A.L. Barkova

In Slavic fairy tales, there are many magical characters - sometimes terrible and formidable, then mysterious and incomprehensible, then kind and ready to help. To modern people, they seem to be a bizarre fiction, but in the old days in Russia they sacredly believed that Baba Yaga's hut stood in the thicket of the forest, the Serpent abducts beauties in the harsh stone mountains; believed that a girl can marry a bear, and a horse can speak in a human voice - in other words, that all the world infused with magic.

This belief was called paganism, i.e. “Popular faith” (“people” is one of the meanings of the ancient Slavic word “language”).

The pagan Slavs worshiped the elements, believed in the kinship of people with various animals, made sacrifices to the deities inhabiting everything around. Each Slavic tribe prayed to its gods, the religion of the northern (Baltic and Novgorod) Slavs was very different from the religion of the Kiev and Danube Slavs. Ideas about the gods that were common for the entire Slavic world never existed: since the Slavic tribes did not have a single state in pre-Christian times, they were not united in beliefs. Therefore, the Slavic gods are not related by kinship, although some of them are very similar to each other. The pagan pantheon created under Vladimir Svyatoslavich - a collection of the main pagan gods - also cannot be called common Slavic: it mainly consisted of southern Russian deities, and their selection did not so much reflect the real beliefs of the Kievites as served political goals.

Due to the fragmentation of pagan beliefs, which never reached their peak, very little information about paganism has survived, and even then it is rather meager. Researchers learn about the highest Slavic gods, as a rule, from Christian teachings against paganism; about “lower” mythology (beliefs about various spirits) - from folklore (fairy tales, rituals); a lot of information is obtained from archaeological excavations of pagan prayer sites and found treasures of female and male jewelry with pagan symbols. In addition, comparisons with ancient religion neighboring peoples, as well as with epic legends (for example, Russian epics), not directly related to religion, but retaining echoes of myths.

The most ancient Slavic beliefs and rituals are based on the deification of nature. Metropolitan Macarius reproachfully wrote in the 17th century. About the pagans: “Such are their wicked supplications: the forest, and stones, and rivers, and marshes, springs, and mountains, and hills, the sun and the moon, and the stars and lakes. And to put it simply, everything that exists was worshiped as God, and honored, and sacrifices were made. "

Hunting age beliefs

Animal deities.

In a distant era, when the main occupation of the Slavs was hunting, not agriculture, they believed that wild animals were their progenitors. The Slavs considered them to be powerful deities who should be worshiped. Each tribe had its own totem, i.e. a sacred animal that the tribe worshiped. Several tribes considered the Wolf to be their ancestor and worshiped him as a deity. The name of this beast was sacred, it was forbidden to pronounce it aloud, therefore instead of “wolf” they said “fierce”, and called themselves “lyutichi”. During winter solstice the men of these tribes wore wolf skins, which symbolized the transformation into wolves. So they communicated with animal ancestors, from whom they asked for strength and wisdom. The wolf was considered a powerful protector of the tribe, a devourer of evil spirits. The pagan priest who performed protective rituals also dressed in animal skins. With the adoption of Christianity, the attitude towards the pagan priests changed, and therefore the word "wolf lak" (that is, clothed in a dalak - a wolf's skin) began to be called an evil werewolf; later the "wolf lak" turned into a "ghoul".

The owner of the pagan forest was the Bear - the most powerful beast. He was considered the protector from all evil and the patron of fertility - the ancient Slavs associated the coming of spring with the spring awakening of the bear. Up to the XX century. Many peasants kept a bear's paw in their houses as a talisman-talisman, which was supposed to protect its owner from diseases, witchcraft and all kinds of misfortunes. The Slavs believed that the bear was endowed with great wisdom, almost omniscience: they swore by the name of the beast, and the hunter who broke the oath was doomed to die in the forest.

The myth of the Bear - the owner of the forest and a powerful deity - has also been preserved in Russian fairy tales, where the heroine gets to his house in a dense forest, becomes his wife, and their son Bear's Eagle turns into a mighty hero, the winner of monsters.

The true name of this beast-deity was so sacred that it was not pronounced aloud and therefore did not reach us. Bear is a nickname for the beast, meaning "honey badger"; in the word "den" there is also an older root - "ber", i.e. “Brown” (den is the ber's den). For quite a long time the bear was revered as a sacred animal, and even much later the hunters still did not dare to pronounce the word "bear" and called him either Mikhail Potapych, then Toptygin, or simply Mishka.

Of the herbivores in the hunting era, the Deer (Elk) was the most revered - the oldest Slavic goddess of fertility, sky and sunlight. In contrast to the real deer, the goddess was thought to be horned; her horns were a symbol of the sun's rays. Therefore, antlers were considered powerful talisman from any night evil and were attached either above the entrance to the hut, or inside the dwelling. By the name of the antlers - "plow" - deer and elk were often called elk. The folk names of the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor - Elk and Elk - are an echo of the myths about the celestial Elk.

Heavenly goddesses - The deer sent newborn deer to the earth, falling like rain from the clouds. Chronicler of the XII century. He wrote: “There is ... a cloud, and the deer are small in it, and grow, and disperse on the ground”.

Among domestic animals, the Slavs revered the Horse more than others, because once the ancestors of most of the peoples of Eurasia led a nomadic lifestyle, and in the guise of a golden horse running across the sky, they saw the sun. The image of the Sun-horse is preserved in the decoration of the Russian hut, crowned with a ridge - the image of one or two horse heads at the junction of two roof slopes in combination with the sign of the sun. Amulet with the image of a horse head or just a horseshoe, like others solar symbols, were considered a powerful talisman.

Humanoid deities

With the passage of time, man more and more freed himself from fear of the animal world, and animal features in the images of deities gradually began to give way to human ones. The owner of the forest from a bear turned into a shaggy goblin with horns and paws, but still resembling a man. Leshy, the patron saint of hunting, left the first game on the stump. It was believed that he could lead a lost traveler out of the forest, but if he was angry, he could, on the contrary, lead a person into the thicket and destroy him. With the adoption of Christianity, the devil, like other spirits of nature, began to be perceived as hostile.

The deities of moisture and fertility among the Slavs were mermaids and pitchforks, pouring dew from magic horns onto the fields. They were spoken of either as swan girls flying from heaven, or as mistresses of wells and streams, or as drowned mawkas, or as midday women running through the grain fields at noon and giving strength to the ear. According to popular beliefs, on short summer nights, mermaids come out of their underwater shelters, swing on the branches, and if they meet a man, they can tickle to death or carry them along to the bottom of the lake.

Household deities

Spirits inhabited not only forests and waters. There are many household deities - well-wishers and well-wishers, at the head of which was a brownie who lived either in the bake or in a bast shoe that was hung on the stove for him. The brownie was transferred to the new house in a pot of coals from the old stove, while repeating: “Brownie, brownie, come with me!”. The brownie patronized the household: if the owners were diligent, he added good to the good, and punished with misfortune for laziness. It was believed that the domovoy treated cattle with special attention: at night he allegedly combed the manes and tails of horses (and if he was angry, then, on the contrary, tangled the fur of animals in tangles); he could “take away” milk from cows, but he could make milk yield plentiful; he had authority over the life and health of newborn pets.

The belief in the brownie was closely intertwined with the belief that the dead relatives help the living. In the minds of people, this is confirmed by the connection between the brownie and the stove. In ancient times, many peoples believed that it was through the chimney that the soul of a newborn came into the family, and the spirit of the deceased also left through the chimney.

Images of brownies were carved from wood and represented a bearded man in a hat. Such figures were called churas (shchurs) and at the same time symbolized the deceased ancestors - great-grandfathers, ancestors. Expression "Chur me!" meant a request: "Ancestor, protect me!". The family's ancestors - grandfathers - were its reliable and caring protectors.

In Russia, they believed that the brownie face was similar to the owner of the house, only his hands were covered with wool. In Belarus and neighboring regions, the brownie is revered in the form of a real snake living under the stove; housewives call such a snake a gentleman and feed them with milk. The custom of keeping snakes in their homes since ancient times is known to all Slavs: snakes were considered the guardians of the sowing grain, because mice are afraid of them. Archaeologists find images of snakes on many objects, for example, on vessels with grain.

In some northern Russian villages, there were beliefs that, in addition to the housekeeper, the housekeeper, the cattleman and the kutny god also took care of the household (these well-doers lived in the barn and looked after the cattle; they left a little bread and cottage cheese in the corner of the barn as a sacrifice), as well as the barn - keeper of grain and hay reserves.

