3.2.9. The religious system of the ancient Slavs The standard academic approach to the question of the origin of the so-called Slavic community assumes the origin of the Proto-Slavs - from one of the branches of the Indo-European community. Since Russians are considered

When the term “paganism” is mentioned, something very ancient and dark immediately appears, secret magic, lost over the millennia of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, rituals of worship of the forces of nature, amulets and sorcerers. In fact, paganism in Rus' peacefully coexisted with official Orthodoxy until the 19th century (calendar rituals and customs), and some of its artifacts remained in modern Russian culture and life.

By the way, interest in paganism in popular culture has not weakened to this day: the cult of ancestors, animism, various energy practices and fortune-telling draw their phenomenology from Slavic paganism, which once again emphasizes the preservation of “dual faith” in the form in which it developed immediately after the baptism of Rus'. According to Berdyaev, it is in dual faith that the identity of the Russian people lies; one can go further and argue that the mysterious Russian soul is precisely explained by the fusion of these two opposing elements - paganism and Christianity.

This article will analyze Russian and Soviet historiography on the influence of paganism Ancient Rus' for the development of Russian culture. The issues of paganism were most closely studied by the Soviet archaeologist, academician B. A. Rybakov, who published two monographs - “The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” and “The Paganism of Ancient Rus'”. In them, a researcher of Slavic culture shows that a huge impact, which paganism had on the state and folk life Kievan Rus, and also analyzes the continuity and refraction of pagan beliefs in the life of Rus' after the adoption of Christianity, and even their penetration into Orthodox rituals.

Another major scientist who devoted himself to the study of ancient Russian paganism is E.V. Anichkov, who wrote the fundamental work “Paganism and Ancient Rus'”, published in 1914 in St. Petersburg and, unfortunately, never brought into the framework of modern spelling, which does not prevent, however, more and more generations of historians from becoming acquainted with it. Anichkov, being a literary historian, viewed paganism through the prism of folklore and folk art, and was also a supporter of syncretism in the study of culture.

In addition to Rybakov and Anichkov, another Russian scientist made a great contribution to the study of paganism in Ancient Rus' and showed it great value for the development of Russian culture. This is Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor V. Ya. Petrukhin (V. Ya. Petrukhin’s monograph “Ancient Rus'. People. Princes. Religion” can be found on the Historian’s website).

In historical science, it is customary to consider paganism (any kind - both ancient Russian and ancient Egyptian) in two forms. Firstly, paganism represents an ideological stage in the development of any modern civilization; it is an established system of ideas about the world and the place of man in this world, based on the deification of the forces of nature, and, because of this, is primitive. Secondly, paganism is also a cultural model of the formation and development of any ethnic group, which endows it with characteristic unique features, and gives the people themselves originality and, to some extent, contributes to the formation of their mentality. Within the framework of these two models, we will consider ancient Russian paganism in this work.

Sources for the reconstruction of paganism in Ancient Rus'

To study paganism, it is necessary to use the entire range of historical sources available today. When analyzing the role of paganism in the development of Russian culture, researchers rely on sources: written, archaeological, folklore, ethnographic and linguistic. It is impossible to say which source is most important; an opinion about certain phenomena of the pre-Christian culture of Rus' should be based on a synthesis of information.

From written sources we have access to chronicles, lives of Russian and Byzantine saints, epistolaries, legal documents (treaties, etc.), memoirs of travelers, historical chronicles. So it is from the chronicle called the Tale of Bygone Years that we learn about the pagan pantheon of Vladimir, which he ordered to be established in Kyiv, and then forced local population pray for him. In the text of the treaties concluded by the Rus with Constantinople, we see that the princes and squad swore by Perun, and we understand that he was the supreme deity in the Russian pagan tradition. Data from archaeological excavations tell us about burial rituals, that the pagan Rus preferred to cremate their dead and build mounds over the burnt ashes. We also learn that our ancestors had ambivalent attitudes towards the dead themselves, often endowing them with supernatural powers. Songs, epics and fairy tales, which have come down to our time in a form revised by numerous unknown storytellers, tell us about the rituals, conspiracies and cults that were in use in Ancient Rus'. Ethnography shapes our view of ancient Russian paganism as an original cultural phenomenon in the interrelation of its material and intangible components. For example, it is reported that to this day ancient Russian pagan images are preserved in embroidery and folk crafts. Finally, linguistics determines for us the origin of certain pagan gods, reveals patterns of borrowings and interweavings different cultures, often helps to establish the geographical location of a particular object of material culture.

We find a lot of evidence about what ancient Russian paganism was like in various messages of church hierarchs. The messages themselves, of course, were intended to show people that worshiping “filthy” gods is bad, but for the researcher these sermons represent the most interesting material. Among other things, they themselves are living witnesses to the fact that even after baptism, paganism in one form or another continued to exist in Rus'.

An interesting source from the point of view of paganism is the “Word of St. Niphon about the Rusalia.” Saint Niphon himself was a remarkable personality; his lengthy life had an impact big influence on Orthodox tradition in Rus'. “The word...”, of course, was said in order to get rid of demonic games, however, thanks to the meticulousness of the Byzantine saint, modern historians have learned a lot of interesting things about mermaids and mermaids. The mermaid processions were accompanied by singing and dancing, playing the flute and represented a kind of festive procession that drew other people they met into their orbit; those who could not go and have fun threw money at the mermaids. Such celebrations were nationwide and were often held in streets and squares.

Old Russian pantheon

As mentioned above, written sources on Russian pagan mythology are mostly all Christian. In Rus' there was no complex of legends about the Slavic gods, such as, for example, in Greek or Scandinavian mythology (sagas). We did not have our own Homers and Ovids, who could translate mythology into the language of poetry and prose, and thus popularize it, therefore, among other things, we draw knowledge about the ancient Russian gods from oral folk art. In addition, there are numerous notes from eyewitnesses - Christian, Arab or Jewish (Khazar) travelers who compiled memoirs about the life and customs of Ancient Rus'. Unfortunately, today we do not know a single Russian written source created in the era preceding the baptism of Rus'. Even the very first historical source - the Tale of Bygone Years - dates back to the 11th century at the earliest; there is nothing before it, no written evidence.

As noted, to study paganism, scientists have to use the entire range of sources available to them - ethnographic, folklore, archaeological, but using them in synergy (and this is the only way to use them) leads to the emergence of numerous methodological problems, differences in interpretations, interchangeability of different phenomena, etc. n. Overcoming such difficulties, historical science still strive to build A complex approach to categorizing the pantheon of Slavic gods, which she succeeds at the very least.

So, today we know the following Slavic deities:

Perun- the supreme god, the double of Zeus and Thor, because he throws lightning and is also called the thunderer. He is also the patron of the princely family; the princely squad swears by him when concluding international treaties. It is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, as well as by Procopius of Caesarea, who, however, does not name it directly, but points out that the Slavs have a thunder god to whom they sacrifice bulls.

Horse- apparently the sun god. Historians have been unable to find out the origin of the name of this god and, according to several sources (one of which is hagiographic), he was attributed to personifying the sun. In one of the sources, Horse is called a Jewish god, which may indicate that it was borrowed from the Khazar Khaganate, which professed Judaism. Researcher of Russian paganism V.N. Toporov believes that the name Khorsa is of Iranian origin and passed into the Slavic pantheon from the Scythians and Sarmatians.

Dazhbog, Stribog, Semargl- deities from the pantheon established by Prince Vladimir before the baptism of Rus', in Kyiv. Their purpose is not defined. Dazhbog is associated with the sun (but in this case it turns out that there are already two claiming the sun - Khors and Dazhbog, which makes no sense), Stribog with the wind, Semargl, unfortunately, could not be classified, what element or phenomenon it is attributed to remains unclear. According to O. Bodyansky, Dazhbog is just another name for Khorsa; in our opinion, this statement really makes sense.

Among the Slavic pantheon there are also female deities (it’s hard to call them goddesses), one of them is Mokosh, patroness of weaving and crafts in general. The purpose of Mokosha was derived from its etymology, which does not contradict the folklore traditions and rituals associated with this name. Mokosh in the Christian tradition was transformed into Paraskeva Friday.

All of the above deities are present in the so-called pantheon of Vladimir. When Vladimir Svyatoslavich took the Kiev throne, he decided to restore paganism, which had been “abolished” by his brother Yaropolk, who had previously ruled in Kyiv. The Tale of Bygone Years tells that Vladimir “placed idols on the hill behind the tower courtyard: a wooden Perun with a silver head and a golden mustache, and Khors, Dazhbog, and Stribog, and Simargl, and Mokosh. And they made sacrifices to them, calling them gods, and brought their sons and daughters, and made sacrifices to demons, and desecrated the earth with their sacrifices. And the Russian land and that hill were defiled with blood.” Judging by these chronicles, people were sacrificed to Perun and the others, since desecration by blood is applicable only to human sacrifices, animal sacrifices were not stigmatized in the chronicles (but were not encouraged either) and were considered simply a demonic custom, one of many. In the Christian tradition, any sacrifices are prohibited.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich at the “Millennium of Russia” monument in Veliky Novgorod. With his foot he tramples the idol of Perun

V. Petrukhin pointed out one interesting point. All the deities listed are Slavic origin, while the squad and princes of the initial centuries of Russian history proper are Varangians. That is, the Varangians-Rus did not bring with them the Scandinavian gods - Thor, Odin, etc., but accepted the locals and even made them their patrons (Perun is the patron of the prince and his squad).

