Paganism of the Slavs in Russia

Paganism is a religion based on belief in several gods at the same time, and not in one God-creator, which is characteristic, in particular, of Christianity.

Paganism concept

The term "paganism" itself is not entirely accurate, since it includes several concepts, and not one single one. Today paganism is understood not only and not so much as a religion, but as a set of religious and cultural beliefs, and instead of paganism, belief in several gods is referred to as "totemism", "polytheism" or "ethnic religion".

The paganism of the ancient Slavs is a term that is used to refer to a complex of religious and cultural views on the life of the ancient Slavic tribes before they adopted Christianity and converted to a new faith. There is an opinion that the term itself in relation to the ancient religious and ritual culture of the Slavs did not come from the concept of polytheism (a multitude of deities), but from the fact that the ancient tribes, although they lived separately, were based on one language. So Nestor the chronicler in his notes speaks of these tribes as pagans, that is, having one language, common roots. Later, this term gradually began to be attributed to Slavic religious beliefs and generally used to refer to religion.

The emergence and development of paganism in Russia

Slavic paganism began to form in about 2-1 millennia BC under the influence of Indo-European culture, when the Slavs began to stand out from it into independent tribes. Moving and occupying new territories, the Slavs got acquainted with the culture of their neighbors and adopted certain features from them. So, it was the Indo-European culture that brought the images of the storm god, the cattle god and the image of mother earth to the Slavic mythology. The Celts also had a significant influence on the Slavic tribes, who also enriched the Slavic pantheon and, in addition, brought the very concept of "god" to the Slavs, which had not previously been used. Slavic paganism has a lot in common with the German-Scandinavian culture, from there the Slavs took the image of the world tree, dragons and many other deities, which later transformed depending on the living conditions and characteristics of the Slavic culture.

After the Slavic tribes formed and began to actively populate new territories, move away from each other and disunite, paganism also transformed, each tribe had its own special rituals, its own names for the gods and the deities themselves. So, by the 6-7th century, the religion of the Eastern Slavs was quite noticeably different from the religion of the Western Slavs.

It should also be noted that very often the beliefs of the upper classes of society were quite different from the beliefs of the lower strata, and what they believed in large cities and settlements did not always coincide with the view of paganism in small villages.

From the moment the Slavic tribes began to unite, began to form single centralized state, the external relations of the Slavs with Byzantium began to develop, gradually paganism began to be persecuted, more and more often old beliefs were questioned, even teachings against paganism appeared. As a result, after Baptism of Rus in 988, when Christianity became the official religion, the Slavs began to gradually move away from the old traditions, although the relationship between paganism and Christianity was not easy. According to some reports, in many territories paganism is still preserved, and in Russia it existed for quite a long time, until the 12th century.

The essence of Slavic paganism

Despite the fact that there are a sufficient number of sources by which one can judge the beliefs of the Slavs, it is difficult to form a single picture of the world of the East Slavic pagans. It is generally accepted that the essence of Slavic paganism was the belief in the forces of nature, which determined human life, ruled it and decided fate - hence the gods-masters of the elements and natural phenomena, mother earth. In addition to the highest pantheon of gods, the Slavs also had smaller deities - brownies, mermaids and others. Small deities and demons did not have a serious impact on human life, but they actively participated in it. The Slavs believed in the existence of a soul in man, in the heavenly and underworld, in life after death.

Slavic paganism has many rituals that are associated with the interaction of gods and people. The gods were worshiped, they asked for protection, asked for protection, sacrifices were made to them - most often it was cattle. There is no exact information about the presence of human sacrifices among the pagan Slavs.

List of Slavic gods

Common Slavic gods:

Mother-Cheese Earth - the main female image, the goddess of fertility, she was worshiped and asked for a good harvest, a good offspring;

Perun is a thundering god, the main god of the pantheon.

Other gods of the Eastern Slavs (also called the pantheon of Vladimir):

Veles is the patron saint of storytellers and poetry;

Volos is the patron saint of livestock;

Dazhbog is a solar deity, considered the ancestor of all Russian people;

Mokosh is the patroness of spinning and weaving;

Genus and women in labor are deities who personify fate;

Svarog is the god-blacksmith;

Svarozhich is the personification of fire;

Simargl is a messenger between heaven and earth;

Stribog is a deity associated with the winds;

Horse is the personification of the sun.

Also, the Slavic pagans had various images that personified certain natural phenomena, but were not deities. These include Maslenitsa, Kolyada, Kupala and others. The effigies of these images were burned during holidays and rituals.

Persecution of the Gentiles and the End of Paganism

The more Russia united, the more it increased its political power and expanded contacts with other, more developed states, the more the pagans were persecuted by adherents of Christianity. After the Baptism of Rus took place, Christianity became not just a new religion. But with a new way of thinking, it began to have a huge political and social role. The pagans who did not want to accept the new religion (and there were a lot of them) entered into open confrontation with the Christians, but the latter did everything to reason with the "barbarians". Paganism persisted until the 12th century, but then it gradually began to fade away.

The separation of the ancient Slavs from the Indo-European community and the formation of the Proto-Slavic ethnic and linguistic unity took place already in ancient times. By about the middle of the 1st millennium A.D. start-

the disintegration of the Proto-Slavic unity and the formation of three separate linguistic groups: Eastern, Southern and Western Slavs.

Sources and problems of study. The ancient beliefs of the Slavs are restored on the basis of written sources, the results of archaeological excavations, ethnographic material and data from comparative historical linguistics. Among the written sources that make it possible to reconstruct East Slavic paganism, the most interesting are the ancient Russian annalistic, hagiographic and polemic texts, in which pagan beliefs are presented in the context of the Christianization of Rus. Valuable material for reconstructing these beliefs is contained in the Tale of Bygone Years (early 12th century), the Novgorod Chronicles, the Sophia Chronicle, the Life of Vladimir and other monuments. In addition, for the study of Slavic paganism, the testimonies of Byzantine authors are used - the historian, writer and close commander of Belisarius - Procopius of Caesarea (d. About 562), Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus (905-959), learned cleric Leo Deacon (b. About 950) and Arab writers, merchants and travelers X-XI centuries. - Ibn Fadlan, Masudi, Ibn Rosta, al-Balkhi, etc.

Despite the fact that the number of the listed sources may seem significant, in reality, researchers of the religious beliefs of the ancient Slavs are faced with a number of problems, since:

• the use of archeological and ethnographic data for the study of the religious ideas of the Eastern Slavs is complicated by the fact that the religious interpretation of these materials, as a rule, is not unambiguous;
• the information about the pre-Christian religion of the Eastern Slavs presented in written sources refers to the late period of the development of religious ideas, which took shape on the eve of the adoption of Christianity;
• in Christian polemical texts, Old Slavic paganism is often described in a stereotyped manner, under the influence of translated Christian texts that denounced the beliefs of the ancient world.

Unfortunately, until now, many scientific studies and popular scientific statements of ancient Slavic beliefs bear traces of excessive categoricality: hypotheses without proper justification are declared theories, polemics are conducted from the standpoint of a priori possession of truth, and assumptions consonant with one or another concept are considered, regardless of their argumentation as evidence. Sometimes assumptions are proved by reconstructions made on the basis of these very assumptions, even though this type of evidence is not in any way convincing. Researchers of Slavic paganism, without due reason, often declare the concepts of their opponents refuted on the basis of their own disagreement, sometimes framed in the form of an article in a journal, and sometimes even without it. There are frequent cases of irresponsible accusations of both Russophobia, nationalism, chauvinism, betrayal of national interests - and all this is based on the assessment of scientific, not political views of researchers.

In this regard, the main problems of the modern scientific study of Slavic paganism should be highlighted:

• the lack of a sufficient number of reliable informative and authentic sources at the moment;
• significant politicization and ideologization of scientific discourse;
• gravitation to the extremes of hypercriticism or complete absence of criticism of sources;
• gravitation towards unconvincing reconstructions and unverifiable hypothesis;
• unjustified categoricality of many generalizations and conclusions;
• unwillingness to take into account the various available approaches to the interpretation of the material;
• the confidence that scientific concepts can be refuted by a simple assumption, even if expressed in a categorical form.

The data of comparative linguistics and Slavic etymology make it possible to clarify some issues related to the interpretation of individual deities of the Slavic pantheon, to determine the vectors of intercultural interaction (various borrowings), but linguistic data alone are not enough to restore the whole picture of Slavic religion.

Demonology. The most ancient and, at the same time, tenacious form of Proto-Slavic beliefs was the cult of the forces of nature and spirits - the keepers of the inhabited territory, traces of which can be traced in ethnographic material at least until the beginning of the 20th century. in the characters of lower demonology - a devil, a water one, a brownie, mermaids, etc. The images of the listed characters of folk mythology include both ancient and later features, and ideas about them were formed under the influence of various cultural and religious processes, therefore they have a pronounced synthetic and syncretic character and it is not always possible to separate the “ancient” from the “new” in them seems possible. It can be assumed that the names of demonic characters that have become traditional - "goblin", "water", "brownie" - are not original, since they are not recorded in reliable ancient Russian texts. But this does not indicate that the listed characters themselves are the result of later myth-making. So, quite reliable mention of the "devil-dweller" can reasonably be correlated with the brownie. In any case, acquaintance with these characters allows us to see in the later folklore and mythological discourse the ancient pagan archetypes that were formed during the period of dominance in the ancient Slavic worldview of pagan ideas.

Leshy - one of the most popular characters of Slavic demonology, the spirit is the owner of the forest, the lord of forest animals. In the popular perception, the goblin had both zoomorphic and anthropomorphic features. Despite some malice of character, he cannot be considered a uniquely hostile creature to man. Goblin is able to change his appearance and height, he can lead a person astray - make him wander in the forest thickets. According to anthropologists, much in the image of a devil brings him closer to the mortgaged dead, which will be described in more detail below. Also, the anthropologist DK Zelenin mentions the existence of ideas that the goblin is not alien to erotic attraction to women.