Completely different deities lived in the bath, which in pagan times was considered an unclean place. Bannik was an evil spirit who frightened a person, almost drove him to suffocation in a bathhouse that was heated in black, i.e. with an open hearth inside and without a chimney. To appease the bathhouse, people after washing left him with a broom, soap, water; a black chicken was sacrificed to the bannik.

the jealous, pre-Christian religion of the Slavic peoples is far from known to us enough. Scientists began to take an interest in it from the end of the 18th century, when national consciousness awakened among many Slavic peoples, and an interest in folk culture and folk art began to appear in European literature. But by this time all the Slavic peoples, who had long been converted to Christianity, had time to forget their ancient beliefs; some of them have only a few folk customs and the rituals once associated with these beliefs. Therefore, in the works on the themes of the ancient Slavic religion of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, there is more romantic fantasy than historical facts. It was only at the end of the last century that attempts began to soberly and seriously consider the surviving data on pre-Christian peoples. The sources for the study of Slavic paganism are, firstly, written records dating back to the 6th-12th centuries, secondly, archaeological monuments, and thirdly, remnants of ancient beliefs and rituals, preserved until recently and described in ethnographic literature. The first two categories of sources are very scarce, therefore the main, defining material for the study of paganism is ethnographic: rituals, round dances, songs, conspiracies and spells, children's games, into which archaic rituals have degenerated, fairy talesthat have preserved fragments of ancient mythology and epics; the symbolic ornament of embroidery and woodcarving is also important. Elucidation of the evolution of religious ideas over many millennia requires the introduction of a chronological principle into ethnographic materials. Comparing folklore data with reliable chronological reference points at the disposal of archeology (the beginning of agriculture, the beginning of metal casting,

iron, the time of the construction of the first fortifications, etc.), you can catch the dynamics of pagan ideas, identify the stages of their development. Studies of the history of paganism have shown that the evolution of religious ideas did not take place through their complete change, but through the layering of the new on the remaining old. As a result, the ethnographic material revealed relics of the ideas of Paleolithic hunters (the cult of bear paws, "proboscis monsters" - mammoths in fairy tales, etc.), the Mesolithic (solitary forest hunters), the first farmers of the Eneolithic and much more from the subsequent, closer to us time.

In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. An array of Proto-Slavic tribes began to form and separate in a wide strip from the Oder to the Dnieper. Their religious ideas, as far as can be judged from archaeological data, fit into the general scheme of primitive agricultural tribes. This means that the primitive religion of the Proto-Slavs is a cult of deification of nature (with the remnants of totemism observed in it), developing on the basis of animism and magic, and as the economy grows, there is a transition from the cult of the animal ancestor to the cult of the human ancestor. In Slavic paganism, much of what should be attributed to the general Indo-European unity was deposited; some of the earlier hunting ideas have survived, although all this still does not bear exactly the Slavic specifics; it is acquired during the evolution of paganism.

At the very beginning of the XII century. Russian writer, a contemporary of Vladimir Monomakh (maybe a pilgrim, Abbot Daniel) gave an interesting periodization of Slavic paganism, dividing it into four stages:

1) the cult of "ghouls" (vampires) and "berekinas" - the dualistic animism of primitive hunters of the Stone Age, which inspired the whole of nature and divided spirits into hostile and benevolent;

2) the cult of the agricultural celestial deities of the Family and "women in labor". Historically, two "women in labor" precede the Rod; these were the goddesses of the fertility of all living things, who later became matriarchal goddesses of agrarian fertility (Eneolithic). Genus is a further, patriarchal stage in the development of the same ideas, which were reborn in the Bronze Age into primitive agricultural monotheism. Author of the XII century. believes that the cult of the Family was inherent not only to the Slavs, but also to many peoples of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It is assumed that in the sources the Rod appears under the name of Svarog (literally "Heavenly" - an archaic form) or Stribog ("God the Father" - a form known from the 10th century). In all likelihood, another of the forms of the supreme heavenly deity was the Indo-European Dy. The cult of two "ro-zhanits" survived the cult of the Rod,

3) the cult of Perun, who in ancient times was the god of thunder, lightning and thunder, and later became the deity of war and the patron saint of warriors and princes. When the state of Kievan Rus was created, Perun became the first, the main deity in the princely state cult of the 10th century.

,

4) after the adoption of Christianity in 988, paganism continued to exist, moving to the outskirts of the state.

Among the Slavs, the patriarchal-clan structure was very long. Therefore, it is natural that they also retained a family-clan cult in the form of reverence for ancestors, associated with a funeral cult. Throughout the territory in which the Slavic tribes lived, there are numerous burial grounds and burial mounds. Funeral customs were complex and varied: cremation (especially among the eastern and partly among the western Slavs; among the southern ones it was not attested), corpse position (everywhere from the 10th-12th centuries), they were often buried or burned in a boat (a remnant of a water burial). A mound was usually poured over the grave; they always put different things with the deceased; when the noble was buried, they killed a horse, sometimes a slave, even the wife of the deceased.

All this is related to the idea of afterlife... The word "paradise" - a pre-Christian and common Slavic word - meant a beautiful garden, which apparently depicted the afterlife; but it was probably not available to everyone. Pre-Christian origin, undoubtedly, and the word "hell" (literally "heat", "fire"), possibly meaning the underworld, where the souls of the wicked burn. Subsequently, the Christian doctrine of the future life overlapped these ancient ideas. On the other hand, beliefs concerning the relationship of the dead to the living were held remarkably firmly, and they are not quite like Christians; distinguished those who died a natural death ("clean" dead) and those who died an unnatural death ("unclean" dead). The former were called "parents" and were revered, and the latter were feared ghouls. The veneration of "parents" is a real family (and formerly clan) cult of ancestors, it is attested by medieval authors (Titmar of Merseburg wrote: "They honor the domestic gods");

partly it has been preserved as a remnant to the present day. Suffice it to recall the Russian commemoration, Belarusian dzyady, Serbian and Bulgarian soul mates, when the dead are commemorated in cemeteries. ,

Another trace of the ancestor cult that once existed is the fantastic image of Chur (or Schur). The exclamations “Chur!”, “Chur me!”, “Chur, this is mine1” meant, apparently, a spell, calling Chur for help. Perhaps the images of Chur were made of wood, which is hinted at by the Russian word "churka" - a stump of wood. Finally,

the last vestige of the ancient family-clan ancestor cult is the belief in the brownie, which has survived to this day where the patriarchal-family way of life lasted longer.

The attitude to the shady corpses, who had not the slightest relation to either the family or the clan cult, was completely different. The unclean were simply feared, and this superstitious fear was generated either by fear of these people during their lifetime (sorcerers), or by the extraordinary cause of their death. In the superstitious ideas about these unclean dead, there are obviously very few animistic elements: the Slavs were not afraid of the soul or spirit of the dead, but of himself. This is evident from the fact that until recently there were folk superstitious methods of neutralizing such a dangerous dead man: in order to prevent him from getting up from the grave and harm the living, the corpse was punctured with an aspen stake, a tooth from a harrow was driven in behind the ears, etc .; in a word, they were afraid of the corpse itself, and not the soul, and believed in its supernatural ability to move after death. The unclean dead were attributed and bad influence on the weather, for example, they could cause drought; to prevent it, the corpse of a suicide or other ghoul was dug out of the grave and thrown into a swamp, or the grave was flooded with water. Such unclean dead were called ghouls (a word of obscure origin, perhaps purely Slavic, since it is found in all slavic languages), among the Serbs - by vampires, among the northern Russians - by heretics, etc. Maybe the ancient word "navye" 1 ("naviy") meant just such unclean and dangerous dead, in any case, the Kiev Chronicle contains (marked in 1092) a story about how a plague (epidemic) that happened in Polotsk, a frightened people explained by the fact that "se navier (dead) beat Polotsk citizens." In the ancient church teaching "The Word of John Chrysostom", it is also said about some rituals in honor of these dead: "they do it for all and sang in the midst of the pour." For Bulgarians even now, Navi are the souls of unbaptized people. Hence, probably, and Ukrainian Navka, Mavka. Against all these vampires, ghouls, navias, conspiracies and magical means have long existed.

Written sources have preserved the names of ancient Slavic deities, and some of them - later lost - had something to do with agriculture. These included the solar deities Svarog, Dazhdbog, Hora; there must have been a cult of the earth goddess, although there is no direct evidence to support this assumption. It is possible that the god of thunder, Perun, who later became the princely god in Russia, was also associated with agriculture; whether he was revered by the peasants is unknown. Veles-Volos was the patron saint of cattle breeding, at the same time

There is an assumption about the opposition that existed in antiquity between reality (existing, daytime, solar) - and chav (night, dark).

god of the underworld and the dead, it was his name that was sworn in. Whiter was considered the god of wealth and trade; from here it is clear why his statue was on the trading square in Kiev, Veliky Novgorod, Rostov, and obviously in Kazan.

On the island of Ruyane (Rugen), the intertribal god of war, called Svyatovit, was revered. He lived in the heavily fortified village of Arko-ne, in a shrine full of treasures, had a white horse and a squad of three hundred mounted warriors. Another god on Ruyan was Rugevit, in the temple there was a statue of him with seven faces; there was also a statue of Porevit with five heads, and in another shrine there was a statue of Porenut with five faces. In Szczecin and Volyn, the three-headed god Trigla-va was revered. Yarovit was worshiped in Wolgast and Havelberg. The common feature of these seaside deities is their belligerence, their attributes are a warrior's shield or sword, a war horse, and their emblems are military banners. All of them patronized the Baltic tribes in their struggle against the German invasions.

From the messages of an Arab author of the second half of the 9th century. Ibn Rust knows that all Slavs worshiped Fire - according to Massudi (10th century), they worshiped the Sun. The Slavs revered both earthly and heavenly fire in the form of a flaming solar disk, calling the fire deity Svarog, and the sun Svarozhich, and the middle name, possibly, refers to the son of Svarog. The latter was worshiped by both Western and Eastern Slavs as a divine blacksmith. There is nothing surprising in the fact that in the pantheon of early medieval Slavs, the main places are occupied by Svarog and Svarozhich.