The supreme god of the Eastern Slavs (specifically the ethnic group, as opposed to the princely gods) is considered to be Svarog, the god who, according to legend, gave fire to humanity and taught how to forge metal. Svarog was especially revered by the peasants, since he was the first plowman: having defeated the huge monster - the Snake, he used it to plow a barrier furrow along the Dnieper. The appearance of Svarog in mythology is attributed to the Iron Age, i.e. to the Proto-Slavic community.

Material confirmation of the existence of such a pantheon is the Zbruch Idol, which was discovered in 1848 in the Zbruch River (hence the name) by residents of the village of Gusyatin in Ukraine. The idol is carved from stone and dates back to the 10th century. B. A. Rybakov identified one of the female figures depicted on the sides of the idol as Mokosh, because she holds a horn in her hand, and the second as Lada, the goddess of spring and marriage, because she holds a ring in her hand. One of the male figures with a sword and horse is identified by scientists as Perun (god of the squad), and the other, on whose clothes the image of the sun appears, as Dazhbog (Horse). The lowest tier of the Zbruch idol is represented by only one male figure, which seems to support the remaining tiers with its hands. Apparently, this is a figure of Volos (see below for more information about him).

Zbruch idol. OK. X century. Stone. Height 2.67 m. Krakow Archaeological Museum, Krakow, Poland

It is worth highlighting Mother Cheese Earth, as the general supreme female deity. She is not present in the pantheon of Vladimir, however, we find traces of her in all chronicles, as well as epics and folklore.

Another interesting Slavic god, mentioned here and there in chronicles and lives - Hair or Veles, the so-called “cattle god”. Volos entered the Orthodox tradition as a devil or a demon. There were idols of Volos in many Russian cities; they were located mainly where artisans and peasants lived, that is, residents engaged in labor, as opposed to the squad, which they “fed.”

B. A. Rybakov noted several layers in Slavic paganism, as if replacing each other. These layers can be compared to historical eras the existence of Slavic mythology, which, according to the scientist, is the successor to Egyptian and Greek mythology. The connecting link Between these eras come Rod and women in labor - the deities of fate and tribal unity. To this day, the Russian language has retained the stable expression “it was written in the family,” which quite accurately conveys the purpose of these pagan phenomena. The clan and women in labor were often denounced in Church Slavonic literature, since the rituals of honoring them were preserved throughout the entire Christian era in Rus'. In the Russian Trebnik of the 16th century, which was used by priests as a kind of test program for confession, there is a question for women: “Did they cook porridge on the day of the Nativity of Christ?” The custom of “cooking porridge”, kutya or baking pies and bringing them to church the day after Christmas is an example of Russian dual faith. It was women in labor who patronized the fate of the newborn who were honored with porridge and bread; therefore, for the Russians of that time it was more than a good reason to appease the pagan deities immediately after the birth of the Christ child. The Church tried to condemn, and where it could even prohibit, such rituals, but they, nevertheless, remained in the everyday culture of the Russian peasantry.

WITH By birth and women in labor The rituals of honoring ancestors (ancestors) and propitiating the house (the spirit of the house) are closely related.

The same Rybakov builds the following sequence of ancient Russian gods who were worshiped by the Slavs (based on the “Words of St. Gregory invented in masses about how the first trash of the pagans worshiped idols”): 1) mermaids (ghouls and beregins) water demons; 2) clan and women in labor (to the spirits of clan and fate); 3) Perun. As we see, beliefs move from more primitive forces of nature to increasingly complex and personified deities. By the way, archaeological data generally confirm such an evolution of pagan beliefs.

Let us once again emphasize the fact that we learn about all the gods of the Slavic pantheon mainly from Christian sources, in particular from the Tale of Bygone Years. Recorded legends about Perun and other gods appear much later. This is due to the fact that the Slavic language, in which the first scribes wrote, was considered the sacred language of the Russian Church, since it was spoken and brought to Rus' by the first Slavic ascetics - Cyril and Methodius. Accordingly, the first Russian scribes did not dare to describe “filthy” customs and “filthy” gods on it. Yes, and in principle they did not have such a task. For example, Nestor’s task was to derive the history of the Russian land from the cosmogonic beginning of the entire earth, that is, from the “tongues” that were scattered after the Flood, and also to attribute it to the diocese of one of the apostles (in this case, Andrew the First-Called was chosen). Naturally, at that time the influence of folk culture itself, which professed paganism and animism, on the development of the nation was not recognized. And only in the period of modern history was this influence recognized as fundamental.

Low mythology

In addition to the gods, ancient Russian paganism is rich in representatives of lower mythology, all these vampires, mermaids, goddesses and kikimoras. The forces of nature and their patrons - goblins, water and field - existed on a par with the patron gods of atomspheric phenomena. The lower mythological entities also include people endowed with demonic properties - witches, veshtits, pestilences, sorcerers, warlocks. All sorts of demons of diseases are also represented in various ways, including diseases of livestock, devils, demons, demons of fate.

The most important witch in the pagan mythology of the Slavs is well known to all of us. Baba Yaga is a witch who lives in a hut on chicken legs. According to the descriptions, this hut is very similar to the house in which the ashes of the dead were buried after cremation. Therefore, folklore researchers concluded that Baba Yaga is actually a “bad” dead person, a restless soul living in her hut-coffin and harming people. The attributes of Baba Yaga are, in addition to the hut, which always stands on the edge of the forest, a bone leg, a mortar in which she flies and chases people, and a broom. As you can see, the attributes are completely similar to the attributes of medieval witches who flew on a broom. The bone leg tells us that Baba Yaga is a character of two worlds - this and the other world, in fact, she is a guide of souls to the afterlife. In the initial period of Slavic history, blood sacrifices were made to her in order to appease her. According to the testimony of Ibn Fadlan, who was present at the burial ceremony of one noble Slav, it was also attended by an old woman witch, whose duties included the ritual murder of concubines who agreed to follow the deceased to the next world. It is quite possible that the image of Baba Yaga was transformed from this real-life character.

Hood. V. M. Vasnetsov Baba Yaga, 1917, House-Museum of V. M. Vasnetsov, Moscow

Vampires or ghouls- these are the unburied dead, or those who during their lifetime were sorcerers or witches, whose souls do not accept the next world, and they remain there. At night they rise from their graves, attack people and drink their blood. Belief in vampires is confirmed by archaeological evidence. Numerous burials in which stakes, knives, spears were stuck into the remains, or whose graves were filled with stones, indicate that the belief in “hosted” dead originates in the pagan tradition. Belief in ghouls persists in Russian folklore to this day.

A character from Slavic mythology well known to us from fairy tales. Above we cited the testimony of St. Nifont about the mermaid procession. According to the hierarch, this holiday was more of a fun procession, a kind of carnival, which is quite curious, since the mermaids themselves, water nymphs, are rather negative characters. According to legends, they lured people into the swamps and could tickle them to death. According to some sources, a mermaid is also a “hostage” deceased who died as a result of drowning and remained unburied. A mermaid, as the term suggests, is a female character. Later, in the Orthodox tradition, drowned women who remained unbaptized began to be classified as mermaids.

Hood. V. Prushkovsky. Mermaids. 1877, National Museum, Krakow, Poland

Goddesses- a rather specific character of lower Slavic mythology, since they are dangerous only for pregnant women and women in labor. According to legend, goddesses are old or ugly women who themselves died during childbirth or were unbaptized and now attack women in labor and kidnap babies. They also replace children, strangle women in labor during sleep, take away milk, etc. Children who are taken by goddesses or who are killed by their mothers become demons. The habitat of goddesses is similar to mermaids; goddesses also live near bodies of water, and sometimes under water.

The word has been preserved in the Russian language to this day, as today they call an ugly or poorly dressed woman or old woman. Kikimora in lower Slavic mythology is the wife of a brownie, lives in a house behind the stove or in a barn and causes minor mischief to the household. Unbaptized babies, stillborn babies and those with congenital deformities, as well as “hosted” dead people become kikimoras. It is believed that the image of the kikimora is similar to the image of the supreme deity Mokoshi, who is related to the cult of agriculture, fertility, and weaving. Kikimora also spins wool, sometimes shears sheep, thus stealing from their owners. According to legends, you can come to an agreement with a kikimora and even have conversations, ask her about anything, she answers with a knock. If she is in a good mood, she can predict the future.

Kikimora. Drawing by I. Ya. Bilibin

With deities and spirits of loci (patrons of the forces of nature), not everything is so simple. Actually, before the baptism of Rus', many of these supernatural creatures were peaceful. The goblin and the water goblin were the patrons of their elements and were not seen in sabotage. With the advent of the Christian tradition, all these spirit loci were outlawed and, accordingly, acquired a demonic essence.

It was after the establishment of Christianity that the goblin became a demon of the forest, which confused people and forced them to wander around the same place. In pagan tradition, a goblin is good spirit forest, which understands the language of animals and birds, keeps order in the forest and helps (!) unlucky travelers find their way if they get lost.

Accordingly, the merman is the spirit of lakes, rivers, springs, it is believed that he has power over mermaids and other swamp creatures, lives under water, in ice holes, in abandoned mills. The merman has his own livestock, which he grazes; these are, of course, fish - catfish, carp and pike.

Water. Drawing by I. Ya. Bilibin

Folklore tradition of Ancient Rus'

As you can see, Slavic pre-Christian mythology is very rich and diverse. Thanks to ethnographic research, today we can recreate the life and culture of our ancestors in all the diversity and multicolor of folk traditions, crafts, epics, legends and rituals. We can say that folklore tradition is a mirror of the life of Ancient Rus'.