If a cow or other cattle disappeared in the forest, the peasant turned to a “knowledgeable” person to write a petition to the Forest Tsar (that is, the “main goblin”) about the return of the loss. The symbolic presentation of the "petition" was accompanied by a ritual sacrifice. It was believed that shepherds grazing herds in the forests or in the immediate vicinity of them should conclude a special agreement with the devil - the latter was obliged to monitor the herd, to protect it from predatory animals for a special fee. Deceiving him, it was believed, could cost the shepherd's life. The popular notion that the goblin of neighboring forests play cards to each other by packs of forest animals, of course, were formed not so long ago.

Another image known in ancient Slavic mythology is waterwho was revered as a spirit - the master of the aquatic world, the lord of fish and creatures of lower demonology - mermaids, the drowned also belong to his kingdom. It dwells, according to legends, at the bottom of deep pools. The image of the aquatic one combines anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features. It was believed that he is an insidious and hostile creature to man: he is able to drown swimmers, break through the mill dam, scare away fish. Sacrifices were brought to him to propitiate the water. In later folk mythology, there was a partial contamination of the image of the aquatic and the devil. Because of this, the miller was perceived as a "knowledgeable", a sorcerer, communicating with devils and able to cause many troubles to his fellow villagers, but he could also help.

As a spirit - the guardian of the house was revered brownie - a creature disposed to a person, at least not hostile to him. Pets were considered to be under the special patronage of a brownie. However, in the popular perception, he was characterized by selectivity, sometimes insidious: he cares about the animals he loved, and annoys the unloved in every possible way.

In order for the brownie to be kind to people, he was “coaxed”, ie. made small offerings, etc. It was believed that in anger he begins to frighten people, beat them at night, spoil and break things. On the contrary, they expected various help from a benevolent brownie, warning of coming misfortunes, and help with housework. They treated him with great respect and fear, they were afraid to anger him with a careless word or deed.

When moving to a new house, a special ritual of “inviting” the brownie to move with the owners was performed.

According to S. A. Tokarev's observation, in Slavic mythology “if the spirits of nature are to a certain extent hostile to man ... then domestic spirits are not at all hostile to people, according to popular beliefs they are not considered hostile to Christianity: the brownie, for example, is not only not afraid of the cross, but loves incense, wax candle, Easter eggs, holy water, juniper "1.

It is obvious that in later times the listed characters of ancient mythology were not perceived as demons, since the peasants congratulated them on Easter (!), Saying three times: "Christ is risen, the master of the field, forest, brownie, water, with the hostess and children!" In contrast to them, another ancient character of mythological beliefs - devil, ideas about which were formed in the pre-Christian period of ancient Russian culture, and regardless of it, they did not congratulate on Easter. The devil was a creature a priori hostile to man, and therefore, as a result, his image was contaminated with demons.

In general, the habitat and the attitude towards a person of the above and other natural and domestic spirits of East Slavic demonology are presented in table. 3.5.

Table 35

Some characters of East Slavic demonology, their localization and attitude to humans

1 Tokarev S.L. Religious beliefs of the East Slavic peoples of the 19th - early 20th centuries. M., 2011.S. 100.

The cult of the brownie, the goblin, the water one, is probably associated with the belief in Navi and the notion of the hostage dead.

The mortgaged dead The dead were considered an unnatural death, wanderers, vagabonds, bitter drunkards, etc. who died on the way. The origin of the term "pledged" remains unclear to this day. The Russian ethnographer DK Zelenin suggested that in the popular mind the ancestors who died by their own death were clearly distinguished, who were revered as patrons of the living and were respectfully called "parents", and the harmful dead who died an unclean death. The bodies of the latter were deprived of the traditional burial in the ground, but were left on its surface and thrown over (“laid down”) by the branches of plants. It was believed that the pledged dead were unclean, therefore their inhumation could cause the anger of the earth, moreover, there were beliefs that the earth itself refused to accept their bodies. They were viewed as a source of potential threat to the living, could be the cause of epidemics, droughts and other natural disasters. There was a belief that the bodies of the pledged dead did not lend themselves to decay, so they were able to periodically return to the world of the living, bringing troubles and troubles.

The point of view of D.K.Zelenin, authoritative up to the present time, is not the only one. Other researchers drew attention to the similarity of the words "mortgage" and "pledge", ie. pledged \u003d pledged soul. If we consider that the term “pledge” could mean an abandoned land, it can be assumed that “pledges” are the forgotten dead, whose names have been erased from the memory of the living.

A number of signs bring the pledged deceased closer to the ancient ideas about the Navies.

Navi in ancient Slavic mythology, they appeared as generally restless souls of the dead, capable and eager to exert a harmful influence on the world of the living. To protect against them, amulets and other forms of magical protection were used, and offerings were made to appease them. On the miniature of the Radziwill Chronicle, depicting the attack of the Navies on Polotsk, they are depicted as black demonic creatures covered with wool, tailed, but retaining some anthropomorphic features. It was believed that they send disease and cause mortal wounds to people.

Most likely, the ritual of the cults listed was not developed and was reduced to scattered magical and propitiatory actions.

Concepts of the afterlife. In general, the available materials do not allow to unambiguously restore the ideas about the posthumous existence of man, characteristic of the ancient Slavs. It is known that there were ideas about Irin - a southern country where migratory birds winter and where, apparently, also in the form of a bird, the soul of the deceased who has found peace flies away.

In parallel with the cult of natural forces, animate beliefs are developing associated with the aforementioned veneration of the dead, "pure" dead, who act as benevolent spirits of ancestors,

caring for fellow tribesmen. As already mentioned, there was faith in evil spirits that are capable of bringing misfortune, sending various troubles.

Gods. Gradually, animistic beliefs transform the cult of natural phenomena, contributing to the development of religious ideas from animatism to theism, but the pantheon, judging by the available data, is formed late, not long before the adoption of Christianity. Objection to skeptics who believed that the Slavic pre-Christian beliefs were primitive, L. Niederle 1 stated:

In general, comparing the Slavic culture in the period immediately preceding the adoption of Christianity with the culture of neighboring and related Slavs peoples, in principle I cannot admit that the Slavs - the only Indo-European people - are so far behind in the development of their religious worldview that in general did not rise to the highest concepts and ideas about any system of gods and did not have corresponding temples and rituals. Looking around the top of Slavic culture in my mind's eye, I completely exclude the possibility of such a situation.

Problematic issues

Religious ideas of the Slavs developed on the ancient foundation of Indo-European mythology, therefore, one should be very careful about various theories of borrowing objects of religious cult and ritual practices by the ancient Slavs from their neighbors - the Baltic and other Indo-European tribes. Most likely, most of the parallels are explained not by borrowing, but by the unity of the source of religious ideas dating back to the era of ancient Proto-Indo-European unity.

From the moment of the separation of the Slavs from the Indo-European community and to the baptism of Rus (the end of the 9th century), the religious beliefs of the Slavs underwent significant development, however, the early forms of belief did not die out, but continued to exist along with the later ones, although often in a reduced form. As a result, on the eve of baptism, the religious ideas of the Slavs included both the legacy of animism and the formed polytheistic ideas. About the gods of the ancient Slavs, there are, although quite numerous, but scattered and laconic chronicle evidence.

A number of important testimonies about the pantheon are found in the Tale of Bygone Years. When describing the conclusion of the treaty that completed the campaign of Prince Oleg against the Greeks (912), the chronicler notes that the Slavs "swore by their weapons, and Perun, their god, and Volos, the god of cattle, and established peace." Perun as the god of the Slavs is also mentioned in the treaty of 945, concluded in Constantinople by the ambassadors of Prince Igor.

The cult of Perun is reconstructed quite fully, since there are numerous references to him in literary monuments, and his name is clearly recorded in the names of settlements, mountains, lakes, etc. He is the common Slavic god of thunder and thunder, while there are certain parallels between the cults of Perun and the German-Scandinavian Thor or the Baltic Nerkunas. However, this is explained not so much by borrowings as by the fact that the veneration of these gods goes back to a single Indo-European basis.

Old Russian chronicles describe the idol of Perun as an anthropomorphic image of an elderly husband, with a silver head and golden mustache. It should be noted that only in relation to the idol of Perun, the chronicler gives some details, the rest are given by a simple listing. Some researchers consider such an exceptional interest of the chronicler to the cult of Perun as evidence in favor of the fact that the latter was revered by the main god of Ancient Russia, the head of its pantheon. However, this remains nothing more than an assumption. Moreover, the available sources do not allow a convincing answer to the question of how much the ancient Russian pantheon was a structured and hierarchical unity. The sanctuaries of Perun were located on the tops of the mountains and were open areas enclosed by a ritual rampart, behind which was the idol of Perun and sacred fires burned.

The cult of Perun was especially popular among the princely warriors and the military aristocracy in general, the name of this god appears in the international treaties of Ancient Rus and Byzantium as a guarantor of the fulfillment of contractual obligations. The god's weapons were arrows ("thunder arrow"), an ax (which also brings Perun and Thor closer together) and a club. The sacred tree of Perun was an oak, in oak groves some rituals dedicated to him were performed. The overthrow of the idols of Perun, described in a number of chronicles, was presented to the chroniclers as an allegory of the Baptism of Rus.

Little is known about Veles: he is mentioned, for example, in "The Lay of Igor's Host", however, the functions of this god cannot be restored from the Old Russian evidence proper. Based on Indo-European parallels, it can be assumed that Veles was the Slavic god of the afterlife.

A number of researchers consider the theonym “Volos” and the name “Veles”, known from the Old Russian texts, as variants of the name of one god, differing only in vocalization. However, such conclusions should be considered controversial from a linguistic point of view. In addition, in terms of content, they are unsatisfactory, since there is no information that Veles was related to livestock or wealth.

The so-called "Veles's book". The text published in the 1950s is known under this name. abroad and containing supposedly reliable information on Proto-Slavic history, mythology and religion, written by pagans long before the Baptism of Rus. This text, as reported by the publishers, was discovered shortly after the revolution of 1917 in Kursk (variant - Oryol) province by officer T.A.Isenbek, taken abroad, where it was later published in emigre publications. The text of the "Veles Book" was allegedly applied to wooden planks using a peculiar alphabet, later these planks were declared missing. As one would expect, the publication of the Veles Book caused a stir in the press, but the research carried out unambiguously showed that it is a late rough forgery (approximately the 19th century). The text of the "Veles Book" is written in a quasi-language, in which there is a mixture of all possible and impossible morphemes and grammatical features, there is no morphological system in it, but there are a lot of anachronisms. Such a language simply cannot exist - it is not capable of providing communication, i.e. perform the main function of the language.

