View ancient gods of Rus' images and descriptions. Pantheon of Slavic Gods

The veneration of the sun among the ancient Slavs is not in doubt. Without heat and light, life cannot exist; at the same time, the sun also has destructive power in the absence of basic safety rules.

The sun is the source of vital energy

The veneration of the heavenly sanctuary is reflected in ancient myths, tales, legends, fairy tales, prayers and conspiracies.

There are also solar (solar) symbols endowed with protective power.

Four faces of the sun god among the Slavs

The image of the sun can be found everywhere. On children's drawings, household items, bedding, clothing, amulets.

The Slavic sun god has 4 faces or hypostases corresponding to the seasons. Each season the sun represents a different god.

Each has its own character and specific image:

autumn - .

The ancient Slavs respected the commandments of each sun god and in honor of each of them there was a day of honor (celebration).

God of the cold winter sun

God Horse personifies the winter sun.

Image of Khors: a middle-aged man dressed in a sky (azure) colored cloak. He wore a shirt and trousers made of coarse woven fabric.

Time of the winter sun god: the time of Khors's influence is considered to be the period between the winter and spring solstice. The winter solstice occurs at the end of January, which is reflected in the celebration of the modern new year.

According to some sources, the sun god of winter is Kolyada.

And spring is observed in the twentieth of March. The modern holiday of Maslenitsa is a farewell to winter. On this day, the god of the winter sun transfers rule to the young and hot Yarila.

Lord of the spring sun and fertility

Yarilo is the sun god among the Slavs, personifying the revival of nature after winter. The patron of the spring sun is rightfully considered the god of love and fertility.

Yarilo, the god of the spring sun among the Slavs

Image of Yarilo: A young fair-haired youth with blue eyes riding a fiery horse. The attribute of the windy god of the spring sun is a bow and arrows, with which he protects the earth from the cold.

The power of Yarilo: the power of the Slavic god of the spring sun extends to the awakening of nature and passionate wild love. The time of influence is from the spring equinox (March 22) to the summer solstice (June 20).

The honoring and celebration of Yarilo in modern times correlates with Maslenitsa. On the day of the summer solstice, games and dances were also held in honor of the god of the spring sun and fertility.

Yarovik - Symbol of the god Yarilo.

The symbol is spring. The power of the Yaril sign lies in:

protection from evil

increase masculine strength,

restoration of harmony and expended energy

as a symbol of wealth and fertility (healthy and strong offspring).

Afterwards Dazhdbog comes into power.

Lord of the Summer Shrine

The god of the summer sun, Dazhdbog, occupied an important place in the pantheon of Slavic gods. The time of influence is from the summer solstice to the autumn solstice. During this period it is associated with suffering (work in the fields).

Dazhdbog time is midsummer.

Image of Dazhdbog. This pagan sun god was depicted in golden armor with a fiery shield in his hands. Among other gods he stands out for his greatness and directness. The ancient Slavs believed that Dazhdbog moved across the sky on a magic chariot drawn by 4 winged golden-maned horses.

Strength: Dazhdbog’s strength extended to the people under his protection. They turned to him at dawn with a request for a successful resolution of any matter.

The symbol of the pagan sun god, the solar square, helps to achieve success.

Slavic god of the autumn sun

Svarog as the lord of the autumn sun.

Svarog is considered the patron saint of the autumn sun. The time of the first night frosts, the time of harvesting and preparing for winter. Svarog was the progenitor of the first gods, he created the firmament of the earth and taught people to plow the field, and gave a plow. Considered the patron saint of blacksmiths.

Image of Svarog. In Slavic mythology, Svarog is represented in the form of a blacksmith. During war, he is depicted as a warrior with a sword in his hands.

The time of the Svarog sun from the autumn to the winter solstice.

Slavic sun gods replace each other from one solstice to another and correspond to a specific season.

The sign of the sun in ancient times

In any ancient religion, the sun occupied an important place in human life. It symbolizes the future and the present, life and warmth are associated with it, it is an inexhaustible source of strength and goodness.

Thanks to observing the sun, people learned to predict the future, compiled a calendar, learned to predict the weather and the rampant elements.

Amulets with sun symbols are endowed with colossal protective energy and are available for everyone to wear.

AND The image of the sun is present in rock paintings, applied to tools, weapons, clothing, and jewelry. Images have varietyin the outline, however, the sacred meaning is always the same.

The symbol of the sun represents the naturalness and continuity of the flow of time in all cultures of the world. In addition to the general meaning, each culture has its own sacred meaning of solar signs.

What do the rays of the sun symbolize?

IN amulets often use the image of the rays of the sun, what do they mean:

the closedness of the rays into a single circle personifies the continuity and cyclicity of life and existence.

4 rays symbolize fire as the source of life.

6 rays - the sign of the thunderer Perun.

8 - powerful energy of the sun.

When the rays are twisted clockwise or counterclockwise, it also has its own sacred interpretation in various amulets.

Ladinets

Feminine refers to solar symbols. It has powerful energy of protection from the evil eye and damage, helps women succeed in motherhood. A sign was given to protect women from illness, sadness, powerlessness and evil words. It is also a symbol of fertility.

Solar cross

The solar cross amulet can be made of wood or metal.

The Slavic amulet solar cross, personifying spiritual harmony and connection with ancestors, is a solar symbol. Also, the power of the amulet is aimed at transmitting the wisdom of ancestors to the future generation.

In ancient times, the “solar cross” sign was applied to the clothes and weapons of warriors; priests, wise men, and mentors in various sciences wore them as amulets. Wearing a talisman helps to reveal talent, impart knowledge, and find harmony with the world around us.

You can make a talisman from ash or maple wood. More durable amulets can be created from silver or copper.

Suitable for people following the path of self-development and self-knowledge, as well as for everyone who, to one degree or another, teaches the younger generation (teachers).

The power of the amulet is important for those who want to restore the ancestral connection. Helps in finding ancestors and studying their way of life. Suitable for art historians, archaeologists, historians.

Kolovrat

The Kolovrat amulet belongs to the solar symbol and is a male talisman.

The Kolovrat amulet has significant power and has become widespread among men of our time. Appearance amulets: 8 rays closed in a circle. The symbol represents continuity of movement. Has great strength.

A talisman with the image of the Kolovrat sign attracts good luck, helps maintain health (mental and physical), promotes good luck in business and love, and is also a sign of fertility.

The solstice is a symbol of 3 gods of the Slavic sun: Yarilo, Dazhdbog and Khors.

If the rays are directed clockwise, the amulet is called a thunderstorm, and if the rays are directed clockwise, it is called a thunderstorm.

The thunderstorm personifies the summer solstice, and the winter solstice.

Solstice is one of the protective signs of warriors. Applied to weapons and clothing. Helped me survive in battle.

Currently, the symbols are also masculine and help achieve success in your goal. Suitable for men who defend the state and land (military, police, emergency services, firefighters) or businessmen.

Black Sun

The black sun amulet is a connection with the otherworldly.

The black sun amulet refers to a strong symbol that is a conductor between the waking world and the other world.

In ancient times, the sign of the black sun was used only by powerful magicians, priests and wise men. Wearing this sign thoughtlessly is not acceptable.

In Ancient Rus', at a time when Christianity had not yet been adopted, the Slavs idolized otherworldly incorporeal creatures. The pagan gods of ancient Rus', according to the ideas of the ancients, are endowed with supernatural abilities to influence all things. They are responsible for all the fundamental principles of human existence, control both the fate of the people themselves and everything that surrounds them.

Each deity performs a specific, utilitarian function. The history of ancient times stores many dozens of names, of which we now know only a part. This part has survived to this day thanks to traditions passed down from generation to generation. pagan rituals and rituals, which over time became the basis of the customs of the Slavic family.

At the hierarchical top stands the supreme god, under him are the gods of the environment of existence of all living things, then are the gods of human destinies and the everyday life of people, at the bottom of the pyramid are the elements and forces of darkness.

Table of pagan gods of ancient Rus':

No.	Deity name	Purpose
1	GENUS	Supreme God heaven and earth
2	HORSE	Sun God
3	YARILO	God of the spring sun. Son of Veles
4	DAZHDBOG	God of fertility and sunshine
5	SVAROG	Master of the Universe. God of the sky
6	PERUN	God of lightning and thunder
7	STRIBOG	God of the wind
8	VELES	God of fertility (cattle)
9	LADA	The female embodiment of Rod
10	CHERNOBOG	Lord of the forces of darkness
11	MOKOSH	Goddess of the earth, harvest and female destiny
12	PARASKEVA-FRIDAY	Mistress of revelry
13	MORAINE	Goddess of evil, disease and death

Ancient Slavic god Rod

This is the supreme god who rules over all things in the Universe, including all other gods. He heads the pinnacle of the pagan pantheon of gods. He is the creator and ancestor. He is omnipotent and influences the entire cycle of life. It exists everywhere and has no beginning or end. This description fully corresponds to the concept of God of all modern religions.

The genus governs life and death, abundance and poverty. No one has ever seen him, yet he sees everyone. The root of his name is sewn into human speech - into the words with which people interpret (voice) their dominant spiritual and material values ​​in the material world. Birth, relatives, homeland, spring, harvest - Rod is present in all this.

Hierarchy of pagan gods of Rus'

Under the leadership of the Family, all Slavic deities and other spiritual entities are distributed according to levels corresponding to their impact on the everyday affairs of people.

The top level is occupied by deities who manage global and national affairs: wars and ethnic conflicts, weather disasters, fertility and famine, fertility and mortality.

At the middle level there are deities responsible for local affairs. These are the patrons of agriculture, crafts, fishing and hunting, and family concerns. People liken their face to their own.

The stylobate of the base of the pantheon is assigned to spiritual entities whose physical appearance is unlike that of a human. These are kikimoras, ghouls, goblins, brownies, ghouls, mermaids and many others like them.

The Slavic hierarchical pyramid ends here, unlike the ancient Egyptian one, where there was also an afterlife with its own governing deities and laws, or, for example, where the basis was a numerous pantheon of gods.

Slavic gods by importance and power

God of the Slavs Horse and his incarnations

Khors is the son of Rod and the brother of Veles. This is the sun god in Ancient Rus'. Horse's face is like a sunny day - yellow, radiant, dazzlingly bright. He has 4 incarnations:

• Kolyada
• Yarilo
• Dazhdbog
• Svarog.

Each hypostasis operates in a specific season of the year, and people expect help from each divine incarnation, which is associated with the corresponding rituals and ceremonies.

We still follow the traditions of the ancient Slavs: we tell fortunes on Christmastide, fry pancakes on Maslenitsa, burn bonfires on Ivan Kupala and weave wreaths.

1. God of the Slavs Kolyada

Kolyada begins the annual cycle and reigns from the winter solstice to the spring equinox (December 22 – March 21). In December, people greet the young Sun and praise Kolyada with ritual songs; festivities last until January 7. It's Christmastide.

By this time, the owners are slaughtering livestock, opening pickles, and taking supplies to fairs. Throughout Christmas time, people organize gatherings, rich feasts, tell fortunes, have fun, get married and have weddings. In general, doing nothing becomes completely legal. Kolyada treats with its mercy all benefactors who show mercy and generosity to the poor.

2. God of the Slavs Yarilo

He is Yarovit, Ruevit, Yar - the solar god young age with the face of a barefoot young man on a white horse. Wherever he looks, shoots will sprout; wherever he passes, the grass will sprout. On his head is a crown of ears of grain, in his left hand he holds a bow and arrows, in his right hand are the reins. Its time is from the spring equinox to the summer solstice (March 22 – June 21). People's supplies at home are depleted and there is a lot of work to do. When the sun turned back, the tension in the labors subsided, the time of Dazhdbog had come.

3. God of the Slavs Dazhdbog

He is also Kupala or Kupaila - the solar god with the face of a mature man. Its time is from the summer solstice to the autumn equinox (June 22 - September 23). The reunion celebration is postponed on July 6-7 due to work commitments. On this mysterious night, people burn Yarila (or rather, a scarecrow) on a large bonfire and jump over it, girls throw wreaths of woven flowers down the river. Everyone is looking for the blooming fern of desires. There is also a lot of work during this season: mowing, harvesting fruit, repairing the house, preparing the sleigh.

4. God of the Slavs Svarog

The tired Sun sinks lower and lower towards the horizon. In its slanting rays, the tall, strong old man Svarog (aka Svetovid), whitened with gray hair, takes up the baton of power. He looks north, clutching a heavy sword in his hand, with which he slays the forces of darkness. He is the husband of the Earth, the father of Dazhdbog and all other gods of natural phenomena. His time from September 23 to December 21 is a period of satiety, peace and prosperity. People are not sad about anything, they organize fairs and have weddings.

Perun god of thunder and lightning

This is the god of war. In his right hand, Perun holds a rainbow sword, in his left - lightning arrows. The clouds are his hair and beard, the thunder is his speech, the wind is his breath, the raindrops are the fertilizing seed. He is the son of Svarog (Svarozhich), and is also endowed with a formidable disposition. He patronizes brave warriors and everyone who makes efforts to hard work, gives them luck and strength.

Stribog god of the wind

He is the god above the gods of the elemental forces of nature (Whistling, Weather and others). Stribog is the lord of the wind, hurricanes and blizzards. He can be touchingly kind and furiously evil. When he angrily blows the horn, the elements arise; when he is kind, the leaves simply rustle, streams gurgle, the wind howls in the crevices of the trees. From these sounds of nature came music and songs, and with them musical instruments. They pray to Stribog for the storm to subside, and hunters ask him for help in pursuing the sensitive and timid animal.

Veles pagan god of wealth

This is the god of agriculture and cattle breeding. Veles is also called the god of wealth (aka Hair, Month). He commands the clouds. When he was young, he tended the heavenly sheep himself. In anger, Veles sends torrential rains to the earth. After reaping, people still leave him one collected sheaf. In his name they swear word of honor and fidelity.

Lada goddess of love and beauty

Goddess Lada is the patroness of the hearth. Her clothes are snow-white clouds, and the morning dew is tears. In the predawn haze, she escorts the shadows of the departed to the other world. Lada is the earthly incarnation of Rod, the high priestess, the mother goddess, surrounded by a retinue of young servants. She is beautiful and smart, brave and dexterous, flexible with a vine, ringing flattering speech flows from her lips. Lada gives people advice on how to live, what they can do and what they can’t do. She condemns the guilty and exonerates the falsely accused. A long time ago, her temple stood on Ladoga, now her abode is the blue of heaven.