Although, for example, E.V. Anichkov, considered paganism in Ancient Rus' “poor”, Slavic gods “pathetic”, and morals “rude”. And indeed, if we compare the myths and legends of the Slavs with the rich mythology of Ancient Greece or Scandinavia, the comparison will not be in favor of Rus'. Pagan Russian rituals are indeed very primitive, but ancient Russian folklore can be considered one of the most significant. Rybakov, in order to refute Anichkov’s point of view, conducted serious research on ancient Russian pagan mythology and, one might say, “proved” that we are no worse, and our paganism can be poetic and comprehensive.

Above we presented a three-part scheme for the development of Slavic beliefs, to which we will add a few comments in this paragraph. In particular, it is noted that the belief in ghouls, mermaids, brownies and other demonic creatures has long survived the era of paganism and is still found today. Second note: the worship of Perun, the supreme deity, occurs long before the time of formation Old Russian state(the etymology of the name traces Iranian and Scythian-Sarmatian roots). Thus, talking about the inheritance of the stages of development of paganism identified by Rybakov can be quite conditional.

All three stages of paganism are reflected in the folklore of Ancient Rus'; naturally, it is quite difficult to analyze the chronology of folklore, which is why primitive demons and perfect heroic gods exist at the same time.

As already noted, the written tradition in Rus' had as its goal to determine the place of the new, newly born statehood in Christian civilization, and therefore swept from the pages of books everything that contradicted Orthodoxy. All this was, first of all, paganism, with its “filthy” fables and heroes, the Church called them “blasphemers.” However, it was not possible to completely banish paganism from the lives of people of that time. If earlier the worship of pagan gods required certain ceremonies, sacrifices and rituals, then from the moment of the baptism of Rus', it lost its sacredness and remained in everyday life in the form of amusements, tales, fables, youth games, fortune telling, etc. In this way, one might say, In a relaxed form, paganism has survived to the present day, influencing the development of all Russian culture and continues to do so to this day.

In general, the ancient Russian folklore tradition and the rituals and customs associated with it had close ties with the agricultural calendar. The change of season was considered by our ancestors as a struggle between cold and heat, symbolic death and rebirth.

Old Russian paganism also had its own priests, they were called Magi and attributed to them magical power and power. After the Christianization of Rus', the Magi tried to regain power in the minds of the inhabitants, however, their attempts, known in history as the “revolt of the Magi,” failed. In the 11th century, rebellious Magi appeared either in Novgorod or Kyiv, sometimes the people and princes took their side, sometimes the Magi were “beaten”.

Hood. A. P. Ryabushkin. Prince Gleb Svyatoslavovich kills the sorcerer at the Novgorod Veche (Prince's Court), 1898, Nizhny Tagil Art Museum fine arts, Nizhny Tagil

The very phenomenon of the sorcerer, sorcererism, is a cross-cutting plot of the Slavic folklore tradition. Let us remember the death of the Prophetic Oleg from a horse, prophesied by the Magi, the legend of Vseslav of Polotsk, who was born not from love, but from sorcery (witchcraft), the Magi predict the victories and defeats of Russian princes. It is typical that the wise men fight witches, accusing them of hiding the harvest or causing drought, famine and disease (pestilence). In order to lift the curse, the witch had to be killed and a loaf of bread or fish cut out of her stomach, after which the disaster would recede. The priests fought these cruel customs as best they could; sorcery was declared heresy and thus outlawed.

Hood. V. M. Vasnetsov. Oleg's meeting with the magician. 1899, watercolor, State Literary Museum, Moscow

The most famous phenomenon in the Russian folklore tradition is, of course, epics. We adhere to the point of view that epics as a heroic epic originated precisely in Ancient Rus', and perhaps earlier, with the coming to power of a prince and his retinue.

There are many theories regarding the origin of epics as a genre, including modern science the sum of these theories is accepted as correct. That is, epics are also legends in which heroes (a kind of doubles of the Slavic gods) fight adversity (forces of nature) and emerge victorious; in epics we also see echoes of real historical events, romanticized by subsequent retellers and censuses; Of course, some epics or their elements were borrowed from the folklore of their western and eastern neighbors. Thus, Russian epics are a complex phenomenon, depending on who turns to its study (historian, literary critic, linguist), one or another of its facets is revealed.

From the point of view of history, of course, real historical events were reflected in epics. “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, epics of the Vladimirov cycle, Zadonshchina - are based on real facts that have been confirmed in official science. In this regard, the epic epic received the status of historical folklore.

In the development of the epic epic, two large stages can be distinguished. The first is the origin of the epic as a genre, the pagan period itself. In the epics of this cycle there are almost mythical heroes-heroes. They personify the forces of nature and have not just physical, but supernatural strength. This is how we picture the giant Svyatogor, who is not held by Mother Cheese Earth, Mikula Selyaninovich - a pre-Christian hero-plowman who challenged Svyatogor. Mikula's daughter, Vasilisa, is a cross-cutting female character in the entire Russian epic. Volga Svyatoslavich is another ancient character in epics; he can turn into different animals and “reads from books.”

Hood. A. P. Ryabushkin. Mikula Selyaninovich. 1895. Illustration for the book “Russian epic heroes”

After the ancient period, two more epics are distinguished - Kiev and Novgorod, formed after the baptism of Rus' and therefore not related as such to ancient Russian paganism. In the Kiev cycle, the heroes-heroes are grouped around the figure of Vladimir the Red Sun (most likely a poetic image of the real-life Prince Vladimir); in the Novgorod cycle, Sadko and Vasily Buslaev act.

In conclusion, we note that paganism in Ancient Rus' was quite multifaceted. We will not agree here with Anichkov’s opinion, which considered him pitiful and wretched. Of course, ancient Russian mythology cannot be compared with the ancient Greek pantheon, but in Rus' the lower sphere of mythology is strong, with its pawned dead, elemental demons and other evil spirits. Such a wealth of goblins, brownies and kikimoras is not found in any other pagan religion.

An important feature of ancient Russian paganism is its pervasive nature, as well as the preservation of “dual faith” throughout the history of our country. Rituals, spells, amulets and fortune telling have remained in our culture to this day; pagan semiotics has firmly entered the Orthodox tradition despite numerous prohibitions from church leaders that were issued already in the first years after the baptism of Rus'.

The influence that paganism had on Russian literature is enormous: epics, fairy tales, ritual songs can be traced in almost all works of classical and modern Russian literature. Pushkin, Gogol, Platonov and even Mayakovsky turned to pagan origins in their works.

The pagan tradition of Ancient Rus' played and continues to play a huge role in the development of all Russian culture.

I. Introduction

The word “culture” comes from the word “cult” - the faith, customs and traditions of ancestors. Anyone who forgets this has no right to be considered a cultured person.

Before Christianity and other monotheistic religions, all peoples were pagans. The culture of earthlings dates back thousands of years.

Nowadays they don’t say a word about paganism in schools. Not only students, but also teachers have no idea about paganism. Meanwhile, the school curriculum should begin with fairy tales, songs, and myths of our ancestors. Myths are the primary layer of the cultural life of mankind; religion, science, and art derive their origin from them.

Slavic paganism developed along different channels: some tribes believed in the forces of the cosmos and nature; others - into Rod and Rozhanits, others - into the souls of deceased ancestors and spirits (spiritualized forces); fourth - in totem animals - ancestors, etc. Some buried (kept) their dead ancestors in the ground, believing that they later helped the living from the Other World and left them something to eat. Others burned the dead in boats (boats), sending their souls on a heavenly voyage, believing that if the body was burned, the soul would quickly rise to heaven and repose there, each in its own star (hence - repose).

According to the ideas of the ancient Slavs, the highest gods lived in the sky, the spirits of nature lived on the earth, and evil demons lived underground. Probably, such a structure did not arise immediately. In the beginning there was a cult of the spirits of nature, the spirits of human patrons, the spirits of ancestors. Then images of gods were formed, the list of which gradually expanded. Man improved, and spirits and gods became more and more humanized.

II. Slavic pagan world

Today we can only give general idea about the Slavic pagan world. Moreover, if individual gods can be characterized in more or less detail, then only names have been preserved from others.

The most ancient non-personified gods of the Slavs are Rod and Rozhanitsy. The genus is sometimes identified with the phallus, sometimes with grain (including solar and rain grain that fertilizes the earth). Women in labor are the female generative principle that gives life to all living things: humans, flora and fauna. Later, Rod and Rozhanitsy began to perform more functions, unified into the supreme gods and were personified in different tribes of the Slavs - they received proper names: Yarovit, Svetovid, Rigevit, Makosh, Golden Baba, Didilia, Zizya, etc.

The ancient Slavic ones include the worship of ghouls and beregins.

1. Beregini and perfume

Beregini(like the Greek penates) preserved the well-being of different places and types of nature, as well as the house. There were many house spirits: the brownie, the Kutny god, the grandfather, ergot and speka (spirits that contributed to human affairs), drowsiness (the peaceful home deity of sleep), bayunok (storyteller, night storyteller, lullaby songwriter), laziness, otet (extreme laziness) , okoyoms, prokurat, prokudy (rogues, unhearing, pranksters), bannik (spirit of the bathhouse), evil spirits, demons, devils, shishigi (devils with hair sticking out like a shisha), kikimora or shishimora (devil with hair sticking out like a shisha, deity of restless dreams and night phenomena). The Orthodox “chert” means damned, who has crossed the line, the border.

There were many beregins; they protected people everywhere: at home, in the forest, in the field, on the water, they protected crops, barnyards, children, sang lullabies to them, told them fairy tales (tales), and brought them dreams. Later they received their own names, some - their own group names, for example, their own Did, Baba - ancestors; group - mermaids, goblins, etc.