Volos is characterized by the chronicler as "The Cattle God", ie. god is the patron saint of livestock. Also, this name is represented in a number of toponyms and in some chronicle descriptions of ancient Russian international treaties. Obviously, Volos' functions were not limited to patronage of domestic animals: in the Old Russian language, the word “cattle” could be used to denote wealth as such.

After Christianization in the culture of "two-faith" Russia, the cult of Volos and Christian St. Blasia.

Problematic issues

An important chronicle of the ancient Russian gods is contained in the "Tale of Bygone Years". It speaks of a kind of reform of the pagan pantheon, carried out at the insistence of Prince Vladimir in the initial period of his reign (in 980). Translated by Academician D.S.Likhachev, this text looks like this:

And Vladimir began to reign in Kiev alone and put idols on the hill behind the terem courtyard: the wooden Perun with a silver head and golden mustache, then Khors, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Simargl and Makosh. And they sacrificed to them, calling them gods, and brought their sons and daughters to them ...

This evidence of the chronicle, for all its apparent simplicity, leaves open a number of questions. It is difficult to explain the absence of the “cattle god” Volos in this list, who, being the guarantor of oaths, obviously occupied an important place in the ancient Slavic religion. The name Simargl also remains mysterious, which defies unambiguous interpretation.

And the greatest number of questions is associated with the source underlying the chronicle testimony: did the chronicler rely on an oral tradition dating back to the time of the events described, or did he use random fragmentary information about the real paganism of the Slavs to describe it? The latter point of view was shared, for example, by the authoritative researcher of East Slavic paganism V. I. Mansikka 1, who argued that this list of gods is not trustworthy. Other scientists, including Academician B.A. Rybakov-, regarded this chronicle evidence as reliable, proceeding from the fact that the gods mentioned in it do not represent a random list or a copyist's error.

If the cult of Perun is generally clear, then the image of Khors remains largely unclear. It is customary to interpret him as the sun god of the ancient Slavic pantheon. A hard-to-interpret testimony about Khorey is contained in the "Lay of Igor's Campaign", which says that Prince Vseslav Bryachislavich "at night ... the great Khorsa wolf crossed the path." The testimony of the German traveler Wunderer, who visited Russia at the end of the 16th century, mentions two ancient idols located near Pskov. One of them depicted a snake-fighter holding a sword in one hand and a sunbeam in the other, and was, according to Wunderer, the idol of Horse. Despite the fact that much later one of the two idols described by the traveler was actually discovered, on the whole, his mention of Horse the snake-fighter cannot be considered reliable. Some researchers consider Khors and Dazhdbog as different names of one god, or consider Khors to be its ancient Iranian equivalent. In favor of the latter, it is evidence that in some texts Chora is declared a "Jew", ie "A foreigner", and his name is represented by a number of spellings - up to and including Hus, which is not typical for other Slavic deities.

Unfortunately, even less is known about Dazhdbog and Stribog. It can be assumed that Stribog was revered as the ruler and progenitor of the winds, and Dazhdbog - as a source of wealth, a god who bestows a person with an abundance of material benefits. But such an interpretation is based on one of the etymologies of the name Dazhdbog, according to which the latter goes back to the word form "Give" ("give"). Not all researchers agree with this. From the testimony of a Byzantine writer of the 6th century. John Malala, it follows that Dazhdbog was associated with the cult of the sun, it is possible that his cult dates back to the ancient Indo-European worship of fire. In "The Lay of Igor's Regiment" Dazhdbog acts as the ancestor-patron of the Old Russian community - the warriors of Prince Igor are called "Dazhd God's grandchildren." As for Stribog, some researchers interpret him as a god - a giver of benefits, deriving the name Stribog from the imperative of the verb "to stretch."

Simargl's image also remains mysterious in many ways. Neither the origin of the name of this deity, nor its functions, and even more so iconography, have not been reliably clarified to date. There is a possible genetic connection between Simargl and Senmur, the winged dog of ancient Iranian mythology. In particular, this hypothesis was adhered to by Academician B.A. Rybakov, who drew parallels between Simargl - Senmur and images of mythical winged creatures known from ancient Slavic applied art. There are other interpretations of this god.

The name of the only goddess of the Slavic pantheon, Makosh, is known from the chronicles. Comparative studies of ancient mythologies made it possible to make an assumption about some parallels between her cult and the cults of the ancient Greek moira and Germanic norn - the goddesses of fate. Most researchers interpret Makosh as the goddess of fate and the patroness of the harvest. B.A.Rybakov suggests that her name is two-part: Ma (abbreviated "mother") and Kosh ("Harvest, abundance"), i.e. Makosh

"Mother of the crop", however, this interpretation is not generally accepted, and from a linguistic point of view it seems generally unlikely. Some researchers explain the name Makosh by Finno-Ugric borrowing.

An appeal to the data of comparative and historical religious studies suggests that the cult of Makosha was associated with fertility and, in general, the reproductive forces of nature. In ancient Russian Christian texts, the rituals dedicated to Mokos are equated with fornication, and perhaps this is not just an allegory: in the "Word of Idols" the worshipers of Mokos are accused of malacia - this word denotes voluptuousness and various perversions in the New Testament and patriotic literature.

Ancient Russian monuments of Christian anti-pagan apologetics mention the existence of veneration of the Family and women in labor. In some of these texts, the cult of the Rod is identified with the belief in the abstract concept of "fate", "happiness", but it is difficult to imagine that such beliefs were widespread among the people. From other accusatory texts, it follows that in honor of the Rod, ritual meals were arranged, during which special chants were performed, the idols of the Rod are also mentioned, but it is difficult to say anything definite about them.

In the reconstruction of Slavic paganism, performed by B.A.Rybakov, Rod takes the place of one of the main gods of the pagan pantheon of Ancient Rus. Academician ON Trubachev 1 believed that the existence of the cult of this god is confirmed by intrasemantic analogies with the Roman, Celtic and Umbrian gods. However, this assumption about the existence of the cult of the Family in Ancient Rus is disputed by a number of scientists. It is also likely that the image of the Sort goes back to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe existence of a "kind of gods", i.e. to notions of kinship within the pantheon.

The mentioned women in labor can be interpreted as characters of lower demonology associated with ideas about fate, or as the goddess of childbirth.

Idols. The most important attribute of the pagan cult of the ancient Slavs were anthropomorphic images made of wood or stone - idols (idols) before which prayers and sacrifices were performed. The fact that it was the man-made idols that were the symbolic center of the pagan religion is evidenced by the fact that the Christianization of ancient Russian cities was accompanied by the overthrow of pagan idols, during which the images of the gods underwent "ritual mockery" - they were dragged through sewage, beaten, thrown into rivers, etc. P.

The surviving Slavic idols, with minor exceptions, are crudely executed anthropomorphic images; due to poor preservation and lack of sufficient data, they cannot currently be reliably correlated with the well-known gods of the pantheon. If the images of ancient gods, made of marble, carried a pronounced theological and aesthetic load, then the ancient Slavic idols known to us make a painful impression. Probably, the people who made them either did not pretend to create masterpieces, or did not possess the necessary skills for this, because it is difficult to assume that they did not endow their gods with greatness and beauty. The ancient Slavic idols of fine work mentioned in the sources have not survived to our time.

An exception is the so-called Zbruch idol, discovered by chance in 1848 in the basin of the Zbruch River (a northern tributary of the Upper Dniester), well preserved and distinguished by the subtlety of stone-cutting work. It is a four-sided pillar, carved out of gray limestone, about 2.5 m high. A distinctive feature of the Zbruch idol is the richness of the composition, saturated with various anthropomorphic images, which are interpreted rather conventionally. In it, three tiers of the image are clearly traced, presented on all four faces of the pillar, which, obviously, correspond to the concept of "three worlds": the underworld - the kingdom of the dead, the earthly world and the heavenly world. The idol's connection with the cult center on Mount Bohit is likely.

Sanctuaries. On the basis of the surviving evidence, it can be assumed that the main rites of the pagan cult were performed in open sanctuaries, in which idols were installed and sacred fires were kindled. The presence of temples for this period of the history of religion is not traced in archaeological sites.

The so-called swamp settlements - located among the swamps, level, almost perfectly round areas, surrounded by low ramparts. The traces of fires found in these settlements by archaeologists, the remains of wooden structures, stone pavements, with an almost complete absence of a cultural layer (household rubbish, broken things, etc.), allows us to make an assumption about their ritual purpose.

Unfortunately, it should be admitted that artifacts and remains of structures discovered by archaeologists are often declared ritual in Russian scientific and popular science literature, the economic-pragmatic or military interpretation of which is difficult. Because of this, everything that turns out to be difficult to explain and somehow interpret is often declared cult or ritual only for this reason.

Rituals and priesthood. An integral feature of the pagan religious cult was sacrifice, primarily propitious. There was also the practice of human sacrifice, evidence of which is abundant in the annals and in other sources, but it seems to have become an exceptional phenomenon by the time the Slavs adopted Christianity.

The presence of developed religious ideas among the ancient Slavs is confirmed by the available data on the priesthood, which ensured both the conduct of pagan rituals and the performance of astronomical observations, the maintenance of the ancient calendar, perhaps fortune-telling and predictions. Pagan divination rituals suggested the use of heckand res - special signs, which, according to the testimony of Chernorizets the Brave (X century), were used by the ancient Slavs both for fortune telling and as a kind of analogue of writing. Old Russian chronicles contain numerous confirmations of the influence of the priestly estate in Old Russian society, magi repeatedly become the center of pagan reaction, they not only oppose the Christian clergy, but are also able to lead a fairly massive popular movement of supporters of the "ancient faith."

Analysis of sources of the XII-XIV centuries. allowed Academician B. A. Rybakov to reconstruct the names of representatives of the priestly estate (Table 3.6).

East Slavic priesthood

Table 3.6

It is possible that this list contains synonymous terms. In any case, on the basis of these data, one cannot draw conclusions about the presence of a priestly hierarchy.