God of the Slavs Chernobog

Many ancient legends have been told about the evil spirits of the swamp, but not all of them have reached us. After all, they are protected by the powerful Chernobog - the ruler of the dark forces of evil and whim, serious illnesses and bitter misfortunes. This is the god of darkness. His abode is terrible forest thickets, ponds covered with duckweed, deep pools and marshy swamps.

He holds a spear in his hand with malice and rules the night. The evil spirits subordinate to him are numerous: goblins who entangle forest paths, mermaids who drag people into pools, cunning banniki, malicious and insidious ghouls, capricious brownies.

God of the Slavs Mokosh

Mokosh (Makesha) is the goddess of trade, like the ancient Roman Mercury. In Old Slavonic, mokosh means “full wallet.” She uses the harvest prudently. Another of its purposes is to control fate. She is interested in spinning and weaving; With spun threads she weaves the destinies of people. Young housewives were afraid to leave an unfinished tow overnight, believing that Mokosha would ruin the yarn, and with it, fate. Northern Slavs consider Mokosha an unkind goddess.

God of the Slavs Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa

Paraskeva-Friday is Mokoshi’s concubine, who made Paraskeva a deity ruling over riotous youth, gambling, drinking bouts with vulgar songs and obscene dances, as well as dishonest trade. Therefore, Friday was a market day in Ancient Rus' for a long time. On this day, women were not allowed to work, because for disobedience Paraskeva could wrap the naughty woman in a cold toad. It poisoned the water in wells and underground springs. Today this goddess has no power and is practically forgotten.

God of the Slavs Morena

The goddess, ruler of evil, incurable diseases and death, is Maruja or Morena. She sends severe winters, stormy nights, epidemics and wars to the Earth. Her image is a scary woman with a dark, wrinkled face with deep-sunk small eyes, a sunken nose, a bony body and the same hands with long curved nails. Ailments serve her. She herself never leaves. They drive her away, but she appears again and again.

Painting by Boris Olshansky.

A long time ago, in Soviet times, I somehow thought about this. I know Greek myths well, Hindu, Arab, Chinese and Scandinavian myths are a little worse, and I have an idea about some others. I asked myself the question: do I know Russian mythology? At first I even doubted: does it exist? I thought there should be one, but I didn’t know it at all. Almost nothing.

Then I could name several dozen heroes of Greek myths, and tried to remember the names of Russian gods. I strained my memory and realized that I only remember two or three. Even I felt ashamed myself.

They say that every cultured person should know Greek myths for general development. I won’t argue, this is probably true, but every person first of all needs to know HIS OWN, native, primordial. And you need to know your mythology at least twice as well as any other.

But in those days it was almost impossible to find out anything about Russian mythology. We had to wait for better times.

About seven years ago, I finally discovered the wondrous world of Russian myths, and was simply stunned by the enchanting picture that opened up to me - as if the indescribable beauty of the City of Kitezh had emerged from unknown waters in front of me. There was a truly Russian spirit here, there was a smell of Russia.

Almost immediately I found paintings by magnificent artists who painted on these themes: Boris Olshansky, Viktor Korolkov, Vsevolod Ivanov, Andrey Klimenko, Vladimir Suvorov, Nonna Kukel, Viktor Krizhanivsky. The genius Konstantin Vasiliev has become clearer to me, he also has images of mythical Rus'...

Below is a very brief description of the main gods and goddesses of Russian mythology:

"Heavenly Family" - artist Nonna Kukel.

GENUS. Born from the Golden Egg, created by the thought of the Almighty. He in turn created the entire visible world. Divided the world into three parts: upper, middle and lower. The top one is in the heavens. The gods live there and rule over people. They do what is right, and therefore the inhabited heavens are called Rule. Below is the human world, which we clearly see - that’s why its name is Reality. Nizhny is the world of the past, Nav. The ancestors went there.

"Svarog" - artist Viktor Korolkov.

SVAROG. Creator of earth and heaven. Svarog is the source of fire and its ruler. He creates not with words, not with magic, unlike Veles, but with his hands, he creates the material world.

TRIGLAV. This is a threefold god. This most important symbol expressed the very essence of our ancient faith: God is one, but he has many manifestations. Most often, it combined three main hypostases - Svarog, Perun and Svyatovit (Sventovit). It was believed that Triglav vigilantly monitors all the kingdoms: Rule, Reality and Navy.

Great Horse" - artist Viktor Korolkov.

HORSE. Ancient Slavic god Sun, son of Rod, brother of Veles. Khors is the god of solar, yellow, light. At least three sun gods existed in Rus' at the same time: Dazhdbog, Khors and Yarilo. Their difference was as follows: Dazhdbog personified the heavenly light spilling onto the earth, into the world of Reveal. Khors is the god of solar, yellow, light. Yarilo was the god of spring light, sometimes personifying the sun.

"Veles" - artist Andrey Klimenko.

VELES (Volos). One of the greatest gods ancient world, son of Rod, brother of Svarog. He set the world created by Rod and Svarog in motion. He was called the god of material wealth, wealth, well-being, the patron of domestic animals, fertility, and was considered an underground god, the Serpent, the ruler of the Underworld. Veles is the master of wild nature, master of Navi, a powerful wizard and werewolf, interpreter of laws, teacher of the arts, patron of travelers and traders, god of luck.

"Dazhdbog" - artist Nonna Kukel.

DAZHDBOG. Giver of heat and light, god of fertility and life-giving force, the time of harvest ripening.

"Perun" - artist Nonna Kukel.

PERUN. Perun - god of thunderclouds, thunder and lightning; the manager god, the god who punishes for non-compliance with laws, can cause rain. The most famous of the Svarozhich brothers. The thunder god Perun was represented as a middle-aged strong man with a gray-haired silvered head, with a golden mustache and beard. He rode across the sky on a horse or on a flaming chariot, armed with lightning, axes or arrows. He commanded the clouds and heavenly waters.

YARILO. God of spring, spring light, warmth, fun; young, impetuous and uncontrollable force; deity of passion and fertility.

"Stribog" - artist Viktor Korolkov.

STRIBOG. The lord of the air elements, the lord of the winds, shoots them with arrows from the sea. He can summon and tame a storm and can turn into his assistant, the mythical bird Stratim. The air in Rus' was considered as a container of seven winds, seventy vortices and seven hundred winds.

"Sventovit" - artist Konstantin Vasiliev.

SVYATOVIT (Sventovit). The four-headed god of prosperity and war. Its symbol is the cornucopia. And although Dazhdbog commands the sun, he is not as influential as Svetovit. Svetovit's four heads observe the universe in all directions. Svetovit was counting on supreme power, but Perun was thinking the same thing: they are eternal rivals.

ROOF. Among the ancient Russian gods, Rod, Svarog, Perun and others, Kryshny is usually missed, but meanwhile, he is one of the main ones. The son of the Almighty and the goddess Maya, he is the brother of the very first creator of the world, Rod, although he was much younger than him.

"Semargl" - artist Anna Zinkovskaya.

SEMARGL (Simargl). Son of Svarog, god of fire and the moon, fire sacrifices, home and hearth, keeper of seeds and crops. Could turn into a sacred winged dog. Satellite of the sun Dazhdbog.

"Belobog" - artist Nonna Kukel.

BELBOG (Belobog, Belun). The embodiment of light, the personification of the daytime and spring sky. The God of luck, happiness, goodness, goodness, He is also considered the giver of wealth and fertility.

CHERNOBOG (black Serpent, Koschey). God is the destroyer. God of cold, destruction, death, evil; the god of madness and the embodiment of everything bad and black. Chernobog is the ruler of Navi, Darkness and the Pekel kingdom. The Slavs believed that the brothers Belobog and Chernobog were eternal rivals - like good and evil, light and darkness, life and death. They follow a person everywhere and write down all his deeds, good and evil, in the books of fate.

KITOVRAS (Polkan). Half-horse - centaur. This is the builder god, wizard, scientist and inventor. Has supernatural power. Legends about Kitovras belong to ancient times pan-Aryan unity and therefore known to many peoples. The Slavs believe that Kitovras guards the solar horses of Sventovit.

KOLYADA. Ancient God merry feasts. Teacher of the Third Law of Life. He told people about the Great Kolo of Svarog, about the Day and Night of Svarog, and also established the first calendar.

OWL. Kolyada's younger twin brother. He got the role of putting into practice the divine knowledge that Kolyada taught people.

"Chislobog" - artist Viktor Korolkov.

NUMBERGOD is the ruler of the current time.

“Lel” - (there are doubts about the artist’s name, sorry, that’s why I’m not writing (.

LEL (Lel, Lelya, Lelyo, Lyubich). In the mythology of the ancient Slavs, the god of love, the son of the goddess of beauty and love Lada. He was depicted as a golden-haired, winged baby, like his mother: after all, love is free and elusive.

"Makosh" - artist Nonna Kukel.

MAKOSH (Mokosh). Goddess of the earth, fertility, mother of harvests, Fate, as well as the patroness of sheep breeding, women's handicrafts and prosperity in the home. Mother of the gods, possibly the wife or incarnation of Veles-Mokos-Mokosh.

"Bereginya" - artist Boris Olshansky.

BEREGINYA. The great ancient Slavic goddess who gave birth to all things. She is accompanied everywhere by luminous horsemen, personifying the sun.

"Lada" - (the artist is unknown to me, alas).

LADA. Goddess of love and beauty. By the name of Lada, the ancient Slavs called not only the original goddess of love, but also the entire system of life - Lada, where everything was supposed to be okay, that is, good. Perunitsa is one of the incarnations of the goddess Lada, the wife of the thunderer Perun. She is sometimes called the thunder maiden, as if emphasizing that she shares power over thunderstorms with her husband. Lada is the goddess of marriage and love, abundance, and the time of harvest ripening.

"Madder - Winter Mother" - artist Nonna Kukel.

MARENA (Mara, Morena, Marana). Goddess of winter and death, the world of the dead. Daughter of Lada, sister of Zhiva and Lelya. She is Koshchei's wife.

"Devana" - artist Pyotr Orlovsky.

DEVANA (Zevana, Dzevana). Goddess of the hunt, wife of the forest god Svyatobor. The ancient Slavs represented Devan in the guise of a beauty, dressed in a rich marten fur coat, trimmed with squirrel; with a bow and arrows drawn. Instead of an epancha (outerwear), a bear skin was worn, and the head of the animal served as a hat.

"Rusalia" - artist Boris Olshansky.

Collected by A.Ziborov

(Based on materials from Russian media)

This series was first published in the Kirovograd magazine “Threshold”, and here it is presented in an even more complete form. Then the collection was published by us in the book D. GAVRILOV, A. NAGOVITSYN. “Gods of the Slavs.” Paganism. Tradition", - M.: "Refl-Buk", 2002. 464 p.

A distinctive feature of this list is that it is tied to the dates of the pagan folk calendar. It should be noted, however, that all dates are given for central Russia and may vary depending on the latitude and longitude of the celebration. Quotes have been added from a number of previously inaccessible Western medieval primary sources on the beliefs of the Slavs.

Let us also mention such a curious hypothesis of researcher Sergei Pivovarov - Svyatich - from the “Circle of Ber” that the pantheon could not exceed 33 true names of gods. This sacred number for the Vedic Tradition.

Then it remains to assume that some of the gods named below are heyti (allegorical commemoration), so the mother goddess could have “pseudonyms” Lada, Priya, Rozhanitsa, Koruna, Karna... And the daughter goddess could have heyti - Lelya, Rozhena, Zhelya, Zhlya...

THE FIRST, OLDEST GODS AND GODDESSES

1. LABOR AND WOMEN

ROD - Existent, One, the progenitor of the gods and the creator of the world, “The Almighty, who is the only immortal and undying creator, blows the spirit of life on a man’s face, and a man lives in his soul: then you are not a Rod, sitting in the air, a mosque on the ground of a pile - and in this the children are amazed ...”, mentioned, for example, in the teachings against paganism “On the inspiration of the Holy Spirit”, “The Word about Idols”, “The Word of Isaiah the Prophet”, the manuscript of the Chetya Menaion from the ancient Russian confessor. Perhaps, like Stribog, i.e. The old (old) god-father is mentioned in the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” and Russian chronicles, and also as God in the treaty between Igor’s Rus and the Romans. Helmold reported: “Among the diverse deities to whom they dedicate fields, forests, sorrows and joys, they (the Slavs) recognize one god ruling over them in heaven, they recognize that he is omnipotent, cares only about heavenly affairs, other gods obey him, fulfill the duties assigned to them, and that they come from his blood and each of them is the more important the closer he stands to this god of gods.” The Western Slavs call this “God of gods” Sventovita; most likely, this is one of the main incarnations of the Family.

“To this end, Boyan and the first refrain, meaningful, speech: “Neither a trick, nor a lot, nor a torture, do not endure the judgment of God.” It would be funny if the grandson of Velesov turned to a court other than the pagan one, whether Velesov or the court of Rod. We assume that here too, under the name of God, it is the Rod that is hidden. The birth is accompanied by women in labor. In “Kirik’s Questions” we find, a monument of literature of the 12th century: “Already behold Rod and Rozhanitsa stole bread and orchards and honey...”, somehow connected with fate. Probably, if Rod is called the Court, then women in labor are called Sudinitsa - and most importantly, with the afterlife of a pagan, the rebirth of the “male principle” through the “female one”.

Sometimes only one Rozhanitsa is mentioned: “Out of the woods, lay demands on Atremis and Artemis, resha Rod and Rozhanitsa, and the Iguptians. Likewise, these words came to the word, and you began to put demands on the Family and the Rozhanitsa, ... and behold, the Egyptians put demands on the Nile and the fire, the river Nile is a fruit-bearer and a plant grower. In the light hypostasis, Rod is compared with Apollo-Atremids (Artemis): “Artemis, to the south they call Rod.” It is curious that Sreznevsky uses the word “gehenna, unquenchable fire” as a synonym for “rod”. Rod in the PPYA according to Sreznevsky is contrasted with the Christian God, that is, equated with his opponent, Satan, equal to him in “purpose”: “Those who serve God and do his will, and not Rod, nor Mothers in labor, are a vain idol, and you sing a demonic hymn to Rodou and Mothers in labor." Many believe that Lada and Lelya (see) are women in labor, although they are never called that in the PYA. It is clear that the Rozhanitsy are the maidens of life and fate, for whom “the first hair is cut from the timid and the women cook porridge for the meeting of the women in labor”, and people back in the 13th century “prepared a meal for the Razhanitsa and performed demonic drawings” “And the people who are faithful to the sheep are those who work for God , and not for women in labor” “Providing meals for women in labor and other all the services of the devil”

In the sixteenth century, in the "Charter Saint Sava“We find the following confessional question: “Didn’t she commit ungodly fornication with the women, pray to the pitchfork, or Rod and women in labor, and Perun, and Khorsa, and Mokoshi, and drank and ate?”

