general, hair was considered an important receptacle of vitality. And there will be no trouble if the cut and discarded hair is picked up by an unkind sorcerer... This legend could have appeared from the legend about the forge Kiya, who was able to forge a person’s fate with the help of a hair.

In a word, many good reasons force some scientists to identify Volos with the legendary Serpent - the enemy of the Thunder God.
Let's listen to their story.

According to legend, the Hair Serpent somehow combines hairiness and scales in its appearance, flies on membranous wings, can breathe fire (although he himself is deathly afraid of fire, primarily lightning) and is very fond of fried eggs and milk. Therefore, another name for Volos is Smok or Tsmok, which means Sucker. Here it is appropriate to recall Smaug, the evil dragon from J. R. R. Tolkien’s fairy tale “The Hobbit”. This name was not chosen by the writer by chance!

But if you carefully re-read folk legends and fairy tales, it turns out that the Serpent in them is not so much evil as unreasonable and greedy. It is easy to see that the appearance of the Serpent is “composed” by the human imagination from parts taken from different animals. Perhaps it embodies the forces of primeval Chaos, the violent forces of disordered, wild, uninhabited nature, often hostile to ancient man, but essentially not at all evil?..

The pagan Slavs worshiped both divine opponents - Perun and the Serpent. Only the sanctuaries of Perun were built, as already mentioned, in high places, and the sanctuaries of Volos - in the lowlands. There is reason to think that Volos, tamed and driven underground, became “responsible” for earthly fertility and wealth. He partly lost his monstrous appearance and became more human-like. It’s not for nothing that the last bunch of ears of corn was left in the “Beard Hair” field. In addition, there is a connection

Volos-Veles with music and poetry, it is not for nothing that in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” the singer Boyan is called “Veles’s grandson”...

In 1848, a stone idol was found in the Zbruch River, clearly reflecting the division of the pagan Universe into the World of the Gods, the World of People and the Lower World. So, the Human World is supported from below by a kneeling mustachioed humanoid creature. He looks unhappy. Of course, there are no explanatory inscriptions on the ancient idol, but scientists believe that this is Veles, who settled in the depths of the Earth...

Dark Gods

The life of ancient man was not always easy. Difficulties forced us to look for the culprits; they appeared in the form of evil Gods. Among the Western Slavs, Chernobog was such an embodiment of evil: this name truly speaks for itself. It is known that his sculptures were black, with a silver mustache. Whether the Eastern Slavs (the ancestors of Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians) believed in him or not cannot be said with certainty. Perhaps they believed, it is unlikely that they had less reasons for this than their Western brothers.

But the evil Goddess named Morana (Morena, Marana) was definitely known both in the West and in the Slavic East. She is associated with darkness, frost and death. Indeed, her name is related to such words as “pestilence”, “darkness”, “haze”, “haze”, “fool”, “death” and many more equally unkind ones. From India to Iceland, mythical characters are known who cause all sorts of evil: the Buddhist Mara, who tempted righteous hermits, the Scandinavian “mara” - an evil spirit capable of tormenting a sleeping person, “trampling” him to death, Morrigan, the Goddess of the ancient Irish, associated with destruction and war; finally, the French word for “nightmare.” You can also remember Morgana, Morgause and Mordred from the epic about King Arthur and his knights.

Echoes of the legends about Moran can be traced in the epics about Dobrynya and “Marinka”, who tries in every possible way to destroy the hero, in particular, turns him with her witchcraft into a tour - golden horns. The same epics tell about the unholy connection of “Marinka” with the Serpent. There is reason to see the ancient Morana in the Bulgarian legend about the “evil woman” who “killed many people” and threw a dirty veil over the Silver Moon: since then it has been covered dark spots and, frightened, began to walk above the Earth much higher than before (by the way, astronomers write about secular changes in the orbit of the Moon...). Other legends tell how Morana and her evil minions try every morning to stalk and destroy the Sun, but each time they retreat in horror before its radiant power and beauty. Finally, the straw effigy, which is still burned in some places today during the ancient pagan Maslenitsa holiday, at the time of the spring equinox, undoubtedly belongs to Morana, the Goddess of death and cold. Every winter she briefly takes power, but she is not allowed to establish herself forever: again and again the Sun, Life and Spring triumph...

Gods and spirits of the lower level

Among the many small deities, it should be noted Dvorovoy (the owner of the courtyard), who was already slightly less benevolent than Domovoy; Ovinnik (the owner of the barn) - even less so, and Bannik, the spirit of the bathhouse, which stood at the very edge of the yard, and even beyond it, is simply dangerous. For this reason, believers considered the bathhouse - a symbol of seemingly purity - unclean. Sometimes he is represented as a tiny old man with a long, moldy beard. Fainting and accidents in the bathhouse are attributed to his evil will. To pacify Bannik, the Slavs left him in the bathhouse clean water, a broom and food, otherwise the bannik could get angry and seriously harm the person, even killing him. Bannik’s favorite pastime is scalding those washing with boiling water, splitting stones in a stove and “shooting” them at people.

Behind the fence of the courtyard of the ancient Slav the forest began. The forest provided the ancient Slav with building material, game, mushrooms, berries, etc. But in addition to the benefits given to man, wild forest always fraught with many mortal dangers. The owner of the forest was Leshy. Leshy literally means “forest”. His appearance is changeable. He seemed to be either a giant or a dwarf. In different places, Leshy is told differently. However, most often he looks like a person, but his clothes are wrapped “in reverse” (sometimes, however, instead of clothes he only wears his own fur). Leshy’s hair is long, gray-greenish, but on his face there are no eyelashes or eyebrows, and his eyes, like two emeralds, burn with green fire in the forest darkness. He could lead a person into a thicket, scare him, beat him, but he knew how to pay good for good.

When people began to clear forests and plow open “burns” for bread, of course, new deities appeared - Poleviki. In general, there are no fewer beliefs and signs associated with a grain field than with housing. Sometimes people also met old Belun in the field - nondescript in appearance and extremely snotty. He asked a passerby to wipe his nose. And if a person did not disdain, a purse of silver suddenly appeared in his hand. Perhaps in this way our ancestors wanted to express the simple idea that the Earth generously bestows only those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty?