Problematic issues

The statements about the presence of writing in the pre-Christian period among the Eastern Slavs does not have sufficient confirmation. Moreover, the assertions of the supporters of the assumption that the ancient Slavic writing was destroyed by Christian missionaries does not stand up to criticism. It is difficult to imagine a written tradition in which all texts are exclusively religious in nature - after all, missionaries would not destroy business and other business records. Of course, one cannot deny the possibility that in the pre-Christian period some inhabitants of ancient cities were involved in a foreign written culture, all the more so - they could write their name using the Greek, Latin or even runic alphabet, but no lengthy texts dating back to the pre-Christian time in Russia has not yet been discovered.

Slavic neo-paganism. East Slavic paganism in its rudimentary forms, at the level of folklore ideas, survived in rural areas until the 20th century. The famous Russian ethnographer and historian of the 19th century. Mikhail Zabylin, not without naivety, believed:

With the development of education everywhere and literacy in the villages and villages, with the construction of railways and their running in all directions, our Russian backwaters and wilderness began to revive: together with the emancipation 1, a close convergence of all classes of society began; the reduction in the cost of communication with the main cities, or, so to speak, with trade points, made the peasants more cheeky, cheerful, humane and gave many of them the means for the correct development of concepts, new life, new rights. Seeing steam locomotives, steamers, telegraphs, photographs, people began to understand more firmly that these objects are worth more attention than some barn-faced illiterate sorcerer and his actions. In addition, teachers began to be appointed everywhere, schools were formed to spread literacy, and the clergy themselves, by the nature of their upbringing, began to look at their flock differently, and all this has influenced the peasants a lot so far, in the future, of course, it will be even better, established everywhere literacy and general military service will have a beneficial effect on the common people and, of course, superstitious rituals will be eradicated, and at the same time they will improve life, putting the people on good ground with new beginnings.

However, ideas appealing to ancient paganism should not always be considered as a consequence of ignorance; they may well arise in the modern information and technological society and be attractive to educated people.

Slavic neopaganism (some adherents use the self-name “ native faith») Is a conglomerate of communities and individual adherents, while the range of doctrinal attitudes, mythological representations and ritual practices is wide, and existing unions and associations are weak and unstable. Since there is no sufficient data for a more or less accurate and detailed reconstruction of the Slavic pre-Christian religion, the leaders of neo-paganism usually offer various “author's” models, sometimes very far from plausible. Within the framework of Slavic neo-paganism, with a certain degree of conventionality, several directions or rather trends (fig. 3.1).

1. Radical direction uses ancient Slavic mythology and various reconstructions of ancient Slavic religious practices to promote social and political doctrines. Their representatives are distinguished by a strong rejection of modern social reality, rejection of the principle of cultural equality, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, Christianophobia. Supporters of this trend are known for their sympathy for the ideologemes and symbols of Nazi Germany; their works have been repeatedly recognized by the courts as extremist. Many "moderate" neo-pagans distance themselves from radicals, regarding the latter's groups not so much as religious, but as political societies, whose membership is compromising.

Fig. 3.1.

• 2. Fantastic destination - adepts believe in various extremely implausible, fantastic stories about the Slavic gods traveling in spaceships, about sacred books written on gold plates and kept secret by initiates, about secret organizations that have preserved and passed on the sacred for more than a thousand (!) years religious knowledge and ensured the continuity of priestly initiations. Among this trend, various "sacred texts" are popular, allegedly monuments of Slavic pre-Christian culture and containing absolutely fantastic information. In addition, among the adepts, the belief is cultivated that after the Baptism of Rus, the pagan tradition existed in deeply conspiratorial, but numerous and powerful pagan societies, to which, they say, the modern "wise men" also belong. The question of how neither the tsarist gendarmerie nor the Soviet United State Political Administration and the State Security Committee found out anything about them is simply bypassed.
• 3. Historical direction- supporters are making efforts to restore the pre-Christian Slavic cult based on authentic sources and scientific research. Adherents of the historical direction distance themselves from both radicals and adherents of fantastic ideas and doctrines, respectively, their ideas about the essence of the pre-Christian religion of the Slavs are closest to the data of modern science.
• 4. Environmental direction - a kind of religious reaction to the crisis of modern urbanism. Its adherents believe that the pathological, stressful and unnatural life of an inhabitant of a metropolis should be contrasted with “natural” life on earth in close contact with “unpopulated” nature. The deification of nature is combined with references to ancient Slavic mythology.
• 5. Folklore and ethnographic direction revives pagan rituals as an element of folk culture. Like a radical

and ecological, it should be considered as a quasi-religious direction. Representatives often unite in folklore groups, hold holidays, folk festivals with a "pagan bias", release appropriate music discs, hold concerts of ethnic and pseudo-ethnic music.

In any case, today's "typical" neo-pagan who grew up in modern society, has an education (secondary, higher), social connections, using modern technologies cannot seriously say that his worldview, views on the universe and man are in any way identical pre-Christian religion of the Slavs, although, of course, the latter was not a static system. The ancient Slavic pagans were born, lived, raised children and died within the framework of a single, organic worldview, which thus pervaded their entire life. A modern university graduate who belongs to a native-faith community, in most cases, cannot say this about himself. The teaching and ritual practice of most of the "modern wise men" contains many features of postmodernism and the game culture of the carnival.

Niederle L. Slavic antiquities. M "2013. S. 379. Trubachev O. II. Thoughts on the pre-Christian religion of the Slavs in the light of Slavic linguistics // To the origins of Russia: people and language: collection of articles. Art. M., 2013.

THE PAGING OF ANCIENT SLAVS - polytheistic beliefs and rituals that existed among the Slavs before the adoption of the monotheistic religion - Christianity.
The term "paganism" appeared in the Old Russian language after the adoption of Christianity to denote all pre-Christian and non-Christian cults and was used by Orthodox preachers. In other words, the term "paganism" is conditional and does not mean any specific beliefs, but any traditional folk religion. In modern scientific literature, the term "polytheism" is often used (from the Greek polys - numerous; and theos - god; that is, polytheism, belief in many gods).
Slavic paganism reflected and expressed the entire life path of a communal peasant: the cycle of agricultural work, domestic life, weddings, funerals, etc. Pagan deities are directly related to natural objects that were in the sphere of life and productive activities of the Slavs - land, forest, water, sky, sun, animals, plants, stones, etc. The object of worship was the productive forces of nature, everything that directly affects the harvest - rain, wind, sunlight, thunder, lightning, etc. The main object of worship among the Slavs was the land. In Slavic paganism, the earth is the productive force of nature ("nurse") and the ancestor, the mother of all living things ("mother of cheese earth").
Since the Slavic tribes lived on a vast territory from the Dnieper to the Danube, from the Baltic to the Black Seas, they had different gods.
The Baltic Slavs, who lived in ancient times on the territory of Northern Germany, were considered the main god of Sventovit. Sventovit is a "god of the gods" who performed the functions of both the main god and the god of war. The main temple of Sventovit was located in the city of Arkona on the island of Rugen-Ruyen. In the middle of the city there was an open square, on which a wooden temple stood, surrounded by a double fence. The outer steps of the temple were decorated with bas-reliefs in the form of figures of various gods. Inside the temple was a large, taller than human idol - the idol of the god Sventovit, the four heads of Sventovit looked in different directions of the world.
The Slavs who lived in the territory of modern Poland revered Triglav as the main god. Not far from the modern city of Szczecin, on the main of the three sacred hills, his three-headed idol stood. The idol's eyes were covered with a gold band. Triglav's symbol was a black horse.
The Eastern Slavs revered Svarog - the god of fire, the father of the sun; Dazhdboga - the deity of sunlight, the giver of benefits, who was sometimes called the son of Svarog; Striboga - presumably the god of the winds; Mokosh - "mother of the harvest", the goddess of the earth; Volos (Veles) - the benevolent god of the earth, livestock and wealth. Tayuke Perun was revered - the god of thunder and thunder, the patron saint of the military squad and the prince. The oak was the symbol of Perun. Until now, archaeologists find the remains of huge oak trees, which our ancestors worshiped as Perun.
Mentioned in the "Tale of Bygone Years" Simargl and Khoros (Khors), apparently, are Iranian deities brought to Russia by the Khorezm guard hired by the Khazars.
The Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus described the thanksgiving service of the pagan Rus on the Dnieper island of Khortitsa: " They reach the island ... and on this island they make their sacrifices, because there is a huge oak tree. They sacrifice live roosters, stick arrows all around, while others bring pieces of bread, meat and what everyone has, as their custom requires ..."
In 979-980, even before the adoption of Christianity, at the behest of the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, six idols of various pagan gods - Stribog, Dazhdbog, Mokoshi, Simargl, Khors and Perun - were collected in one place near Kiev, where they set up a temple - a sacred place of worship gods. Perun was declared the main god, whose idol was installed in the center of the temple.

But not all Kievites accepted Perun as the main god. Many continued to worship their ancient gods, for example, the god Veles, or, as he was also called, Volos. Kievans put the idol of Veles-Volos on Podol.
Paganism had a significant impact on the formation of the Christian cult and ordinance. The interval between Christmas and Epiphany was occupied by pre-Christian Christmastide. The pagan Shrovetide became the eve of the Great (pre-Easter) fast. Pagan memorial rites, as well as the ancient Slavic cult of bread, were intertwined in Christian Easter, the cult of birch and herbs, as well as other elements of the ancient Slavic holiday of Semik, were intertwined on the feast of the Trinity. The feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord was combined with the feast of collecting fruits and was called the Apple Savior. The pagan influence is sometimes traced in the ornaments of the monuments of ancient Russian temple construction - solar ("solar") signs, decorative carving, etc.
Many pagan deities "transferred" their functions to Christian saints. Perun began to be personified with Elijah the prophet and George the Victorious; the cults of St. Nicholas of Mirliki, the Archangel Michael and St. Blasius, the special patron saint of cattle, incorporated elements of the worship of Veles; pagan Mokosh merged with Paraskeva Friday and the Mother of God.
Pagan rituals and beliefs (fortune-telling, festivities, funeral rituals) were preserved for a long time in everyday life, both in the midst of the rural and urban population, and in the princely-boyar environment. The pagan archaic can be traced in the monuments of literary and oral creativity, especially in epics, songs, etc.
At the level of everyday superstitions, paganism persisted constantly, remaining a means of man's mythological assimilation of nature.

