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Slavic pagan Gods

Yarila

Yarila is a Slavic god of vegetation, fertility and springtime. According to these authors, he was a fairly typical life-death-rebirth deity, believed to be reborn and killed every year. His mythical life cycle followed the yearly life of various wheat plants, from seeding through vegetation to harvest. Yarila was a son of the supreme Slavic god of thunder, Perun, born on the last night of February, the pagan Slavic celebration of the New Year. On the same night, however, he was stolen from his father and taken to the world of the dead, where he was adopted and raised by Veles, Perun’s enemy, Slavic god of the underworld and cattle. With the advent of spring, Yarila came back from the underworld, that is, bringing spring and fertility to the land. The first person to notice his return was Marona, the goddess of death and winter. They later got married, assuring a time of peace, prosperity and fertility to the crops. However, after the harvest, Yarila also met his death: the myth explains that he was unfaithful to Marona and then she killed him. Without her husband, she turned into an old, frustrated hag, and also died at the end of the year. At the beginning of the next year, both Marona and Yarila are born again and the whole myth starts anew.

Macosh

Goddess of destiny, the oldest of the goddesses of destiny spinners, as well as the patroness of women's needlework. On Earth she protects women's fertility and productivity, thrift and prosperity in the house , she is related to Earth, water and predictions

Lada

LADA was worshipped throughout Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and other areas of Eastern Europe. She is usually depicted as a young woman with long blonde hairis considered to be the mother of all gods. In the place where she is, there is warmth and comfort, a feeling of you are “home”. The goddess is depicted as a woman in the prime of life and full bodied, symbol of mature motherhood. She is said to return from the underworld every year at the Vernal Equinox, bringing the spring with Her.

Lada is represented as a girl with long golden hair sometimes with a wreath of ears of grain braided into her hair, which symbolises her function of fertility deity thus making her an aspect of Mother of Wet Land. A symbol of Sun, a mark of lifegiving power was sometimes on her breasts. As a fertility goddess, Lada has her annual cycles, which can be shown by the belief that she resides in the dwelling place of the dead until the vernal equinox comes. This world of the dead is called Irij, and here, besides Lada, dwells Veles, the horned god of cattle. At the moment when Lada is supposed to come out into the world and bring spring, Gerovit opens the door of Irij letting the fertility goddess bless the earth. At the end of summer, Lada returns to Irij . Although her reign begins on the 21st of March, Lada is primarily the goddess of summer. She follows Vesna, the Slavic spring goddess. However, both of these goddesses are associated with fertility so sometimes it can sometimes be difficult to separate their functions. As we can see, Lada’s reign begins in spring, the proof of which is ladenj, another name for April, given after this goddess. Apart from the Sun, Lada is also associated with rain and hot summer nights, the ideal time for paying respect to the love goddess. Lada’s animals are a cock, a deer, an ant and an eagle, whereas her plants are a cherry, a dandelion, a linden and a peony.

A myth says that Lada is married to Svarog who is only with her help able to create the world. According to another one, she is a companion of Jarilo, thus associated with Aphrodyte, whose lover is Ares

Perun

Perún (often compared to Thor of the Norse mythological world), was considered the highest of all gods and was one of Svarog’s three sons. Perun was seen to be the creator and master of rain, lightning, and thunder.Perun is described as a rugged man with a copper beard. He rides in a chariot pulled by a goat buck and carries a mighty axe, or sometimes a hammer. The axe is hurled at evil people and spirits and will always return to his hand.

Morana

M o r a n a (Slovak, Russian) or M a r z a n n a (in Polish), M o r ė (in Lithuanian), M o r a n a (in Czech and Slovene), or also M a r a , M a r ž e n a, M o r é n a, M o r a or M a r m o r a was the goddess that represented death, winter and disease. They believed she was one of the most beautiful goddesses in Slavic mythology.

The ritual of burning and drowning the figure of Morana: The figure was made from straw and dressed in local women’s clothing. Then, it was carried in procession around the whole village, from door to door, so that it would take away the evil spirits. Next, Morana was carried to the river bank, burned, and, while still in flames, thrown into a local river or pond. Finally, everyone would run home as fast as possible. It was believed that anyone who fell while running home would die that same year.

Kupalo

The Slavic god of summer, peace, water, magic and herbs

Dajbog

Dajbog was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, god of the sun and rain. He is one of several authentic Slavic gods, mentioned by a number of medieval manuscripts, and one of the few Slavic gods for which evidence of worship can be found in all Slavic nations. This is likely because the Sun was very important to the Slavs - it is the source of life and was always considered to be a positive force.

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