The working day in the village always began early. But it’s better to wait out the midday heat. The ancient Slavs also had a mythical creature who strictly ensured that no one worked at noon. This is Midday. They imagined her as a girl in a long white shirt or, conversely, as a shaggy, scary old woman. Poludnitsy (or Rzhanitsy) were afraid: for non-compliance with the custom, she could severely punish - now we call it sunstroke. Having caught a man in the field at noon, she sometimes forced him to solve her riddles to the point of exhaustion. But Midday was not only formidable.
She taught the person who became friends with her to dance to the envy of everyone. Living in a region abundant with rivers and lakes, the ancient Slavs naturally developed a whole complex of religious veneration for water. For example, the Slavs were sure that the most inviolable oaths were made near water; they also tested it with water in court, and used water to tell fortunes about the future. Water was addressed as “you”. She could have drowned her, destroyed her for nothing. It could demand victims, wash away the village with a spring flood. That is why the Vodyanoy, the mythical inhabitant of rivers, lakes and streams, often appears in legends as a creature hostile to humans.

The central myth of the ancient Slavs

Now that we have become acquainted with all the main Gods of the Slavs, we can convey the content of the fundamental legend of ancient Slavic mythology. This myth tells about the appearance of evil gods and the opposition of good gods to them.

One day, the Sun-Dazhdbog and his brother Perun traveled together in the Underworld. And here, from beyond the edge of the Universe, a dark star appeared without rays, with a long bloody tail. She wanted to strike the Earth, which was fast asleep, to death - her husband, Heaven, came to the rescue: he shielded the Earth and took a cruel blow. But he was unable to completely avert the misfortune. A tailed monster swept over the entire Earth, burning forests with a terrible, unprecedented fire, and finally fell somewhere at the far edge.

...The God Brothers almost drove the greyhound horses, flying to the eastern edge of the Ocean. When the boat crossed it, drawn by white swans, and the winged stallions soared again, Dazhdbog for many days did not dare to look down brightly and clearly as before. For a disfigured, dead strip stretched across the entire Earth, and there, in the black smoke, a frightened, understanding Fire was rushing about. And from the wounds of Heaven, water gushed down to the ground in streams, flooding the lowlands, destroying and washing away everything that had survived the fire...

The young Gods didn’t think twice: they rushed to save their mother and father. To save your world before it again becomes the shapeless lump it was before birth. They bandaged the wounds of Heaven with white stripes of clouds and damp shrouds of fog. Calmed the Fire. They lit a rainbow over the few surviving People, showing the way to salvation...

That’s when we saw mountains at the far edge of the Earth that were not there before, mountains that looked like monstrous clouds from afar. They firmly fused into the body of the Earth. The Gods carefully headed towards those mountains... It turned out that the mountains were iron. Hot, they managed to cool down, and the sharp peaks breathed black frost, stored somewhere inside, and before our eyes they were overgrown with snow and ice. Never before have the young Gods seen anything like this... It’s good, most of these mountains fell down, beyond the edge of the Underworld, lifeless for centuries, and only one ugly ridge desecrated the face of the green Earth. The Gods saw: all living things were retreating from the Iron Mountains, everything was fleeing from the deadening cold - forests, rivers, grass, flowers...

They carefully drove around the Iron Mountains and, in one deep abyss, discovered a path through the Earth, all the way to the Lower World. A thrown stone would have flown there for twelve days and nights, but the sparkling chariots, of course, were faster. Soon the brothers found themselves in the Underworld. And when Dazhdbog raised his fiery shield, they saw two creatures desperately shielding themselves from the light, a man and a woman, looking more like terrible dreams than People or Gods...

It was then that for the very first time Perun wanted to swing his ax not to ignite life, but to destroy it. But the man and woman fell to their knees and began to beg for mercy. And Perun lowered his hand with the ax raised. He has not yet learned to be merciless and strike when they kneel. Perun and Dazhdbog fed them and told them about the earthly and heavenly structure.

But a year later, frost began to come from the direction of the Iron Mountains, devastating the Earth, and the Svarozhichi brothers sought to quickly pass these places.

But then a lot of time passed, the Earth recovered from the blow, the wounds of Heaven healed, although a scar remained - Milky Way, where, according to Slavic beliefs, the souls of the dead flew away. Dazhdbog warned the Month not to approach the cold mountains when he was walking in the sky, because, although the gods of the Iron Mountains kindly received the brothers, they still aroused mistrust. The Young Moon gave his word to Dazhdbog and kept it for a long time, but once he could not control his curiosity.
He directed the white bulls that drove his chariot to the Iron Mountains. A dirty blanket rose from there and dragged the Month into the cave. When the brothers-gods entered this cave, they saw the completed feast and realized that Morana had seduced the Month, and immediately celebrated the wedding.

This time Perun’s thunder sounded angrily, and his ax cut the Month in half. The brothers took the dead Moon home, where the morning star Dennitsa, their sister, cured him with living and dead water. Since then, the Moon rarely appears in the sky full, and sometimes disappears completely, and after Morana wrapped him in a veil, he was able to wash away the stains. People believed that the Moon was waning and hoped to be born pure again, but fate was merciless.

The evil Morana and the lawless Chernobog were buried for a long time in the darkness of the damp caves, not daring to come out into the light. And Perun, who had desecrated his golden ax with blood, worked for a year in the workshop of the forge Kiya - he atoned for the sin. Murder was generally considered in Rus' terrible sin. Even warriors who returned from a campaign did not sit down at the same table with their relatives for a long time and worked in forges and in the field, atonement for their guilt. Since then, all evil spirits have been afraid of iron, feeling the power of Perun, and if you line the door with iron or hang an iron horseshoe over it, then evil spirits will not dare to enter the house.

Meanwhile, Chernobog and Morana stole the snake's egg. Before this, snakes were not poisonous and lived in peace with people. They wrapped this egg around the hair of the woman who wiped the child with ears of bread and sucked out all the living things from it.

A snake hatched from the egg, which they called Volos, or Veles. He grew up quickly and became very strong. But he was not evil - just greedy and stupid. He flew around the earth, turned into whoever he wanted and committed various sins. But one day, Morana, with his help, took out an ice needle and made him an ice tooth, which could be used to put the Svarozhichi to sleep.