Here are some of them:

Grandfather (did)- ancestor, ancestor. For those who believed that they descended from Perun (Olgovichi and others), this is also a synonym for Perun. The grandfather is the guardian of the family, and, above all, of the children, of course. The eldest man, a representative of the clan eldership, who pacifies passions within the clan, preserves the basic principles of the morality of the clan, strictly monitoring their implementation. The forest deity, the keeper of Perun's treasure (gold, silver, i.e. Lightning, thunderstorms, silver rain), was also called grandfather. They prayed to the grandfather for instructions, for the discovery of the treasure. According to legend, where the light flashes, there is this treasure (rain with thunderstorms), which is vital and important for people.

Woman. The most ancient of them is Baba Yaga.

What does Yaga mean? Why is she so scary? And even more so, no one believes that the terrible Baba Yaga is initially a caring beregin.

The word “Yaga” is coarsened from “Yashka”. Yasha in Slavic songs was called foot-and-mouth disease - who once lived on earth and disappeared, the progenitor of all living things; hence our more understandable one - ancestor. Baba Yaga was originally an ancestress, a very ancient positive deity of the Slavic pantheon, the keeper of the family and traditions, children and the surrounding (often forest) space. During the period of the introduction of Christianity, all pagan gods and deities, spirits, including those who protected people (beregins), were given evil, demonic features, ugliness in appearance and character, and evil intentions. So the pagan strict ancestor was turned into an evil demon with which they scare our little children. In various Slavic tribes there were later other ancestors who received proper names: Golden Baba, Golden Mother, Makosh, etc.

There are especially many beregins (they were also later given evil traits) among the goblins: forester, woodsman, leshak, wild man, Mikola (Nikola) Duplyansky, companion, boletus, crafty (bent and twisted like a bow, and the same internally, which is the main thing) , grandfather, grandfather; as well as demons (the Slavic “demon” literally means “without”, and then any positive concept could follow, for example, a person without conscience, God, concept (knowledge), goodness, justice, honor, mind, etc.) devils ; shishigi; forest mavkas; ghouls; anchutki (a cross between a devil and a duck); werewolves; wolfhounds (dlaka - skin); bats; miracle-yudo; forest king; sudichki and hartsuki (small spirits, assistants of Perun); dashingly one-eyed; the fear-Rakh bird is an incomplete list of forest inhabitants who were the embodiment of the forest as a space hostile to humans.

Sometimes the goblin did not differ from people, but more often the owner of the forest appeared dressed in animal skin (dlaka); sometimes he had animal attributes: horns, hooves, etc.

In winter, the usual goblin in the forest were replaced by Perun’s assistants, who were even stricter towards people - the Kalinniki (from the word “to cast”): Morozko, Treskunets, Karachun. Thus, a person, leaving home for the forest or field, prepared himself for a constant struggle with unforeseen circumstances and merciless elements; and on the other hand, he could always count on the unexpected help of the forest deity, the forest owner, so I tried to please him; do not harm in the forest, do not beat animals unnecessarily, do not break trees and bushes in vain, do not litter the forest, do not even shout loudly, do not disturb the peace and quiet of nature.

About what the deities of sleep and night ghosts tried to make from the Slavic kikimora (shishimora) evil spirit, evidenced by the second part of the word – “mora”. Mora (Mor), Mara is the goddess of death. But still, kikimora is not death. If she gets angry and plays pranks, for example, disturbs the kids at night, confuses the yarn left out at night, etc. - does not mean that someone will die as a result of her evil tricks. Kikimora is a weak, like a crooked mirror reflection of only the fear of death, or even just fear.

Christianity managed to turn into its opposite and mermaid – oldest species Beregini, who lived in the waters. She was always depicted with a woman's face and breasts, a fish body and a tail. The word “bereginya” itself comes from the concept of protecting, helping a wandering, sailing, or distressed person to get to the shore. The Slavs did this with mermaids. However, during the period of criticism and denial of paganism, the idea was gradually introduced that mermaids were drowned women and dead unbaptized children. They began to be afraid. It was believed that they were most dangerous for people during Rusal Week (June 19 - 24), before Ivan Kupala, especially on Thursday (Perunov's Day). During the mermaid week, they sang mermaid songs, hung yarn, threads, and towels on trees and bushes - symbolic clothing for mermaids; either to appease them, or to pity them...

The ancient Semargl, a sacred winged dog that guarded seeds and crops, also ascended to the shores. Semargl is, as it were, the personification of armed (militant) good. Later Semargl began to be called Pereplut, perhaps because he was more associated with the protection of plant roots (Pluto - greek god underground kingdom). The cult of Pereplut celebrated its mermaid week. And seeds and crops began to be protected by Yadrei and Obilukha. The mermaids brought news of rain.

Beregins were also birds with a woman's face: sweet-sounding Sirin, the Phoenix bird reborn from the ashes, Stratim - the mother of all birds, the oldest in the big one, the Firebird, swan girls (swans), Nail-bird, etc.

Mythical half-animal-half-human also called chimerical or chimeras. The purpose of many beregins has now been lost. For example, the dog's name is Polkan; many people think that in ancient times there was such a winged dog (confusing it with Semargl), while polkan (polkon) is literally a half-horse. The half-horse guarded the solar horses of Svetovid, the horses of the sun gods or thunder gods.

Among the Russian half-horses are the Little Humpbacked Horse, Sivka-Burka, etc. In appearance, they are half or much smaller than the heroic horses of God, they are inconspicuous, sometimes even ugly (hump, long ears, etc.). In a metaphorical sense, it is half-horses, half-people: they understand the affairs of people (gods and demons), speak human language, distinguish between good and evil, and are active in affirming good.

There is another extraordinary deity: Chur- the deity of borders, one of the most ancient deities-beregins. Derived from "shchur". Ancestors (ancestors) of some kind. Chur is connected with the world. He sanctifies and protects the right of property (cf. “Chur-moe”), divides everything fairly: “Chur – in half!”, “Chur – together!”.

The word “chur” is associated with “devil”, “outline”, “delineate”. Proto-Slavic “chert” - cursed, possibly violating borders, boundary, geographical, and then - inevitably, moral; replacing good with evil.

2. Pagan gods

Many references to solar cosmic pagan gods have reached us.

Svarog- the god of the sky (Svarga - sky), hence our expression “svara”, “boil” - to swear, scold, to be like heaven in bad weather. Son of Svarog - Dazhdbog

Connected with Svarog, Stribog is the god of air currents and elements. It was to him that the winds obeyed. Proper names some of them are lost, perhaps one of them was called Wind, another Hurricane, etc. But the names of the two winds have reached us. This is Pogoda (Dogoda) - a light, pleasant westerly breeze. It is no coincidence that all other states of the atmosphere, except for the one named, are called bad weather. Posvist (Pozvist or Pokhvist) is the elder (or ruler) wind living in the north. He was depicted wearing a huge flowing cloak.

Some believe that the sun god of the ancient Slavs was Yarilo, others - Dazhdbog, and others call Svetovid. However, the Slavs had their own sun god. His name is . It is known most of all among the southeastern Slavs, where there is, of course, a lot of sun.

From the ancient roots “horo” and “kolo”, meaning circle, the solar sign of the sun, the words “round dance”, “mansions” (circular building of a yard), and “wheel” are formed.

Two very large Slavic pagan holidays of the year are dedicated to Khors - the days of the summer and winter solstice in June (when a cart wheel was necessarily rolled down from the mountain to the river - a solar sign of the sun, symbolizing the sun's retreat for the winter) and December (when Kolyada, Yarila, etc. were honored. ).

Kolyada- a diminutive of “colo”, the sun-baby (it was represented as a boy or a girl, because for a small child, gender does not yet play any role; the sun itself is neuter). This deity arose from the holiday of the winter solstice, from the poetic idea of ​​​​the birth of a young sun, that is, the sun of the next year (This ancient idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe annual baby has not died to this day. It is transferred to the concept of " New Year" It is no coincidence that on postcards and in New Year's celebrations, artists depict the New Year in the form of a boy flying in space).

Kolyada was celebrated on winter holidays from December 25 (Nomad, Christmas Eve) to January 6 (Veles Day). This time coincides with severe frosts (cf. Mora - death), blizzards (cf. Viy) and the most violent dens of unclean (in the Christian view) spirits and evil witches who steal the month and stars. Everything is covered in a frosty veil and seems dead. However, winter Christmastide is the most joyful revelry of Slavic festivities. The mummers walked around the courtyards, singing carols - songs glorifying Kolyada, who gives blessings to everyone. The well-being of home and family was also glorified.

On the nights of winter Christmastide, fortune telling took place about the future harvest, about the offspring, and most of all about marriage unions. There are countless ways of fortune telling. This custom comes from the desire to communicate with the ancient Slavic goddess, who was represented as a beautiful spinning girl spinning the thread of fate, the thread of life - Srecha (Meeting) - in order to find out her destiny. For different tribes, the synonyms “court”, “fate”, “share”, “fate”, “lot”, “kosh”, “sentence”, “decision”, “choice” have the same meaning.

Srecha- night goddess. No one saw her spinning, so fortune telling took place at night. Most often they guessed at the betrothed (cf. The word “bride” literally means “unknown”). It is assumed that the duties of the goddess of fate among other East Slavic tribes were performed by Makosh, who patronized household work.

If during the winter holidays fortune-telling took place at night, then during the day - ladins - brides' consorts, and then weddings.