Modern pagans place idols of Rod in the form of wooden phallic symbols painted red. It could also be simply a stone pile, which has analogues in India, where the phallic linga symbolizes Rudra. Such idols are always placed in an open place, and the higher the better. To make idols of Rod, it is best to use beech, elm, ash, but since these trees are rare, it is proposed to replace them with maple.

Requests for Rod are still unknowingly brought in the form of “Easter” eggs to the graves of their ancestors. A special celebration of Rodion falls on April 21 (Orthodox Rodion-icebreaker). This holiday is called in pagan Radogoshch, and Svarozhich himself is honored as a solar deity.

2. STRIBOG, Stribo, Striba

God the father, strict, old god, grandfather of the winds (probably can be correlated with Indian god Rudra), mentioned in the “Tale of Igor’s Regiment” (“Behold the winds, Stribozhi vnutsi, blow arrows from the sea on Igor’s brave regiments”), in Russian chronicles, in Strykovsky’s retellings “The Tale of John Zlotoust... how the first trash they believed in idols and rituals they put it…” speaks of him as a deity of the sky, air and wind. Probably one of the names of Rod or side of Rod, as the father of the gods. Blows life (spirit) into human bodies through the wind. His day is Saturday. It is no coincidence that Saturday is parent's day, the day of Satros - Saturn, the parent of the gods.

In later sources it was depicted as a single head, acquiring chthonic features of the Viya-Vey type. There is a known description of a pagan temple on Kyiv land in the 16th century during the era of dual faith.

Associated with the lunar cult, the constant commemoration of Stribog next to Dazhdbog - the solar deity, suggests precisely this idea, that the old god gives way to the young, and the Month - to the red Sun: “to eat the idol sacrifice... they believe in Stribog, Dazhdbog and Pereplut, like him. drink in roses"

Perhaps one of Stribog’s messengers is a swift. The pagan celebration of Stribog itself probably took place on the first day of the last summer month. According to the new style, this is August 21. The folk calendar these days is replete with proverbs regarding the winds - the grandchildren of Stribog: “the windrunners drove dust across the wide world, they wept over the red summer.” “The carminative myrons are driving dust around the world, moaning about the red summer.”

3. SVETOVIT and/or Belobog

Svantevit is a revealed (“good”) god, the god of fertility according to the Czech medieval dictionary “Mater Verborum” - “Ares, bellum”, “Mavors: Mavortem poete dicunt martem”, where he is also likened to the god of war Ares. In the same source: “Belboh: Belbog - beel, baal.”

God, opposing Chernobog, is one of the sides of the Family.

Sventovit, Svyatovit, Svetovik, Svetich - the god of the White Light, the supreme god of the Western Slavic pantheon, a horseman god fighting the Darkness. Mentioned in Helmold’s “Slavic Chronicle”, described in detail by Saxo Grammaticus in “The Acts of the Danes”, as the main god, “god of gods”, “the most convincing in answers”. It is he who is most often meant by the name Belobog among the Slavs, functionally correlated with Apollo, i.e. thus Atremis-Artemis, the brother of Artemis-Giving birth. “Hence the evil god was called the Devil and Chernobog, that is, the Black God, while the good god was called Belbog, that is, the white god. The figure of this idol, carved in stone, can still be seen on Ruyan, on the Wittow Peninsula, popularly referred to as Wittold, as if “Ancient Vit”. WITH big head, with a thick beard he looks more like a monster than a fictional god” (“History of the Kamensk Diocese”, 17th century). And a century earlier it was reported: “The image of the idol of Ruyana, carved on stone, can be seen in the village of Altenkirchen, in the vestibule of the temple. More like a monstrous evil demon than any god; the former inhabitants of the island called him Svyatovit, the current inhabitants called him Vitold.” (David Hytraeus. Saxon Chronicle, 16th century). Thus, Svetovit and Belobog are the same essence, but under different names of the One Good God.

Comparing the Black and White gods, Peter Albin in the “Misney Chronicle” (1590) testifies to another name for the god of light: “XI. Chernobog was a black god; just like Yutrobog is the god of the dawn. Undoubtedly, a similar god was also worshiped, which probably meant the morning dawn.”

Sventovit is a predictor and giver of earthly blessings - harvests; the sanctuary of Arkona is famous for the fact that priests predict the future (fortune telling by the horse's tread and horn).

According to Saxo Grammaticus, the Arkonian idol “was given tribute by the entire Slavic land.” The Rugs or Ruyans of Helmold in the “Slavic Chronicle”, to whom the Sventovit temple belonged, are reported as a tribe that enjoys the greatest respect among other Slavs, the priest there was revered above the prince, and without the decision of the Rugs close to the gods, nothing was done in public affairs according to Adam of Bremen. It can be assumed that he is a lawmaker, like Apollo among the Greeks. Frenzel speaks of him as “De Svantevito, Deo Soraborum Slavorumque supremo”

Sventovit is identified with the four-faced image of the upper tier of the Zbruch idol. The same image of Sventovit stood in the famous Temple in the city of Arkona. The idol was destroyed by Bishop Absalon in 1168.

Saxo Grammaticus writes: “The city of Arkona lies on the top of a high rock; fenced from the north, east and south natural protection... on the western side it is protected by a high embankment of 50 cubits... In the middle of the city lies an open square on which rises a wooden temple, beautifully crafted, but venerable not so much for the splendor of its architecture as for the greatness of the god to whom an idol was erected here. The entire outer side of the building shone with skillfully made bas-reliefs of various figures, but ugly and crudely painted. There was only one entrance to the interior of the temple, surrounded by a double fence... In the temple itself stood a large idol, exceeding human height, with four heads, on the same number of necks, of which two came out of the chest and two - to the ridge, but in such a way that from of both front and both rear heads, one looked to the right and the other to the left. The hair and beard were cut short, and in this, it seemed, the artist was in accordance with the custom of the Ruyans. In his right hand, the idol held a horn made of various metals, which was usually filled with wine every year from the hands of the priest to tell fortunes about the fertility of the next year; left hand resembled an onion. The outer clothing went down to the ankle boots, which were made of various types of trees and were so skillfully connected to the knees that only upon careful examination could the fugues be distinguished. The feet were level with the ground, the foundation was made under the floor. In a short distance the bridle and saddle of the idol with other accessories were visible. What struck the observer most of all was the huge sword, the scabbard, the black of which, in addition to beautiful carved forms, was distinguished by silver trim... In addition, this god also had temples in many other places, controlled by priests of lesser importance. In addition, he had with him a horse, completely white, from which it was considered impiety to pull out a hair from its mane or tail... Svyatovit was symbolized by various signs, in particular, carved eagles and banners, the main one of which was called Stanitsa... The power of this small piece of canvas was stronger than the power of the prince. »

So, the idol of the god of Light is four-faced (it is possible that two heads are female), the symbols of Svetovit are a sword, a horn and, possibly, a bow, as shown in a number of medieval Polish engravings. Requirements were brought to Svetovit and/or Belobog in the form of a tall pie, which was cut into four parts, and perhaps then carried to all four directions, in accordance with the direction of Svetovit’s gaze. The wine was sweet because insects flocked to its tart smell - witnesses to the belief claim that the idol of Belobog was covered with flies. Because of this, he was identified with Beelzebub. Actually we're talking about only that the demands were brought sweet, probably libations were poured directly into the mouth of the idol or they were smeared with sacrificial honey. One of the main holidays of Svetovit-Belobog can be considered the calendar Tausen - the autumn solstice, when the harvest is harvested, and we must take care of a prosperous new one - next year.

4. VELES and/or Chernobog

Chernobog is Navi, an “evil” god according to Helmold’s “Slavic Chronicle”. In the Serbian-Lusatian pantheon it was named by A. Frenzel (1696) - Czernebog, and the first in this pantheon was the opponent of the Black God - Sventovit.

Al-Masudi in the tenth century gives a description of the sanctuary of a certain god on the black mountain: “... in it (the building on the black mountain) they (the Slavs) had a large idol in the image of a man or Saturn, represented in the form of an old man with a crooked stick in his hand, with which he moves the bones of the dead from their graves. Under right foot there are images of various ants, and under the left - black ravens, black wings and others, as well as images of strange Habashians and Zanjians (i.e. Abyssinians).”

Peter Albin in the “Misney Chronicle” says: “The Slavs revered Chernobog as an evil deity for this reason, because they imagined that all evil was in his power, and therefore asked him for mercy, they reconciled him, so that in this or the afterlife they would not he harmed them." Helmold describes that when the evil god Chernobog was honored at a feast among the Slavs, then when carrying a cup to the guests, everyone uttered curses, and not words of blessing. However, everyone understands to the best of their upbringing: “The amazing superstition of the Slavs, for at their festivals and feasts they carry a circular bowl around, shouting over it the words - I will not say blessings, but curses, in the name of the gods of good and evil, since they expect from a good god a happy lot, and from an evil one - an unhappy one; therefore, the evil god is even called in their language the devil or Chernobog.”

According to the myth given by Sreznevsky, Satan (read Chernobog) will corrupt the soul of a person created by God, and in fact, according to Christian dogmas, this is so. According to another myth cited by Afanasyev, Satan (Chernobog) created man from the sweat of God. There is a similar myth in the Laurentian Chronicle. Chernobog is the co-creator of the World.

In Baltic mythology, the black god is called Vielona, ​​Velns or Vels, which actually means “devil”, “devil” is the constant enemy of the Thunderer and the owner of the world of the dead, a jester and a trickster. You don’t have to be a genius not to notice the identity of this name and the similarity of this image with the Slavic Veles.

His name varies in the chronicles and teachings against paganism - Veles, Volos, Vlas, Vlasiy, Vlas - “cattle god”, “cattle god”, i.e. wild, fierce, bestial. This is confirmed by the fact that Veles is likened to Pan - the god Wildlife(Mater Verborum - “Veles: Veles - Pan, ymago hircina”). The correlation between Satan and a goat in the Middle Ages does not require proof.

Russian chronicles on the treaties of Oleg and Svyatoslav with the Greeks: In the summer of 6415 (911): “Tsar Leon and Alexandra made peace with Olga, who had tribute to the company and went among themselves, kissing the cross themselves, and Olga led the company and his husband according to Russian law and swearing with their weapons and Perun, their gods and Volos were gods and established the world.” In summer 6479 (971). “...yes, we have an oath from God, and we believe in it both from Perun and from Volos, the beast of God.”

Probably, Veles is also the giver of wealth (through cattle, the main wealth of nomadic tribes is the “god of cattle” (“On the Idols of Vladimirov”), and later simply the god of wealth, which is earned by labor throughout life.

There is every reason to believe that it is Veles who monitors the implementation of laws and contracts, he is the father and judge of truth, like Hermes and Odin. Therefore, “The Second (idol) Volos, the god of beasts, was held in great honor by them (the pagans)” (“Gustin Chronicle”).

The mention of Veles in the treaty, next to Perun, the patron saint of the prince and his squad, is not accidental. The Germans also called upon Mercury in tandem with the warlike Mars. And it is no coincidence that there is a sacred couple here - a wise, old, not entirely positive in the Christian sense of the word “bestial god” and a strong, young warrior-ruler.

Despite the obvious attributes of blackness, Veles, like Odin, Mercury and Hermes, is the god of science and wisdom. In the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” we find “How could we sing, prophetic Boyane, Velesov’s grandson...”. His name is also found in the later recorded ritual text of the Macedonian Bulgarian-Pomaks, the so-called “Veda of the Slavs” in the ed. Verkovich (see for example IV, 5. 5-13).

God le Vlas le
Ma Yuda is alive and taught
Yes, the Book is clear,
Yes, sit down and write.
Mom taught me, God, she taught me.
And you, God, yes ma teach
Yes, you're right, the cook.
Yes, give me three hundred ox,
Three hundred oxen, three hundred blood

In the apocrypha “The Virgin Mary’s Walk through Torment,” Veles is directly called a demon, but he is also called an “evil god,” almost like Helmold’s Chernobog in the “Slavic Chronicle” (it is implied that there were also good gods, pay attention to plural): pagans “are those who were called gods; the sun and the month, the earth and the water, animals and reptiles, who in their hardness of heart gave the gods names like people, and those who revered Utrius, Troyan, Khors, Veles, turning demons into gods. And people believed in these evil gods.”

Literally according to another list: “Believe, now God created the creature at work, then they called all the gods the sun and the month, the earth and the water, beasts and reptiles, then the network and chlch of the okament of the Trojan Chrs Veles Perowna on the Gods turned into an evil demon, you believe , hitherto the darkness of the evil is possessed by the essence, for the sake of this we should suffer so much.”

Next to him, Veles, on the list are Troyan, according to Serbian legends, a giant who fears sunlight and has goat ears, as well as Horse. “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” testifies to a certain night journey of Khors, for Vseslav prowled in the form of a wolf precisely at night: “Vseslav the prince judged people, the prince rowed cities, and he himself prowled like a wolf at night; from Kiev you have crossed the path to the chickens of Tmutorokan, you have covered the path of the great Khorso and the wolf.”

The Czechs, even having adopted Christianity, remembered Veles as one of the most powerful “demons” and sacrificed black chickens and doves to him. In "The Word of St. Gregory" is said about the worship of the Slavs "to the cattle god and the traveling god and the forest god." Those. Veles - the god of cattle, the patron of travelers, the god of forests.

The blackness of Veles is evidenced by the absence of his pillar in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir; the pillar of Veles stood separately, not on a hill, but on Podol. Meanwhile, they deal with Veles in Kyiv under Vladimir, sending him to afterlife along the river, i.e. They do not mutilate, but bury the old god. The “Life of Vladimir” says: “And the Hair of the Idol... led it into the Pochayna River.” With this, Vladimir supposedly sent Veles, like Perun before, on a voyage to the kingdom of the dead. He laid to rest, therefore, the two most famous Slavic gods.

However, in Rostov, much later, the stone idol of Veles is destroyed. In the life of Abraham of Rostov it is said: “The Chudsky end worshiped the stone idol, Veles.” We draw attention to the sacred location of the idol - the Peipus end. The demon, who has knowledge of hidden treasures, is directly compared to Veles. And Abraham, who destroyed the “idol stone” of Volos in Rostov, “almost became a victim of a demon,” who was transformed into his opposite - “into the image of a warrior who slandered him to “Tsar” Vladimir...”. The demon “accused Abraham of practicing sorcery and of hiding from the prince the copper cauldron he found in the ground with money.” This is truly a devilish mockery worthy of the trickster Loki and the navy god Odin.