One day they stole Perun’s bride Lelya and Dazhdbog went to the Iron Mountains to check what was going on with Chernobog and Morana. But there Veles hit him in the back with an icy tooth, and the Sun did not rise over the Earth at the appointed hour. Perun went after Dazhdbog, leaving the Fire to shine on people and warm them. But no matter how much Perun fought with Veles, he could not defeat him - Chernobog and Morana stood behind him, helping him. Perun's eyes and heart were torn out and chained in ice.

For thirty-three years the Sun was not above the Earth, thunder did not roar and Perun’s lightning did not flash. But one day the grown-up children of the blacksmith Kiya - brother and sister Svetozor and Zorya - came to the sanctuary of Perun, lit a fire and
Svetozor sacrificed his blood. Then the earth opened up and the exhausted Perun climbed out of the crack. The cue helped him recover from his wounds, find new horses and find an ax, which, after the fatal battle, was not given to Veles, but flew away to the Earthly world.

Perun, having gained strength, with Kiy and the Kieviches came to the Iron Mountains and in a fierce duel defeated Veles, broke the ice tooth and imprisoned Chernobog and Morana in underground darkness. Despite all Morana’s assurances that it was impossible to melt the icy grave of Dazhdbog and Lelya, Perun and Kiy managed to do this and resurrected the Gods.

Religious holidays

If the Slavs worshiped natural phenomena, then it is easy to guess on what occasions and at what time of year they would celebrate their religious holidays, which are closely related to nature and changes in it. The holiday of Kolyada, Ivan Kupala, and Maslenitsa were deeply revered by the people. At these festivities, the Slavs worshiped stone and wooden idols - figures of gods.

These idols were placed in the center of a round platform with a raised middle or, conversely, with a funnel-shaped depression in the center. The site was surrounded by one or two ditches and low ramparts. Sometimes the inside of the shaft was fenced with a palisade. An altar was placed next to the idol. The places where idols were worshiped were called “temples” (from the Old Slavonic “kap” - image, idol), and those where sacrifices were made (“requirements”) were called “treasures”. By now, many pagan idols have already been found, but the most remarkable monument of Slavic paganism is the four-headed Zbruch idol, found in the 19th century on the Zbruch River, a tributary of the Dniester. Conventionally, this idol is called Svyatovit. This is a tall tetrahedral pillar three meters high, on each side of which there are a series of images. Three horizontal tiers of images symbolize the division of the Universe into heaven, earth and hell.
At the top, on each side of the pillar, crowned with one common cap, are carved full-length figures of four deities - the goddess of fertility, Perun, a female deity with a ring in her right hand, and a male figure with a saber at his belt. In the middle tier, figures of men and women alternate - this is the Earth and a round dance of people holding hands. In the lower tier there are three figures of mustachioed men. These are underground gods who support the Earth above them. The Slavs also had wooden statues. Around 980, the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich placed huge idols of pagan deities in his capital. Among them, the wooden idol of Perun was especially luxuriously decorated: it had a silver head and a golden mustache. Wooden idols of the Eastern Slavs are pillars, in the upper part of which human heads were carved.

Sacrifices were made to these idols: animals, grain, various gifts, and sometimes human sacrifices. Near the image of the pagan gods, fortune-telling and ritual lots took place, which were performed by mysterious “magi.”

Magi, fortune-tellers, magicians, Bedouins, witches... Very little is known about the Slavic Magi, but Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov, in his work on the history of ancient Russia, draws a close connection from the Slavic Magi to the Finnish Magi, explaining this by the close proximity of the two peoples; and notes that after the adoption of Christianity, the Magi mainly appear in the Finnish north and from there they trouble the Slavic peoples.

For some reason, it so happened historically that we are interested in Greek mythology and antiquity, read with delight about the 12 labors of Hercules, study Ancient Egypt with enthusiasm, but we have almost no knowledge of our own past, our ancient traditions, we have the most vague ideas about paganism and mythology of the ancient Slavs, indifferent to their own folklore, fairy tales, epics, and folk ideas. But Slavic mythology is no less interesting and important for our peoples. Even a schoolchild knows who Zeus, Apollo, Hera are, but ask a Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian who his ancestors believed in, he will only remember Perun, and even then he will not be able to really explain what function this god performed. The same applies to the so-called “lower mythology”, the ancient Slavic bestiary. After all, even here we know Western mythological creatures better, although the same ghouls, werewolves, mermaids are part of Slavic culture.

Paganism, along with the Christian tradition, nourished our folklore; it is a rich source of images, associations, plots, heroes, artistic means, phraseological units, folk wisdom. But these riches did not remain in the past, they were inherited by Russian literature: let’s remember Gogol (“Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “Petersburg Collection” and much more), A.K. Tolstoy (“Ghoul”, “ Prince Silver") and A.S. Pushkin ("Ruslan and Lyudmila", fairy tales). Our classics treated fairy tales, proverbs, folk songs with great respect and interest and used their images in their works. And for better understanding of our own history and traditions, knowledge of this layer of Slavic culture is necessary. Moreover, this includes both Western and Southern Slavs, I’m not just talking about Russians here, the mythologies of our peoples have a lot in common, they have the same roots. Mythology, folklore is another thing that makes us similar, despite our different historical paths, for all the differences. These ideas shaped our peoples; they influenced the lives of ancient people, their actions, and family life.

Study of Slavic mythology

In this article I will not try to cover the entire topic, because it is extremely vast and will require more than one article or even one book. Here we will talk only about some basic things, the pagan pantheon, the worldview of the Slavs. In addition, I have not yet had the opportunity to study all the available literature and summarize the rather contradictory material; I do not now claim to have made any discoveries of my own. In this case, I rely mainly on the concept and books of Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov “The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” and “The Paganism of Ancient Rus'”. Later I will turn to other books and write about more specific points, I will add to this article, because The topic interests me very much and I am immersed in it. The history of Ancient Rus' itself also attracts me.