The goddess of happiness Sreka among the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, apparently, is a rather late mythical creation; she borrowed some features from Fortuna and Tyche. She acts as destiny, like Fatum and parks; libations were made in her honor during festivities, and coins were donated to her in commercial transactions.

Modern studies of the ancient Slavic pantheon testify in favor of the existence of Thracian Rus. V. Shcherbakov, who was mentioned in the previous edition in his works "Asgard and the Vani", "Asgard - the city of gods" writes the following: "All gods eastern Slavs (in Kievan Rus) - these are the gods of the Trojan-Thracians: the Thracian Per-kon is Perun, Stribog is the god Satre of the Thracian tribe of sat-rov, Dazhdbog is the Asia Minor Tadi, Dazh, Tadaena ... Kupala is the Phrygian Cybele, etc. .d. "

Tall, physically strong Thracians (who called themselves Rus) believed in the immortality of the soul. With such a people (as well as with the Celts) it was difficult to fight; it is clear that they were part of the Roman legions. At the beginning of the new era, the stream of Thracians moved north, occupying all land suitable for agriculture, up to the banks of the Dnieper (there were

thousands of treasures of the 1st-2nd centuries, in which there are many Roman awards to the Thracian legionnaires) It was on the right bank of the Dnieper that Kievan Rus was formed later - a semblance of Thracian Rus.

The word god itself is primordially Slavic, common to all Slavic languages, and also related to the ancient Iranian boga and the ancient Indian bhaga The main meaning of this word, as the data of linguistics show, is happiness, luck Hence, for example, "god-aty" (literally "having God, happiness ") And" y-god "(" y "is a prefix meaning the loss or removal of something); Polish zboze - harvest, Lusatian zbozo, zbze - cattle, prosperity Over time, ideas about luck, success, luck were embodied in the image of a spirit that gives good luck. At the beginning of the 15th century in Moscow, at a royal wedding in Moscow, one boyar said to another, whose brother was married to the tsar's sister, arguing with him over the place: “Your brother has a god in a kik (that is, happiness in a kitsch, in a wife), and you have no god in your kick. "

Another common Slavic designation for a supernatural being is a demon. This word, apparently, meant at first everything supernatural and strange (compare the Lithuanian baisas - fear, Latin boedus - terrible, disgusting). Until now, the Russian language retains the words "mad", "mad". After the adoption of Christianity, the word "demon" became synonymous evil spirit, equivalent to the concept of the devil, Satan. The same fate befell the concept of the line. But the pre-Christian meaning of this image is unclear, just as the etymology of the word "devil" is not entirely clear. Of the various attempts to explain it, the most plausible is the assumption of the Czech Karel Erben. He takes it to the Old Slavic krt, which sounds in the name western slavic god krodo, in the names of the domestic spirit among the Czechs kret, among the Poles skrzat, among the Latvians krat. Apparently, the same root is in the word "karachun" ("korochun"), which is also known to all Slavs and some of their neighbors. This word has several meanings: the winter Christmas holiday, ceremonial bread baked at this time, as well as some kind of spirit or deity of winter, death. "Korochun grabbed him" in Russian means: "he died." Probably, the ancient Slavs believed in a certain deity of winter and death, the personification of winter darkness and cold.There are traces of some kind of bifurcation of the image of krt - trt, perhaps associated with the rudiments of a dualistic idea of \u200b\u200blight and dark beginning. But the root "krt" almost disappeared, and "chrt" - devil - was preserved in almost all Slavic languages \u200b\u200bas the personification of an evil supernatural power and became synonymous with the Christian devil.

During the formation of the early feudal Slavic states, through the absorption of various tribes, a reorganization of the pagan cult took place, the transformation of tribal cults into state ones. The official cult concentrates the entire ensemble of deities from

separate tribes, among which the god of the tribe who carried out political consolidation dominates, and it is interesting that this process falls on the 10th century

According to Tietmar, a number of deities headed by Svarog are concentrated in the metropolitan Radogoshche Veles in one sanctuary. Among the Pomor Slavs, the cult of Svyatovit, obviously, spread precisely in connection with this socio-political process of state formation. Among the Eastern Slavs, an attempt to create a nationwide pantheon and state cult was made by the Kiev prince Vladimir. According to the chronicler Nestor, in 980 he gathered on one of the hills of Kiev a whole host of idols of various gods (Perun, Veles, Dazhdbog, Khors, Stribog, etc.) and ordered them to pray and bring sacrifices to them. Some researchers believe that these Vladimirov's gods were from the very beginning princely or druzhina gods and their cult had no roots in the people. However, the solar deities Hora, Dazhdbog and others were also folk deities, as the history of the religion of the Slavs testifies; Vladimir only tried to make of them, as it were, the official gods of his principality, in order to give it ideological unity.

But the prince himself was not satisfied with the attempt to create his own pantheon of Slavic gods, and just eight years later he adopted Christianity from Byzantium and forced the whole people to do this, since the Christian religion was more consistent with the emerging feudal relations. Although slowly, overcoming the resistance of the people, it spread among the Eastern Slavs. The Western Slavs, under great pressure from the feudal-royal power, adopted Christianity in the Roman Catholic form

The spread of Christianity was accompanied by its merger with the old religion. The Christian clergy themselves took care of this in order to make the new faith more acceptable to the people. Old agricultural and other holidays were timed to coincide with the days of the church calendar. Old pagan gods gradually merged with Christian saints and for the most part lost their names, but transferred their functions and attributes to these saints. So, Perun continued to be worshiped as a thunder deity under the name of Elijah the Prophet, the cattle god Veles - under the name of St. Blasius, etc.

However, the images of "lower mythology" turned out to be more stable. They have survived to this day, although it is not always easy to discern what in these images really comes from ancient times, and what lay on them after.

All Slavic peoples have beliefs about the spirits of nature. Spirits - the personification of the forest - are known mainly in the forest belt: the Russian goblin, Belarusian goblin, Pushchevik, the Polish spirit of the forest, upland.They embody the fearful hostility of the Slavs.

to a farmer to a dense forest, from which he had to reclaim land for arable land and in which a person was in danger of getting lost, perishing from wild animals. Spirit water element - Russian waterman, Polish waterman, Lukitsky water husband (water wife), etc. - inspired much greater fear than the relatively good-natured joker goblin, for drowning in a pool, a lake is much more terrible than the danger of getting lost in the forest. The image of the field spirit is characteristic: the Russian noon, the Lukitsk natural woman, the Czech polodnitsa, etc. This is a woman in white who seems to be working in the field in the midday heat, when the custom requires a break in work: noon punishes the violator of the custom by folding his head or as - something else. The image of noon is the personification of the danger of sunstroke. In the mountainous regions of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia there is a belief about the spirits of the mountains, guarding treasures or patronizing miners.

The image of the pitchfork, especially widespread among the Serbs, is more complex and less clear; it is found in both Czech and Russian sources. Some researchers consider it to be all-Slavic, others still only South Slavic. The pitchfork is forest, field, mountain, water or air maidens who can behave both friendly and hostile towards a person, depending on his own behavior. In addition to beliefs, the pitchfork appears in South Slavic erotic songs. The origin of the image of the pitchfork is unclear, but there is no doubt that different elements are intertwined here: the personification of natural elements, and, perhaps, ideas about the souls of the dead, and the power of fertility.

The question of mermaids is clearer. This image, even more complex, is known among all Slavs. It arose as a result of the influence of ancient and early Christian rituals on the Slavs. The mythological image of a mermaid itself - a girl living in water, forest or field - is late: it was attested only in the 18th century; this is to a large extent the personification of the holiday or ceremony itself. But this image merged, apparently, with the ancient purely Slavic mythological concepts:

the mermaid loves to lure people into the water and drown people, mermaids embody women and girls who died in the water, etc. Obviously, the new complex image of a mermaid has supplanted the primordially Slavic ancient images of bereinas, watercreepers and other female water spirits. All these mythological representations of Slavic paganism still live in folklore and literary works.

The roots of healing magic go back to the most ancient era, which among the Slavs, like other peoples, was associated with folk medicine. The church teachings mention, albeit very unclearly, medical and magical rites, they also talk about the animistic images associated with them: “... sickness is treated with magicians, and nouzit (amulets - V.P.), and chara-

ki, by the devil, the demands also bring the devil, the verb shaking, they create, drive away ... ”(E. Anichkov). As you know, the use of witch doctors was preserved among the Slavic (as well as other) peoples until the Newest time. Various symptoms of the disease were personified in the form of special evil creatures mentioned in medical conspiracies: "shaking", "fire", "yellowing", "lomeya" and etc.