The Slavic holiday Kupalo is associated with the summer solstice. Summer Solstice Day is the most important holiday of the Slavs, time highest development creative forces of nature.

On the night of June 24, there was a custom not to sleep: to watch the meeting of the month with the sun, so as to see how “the sun shines.” The Slavs went to ritual hills or to clearings near rivers, burned bonfires, sang, and danced in circles and streams. Jumping over fires was both a test of dexterity and fate: a high jump symbolized luck in plans. With jokes, feigned cries and obscene songs, straw dolls of Yarila, Kupala, Kostrubonka or Kostroma (bonfire - woody parts of flax, hemp) were burned.

At dawn, everyone participating in the holiday bathed in order to relieve themselves of evil infirmities and illnesses.

On Kupala night, according to legend, all sorts of miracles happened: rare mysterious herbs bloomed - gap-grass, fern, etc.; unprecedented treasures were discovered. Evil spirits - witches and sorcerers - also indulged in all sorts of revelry, stealing the stars, the month, etc.

From the merger of the name of the pagan Slavic holiday Kupala and the Christian Midsummer Day (meaning John the Baptist), a new name for the holiday emerged - Ivan Kupala.

If Khors was the god of the sun, then Svetovid, Dazhdbog, Rugevit, Porevit, Yarovit, Belbog carried within themselves both the masculine generic principle and the solar, cosmic principle. These gods of late Slavic paganism are the supreme (tribal) gods of different tribes, so their functions have a lot in common. Dazhdbog- one of the most famous gods East Slavic tribes. This is a giving god, a giver of earthly goods, and also a god who protects his family. He gave man everything important (by cosmic standards): the sun, warmth, light, movement (natural or calendar - the change of day and night, seasons, years, etc.). Dazhdbog was probably more than the sun god, although he was very close to this; he meant what we call “the whole white light.”

Belbog- guardian (conservator) and giver of goodness, good luck, justice, happiness, all blessings. An ancient sculptor made a statue of Belbog with a piece of iron in right hand(hence - justice). Since ancient times, the Slavs knew a similar (test with iron) method of restoring justice. A person suspected of any offense was given a red-hot piece of iron in his right hand, and ordered to walk ten steps with it; the one whose hand remained unharmed was recognized as right. Since ancient times, the concept of “branded with iron” was equivalent to “branded with shame.” From here we learn that the supreme Slavic gods had another function - the Supreme Judge, Conscience, Zealot of Justice, as well as a punishing god, protecting the race from moral decline.

Svetovid(Svyatovid) - the god of war, sun, victory among the Western Slavs, was depicted with four heads. Holidays in his honor began at the end of the harvest, in August. The Slavs brought fruits collected from fields, gardens and vegetable gardens as gifts to God. The priest filled Svetovid's horn with new wine, symbolizing the fullness of the next year's harvest. Many young animals were sacrificed to Svetovid, which were eaten right there during the feast.

Rugevit- the supreme god of one of the Slavic tribes. Rugevit had seven faces, seven swords with scabbards hung on his belt, and he held one sword in his right hand. Rugevit stood guard over the life of his tribe.

Revit- one of the tribal supreme gods, more ancient. Poro (spore) is nothing more than a seed, and vita is life. That is, this is the god of male seed, the giver of life and its joy, love, just like the East Slavic Yarovit and the already named Svetovid, Belbog, Dazhdbog, Rugevit.

Something close to all these gods Perun, thunderer, god of the Western Slavs. Perun had a huge retinue of relatives and assistants: Thunder, Lightning, Hail, Rain, mermaids and mermaids, winds, of which there are four, like the four cardinal directions. Hence Perun’s day is Thursday (cf. “after the rain on Thursday”, “ Maundy Thursday"), sometimes there are seven, ten, twelve or just a lot of winds.

Perun and other gods, personifying the forces of nature, are served by heroes and volots. If they go wild, stones are pulled out of the mountains, trees are felled, and rivers are dammed with rubble. There are many such heroes of varying strength in Slavic mythology: Gorynya, Verni-gora, Valigora, Vertigor, Dubynya, Duboder, Vertodub, Vyrvidub, Elinya (spruce), Lesinya (forest), Duginya (arc oppression), Bor, Verni-voda, Zapri -water, Stream-hero, Usynya, Medvedko, Nightingale the Robber (hurricane wind), Strength the Tsarevich, Ivan Popyalov (Popel), Svyatogor, Water, etc.

Forests and rivers that were considered sacred, for example, the Bug and Volkhov, were dedicated to Perun.

Snakes are also associated with Perun. Snakes (as symbols) had several meanings and purposes.

In the Slavic calendar there are two holidays during which snakes are remembered (most often they are harmless snakes), March 25 is the time when livestock is driven out “to St. George’s dew” and snakes crawl out of the ground, the ground becomes warm, and agricultural work can begin. September 14 – snakes leave, the agricultural cycle basically ends. Thus, these animals symbolized the cyclical nature of rural field work and were a kind of natural climatic clock. It was believed that they also helped to beg for rain.

Images of snakes - snakes - decorated ancient vessels with water. The snakes from Perunova's retinue symbolized heavenly clouds, thunderstorms, and a powerful rampant of the elements. These snakes are multi-headed. If you cut off one head, the other grows and shoots out tongues of fire (lightning). Serpent-Gorynych is the son of the mountain - heavenly (cloud). These snakes kidnap beauties (the moon, stars and even the sun). The snake can quickly turn into a boy or girl. This is due to the rejuvenation of nature after rain, after every winter.

Snakes are the guardians of countless treasures, medicinal herbs, living and dead water. Hence the snake doctors and symbols of healing.

Snakes from the retinue of the gods of the underworld - Viy, Death, Mary, Chernobog, Kashchei, etc. Guard the underworld. A variant of the serpent - the ruler of the underground kingdom - is the Lizard, less often - the Fish. The lizard is often found in folk songs of archaic times; sometimes, having lost the ancient meaning of symbolism, it is called Yasha.

Many tribes, especially in hunting and forest regions, believed that their ancestor was a mighty gigantic beast. For example, bear, deer, foot and mouth disease, etc. The cult of Veles is associated with such ideas. The ancients believed that the race descends from God, who appears only in the form of a beast, and then again goes to the heavenly palaces (constellation Big Dipper etc.).

Veles- one of the oldest East Slavic gods. At first he patronized hunters. Due to the taboo on the deified beast it was called “hairy”, “hair”, “veles”. It also denoted the spirit of a killed animal, hunting prey. "Vel" is the root of words meaning "dead". To die, to repose, means to attach one’s spirit, one’s soul to one’s heavenly ancestors, whose soul flies to heaven, but whose body remains on earth. There was a custom of leaving a harvested field to “reap the ears of hair on a beard,” that is, the Slavs believed that the ancestors resting in the soil also helped its fertility. Thus, the cult of the cattle god Veles was somehow connected with the ancestors, with the harvest, with the well-being of the clan. Herbs, flowers, bushes, trees were called “hair of the earth.”

Since ancient times, livestock was considered the main wealth of a tribe or family. Therefore, the bestial god Veles was also the god of wealth. The roots “volo” and “vlo” became an integral part of the word “volode” (to own).

The cult of Veles goes back to the cult of Rod and Rozhanits. Therefore, together with Yarila, the Slavs paid tribute to the voluptuous bestial gods Tur and Veles on the Semik holiday, on Shrovetide week and on winter holidays, sacrificing to them round dances, singing, kisses through a wreath of fresh flowers and greenery, and all sorts of loving actions.

The concept of Magi, since the root of this word also comes from “hairy”, “hairy”. When performing ritual dances, spells, and rituals in ancient times, the Magi dressed in the skin (dlaka) of a bear or other animal. Magi are a kind of scientists, sages of ancient times who know their culture, at least better than many.

Women goddesses, dating back to ancient cult Rozhanits. The most ancient is the goddess of the Western Slavs Triglava(Trigla). She was depicted with three faces, her idols always stood under open air- on mountains, hills, near roads. She was identified with the goddess of the Earth.

Makosh- one of the main goddesses of the Eastern Slavs. Her name is made up of two parts: “ma” - mother, and “kosh” - purse, basket, shed. Makosh is the mother of filled koshas, ​​mother good harvest. This is not the goddess of fertility, but the goddess of the results of the agricultural year, the goddess of the harvest, the giver of blessings.

The volume of the harvest with equal labor costs is determined each year by lot, fate, share, lucky chance. Therefore, Makosh was also revered as the goddess of fate. In Russian Orthodoxy, Makosh was reincarnated as Praskeva Friday.

Makosh patronized marriage and family happiness.

The Slavs especially loved Lada- goddess of love, beauty, charm. With the onset of spring, when nature itself enters into an alliance with Yarila, Ladina’s holidays also come. These days they played burners. To burn is to love. Love has often been compared to the color red, fire, heat, fire.

Many words of marriage, union and peace are associated with the root “lad”. Lad – marital consent based on love; to get along - to live lovingly; to get along - to woo; frets - engagement; got along - matchmaker; Ladniki - dowry agreement; ladkanya – wedding song; okay - good, beautiful. And the most common one is Lada, that’s what they called their loved ones.

Her child is associated with Lada, whose name appears in both female and male forms: Lel(Lelya, Lelio) or Lyalya (Lelia). Lel is the child of Lada, he encourages nature to fertilize, and people to marriage.

Polelya- second son of Lada, god of marriage. He was depicted in a simple white everyday shirt and a crown of thorns; he gave the same wreath to his wife. He blessed people for everyday life, a family path full of thorns.

Also associated with Lada Znich- fire, heat, ardor, love flame, sacred ardor of love (cf. supine).