Unfortunately, studying Slavic mythology greatly complicated by the lack of sources specifically describing all folk ideas and traditions. This is partly due to the fact that Christianity desperately fought against all pagan “relics”; church authorities executed the Magi, condemned those who remained faithful to the old, ancient traditions, and banned folk holidays that had pagan roots. Much has been forgotten; it is unlikely that the entire mythological system can be restored in its entirety. Ancient mythology was much luckier. However, not all is lost, despite the widespread assurances that Christianity was accepted in Rus' painlessly and people did not show resistance; in fact, paganism existed long after the adoption of Christianity, repeatedly in the 10th and even in the 11th-12th centuries. there was a return of part of the population to old traditions, ancient gods. This was caused by the uncleanliness of the priests, the inconsistency of their behavior with the norms that they taught people, but also by objective conditions beyond their control - crop failure, drought, terrible famine, disease. At these moments, people’s faith in the Christian God weakened, and the Magi, experts in ancient traditions who had survived until this time, again began to enjoy authority and led the people. Paganism was always closer to ordinary people, artisans, and peasants, while the Christian faith most often supported the authority of the existing government. Ivan the Terrible also found pagan holidays and rituals in the villages, personally participated in them at a young age, and then, having come to power and being a deeply religious man (which, however, was somehow combined in his nature with manifestations of extreme suspicion and cruelty) condemned these festivities and ordered the church to fight such beliefs in every possible way. Many rituals existed even until the end of the 19th century, as evidenced by ethnographers who became interested in them at that time. It was then that the first attempts were made to study and describe these ideas. Even people who are far from philology will probably name at least one person who devoted his life to collecting fairy tales and studying folk traditions- Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev. The works of this scientist, however, were very outdated; at that time he had neither the appropriate methodology nor examples of research that could be used as a guide. He had to figure out a lot, guess on his own, reconstruct Slavic mythology, which is inevitably accompanied by mistakes, although his books are still interesting and important, and in those years his works were very bold and original, almost without analogues. Here it would also be worth mentioning at least Izmail Ivanovich Sreznevsky, a Slavic philologist, ethnographer, teacher at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, as well as my fellow countryman, a Slavic scholar from Tula - Ivan Petrovich Sakharov, A.A. Potebnyu and V.Ya. Proppa. It was these people who stood at the foundations of both philology in its modern form and Slavic ethnography.

Princely Kurgan Black Grave in Chernigov

During the years of Soviet power, interest in paganism was not particularly welcomed, as, indeed, in many other things. Even if Christianity was not in honor at that time, what can we say about some ancient religions and strange interest to them. Even Afanasyev’s books were not republished until the 80s, although now it is difficult to understand what could be counter-revolutionary and dangerous in them, because this is our history. At the same time, since the 80s and especially in the 90s and 2000s, interest in paganism has increased sharply. And not only at the level of study, even supporters of this ancient religion, "Rodnovers". They also studied paganism, and, studying and reconstructing, they openly believed in the ancient gods. I am not going to condemn or praise this aspect, but the study of history and cultural studies is not even on the part of specialist historians and philologists (and among these people there were many scientists from natural and exact sciences, which is remarkable) - this is definitely a positive thing. If only these studies were conscientious. At the moment, there is a huge amount of research, often contradicting each other, of a polemical nature. These are hundreds of books, thousands of articles, collections of archaeological reports. Slavic mythology has been studied by scientists from various countries. These are Czech researchers, Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish. Such a wealth of materials and points of view allows us to form clearer ideas about the issue.

Main sources for studying Slavic mythology

On the basis of what is it restored? ancient mythology, what helps us reconstruct it, what are the main sources? Pagan ideas went through several stages, they did not remain unchanged, some basic ideas were formed during the first and second millennium BC, but it is quite difficult to judge that time. Rybakov in his book “The Paganism of Ancient Rus'” makes a very detailed excursion about that time; below we will touch on this issue a little. Paganism developed and reached its greatest flourishing just by the 8th-9th centuries, that is, by the time of the baptism of Rus'. Old Russian chronicles, works of Greek, Roman and Eastern historians and travelers, and Scandinavian sagas help us restore the approximate direction of the evolution of mythology and its main features. Unfortunately, our ancient Russian Christian chroniclers did not have the goal of fully describing pagan ideas or conveying this information for posterity. They couldn't think that far ahead. The chronicles themselves, despite the widespread misconception, were not written with the goal of writing history for future generations; the chronicle was supposed to legitimize the power of the prince, show its sacred character, unite different tribes and cities under his leadership, and form a positive image of power (just like in our times ). Probably, the chroniclers were also driven by a purely research interest, but at that time people generally thought in other categories and expected the end of the world almost every year, and were not at all interested in looking into the distant future, or abstract thoughts about the historical process. Now it is difficult for us to understand that an ancient person is not our contemporary, but with a different language and in different clothes, he was brought up differently and thinks in other categories. Be that as it may, it is important that all descriptions of pagan rituals, folk festivals, ancient gods are sharply negative character. The scribes wrote about what they themselves saw directly and what was well known to all their contemporaries, and they wrote about it to censure, in order to indicate what should not be done. Therefore, we often receive information about mythology from teachings directed against them.

Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. Trizna for Oleg

An interesting and important source is also the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” (XII century), the author of which widely used pagan images, epithets, metaphors, openly named the names of the ancient gods, glorifying the era of Vladimir Monomakh, when Rus' was united and could resist the nomads, the eternal threat to our land. Here the gods are mentioned without condemnation, which is important, and our princes and princesses turn out to be capable of turning into birds and animals. The heroes directly turn to the sun as a god and ask him for help. All this is explained by the existence in Rus' of the cult of the wolf and solar deities and heroes.

What cannot be extracted from texts in which information about paganism is fragmentary, archeology helps to restore. Stone monuments, found burial mounds, household items, outfits, houses, jewelry, and applied art give us important information. All these things often have solar and plant symbols on them, which are aimed at bringing prosperity and protecting people from troubles, evil forces that have enormous power and are found all around. Ethnographic materials collected in the 19th and 20th centuries also serve as an important source of information. In villages and on the outskirts, old ideas and rituals were preserved for the longest time, and there they continued to influence the lives of people. These surviving traditions can be linked to ancient times. This also includes works of folklore, fairy tales, epics, myths, songs, proverbs and sayings. The language itself retains the memory and wisdom of centuries, testifies to all the changes that have occurred. The names of villages and cities, rivers, mountains often convey to us knowledge about ancient, pagan times, therefore onomastics is a science that helps the study of mythology. In addition, much can be understood by comparing the ideas of different peoples, using the knowledge and methods of religious studies and cultural studies, turning to materials studied by such scientists as C. G. Jung, James Frazer, Edward Tylor, A.A. Potebnya, V.Ya. Propp. Without knowledge of the works of these researchers, their concepts, the study of Slavic mythology is impossible.

