slavicproject-blog

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Svetovid

In Slavic mythology, Svetovid is the deity of war, fertility, and abundance. He is depicted as a four headed god with eyes that can see the entirety of the world. In some cultures, he has the heads of Perun, Svarog, Lada, and Mokosh. In other cultures, these gods can see out of his heads. In some cultures, Svetovid is seen as the supreme god, as opposed to Svarog.

During harvest season, his worshippers would give him a sacrifice, which could range from honey cakes to human sacrifices, which were usually Christians. After Christianity, Svetovid was replaced by Saint Vitus, but it is believed that the people didn’t come to accept Saint Vitus, as the day of Saint Vitus was called Vidovan, which still had the root of Svetovid’s name.

Because of the nature of Svetovid’s heads, it is still unknown if he ever existed in the first place, as with many other Slavic Dieties, Svetovid is shrouded in mystery.

K., Aleksandra. “Svetovid – The Slavic God That Can See the Whole World to Keep It Safe.” Slavorum, 20 July 2017, www.slavorum.org/svetovid-the-slavic-god-that-can-see-the-whole-world-to-keep-it-safe/.

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Svarog

Svarog is the Slavic deity of fire, father of gods, and creator of the world. Svarog might sound familiar to Rod, but where Rod created the universe Svarog only created the world and the gods. In Slavic mythology, The creator of the universe, and the supreme god of gods are two different deities, as opposed to the one god being the creator of the universe in Christianity. 

Even though Svarog is the supreme God, he is still not as powerful as Perun, is he also the lord of Svarge, the domain of Gods, similar to Mt.Olympus in Greek mythology. Svarog is associated with the sky, iron and fire, so his equivalent in Greek mythos would be Hephaestus.

Svarog has been called the supreme God, but in Russian mythos, Perun is called Svarog, and was believed to be the highest god, while in other Slavic cultures, Svarog himself is worshipped. It can get pretty confusing at time! Despite being the supreme god, there is a lack of writings about him. His name is mentioned many times, but nothing else is known about him. 

K., Aleksandra. “Svarog – The Slavic God of Fire, Father of Gods and Creator of the World.” Slavorum, 21 Aug. 2016, www.slavorum.org/svarog-the-slavic-god-of-fire-father-of-gods-and-creator-of-the-world/.

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Baba Yaga

In Slavic mythology, Baba Yaga represents death and regeneration. Similar to chernobog, Baba Yaga has proven to be quite popular in modern day pop culture, and she even makes an appearance in Dungeons And Dragons.

She is often described as an old crone living in a moving house made out of human bones with chicken legs as feet. One stare from her can turn you into stone, similar to another character from mythology, Medusa. Usually, in mythology, she can be portrayed as a villain, and sometimes she’s even portrayed as a benefactor, helping the hero of the story, after the hero does something for her, of course.

Her popularity in Russia has largely contributed to her presence is pop culture outside of Eastern Europe, as there are a large number of stories, songs, movies, and cartoons based on Baba Yaga.

https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-europe/baba-yaga-confounding-crone-slavic-folklore-002836

“Baba Yaga.” Ohio River - New World Encyclopedia, New World Encyclopedia, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Baba_Yaga.

“BABA-YAGA - the Slavic Goddess of Death (Slavic Mythology).” Godchecker - Your Guide to the Gods, 17 Jan. 2014, www.godchecker.com/pantheon/slavic-mythology.php?deity=BABA-YAGA.

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Slavic Native Faith

Even in modern times, there are still those who worship the old slavic gods. Slavic Native Faith (also known as Rodnovery) is a revival movement that grew in size after the fall of the Soviet Union. They are largely anti-christian and anti-Abrahamic religions,  and are  also characterized as a modern pagan movement, as tends to have conservative values. They view the two genders as different, and thus, Men and Women have different tasks. Women tend to deal with the private aspects of life (cooking, raising children) and men tend to deal with the public aspects of life (socializing, earning money). They reject western liberal values, which they view  as “degenerate”. Some believers in the Native Faith even endorse Nazi Germany and are Neo-Nazis themselves. Believers in the Native Faith endorse the collective good over the individual, which would explain their conservative ideals. There are many groups who believe in the Slavic Native Faith, with each group having different ideas or views on Rodnovery.

“Slavic Native Faith.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Dec. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_Native_Faith.

K., Natalia. “Slavic Neopagans In Modern Times – Are They Dangerous To Christianity?” Slavorum, 18 July 2017, www.slavorum.org/slavic-neopagans-in-modern-times-are-they-dangerous-to-christianity/.