Protective magic was also widely practiced among the Slavs - the use of various kinds of amulets was widespread, for example, the pierced teeth of a bear, already revered by the pre-Slavs, or Easter eggs, symbolizing the reviving life. For divination, horses were used in the Szczecin, Radogoshch and Arkonian shrines. They bewitched by a variety of signs, threw wooden cubes with marks, led the horse between spears driven into the ground. It is clear that here it was impossible to do without sorcerers-priests. ^

The question of the ancient Slavic clergymen, performers of religious rituals is very unclear. The ritual of the family-clan cult was most likely performed by the heads of families and clans; the public cult was in the hands of special professionals - the Magi. It is possible that even with the emergence of grandiose common tribal sanctuaries in the VI-IV centuries. BC. among the Proto-Slavs there were some groups of priests-magi who organized the ritual “events”, guided the process of pagan worship and performed fortune-telling. They made wise calendars, knew "lines and cuts", kept in memory myths dating back at least to the Bronze Age. The Magi were close to the tribal nobility, and, perhaps, were part of it; Probably, the "light princes" "of the tribes also held the supreme priestly power.

The common name of the Slavic priests was "magi" or "wizards", but judging by the ramified terminology, the entire priestly estate had many different categories. There are known magicians-cloud-perpetrators, those who were supposed to predict and by their magical actions create necessary for people the weather. There were magi-healers who treated people with traditional medicine; the churchmen recognized their medical successes, but believed that it was a sin to contact them. There were magi-custodians who led difficult business making amulets-amulets and, obviously, ornamental symbolic compositions. The creativity of this category of Magi can be studied as archaeologists by numerous

The Polish "priest" comes from the same basis as the Russian "prince", but does not mean a secular, but a spiritual leader, it is possible that the roots of this dichotomy go back to the times when secular and spiritual power was concentrated in the same hands

ancient jewelry, which served both as amulets, and ethnographers on surviving themes of embroidery with the goddess Mokosh (the patroness of women's work, spinning and weaving) and the goddesses of spring, riding on horses "with a golden plow", and on numerous symbolic patterns.

It is quite possible that the magi of the highest rank, close to such temples in their knowledge of pagan cosmology, directed the creation of complex and comprehensive compositions such as the famous Zbruch idol. In addition to the wise men, there were also women-sorceresses, witches (from "to know" - to know), enchantresses, "connivances". An interesting category of magi was made up of blasphemous magi, storytellers of "koshchun" 1 - myths, keepers of ancient legends and epic legends. The storytellers were also called button accordions, charmers, which is associated with the verb "bayat" - to tell, sing, conjure.

In the ancient Slavic religion, there were undoubtedly sacred and sacrificial sites, and in some places real sanctuaries and temples with images of gods, etc. But only a very few are known:

Arkon sanctuary on the island of Rügen, sanctuary in Retra, pre-Christian sanctuary in Kiev (under the Church of the Tithes). In sacred places, a cult was performed, the main part of which was the offering of sacrifices, sometimes human.

"Slavic" kotyup "can go back to the word" bone "- one who manipulates bones, a sorcerer.

"Beliefs and customs of the ancient Slavs"

religious belief slavic custom

Introduction

Relevance of the topic

The topic of this essay is relevant in our time and this is due to a number of reasons. First, it is of interest not only to specialists in the field of history and historiography, but also to a wide range of the public. Secondly, in all Slavic countries, from time immemorial, great importance has been attached to ancient customs and beliefs, but scientists have an incredibly small amount of information about those times, therefore, research in this direction is very active. Once our great encyclopedist MV Lomonosov decided to systematize all knowledge about the mythology and religion of the ancient Slavs, but was forced to note with chagrin: "We would have had many fables, like the Greeks, if the Slavs had science in idolatry."

The purpose of this essay, I designated, is an attempt to generalize the religious beliefs, traditions and customs of the ancient Slavs. But, like every study, the topic of beliefs and customs of the ancient Slavs has its own difficulties, they consist in the fact that there is still no consensus among scientists and experts about the ancient pagan gods, spirits, and religious rites of the Slavs.

The degree of knowledge. The topic of beliefs and customs, as mentioned earlier, has been poorly studied, although research has been very active for many years. Approximately from the middle of the XIX century. systematic information about the customs, rituals, and beliefs of the peasants began to be collected.The beliefs of the Slavs attracted the attention of many scientists.

Historiographic overview

Vasiliev M. A. Paganism of the Eastern Slavs on the Eve of the Baptism of Rus: Religious and Mythological Interaction with the Iranian World. The pagan reform of Prince Vladimir. -1999.

Zhuravlev A.F. Language and myth. Linguistic commentary on the work of A. N. Afanasyev "Poetic views of the Slavs on nature." -2005.

Zelenin D.K. East Slavic ethnography. -1991.

Zelenin D.K.Selected Works. Articles on spiritual culture. 2004.

Kagarov E. G. Religion of the ancient Slavs. -1918.

Kostomarov N.I. Slavic mythology. -1847.

Shepping DO Myths of Slavic paganism. - 1997..

Leger L. Slavic mythology. -1908.

Voloshina T.A., Astapov S.N. Pagan mythology of the Slavs. -1996.

Gavrilov D.A., Nagovitsyn A.E. Gods of the Slavs: Paganism. Tradition. -2002.

Gavrilov D.A., Ermakov S.E. Gods of Slavic and Russian paganism. -2009.

Kulikov A.A. Space mythology of the ancient Slavs. -2001.

Mansikk W. J. Die Religion der Ostslaven. I. Quellen // FF Communications. No. 43. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia. Helsinki, 1922. ("The religion of the Eastern Slavs"). The religion of the Eastern Slavs-2005. (Russian translation)

Niederle L. - Slavic antiquities-1956.

Popovich M.V. Worldview of the ancient Slavs. -1985.

Putilov B. N. Ancient Russia in persons: gods, heroes, people. -1999.

Semyonova M.V. Life and beliefs of the ancient Slavs. -2001.

Semina V.S., Bocharova E.V. Religion and mythology in the culture of the ancient Slavs. 2002.

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

Klein L. S. Resurrection of Perun: Towards the reconstruction of East Slavic paganism. -2004.

Pomerantseva E. V. Mythological characters in Russian folklore. -1975.

Rusanova I.P., Timoshchuk B.A. Pagan sanctuaries of the ancient Slavs. -1993.

Rusanova I.P. The origins of Slavic paganism. Religious buildings in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1st millennium BC e. - 1st millennium AD e. -2002.

Rybakov B.A. Paganism of the ancient Slavs. -1981.

Rybakov B.A.Paganism of Ancient Rus. -1987.

Tolstoy N.I. Essays on Slavic paganism. - M .: Indrik, 2003 .-- 622 p.

Uspensky B.A. Philological research in the field of Slavic antiquities (Relics of paganism in the East Slavic cult of Nikolai Mirlikisky). - M .: Publishing house of Moscow State University, 1982 .-- 245 p.

D.O.Sheppinga "Myths of Slavic paganism »

V. V. Sedov The origin and early history of the Slavs -1979. Archeology of the USSR: Eastern Slavs in the VI-XIII centuries. M., 1982. Slavs in antiquity - 1994. Slavs in the early Middle Ages-1995.

In history, the Slavic people are considered relatively young. The first mentions of them appeared in written sources only from the 6th century. Currently, the region to the north of the Carpathians is recognized as the homeland of the Slavs. But with the exact definition of its boundaries, scientists differ significantly in their opinions. The problems of the origin and settlement of the Slavs are still debatable, but numerous studies by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers and linguists make it possible to draw up a general picture of the early history of the Slavic peoples.

In the middle of the 1st millennium A.D. on the common territory of Eastern Europe, from Lake Ilmen to the Black Sea steppes and from the Eastern Carpathians to the Volga, East Slavic tribes were formed. Historians count about 15 such tribes. Each tribe was a collection of clans and then occupied a relatively small isolated area.

The Slavs bred cattle and pigs, as well as horses, were engaged in hunting and fishing. In everyday life, the Slavs widely used the so-called ritual calendar associated with agrarian magic. It marked the days of the spring-summer agricultural season from seed germination to harvest, and highlighted the days of pagan prayers for rain at four different times. Like all peoples who were at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system, the Slavs were pagans. The pagan culture of the Eastern Slavs was rich and varied. The first knowledge of our ancestors about nature and man was accumulated in its depths. The rudiments of astronomical, medical, biological, technical, geographical knowledge were in pagan ideas. They formed the basis of the entire life of people, they determined the cycles of work, forms of housing construction, customs, rituals, etc.

Slavic mythology and religion were formed over a long period in the process of separating the ancient Slavs from the Indo-European community of peoples in the II-I millennium BC. e. and in interaction with the mythology and religion of neighboring peoples. Thus, the chronological review of this study covers the II-I millennium BC (the period of formation of Slavic mythology). Therefore, in Slavic mythology there is a significant Indo-European layer. It is assumed that it includes the images of the god of the storm and the battle squad (Perun), the god of cattle and the other world (Veles), elements of the images of the twin deity (Yarilo and Yarilikha, Ivan da Marya) and the deity of the Heaven-Father (Stribog). Also Indo-European, in fact, are such images as the Mother of Cheese-Earth, the goddess of weaving and spinning (Makosh) associated with her, the solar deity (Dazhbog), and some others.

1.The beliefs of the ancient Slavs

.1 "People's Faith" - Paganism

In the middle of the first millennium A.D. the Slavic tribes that inhabited the western part of the territory of the European part of Russia were at the last stage of the development of the primitive communal system. In their economic life, agriculture was in the first place. Their faith was based on the worship of deities who personified the forces of nature.