3. Gods of death and the underworld

The gods of the sun, life and love, the earthly kingdom were opposed by the gods of death and the underworld... Among them - Chernobog , ruler of the underworld, representative of darkness. Negative concepts associated with it “ black soul"(a person who died for nobility), "black day" (day of disaster).

One of the main servants of Chernobog was Viy(Nii). He was considered a judge over the dead. The Slavs could never come to terms with the fact that those who lived lawlessly, not according to their conscience, deceiving others, and unfairly used benefits that did not belong to them, were not punished. They sincerely believed that they would take revenge and pour out someone else’s grief, if not in this world, but in the next world. Like many peoples, the Slavs believed that the place of execution for lawless people was inside the earth. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter. This god was considered the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts, especially for those who do not have a clear conscience.

Associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter Kashchei- deity of the underworld. It symbolizes ossification, numbness from frost in the winter of all nature. Kashchei is not a real god of death, his power is short-lived.

The real goddess of death was Mara(More). Hence, probably, the words “die”, “death”, “die”, “die out”, “dead”. The Slavs also had touching images of female deities of mortal sorrow Karnas(cf. okarnat, suffered punishment) and Jeli ; KruchinyAndZhurby(in other tribes) - embodying boundless compassion. It was believed that just the mention of their names (to regret, pity) relieves souls and can save them from many disasters in the future. It is no coincidence that there is so much crying and lamentation in Slavic folklore. The root “three” is associated with the negation of an unfavorable sign – “odd”, as a symbol of misfortune, which is why it is often found in spells.

III. Conclusion

Merger of paganism and Christianity

Christianity has ruled our land for a thousand years. If it had come to bare ground, it would not have taken root so firmly. It fell on prepared spiritual soil, its name is faith in God. Paganism and Christianity, despite the fact that one can find in them the most opposite positions in relation to certain phenomena (for example, to sacrifices, to the concept of sin, enemies), the main thing is similar: both of them are faith in God - the creator and preserver the entire world we see.

The ancient Slavs did not separate the gods from the forces of nature. They worshiped all the forces of nature: large, medium, small. Every force was for them a manifestation of God, God was everywhere for them. Light, heat, lightning, rain, spring, river, wind, oak, which gave them food, fertile lands, etc. All this big and small, which gave and moved life, was a manifestation of God and at the same time God himself.

A person changed, his thinking changed, his faith became more complex and changed. Christianity, which came to Rus' with the sword of Prince Vladimir and trampled pagan temples and shrines, could not resist the ethics of the people, their aesthetic preferences, and could not ignore the established rules of life.

So Easter- an optimistic holiday of Christian salvation and resurrection - merged with pagan Radunitsa- Day of remembrance of ancestors and all the dead. In Christianity, it was not customary to remember the dead with food - this is a purely pagan tradition, but it is this that has now taken over. Even seventy years of atheism did not erase from the routine of the life of an Orthodox Slav the day when he was accustomed to commemorating deceased relatives. During the height of the most terrible bacchanalia of the union of militant atheists, during the years of war and famine, the flow of people to the cemetery on Easter days was not interrupted, for this tradition is not a thousand, but several thousand years old.

Thus, not only Christianity influenced paganism, but also vice versa. After a thousand years of Christianity, a pagan holiday passed safely - Shrovetide. This is farewell to winter and welcome to spring. The pagans baked a pancake - a symbol of the hot spring sun - and ate it hot, thus filling themselves with the solar energy of life, solar strength and health, which should have been enough for the entire agricultural annual cycle. Part of the pechev was given to animals, not forgetting to remember the souls of the dead.

Winter and summer Christmastide– games in honor of the god Svetovid during the turning of the sun for summer or winter are also not completely forgotten. Summer Christmastide has partially merged with Christian Trinity, and winter ones - Merry Christmas holidays .

More examples of the merging of holidays and individual gods can be given. Thus, both faiths have undergone many changes from their original nature and now exist unitedly and monolithically, having received, not by chance, the name Russian Orthodoxy .

All the current debates are about which is better - paganism or Christianity? - are groundless. Well, let's say paganism is better. And what? After all, it does not exist in its pure form, in popular belief, in widespread knowledge. Ask people, who knows the name of the Slavic sun god? – no one will say. Also Christianity - it was split into many movements: Catholicism, Lutheranism, Gregorianism, etc.

The only acceptable thing for modern Russian people is to return to Russian Orthodoxy. But this does not mean that we should consider everything pre-Christian worthless and worthless. Paganism needs to be studied as ancient period of our culture, the infant and youthful period of life of our ancestors, which will strengthen our spirit, give each of us the strength of the spiritual-national soil, which will help us withstand the most difficult moments of existence.

Literature

1. A.A.Kononenko, S.A. Kononenko. "Characters of Slavic mythology." Kyiv, “Corsair”, 1993.

• A.I. Bazhenova, V.I. Verdugin “Myths of the ancient Slavs.” Saratov, “Nadezhda”, 1993.
• G. Glinka. "Ancient religion of the Slavs." Saratov, “Nadezhda”, 1993.
• A. Kaisarov “Slavic and Russian mythology.” Saratov, “Nadezhda”, 1993.
• B. Kresen. "Veles's book". Saratov, “Nadezhda”, 1993.

Applications

Characteristics and drawings of some characters in the mythology of the ancient Slavs

(drawings by E.I. Obertynskaya)

Perun - the supreme god Kievan Rus; a formidable god who commands celestial phenomena; god of War. Tall, broad-shouldered, black-haired, big-headed, golden-bearded (honey flows down his beard). In the right hand is a bow, and in the left is a quiver of arrows. The strongest in nature, fights evil forces. August 2 – Perunov’s day. On this day, all evil spirits, fleeing from Perun's fiery arrows, turn into various animals. In ancient times, on August 2, dogs and cats were not allowed into the house so as not to cause a thunderstorm - the wrath of Perun. Perun's bird is the rooster, Perun's day is Thursday. The statue of Perun the Thunderer stood in the pantheon of gods of Prince Vladimir.

Veles (Volos) is the god of cattle breeding and wealth, the patron of the animal world. He made man and animal related, taught people not to kill animals, but to use them in their farming. Veles is the guardian of the Magi, creators, shepherds, and merchants; endows a person with talent and physical characteristics: tall height, good voice, hearing. He is the father of giants; ox – mighty, big. Volos is one of the gods of Prince Vladimir’s pantheon, his day is Monday. The ancient Slavs had a harvest custom - “curling the beard.” The last ears of corn were not reaped, but woven into the beard as a gift to the god Veles. Grass and forest are the hairs of the earth.

Yarilo (Yar) – deity of awakening nature, patron flora. This is young beautiful person on a white horse and in a white robe with a wreath spring flowers on the head. In his left hand he holds ears of corn. In the spring, “Yarilki” were celebrated, which ended with the funeral of Yarila. Where Yarilo goes - there will be big harvest Whoever he looks at, love flares up in his heart. Yarilo was identified with the Sun. In many songs and sayings, people turn to this deity with requests for a warm summer and a good harvest. June 4 - Yarilin's day.

Dazhbog (Dazhdbog) – god of the sun, harvest, son of Svarog, husband of the goddess of love. In myths - one of the first kings and legislators, laid the foundation for chronology according to the solar calendar. A handsome, strong youth, a young prince, guardian of plowmen and sowers. Gives a person physical strength, health, wisdom, and skill. In the chronicles he is called the ancestor of the Russians. Dazhbog is also the keeper of the earthly keys. The sun god closes the earth for the winter and gives the keys to the birds, who take them to the open air - the summer kingdom, the land of departed souls. In the spring, the birds return the keys and Dazhbog opens the earth. One of the gods of Prince Vladimir’s pantheon, his day is Wednesday.

Belbog is a god who lives in the heavens and rules them. He appears in the form of an old man with a long gray beard, wearing white robes and holding a staff in his hand. There is a personification of a bright day. All the time in conflict with the dark forces of the night, the personification of which is Chernobog. Belbog with his staff collects white clouds, if they are dispersed by the winds, pierces them so that it rains.

Zibog is the god of the earth, endowed with enormous power. He is the creator, the creator. He raised the earth in one place and mountain ranges, ridges, and hills arose; lowered it in another - water poured out, seas and oceans were formed; I drew a furrow with my huge fingers and rivers flowed. And where he touched with his little finger, the small lakes splashed. Zibog protects the earth, but people make him angry - the earth shakes, volcanoes erupt, and raises huge waves. Zeebog is powerful, his eyebrows are shaggy, his beard is developing, it’s better not to anger him.

Rod is the god of the universe, living in the sky, who gave life to all living things that exist in the world. The clan is attributed creative and masculine power (phallic deity). Clay, wooden and stone images, security talismans of this god are found during excavations. Rod is the embodiment of the ancient goddess of fertility, masculinity. The cult of this god, like most pagan gods, was lost after the introduction of Christianity.

Svarog is the god of heavenly fire, the father of Dazhbog. He threw blacksmith's tongs to the ground from the sky and since then people have learned to forge iron. Svarog broke the heavenly cover with rays and arrows, opened the sky and the sun, sent heavenly fire to people, without which one could not make either weapons or jewelry: with sparks he ignited inspiration in the hearts and souls of masters. Svarog is a capricious god; he rarely revealed his secrets to anyone. He introduced himself in the form of a young, broad-shouldered blacksmith, silent and stern; patronizes blacksmiths, whom his grandchildren call Svarozhich.