Worldview of the ancient Slavs. The main stages of the development of paganism

How did the ancient Slavs see the world, what did they believe in? For ancient people, the whole world was spiritualized, filled with life. Myths try to explain the movement of the sun and planets, and the change of day and night, and seasons. To some extent, they try to describe how the world works, where it came from, what forces influence it. Magical creatures inhabited the entire earth, the Slavs prayed sacred groves and trees, rivers, wells. They believed in mermaids (winged maidens who bring heavenly moisture to the earth, give life-giving rain and return to us in the spring) and brownies, the spirits of ancestors who were honored and who helped people. They also believed in vampire ghouls, navi, evil spirits that brought harm. People knew how to defend themselves from some and how to attract others, how to avoid danger, what to watch out for, and how to influence natural processes in the right way with the help of ritual.

In every nation, the sun was perceived as the main source of all earthly goods, as a divine patron, sending light and warmth, allowing fruits to ripen. Hence, many gods were associated with the sun. Sreznevsky, in his short work, correctly pointed out that many Slavic gods were related to the sun (Dazhbog, Khors, Svarog, Svyatovit). Sacrifices were made to the sun and they prayed to him. It appeared to people in the form of a warrior, often riding a chariot (a stable image in different cultures), drawn by birds or fiery horses. It was the heavenly king ruling earthly life. All major pagan holidays were associated with various cycles of solar activity. All beliefs are in one way or another connected with the foundations of the life of peoples, their way of life. And, of course, the paganism of the ancient Slavs was associated first with the activities of hunters and gatherers, and then, when the way of life changed, with agricultural labor and livestock breeding. Nothing more nor less depended on the land and weather conditions - the survival of the entire tribe. Hence the animation and deification of the earth itself; it is no coincidence that, for example, the appeal “Mother of Cheese-Earth” and the cult of the earth goddess. Fertility was associated not only with the harvest, but also with the successful birth of children, replenishment of livestock and game. Fertility rituals were also partly sexual in nature. The tribe needed new people for its well-being; the birth of children was rejoiced and expected. A woman's fertility was an important quality; it was associated with natural processes in nature itself. Surprisingly, the people were able to notice when the sown fields needed rain, and when it would be destructive for them, when it was worth especially beingware of a thunderstorm, and when it was necessary to say goodbye to too much heat. All this has been enshrined in pagan rituals and myths for centuries. These holidays have largely survived to our time, however, some dates were moved by the church, the place of the old pagan holidays was taken by the Orthodox, and some Christian saints took the place of the old gods, retaining their main functions and features (St. Blaise instead of Volos, Ilya the Prophet instead of Perun) . The ancient Slavs had a phallic cult, and the phallus apparently symbolized Rod. The famous Zbruch idol, found in the Zbruch River (a tributary of the Dniester), has a clear phallic character. Veiled and explicit images of the phallus played an important role in some rites, especially wedding ones. Connection sexual sphere and agricultural magic can be traced, for example, in the tradition of ritual coitus in a sown field.

The Slavs brought sacrifices to the gods - grain, honey, cooked food, animals. Specific time People were also sacrificed, often strangers, which is why travelers tried to bypass some ancient pagan cities that enjoyed such fame. The cult of Perun was especially bloody and warlike. The Slavs had special sanctuaries for glorifying the gods and prayers - temples - with places for sacrifices - treasuries. Typically, temples were created in hard-to-reach, protected places - on hills, mountains, in the middle of swamps (apparently, a connection with water). Places that previously had ritual significance often still retain their pagan names - the Red, Bald, Maiden Mountains, where, according to legend, witches gathered for their sabbaths, the Volkhov River, where the pagan gods of Novgorod were thrown, the Peryn tract, where archaeologists were An ancient temple was found in the city of Dedoslavl (an obvious connection with the cult of ancestors). There was a custom of lighting bonfires on the mountain tops on the night of Ivan Kupala, which survived in the Carpathian region until the 19th century and was described by ethnographers. It was a very solemn spectacle, visible for hundreds of miles around.

A spell of flax and yarn on a bracelet from a settlement (Galician Principality) of the 12th-13th centuries.

Certain objects of worship wooden sculptures There were also brownies in residential buildings. There were idols in the temples; most often, apparently, the Slavs made them from wood, which is why most of them have not survived to this day. The idols were wooden pillars with anthropomorphic features and attributes traditional for each god. Perun was depicted with a sword, Veles with a horn, symbolizing abundance. The sanctuaries were surrounded by ditches and stone ramparts; usually in the center of the cleared area there was a figure of the main god or an altar. In these places, fire pits, animal bones, and sometimes human remains are found. They worshiped not only artificially made idols, but also unusual natural objects. Archaeologists have found trees with boar tusks in them, which apparently had ritual significance. Large stones of unusual shape are discovered that served as idols or stones with natural holes inside, which were believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. Among the ancient Slavs, bear cults and wolf cults existed for a long time. The bear, apparently, was a totem animal, hence the unusual descriptive, allegorical form of the name - “knowing” “honey”. A special holiday in Belarus, recorded in the 19th century, was associated with the bear cult - Komoeditsa. This holiday was celebrated around March 24 and was closely adjacent to Maslenitsa. The awakening of the bear in the spring was associated with the awakening of all nature. The bear, as a totem animal, also had to convey to the tribe its strength, power, fearlessness, and its knowledge about the forest. Winter holidays are associated with the cult of the wolf; among the Slavic peoples there are widespread beliefs about “wolf-laks”, “vovkolaks”, werewolves. According to Herodotus, the Neuroi (one of the tribes of the Proto-Slavs who lived on the territory of modern Ukraine and Belarus) believed that they were werewolves and turned into wolves once a year; on certain days they put on clothes with the fur facing out or wolf skins and performed ritual dances and rituals:

“These people (neurs) are apparently werewolves. After all, the Scythians and Hellenes who live in Scythia say that once a year each neuros becomes a wolf for a few days and then returns to its previous state again.” Herodotus

Among the main pagan holidays it is worth mentioning Ivan Kupala (June 24 according to the old style, July 7 according to the new style), Kolyada (December 22, winter solstice), Maslenitsa (according to Rybakov, March 24, the day of the vernal equinox, from which ancient times the new year began), the harvest festival on September 8, when women in labor were revered - it was later replaced Christian holiday Nativity of the Virgin Mary. These dates are related to the solar cycle. Holidays were celebrated both on the streets, in special places, in nature or in temples, and at home. Among the princely warriors, it was customary to organize rich feasts, at which many important issues were often discussed, and the warriors openly expressed their opinions. These feasts also had a ritual character and existed long after the adoption of Christianity, which the churchmen stubbornly fought against. Meat food was of great importance here, and Christian fasts limited its consumption, which some rulers and warriors were unhappy with.