In Slavic tales, it is not uncommon to find many magical and mystical characters - sometimes terrible and formidable, sometimes mysterious and incomprehensible, sometimes kind and peaceful. In our time, these tales seem to be a bizarre fiction, but in Russia they firmly believed that the whole world around them was permeated with magic. "This faith was called paganism, that is," folk faith "(" people "is one of the meanings of the ancient Slavic word" language ")."

Since the Slavs were pagans, above all they put the relationship between man and nature. They worshiped the elements, believed in the kinship of people with various animals, made sacrifices to deities. Each Slavic tribe had its own deities, which they worshiped.

Ideas about the gods that were common for the entire Slavic world never existed, since their tribes were not united into one common state, therefore the ancient Slavs were not united in their beliefs. In view of this, the Slavic gods were not related by kinship, although some of them were similar to each other.

In 980, the first collection of the main pagan gods (under the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich) appeared - a pagan pantheon, but it cannot be called common Slavic as it mainly consisted of southern Russian deities. In addition, their selection reflected not so much actual beliefs as it served political purposes.

1.2 Main Slavic pagan gods

The main deities of the ancient Slavs were:

Perun (adj. 1)

Dazhdbog (adj. 2)

Svarog (Stribog) (appendix 3)

Makosh - Earth (appendix 4)

Fire - Svarozhich

Yarila (adj. 5)

Serpent - Volos (Veles) he is Tsmog and the god Simargl. (appendix 6)

Perun is a Slavic thunderer. His cult is one of the oldest and dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e., when warlike foreign Europeans (Aryans) on war chariots, possessing bronze weapons, subjugated neighboring tribes. Perun was more of a warrior god than the embodiment of spring thunderstorms fertilizing the earth, so it is not surprising that up to the 10th century. - the time of the military campaigns of the Kievans - his cult did not occupy a central place, and in some areas of the Slavic world it was generally unknown. Perun was called the "princely god" because he was the patron saint of princes and symbolized their power. Such a god was alien to the majority of communal Slavic farmers. The rise of the cult of Perun, his transformation into the supreme pagan god begins with the military campaigns of the Kievites - they defeat the Khazars, fight on equal terms with Byzantium, subjugate many Slavic tribes. Perun, according to legend, carries a quiver of arrows in his left hand, and in his right hand, an arrow shot by him strikes the enemy and makes fires. His club (hammer), as a sign of a punishing divine weapon, became a symbol of power, its functions were transferred to the royal scepter, priestly and judiciary wands There is a version that George the Victorious, who slays the snake, is none other than Perun, who "hid" in the calendar, hiding behind a Christian name.

Dazhdbog was considered the god of the Sun. His name means - "God giving", "giver of all blessings". The symbols of this god were gold and silver. The cult of Dazhdbog especially flourished in Russia in the XI-XII centuries, in the era of state fragmentation, coexisting with Christianity. Russian people revered Dazhdbog as their protector, calling themselves his grandchildren. Dazhdbog was the god of sunlight, but by no means the luminary itself. “The Slavs believed that Dazhdbog rides across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white fire-maned horses with golden wings. And the sunlight comes from the fiery shield that Dazhdbog carries with him. Twice a day - in the morning and in the evening - he crosses the Ocean-Sea in a boat pulled by geese, ducks and swans. Therefore, the Slavs attributed special power to talisman amulets in the form of a duck with a horse's head. "

Svarog was among the Slavs the god of Heaven. Svarog is the father of a number of gods (Perun, Dazhdbog, Semargl). Svarog is associated with heavenly fire and the heavenly sphere. The name of the god comes from the Vedic "svargas" - the sky; the root "var" is also represented in this word - burning, heat. The legend says that Svarog gave people the very first plow and blacksmith's tongs, taught them how to smelt copper and iron. In addition, it was believed that Svarog established the very first laws for the human community.

Makosh - Earth - personifies the feminine principle of nature and is the wife of Svarog. The expression Mother - Earth, a modern version of the name of the ancient slavic goddess, is still pronounced with respect and love by a Russian person. Makosh was also the goddess of women's work, a wonderful spinner. She also spins the threads of fate, together with the assistants of the Shares and Nedoli, determining the fate of people and gods. It gives a way out of the most hopeless situations, if a person does not despair, if he goes out of his last strength, if he has not betrayed himself and his dream. And then Makosh sends a person the goddess of happiness and good luck - Srecha. But if a person sank, lost faith and waved his hand at everything - they say, "Curve will take out", then he will be bitterly disappointed. Makosh will turn away his face. And the outcast will be led through life by monstrous old women - Dashing One-eyed, Curve, Not Easy, Week, Nesrecha - to where the snakes lament over the graves of Karn and Jelly.

Fire - Svarozhich, was the son of Svarog and Mokosha. In ancient times, fire was truly the center of the world in which all human life took place. The impure power did not dare to approach the Fire, but the Fire was able to cleanse anything defiled.

The fire witnessed the oaths, and this is where the Russian custom of jumping in pairs over the fire came from: it was believed that if a guy and a girl could fly over the flame without unhooking their hands, then their love was destined for a long life. By the way. the true name of the Fire God was so sacred that it was not spoken aloud, replacing it with allegories. Apparently, this is why it never came down to us, in any case, scientists do not have a consensus on this matter.

The name was forgotten, but the omens associated with Fire were not forgotten. The Russian matchmaker, who came to woo the bride, at any time of the year stretched out her hands to the stove: thereby calling Fire into allies. The young husband solemnly circled the newlywed three times around the hearth, asking God-Fire for a happy life and many healthy children.

Yarila was among the ancient Slavs the god of fertility, reproduction and physical love. It was this side of love, which the poets call "seething passion," and was in the "jurisdiction" of the Slavic god Yarila. They asked Yarila for a good harvest when the first shoots of spring crops appeared. He was imagined as a young, handsome man, an ardent loving groom. Yarila is also the Vernal Cow God, a warrior god who "conquers" Frost in the spring and "knocks down the horns from Winter". 7. Serpent - Volos (Veles) in Slavic pagan mythology is the divine enemy of Perun. The name Veles goes back to the ancient root "led" with the meaning "dead". He embodied the forces of primitive Chaos, a violent, disordered, uninhabited nature, often hostile to ancient man, but in essence not at all evil. Veles is both the god of wisdom and poetry (the prophetic singer Boyan is called the grandson of the "grandson of Veles" in The Lay of Igor's Host). Veles is the son of the heavenly Cow and the primordial God of the Family, one of the most ancient Indo-Aryan gods, first as the patron saint of hunters, then cattle breeding and wealth. It is he who blesses the traveler and helps him on the road. It is Veles who discovers the secrets of craft and medicine. According to legends, the Serpent God combines furry and scales in his appearance, flies with the help of webbed wings, knows how to breathe fire, although he is very afraid of fire (especially lightning). Snake - Veles is a big lover of milk, hence his middle name - Tsmog (Smog), which means Sosun in Old Slavonic. Pagan Slavs worshiped both divine opponents - and Perun and the Serpent. Only the sanctuaries of Perun were in high places, and the sanctuaries of Veles were in the lowlands. Some legends suggest that the tamed Serpent-Volos, driven into the dungeon, became responsible for earthly fertility and wealth. The Veles cult was very widespread in Russia.

1.3 Secondary Slavic pagan gods

In addition to the above-mentioned gods, there were "minor deities" "Secondary" deities were those who lived side by side with man, helped him, and sometimes interfered with, in various economic affairs and everyday concerns. Unlike the main deities, which no one has ever seen, these are often shown to a person by the eye. About these cases, the Slavs have a huge number of legends, legends, fairy tales and even eyewitness accounts, from ancient times to our times. Here are some of these deities: Brownie, Ovinnik, Bannik, Yard, Polevik and Poluditsa, Leshy, Water. The brownie is the soul of the house, the patron saint of the building and the people living in it. The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He introduced himself as a little old man with a face like the head of a family. To his liking, he is an eternal troublemaker, grumpy, but caring and kind. People tried to maintain good relations with the Brownie, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped to keep the house in order and warned of impending disaster. Moving from house to house, Domovoi was always invited by a conspiracy to move with his family. The Brownie living next to a person is the kindest of the "small" deities. And already immediately behind the threshold of the hut, "their" world becomes more and more alien and hostile.

Yard and Bannik. The courtyard is the owner of the courtyard, he was already considered a little less friendly than the Brownie. Ovinnik - the owner of the barn - is even less, and Bannik, the spirit of the bathhouse, standing completely on the outskirts, on the edge of the yard, or even outside it, is simply dangerous. In ancient times, the word "unclean" did not mean at all something sinful or evil, but simply less sacred, more accessible to the action of forces unkindly disposed towards a person.

Meadow. The spirit of the meadows, a folk performance, depicted as a little green man in grass who helps mow the grass during haymaking. Considered a child of Polevik. The meadow is very angry when the mowing is missed - it drives the grass to a violent growth and braids it so that it cannot be cut or torn; or even dries the grass on the vine. If the mowers come to such a mow, they tear the braids.

