Bestiary |
Rulers of the Slavic pantheon
Although very little information about them has survived, the Slavic gods are quite popular. Thanks to revivalists, tireless collectors of folklore, archaeologists. We will not deal with the analysis of sources, nor with the quite interesting relations of Slavic paganism to the beliefs of neighboring nations. On the agenda is merely an introduction to the royalty to which the whole Slavic world once bowed.
Svarog
Apparently, this ancient god of fire and celestial light, the divine smith, was one of the oldest, if not the oldest god, which usually carries with it a demiurgic function. He also legislated, among other things, the abolition of polygamy, which offenses were punished in the future by burning the offenders in the furnace.
The name of Svarog is a reminder of the common Indo-European roots of European civilization, the weld in that ancient language has the meaning of light. As Creator God, he also shares a fate common to many other demiurges, stepping aside after the work is done to make way for younger ones. He is not worshipped, only remembered.
Svarozhits – Dazhbog
By name alone, he is the son of Svarog, the god of the second generation. Thanks to his father's functions, he became - like the descendants of similar deities among other nations - a solar god, the giver of life and overseer of what his father created and invented. He was worshipped at solstices and equinoxes, and his earthly embodiment was fire.
While his father Svarog enjoyed retirement, Svarozhits occupied much divine space, and like Greek deities, for example, he had a number of epithets that later became separate names by which the son of Svarog was known in various parts of Slavic Europe. In the east Dažbog, in the south Dabog, both names are based on dažd - to give, but quite possibly there is also a connection with the Indo-European dag, meaning to burn, in which case again the solar function of Svarogic would be alluded to. Zdeněk Váňa cautiously suggests a possible connection with the British god of fire Dagbra.
In the West Slavic world, Svarozhits was later – and probably under local influence – renamed Radegast, but we will talk about this sir another time.
Perun
The most famous of the Slavic global deities. Although not listed here in the first place, he was the supreme deity. Understandably entrusted with rule over thunder, lightning, and storms.
Most of the information, however, comes from the East, especially thanks to Prince Vladimir. The Kyiv ruler decided to strengthen the power of the state with an officially sanctioned religion. For several years it looked as if the time-honored pagan path would continue, but Christianity proved a more viable option, so Vladimir did not hesitate to destroy the newfangled luxury idols. But in the meantime, he respectfully sacrificed them and, according to a verified source, humans. The old Slavic sacrifices, by the way, were not for the delicate natures. Their essence was the blood that flowed down the altar, whose vapors attracted beings from beyond the grave, making them visible and capable of securing communication between the two worlds. This practice is known from all over the world, and the Slavs did not shy away from it, as well as the sacrifice of captives. But to appeal to those with more sensitive stomachs, non-bloody libations (alcoholic beverages were used more than milk) and food offerings, cheese, honey, bread, or grain, were just as common.
The Perun tree is the oak, the most sacred of trees in the entire Indo-European world. As an aside, the worship of the linden tree, the tree that became our (i.e. Czech) national tree, is only attested in modern times; the ancient cult of the linden tree is only conjecture, derived from the rather widespread cult of the Virgin Mary associated with this tree, and also because of certain magical practices and information associated with the linden tree from time immemorial.
The day of the week dedicated to Perun is, quite unoriginally, Thursday, when many thunder potentates, such as the Norse Thor or the Roman Jupiter, enjoy. And his attribute is the axe. Not the tool of the peaceful woodcutter, but (like the hammer of Mjöllni Perun's Germanic colleague Thor) the war axe, the standard armament of the Slavic warrior. Amulets in its form have been found in many mounds.
Predominantly a war god, Perun became the head of Vladimir's pantheon. But after only eight years his idol ended up in the Dnieper, and the axe was replaced by a cross.
Veles or Volos
Federal Minister of Agriculture, also a protector of property. Under these functions was the original god of fertility. According to some indications, a god of the underworld. This is not excluded, although there is no direct evidence of it: vegetation deities with their annual cycle often flirted with the realm of the dead, and the spring-summer-winter circle leads directly to this.
After the Christian upheaval, Veles, like his divine contemporaries, became a demon. This was not merely expedient; the horned appearance of the protector of flocks and the phallic symbols of the fertility god predisposed him, like the Greek Pan, to a similar degeneration. His name became synonymous with the devil.
Well, that's about it. I admit that it was a really cursory performance and not worthy of the gentlemen mentioned, but certainly not exhaustive. But don't despair, next time there will be deities of lesser geographical importance (though names of quite familiar importance), and I will say even less about them.
Picture of Svarog by Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0-2.5-2.0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
11.4. 2025 (2.10.2004)