Images of wolves or leopards with a dog-shaped head. White stone carving of the 12th-13th centuries. Vladimir-Suzdal land.

Funeral rites differed at different times. Initially, apparently, our ancestors buried the dead in the ground, believing that in this way they would help to obtain a rich harvest and protect their relatives. Obviously, some tribes also had the idea that after death people turn into totem animals. Travelers describe rich and lengthy pagan funeral rites with the burning of the deceased in a boat with weapons and armor, and sacrifices. Together with a noble Russian warrior or prince, his wife was often buried, and servants and animals were sacrificed. Surprisingly, there is evidence that wives (one of the wives) volunteered for this sacrifice; it was considered an honor to accompany their husband to another life. Apparently, at this stage, the Slavs began to believe that when burned along with the smoke, the deceased would rather go to heaven, to the gods. The ritual of corpse burning existed for about two thousand years before the adoption of Christianity, and then continued to be preserved in some places, in the “Ukrains”. Even the chronicler Nestor found him in the 12th century: “the Vyatichi are still doing the same.” The ashes of the burned people were collected in a vessel and placed on a pole.

In many places, these two traditions - burning and burial - were combined: the body was buried in the ground, and a house, which was an imitation of a dwelling, was burned on top. Mounds were often built on top of the burial sites. The more noble the person was, the more complex the funeral rite was, the more sacrifices were made. Pagan funeral traditions are reflected in the “Tale of Bygone Years” in the description of Olga’s revenge on the Drevlyans and the burial of Prince Igor (hence the mythological nature of this plot is obvious). It can also be assumed that both rituals existed simultaneously in different territories of Ancient Rus'. After the funeral, games were held - funeral feasts, sports competitions, apparently designed to prove that the rest of the people from the tribe were strong, strong, and healthy enough so that death would not take them with it. Such competitions are typical for different Indo-European cultures; we also know mentions of them from Homer’s Iliad.

The sorcerer played a special role in pagan rituals. Unfortunately, we know very little about the pagan priests of the ancient Slavs, but references to them are preserved in ancient sources. They were also called “enchanters”, “cloud chasers”, and women - “witches”, “enchantresses”, “conspirators”, “learners” (the clergy in their texts called them “godless women”). There was a feminine gender from the word “magician” - “vulkhva”. Researchers suggest that male magicians performed the main public ritual actions, and the “enchantresses” were responsible for the family hearth, fortune-telling about personal fate, and household chores. Even the holy fathers were apparently impressed by the magicians' knowledge and skills and sometimes recognized their magical powers. Apparently, initially their magic was associated with water and fortune-telling over “chara” (which is probably what the name “enchanter” is connected with), this is confirmed by the found female and male figurines with vessels in their hands, performing some kind of ritual actions on them. The name "magi" is associated, as some researchers suggest, with "hairiness", hairiness and the worship of Veles.

Pagan priests were believed to be able to make rain, predict the future, turn into wolves, and knew the entire agricultural cycle, the dates of all holidays and the essence of all rituals. They, apparently, preserved and passed on knowledge about paganism, trained their successors, and also collected legends, myths, and fairy tales. Pagan priests were also the first healers and had knowledge of medicinal herbs. Their position in ancient society was particularly strong, they had great influence, and ordinary people listened to them. They led revolts against the existing government in times of famine. The church actively fought against the Magi; they were burned at the stake back in the 13th century, as evidenced, for example, by the Novgorod I Chronicle:

“In the summer of 6735 (1227) the Magi 4 were burned - their deeds were actively carried out. Otherwise, God knows! And I burned them in the Yaroslavl courtyard.”

In Novgorod, in general, pagan sentiments were especially strong, it is no coincidence that the pagan name of the Volkhov River, into which, as is known, they even used to throw criminals and unwanted people from the bridge, making, in this way, a sacrifice to the gods. Over time, the Magi lost their former meaning, becoming simple village “sorcerers” by the 19th century. Also, the function of priests and ritual experts was performed by the princes themselves. The priestly class manifested itself most fully not among the Baltic Slavs. Among the Rana, one of the tribes, as Hilferding writes, the sorcerer was revered even more than the prince. It was the same among the Bodrichi and Pomeranians.
Every nation in its development inevitably passes through stages of evolution common to all. Over time, the spirits that the Slavs worshiped became increasingly personalized, acquiring their own attributes, certain external features. An unknown ancient Russian traveler, a man who knew Greek mythology and observed pagan rituals in his own fatherland, in “The Tale of Idols” (XII century) identified the stages of development of pagan ideas. These same stages are consistent with the concept of B.A. Rybakova:

1. Initially, the ancient Slavs “laid demands on the ghouls and beregins.” Apparently, this stage dates back to the time of hunters and gatherers. Ghouls and beregins, later transformed, apparently, into mermaids and pitchforks, personified a good, positive beginning, benevolent and helping spirits, while ghouls were evil spirits. According to pagan beliefs, ghouls were people who did not die a natural death, suicides, people killed by lightning, people who fell from a tree, drowned people, as well as strangers, ancestors from other, hostile tribes. They tried to appease the ghouls, so they brought them “demands” - sacrifices. Or to scare away, for which conspiracies and special symbols-patterns on clothes, houses, and household items were used.

2. At a later stage and, apparently, under the influence of neighboring Mediterranean cults, the Slavs “began the meal by becoming the Rody and the women in labor.” Rybakov considers Rod to be a more ancient god than Perun. Faith in him lasted much longer than in some other gods. The pagans considered him the creator of all living things; it was he who “breathed the soul” into people. For this faith, the priests condemned the peasants in their teachings even in the 14th century. At different times, the family could appear as Stribog or Svarog, also supreme deities. It is worth saying that not all scientists consider Rod to be a god; some researchers argue that the god Rod appeared only due to an incorrect reading of some texts, where this word did not mean any deity at all, but only implied the cult of ancestors, in the existence of which there is no doubt (this is the opinion, for example, of L.S. Klein, whose ideas largely diverge from Rybakov’s books).