Polevik. When they began to clear forests and plow land for fields, pastures and new lands, they immediately came into contact with other "minor" deities - Poleviks, according to popular beliefs, designed to protect grain fields. When the bread is ripe and the villagers begin to harvest or mow it, the field worker runs away from the waves of the sickle and scythe and hides in those ears that still remain on the vine. In general, many beliefs and beliefs are associated with the field of grain. Thus, the division of agricultural crops into "male" and "female" ones survived until the last century. For example, grain was sown only by men who carried the grain in special bags cut from old trousers. Thus, they entered into a "sacred marriage" with a plowed field, and not a single woman dared to be present. But the turnip was considered a "female" culture. And women sowed it, trying to transfer part of their fertile power to the Earth. Sometimes people met an old man in the field, plain-looking and utterly snotty. The old man asked a passerby to wipe his nose. And if a person did not disdain, he suddenly had a purse of silver in his hand, and the old Polevik disappeared. Thus, our ancestors expressed the simple idea that the Earth generously endows only those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.

Poluditsa. The working day in the villages began early, but it was better to wait out the midday heat. The ancient Slavs had a special mythical creature who strictly looked after that no one would work at noon. This is Poluditsa. She was imagined as a girl in a long white shirt, or vice versa - as a shaggy, terrible old woman. The half-women were afraid: for non-observance of the custom, she could punish, and cruelly - now we call it sunstroke.

Leshy. Behind the fence of the home ancient slav the forest began. This forest determined the whole way of life. In pagan times, literally everything was made of wood in a Slavic house, from the dwelling itself to spoons and buttons. In addition, the forest produced a wide variety of game, berries and mushrooms. But besides the benefits bestowed on man, the wild forest has always concealed many mysteries and mortal dangers. Going into the forest, every time you had to be ready to meet its owner - Leshim. "Goblin" in the Old Slavonic language means "forest spirit". Leshy's appearance is changeable. He can appear as a giant, taller than the tallest trees, or he can hide behind a small bush. Goblin looks like a man, only his clothes are wrapped, on the contrary, on the right side. Leshy's hair is long gray-green, there are no eyelashes or eyebrows on his face, and his eyes, like two emeralds, burn with green fire. The goblin can go around an unwary person, and he will rush around inside the magic circle for a long time, unable to cross the closed line. But Leshy, like all living nature, knows how to reward good for good. And he only needs one thing: that a person, entering the forest, respects forest laws, and does not harm the forest.

Water. The water deity was the Water One - a mythical inhabitant of rivers, lakes and streams. The waterman was represented as a naked, flabby old man, goggle-eyed, with a fish tail. The spring Waters were endowed with special power, because the springs, according to legend, arose from the lightning strike of Perun. Such keys were called "rattling" and this is preserved in the names of many sources. Water - like other natural essences - was for the Slavic pagans a primordially kind, friendly element. But, like all the elements, she demanded that she be treated as "you." She could have drowned or ruined for nothing. Could wash away the village, delivered "without asking" from Vodyanoy - we would say now, without knowledge of local hydrology. That is why the Merman often appears in legends as a creature hostile to man. Apparently the Slavs, as experienced inhabitants of the forest, were still less afraid of getting lost than drowning, therefore, in the legends, Vodyanoy looks more dangerous than Leshy.

Slavic mythology is characterized by the fact that it is all-embracing and is not a separate area of \u200b\u200bthe folk idea of \u200b\u200bthe world and the universe, but finds embodiment even in everyday life - be it rituals, rituals, cults or an agricultural calendar, preserved demonology (from brownies, witches and goblin to banniks and mermaids) or a forgotten identification (pagan Perun with Christian saint Ilya). Therefore, practically destroyed at the level of texts until the 11th century, it continues to live in images, symbols, rituals and in the language itself.

2. Traditions and customs

One of the main customs of the ancient Slavs was that all generations of the family lived under one roof, and there was also a family cemetery somewhere not far from the house, so that long-dead ancestors took part in the life of the family.

Many more children were born in those days than in our time, i.e. by the number of children in the family of the ancient Slavs and modern families are very different, in addition to this, among the pagans, it was not considered shameful for a man to bring as many wives to his house as he could feed. Those. approximately four or five brothers with wives, children, parents, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, cousins, and second cousins \u200b\u200blived in such a house. Each person who lived in such a family considered himself primarily a member of the clan, and not an individual. And also any Slav could name his ancestors several centuries ago and tell in detail about each of them. Numerous holidays were associated with the ancestors, many of which have survived to this day (Radunitsa, parental day).

Getting acquainted, the ancient Slavs must have mentioned whose son, grandson and great-grandson he was, without this people would have thought that a person who did not name his father and grandfather was hiding something. Each genus had a certain reputation. In one, people were famous for their honesty and nobility, in the other there were fraudsters, therefore, having met a representative of this kind, one should keep an eye out. The man knew that at the first meeting he would be assessed as his family deserves. On the other hand, he himself felt responsible for the whole large family.

In those days, the everyday clothes of every Slav represented his full "passport". The clothes of each contained a huge number of details that spoke about its owner: what tribe he was from, what kind, etc. Looking at the clothes, it was immediately possible to determine who it was and where it was from, which means how to behave with it.

In such a family, there have never been any forgotten children, or abandoned old people, i.e. human society took care of each of its members, worrying about the survival of the clan and society as a whole.

The house, which has always been a protection, a refuge, in beliefs was opposed to everything else, alien. He was the first concern of any man who decided to stand out from the previous family. The place for the building was chosen very carefully, it depended on whether there would be luck, happiness and prosperity in the house. The place where the bathhouse used to stand was considered bad, the suicide was buried, where the house burned, etc. At the place they liked, they put water in a vessel for the night under the open sky. If by the morning she remained clean and transparent, then this was considered a good sign. Starting work, they prayed for sunrise and drank the "hand-held" set by the owner. Three things were placed in the front, "holy" corner: money (coin) - "for wealth", incense - "for holiness," sheep wool - "for warmth." Above, under the roof, there was a carved comb with carved figures, for example, a rooster. As a prophetic bird, he was very revered by the ancient Slavs. It was believed that the rooster awakens the sun to life, returns light and warmth to the earth. In the guise of a rooster, the Slavs personified heavenly fire. He protected the house from fire and lightning. Moving to a new house was made at night, in the full moon. It was accompanied by various rituals. The owners usually carried with them a rooster, a cat, an icon and bread and salt; often - a pot of porridge, coals from an old stove, rubbish from an old house, etc. Garbage in the beliefs and magic of the ancient Slavs is an attribute of the house, a receptacle for the souls of ancestors. He was transferred during the relocation, hoping that together with him the spirit - the guardian of the house, good luck, wealth and prosperity - would pass into the new house. They used garbage in fortune telling and for various magical purposes, for example, fumigated with the smoke of burning garbage from the evil eye.

One of the sacred centers of the house was the oven. They cooked food in the oven, slept on it, in some places they used it as a bath; mainly traditional medicine was associated with it. The furnace symbolized a woman giving birth to a female womb. She was the main guardian of the family inside the house. Oaths were taken at the stove, an agreement was made at the stove pillar; milk teeth of children and umbilical cords of newborns were hidden in the stove; the patron saint of the house, the brownie, lived in the sub-furnace. The table was also a subject of special reverence. When a house is sold, the table must be handed over to the new owner. It was usually moved only when performing some rituals, for example, weddings or funerals. Then they carried out a ritual walk around the table, or carried a newborn around it. The table was both the starting and ending point of any path. They kissed him before a long journey and upon returning home.

The part of the house endowed with many symbolic functions is the window. It was often used as an “unconventional way out of the house” to deceive unclean spirits, illness, etc. For example, if children died in the house, then the newborn was passed through the window so that he remained to live. Windows were often perceived as a path for something holy, pure. It was not allowed to spit through the windows, pour out slops, throw out garbage, since under them, according to legend, stands the Angel of the Lord. If the house was a protection, a refuge, then the gate was a symbol of the border between our own, developed space and someone else's, outside world.

They were considered a dangerous place where all evil spirits dwell. Icons were hung on the gate, and in the morning, leaving the house, they prayed first to the church, then to the sun, and then to the gate and on all four sides. A wedding candle was often attached to them, the teeth of a harrow were stuck in them or a scythe was hung to protect them from unclean spirits, thorny plants were stuffed into the cracks of the gate as a talisman against witches.

Various magical actions have been performed at the gate since ancient times. In them, traditionally, in early spring, fires were kindled, which cleared the space of the gate, and with it the entire space of the courtyard.

2.1 Initiation, funeral and wedding as main rites

Initiation

To become a member of the tribe, a child had to undergo an initiation ceremony. It took place in three steps. The first - immediately at birth, when the midwife cut the umbilical cord with the tip of a combat arrow in the case of a boy, or with scissors in the case of a girl, and swaddled the child in a diaper with signs of gender.

When the boy reached the age of three, he underwent a pull-up - that is, they put him on a horse, girded him with a sword and drove him around the yard three times. After that, they began to teach him the actual male duties. At the age of three, the girl was given a spindle and a spinning wheel for the first time. The action is also sacred, and with the first thread spun by her daughter, the mother girded her on her wedding day to protect her from damage. For all peoples, spinning was associated with fate, and from the age of three, girls were taught to spin fate for themselves and their home. At the age of twelve - thirteen, upon reaching marriageable age, boys and girls were brought to the male and female homes, where they received a full set of sacred knowledge that they needed in life. After that, the girl jumped into a poneva (a kind of skirt worn over a shirt and spoke of maturity). After initiation, the young man received the right to carry military weapons and to marry.