So, someone decided to become a Slavic pagan, or at least to understand this topic enough to understand whether it suits him. I, for many years as a pagan, and at the same time as a scientist studying the faith of the Slavs as a certified religious scholar, will try to give for such a small manual on this issue.

In the beginning - as I like to do - a few sobering facts:

1) There is not a single text written by a Slavic pagan in antiquity. It just so happened that the Slavic pagans, for example, unlike the Greeks, despised writing, relying on the once extremely developed oral tradition. Alas, the bet didn't quite work out. Folklore (\u003d oral folk art), of course, brought to us some fragments of past legends, but it is not possible to reliably reveal the basic things about paganism after a millennium of Christian domination, heaps of losses, foreign borrowings and author's inclusions. So throw Veles's Book (1950s) and other “Vedic scriptures” on “Slavic runes” into the trash immediately, especially if the names of Asov or Khinevich (1990s) are noticed there. All the true sources on Slavic paganism were sometimes written by far from impartial carriers of Christianity or Islam up to the XIII-XIV centuries. Almost everything (with rare exceptions) that appeared later was speculation or direct forgeries of varying degrees of inadequacy. Early falling under the influence of inadequate authors is, in my opinion, the greatest danger for a novice Slavic pagan: too many such authors have divorced.

2) Like any Indo-European paganism in Europe (Germanic, Celtic, and the same Greek), the continuity of the transmission of faith in Slavic paganism is interrupted. That is, in 1150 there were still people who clearly spoke about themselves: “I am a Slavic pagan” and taught the basics of the faith of their ancestors. Perhaps the last such people were back in 1250. But it is absolutely certain that there were no such people in 1550. Paganism as self-consciousness perished at the end of the Middle Ages. The remnants of paganism were carried by Christians by self-determination, even if they used magic that was completely pagan in origin or celebrated Shrovetide (no matter what some shots grumbled). For at least 500 years, there were no people in the world who recognized and called themselves a Slavic pagan. And suddenly - once! - and there appeared in the XX century people who again began to call themselves Slavic pagans and try to revive in one form or another the foundations of the old faith. In science they are called neo-pagans, that is, "new pagans." Nobody forces you to call yourself that - but we must admit that this term is correct.

3) Thus, the main task of a novice Slavic neo-pagan is to find such a form of the recently created spiritual system that would most adequately ensure continuity with the spirituality of the ancient religion of the Slavs, and at the same time was adapted to modern realities. It is not so simple: we do not know everything about the ancient faith, but no one knows how to adapt it to the present age. Hence the diversity of communities and teachings. But some - build these systems on lies about Slavic antiquity and culture (what then is their "Slavicness"?); and some - on those foundations that really constituted the spirituality of our ancestors.

Now let's move on to the positives.
- Slavic paganism is at its core really the faith of ancestors. The ancient Slavs did not borrow this religion from anyone, but took the covenants of antiquity from their fathers and grandfathers, who learned to live in harmony with the environment typical of the Slavs, which is characteristic precisely and only for them. There is something in common between Slavic paganism and the Slavic language: it has the same amount of not always clear depth at first sight, it has the same amount of mysteriously "native" and well-aimed, and at the same time it is the heritage of our ancestors, somewhat changing over the centuries. Nobody invented it entirely, but everyone could offer him something new, which, if successful, could take root in him.
- Slavic paganism is really a "natural faith". The ancient Slavs did not know the concept of "ecology" and in some ways would definitely not seem to us environmentally friendly. However, due to objective factors, they lived in harmony with nature and supported this harmony - simply because there was no other way at that time. They were not yet particularly aware of even the concept of "nature", because its antipode, culture, was not seen so clearly. I left the house - here is the field, further the forest: nature. There is a drought, and you are not ready - hunger. Late spring has come, and you are not ready - hunger, death. A wolf rushing from the forest to death a cow - trouble again. The Slavs had to skillfully interact with all these and far from only these natural phenomena. Of course, this influenced religion and a special spiritual connection with Nature in general, and its objects in particular. This concerned far not only everyday practical issues.
- Slavic paganism is a full-fledged religion that millions of people have preserved for many, many centuries. She did not die herself - she was destroyed from the outside, when people ceased to correspond to her level. And if some priest laughs at the inferiority of paganism, laugh in return at him. They are much more stuck in the past than neo-paganism, which is reviving at a pace that terrifies these priests.

Now for some practical advice. First, read more and be smart less.
A) Sources. There are many of them, but do not expect them to be complete. These are pieces of a puzzle, accumulating which, it will not be possible to recreate the whole picture. However, its general features will become clear, and, just as important, it will become clear what does not apply to it. South Slavs, Poles and Czechs have poorly preserved pagan antiquity. Therefore, there are two main buildings - the Old Russian and the Polabian (the Polabian Slavs have now disappeared, and in the Middle Ages they lived next to the Germans in the east of present-day Germany and western Poland). The Old Russian corpus composes "The Tale of Bygone Years", "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" and teachings against paganism, which are well presented in the book by Galkovsky (I recommend) "The Struggle of Christianity with the Remnants of Paganism in Ancient Russia". The Polab corpus is primarily composed of chronicles that can be found by the names of the authors: Titmar of Merseburg, Adam of Bremen, Helmold of Bosau (I advise him first of all) and Saxon Grammaticus. Soon, I hope, next year, we are waiting for an important publication of the Polabian sources in a book with appendices “The Life of St. Otto of Bamberg ”- so far their Russian translation is sorely lacking. I have listed all the most basic; approach the rest more carefully, and do not draw big conclusions from what you read in the first stages. Moreover, some authors, like the same Saxon Grammaticus, are very biased towards the Slavs.

B) Reading the sources alone is not enough for order in the head, although it is it that contributes to this order to the greatest extent. In parallel, one should get acquainted with the best scientific works. My list of starting circle for reading may not be approved by everyone, but I recommend the following works. I have already named Galkovsky. Geishtor A. Mythology of the Slavs is an excellent survey work on all regions, texts and archeology, suitable for the very beginning. Mansikka V.Y. The religion of the Eastern Slavs is the most detailed and qualitative examination of the Old Russian corpus of sources. Niederle L. Slavic antiquities - a description not so much of religion, but of the entire life, customs and culture of the ancient Slavs in general. Klein L.S. The resurrection of Perun is a gorgeous historiography, beautiful language and a fairly complete overview of Old Russian paganism in all respects. This book is criticized a lot, but it is much better than the works of B.A. Rybakov, which I would not recommend reading at all, especially at the beginning of the search. After the above, but not the first, the skeptical work of Lovmyansky - "The Religion of the Slavs and its Decline", rather abstruse, but with a very wide coverage of source texts, will also go out of business. For the Polabian Slavs, for a century and a half, Hilferding's work "History of the Baltic Slavs" remains unsurpassed, which lacks only an archaeological block.

C) Practice. There are several approaches. Polytheists ("polytheists" from Greek) choose the closest Deities and establish a special bond with them. The highest Gods are popular, among whom in the late Old Russian pantheon Perun, the God of warriors, was supreme, but Veles, a shaman and a sage with a special connection with nature, was also revered, Svarog was a craftsman and fire, Mokosh was a “woman's” Goddess. Personally, I have a special honor in Heavenly Father - Dazhbog, whom I see as the head of the pantheon to Perun ( http://dajbojic.livejournal.com/2757.html), and self-explanatory Earth-Mati. Rodnovers - those who reread the not always adequate Rybakov - greatly elevate the Family, but in my eyes it is not God, but rather the image of ancestors. To read - I do, but I do not count as the highest Gods. The Polabian Deities are not so popular, although it is quite possible that Sventovit is Perun, and Triglav is Veles, etc .; but it is not exactly. The gods are worshiped, communicated, meditated, sacrificed and vowed, and they help in return - if it pleases them. Another approach is pantheistic (however, almost every polytheist is a pantheist), this is when the Universe or Nature is presented as Divine. It does not require the development of personal Deities, which is quite convenient in conditions of a lack of sources. This communication with Nature is also in a variety of ways.

D) The practice should also include festivities, of which three are the most important. The most important (although some argue) is the Spring Equinox or near it, preserved in Christianity as Maslenitsa. This is the beginning of a pagan year, although it is still debated what it was called in the old days, and whether it is necessary to involve lunar cycles in its calculation. The second most important holiday is the summer solstice or around it, popularly - Kupala. Since the end of June is for many holidays or vacations, and the weather is finally happy, many communities hold the most significant festivities on Kupala. Finally, on the Winter Solstice or so, Karachun (Christian Kolyada) is held. There are several smaller holidays - I would be careful about those where the names of the Deities appear (such as "Veles Day"). Basically, such holidays are sucked from the finger without any particular reason.

E) What is good and what is bad? - I tried to answer this question in detail here: vk.com/wall-119055965_1835 In short, there are three values, the well-being of which can serve as a sufficient meaning of life: Nature, People and Genus. How to combine it - now everyone decides for himself. But it is absolutely certain that, unlike world religions, Slavic paganism will not hope for "salvation" in the afterlife for a righteous life here. Paganism is also paganism because it is aimed at the prosperity of these values \u200b\u200bhere and now. If you like, we are building a pagan paradise on earth for the benefit of our Nature, People and Family.

F) I tried to describe the structure of the world here: vk.com/wall-119055965_7223 Three layers of worlds, the total aggregate of which is infinite. Did you think ancient mythology did not take into account something? Whatever it is, it has far outstripped physics - I, a scientist (albeit a humanitarian), am firmly convinced of this.
G) I tried to describe something on the topic of theology and myths here.

West Slavic twin idol

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

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

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

Worldview of the Slavs

The nature of beliefs

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

A feature of Slavic paganism is often the allocation of its main deity for each tribe. So in the treaties of Russia with Byzantium Perun is called "our god", "in whom we believe." Helmold speaks of the worship of Svyatovit, "to whom the temple and the idol were dedicated to the greatest splendor, ascribing to him the primacy among the gods."

At the same time, the Slavs, like the Balts, had an idea of \u200b\u200bthe supreme deity.

