Slavic mythology

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Image:Bilibin. Baba Yaga.jpg Slavic mythology and Slavic religion evolved over more than 3,000 years. It is conjectured that some parts of it are from neolithic or possibly even mesolithic times. The religion possesses numerous common traits with other Indo-European religions.

Contents

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Primary Sources

Very few written records are known to survive from the centuries before Christianization. The controversial Book of Veles is believed by some to be a sacred text of this religion. Saxo Grammaticus is another source with disputed authenticity even though the part regarding the Wendish gods in the 12th century is a genuine source and highly believable, covering the contemporary culture and events of its time. Chronicon Slavorum by Helmold is generally accepted as a genuine source, covering culture and events in the late 1st millennium AD. One unreasonably underestimated and quite enigmatic source is Veda Slovena - a compilation of archaic Bulgarian ritual songs, that preserved important fragments of Slavic pagan lore. The Russian Primary Chronicle is an authentic written source mentioning gods of East Slavs.

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World

According to the Book of Veles, Slavic religion recognizes three realms: Yav, Prav, and Nav, Yav being the material world, Nav the immaterial, and Prav being the laws that govern them. The emphasis on the three realms is particularly characteristic for the Slavic neopaganists that draw on the Book of Veles.

The main symbol of ancient Slavic cosmogonic ideas was the World Tree. Slavs imagined that all three realms are vertically situated on a gigantic oak tree, that holds the whole Universe. In its crown was Slavic Heaven/paradise, so called Svarga, residence of Svarog, or Iriy. At the oak's trunk was the world of living creatures, the reality - Yav. In the oak's roots was Hell, residence of Chernobog, Morena, and Zmey.

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Major feasts

March 21st - first day of spring. The Jare feast was dedicated to the rebirth of life after the hardships of winter. The feast involved the creation of pisanki or decorated eggs, which symbolised new life. This tradition is still common in all the Slavic countries at the time of Easter.

June 21st-June 22nd - first day of summer. The Kupala or Kres feast that celebrated fire. It was on the night of this feast that the legendary fern bloomed. The feast involved burning fires, floating wreathes and youngsters getting coupling up. The feast was dedicated to Dajbog/Svarog.

September 23rd - first day of autumn. A harvest festival dedicated to the recent harvest of crops. During that feast people thanked the gods for a bountiful harvest and pleaded for a better one next year. The feast also involved fortune telling and ritual dining. The feast was dedicated to Perun and Dajbog/Svarog.

December 21st-December 22nd - first day of winter. Korochun was the feast of the dead that was dedicated to the ancestors. People burned fires at cemeteries to keep their loved ones warm, they organized dinners in the honour of the dead so as they would not suffer from hunger. People lit wooden logs at local crossroads. The god of this feast was Veles.

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Gods

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Supreme god

The original supreme god of Slavs was probably Rod. Information about Rod worship is scarce.

In some branches of Slavic religion, the supreme god is Svarog (senior member of Triglav). But exactly because of his nature he was not the most worshiped: that was Perun, while tribes that were occupied mostly with cattle could pay most attention to Veles and so on.

The Wendish people is said to have had the tree-headed Triglau as their supreme god. Sometimes this god is referred to as bog which simply means god.

Some say the chief god was Radegast Zuarasici, whose sanctuary at Rethra was the centre of his worship for the whole of Mecklenburg until it was destroyed in the twelfth century, and replaced by Svantevit, the "holy oracle", whose temple was at Arkona on the Island of Rügen.

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Pantheon

Image:Svetovid.jpg

There is no single well-established pantheon. The only attested attempt at establishing such an "official" pantheon was made by Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev in 980-988 religious reform, immediately preceding the Christianization of Ruthenia. Vladimir erected six or seven idols near his court - Perun as a supreme god, Veles, Hors, Dajbog, Stribog, Simargl, and Mokosh as tribal gods.

In 1824 the Danish poet Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789 - 1862) published his thesis on North-Slavic and Wendish mythology in which he established the following pantheon:

First line of gods (good): Triglau (Bog), Swantewit, Radegast, Prove, Sieba, Siebog, Schwayxtix, Zislbog, Podaga, Rugiwit, Karewit, Juthrbog, Dziewonna, Woda or Waidawut (Odin), Balduri (Balder).

The second line of gods (evil): Zernebog (Pya), Percunust, Flins, Zirnitra (Zir), Berstuk, Marowit (House God), Hela (Hel).

Living close to Scandinavia, the Wends adopted a few gods from Norse mythology but these Teutonic gods never played a central role in the Wendish mythology.

It should be noted that many of the gods may be known by different names even in the same language. Calling gods by proper name was considered bad luck, thus gods were called by adjectives, describing their qualities. Over time, those adjectives took life of their own.

Many other gods, however, have been tentatively reconstructed during the last two centuries. The full list of gods accepted by neo-paganists is as follows:

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Locations

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Mythical creatures

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Mythical persons

Image:Slavic Mythology. Vasnetsov-Bogatyry.jpg Some of these individuals had had real-life prototypes, but most stories (bylinas) about them became pure fiction, involving magic etc.

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Spirits

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Slavic and Polish folk magic

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Circles

Circles play a large part in Polish mythology. Most Slavic people worshipped in natural circles and groves; and it plays a large part in all kinds of folk magic. In all traditions, circles can be made of with lighted candles, drawing circles in the soil, or with natural objects and tools. They are used to surround evil or protect oneself from it.

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See also

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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
[[Commons:Category:{{{1|Slavic mythology}}}|{{{1|Slavic mythology}}}]]


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References

  • Chrypinski, Anna, editor. Polish Customs. Friends of Polish Art: Detroit, MI, 1977.
  • Contoski, Josepha K., editor. Treasured Polish Songs with English Translations. Polanie Publishing Co.: Minneapolis, MN, 1953.
  • Estes, Clarissa Pinkola, Ph.D. Women Who Run With the Wolves. Ballantine Books: New York, 1992.
  • Gimbutas, Marijas. The Slavs. Preager Publishers: New York, 1971.
  • Ingeman, B. S. Grundtræk til En Nord-Slavisk og Vendisk Gudelære. Copenhagen 1824.
  • Knab, Sophie Hodorowicz. Polish Customs, Traditions, & Folklore. Hippocrene Books: New York, 1993.
  • Knab, Sophie Hodorowicz. Polish Herbs, Flowers, and Folk Medicine. Hippocrene Books: New York, 1995.
  • Krasicki, Ignacy (tr by Gerard Kapolka) Polish Fables : Bilingual. 1997
  • Leland, Charles Godfrey. Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling. New York: University Books, 1962
  • Zajdler, Zoe. Polish Fairy Tales. Chicago, Ill: Follett Publishing, 1959
  • Sekalski, Anstruther J. Old Polish Legends. 1997
  • Singing Back The Sun: A Dictionary of Old Polish Customs and Beliefs, Okana, 1999
  • Szyjewski, Andrzej: Slavic Religion, WAM, Kraków, 2003bg:Славянска религия

cs:Slovanská mytologie de:Slawische Mythologie fr:Mythologie slave it:Mitologia slava he:מיתולוגיה סלאבית pl:Mitologia Słowian pt:Mitologia eslava ru:Славянская мифология sl:Slovanska mitologija sr:Стара словенска вера sv:Slavisk mytologi uk:Язичницькі вірування давніх слов'ян zh:斯拉夫神話

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