The “Tale of the Construction of the City of Yaroslavl,” an 18th-century source dating back to an ancient record, “which, although updated later, nevertheless sufficiently reflected the true course of events,” directly states that the Magi were priests of the “cattle god”: “To this idol of many executions a kermet (temple) was quickly created and the Magi were given, and this unquenchable fire was held by Volos and the smoke sacrificed to him.” The priest guessed by the smoke of the fire, and if he guessed poorly and the fire died out, then the priest was executed. “And these people, with an oath at Volos, promised the prince to live in harmony and give him taxes, but they just did not want to be baptized: During the drought, the pagans tearfully prayed to their Volos to bring rain to the earth: In the place where Volos once stood, there are pipes and harps, and singing, which was heard many times, and some kind of dancing was visible. When the cattle walked in this place, they were subject to unusual thinness and illness: They said that this whole misfortune was the wrath of Volos, that he turned into an evil spirit in order to crush people, just as he was crushed by Kermet.”

H.M. Karamzin retells (without reference to the source, but this is essentially one of the versions of the “Greater Poland Chronicle”) “for the curious” “fables”, in one of which we find: “The Slovenian-Russian princes, delighted with such a letter (from Alexander the Great), hanged there in its temple on the right side of the idol of Veles... After some time, two princes Lyakh (Mamoh, Laloh) and Lachern rebelled from their family, fought the Greek land and went to the very reigning city: there, near the sea, Prince Lachern laid his head (where The Blachernae monastery was created after...)"

With a high degree of probability we can say that Veles is the guide and shepherd of the dead, like his Baltic counterparts, like St. Nikolai.

“A river of fire runs, across the river of fire there is a viburnum bridge, across that viburnum bridge an old man walks; carries in his hands a golden saucer, a silver feather... takes away seventy diseases from the servant of God.”

The werewolf god, the master of magic and the hidden, the ruler of crossroads, the navy god, as we showed in our previous book, where we carried out a functional analysis of the images of Thoth, Hermes, Mercury, Odin, Veles.

One of his names is Mokos - the husband of Mokosh, the goddess of fate (we know of at least four commemorations of Mokosh-Mokos in masculine) - thus Veles himself, who appears in fairy tales as an old man with a guiding ball - the god of Luck. Note that in the Indo-European tradition, gods with similar names also had similar functions. For example, Roman Lares, Russian Mavkas, mermaids, Roman Faun and Faun, Indian Adityas, etc.

Perhaps he is the Chernobog of the Slavs, although he is also incarnated in Prav. Veles is identified by B.A. Rybakov with the three-faced image on the lower tier of the Zbruch idol, supporting the foundation of the world.

Among the Slovenians of the Ilmen region, Volos-Veles probably also acted under the name Lizard or Volkhov. Worship fell on December 19 - Nikola Vodyanogo Volkh, Volkhov, Volkhovets - also the son of the Lizard, a werewolf god, a god of hunting and prey similar to Veles, probably the owner of the waters and, possibly, the patron saint of warriors, indications of him are in the “Tale of the Regiment” Igor", epics about Volkh Vseslavich and Sadko, the First Novgorod Chronicles, how Vuk the Fire Serpent is described by the Serbs. The first ancestor is the Gray Prophetic Wolf from Russian fairy tales. Hypostasis of Veles. Its day is celebrated in central Russia on October 2, this is the beginning of the hunting season. Volosynya is the wife of Veles, the constellation of the Pleiades according to I.I. Sreznevsky (aka Vlasozhelishchi, Baba) with his reference to the work of Afanasy Nikitin “Walking across the Three Seas”: “Volosynya and Kola entered the dawn, and the elk stood with its head to the east.”

Volosozhary - Milky Way - “Veles scratched himself and scattered his hair.” According to the most ancient ideas (Egyptians, Germans, Slavs), the Universe appeared from a celestial cow. Milky Way- her milk. Veles is the son of the Cow of the Universe. Elk - Constellation Ursa Major - the palace of Veles.

1. The “Bestial God” is the master of the Wild.
2. Vodchiy on all Roads, Mr. Paths, patron of all travelers
3. Master of Navi, ruler of the Unknown, Black God
4. Posthumous judge and lifetime tester.
5. A powerful wizard and master of magic, a werewolf.
6. Patron of trade, mediator of contracts and interpreter of laws.
7. Giver of wealth.
8. Patron of those who know and seek, teacher of arts, including skaldic
9. God of luck.

Veles Day is Wednesday, stone is opal or obsidian, metal is lead or mercury, wood is spruce, pine, walnut or ash (yew), it is from these that amulets, staves, idols and other items associated with the cult of Veles should be made. The mythical image of the northern wizard god is, of course, somewhat different than in the Southern Tradition. The places where sacrifices are made to Veles and dedications to him are dense coniferous forests. Often impassable with gnarled trees and dead wood, Veles is hairy and loves mosses and lichens, as well as mushrooms; perhaps they set up an idol for him or laid demands on him at the fork and intersections of three forest roads. Three evergreen trees (often pine trees - hence “get lost in three pines”) and anthills are also signs of Veles. If on flat terrain, then the same intersections, but with a single tree or stone on them.

A black raven or an eagle owl, a cat, a snake or a grass snake - all these are harbingers of Veles’s look at the pagan during the ritual.

Not only letters with writings, as in the legend, but also cattle skulls or horns could hang on the temples of Veles. Probably, the idol Veles himself was crowned with horns - hence his identification with Satan, or a crooked stick. They sacrificed copper to Veles, for he is the god of prosperity and prosperity, wool and fur, and they also poured beer and kvass - those drinks that he taught people to prepare, according to one of the legends.

Images of the idols of Veles may contain images of the same horn (or be horned), as well as a dead human head in the hand of the god. The idols of Veles, according to the reconstruction of D. Gromov, were placed not on the top of the hills, but on a slope or in a lowland, closer to the waters. His, Velesov’s, days were celebrated especially solemnly on December 22-24, December 31, January 2 and 6 - the days of St. Nicholas the Winter, on February 24 they asked the “cattle god” to knock off the horns of Winter. And they also honored him on the days of honoring Nikola the Veshny - May 22 (Yarilin Day, Semik). July 12 - when they put the first sheaf and start mowing, preparing hay for the livestock. Between August 18 and 20, Veles had his hair curled on a harvested field “for a beard” - Nikolina’s beard.

We believe that the wise ancient Veles could be hiding under the heyti - the divine pseudonym - the Black God of the Slavs, because the ethics of the peoples of the Northern Tradition is not the ethics of Good and Evil, it is based on the concept of justice. Throughout all centuries, the pagan tradition of confrontation between the Black and White God continues and manifests itself at all levels. The first - Old - pacifies nature, the second - Young - revives it, and with it he himself rises, full of strength. In the spring, the young replaces the old, and the New replaces the Old. Then the cycle repeats, and it will continue like this forever.

Veles is the patron saint of the zodiac Capricorns, who climb upward, persistent in their quest, and there is no abyss from which they would not be saved, and there is no peak that they would not take.

5. TRIGLAV

From the “Biography of Otto of Bamberg” we learn about the existence among the Slavs in the city of Stetin of “a three-headed image of a deity, which had three heads on one body and was called Triglav.”

Triglav is the highest deity, according to the medieval historian Ebbon - “summus paganorum deus”, with a golden bandage on his lips and eyes (see “The Life of Otto, Bishop of Bamberg”):

"III.1. 1126 Szczecin: contains three mountains, of which the middle and highest are dedicated to the supreme god of the pagans, Triglav; on it there is a three-headed statue, whose eyes and mouth are covered with a golden bandage. As the priests of idols explain, the main god has three heads, because he oversees the three kingdoms, that is, heaven, earth and the underworld, and covers his face with a bandage, since he hides the sins of people, as if not seeing or talking about them.”

And according to the historian Herbord, he rules over three worlds - heaven, earth and the underworld, and is involved in fortune telling through a huge black horse. Stetin, visited by Herbord himself according to his testimony ca. 1120, like Ebbon, located on three hills itself was the place of worship of this god with three heads. The temple of Triglav was located on the highest of the three places. Having taken possession of the god's pillar, Otto destroyed the body, and took the connected three heads as a trophy and sent them to Rome as proof of the conversion of the Pomeranians. As we know, Belobog-Sventovit, also the highest deity, the god of gods, in turn, is dedicated to a white horse, but the ritual of fortune telling is similar.

On the Zbruch idol there is a three-faced deity in the lower tier, and this leads us to believe that the German authors called Chernobog Triglav. This is supported by the worship of the Slavs of Stetin, according to the same Herbord, to the nut, and this is a nave tree associated with the lower world of the Lizard. In later Serbian sources it is said that Troyan is afraid of sunlight and has goat ears, this is also evidence of the character’s chthonic character.

However, among the Western Slavs, many deities have many heads and many faces, however, only one is named from the point of view of “heads”. Among the names there is neither Semiglav, nor Pyatiglav, nor Four-Glav... And what would seem simpler is to call Svetovit - Four-Faced. The conclusion suggests itself. The Germans decided that Triglav is a deity, but we believe that Triglav is not a separate, even the highest god, but the very principle of unity and opposition of its Three components. "Mater Verborum" characterizes this name as follows: "Trihlav - Triceps, qui habet capita tria capree."

According to medieval Polish sources, Triglav is a three-headed giant from which the world is created by cutting off his head by God. Thus, Chernobog, Belobog and a certain Hambog, associated with the color red, supposedly appear, but to us the latter seems like newspeak, although it does not contradict logic. In a 17th-century treatise by the author - Abraham Frentzel - one of the chapters is dedicated to a certain Triglav, one must think that this is simply a re-imagining of Triglav. "De Trigla, Dea Poli, Soli Salique." The line about Trigla should perhaps be translated not “Goddess of fields and earth,” but “Goddess of sky, earth and prosperity.” Fields - from the erroneous interpretation of Poli from Slavic. Polus - firmament + solum - earth, soil + salus - well-being, safety + -que - and.

Due to a similar misunderstanding, the name Triglav also became closer to the name of the ancient emperor of Rome, Troyan. Troyan is mentioned in one of the lists of the apocrypha “Walk of the Virgin Mary through torment”, in the row “those who revered Utrius, Troyan, Khors, Veles, turning demons into gods”; in the semi-statutory manuscript of the Tolstoy collection among "Perun and Khors, Dyus and Troyan", as well as in the "Word and Revelation of the Holy Apostles", where he is compared with the Roman emperor Troyan. In the “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” the path of Troyanov, the centuries of Troyanov and the land of Troyanov are mentioned; it is possible that there was such a prince who preceded even Kiy, Shchek and Horeb - there are just three brothers. And if the third son in the family is called Tretyak, then the father of the three sons is Troyan, Troyak. Perhaps, if such brothers really came to the Dnieper from the Carpathians, they called themselves descendants of the famous conqueror of the Dacians. Or the centuries of Trojan - when three brothers ruled, and not some Trojan? “Oh Boyana, the nightingale of old times! If only you had tickled these regiments, galloping, glory, along the mental tree, flying with your mind under the clouds, twisting the glory of both sexes of this time, following the path of Trojan through the fields to the mountains!

“There were the evenings of Troy, the summer of Yaroslavl passed; there were half of Olgova and Olga Svyatoslavlich.” “Now, brethren, a sad time has arisen; the desert has already covered its strength. Resentment arose in the forces of Dazhdbozh’s grandson, a virgin entered the land of Troyan, splashed her swan wings on the blue sea near the Don: splash, let go of the fat times.” “In the seventh century of Troy, Vseslav cast a lot for the maiden he loved.” It is obvious to us that we should not bring together the concepts of Triglav and Trojan, these are different things.

In general, there is no god Triglav. Triglav we pagans call the idea of ​​the ancient Indo-Europeans about the trinitarian structure of the world.

6. SVETLUSHA

According to the Czech medieval dictionary “Mater Verborum”, the Western Slavs have a goddess of Light - Svetlusha - “Lucina dea”, and, as we assume, this is the female incarnation of the white god Sventovit, or his wife - he himself “Ares, bellum”, “Mavors” : Mavortem poete dicunt martem.”

There is also a certain Svetlonosha - the goddess of love according to the same “Mater Verborum”. The Vendas also called the spirits dancing in the meadows light-bearing.

7. MAKOSH(b), Mokoshch

The Goddess of all Fate (kosh, kosht - fate, the syllable “ma” can be abbreviated to mean the word “mother”), the eldest of the spinner goddesses of fate, in later times was considered the patroness of spinning. It can be correlated with the beliefs of the ancient Greeks in the spinners of fate - the Moira, as well as with the German spinners of fate - the Norns and Frigg - the wife of Odin, spinning on her Wheel. Due to the fact that the goddesses - the spinners of fate in beliefs appear in threes, she also probably had two sisters or hypostases - a happy fate and an unhappy one, lucky and unlucky.

Makosh is the goddess of fertility, the mother of harvests, has 12 annual holidays, sometimes depicted with horns (apparently the cult of Mokosh - and the Lunar cult, then there were 13 holidays). The characteristic female horned headdress was worn back in the 19th century folk holidays. Mentioned in Russian chronicles and numerous teachings against paganism. “Instructions for Spiritual Children” in the 16th century warns: “Bow before the invisible God: people praying to Rod and mothers in labor, Perun, and Apollo, and Mokosha, and Peregina, and do not approach any vile demands of the gods.”

The only goddess from the pantheon of the book. Vladimir. The mother of the gods, perhaps the wife or incarnation of Veles-Mokos-Mokosh, correlated with Hecate (the name is often used in the masculine gender).

“Mamai, the king... began to call on his gods: Perun, Salmanat, Mokosh, Raklia, Rus and his great assistant Akhmet.” “they put the demand and create... Mokosh’s marvels.... They anoint the goddess Ekatia, they create this maiden and honor Mokosh.”

Thus, Makosh is the goddess of witchcraft and the mistress of the Transition from this world to the Other World.

In her lower form, she may be the famous Baba Yaga (Hel, Kali), in which case we can say that she is the mother of the winds and the mistress of the forest world. Depicted on Russian embroidery between two moose cows, sometimes depicted with a cornucopia. As a result of being chthonic, it has a disproportionately large head in images. Perhaps Makosh is an image of the most ancient, still Neolithic origin, Mother Goddess, who is known as the “Neolithic Venus”. The most ancient Goddess was the giver of both life and death, the image of her face was considered taboo, and she had a large head.