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

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

The sun, moving around the world of people along its own path ("the path of Khors"), visits both the sky and the underworld (the night sun). A special place is occupied by the moments of sunrise and sunset (images of the evening and morning Dawn).

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

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

It is believed that the Slavs had ideas about the "paradise", which in East Slavic folklore is called Iriy (Vyri), this place is associated with the Sun and birds, is located in the south or underground (under water, in a well). The souls of the departed move there. There are also ideas about Buyan Island, which is also identified with the other world. In medieval Novgorod, there was the idea that paradise could be reached by sea, and that supposedly one of the Novgorodians did it by going east. Ibn Fadlan (century) conveys the views and vision of paradise during the funeral among the Russians as follows:

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

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

The Slavs considered the Danube lands their ancestral home. Procopius of Caesarea (6th century) called the ancestral home of the Slavs "the country of Sporaden", the Bavarian Geographer (9th century) left the following legend about the Danube region of Zaryania: “The Zeruians (Zeriuani), some of whom have a kingdom and from whom all the Slavic tribes, like them affirm, occur and lead their own kind. " In the chronicles of the 17th century, in the legend about the ancestor Slovenia, Zardan is named among the Danube ancestors. Some historians also note that among the Slavs there was an idea of \u200b\u200bthe Carpathians as the Holy Mountains, where their ancient ancestors ("foremothers") lived. The epic giant Svyatogor is the personification of such ideas.

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

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

Periodization of the development of Slavic paganism

There were also ideas about the Stone Age and the Iron Age. The legends about the giants asilk say that they did not know God and threw stone clubs into the sky. In the north of Russia there were legends about "divine people" who exchanged fur for iron things. As far back as the century, the Slavs, according to Theophylact Simokatta, spoke about the production of iron as follows:

There were also differences between tribes that had personified gods and those that had no idols. Helmold (XII century) writes that some Slavs did not have idols:

“The Slavs have many different types of idolatry. For not all of them adhere to the same pagan customs. Some cover the unimaginable statues of their idols with temples, such as the idol in Plune, whose name is Podaga; for others, deities inhabit forests and groves, like Prove, the god of the Aldenburg land - they have no idols. "

B. A. Rybakov also draws attention to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe ancient Russian scribe that before the establishment of faith in Perun, the Slavs believed in Rod, and even earlier - only in ghouls and berekinas. Thus, paganism developed from beliefs with less personification of deities to idolatry. B - c. some of the tribes retained paganism without the personification of the gods and without idols, the other part - worshiped the idols of the gods.

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

"When Pythagoras was in captivity ... a wise man, a Hyperborean genus, named Abaris, came to him just to talk with him, and asked him questions about the most sacred objects, namely about idols, about the most reverent way of worshiping ..."

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

The third stage, highlighted by Rybakov, is recognized by the majority of researchers who are inclined to distinguish between pre-state paganism (“ancient Slavic paganism”) and state period paganism (“Ancient Rus paganism”). In the most general framework, this period is limited to -XII centuries. So it is believed that with the advent of the state, Perun becomes the head of the gods of the Eastern Slavs, as the patron saint of the prince and the squad.

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

It is also necessary to highlight the period of development of paganism after the adoption of Christianity, when the latter significantly influenced traditional beliefs and mythology. This period in the most general framework can be limited to -XIV centuries. This period is characterized by "dual faith", and for Russia of the XII-XIII centuries they even speak of a pagan renaissance.

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

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

Myths of the ancient Slavs

Sources of information about myths

Quite a lot of texts, collections of myths, Russian fairy tales and significant pictorial compositions on mythological themes such as "The Tale of Oleg the Prophet" have survived from Slavic paganism. The Tale of Bygone Years says: "All these tribes had their own customs, and the laws of their fathers, and traditions, and each had its own disposition."

Scientists also reconstruct Slavic mythology from various other sources.

First, these are written sources. Texts by Byzantine authors - centuries: Procopius of Caesarea, Theophylact Simokatta, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Lev the Deacon and others. Western European authors -XIII centuries: Bavarian Geographer, Titmar of Merseburg, Helmold, Saxon Grammaticus and others. Arab authors -XIII centuries: al- Masudi, Ibn Fadlan, Ibn Rust, etc. In the Scandinavian sagas of the 13th century, in the Elder and Younger Edds, there is also information that can be used to reconstruct Slavic paganism. Russian, West Slavic (Kozma Prazhsky) and South Slavic sources - centuries: chronicles, teachings and instructions against the pagans (Kirill Turovsky, Kirik Novgorodets, etc.) and insertions into translated literature, including the Apocrypha. A special place is occupied by "The Lay of Igor's Host", which reflected a significant layer of pagan myths mentioned by the heir and bearer of pagan culture - the anonymous songwriter. All these texts do not contain any holistic statements of mythology or separate myths.

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

More reliable, but less informative archaeological sources: information from excavations of places of worship, finds of idols, ritual objects, adornments, pagan symbols, inscriptions mentioning pagan gods or pagans, the remains of sacrifices and ritual actions. A significant contribution to the study of pagan antiquities was made by L. Nederle, A. N. Lyavdansky, I. Hermann, E. Kyassovskaya, E. Gyassovsky, V. Losinsky, A. Lapinsky, V. V. Sedov, P. N. Tretyakov, Rybakov B.A., Vinokur I.S., Tolochko P.P., Kozak D.N., Borovsky Ya.E., Tymoshchuk B.A., Rusanova I.P., etc.

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

Mythological connections in the "Lay of Igor's Host", XII century.

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

Chi Li was praised, things Boyana, Velesov grandchild ... Oh Boyana, nightingale of the old time!

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

The sun stepped in his way with darkness; night, groan him like a thunder-storm, kill the bird; the whistle of the beast; zbiya Div, calls to the top of the tree

Wouldn't you pinch the Sia regiments, jumping ... the grove into the Troyan trail, the loins of the field to the mountains ... There were parties of Troyan ... Resentment arose in the forces of Dazhdbozh's grandson, entered the land of Troyan as a virgin ... On the seventh day of Troyan, Vseslav I love my maiden.

they also began to put the Slovenians in rags, Rodow and women in labor, before their god Perone, and before that they put the treasures to the oupir and the shores ... So also to the Slovenian doide of these words, and the nachash to put the treasures to the Rod and Rozhanitsa ... ogneve, the river Nile is a fruit-maker and a plant-grower.

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

Reconstruction of the myth about Svarog and Svarozhichi

The fourth idol is Lado. This is the name of the god of joy and all prosperity. Sacrifices to him are brought to him, preparing for marriage, with the help of Lada, they imagine good fun and kindly acquire life. This delight from the most ancient idolaters of origin, some gods like Lelya and Polel, are worshiped, their bogomer name is still being proclaimed in some countries on hosts of playhouses with Lelum-Polelem singing. Likewise, both the mother to the left and the left to the left - Lado, singing: Lado, Lado! And that idol, the old charm of the devil, is chanted at marriage merriments, splashing hands and hitting the table.

The simplest form of a specially organized cult place among the Slavs is cult sites with idols and sacrificial pits. Similar places were presumably called "Demand", on which "treasures were performed", or "Temple" -from "kap", that is, they performed what was necessary to glorify the native gods. The sacrificial pits were located on the outskirts of the villages and did not have fences. Sometimes, on cult sites, several idols-kapis were located in a geometric order: in the center or behind there was the main idol, and around or in front there were minor ones.

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

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

Cultists, Sacrifices and Divination

The sources contain references to special men and women who performed pagan rituals and took care of the temple. Their names, according to various sources, are as follows: magi ("magi" - a wolf, from "volokhaty" - shaggy, lost from the custom of putting on clothes with fur outside when performing certain rituals), knzhy (among the Western Slavs, it is close to "prince"), storekeepers ( creators of amulets-amulets), supporters and indulgences (“indulgences” - secret ritual actions), cloud-chasers and wolf-lakers (from “wolf” and “skin”), blasphemers (“koshchi” - words at burial, keepers of the wisdom of departed ancestors), sorcerers and sorceresses, enchantors and enchantresses (from "charms" - ritual vessels and magical actions), button accordions ("bayat" - to speak, tell), "healers", witches, witches (from "know" - to know) and prophetic (from " broadcast "), magicians (from" kudesy "- tambourine), obavnitsy, kobniki (" kob "- fortune-telling about fate, fortune-telling about the flight of birds," kobenitsya "- unusual body movements), sorcerers (from the" thief "- a fence), nauzniki and forges (from "nauza" - knots tied in a unique way). In synchronous Russian sources, the word "magi" was most often used.

The various names for pagan priests are associated with their status, the cult they served, and the actions they performed. Most often, the main duty of the priests was to conduct rituals, glorify the gods and offer sacrifices in accordance with the god in honor of the holiday. In addition, such designations of victims as "treat" and "treba" were used. Drinks (wine), food (cake), part of the harvest (grain, straw) were used as sacrifices, birds (roosters and chickens) were used to celebrate the day of Perun.

Victims are closely related to predictions. Procopius of Caesarea (c.) Writes about the faith of the Slavs and Ants:

When they gather there to offer sacrifices to idols or to soften their anger, they sit while the others stand by; secretly whispering to each other, they dig the ground with trepidation, and, casting lots, learn the truth in matters that are in doubt. Having finished this, they cover the lot with green turf, and, having stuck 2 pointed spears crosswise into the ground, with humble obedience lead a horse through them, which is considered the largest among others and therefore is revered as sacred; despite the already cast lot, observed by them earlier, through this, supposedly a divine animal, they again conduct fortune-telling. And if in both cases the same sign falls out, the conceived is carried out; if not, the saddened people give up. An ancient legend, entangled in various superstitions, testifies that when they are threatened by the terrible danger of a prolonged rebellion, a huge boar comes out of the named sea with white fangs shiny with foam, and happily wallowing in the mud, reveals itself to many.

When it was supposed to start a war against any country, in front of the temple, according to custom, the ministers put three spears. Two of them were stuck with their tips into the ground and joined [the third] across; these structures were located at an equal distance. To them, the horse, during the march, after the solemn prayer, was taken out in harness by the priest from the entrance. If the erected structures were crossed with the right foot before with the left, this was considered a sign of a successful course of the war; if he walked with the left before the right, then the direction of the campaign was changed. Speaking also at various enterprises, predictions were obtained by the first movement of the animal. If it was happy, happily set off on the road; if unfortunate, they turned back.