Marriage customs were different for different Slavic peoples. The most common ceremony was as follows. The wedding consisted of worshiping Lada, Triglav and Rod, after which the sorcerer invoked a blessing on them, and the newlyweds walked three times around the sacred tree, as usual around the birch), calling on the gods and bearers of the place where the ceremony took place. Without fail, the wedding was preceded by bride kidnapping or conspiracy. In general, the bride had to go to a new family (clan) by force, so as not to offend the guardian spirits of her clan ("I do not give out, they lead by force"). Therefore, this is associated with long sad, mournful songs of the bride and her sobs.

At the feast, the newlyweds did not drink, they were forbidden, it was believed that they would be drunk from love.

The first night passed on three-nine sheaves covered with furs (wish for wealth and many children).

The funeral

The Slavs had several funeral rites... The first, during the heyday of paganism, was the rite of burning, followed by the filling of the mound. The second method was used to bury the so-called "mortgaged" dead - those who died a suspicious, unclean death. The funeral of such deceased was expressed in throwing the body away into a swamp or ravine, after which this body was piled on top with branches. The rite was performed in such a form so as not to desecrate the land and water with an "unclean" deceased. Burial in the ground, customary in our time, became widespread only after the adoption of Christianity. Conclusion: Many traditions, customs and rituals that existed among the ancient Slavs have come down to our times.

Conclusion

The culture of the ancient Slavs has always been distinguished by its diversity and deep meaning. Much of what was noticed by our ancient ancestors still remains valuable in our modern culture. Remnants of memories of pagan holidays survived in almost all christian holidays Russia. And the whole Christian culture was largely rethought in accordance with the traditional pagan ideas of the Slavs.

But, unfortunately, due to the fragmentation of the ancient Slavs, very little information about paganism has been preserved, and even then it is rather meager. Researchers learn about the highest Slavic gods, as a rule, from Christian teachings against paganism; about "secondary" mythology (beliefs about various spirits) - from folklore (fairy tales, rituals); a lot of information is obtained from archaeological excavations of pagan prayer sites and found treasures of female and male jewelry with pagan symbols. In addition, comparisons with the ancient religion of neighboring peoples, as well as with epic legends (for example, Russian epics), which are not directly related to religion, but retained echoes of myths, help.

But, despite the small amount of known information, many elements of the pagan culture of the ancient Slavs entered the daily life of modern society and are the foundation for new traditions and customs.

List of references

History of Russia (Russia in world civilization): Textbook. manual for universities / Comp. and otv. ed. A.A. Radugin. - M.: Center, 1998.-352s.

Karamzin N.M. On the history of the Russian state / Comp. A.I. Utkin. - M .: Education, 1990.

Katsva L.A., Yurganov A.L. History of Russia VIII-XV centuries. M.: 1994

Information from the site about Slavic Paganism # "justify"\u003e. # "Justify"\u003e. # "Justify"\u003e. # "Justify"\u003e. # "Justify"\u003e. # "Justify"\u003e. # "Justify"\u003e. Polikarpov: "History of Religions"

application

Figure: Perun

Figure: Dazhdbog

Figure: Svarog

Figure: Makosh-Earth

Figure: Yarila

Figure: Semargl

Figure: Wedding ceremony

Figure: Funeral rite

Tutoring

Need help exploring a topic?

Our experts will advise or provide tutoring services on topics of interest to you.
Send a request with the indication of the topic right now to find out about the possibility of obtaining a consultation.

What religion was preached in those ancient times, when Christianity was not even heard of? The religion of the ancient Slavs, which is commonly called paganism, included a huge number of cults, beliefs and views. Both archaic primitive elements and more developed ideas about the existence of gods and the human soul coexisted in it.

The religion of the Slavs originated more than 2-3 thousand years ago. The most ancient religious view of the Slavic peoples is animism. According to this belief, any person has an incorporeal double, a shadow, a spirit. Hence the concept of the soul was born. According to the ancient progenitors, not only people, but also animals, as well as all natural phenomena, have a soul.
The Slavic religion is also rich in totemic beliefs. Totems of animals - elk, wild boar, bear, as sacred animals, were the subject of worship. Subsequently, each became a symbol of some Slavic god. For example, a wild boar is a sacred animal and a bear is Veles. There were also plant totems: birch, oak, willow. Many religious rituals were performed around free-standing sacred trees.

Gods in the Slavic religion.

The Slavs did not have a single god for everyone. Each tribe worshiped differently. The religion of the ancient Slavs includes such characters as Perun, Veles, Lada, Svarog and Makosh as common gods.

• Perun - a thunderer, patronized princes and soldiers. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich of Kiev revered this god as supreme.
• Veles - the god of wealth, "cattle" god, patronized the merchants. Less commonly considered the god of the dead.
• Svarog - the god of fire and sky, is considered the father of others divine creatures, the supreme deity of the early Slavs.
• Makosh is the goddess of fate, water and fertility, the patroness of future mothers. It was considered the personification of the feminine principle.
• Lada is the goddess of love and beauty. She was considered the goddess of the woman in labor, patronizing the summer harvest.

Idols of the ancient Slavs.

The religion of the ancient Slavs had not only their own gods, but also their idols - statues that convey the image of one or another deity, which was revered more than others in the tribe. These were wooden or stone statues that were worshiped during religious rites. Most often, idols were installed on the banks of rivers, in groves, on hills. They were very often dressed, holding a cup or horns in their hands, and rich weapons could be seen next to them. There were also smaller household idols that were hidden in dwellings. The ancient Slavs identified idols with the deity himself, so it was a great sin to damage the statue of the idol.

Ancient "temples" and magicians in the Slavic religion.

Those who lived on the territory of modern Russia never erected temples: they performed all ritual actions and prayers in the open air. Instead of a temple, they equipped the so-called "temple" - a place where idols were located, an altar was located and sacrifices were carried out. Moreover, the religion of the ancient Slavs allowed any of the believers to approach the idols, worship them and make an offering. As a rule, various animals were used as sacrifices; the ancient Slavs did not practice human sacrifices.

The ancient Slavs had wise men as keepers of knowledge, seers and healers. They kept and passed on from generation to generation ancient myths, made calendars, predicted the weather, performed the functions of sorcerers and magicians. The Magi had a great influence on the Kiev princes, who consulted with them on all important state issues.

Thus, we can say with confidence that the religious beliefs of the ancient Slavs are a well-developed system that includes a huge number of different pagan beliefs practiced by the Slavs before the adoption christian religion... She played a huge role in shaping the worldview, worldview and culture of the Slavic peoples. Its echoes are still present in our lives.

Religion of the ancient Slavs

Beliefs of the ancient Slavs (Slavic paganism) - a complex of views, beliefs and cults of the ancient Slavic tribes, a powerful religious and cultural layer, preceding the Christian one in terms of its existence.

Paganism- Christian theological term for a general designation of all faiths except Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Paganism is a very broad concept, encompassing both the primitive religious concepts of ancient peoples (animatism, animism, ancestor cult, magic, totemism, etc.) and the developed polytheistic systems of the cultural peoples of the ancient world: Egyptians, Sumerians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Scandinavians , Slavs, etc. Since the religion of the Slavs combined both archaic elements of primitive beliefs and ideas about a multitude of gods, the use of this term in relation to it is adequate.

Sources of studying Slavic beliefs

The study of paganism seems to be very difficult due to a number of factors. Firstly, this is a huge territory of settlement of Slavic tribes and, as a result, different internal tendencies of their development and excellent influence of external factors. Secondly, - the unevenness of the rate of historical development in different zones of settlement of the Slavic peoples; thirdly, the absence of reliable mythological and religious texts; fourthly, the destruction of the traditional worldview and mythological and religious ideas introduced by Christianity.

Due to the lack of authentic pagan texts, the study of this cultural layer is very difficult. The sources of information in this kind of research are the texts of Greek and Arab travelers, various ethnographic information and archaeological sites.

Stages of development of the beliefs of the Slavs

The issue of ethnogenesis and the ancestral home of the Slavs still remains controversial, and therefore, it is impossible to indicate the approximate spatial and temporal framework of the emergence of the religion of the ancient Slavs. The first mention of the Slavs (under the name of "Wends") by ancient authors date back to the 1st-2nd centuries. AD, but at that time these tribes already have a fairly developed system of religious beliefs, and also actively contact with other ethnic groups, partially adopting their traditions.

The religion of the Slavs has come a long way of changes from primitive animistic ideas to a complex and ramified system of polytheistic beliefs.

Animism - one of the central and most ancient at the time of the emergence of Slavic religious views. Initially, it arises as an idea of \u200b\u200bthe existence of a person's disembodied double: a spirit, a shadow. From these ideas, faith in the existence of the soul gradually grows. Moreover, not only people are spiritualized. All natural phenomena in the imagination of a pagan have their souls.

Also among the Slavs, totemistic beliefs were quite widespread. The characteristic totemic animals of the Slavs are elk, bear and wild boar. Over time, the praise of animal ancestors took the form of reverence for the sacred animal of one or another deity. So, the boar was considered the sacred animal of Perun, and the bear was considered Veles.

The Slavs also had widespread plant totems. Most often they were oaks, birches, willows. Trees were widely revered in pagan times, not only as ancestors, but also as sacred objects. This can be confirmed by the veneration of sacred groves or separate trees, in which certain rituals were performed.