Mokosh's Day is Friday, in Orthodoxy the image merged with Paraskeva Friday, i.e. she is the patroness of housewives and wives. One of the days on which Makosh is especially honored is the Friday closest to April 8 - the Prophecy of Mokosh. And also on October 27, Paraskeva Friday itself.

Its metal is silver, its stone is rock crystal and the so-called “moonstone”. Mokosh's beast is a cat. The symbol of this goddess is yarn, a ball of wool, a spindle, and they were brought to the temple. Mokosh’s idols could be made from “female woods,” primarily from aspen. The idol of Mokosh could often be horned or have a horn in his hands:

Monk Alberich from Three Sources in his “Chronicle” of the 11th century (according to A. Frenzel, 1712) wrote: “II. 1003 Emperor Henry: subjugates the Vindelici, a people bordering the Suevi. These Vindelians revered Fortune; having her idol in most famous place. They put a horn full of a drink made from water and honey into his hand: "

The characteristic female horned headdress was worn back in the 19th century at folk festivals. In any case, she appears to be a tall, portly woman, whose head is crowned with a cap with protruding edges. In her hand (but not the one that Veles has, but in the opposite one) there is a cornucopia.

Share, Srecha, Sryashta (Serb.), Meeting, Happiness - spinner, assistant or younger sister Mokosh, mother of lot, Yagishna.

Nedolya, Nesrecha, Nesryashta (Serb.), Misfortune - spinner, assistant or younger sister of Mokosha, mother of the lot, Yagishna.

So, Makosh herself:

1. Goddess of all Fate
2. The Great Mother, goddess of fertility, is associated with the harvest, has 12-13 annual festivals (and can be celebrated every full moon)
3. Goddess of magic and enchantment, wife of Veles and Mistress of the crossroads of the universe between worlds.
4. Protector and patroness of housewives.
5. In the lower hypostasis she is the famous Yaga, in this case we can say that she is the mother of the winds, that life and death are equally subject to her.
6. Mistress of Living Nature.

8. SYTIVRAT or Sytvrat

Mainly, the Western Slavic god of fertility, likened in the original source to Saturn, the god of sowing and seeds, according to the Mater Verborum. "Sytivrat - Saturnum pagani illum esse ajunt qui primus ab Olimpo uenit arma Jovis fugiens, - Stracec Sytivratov syn - picus Saturni filius."

Saturn in turn is identified with Kronos. In the glosses of Vacerad, the deity of the Vagrians and Slovaks of the type of Saturn is called Sitivrat; in Slovakia, Mount Sitna is associated with his name, where “the entrance to hell is located,” and he himself is called a propastnik and a criminal. At the same time, the name is associated with “sower”, “sieve” and “light”. The Serbian "sit" means "light". Is a whirlwind of light. He is the god who turns the sun wheel into summer and returns the power of fertility to the earth. Its celebration falls on December 17 and coincides with cronalia or saturnalia.

9. KRUT, Krodo

Also mainly a Western Slavic god, the son of Sytivrat, the god of sacrificial places and fire on them, the father of Svarog, the grandfather of Radegast-Svarozhich according to “Mater Verborum” - “Radihost vnuk Krtov”, was also identified with Saturn. Probably, “thefts” are what this ancient god is watching over.

The remnants of the cult of Crodo were caught in the Harz. The idol of Krodov stood on a high, forest-covered mountain. It was an old man with a bare head, he stood on a fish with his bare feet, he was girded with a white woolen bandage, he held a wheel in one hand, and in the other a vessel with flowers and fruits (dey grote Duvel tour Harzborg). The presence of a wheel indicates that this god is associated with time, the change of seasons, and the same circumstance is indicated by fruits and flowers in his hands. Perhaps it could also be associated with a change of eras, the “golden age of the Slavs,” like the Roman Saturn. Associated with the cult of ancestors and the burning of corpses, it was celebrated by the Vendians on Radunitsa - March 9 and May 1. There is a well-known saying among the Croats: “not all of us will go to the kingdom of Mole, others to hell,” which may indicate that the kingdom of Crodo corresponded to the “good times” of Saturn or the “islands of the blessed” of Cronus, where the shadows of the best heroes and titans reside.

Korochun, Karachun is a seasonal god from Moroz’s retinue (in the Novgorod Chronicle it is said: “all autumn rain stood from the Lady until Korochun”). Kerechun or Krochun evening - Christmas Eve or Christmastide. Chill out, roll a karachun - i.e. cool like a corpse. Perhaps it is somehow connected with the ancient cult of Krta.

10. SVAROG, Sovarog

Divine blacksmith, descendant of Cityvrat and Krta, who took on all the chthonic traits, leaving Svarog in the possession of light, fire and ether, which quite often happens when the pantheon changes, when the once great demiurge gods are replaced by a younger generation of gods, as happened , for example, among the ancient Greeks, when the generations of Uranus (sky) and Kronos were replaced by the Olympians, led by the thunderer Zeus. Svarog is the creator god and legislator, the father of the Svarozhichi (Perun, Dazhdbog-Radegast, Smagi-Fire and/or Rarog), a demiurge correlated with Hephaestus, according to a worldview that goes back to the Orphic tradition. Therefore, he is the source of fire and its ruler. Has a lot in common with the Finnish Ilmarinen. He creates not with words, not with magic, unlike Veles, but with his hands, he creates the material world. The difference between Veles and Svarog is akin to the difference between Väinämöinen - the “eternal rune singer” and the blacksmith Ilmarinen.

With a high degree of probability, we can also say that the pairs Targitai-Koloksay, Svarog-Svarozhich, Kuzma-Demyan go back to the same mythology. The closest Vedic analogue is the creator god of the material world Tvashtar. Any forge, any forge is already a temple of Svarog, therefore, when arranging temples, a modern pagan should remember this. With a wooden idol of Svarog, the fire must burn, the metal must glow, and the idol itself must be covered with metal. At the temple of Svarog there should be a hammer (or a heavy iron stick-crowbar) and an anvil. It was Svarog who started the Iron Age and taught people how to use iron tools. Sounds pleasing to Svarog - because he is the primary patron of crafts and all skilled craftsmen - the blows of hammers, the clanking of chains and the howling of fire. Requirements are brought to Svarog either with cheese (syrniki) or cottage cheese. The word “cottage cheese” means created, it has the same root as the name Svarog, and is a symbol of heavenly bread. The role of the idol of Svarog can be played by a huge stone on which symbols of fire are inscribed.

The day of its celebration falls on November 14 - Svarozhka (the day of Kuzma and Demyan). They honor both father and son - Svarozhich-Fire.

10. LAD and/or LADA - LADO (?)

Lada is the common Slavic goddess of love, the female way of life in the family, the goddess of marriage, according to the Czech “Mater Verborum” (correlated there with Venus) and “Synopsis”, as well as “The Tale of the Construction of the Benedictine Monastery on Bald Mountain” (16th century recording), under the name Gardzyna (“Guardian”). Mentioned in Polish church prohibitions of pagan rites of the early fifteenth century. Her month is April. She is apparently one of the Elk Progenitors. Correlates with the ancient Greek Lato from the country of the Hyperboreans in the upper hypostasis, and Demeter in the lower hypostasis. One of the Rozhanits. Wife of Lada and/or Svarog (Mars was Aphrodite’s lover, Hephaestus was her husband). Its metal is gold, copper or bronze, and its stone is emerald.

Lad, Lado, Lyado, Ladon - the god of war, the god of fun, the god of marriage, the god of baking. According to the accepted modern science In the opinion that Lada and Lad are one deity, such a famous researcher as Faminitsyn was at one time strongly scolded for singling out the god Lad, but the authors of the book have a different opinion on this matter, since a significant number of references to the god Lad are in the primary sources: Lad (“Synopsis” ); Lado or Lyado (“The Gustin Chronicle”, “On the Idols of Vladimirov”); Ladon - “Polish Chronicle” by Jan Dlugosz; Alado (in Polish church prohibitions of pagan rites of the early fifteenth century). The deity Lado has signs of hermaphroditism, as did the ancient Greek Apollo - Dedis Dewie (Did-Lado is our great deity), Dlugosz is echoed by other researchers Strykovsky, Belsky, Mekhovsky, Prokosh.

“Gustin Chronicle”: “The fourth (idol) Lado (and this is Pluto), the god of baked goods, was believed to be the god of marriage, fun, consolation and all well-being, like Elena Bacchus; This is why those who want to get married offer grains of grain, so that with his help the marriage can be good and loving. This demon Ladon, in some countries, is still celebrated at christenings and weddings, singing his own songs, and with hands on hands or splashing on the table, Lado, Lado, intertwining his songs, is remembered many times.” According to the consonance of names, as always in mythology, Lad and Lada make up a married couple. Can be identified with the Roman Venus or the Greek Persephone. In this case, if the goddess Lada is identified with Venus, then Lada is close to Mars. If Lada is close to Demeter or Persephone, Lada correlates with Hades.

12. LIZARD, Yasha, Yassa, Iassa, Issaya, Yesha

Common Slavic pekel god. World serpent. It was mentioned more than once in Polish church prohibitions of pagan rituals in the 1420s. Perhaps he is one of the incarnations of Veles-Chernobog (as the son of Loki was the Midgard serpent, and Azhi-Dahaka was the son of Anghra Mainyu). In Western Slavic medieval sources it is mentioned together with Lado (see Lad).

The lizard is a pekel god.

However, according to the “Chronicle of Poland” by Jan Dlugosz, he is Jessa and is correlated with Jupiter. And Famintsyn compares this deity, having nothing but a name, with Belobog, supposedly this is a “clear” god.

We believe that there is no god Jason - this is a figment of the imagination of interpreters. In “Mater Verborum” we find, however, such a “namesake”: “Jesen, jasni: Iesen, Yasni - Isis lingua egiptiorum terra dicitur.”

Probably there is just the owner of the depths and/or the kingdom of minerals, perhaps the king of the sea - Iesha, the Lizard. It is characteristic that it was Poseidon of the Greeks who was called the “shaker of the earth.” According to Dlugosz, “They prayed to Jesus for the gift of earthly blessings.” The music in the myth of Sadko is a service to the Sea King, and the harp had a lizard-like shape.

A Belarusian song has survived to this day:

The Lizard sits under the feasting fire
On a walnut bush,
Where is the nut lusna...
(I want to get married)
Get yourself a girl
Which one do you want...

We know of its other options:

Sit and sit Yasha
Under the walnut bush,
Gnaw-gnaw Yash

Chok-chok, piglet!
Get up Yasha, you fool.
Where is your bride
What is she wearing?
What is her name
And where will they bring it from...

Recorded several years ago in the village of Frolovo, Moscow Region, by Konstantin Begtin.

Side-sede Yashsha
By the broom bush,
Gnaw-gnaw Yashsha
Knee nuts given by sweetheart.
Clack-clack, lollipop,
Get up (stand up) Yashsha, well done.
Here comes your bride
What is she wearing?
What is her name
And where will they bring it from...

Academician Rybakov B.A. in “Paganism of Ancient Rus'” writes: “... the Slavic Lizard, who married a drowned girl, corresponds to Hades, the god of the underworld, the husband of Persephone. And the sacrifice was made not to these seasonal forces themselves, but to the constantly existing ruler of all underground and underwater forces that promote fertility, i.e. Lizard, Hades, Poseidon.”

Traces of the habitation of “Russian crocodiles” remain the toponyms of many lakes and rivers of the North-West: the Yashchera River, Lake Yashchino, the settlements of Yashchera, Malaya Yashchera, etc. In the vicinity of Moscow you can point to the Spas-Crocodile Monastery near Klin (now the village of Spas-Krokodilino) . In the Novgorod region, there may have been a temple in the area of ​​the ruins of the Rdeisky monastery. There, the Lizard was viewed as a father or Volkhov himself.

The Lizard was especially honored at the Nut Spas and generously poured nuts into the mouths of the Lizard’s idols. Perhaps, like a pallet ruler, a girl’s doll (or even the girl herself) was thrown into the water.

13. LELYA, Lyalya.

Goddess of fertility. The second Rozhanitsa, daughter of Lado, who according to the Synopsis (1674) is Lelev’s mother. Virgin, but the goddess of childbirth, similar to Artemis (“The Tale of the Construction of the Benedictine Monastery on Bald Mountain” (XVI century records): “Bald Mountain is named after the Lysets castle, which was on it, so named because it was white. In that castle Before that, one lady lived. Exalted with pride that she defeated Alexander the Great under that mountain, she ordered to honor herself as the goddess Diana: in the same place there was a temple of three idols whose names were Lada, Boda, Lelya. Ordinary people came to them on the first day. May, say prayers to them and make sacrifices to them.” By order of Princess Dubravka, the temple was destroyed and the Trinity Monastery was erected there.

Since the celebration of Lelya and Lada took place on the first days of May, this gives reason to say that they are after all goddesses, because on the night of May 1, on Bald Mountain, according to the views of Christians, witches hold their Sabbath - Walpurgis Night. We learn a little earlier, in the Czestochowa manuscript of John of Michocin” (1423), we learn that “on these three days (of the Trinity holidays): old women, women and girls gather, but not to the temple, not to pray, but to dance, not God, but the devil, that is, Yesha, Lado, Lelya, Nyya. If such people do not repent, they will go with “Yassa, Lado” to eternal damnation.” And in a number of other Polish teachings against paganism of the 13th-14th centuries it is said that it is girls who worship idols, and precisely on these days. Thus, Lelya is a goddess, and only in the fantasies of authors of the 16th-18th centuries did she become the boy Lelya.

On Russian embroideries, perhaps, Lelya-Rozhanitsa is presented as one of two Moose, between them is Makoshch, often mentioned next to Lada and Lad. Her day is Monday. Most likely the daughter of Lada (Boda) and Lada. Its tree is rowan, but more often birch (“In the field there was a birch tree - Lyalya, Lyalya stood”), the metal is silver. The cult of Lelya and Lada is examined in detail by B. A. Rybakov. Lyalin's day also fell on the first days of October, when the hunting season began from October 2 to October 7. And also on Intercession on October 14, if snow accidentally falls. In the lower hypostasis it is comparable to Persephone.

14. DIY, DIY, DIV

In Vedic and Sanskrit, deva is a derivative of the verbal root div, one of the meanings of which is “to shine” (and in general, their mass). It is from the same root that the words div and diy come, which have common indirect forms in Vedic (for example, dyaus in the nominative and vocative (with different stresses), dive in the dative, etc.), and the stems of which alternate in Sanskrit. So, both div and diy mean “sky”, “day”, etc. Accordingly, these words also have a lot of derivatives. By the way, the literal meaning of the word deva is “heavenly.” It is quite logical to assume that the Slavic divas and dyi are closely related to each other. Dyev is a god, according to the “Ministry of Dyev” and “The Word and Revelation of the Holy Apostles.”