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

The same said: "The gods tell us: you cannot do anything to us!" ... When they were beaten and torn out with a split beard, Yan asked them: "What do the gods tell you?" They answered: “To stand for us in front of Svyatoslav ... But if you let us in, you will be much good; if you destroy us, you will receive a lot of sorrow and evil "... Such a sorcerer showed up under Gleb in Novgorod; told people, pretending to be God, and deceived many, almost the whole city, he said: "I foresee everything"

Thus it is said that his mother was a prophetess ... It was their custom that on the first evening of the yule they had to bring her to a chair in front of the king's high seat. And ... the king asks his mother if she does not see or does not know any threat or damage hanging over his state, or the approach of any non-peace or danger, or an attempt by someone on his property. She replies: “I don't see anything, my son, that I would know could harm you or your state, as well as such that would frighten off your happiness. Yet I see a great and beautiful vision. The son of the king was born at this time in Norega ... "

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

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

To keep the idol, each inhabitant of the island of both sexes contributed a coin. He was also given a third of the booty, believing that his protection would bestow success. In addition, he had at his disposal three hundred horses and the same number of riders, who handed over everything gained in battle to the high priest ... This god also had temples in many other places, ruled by priests of lesser importance.

They honor the priest more than the king. They direct their army, where fortune-telling will show, and winning the victory, they carry the gold and silver to the treasury of their god, and divide the rest among themselves.

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

The supreme over the priests of the Slavs, Bogomil, called the Nightingale because of his sweetness, strictly forbade the people to submit to forced Christian baptism.

BA Rybakov recognized the historicity of Bogomil and even attributed to him Novgorod gusli of the 11th century with the inscription "Slavisha".

From the sources, only a few names of people are known that can be attributed to pagan servants. Firstly, this is Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, who, being a Christian, according to the chronicle, was born from magic, “in a shirt”, and “The Word about Igor's Campaign” endows him with such features of the Magi, such as the ability to guess about fate by lot, werewolf ( "Scoop away from them with a fierce beast", "scoop up like a wolf") and guidance ("curse the blue light"). Another character is the Kiev witch Potvora, whose name is written on a spindle from a treasure of the 13th century. Together with the spindle, a knife was found, possibly of a ritual nature.

Holidays and ceremonies

Pagan holidays: dancing woman-bird, guslar, war games, treating a deity, running, feasting. Draw images of ancient Russian bracelets of the XII-XIII centuries.

Calendar Holidays

Calendar holidays of the Slavs were associated with the agrarian cycle and astronomical phenomena. There are a huge number of reconstructions of the calendar of Slavic holidays, while there are quite few synchronous sources on this issue. Archeology provides important information about the festive rituals, but all these data again have to be interpreted through the late folk calendar.

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

The Romashki calendar celebrates the holidays of Perun on July 12 and 20 - which was replaced by Christians on "Ilyin's Day". Veles Day (patron saint of wisdom and household) - was also replaced by Christianity on the day of St. Blasius (patron saint of livestock)

Also, the calendar records the holidays that lasted several days or even weeks: "Rusal week" and "Ladovanie", which preceded the Kupala holiday. A similar holiday is known to many peoples and at the beginning of autumn - "Indian summer", it lasted from one to two weeks.

Saxon Grammaticus describes in detail the feast in the church of Svyatovit, which took place in August:

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

Wedding customs

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

Glades have the custom of their fathers meek and quiet, shy in front of their daughters-in-law and sisters, mothers and parents; they have great modesty before mother-in-law and in-law; they also have a marriage custom: the son-in-law does not go after the bride, but brings her the day before, and the next day they bring her for her - whatever they give.

Similar customs are described as early as the 6th century. Among the Russians, the payment for the bride was called "veno". Mention is made of the wedding ceremony of "blowing up" the groom.

... And they never had any marriages, but the girls snatched away by the water ... And they used to shame in the presence of their fathers and daughters-in-law, and they did not have marriages, but games were arranged between the villages, and they converged on these games, on dances and all sorts of demonic songs, and here they snatched their wives in collusion with them.

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

Funeral rites

Funeral rites of various groups of Slavs at different times were different. It is believed that the ancestors of the Slavs were carriers of the culture of "fields of burial urns" (II millennium BC), that is, they burned the dead, and placed the ashes in an earthen vessel and buried them in a shallow pit, marking the grave with a mound. Subsequently, the cremation rite prevailed, but the form of burials changed: volotovki (round mounds-hills with a wooden fence) - among the Slovenians, long ancestral mounds - among the Krivichi, cremation in a boat and a burial mound - among the Rus.

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

And if someone died, then they arranged a funeral feast on him, and then they made a large deck, and they laid the dead man on this deck, and burned it, and then, after collecting the bones, put them in a small vessel and put them on pillars along the roads, as they do now. vyatichi.

The described rite is recorded among the Vyatichi and some Baltic Slavs - archaeologists note the absence of burials, suspecting the "scattering" of ashes, but ethnographic data and some written sources speak of domina ("theaters of death") - burial buildings at forks of roads where urns with ashes were kept. Outwardly, they sometimes resemble the "hut on chicken legs" of Baba Yaga of Russian fairy tales, and Baba Yaga herself is sometimes viewed as a priestess who carried out the cremation. By the 13th century, the Vyatichi began to build barrows.

"Theft" (treasure, deck) is a funeral pyre. It is customary to distinguish between "funeral feast" (a feast at the grave and military games) and "strava" (a memorial feast). Princess Olga describes the funeral in her address to the Drevlyans in the following way: "I am already coming to you, prepare many meads in the city where they killed my husband, but I will cry at his grave and create a funeral for my husband." Ibn Fadlan describes an old woman and her daughters who led the funeral of the Rus, killed sacrificial animals and a concubine, he calls her "the angel of death." Funeral idols ("bdyn") installed over the grave are also mentioned. They depicted the deceased and had an inscription containing his name and the name of the prince.

In mythology, the deities of the wind (Stribog, Viy) and the sun were associated with the funeral rite. The wind fanned the fire, and the sun delivered the souls of the departed to the world of shadows, therefore, special importance was attached to the time of burial (sunrise, sunset or night) and the orientation of the grave during the laying of the corpse. Animals such as a rooster, a horse, and a dog were associated with the burial. The serpent was the collector of the bodies of the buried. In the "Lay of Igor's Regiment" Karna and Zhlya (Zhelya) are mentioned, who are preparing the burial of the dead soldiers, their names are reconstructed from the words "reproach" and "regret" ("zhalnik" is a burial mound). In the "Word of Saint Dionysius about those who regret" it is said about the behavior during burial:

“Is there any use to the souls who have departed from now on what is the use of pity? The devil teaches pity and others he creates to fight for the dead, and others to drown in water and teaches to choke ”.

Also mentioned are the white mourning clothes of women and the rite of cutting faces and pulling out one's hair.

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

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

Calendar and writing

Old Slavic calendar

From the "Sofia time" we learn about the availability of the Slavs lunar and solar calendars. It is generally believed that the lunar calendar was borrowed by the Slavs from the Bulgarians. But in the "Doctrine of Numbers" by Kirik Novgorodets (XII century) tells about one of the variants of the lunar calendar, other variants were used in Easter tables, and in Russian chronicles - c. the dates are marked according to the lunar calendar - all this allows researchers to assert that along with the solar calendar of 12 months in Russia, the lunar calendar of 13 months constantly existed. The earliest date of the lunar calendar was applied to the campaign of Oleg the Prophetic Year in the Chronograph of the Western Russian edition: "This summer is evil: have 13 month."

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

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

The number 5 has a lunar character and is found on the Antic fibula and temporal rings of the Slovenian tribe.

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

On the question of when the Slavs began the year, there are several opinions. Most often called March. The March New Year was tied in Russia until the century either to March 1, or to the 20th of the month. A number of researchers claim that the Slavs had the January New Year. In any case, all calendar calculations were consistent with the equinox and solstice points. The conjugation of the lunar and solar calendar took place in the spring. According to an old belief, the sun in April meets the month, and from the first frost they diverge to the distant sides: one to the east, the other to the west, and since then they do not meet each other until spring (Indo-European motif of the wedding of the month and the sun).

Features and cuts

A number of sources mention writing among the pagan Slavs. Chernorizets Brave called this writing "lines and cuts" with the help of which they "counted and guessed." Al-Masoudi speaks of multiple inscriptions on the walls (stones) in the temples of the Slavs containing predictions. Ibn Fadlan mentions the inscriptions of names on the burial idol of Rus. Titmar of Merseburg knows about the inscriptions of names on the idols of the Baltic Slavs.

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

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

Runic signs from the Lepesovka temple, 2nd-4th centuries

The earliest signs of the runic type, which can be attributed to the Slavic ones, are found in the temple of Chernyakhov's time with. Lepesovki. In the same temple, two fortune-telling bowls with clay rings on handles were found. There is a lot of pottery with Greek inscriptions, and the material culture of the settlement belongs to the Velbari culture (presumably the Goths). Found three inscriptions. One of them is on the "astrakhan" spindle, the other two are on ceramics and correspond to the Germanic runes. EA Melnikova read one of the inscriptions as lwl, but could not identify it with the Germanic language.

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

Literature

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

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• Kostomarov N.I. Slavic mythology. Kiev, 1847.
• Kotlyarevsky A. On the funeral customs of the pagan Slavs. M., 1868.
• Makarov M. Russian legends. M., 1838.
• S. V. Maximov Unclean, unknown and cross power. SPb, 1903.
• Nikiforovsky M.D. Russian paganism: An experience of popular exposition. SPb, 1875.
• Nikolsky N. Pre-Christian beliefs and cults of the Dnieper Slavs. M., 1929.
• Popov M.I. Description of the ancient Slavic pagan fable. SPb, 1768.
• A. A. Potebnya On some symbols in Slavic folk poetry. Kharkov, 1914.
• Sakharov I.P. Russian folk black book. SPb, 1997.
• Sobolev A.N. The underworld according to old Russian ideas. Sergiev Posad, 1913. \u003d Mythology of the Slavs. Saint Petersburg, Lan. 1999, 271 p.
• Sokolov M.E. Old Russian solar gods and goddesses: Ist.-ethnogr. research. Simbirsk, 1887.
• I. I. Sreznevsky Women in labor among the Slavs and other pagan peoples. SPb, 1855.
• He... Research on the pagan worship of the ancient Slavs. SPb, 1848.
• Stroyev P. A brief review of the mythology of the Russian Slavs. M., 1815.
• Syrtsov I. The worldview of our ancestors of the Russian pagan Slavs before the baptism of Russia (in 988). Issue 1. Mythology. Kostroma, 1897.
• Trever K.V. Senmurv-Pascuj. Bird dog. L., 1937.
• Famintsyn A.S. Deities of the ancient Slavs. SPb, 1884. Saint Petersburg, Aleteya. 1995, 363 p.
• Shepping D.O. (1823-95) Myths of Slavic paganism. M., Terra. 1997, 239 p.