The idea of \u200b\u200bthe soul gives rise to faith in the souls of the dead, a kind of other world, which, in turn, leads to the emergence of the cult of ancestors. Scientists associate the emergence of these beliefs with the formation of a developed communal-clan system among the Slavs and the allocation of a separate class of elders. The most respected elder relative was revered in the family and after his physical death, in the role of a patron spirit. Some tribes even decided to bury their respected relatives right in the hut, under the threshold, or in the red corner. It was believed that in this way the protector ancestor would save his family from the influence of evil forces.

The cult of ancestors, widespread among the Slavs, evolved over time into polydemonism. Demons are essentially the same spirits that were previously perceived as doubles, "shadows" of things and living beings. In the process of the development of ideas, the spirits are “separated” from their previous carriers and become independent supernatural beings with an anthropomorphic image.

Over time, spirits begin to differ, each spirit has its own "sphere of influence"; different kinds of perfume stand out. Each of them becomes a "master of the place", practically omnipotent in their territory. They differ in relation to a person, respectively, on "evil" and "good". You can also distinguish a separate type of demons, which are neutral in relation to humans. These are brownies, as well as other types of spirits that are closest to human habitation: barnacles, banniks, etc. Most likely, these demons are the result of the evolution of the concept of guardian ancestors.

Demons, for all their superhuman strength, are not yet gods. Demons don't create. They are only the guardians of a certain area. The gods are creators. It is impossible to name a specific historical moment when beliefs in gods come to replace polydemonism; one can only assume that this process was associated with the collapse of the communal-clan system and the formation of a feudal state-principality. The religious tradition sensitively reflected the socio-cultural changes that took place in the ancient Slavic society. In accordance with the way the disunited tribes are united in tribal alliances, the disunited pantheon is gradually taking on sharper contours. A certain hierarchy of deities stands out, and the supreme god of the ruling tribe is recognized as the main one over all others. But this process was never completed. The last attempt to create a common Slavic pantheon was made by Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich immediately after his accession to the Kiev throne in 980. The pantheon of Prince Vladimir, also called Kiev, included six deities. These were mainly South Slavic deities, and their selection did not so much reflect the actual beliefs of the Kievites, but served political purposes. At the head of the pantheon was the god Perun, the patron saint of princes and military squads. Other deities are Dazhdbog, Stribog, Khors, Simargl and the only female deity of the pantheon - Makosh. At the same time, one of the most respected gods among the people - Veles, the patron saint of trade, wealth and cattle, was not included in the official princely pantheon, and his idol was located in Podil, at the foot of Starokievskaya mountain.

However, this religious reform did not bear much fruit and it was decided to replace the existing faith with a new, Byzantine one. In 988 Christianity became the official religion of Rus. The decline of the pagan era has come. But the echoes of paganism are still preserved in folk culture in the form of song traditions, beliefs, fairy tales, fortune-telling and rituals. Christianity could not completely supplant the ancient tradition, but significantly transformed it, introducing new cultural meanings. Christian saints in the folk tradition acquire the features of the ancient gods. In Saint Elijah, the image of Perun is clearly traced, in Saint Paraskeva - the image of Makosh, in Saint Blasia - the image of Veles. Pagan elements are added to Christian holidays, and symbols of Christianity are added to pagan holidays, etc.

Gods of the ancient Slavs

The Slavs did not have a single polytheistic pantheon of deities. Each tribe had significant differences in beliefs in gods: its own pantheon was formed, the same gods received different names, there was no one supreme god for all tribes. Although there are a number of deities that researchers recognize as common Slavic. These are such gods as Svarog, Perun, Makosh, Lada, Veles.

Svarog - the god of heaven and fire, the father of other gods. B.A. Rybakov believed that Svarog was once the supreme deity of the Slavs, but later his cult faded into the background compared to the cult of Dazhdbog, the god of sunlight.

Perun- God the Thunderer, the patron saint of warriors and princely power. Among the Western Slavs it is also known as Perkunas. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich tried to establish the cult of Perun as the supreme deity in Kiev.

Makosh- the goddess of fertility, the patroness of women in labor, the goddess of fate. Also referred to as the goddess of water. The embodiment of the feminine principle. As the goddess of fertility, Makosh is often depicted with a horn, which is considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

Lada and her daughter Lelya- goddesses "women in labor" associated with the ancient cult of fertility. Lada is the goddess of beauty, love, the patroness of the summer harvest. Lelya is the goddess of spring, the keeper of young shoots and seedlings. In traditional Russian embroidery, Lada and Lelia are depicted standing next to the "mother of the harvest" Makosh.

Veles- "the god of cattle", the patron saint of the merchants, the god of wealth. Also referred to as the god of the dead. It is considered the antagonist of Perun, at least in the Kiev pantheon. Veles was revered as the patron saint of travelers. Read more about the gods of the Slavs in the article "Gods of the Slavs".

Idols of the ancient Slavs

Idols are stone and wooden sculptures that convey the image of a deity and serve as an indispensable attribute of the religious rites of Ancient Russia. Very few idols have survived to this day, but this is due not only to the persecution of paganism, but also to the fact that the majority of Slavic idols were wooden. This is probably due to the ancient cult of trees.

Most often, idols were placed on hills, on the banks of rivers, along groves. There were also small domestic idols, which were often hidden from prying eyes. Most likely, the idols were made according to the same pattern, but they differed in design. For example, the idol of Perun in Kiev, as the chronicle says, was wooden, but with a silver head and golden mustache. Sometimes the idols were dressed, sometimes weapons were laid near them. Some idols held horns in their hands (for example, the idol of Makoshi, with a horn as a symbol of wealth in their hands) or cups.

It is characteristic that for the Slavs, like any other pagans, the idol is not just an image, it is the deity itself. Therefore, damaging the statue is the same as harming God himself. Therefore, when in 988 the Kievites were to be baptized, many of them hid their domestic idols in the Kiev caves, saving them from destruction. Read more about idols in the article "Slavic Idols".

Priesthood and sacrifices of the ancient Slavs

The Eastern Slavs did not have a centralized priestly apparatus. The rituals of individual and family significance were often performed by the eldest man of the family, and the rituals of collective, communal significance were performed by its head, the elder. Among the Western Slavs, who were under the influence of the Baltic and Germanic tribes, the institution of priesthood was formed. The Western Slavs built temples in honor of their gods. At the same time, the temples often housed the idols of the entire pantheon, and not some particular deity. The Eastern Slavs did not erect temples and prayed to their gods in the open air. The role of temples was played by temples located in sacred groves or at the dominant heights of a certain area. The temple consisted of two main parts: the “temple” itself, where the idols of the revered gods were located, and the “treasury”, where the altar was located and sacrifices were made. Among the Western Slavs, the temple was fenced off with screens and curtains, only a priest could enter it; among the Eastern Slavs, any believer could approach the idols.

The role of the altar was often played by a large fireplace. One of these altars was excavated at the beginning of the 20th century. V.V. Khvoika on Starokievskaya mountain. The altar was the remains of a pillar, in which layers of burnt clay alternated with layers of ash and charcoal. A large number of bones of various animals were found around the pillar, which gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe nature of the sacrifices. The Slavs have no convincing information about human sacrifices.

Magi in the religion of the ancient Slavs

The Slavs also had the so-called wise men. Contrary to popular belief, they were not priests, although some researchers associate the name "sorcerer" with the name of the god Veles. Rather, they played the role of keepers of ancient knowledge, healers and seers. The motive of the "prophetic" Magi is often mentioned in the chronicles of Kievan Rus.

The Magi compiled calendars, kept and transmitted ancient myths, served as fortunetellers and sorcerers. There are references, including in the annals, of miracles performed by the magi. According to the report of the Arab traveler Ibn-Dast, the wise men had a tremendous influence on the prince of Kiev and that it was they who appointed sacrifices to the gods.

Ideas about underworld among the ancient Slavs

The Slavs have quite diverse ideas about the life of a person's soul after the death of his physical body. First of all, it was believed that a person, after a violent, unnatural death, or one over whom the correct funeral rite was not performed, becomes the spirit of nature, often hostile to people. Such spirits include ghouls, goblin, water spirits and other evil spirits. The souls of witches and sorcerers, who after death continue to harm people, do not find rest.

There was in the ideas of the Slavs and the mysterious afterlife, called Iriy, Vyri. After death, the souls of those who were buried according to custom, the "pure" dead, fell into it. Such dead were called "grandfathers" and believed that they could help their descendants who remained in the world of the living. According to the beliefs of the Slavs, life "in the next world" was a continuation of the earthly. (For details, see the Funeral rite of the ancient Slavs)

Conclusion

The religion of the ancient Slavs is a fairly developed system of pagan beliefs, we confess by the Slavic tribes before the adoption of Christianity. The specificity of Slavic paganism lies in the free coexistence of both developed polytheistic and archaic agrarian cults, animistic and polydemonic ideas, and the cult of ancestors. Another characteristic feature of the religion of the ancient Slavs is its heterogeneity, the difference between cults in different tribes, the worship of different deities, and excellent cult practice in different localities. The paganism of the Slavs is not only a system of cults, but also a worldview, worldview, reflected in the further development of the cultures of the Slavic peoples.