Women in labor, who at first were supposedly depicted as heavenly deer-elks (see, for example, the myths of the northern peoples) were transformed into women with elk antlers, producing animals that bestow prosperity, a rich harvest, patronizing the family and mothers who help during childbirth. Images of women in labor can often be found in peasant embroidery, but the sacred, mystical meaning of these images faded over time. Their too naturalistic images were later replaced by more abstract patterns, because the church could not approve of this cult, and the people themselves forgot what meaning was put into these drawings before. However, these embroideries are known to ethnography and survived until the end of the 19th century. It is difficult to doubt the existence of the cult of women in labor, especially since such worship of the maternal principle is known among a variety of peoples, as evidenced by the “Paleolithic Venus”, crudely made ancient figurines of women, the depiction of which emphasizes pregnancy and fertility.

3. Then the cult of Peryn moved to the center, heading the hierarchy of other gods. According to Rybakov and some other scientists (E.V. Anichkov), Perun is a later god who took an important place during the formation of the princely squad. We'll talk about it in more detail below.

4. After the adoption of Christianity, “Perun was rejected,” but they continued to pray to the complex of gods headed by Perun, and to the more ancient Rod and women in labor.

In his research, Rybakov puts forward the idea that female gods (Makosh, Rozhanitsa, Lada and Lel) are historically more ancient than male gods (Perun, Rod, Stribog). Gradually there was a transition to a system in which male gods headed the pantheon. This process was associated with a change in the structure and economic structure of society itself, where a strong and determined man, a warrior and protector, a breadwinner, a resilient and hardworking worker, came to the fore. All religious ideas, in essence, always develop in connection with social change, real conditions. The adoption of Christianity reflected the same need for reconstruction and unification of society. Scientists argue about whether the ancient Slavs had a strict hierarchy of gods, and which gods were the main ones and common to all tribes. The very etymology of the names of deities suggests that they appeared at different times under the influence of other cultures. Also, apparently, different gods were revered differently in ancient cities; the spread of the cult was influenced by geographical factors, the nature of people’s activities, natural conditions. It is difficult to say whether the pantheon was united for Rus' or whether everything depended on the cities and population themselves. What gods a person believed in also depended on his “profession”: the peasant, apparently, was much closer to Volos-Veles than Perun, while women and their household chores and women’s work were patronized by Makosh. But let's talk in more detail about specific gods and their functions.

Pagan pantheon

In history lessons at school, and even at university lectures, for some reason we are told a very shortened and “smoothed out” history of the adoption of Christianity. Anyone who has not yet completely forgotten at least the school course remembers this date well - 988, the baptism of Rus'. The dates in the chronicles are rather arbitrary; they were not placed in the year when the event took place, but often randomly, presumably because... The chroniclers themselves lived later. Therefore, strictly speaking, the date is not at all exact, but somewhere around this time a baptism took place, which seriously influenced our entire history, the relations of Russians with their neighbors, with Byzantium, from where we adopted Orthodoxy, the Catholic Western world, Scandinavia, Bulgaria, which was baptized before us, and other countries. But teachers often forget to mention that Vladimir Svyatoslavich, called a saint by the church (and he really did a lot for Rus'), did not immediately convert to Christianity. A few years earlier, he tried to carry out the so-called “pagan reform”, establishing a clear and general hierarchy of gods in Rus'. We can judge this from the ancient temples found by archaeologists and the corresponding textual evidence. It is not known exactly why in the early 980s Vladimir forced Novgorod, for example, to accept Perun as the supreme god, and then, a few years later, became disillusioned with this reform of his and sent his soldiers to destroy idols and forcibly baptize the same Novgorod, which resulted in an armed clash with the townspeople, who were led into battle by a certain sorcerer - people defended their ancient faith. The confrontation ended, naturally, with their complete defeat and plunder, and thousands of victims, but Christianity was eventually accepted. It layered on the pagan faith, and did not erase it completely, as we know. But the main thing is that the mentions of the pagan reform of Vladimir Svyatoslavich in the “Tale of Bygone Years”, excavations of the supposed place where the idols of Vladimir’s pantheon stood in Kiev, help us imagine the nature of the religion itself and highlight the most important gods. In Vladimir's pantheon there were six gods (or five, depending on how you interpret them): Perun, Stribog, Dazhbog, Makosh, Simargl (Semargl), Khors. Why can there be five gods, and not six: the fact is that in Nestor’s record there is no “and” between Khors and Dazhbog, as between other gods, hence the conclusion is possible that they represented the same god, as he believed for example, Sreznevsky. For some reason, Vladimir’s pantheon did not include an important god for the Eastern Slavs - Veles (or Volos, the spellings differ). This is evidenced by treaties with the Byzantines, which indicate that the Slavs and Varangians, who participated in the wars on our side as mercenaries and in 9-10, by the way, were often already baptized into Christianity, swore by the names of Perun and Veles, the “cattle god.” This god was closer to peasants, farmers, cattle breeders and, perhaps because of this, did not get into the pantheon of the 980s, because the princes and warriors worshiped Perun, and besides, Dazhbog was also a solar god. Let's talk about these main gods, define their functions, based on what is known to scientists.

Zbruch idol. Four sides

Perun- a god who came to the fore during campaigns in the Balkans in the 6th century. and formation Kyiv State and the princely squad in the 9th-10th centuries. God, to whom they swore on weapons when signing treaties. He was especially revered by the military class. God of war, lightning, thunderstorms, thunderer, corresponding in other mythologies to Thor and Jupiter. He was depicted with a sword, a silver head and a golden mustache, as Nestor points out. One of the most bloody gods, because It was to him that people were killed as a sacrifice, sometimes the victims were massive. Apparently, the holiday in honor of Perun was held on July 20 (Ilya’s Day). Ethnography knows many examples of sacrifices to Perun. In the northern provinces of Russia, a bull was specially fed on Elijah’s Day and sacrificed. The week before this day was called “Ilyinskaya”.