He is also the Div bird from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” “The beating Div calls to the top of the tree - he orders the unknown to listen to the earth.” “Blame has already come to praise; The need has already burst into freedom; Diva has already thrown herself to the ground.”

Perhaps the god of heavenly waters - the next primordial sky, and not the one forged by the divine blacksmith Svarog. Since Deva means “God” in Sanskrit, it can be compared with Rod as one of its names, meaning the abstract “God”, the sky and the light of day.

“According to the Chronicle of George Amartol,” Galkovsky tells us, “Diy was the son of Kron and the brother of Nin. Diy was named among the great stars. The Persians had a law to marry their mother and sisters, which is why Diy was married to his sister Ira. In honor of Diy, goats and other animals were slaughtered in Egypt. Amartol says that Serukh was the first to introduce Hellenic teaching in the Babylonian land to honor the exploits and deeds of ancient former warriors or princes; Subsequently, non-leading people began to reverence the famous ancestors as gods: “as the gods of heaven are revered by the gods, and by the priests, and not as by a man who was dead.” Thus, people began to idolize people who made any discovery or invention, such as, for example. Posidon - the inventor of shipbuilding, Hephaestus, the copper forger, etc. But these idolized heroes were simple people. “And of old, like the creator of the spoken gods, Dia and Krona and Apolona, ​​and Iroya, in my opinion, men were gods, deceitful things.” Then poems began to be deified under these names. “Dia dzhda decided to be”, i.e. Diy is rain. It is said below that people served the creature more than the Creator, deified the sky, earth, animals, birds and reptiles. "Imenovahou Dia sky." So, in Amartol, Diem means the deity of rain and sky, i.e. Zeus. We believe that the compiler of the Russian word was familiar with the first edition of the Hellenic Chronicler. According to the Chronicler, Diy was the son of Kronos (i.e. Chronos), who reigned in Assyria, who devoured his children; but Diy was saved thanks to the cunning of his mother Aria, who gave Krona a stone instead of the child. Diy in the Chronicler is identified with Zeus: “When is the time for her to give birth to the Peak called Zeus and es Diy.” A few lines below we read: “Cronus, leave your son Peak Zeus, whoever you are, leave him in Asuri” he took possession Western countries. In the Chronograph of the second edition, Diy is also identified with Zeus: “about Zeus there is Diy.” Dyy - the same as DIY. Diy also had a feminine form: “I eat food, and the other divi.” Gregory the Theologian's conversation about the beating of the city - Slavic insert. So, Diy or Dyy is the god of rain and sky, i.e. Zeus".

15. DIVA, DIVYA

Goddess of the earth, wife of Dyya: “Create a demand on the staudentsi, waiting for claims from him, forgetting that God is waiting to give from heaven. To eat the bearer of God, and to antagonize the God who created heaven and earth. I call the river a goddess, and the beast living in it, like naming a god, I demand to create. I'm going to eat, and the others are Divi. And honor the city. Open up the shit, laying it on the head, take the oath; to create oaths with human bones. Ov kobeni petit look. I am confused about the meeting. Ov muschn cattle, creating kill. To do things a week and on holy days is to profit oneself, creating one’s own destruction, but as much as one does in this week, the same day one destroys. I’m lying and swearing.”

Since in almost all Indo-European mythological systems there is an earth-sky pair, it is quite logical to assume that Div and Diva are such a pair, since Div correlates with the sky and the light of the sky. Divya is the goddess of Mother Cheese-Earth, fertilized by the heavenly waters of Dyya. Divya, divitsa and other derivatives come from here.

GODS AND GODDESSES OF THE NEW GENERATION

16. YARILO, Yarovit and Ruevit

These are different hypostases of one deity of fertility (“yar”, “spring”), the ardent god of awakening matter (“rage”), strength and youth (“yarka” - a young strong sheep) and the spring light (“bright”) (Eastern Slavic . Yarilo; zap. Yarovit, z. Yaromir according to the unrecognized “Kraledvor manuscript”). The god of war Yarovit, whose temple was in Volegast (Volegoshche), is functionally similar to the violent, zealous Tur of the Eastern Slavs, Mars of the Romans according to eyewitnesses, Ares of the Greeks, Tyr of the Scandinavians.

It is possible that Yarovit and Ruevit - Ardent and Zealous - are two names of a single deity among the Western Slavs. Rugevit or Ruevit - among the Rugs-Ruyans, the seven-faced god of war, the idol stood in the city of Karenze (Kornitsa) on Rugen. Saxo writes: “(The city) is famous for the temples of three glorious temples. The main temple was located in the middle of the front part of the temple, which, like the temple, did not have walls, was covered with purple fabric, so that the roof lay on only columns. When both covers were torn off, the oak idol of Ruevit was hideously revealed on all sides.”

The idol of Ruevit was destroyed by Bishop Absalon in 1168. He had eight swords and seven heads and was of gigantic stature. Four heads were male and two female, the seventh animal was on the chest. Is it just the attributes that say that these are different gods in the understanding of the Rugs and the Stetins. The symbol of Yarovit was a huge shield, most likely personifying the sun, since holidays in honor of it were held before the beginning of summer (like Yarila, calling on fertility to the fields).

It is very typical that Yarilo participates in Belarusian holidays either in the form of Yara-Yarilikha or in the form of a man with a huge phallus. Meanwhile, the root “yar” is present in such specifically “feminine” words: spring sheep - bright, yoke, spring wheat, spring bread, but the use of this root in the feminine gender: rage, milkmaid, yar, yarina (sheep's wool), yara (spring).

We consider Yarila as a dying and resurrected son or the reality of Veles, who appears as Frost in winter, and in spring as Yarila. His day is Tuesday. Its month is March, named after the god of war - Mars, its metal is iron, its stones are amber, ruby, garnet, hematite.

It seems interesting to us that this god had its analogues among a number of peoples. And, although a number of researchers hastily write Yarila into late medieval fiction, this cannot be so since the root “yar” is the oldest common Slavic and even Indo-Aryan root. Let us recall that etymologically and functionally the Slavic Yaril corresponds to the Roman Eril, who has several lives, like Mars, the god of the ardent power of the revival of nature, the Hittite-Hurrian god of war Yarri, the Akkadian god of war Erra, the Greek god of war Ares-Arey.

The celebration of Yarila, firstly, falls on March 21, the beginning of the first month of the pagan year, this is due to the fact that “the bestial god lifts Winter on his horns.” Perhaps on the same day the gods who awaken life - Zhiva, Dazhdbog and Svarog were honored. Yarila is also honored on Yuri the Winter - December 9, together with Dazhdbog.

17. DAZHDBOG, Dazhbog, Dub, RADEGAST, Radigosh, Svarozhich

These are different variations of the same name. God of fertility and sunlight, life-giving force. We correlate with Helios, son of Svarog. The first ancestor of the Slavs (the Slavs, according to the text of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, are Dazhdbozh’s grandchildren) “Then, under Olza, Gorislavlichi will sow and spread strife, destroy the life of Dazhdbozh’s grandson, and in the princely sedition, the people will be reduced.”

“Resentment arose in the forces of Dazhdbozh’s grandson, a maiden entered the land of Troyan, splashed her swan wings on the blue sea near the Don: splash, let go of the fat times.”

According to the “Word of John Chrysostom... how the first trash believed in idols and put demands on them...”, the god of the sun and life-giving force.

Probably, Dazhdbog could, following the white Sventovit, correlate with Apollo (Targelius) as the god of sunlight. In teachings against paganism, among other gods, he is mentioned next to Artemis: “and he approached the idol and began to eat lightning and thunder, and the sun and the moon, and the friends of Pereun, Khours, the pitchforks and Mokosha, the upir and the beregins, who are also called distant sisters, and others They believe in Svarozhitsa and in Artemis, to whom ignorant people pray, and to slaughter chickens... and are drowned by frost in the waters. And friends come to the wells to pray and throw into the water... making a sacrifice, and the friends throw fire and stones, and rivers, and springs, and banks, and into firewood - not only in the past in desecration, but many are still doing this.”

Dazhdbog. He is also, apparently, Radegast, Radogost - among the Western Slavs, according to German chronicles; Radigoshch and Radogoshch - among the Vyatichi. The son of Svarog, the grandson of Krat, the god of the sun and the manifest Light (also correlated with Mithra), his day is Sunday, his metal is gold, his stone is yakhont. The celebration may occur on the day of Rodion the Icebreaker. The largest cult center of Svarozhich was located on the lands of the Lutich-Retars, was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt - in 953 it was ruined by Otto the First, in 1068 by the Saxon bishop Burchardt the Second and was finally burned by the Germans in 1147-1150. during the crusade against the pagans of the Bavarian Duke Henry the Lion. Bronze images of the Lutich gods and ritual objects from the Retrin Temple were found in the soil of the village of Prillwitz at the end of the 17th century. The figures are covered with Slavic runic writing. On the lands of the Vyatichi, settlements were also named in honor of the god Svarozhich. The name Radegast would sound like Radigosh here. Radogoshch - two settlements claim its role - either Pogar on the Sudost River (a tributary of the Desna), west of Trubchevsk and north of Novgorod Seversky, or Radogosh itself on the Nerussa River, north of Sevsk and west of Krom. The sacred animal of Dazhdbog - Radegast was considered a lion (as was the case with the Persian sun god - Mithra), Svarozhich was depicted either with a lion's head or riding a chariot drawn by lions. Note that the root “rad” denoted sunlight among the Slavs, hence the “rainbow” - solar arc. The word “joy, joy” is of the same “solar” root - that is, given by the rays (cf. Latin radio) of the sun.

Hence the names Radegast, Radogosh consist of three words: Rad - sunny, “da”, do” by analogy with Dagbog, Dazhdbog can mean donation, gift, and “gast”, “gosh” are semantically close to the word “guest”. In other words, these names perhaps mean: “guest who gives the sun and sunlight,” or a messenger of the gods who brought the power of light and the sun as a gift. In this case, the East Slavic Dazhbog and the West Slavic Radegast are different names for the same god - Svarozhich. Frenzel speaks of him as “De Radegastos. Marte Soraborumque altero supremo Deo” - Radegast is no less significant in the Serbian-Lusatian pantheon than even Sventovit himself.

The symbols of Svarozhich are not only royal lions, but also boars (the boar is also the embodiment of the Indian Vishnu and the Scandinavian Frey). One of the attributes is a sword, later an ax, as well as a spear, possibly a scarlet banner: “in this do the devil Svarozhich and the leader of the saints, your and our Mauritius, agree? Those. Who in front raises the sacred spear, and those who stain the devil’s banners with human blood?”

Radegast's bird is a rooster that announces the coming of the sun with its cry. The name of God was written on the idol in Wendish runes; perhaps there was also solar symbolism. The head of the idol is placed at sunrise or in the southeast so that he can follow its progress.

Dazhdbog was called Savior, i.e. A Savior, but not in the sense of saving the lost sheep of Israel, but in the military sense - a protector. Therefore, Apple Spas (August 19) and Honey Spas (August 14) are the days of honoring Svarozhich. He, along with Yarila, is also honored on Yuri Zimny ​​(December 9).

18. PERUH, Perunova

The god of thunder and lightning, like heavenly fire, is mentioned in the chronicles in the treaties of the Rus and Slavs with the Romans (Prince Oleg - 907, Prince Igor - 945, Prince Svyatoslav - 971). Svarozhich (Perun - in Russian chronicles, Perunova, Perun, that is, Jupiter - in the "Mater Verborum", Perowne - in the "Word and Revelation of the Holy Apostles" from the teachings against paganism of the 14th century). How the Elin god (an allusion to Zeus) is mentioned in the “Tale of Bribery” (list of the 16th century) and in the “Tale of Repentance” (list of the 16th century). Supreme god of the pantheon. Vladimir is the god of the ruling military elite, prince and squad. God punishes for non-compliance with the laws of Reveal and Rule. Comprehensive information about the idol of Perun is contained in the “Gustin Chronicle”: “Firstly, Perkonos, who is Perun, was their eldest god, created in the likeness of a man, in his hands was a valuable stone like fire, and to him, like God, a sacrifice was made and fire the undying fire from the oak tree; If it had happened due to the negligence of a serving priest when this fire had died out, I would have killed the same priest without any knowledge or mercy.”

And also in the teaching “On the Idols of Vladimirov”: “Place the most important idol first. In the name of Perun God thunder and lightning and rain clouds on a hillock high above the storm stream, like a little man. His body was cunningly cut from the tree, his head was fused from silver, his ears were gold, his nose was iron. In her hands she holds a scorching stone in the likeness of Perun. Rubies. And it is decorated with a carbukle: “Then the story with the unquenchable fire is repeated word for word. According to Frenzel - “Percuno, Deo tonitru & fulguru.”

Perun is also mentioned in the “Tale of (Mamaev’s) Massacre.” book Ditrius Ivanovich Donskoy" together with Mokosh among the pagan gods of the wicked "Tatars". But, most likely, the compassionate compiler of the narrative wrote down the main pagan gods as assistants to the wicked, which he undoubtedly knew even then - Mokos (Veles) and Perun. It must be admitted that among the supporters of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, then an ally of another Khan Takhtamysh, there were baptized Tatars, and perhaps not only baptized ones. The devastation of Moscow by Mamai’s successor in 1382 forced this fact to be hushed up in every possible way in Russian history and the battle on the Kulikovo Field to be presented with a clearly religious connotation in the interests of the Orthodox Church.

Perun's day is Thursday. The day of Elijah the Prophet (August 2) and the period from July 20 to August 2-4 are especially celebrated. They also celebrate Perun’s Day on June 21 (“Fedor-Stratilat is rich in thunderstorms”)

Its metal is tin, its stone is belemnite (Devil's finger-Perun's arrows), sapphire, lapis lazuli; wood - oak, beech. It was associated with fertility, in Orthodoxy it was correlated with Elijah the Prophet, as the defender of the waking world from the navy, and in later literature it was correlated with Zeus, who owns Perun. Correlates with Perkunas of the Balts, Thor of the Scandinavians, Tarinis of the Celts.

So, Perun, son of Svarog the eldest:

1. God of thunder and lightning, like heavenly fire
2. Patron of warriors and princely squads.
3. God is the manager, God punishes for non-compliance with the laws.
4. Defender of Yavi.
5. Giver of male power.