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Kupala

Kupala is the goddess of spring, sorcery, and love in Slavic mythology. She is associated with trees, herbs, and flowers, and is the personification of magic found in water. She is sometimes personified as female, and other times, she is personified as male. She has a major celebration associated with her, known as “Kupala Night.”. It is a celebration marking the end of the summer solstice, and the beginning of harvest. In Christian times, Kupala Night was replaced with the Feast of Saint John. In Kupala Night, unmarried men and women would gather outside of the village, build bonfires, and take part in a number of erotic dances and songs.

 Kupala’s worshipers preserved lore regarding plants and herbs that would give men magical powers to ward off evil spirit and win the hearts of women.

Kupala’s Christian equivalent is Saint John The Baptist.

Sources:

http://epika.org/house-of-mythology/26-kupala

https://www.meettheslavs.com/kupala-night-holiday-slavs/

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Dazbog

Dazbog is a major god in slavic mythology, and is one of the few deities that can be found worshiped in nearly all Slavic countries. He is believed to be a solar deity, as well as a fire and rain god with the original meaning behind his name being “god-giver”, “giving god” and “god-donor.” In Slavic mythology, it is believed that Slavs are descendants from the gods themselves, with a number of Slavic pagans believing that they are direct descendants, or rather, grandchildren of the god Dazbog. When Eastern Europe was christinized, Dazbog was demonized more than any other god, with him being a powerful demon rival of the Christian God. Saint Sava is believed to be the christian equivalent of Dazbog, with Sava assuming many characteristics of Dazbog. Even in modern times, Dazbog is still worshiped, with sculptures and idols of him being installed even to this day.

Sources:

K., Aleksandra. “Dažbog – The Slavic God of Fortune, Wealth and Son of Fire in the Sky.” Slavorum, 19 Sept. 2016, www.slavorum.org/dazbog-the-slavic-god-of-fortune-wealth-and-son-of-fire-in-the-sky/.

User, Scritto da Super. “Dazbog - Slavic Mythology.” GonGoff.com, www.gongoff.com/mythology/dazbog-slavic-mythology

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Chernobog

Out of all of the Slavic dieties, Chenobog is by far the most well-known. Despite this, there isn’t much to say about him in Slavic lore. One of the few texts written about him is by a Saxon missionary.

'Among Slavic people, there is one weird belief that is kept in their drinking fests and feasts. They at same time bless and curse under names of their Gods, respectively in the name of good One and evil One, saying that good things come from good God and evil comes from evil One. In their language they call evil God ''Chernobog'', or ''black God''.''

“Chernobog.” Mythology Wiki, mythology.wikia.com/wiki/Chernobog.

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Pagan Metal

Since the birth of Heavy Metal,  Slavic Pagan Metal bands have emerged all throughout Eastern Europe. As the name suggests, these bands’s lyrical subject metal are largely influenced by Slavic Paganism, often involving battles, Slavic Deities such as Perun and Dazbog, and glorify pre-Christian Eastern Europe. Even though these Deities were destroyed by Christianity thousands of years ago, it’s surprising to see a revival of them in this style of music. These bands are almost always Anti-Christian and even sometimes Anti-Semitic, with the sound of these bands differing from country to country.

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Perun

In the Slavic pantheon, Perun is the god of the highest order. He was worshipped by many Slavic pagans, and is the god of thunder and the sky. He is somewhat comparable to the gods Zeus or Thor. In Proto-European root, Perun’s name means “to strike” and is believed to be the origin of the Polish word “piorun” which means thunder. According to legends, the sound of thunder comes from the clattering of wheels from Perun’s coach that he is riding in the sky. Perun is usually portrayed as a strong warrior with a beard in statues depicting him, and is also associated with dragons, and other fiery animals. Next to idols of Perun is an eternal flame, which is to remain lit. Because of this, rites involving fire involve Perun as well. After the arrival of Christianity, the role of Perun was taken over by St.Elijah.

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Rod

Nearly every mythology has a creator, or a supreme god. In Slavic Mythology, Rod is that creator. In the beginning, Rod was all there was. Only Rod was in the Darkness, trapped in an egg. But, once he gave life to Lada, the goddess of love, the egg was broken and love spilled out of the egg, creating the universe we know now. Rod then created Mother Earth, celestial bodies, and nature. The sun was made from his cheeks, the moon from his breats, and the stars from his eyes. The sunset and sunrise from his forehead, the dark night from his thoughts, cities from his tears, and thunder and lightning from his voice. He also created the three worlds, “Jav”, “Prav”, and “Nav.” Rod is usually depicted with a fish, a wheel, a bucket of flowers, and a linen belt, each symbolizing an element.