Khors is the god of the solar disk, the eye of the sky. An affectionate and kind god who gives his warmth to everyone. No one can defeat him, because it is impossible to approach him: he rises higher than everyone else in the sky. He appears to be a handsome young man. The idols of the god Khors were depicted sun signs. Horse is the god of the pantheon of the Kyiv prince Vladimir, his day is Tuesday.

Stribog is the god of the air elements, the ancient supreme deity of the sky and the universe. Breathes evenly and noisily, walks through the sea. And if he gets angry, he will hum, spin, howl, gather clouds, raise waves, scatter ships, and even sink them. He appears in the form of a psaltery player plucking the strings, with a bow behind his back, and a sagaidak with arrows on his belt. Stribog is the one who overcomes obstacles, the winds are his grandchildren, his day is Sunday. One of the gods of the pantheon of Kyiv Prince Vladimir.

Beregini are air maidens who protect people from ghouls. The Slavs believed that bereginii lived near the house and protected the house and its inhabitants from evil spirits. Cheerful, playful and attractive creatures, singing enchanting songs in delightful voices. In early summer, under the moon, they dance in circles on the banks of reservoirs. Where the beregins ran and frolicked, there the grass grows thicker and greener, and in the field the bread is born more abundantly.

Chislobog is the goddess of the moon. She holds in her hand the moon, by which time was calculated in ancient times; she is characterized by calm, measuredness, and dispassion. Her period is from early twilight to dawn, but despite this, she is indifferent to the dark forces of evil. Contemplating reality, he calmly counts down both seconds and centuries. He loves to walk through the snowy expanses on long winter nights, and swim in warm water on short summer nights.

Nemiza is the god of air, lord of the winds. His head is crowned with rays and wings, and on his torso a flying bird is depicted. Light as a feather, and sometimes he himself turns into a feather and swings in the heights, taking a break from worries. When, in the heat of the moment, a slight coolness suddenly touches the brow, it is Nemiza who favors it, lazily flapping her wing. Nemiza is not grumpy and allows the winds to frolic without interfering in their affairs. But if they quarrel too much and start a mad carousel, he will intervene and restore order.

Alive (Zhivana, Siva) - “life-giver”, goddess of life, she embodies life force and opposes the mythological embodiments of death. He holds an apple in his right hand and grapes in his left. Zhiva appears in the form of a cuckoo. At the beginning of May, sacrifices are made to her. Girls honor the cuckoo - the spring messenger: they baptize in the forest, worship each other and curl wreaths on the birch tree.

Morozka (Frost) – the god of winter, cold weather. Dressed in a warm fur coat, he walks through the forests and covers the trees with snow. In winter, he is the complete master, snowfalls, blizzards and blizzards are under his control. Always at war with spring, resisting its arrival, attacking at night, but always retreating in the end. Not all travelers are happy in their possessions. Depending on a person’s behavior, and sometimes on his own mood, he can reward or punish a person. If he gets angry, he’ll cover him with snow, he’ll snowball him, he’ll knock him off the road, he’ll get under his clothes. Your ears or hands may freeze, or even freeze completely.

Lada is the goddess of love, patroness of marriages, hearth and home, goddess of youth, beauty, fertility. Femininity itself, tender, melodious, fair-haired; in white clothes - she will lead the guy to her sweetheart in a round dance on Kupala night, and hide her stepdaughter from her evil stepmother under the branches when she gets ready to meet her boyfriend. In young families, the hearth supports: it happens that the hearth is about to go out, and Lada throws a twig, waves her clothes - the hearth will flare up, touch the hearts of the foolish with warmth, and again there will be harmony in the family.

Makosha (Mokosh, Makesha) is a Slavic deity, the patroness of women's work, spinning and weaving. Also an agricultural deity, mother of the harvest, goddess of abundance. The flower is a poppy, as intoxicating as love. From the name of this bright flower, which the girls embroidered on wedding towels, is the name of the goddess. Makosha is the deity of female vitality. The only female deity whose idol stood on the top of the hill in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir. Among some northern tribes, Mokosh is a cold, unkind goddess.

Lel is the young god of love. Due to her youth, Lel sometimes simply amuses herself with love, although she does it out of good intentions, - this is for him fun game. A handsome young man with curly hair makes girls fall in love with him by playing them on the pipe and singing. When he can’t get away with his next chosen one, Lel finds her a boyfriend and convinces both that they were looking for each other. Lel appears in the spring and lives with her brother Polel in the forest. Together they go out in the morning to meet Yarilo. Lelya's pipe can be heard on Kupala night.

Weather is the god of clear days, the harbinger of spring, the husband of the goddess Zimtserla. Fair-faced, clear-eyed, beardless, cheerful in disposition. And sometimes he quarrels with his wife and walks around gloomy. That’s why the days are cloudy and even rainy: Zimtserla sheds tears. And when there is bad weather, there is a serious quarrel. The anger and anger pass, the weather comes to terms with the wife, the days are clear and beautiful again. We ask: “What will the weather be like?”, but we should ask: “What will the weather be like?”

Karna (Karina) is the goddess of sadness, the mourning goddess of the ancient Slavs, sister of Zheli. If a warrior dies far from home, Karna is the first to mourn him. According to legend, crying and sobbing can be heard over the dead battlefield at night. It is the goddess Karna in long black robes who performs difficult female duties for all wives and mothers.

Magi (magician, wizards) are the chosen ones of the gods, mediators between heaven and people, executors of the will of the gods. Every popular faith presupposes rituals, the performance of which is entrusted to selected people, respected for virtue and wisdom, real or imaginary. The Magi were guardians of the faith, lived as hermits, ate gifts and sacrifices that were intended for the deities. They had the exclusive right to grow a long white beard, sit during sacrifices, and enter sanctuaries. After the introduction of Christianity, they were persecuted because they worshiped pagan deities and defended the old faith and rituals.

Bes is one of the names of Chernobog. Later - a generalized name for evil spirits. Ugly, with pig snouts, long ears and tails, horned and shaggy. They are able to move quickly in space. They are especially zealous in bad weather in autumn and winter. They grunt, slurp, howl, squeal, spit, twirling in a frenzied dance. They lead a lonely traveler astray, lead him into an impassable thicket or a quagmire, push him into an ice hole; they frighten the horses and, grabbing the mane, drive them to death. Can turn into inanimate objects.

The brownie is the patron of the house. They also call him “master” for his obvious and proven merits and “grandfather” for the antiquity of his life. Appears in the form of an old man, a shaggy man, a cat or another small animal, but it is not possible to see him. He is the guardian not only of the entire house, but, mainly, of everyone living in it. Plays naughty: makes noise, rocks the bed, throws off the blanket, spills flour. But he also helps: he washes dishes, chops wood. Rocks the child. On February 7, Efim Sirin is fed porridge so that he does not mock. On April 12, on John the Ladder, the brownie goes crazy until the first rooster crows.

Bannik (baennik, laznik bainik) - the spirit living in the bathhouse, evil, appears in the form of a small naked man with rainbow eyes. He always lives in an unheated bathhouse; the steam drives him out for a short time. It can kill a person who washes at odd hours (after midnight). First it lulls you to sleep, then it covers your mouth with long, thick lips and forces hot air into your chest. He especially doesn't like drunks. Skillful people drive him out with a bath broom. The bannik washes himself along with the devils, goblin, and barnacles; in the fourth place, whoever they come across at this time will be steamed. If it does happen, you need to run away backwards.

Vodyanoy (vodyannik, vodilnik) is the spirit of rivers and lakes, like all spirits from evil spirits - not only “grandfather”, as he is usually called, but also a true “ancestor”. Always naked, covered in black scales, wrapped and belted with mud, with long green hair and beard, wearing a kugi hat. Instead of hands there are webbed paws, a fish tail, eyes burning with hot coals. He sits on a snag and loudly slaps the water. When he gets angry, he breaks dams, washes away mills, drags animals and people into the water. Fishermen, millers, and beekeepers sacrifice to him.

Chur (Tsur) – ancient god hearth, protecting the boundaries of land holdings. A hearth and a warm hut are Chur’s habitat. People call upon him during fortune telling, games, etc. (“Forget me!”). Chur sanctifies the right of ownership (“Chur is mine!”). It also determines quantity and quality necessary work("Too much!"). Churka is a wooden image of Chur.

A witch is, according to ancient legends, a woman who sold her soul to the devil. In the south, this is a more attractive woman, often a young widow; in the north - an old woman, fat as a tub, with gray hair, bony hands and a huge blue nose. She differs from other women in that she has a small tail and has the ability to fly through the air on a broom, poker, and mortar. He goes on his dark deeds without fail through chimney, can turn into different animals, most often a magpie, a pig, a dog and a yellow cat. Along with the month, he grows older and younger. On the 12th of August, witches die after drinking milk. A famous gathering place for witches for the Sabbath on Kupala Night is in Kyiv on Bald Mountain.

Baba Yaga is an old forest sorceress, witch, sorceress. A character in fairy tales of Eastern and Western Slavs. She lives in the forest, in a “hut on chicken legs”, one of her legs is bone, she has poor vision, she flies around the world on a mortar. You can trace parallels with other characters: with the witch - a way of moving, the ability to transform (turn into animals); with the goddess of animals and forests - life in the forest, complete subordination of animals to her; with the mistress of the world of the dead - a fence made of human bones around the hut, skulls on stakes, a bolt - a human leg, a lock - a hand, a lock - teeth. In most fairy tales, she is the hero’s opponent, but sometimes he is his helper and giver.

Paganism was the main religion of our ancestors before the adoption of Christianity in Rus', what is it, what exactly was meant by this name, was it such an unambiguous evil as it appears in the early Christian chronicles of the beginning of the second millennium?