The symbolism of the temple is an oak idol, a stone or two stones on either side of the idol, a sacrificial fire lit in front of the idol, a six-rayed wheel on the idol, a symbol of lightning or an arrow, or even a thunder arrow itself near the idol. Probably the pagans did not cut down living trees for idols - a living, but old, powerful oak was already a symbol of worship for them, having painted facial features on it with gold and silver paint. Oak struck by lightning was especially revered and amulets, staves, wands, arrows made from it were considered the best guardians from Navi.

19. SIMARGL, SEMARGL

Fire God. First of all, his name is mentioned in Russian chronicles - the pantheon of Prince. Vladimir, it supposedly came from the old Russian “smag” (“I’ll call Karn after him, and Jump along the Russian land, Smag moo in a flaming rose”), i.e. fire, tongue of flame, Fire-Svarozhich - half dog, half snake. Probably the mediator between the waking world and the heavenly world, which in the Vedic tradition is the god of fire - Agni. He is also the penezhny (fiery) serpent from conspiracies. Mentioned in the Paisevsky collection of St. Gregory (14th century) and Chrysostom’s collection of 1271 Ognebog-Yognebozhe, according to the “Veda of the Slavs” by Verkovich, among the Pomak Bulgarians;

Fala ti Yogne God!
Fala ti Yasnu Sun!
You heat it up on the ground.
Pecking the chickadee into the ground...
...Krivash e tsarna Muggle,
ta sa nishu and gleda.

He is, quite possibly, Rarog, Rarogek is the son of Svarog, according to Czech medieval sources. Already in Orthodox times in the PPJ, according to Ak. B.A. Rybakov, named Pereplut - the god of soil, plant roots, plant power, but there is no basis for identifying Pereplut and Semargl. Such a correlation, of course, has a certain sacred meaning, since plants, under the influence of sunlight, seemed to break through (horn) the soil and go out to the sun, but Semargl is also not connected with the sun.

We believe that the identification of this god with the Iranian Senmurv (a giant magical bird) is unjustified, but there is probably a connection with the firebird (the fiery messenger of happiness), which brings his happiness.

In the Middle Ages, it was incorrectly understood as the name of two gods at once: “For this reason, it is not appropriate for Christians to play demonic games, who eat dancing, gudba, Myr songs and the food of idols, who pray to the fire with the barn and the pitchfork and Mokoshi and Sim and Ragl and Perun and Rod and Rozhanitsi” (“The Word on Bribery” according to the list of the 16th century).

The interpretation of Ragl as a separate lizard-like deity is not justified. Recognizing it, one will have to prove that Prince Vladimir installed the pillars of both Sima and Ragla, while there is no indication of this.

Semargl also performed under his own name, let’s say in the Word of a certain lover of Christ of the 14th century: “they pray to the fire of Svarozhich, and to the garlic - to God, and they create it - whenever there is a feast for someone, then they put it in buckets and cups, and drink about their idols , having fun is no worse than heretics.”

Semargl-Svarozhich was honored on all those days when the folk calendar is replete with signs of fire and fire. On April 14, Marena burns in a ritual flame and together with her Semargl drowns the last snows. September 17 - Burning Bush, possibly Podaga. Semargl-Svarozhich is honored from November 14 to 21 in Svarozhki, the image of Svarozhich-Fire merged with the image of the Archangel Michael with a fiery sword.

20. HORSE, KHOROS

God of the solar disk. Note that the veneration of the sun separately as a planet and sunlight is found among many peoples. So, among the Etruscans, the god of the solar disk is Usil, and the god of light is Kave; among the ancient Greeks, the solar disk is Helios, and the light of the sun is Apollo; Among the Russians, the god of sunlight is Dazhdbog, and the god of the solar disk is Khors.

The cult gravitates towards the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the Slavic lands; the name of this god is mentioned in the Russian chronicles in the pantheon of Prince. Vladimir, in the apocrypha “Walk of the Mother of God through torment”, in the PPYA “On the idols of Vladimirov”, “Memory and praise to Vladimir” and the life of “blessed Volodimer”, “The Word of a certain Lover of Christ”, “The Word about how the first filth of existence the pagans bowed to an idol ", he is commemorated in the "Conversation of the Three Hierarchs".

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” testifies to a certain night journey of Khors, for Vseslav prowled in the form of a wolf precisely at night: “Vseslav the prince judged people, the prince rowed cities, and he himself prowled like a wolf at night; from Kiev you have crossed the path to the chickens of Tmutorokan, you have covered the path of the great Khorso and the wolf.”

“The Word and Revelation of the Holy Apostles”: “The gods of many Perownes and Horses and Trojans and many others will not enter into the great delusion, for as men were the elders of Perowne in Elinah, and Horses in Cyprus, Trojan was king in Rome.” “... others in ukraniam pray to him, the damned fool Perenou, Khorsou, Mokshi, Vilam...”

Welcoming Khors, the Slavs led round dances and built sanctuaries for him - mansions, mansions. In Orthodoxy, he is associated with St. George the Victorious and, as a solar deity, should be a horseman and serpent fighter; he is probably the god of world order in some ways similar to Mithras.

The German Wunderer, who traveled around Rus' after 1581, described the image of Khors near Pskov: “Kors (i.e. Horse), who stands on a snake, having a sword in one hand, and a fiery ray in the other.” It is necessary to note the undoubtedly significant work of the researcher from Russia Alexey Bychkov, who attracted many previously inaccessible Western sources that similarly describe Khorsa (and a number of other Slavic gods in the late Middle Ages).

The name Khorsa is probably associated with the following words in Russian: good, khoruv, choir, associated with the true order of things (rule) and joint work. Khors is the god of world order associated with the course of the sun. Khors and Dazhdbog are related like the Greek Helios and Apollo. God Navi could be called, in contrast, Black Khoros, i.e. the same solar disk, but located on the night side of the world. The image goes back to ancient times and the serpent-fighting myth. Perhaps among the Skolots this is Kolo-ksay (Sun-King) - the son of Targitai (the blacksmith Svarog), and then the god Khors is Svarozhich.

Note that the roots “horo” and “colo” are semantically associated with the concept of round. A round dance is a circle of people holding hands and walking in a circle, mansions are a circular building, a banner is something uniting a military circle. The root “colo” is associated with round objects such as bell, kolobok (round side), stake, brace. The latter concept is directly related to changes in solar cycles. Khorsa's day is a resurrection, like Dazhdbog's, the metal is red gold. The days of Khors coincide with any solstice, for example, summer - June 21 to 25 (Kupala), autumn - September 21 - 23 (Ovsen Maly, Tausen, Autumn Khoros). An indispensable attribute of the veneration of Khors is round dances.

21. MARA, MORENA

Marzana, Marzana, Morena, Morana - the common Slavic goddess of fertility and harvest. According to the Chronicle of Poland by Jan Dlugosz and Mater Verborum, correlated with Hecate (“Ecate, trivia vel nocticula, Proserpina”). She is also Mara - the goddess of death according to the late origin of the “Kraledvor Manuscript” and Marzava according to A. Frenzel (“De Marzava, Dea Morte, Dea Mortis”). Morana among the Czechs in the late Middle Ages was the goddess not just of death, but also of winter.

To drive out Mara, a poker and plowing of the settlement were used. The dark side of the goddess is associated with such concepts as pestilence, hassle, sea, as hazardous environment, nightmare. The goddess herself is the hypostasis of the ancient Great Mother - the mistress of life and death, and in this case is the dark side of Mokosh or Yaga in her dark hypostasis. It is no coincidence that Makosh was compared to Hecate. Madder is honored on Candlemas - on February 15th, they cajole her not to linger, and call for spring. Maslenitsa is considered the culmination of the celebrations of Madder Days.

22. ALIVE

Common Slavic goddess of life and fertility. In "Mater Verborum" we meet "Ziva: Alive - dea frumenti Ceres, - Diva Estas." Dlugosh says that Zhive is the god of life. This is the fifteenth century and it is not so far from the truth. In the Serbian-Lusatian pantheon of A. Frenzel, there are also variations of this name: “Siwa Polon. Zyvvie, Dea vita."

Her name is also the beautiful lady (Krasopani), as well as Milka or Milda (Dear). The largest sanctuary of Zhiva was in the Polabian city of Ratibor. Foreign authors of the 15th-17th centuries redraw each other’s image in the form of a busty naked woman with fruits in her hands. In terms of semantics, the name of the goddess is close to the word “life” and is associated with the idea of ​​prosperity, as in the words: profit, profit. Stryjkowski connects a certain “god of the rustling wind Zhiva” and Weather, “the god of clear and cheerful days.” Two centuries later, Prokosh speaks of the god Zhiva as supreme, and the son of a certain god Trža. Prokosh lives “the creator of life, long and happy well-being, he is especially worshiped by those who hear the first cry of the cuckoo: It was believed that this supreme ruler of the Universe turns into a cuckoo in order to announce to them the term of life:.” However, this is already late myth-making.

23. TORN

Zap.-slav. goddess of spring. The opponent of Mara Morena, the goddess of fertility according to the Mater Verborum, also correlated with Proserpina. She is probably the one who meets Mara at Candlemas. Etymologically related to Porevit, Porenut and Prove. Perhaps etymologically connected with Parvati, the wife of Shiva (our Veles), who has the same functions, the mother of Skanda (our Yarila).

24. PERUNITSA-FLIGHTER

Letnitsa (Zap.-Slav.) goddess, wife of Perun, according to “Mater Verborum”, she is probably Perunitsa, Gromovitsa, Melania, Queen Lightning. Honored on the same days as Perun.

25. KORUNA

Mother of the gods, according to the PPY “Word of St. Gregory”; perhaps this is one of the epithets of Lada or Diva. It is quite possible that her name is associated with the word crown and crown, as a designation of the supreme and upper (see cover, roof).

26. PROVE

Prono, Provo, Prove (Provo) (Zap.-Slav.) - god of law, god of oak groves, revered by the Wagr, god of the Aldenburg land according to Helmold: “... we went further along Slavia to visit one powerful man, whose name was Teshemir , for he invited us to his place. And it happened that along the way we came to a grove, the only one in this region that is located entirely on the plain. Here, among very old trees, we saw sacred oaks dedicated to the god of this land - Prove. They were surrounded by a courtyard surrounded by a skillfully made wooden fence that had two gates. All cities abounded in penates and idols, but this place was the shrine of the whole earth... The Slavs have such respect for their shrines that the place where the temple is located is not allowed to be desecrated with blood, even during war.” Generous Micah also reports about him (“On the German gods” (c. 1750), “De Prove, deo sive praeside Justitia ac fori” - A. Frenzel (“History of the peoples and customs of Upper Lusatia”, 1696). And in “The Saxon Chronicle” by Conrad Botho (1495) says this: “1123 In Oldenburg there was a god called Prove, and he stood on a pillar, and had in his hand a red testing iron, and had a banner and long ears, and a pair of boots, and under your foot there is a bell.”

27. PORENUCH

Porenutius (West Slavic). Regarding Porenuch or Porenut and Porevith, little can be said for certain, except that both have five faces, five heads. Frenzel defines it as follows: “De Porenuito, Deo embryonis”

(C) “Circle of Ber” from “Circle of Pagan Tradition”, 2003

When we say Lada, we think of the unfortunate Zhiguli.
Although Lada is the Goddess of love, beauty, family happiness, patroness of marriage. And also the keeper of the hearth, the wife of Svarog, the mother of Lelya and Dajbog... She belongs to the pantheon of light gods of Slavic paganism. Our ancestors worshiped them: the Drevlyans, Rus, Dregovichi, Polyans...

Beregini-Rozhanitsy- words that do not require explanation. This goddess is the keeper of the hearth, warmth, nurse, mother, patroness of newlyweds and children, the joy of the elderly.

In October, after all agricultural work was completed, the Slavs held weddings. There are three important milestones in a person's life: birth, wedding and death. If the first and last do not depend on us, then a wedding is a special ritual that links together two destinies, two lives - two families.

Wedding, light, holiness, Svarga - the concept of life, truth, connection. At the wedding they played harp, pipes, horns, tambourines, drums and other musical instruments. Songs were sung that immersed listeners in the old days. Relatives, hugging their shoulders, sang their ancestral songs and praised the young. Some jokingly measured their strength with new relatives, while others took the lead in merry undertakings. Then the buffoons got down to business - and then hang on! - everyone will get the worst of their antics.

Goodness and peace reigned in the ancient Slavic families. The Russians revered their ancestors, gods, and kept the traditions of deep antiquity.
Bereginya the woman in labor had assistants: brownies, courtyard servants, barn workers, banniks. Her symbol is a duck.

Veles, hair, volokh, sorcerer, sorcerer, volokhaty, elk, ox, forest, fox, goblin, oleshka, deer - all these words are associated with the forest. Veles' children - this is what the Russians call themselves in "The Tale of Igor's Campaign."

Christians called Veles the “cattle god,” but can Veles’s totem animals—a bear, a wolf, a sacred cow—be called cattle? No, peoples living in a natural tribal system considered animals equal to people. For example, in Rus' they love bears very much and consider them brothers. And the bear is Veles. Veles has many images, including in the form of animals.

The Russians learned a lot from animals, imitated them with their voice, movements, methods of attack and defense.

Veles is an inexhaustible source of knowledge; every animal in his forest is unique. But people have moved away from nature - hence all the troubles of modern civilization. It’s time to realize that only a return to naturalness, to healthy natural principles can save the soul and body from final destruction.

We live in a disfigured world, divided into religions, parties, classes, people are valued not by intelligence and strength, but by money, so humanity is withering away and not developing spiritually. For spirituality is in our roots, and nowhere else. Spirituality - knowledge (Vedas). Know Ra (faith), know Rod.
Veles is the keeper of hoary antiquity and the silent bones of ancestors. last night October is the day of remembrance of grandfathers (in the West - Halloween). On this day, the Rus saw off the spirits of nature and their relatives who had died during the year under the snow with bonfires and the music of bagpipes and pipes.

Dazhdbog, give, rain - words with the same root meaning “to share, to distribute.” Dazhdbog sent people not only rain, but also the sun, saturating the earth with light and warmth. Dazhdbog is the autumn sky with clouds, rain, thunderstorms, and sometimes hail.

September 22 is the autumn equinox, the holiday of Rodion and Rozhanitsa, the day of Dazhdbog and Mokosh. The entire harvest has been harvested and the final harvests are underway in the orchards and orchards. All residents of a village or city go out into nature, light a fire, roll a burning sun wheel up a mountain, dance in circles with songs, play pre-wedding and ritual games. Then they bring tables to the main street, put the best food on them and begin a general family feast. Neighbors and relatives try food prepared by others, praise them, and all together glorify the Sun, the earth and Mother Rus'.