• Leger L. Slavic mythology. Voronezh, 1908.
• Mansikka V.P. Religion of the Eastern Slavs. Moscow, IMLI. 2005, 365 p.
• Niederle L. Slavic antiquities. / Per. with czech. M., IIL. 1956. M., 2001.

Popular literature of the mid XX - early XXI centuries

• Bazhenova A.I. (ed.-comp.) Myths of the ancient Slavs. Saratov, Nadezhda. 1993.
• Belyakova G.S. Slavic mythology: a book for students. M., Education. 1995, 238 p.
• Borovskiy Ya.E. The mythological world of the ancient Kievites. Kiev, 1982, 104 p.
• A. A. Bychkov Encyclopedia of Pagan Gods: Myths of the Ancient Slavs. M., 2001.
• Vachurina L. (comp.) Slavic mythology: reference dictionary. M., Linor-perfection. 1998.
• Vlasova M.N. Russian superstitions. SPb, 1998.
• Voloshina T.A., Astapov S.N. Pagan mythology of the Slavs. Rostov-n / D, 1996.
• Gavrilov D.A., Nagovitsyn A.E. Gods of the Slavs: Paganism. Tradition. M., Refl-book. 2002, 463 p.
• Grushko E.A., Medvedev Yu.M. Dictionary of Slavic mythology. Nizhny Novgorod. 1995, 367 p.
• Mother Lada: Divine genealogy of the Slavs: Pagan pantheon. / Prev., Dictionary.st., Glossary and comm. D. Dudko... M., Eksmo. 2002, 430 p.
• Kazakov V.S. The world of the Slavic gods. 5th ed. M.-Kaluga. 2006, 239 p.
• F. S. Kapitsa Slavic Traditional Beliefs, Holidays and Rituals: A Handbook. 2nd ed. M., Flinta-Nauka. 2001, 215 p.
• A. A. Kulikov Space mythology of the ancient Slavs. SPb, 2001.
• Levkievskaya E.E. Myths of the Russian people. M., Astrel. 2000 \u003d 2002.526 p.
• Russian mythology: An Encyclopedia. / Comp. E. Madlevskaya. M.-SPb, 2005, 780 p.
• Yu.V. Mizun, Yu.G. Mizun Secrets of pagan Russia. M., Veche. 2000, 441 p.
• Mironchikov L. T. Dictionary of Slavic mythology and the origin of Slavic mythology and ethnos. 2nd ed. Minsk., Harvest. 2004, 302 p.
• Muravyova T.V. Myths of the Slavs and peoples of the North. M., Veche. 2005 413 p.
• A.E. Nagovitsyn Secrets of Slavic mythology. M., Akad. Project. 2003, 477 p.
• G.A. Nosova Paganism in Orthodoxy. M., 1975.
• Osipova O.S. Slavic pagan worldview. M., 2000.
• Popovich M.V. Worldview of the ancient Slavs. Kiev, 1985.
• Prozorov L.R. (Ozar Raven) Gods and castes of pagan Russia. Secrets of the Kiev Pentateism. M., Yauza-Eksmo. 2006, 317 p.
• Putilov B.N. Ancient Russia in persons: gods, heroes, people. SPb, Azbuka. 1999.
• Semenova M.V. Life and beliefs of the ancient Slavs. Saint Petersburg, ABC-Classics. 2001.
• Semina V.S., Bocharova E.V. Religion and mythology in the culture of the ancient Slavs: A course of lectures. Tambov, TSU Publishing House, 2002, 377 p.
• Seryakov M. L. The birth of the universe. Dove book. M., Yauza. 2005, 573 p.
• Speransky N.N. (owner Velimir)... Russian paganism and shamanism. M., 2006. 607 p. 3 te.
• Chudinov V.A. Sacred stones and pagan temples of the ancient Slavs: An experience of epigraphic research. M., 2004, 618 p.
• Shaparova N.S. A short encyclopedia of Slavic mythology. M., AST. 2004, 622 p.
• V. V. Shuklin Myths of the Russian people. Yekaterinburg, 1995.

• A. G. Mash Retra's treasures. / Per. with him. M., Glory! 2006.349 p.

Scientific literature of the middle of the XX-beginning of the XXI century

• Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary. In 5 volumes / Ed. N.I. Tolstoy.

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

• Slavic mythology: An encyclopedic dictionary. AND I. M., 1995 414 with the 2nd ed. / Ed. S. M. Tolstaya. M., 2002, 509 p.

• Belova O. V. Slavic bestiary: Dictionary of names and symbols. M., 2001.
• Vasiliev M.A. Paganism of the Eastern Slavs on the Eve of the Baptism of Rus: Religious and Mythological Interaction with the Iranian World. The pagan reform of Prince Vladimir. M., Indrik. 1999, 325 p.
• Veletskaya N.N. Pagan symbolism of Slavic archaic rituals. M., Nauka. 1978.239 with 2nd ed. M., Sofia. 2003, 237 p. See also www.veletska.lodya.ru
• E.V. Velmezova Czech conspiracies. Research and texts. M., 2004.
• Vinogradova L.N. Folk demonology and mytho-ritual tradition of the Slavs. M., 2000.
• Vuytsitskaya U. From the history of Russian culture: Pagan heritage in traditional culture. Bydgoszcz. 2002.265 p. (In Russian)
• Gura A.V. Animal symbolism in the Slavic folk tradition. M., Indrik. 1997, 910 p.
• I. V. Dubov And bow down to the stone idol ... St. Petersburg, 1995, 100 p.
• Zhuravlev A.F. Language and myth. Linguistic commentary on the work of A. N. Afanasyev "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature." M., 2005.
• Ivanov V.V., Toporov V.N. Slavic linguistic modeling semiotic systems: (Ancient period). M., 1965.
• They are... Research in the field of Slavic antiquities: (Lexical and phraseological issues of text reconstruction). M., 1974.
• Klein L.S. The Resurrection of Perun: Towards the Reconstruction of East Slavic Paganism. Saint Petersburg, Eurasia. 2004, 480 p.
• Krinichnaya N.A. Russian mythology: The world of folklore images. M., 2004.
• A. V. Kuznetsov Dummies on Bald Mountain: Essays on pagan toponymy. Vologda, 1999, 98 p.
• E. V. Pomerantseva Mythological characters in Russian folklore. M., 1975.
• Rusanova I.P., Timoshchuk B.A. Pagan sanctuaries of the ancient Slavs. M., 1993 144 + 71 p.
• Rusanova I.P. The origins of Slavic paganism. Religious buildings in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1st millennium BC BC-I millennium AD e. Chernivtsi, 2002.
• Rybakov B.A. Paganism of the ancient Slavs. Moscow, Nauka. 1981, 608 p.
• He... Paganism of Ancient Rus. M., Nauka. 1987, 784 p.
• A. V. Tkachev Gods and Demons "Words about Igor's Campaign". In 2 books. M., Life and thought. 2003.
• Tolstoy N.I. Essays on Slavic paganism. M., Indrik. 2003 622 p.
• Uspensky B.A. Philological research in the field of Slavic antiquities: (Relics of paganism in the East Slavic cult of Nikolai Mirlikisky). Moscow, Moscow State University Publishing House. 1982, 245 p.
• Froyanov I. Ya. The beginning of Christianity in Russia. Izhevsk, 2003.
• Cherepanova O. A. Mythological vocabulary of the Russian North. L., 1983.

• Aladzhov J. Monuments to Prab'lgarskotosity: [Album]. Sofia. 1999, 44 + 71 p.
• Vrazinovski T. People's mitology in Macedoncite. Skopje, 1998.

Book 1. 351 s. Book 2. Ethnographic and folklore materials. 323 s.

• Gimbutas M. The Slavs are the sons of Perun. / Per. from English. M., 2003.
• M. I. Zubov Linguotextology of middle words of language versus language. Odessa. 2004, 335 p.
• Ivanov J. The cult of Perun among the southern Slavs. M., 2005.
• Kulishiħ M., Petroviħ P. Zh., Partelich N. Srpski mitoloshki river worker. Beograd, 1970.
• Lovmianski H. Religion of the Slavs and its decline (6-12 centuries). / Per. from Polish Saint Petersburg, Academic Project 2003, 512 p.
• Panchowski I. G. Pantheon on ancient Slavs and Mitologat them. Sofia. 1993, 280 p.
• Petroviħ S. Srpska mitologija. At 5 kn. Nish, Prosveta. 2000.

Book 1. Srpske mitology systems. 404 p. Book 2. Mitoloshke mapa pregledom of the South Slovenian expanse. 312 s. Book 3. Anthropology of SRP rituals. 225 s. Book 4. Mitologija raskrshħa. 187 s. Book 5. Mitologija, magija and obichaji: extermination of the svrdish area. 512 p.

• Chausidis N. Mitskite slicks for juggle Slovenia. Skopju, 1994, 546 p.
• Kosman M. Zmierzch Perkuna, czyli ostatni poganie nad Baltykiem. Warszawa. 1981.389 c.
• Profantová N., Profant M. Encyclopedie slovanských bohû a mýtû. Praha, Libri. 2000, 260 p.
• Rosik S. Interpretacja chrześcijańska religii pogańskich slowian w świetle kronik niemieckich XI-XII wieku: (Thietmar, Adam z Bremu, Helmold). Wroclaw. 2000.368 p.