Perun was of paramount importance for warriors and princes. Veles was closer to the peasants. Later, after the adoption of Christianity, Perun was likened to Elijah the prophet, whose temples appeared in those places where Perun’s sanctuaries could previously be located. People believed that Perun used his lightning to fight evil spirits and chase them during thunderstorms. Perun had a separate day of the week - Thursday. The same day was considered associated with Jupiter and Thor (“Thursday” is the day of Thor). The Slavic Perun is identical to the Lithuanian-Latvian Perkunis-Perkons.

Veles (Volos)- “cattle god”, patron of livestock, wealth, prosperity. Apparently, he was also originally a solar deity. The word “livestock” meant wealth in general, property. Veles was also considered the god of the underworld. It was he, apparently, who was depicted on the Zbruch idol male figure holding the earth on itself. Because he was associated with the earth, he came to be considered the god of the dead, but this does not mean that he was evil and caused harm. Rybakov believed that initially Veles was considered the owner of the forest, the patron of hunters, and he became associated with the earth and the world of the dead due to the fact that he associated with a dead beast. He was closer to the peasants, the common people, and agricultural work. The Russians swore in the name of Volos, along with the name of Perun, when concluding treaties with Byzantium. And in the 19th century, peasants donated the last handful of ears of grain from the harvested field to Veles “for Veles’s beard.” Veles also patronized musicians and poets. He was depicted as a bearded man with a horn, always symbolizing abundance. Saint Blaise replaced Veles after Christianization and also became the patron saint of livestock. Other scientists believe that "Veles" and "Volos" are not different variants writing one god, but two different deities (Klein, Niederle). Some researchers contrast Veles and Perun as eternal opponents, but this is still a controversial issue, and, judging by the contracts, they swore by them at the same time, so it is unlikely that one of them is somehow connected with the evil principle, it would not be logical.

Makosh (Mokosh)- one of the most archaic gods. Rybakov deciphers her name as “mother of the harvest.” “Kosh” - a cart for sheaves, a basket for grain, a barn for straw, a pen for livestock. Goddess of the earth, fertility, life, patroness of weaving and spinning, women's household chores. Compares with the Greek Demeter. It is functionally complemented by pitchfork mermaids irrigating the earth. On archaic embroidery it is depicted between Lada and Lelya, two women in labor. Depicted on the Zbruch idol with a cornucopia. She is considered a mediator between heaven and earth. Makosh is the only female deity included by Vladimir in his pantheon. It is also believed that Makosh spins the threads of fate. The mythological Paraskeva-Friday inherited a lot from Mokosh. Friday was considered her sacred day; in other mythologies, the same day also corresponded to female goddesses - Freya, Venus. Scientists draw parallels with the Scandinavian Norns and Greek Moirai.

Svarog- deity of the sky and the universe. The ancient scribes compared him with Hephaestus, the son of Dazhbog, who compared him with Apollo. The Slavs believed that it was this god who taught them blacksmithing, agriculture, and introduced patriarchal monogamous marriage. The “cultural hero” of Slavic myths, replaced in heroic tales by Kuzma-Demyan (or Kuzma and Demyan), who made a huge plow and harnessed the evil Snake to it, which threatened the people, rode astride it, drawing with the plow the “serpent shafts” that we We can still see it in Ukraine. He was likened by the pagans to the Christian Host. The sources also mention Svarozhich, possibly the son of Svarog and, according to B.A. Rybakova, personified divine fire. But it is also possible that Svarog and Svarozhich are the names of the same god.
Dazhbog is the son of Svarog, compared with Apollo. Sun God, " white light", the giver of blessings. Called the “grandfather” of the Eastern Slavs in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” Perun is considered a later god than Rod, since the word “god” itself, according to some historians and linguists, could come from the Iranian language. We used to call gods “divas.” Dazhbog appears at times as the patron of fertility, the god of gold and silver.

There is a second spelling of the name in medieval texts - Dazhdbog - which perhaps reflects a new stage in the evolution of ideas about this god. The word “Dazhbog” can be an epithet; Sreznevsky considers it an adjective from “dag” (compare St. German dag, Icelandic dagr) - day light. Rybakov associates it with such words as the Sanskrit “dahati” - to burn, scorch, “dagha” - burned.

Semargl (Simargl)- one of the most mysterious gods along with Khors. Its meaning and functions are not entirely clear. Apparently, a god who came to us, like Khors, through contact with the Iranian peoples, the Scythians. The etymology of the name clearly indicates Iranian roots. Depicted as a winged dog. Often in ancient Russian teachings, Semargl was often incorrectly designated as two gods, Shem and Regla. Perhaps by that time it had already been forgotten what kind of god he was and what role he played. Semargl is the protector of crops, the god of soil, vegetative power, a mediator between heaven and earth. In Indo-Iranian mythology, researchers compare it with Senmurv, a dog-bird. Could be related to Mokoshi. In a later period, the name Semargl was replaced by “Pereplut”. According to Rybakov, Yarilo may correspond to him in ethnography.

Horse- god of the sun, but not light, but the sun itself natural object, shining. He could complement Dazhbog, or he could be one with him, a middle name. In the ancient pantheon it is compared with Helios.

Lada and Lel- two birthing goddesses, personifying spring, the awakening of nature, the beginning of life, patronizing women, mentioned in wedding ceremonies, associated with spring holiday rites.

Stribog- god of the winds. This word could be an epithet for Svarog, Rod, one of the names of the supreme deity.

Genus- the father of all living things, compared for a long time with the Christian god, the supreme deity who breathes life into people. At different times, Stribog and Svarog could correspond to him. Some researchers reduced the meaning of Rod to a household god, a brownie, while others completely denied its existence among the Slavs.

In Slavic paganism, despite a large amount of research and archaeological finds, there is still much that is unclear and controversial. Scientists from different countries argue about the origin of the gods, and about their functions and numbers; many questions have not yet been resolved. In this article I gave only a general overview of the pagan pantheon and did not touch on much else. Subsequently, I think, we will return to this topic more than once and talk in detail, including about lower mythology, the Slavic bestiary. In addition, over time, I hope to make additions to this article and write separately about the work of other scientists. Here I relied mainly on Rybakov’s concept.

List of sources
1. Rybakov, B.A. "The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs".
2. Rybakov, B.A. "Paganism of Ancient Rus'".
3. Rybakov, B.A. "The Birth of Rus'".
4. Sreznevsky, I.I. About the adoration of the sun among the ancient Slavs.