Dazhdbozhy (solar) grandchildren - that’s what the Rusichi called themselves. Symbolic signs of the sun (solar rosettes, solstice) were present everywhere among our ancestors - on clothes, dishes, and in the decoration of houses.

Every Russian man is obliged to create a large family - a family, feed, raise, educate children and become Dazhdbog. This is his duty, glory, really. Behind each of us there are countless ancestors - our roots, and each must give life to descendant branches.

A man who does not have children is doomed to hunger, shame, and poverty in old age. The family must be large and healthy - our ancestors a thousand years ago did not know vodka and smoking, and therefore gave birth to strong and healthy knights and women in labor.

Lada, harmony, love, affection - all this speaks of a tender relationship between husband and wife in a family union aimed at having children and prolonging the Slavic family. Lada is a little girl born in the spring with the first streams and snowdrops. Rooks, the first birds to fly home from warm countries, are the heralds of the birth of Lada. Along with Lada, flowers and young foliage appear. Birds begin to sing where Lada passes. The animals are also happy to see the young goddess bringing them food after a long hungry winter.

Lada's favorite birds - pigeons and swans - are compared in our minds with affection and fidelity. That's why girls sing calls to spring in the voices of birds. Every girl in Rus' is Lada.

Lada gains strength on Kupala, at this time she is caressed by the rays of Yarila, and a small month is born in her womb - a symbol of life. On June 22, the Slavs celebrate the summer solstice, huge bonfires are lit, a burning solar wheel is rolled into the water (meaning “bathing” the sun), round dances are held shouting: “Burn, burn clearly, so that it does not go out!” Everyone bathes, plays trickle and other love games, and runs after each other through the forest. Fornication, as Christians claim, did not actually occur on the holiday. Magi, old people, parents closely monitored the youth and, in case of violation of moral laws, expelled the offenders from the family - this was the most terrible punishment at that time, because in ancient times a person could not live alone, without relatives.

Love in Rus' was not a joy, but served for procreation and the conception of new children. It is the appearance of children that is the meaning of pairing not only people, but also animals and birds. Only married couples went into the forests at the end of the holiday, under the shade of warm fogs, where they basked and made love until dawn, lighting numerous bonfires of love throughout Russia, turning the world into a huge burning fiery fern flower, a flower of truth, happiness, naturalness and eternity.

The arrival of Lada also awakened the spirits of nature - goblin, field, water, mermaids.

Makosh, mother, kush, wallet, purse (bag, scrip), piggy bank, merchant - these words are related to each other and mean an increase in goodness and wealth.

If Lada is more related to spring water, then Makosh is the goddess of the earth, Mother Earth. Women of ancient times learned to be Makosh in their family. Makosh is the woman who knows how to work in the field, in the garden, in the garden, in the forest, knows medicinal herbs, knows how to raise and raise children correctly. Makosh is a goddess who reveals healer secrets to women in the summer (Morena - in the winter).

Makosh is the goddess of life (some Slavic tribes called her Zhiva), she carries a month (a man) in her growing womb after Kupala.

Man in Rus' was symbolically represented by a Tree. His parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers are roots that go into the depths of time, into hoary antiquity, feeding him with the vital juices of the family. The branches and crown of the tree are the future children and grandchildren that every Rusich looks forward to. He stretches out his hands to the souls of his ancestors - the stars and to the main ancestor - the sun. The Slav does not ask them for favors, like Christians, but simply speaks and assures them of his firm intention to have a family and children.
If before marriage a girl learned the work of Mokosh, then, after getting married, she fulfills sacred maternal duties, giving birth and feeding children, teaching them kindness and the correct attitude towards nature and relatives. Being Makosh is the sacred duty of all girls and women.

Moraine, pestilence, frost, drizzle (rain), sea, mara, haze, stained, dead, gloom, darkness. All these words mean darkness, bitter cold, death, dampness or unbearable heat. Similar sensations occur to the sick and dying. Morena is a goddess who fights with spring and, leaving, takes with her the remnants of the past year (cold, snow, darkness), giving way to new life, spring.

March 22 is coming the vernal equinox, after which, as was believed in Russia, spring begins. Before the equinox, our ancestors cheerfully celebrated Maslenitsa. Fires were lit again, again in towns and villages, as on Kolyada, young people gathered in groups, the funniest entertainers were chosen for jokes and practical jokes; ice slides, forts for playing snowballs, swings and carousels were made; there was troika riding, hand-to-hand combat and wall-to-wall battles, and in the end - the capture of a snowy town and the burning of an effigy of Morena.

A competition immediately took place - who would be the most agile and be able to climb up the pole and get from there a rooster (it was revered as a symbol of the sun, dawn, spring and the goddess Lada - Morena's successor), round rolls or boots. A burning wheel was rolled down the mountain and bonfires were lit - a symbol of warmth and rebirth.

But Morena is not as terrible as she might seem. She is the image of our harsh snowy homeland, which tests everyone's strength and survival and takes only the weak. She loves the strict purity of the snow and the transparency of the ice; she is delighted by the dance of snowflakes in the deep winter sky. Morena's favorites are owls and lynxes. Russian people love winter, its invigorating cold, sparkling snowdrifts and ringing ice.

Morena's symbol is the moon. Her face looks sternly at the earth, awakening in wolves the desire to howl, thickening the fogs in the air and giving rise to the movement of waters in lakes and seas.

Perun, rune (in Rus' these ancient letters were known as “traits and cuts”, mentioned in many written sources). Speech, stream, prophet, roar, roar, roar. Perun is the great god of the Russians, the god of war and thunder. His weapons are sparkling swords, axes, a huge thundering hammer, a mace and a spear that strikes without missing a beat. Animals and birds of Perun - aurochs, wolves, ravens, falcons. We love and honor Perun among the people. His roaring thunderous voice is mesmerizing. The unearthly brilliance of his weapon - lightning - is shocking and awe-inspiring. The rapid flight of blue-leaden clouds - his warriors - delights.

Perun was especially revered in times of war and danger. In a bloody battle or during martial games, everyone tried to ignite in themselves the fiery spirit of this formidable ancestor-god.

Although Perun was related to the cold (he was born in the first month of winter), the Days of Perun - his time - began on June 20 and ended in early August. At this time, the Russians celebrated funeral feasts for the soldiers who had fallen in battle - they gathered on mounds and red mountains, held feasts, military fun, measured their strength in running, throwing weapons, swimming, and horse racing. They killed a bull bought by chipping in, roasted and ate it, and drank mead and kvass. They initiated initiations of young guys who had to undergo serious tests to become warriors and girdle themselves with the weapons of the Family.

Our ancestors always had many external enemies, and constant wars were fought. The shield and sword were revered as a symbol of Perun, his gift to a man. Weapons were worshiped and idolized.

But not only men went into mortal combat. Often, among the killed Russians on the battlefield, enemies were surprised to find women fighting shoulder to shoulder with their husbands. They were also patronized by the golden-moustached Perun...

Svarog, bungle, cook, light, holiness, reduce, color. These words are united by the idea of ​​​​the creation of life (horn, fate, birth, speech, name). Svarog is the greatest of the Russian gods. This is the ancestor, the ancestor, who set the course of life, who gave people knowledge and speech. He created the entire cosmos - the universe of Svarga. Svarog - in everything. Everything in the world is Svarog, a part of it. Among the Balts he bears the name Sotvaras, among the Iranians - Tvashtar, among the Romans - Saturn, among the Germans - Vodan, among the Etruscans - Satr, and so on - they all have consonant names and similar features. In the myths of the white peoples, God forges with a hammer - creates the world, striking lightning and sparks; for all of them, he has one relationship or another with the sun.

Svarog is wise, he sits surrounded by our deceased ancestors, smart birds and animals. Like an acorn that gave birth to a huge oak tree, this god gave birth to the Tree of Life. Gods and people, animals and birds - all living things - originate from Svarog the grandfather. Svarog resides in every object, in every person, he is obvious, he can be seen, touched, heard.

Svarog is in Navi, in the past, but he (the old days) is remembered. Svarog is in charge, in the future, which we know and for which we live. He is in us, we are part of him, just like our descendants.

Svarog is the old sun riding in a chariot, cold and dark.

Chernobog reigns in the last days of the year, when the night is the longest and the coldest. Russians bathe in an ice hole, getting used to winter. Nature is silent like an old man, dressing in white snow clothes. People in their houses insulate the windows, burn splinters and eat what they grew in the summer, sing songs, tell fairy tales, sew clothes, repair shoes, make toys, heat stoves. And they wait for the birth of Khors, preparing outfits for caroling.

Semargl, stench, flickering, Cerberus, the dog Smargla, death - these concepts in their essence mean an otherworldly deity - a fiery wolf or a dog. Among the ancient Slavs, this is a fiery wolf with falcon wings, a very common image. The Rus saw Semargl as a winged wolf or a wolf with the wings and head of a falcon, and sometimes his paws were like those of a falcon. If we recall mythology, we will see that not only the horse was dedicated to the sun, but also the wolf and the falcon. It is worth looking at the chronicle letters, frames, ancient embroideries and decorations of houses, household utensils, armor and we will see that the wolf-falcon Semargl is found on them very often. For the Rus, Semargl was as important as the dragon for the Chinese, and the unicorn for the Celts.

The wolf and the falcon are swift, fearless (they attack an enemy with superior strength), loyal (a wolf, even when hungry, will not devour a relative like a dog). Warriors often identified themselves with wolves (a warrior is a howling wolf).

Do not forget that the wolf and falcon clear the forest of weak animals, healing nature and making natural selection. Images gray wolf and falcons are often found in fairy tales, epics, songs, and ancient written monuments, such as “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.”
In every Slav lives Semargl, who fights disease and evil in the human body. A drinking, smoking, lazy, degenerating person kills his Semargl, gets sick and dies

Stribog- swift, impetuous, fast, nimble, aspiration, stream, and even, if you want, a line. All these concepts mean flow, speed, spread, spreading. If we combine all this into one, we have before us the image of the wind and everything connected with it. This is either a warm breath of summer, or a violent gust of rain and thunderstorm, or a hurricane, a tornado, or a cold breath of the north, snowfalls and freezing temperatures.

Rus' is a northern land, and the icy midnight wind lives in it. Cold and hungry February is just the time; it is during this month that the howl of hungry wolves, which Stribog drives to hunt with his icy breath, is especially long and frightening. Only crows bathe in the currents of the north wind. And at night, the fast shadows of predatory lynxes glide through the snowstorm, flashing their yellow eyes and emitting a chilling meow.

In April, Stribog will arrive from the east with a young, warm daytime breeze. At night he will breathe cold dampness.

In summer, Stribog blows from midday (south), scorching with heat during the day and caressing with warmth at night. And in the fall, flying in from sunset (west), just like in the spring, it will warm during the day and cool at night.

In autumn and spring, Stribog disperses the clouds, revealing the warm, bright sun. In the summer, he brings rain during the drought so that the harvest does not perish; in the winter, he rotates the wings of the mills, grinding the grain into flour, from which bread is then kneaded.

The Rus considered themselves the grandchildren of Strigozh. Stribog is our breath, it is the air in which words sound, smells spread and light scatters, allowing us to see our surroundings. Stribog is vital to all living things. He is the lord of birds and is often depicted as a blowing head or horseman.

Horse, khorost, brushwood, chrest, cross, armchair, spark, round dance, horo, kolo, wheel, bracelet, stake, carols, circle, blood, red - all these words are related to each other and denote concepts associated with fire, circle, red color. If we merge them into one, an image of the sun will appear before us, described allegorically.

The Slavs celebrated the beginning of the new year on December 22 - the day of the winter solstice. It was believed that on this day a small, fierce sun was born in the form of a boy, Khors. The new sun completed the course of the old sun (old year) and opened the course of the next year. While the sun is still weak, night and cold prevail on the earth, inherited from the old year, but every day the Great Horse (as mentioned in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”) grows, and the sun grows stronger.

Our ancestors celebrated the solstice with carols, wore a Kolovrat (eight-pointed star) - the sun - on a pole, put on the masks of totemic animals, which were associated in the minds of people with the images of ancient gods: the bear - Veles, the cow - Makosh, the goat - the cheerful and at the same time evil hypostasis of Veles , the horse is the sun, the swan is Lada, the duck is Rozhanitsa (progenitor of the world), the rooster is a symbol of time, sunrise and sunset, and so on.

On the mountain they burned a wheel tied with straw, as if helping the sun to shine, then sledding, skating, skiing, snowball fights, fist fights and wall-to-wall fights, songs, dances, competitions, and games began. People went to visit each other, everyone tried to better treat those who came, so that in the new year there would be abundance in the house.

The harsh northern Rus' loved valiant fun. Forced to live and work in difficult conditions, our ancestors, until the 20th century, were known as cheerful and hospitable people who knew how to relax.
Horse is a male deity who embodies the desire of boys and adult husbands for knowledge, spiritual growth, self-improvement, to overcome difficulties encountered in life and find the right solutions.

Yarilo, rage, spring, Yar (among the northerners in ancient times it meant “village”, since they used to live in huts with a fireplace), brightness. These words are united by the concept of increasing brightness, light. Indeed, after the arrival of spring there is a rapid increase in days and increased heat. Everything comes to life, grows, reaches for the sun. Nature is resurrected in the form of the beautiful Lada. Yarilo, melting the snow, lives mother earth with melt water.

Yarilo - the sun in the form of a young, full of strength groom rides on a horse to his Lada. He is in a hurry to start a family and give birth to children (harvest, baby animals, birds, fish, etc.).

By the summer solstice, Yarilo is gaining full strength. He lives in truth and love with the earth, giving birth to new lives in the summer. By June 22, Yarilo turns into Belbog, the day is the longest, nature is kind to him and loves him. Yarila's condition is the condition of all young guys.

In the fourth month of the year (now April), the Russians began the most important agricultural work for the entire Slavic family: plowing, grazing, then hunting, fishing, beekeeping, gardening, and vegetable gardening. Such was the life of the peasants (by the way, the word “peasant” comes from “cross, cross, horse”, and “ognishchanin” - from “fire” that is made in the oven).

Readers may have the erroneous opinion that some gods served as the embodiment of evil among the Slavs, while others - good. No, the Russians, children of nature, accepted her in all its manifestations, knew how to be useful to her and gratefully take from her what they needed. The gods, like people, combined both principles - both positive and negative. For example, Yarilo gives warmth and light, but if you use them unwisely, there will be sunstroke. And Morena, although cold, helped Rus' more than once, freezing the troops of Hitler and Napoleon.