Many questions can be asked on this topic, and not all of them can be answered even by recognized experts in the study of that era. Let's just try general outline try to understand what it was and how it affected people.

origin of name

The term paganism itself is derived from the word peoples (pagans) in Church Slavonic; this language was the main written means of communication at the dawn of Christianity in Rus'. Accordingly, the largest part of written evidence about events related to the change of religion has reached us written from the point of view of Christian missionaries and preachers.

And the attitude, quite justified from their point of view, was extremely negative towards the competing religion. Accordingly, any people professing a religion other than Christianity were collectively called pagans.

Reasons for the emergence of paganism

Thus, it becomes clear that in Rus' before the advent and establishment of Christianity there was no one single religion, and the beliefs of the different tribes and nationalities inhabiting northeastern Rus' were different in many ways, but at the same time they had one common basis that was rooted in similar conditions life, way of life and cultural traditions.

North-Eastern Rus', with its location and topography, also determined the main methods of obtaining food for the tribes inhabiting it. A large number of large forests, an abundance of rivers, lakes, and wetlands meant hunting, gathering, and later livestock breeding coupled with agriculture as priority sources of food.

Against this background, as culture and social relations between tribes developed, the objects deified by the people also changed. At first, at the dawn of its formation, these were the simplest things on which human survival depended. These could be stones, tools, animals and the like. Gradually they improved, acquiring more humanized forms, for example, even in the last century in Belarus there was a lively belief that stones in the old days were alive and could even reproduce..... animals over time took on semi-human features like, for example, God Veles. The elements and natural phenomena were also revered, which, due to their constancy and the reasons for their existence that cannot be explained, became the main ones in the pantheon of Russian gods during pagan times.

Pagan gods

By the time of the arrival of Greek-Byzantine Christianity in Rus', the generally revered gods in the Slavic tribes were Rod (the god of fertility, sun and thunderstorms) as the supreme god he had four hypostases: Khors (Kolyada), Yarilo, Dazhdbog (Kupaila) and Svarog (Svetovit). Each hypostasis corresponded to the time of year. A common misconception is that these are separate gods who were worshiped at different times of the year, which is fundamentally incorrect and hinders the understanding of how significant the god Rod was in the life of an ordinary Russian person. As simple experiment try to make a request for words with the same root with his name...

In some sources there is such a term as the “Perunov Brothers”, judging by the name, they were either the highest caste of warriors who had reached the pinnacle of art in military affairs, or, by analogy with the Japanese kamikazes, they were former people who dedicated themselves to war and went into battle without thinking about what will be their fate.

Also, the highest gods of the Slavs should be considered Veles, who over time became not only and not so much the god of cattle breeders, he became a black god, the lord of wisdom, magic and the dead. God Semargl is the god of death, the image of sacred heavenly fire. And the god Stribog is the god of the wind.

These were gods who contained in their meaning the whole life cycle people of those times, everything depended on their favor, as was believed then. Birth, how life will go, death...

In addition to the higher ones, there were also lower gods, whom it would be more appropriate to call nature spirits. Among them the most mentioned are the Bird Gamayun, Bannik, Kikimora, Leshy, and so on.

This review includes only the names of gods in Rus' generally accepted at that time. Each tribe, and often nationality, in addition to the generally revered ones, also had their own tribal gods. If you set out to list them, the list will exceed a hundred names, often duplicating each other in functions, but differing in names.

Adoption of Christianity in Rus'

Representatives of the Christian church who came to Rus' at the turn of the 12th century had in their arsenal a powerful set of tools to influence the psyche and views of the masses of people, developed over centuries of practice during the formation of their church in Europe and Byzantium. This, coupled with the experience of struggle and political intrigue against the related Catholic branch, determined their successful introduction into the structure of the Russian state, and their continuously growing influence and authority.

However, paganism was not forgotten overnight. At the initial stage, many princes resisted the adoption of Christianity, which caused a series of civil strife; pagan priests, whose most common name was Magi, had enormous authority in the masses, since they were the guardians of “folk wisdom” and personified the old pokon. One sorcerer, under certain conditions, could raise the support of an entire city against the ruling prince! As happened in Novgorod.

Over time, the Christian Church managed to turn the situation in its favor, instilling its values ​​primarily among princes and the highest boyars, often simply by buying or blackmailing representatives of noble families. After the full official adoption of Christianity in Rus', the eradication of pagan traditions among the people began. It was a difficult process for the church and it cannot be said even today that it ended in complete success; throughout the process of bringing the Russian people to the Christian faith, the process became mutual.

The church eradicated the basic beliefs in pagan gods among the people, and the people modified many of the postulates of the church. Ultimately, the Russian version of Christianity appeared to the world - Orthodoxy. But pagan traditions continue to live in our time, for example, caroling is popular in the age of digital technology!.. remember the name of one of the incarnations of the Family. And the small gods of pagan Rus' migrated to folklore, Russian fairy tales familiar to all of us from childhood.

Paganism is a religion based on the belief in the existence of several deities, and not in one creator God, as, for example, in Christianity.

The concept of paganism

The term “paganism” itself is inaccurate, since it includes too vast a layer of culture; today, instead of it, the terms “polytheism”, “totemism” or “ethnic religion” are used.

The paganism of the ancient Slavs is a term used to refer to the set of religious and cultural views of the ancient Slavic tribes before they adopted Christianity. There is an opinion that the term “paganism” in relation to the culture of the ancient Slavs does not come from the religion itself (polytheism), but from the fact that numerous Slavic tribes living on the territory of Rus' had the same language, although they were not connected with each other. Nestor the chronicler used the term “pagans” to designate the entirety of these tribes, that is, tribes united by one language. Later, paganism began to denote the peculiarities of the religious and cultural views of these ancient Slavic tribes.

The emergence and development of paganism in Rus'

Slavic paganism began to take shape in the 1st-2nd millennium BC, when Slavic tribes gradually began to separate from the peoples of the Indo-European group, settled in new territories and interacted with the cultures of neighboring peoples. It was from the Indo-European culture that the images of the thunder god, the fighting squad, the god of cattle and the important image of mother earth arose. Also important to Slavic paganism were the Celts, who not only introduced certain images into the Slavic religion, but also gave the Slavs the very word “god” to denote images. Slavic paganism has a lot in common with German-Scandinavian mythology - the presence of the motif of the world tree, dragons and other deities, transformed taking into account the living conditions of the Slavs.

After the Slavic tribes actively began to split up and move to different territories, paganism itself transformed, with its own elements appearing in each tribe. In particular, by the 6th-7th century the religion of the Eastern and Western Slavs was quite noticeably different from each other.

It should also be noted that often the beliefs of the ruling elite of society and the lower ones could also differ significantly, as mentioned in the ancient Slavic chronicles. What was believed in large cities may be different from what villagers believed.

With the formation of the ancient Russian centralized state, ties between the Slavs and Byzantium and other countries began to develop, paganism was increasingly subject to doubt, and in some cases, persecution - teachings against paganism appeared. In 988, the Baptism of Rus' took place and Christianity officially became the main religion, displacing paganism, however, it should be noted that, despite the fact that to this day Russia remains a Christian state, there are territories and communities where people still practice Slavic paganism.

The essence of Slavic paganism

Despite a sufficient number of historical sources, information about the beliefs of the ancient Slavs remains very fragmentary, so it is not easy to form an accurate picture of the world of our ancestors. It is generally accepted that the religion of the ancients was based on belief in the power of nature and the earth - hence the ruler gods of certain natural phenomena. Besides higher gods there were also lower creatures - brownies, mermaids and others - who could not seriously influence human life, but could participate in it. The Slavs believed in the existence of hell and heaven, in the existence of a human soul, which was one of the important values.

The Slavs had many rituals related to the interaction of people and gods; they brought offerings, worshiped, asked for help and protection. As for sacrifices, oxen or other livestock were most often offered; there is no exact information about the human sacrifices of the Slavic pagans.

List of Slavic gods

Common Slavic gods:

• Perun - the thunderer, the main god of the pantheon;
• Mother - Cheese Earth - the female personification of the viviparous, fertile earth, she was worshiped, asking for a good harvest or large quantity children; there was also an “oath of the earth”, which was considered inviolable.

Gods of the Eastern Slavs (pantheon of Prince Vladimir):

• Perun is the main god, the patron of the prince and the squad, also the thunderer;
• Horse is the personification of the sun;
• Dazhdbog is a solar deity, considered the ancestor of the Russian people;
• Stribog is a deity associated with the winds;
• Simargl is a messenger between heaven and earth;
• Mokosh is a female deity, the patroness of spinning and weaving;
• Volos is the patron saint of livestock;
• Veles is the patron of storytellers and poetry;
• The clan and women in labor are deities personifying fate;
• Svarog - god-blacksmith;
• Svarozhich is the personification of fire.

Characters such as Maslenitsa, Kolyada, Kupala and others cannot be considered gods in the full sense of the word; they were only ritual personifications of certain phenomena, which were often burned during pagan holidays and rituals.

Persecution of pagans and the end of paganism

With the development of the Russian state and an increasing focus on more the developed countries, paganism gradually began to be persecuted by supporters of Christianity. However, the population of many territories desperately resisted the adoption of Christianity even after the official baptism of Rus' - many newly-minted Christians returned to paganism, secretly performed old rituals and worshiped old ones Slavic gods. The relationship between Christianity and paganism has always been very tense, however, along with the growing role of the Christian church in political and public life Rus', the new religion gradually replaced paganism and eventually almost destroyed it.