These are multifaceted and unusual beliefs that have their roots in the depths of centuries. There is no exact information about the place of origin of the first pagan cult, because practically all archaeological evidence was erased by inexorable time. Everything that scientists know has been obtained from the few chronicles and stories that have been able to reach us.

But even this is enough to understand what the culture and religion of the Eastern Slavs was before the arrival of Christianity. To understand what motivated people in that historical period, and how it was reflected in the modern world.

The basic concept of paganism

The religion of the Eastern Slavs was based on belief in many gods - polytheism. All phenomena in nature were divine omens and testified that people were surrounded by otherworldly beings.

The Slavs feared and revered the gods, made sacrifices to them and prayed for their help. Many customs were associated with the worship of deities and were carried out according to established rules. The Slavs believed that everything is the will of the gods, and without their participation nothing was done.

The Slavic pantheon had its own hierarchy, according to which the gods were divided into major and minor. Also in paganism there were guardian spirits who guarded the house, helped with crops and cured diseases.

world creation

The religion of the Eastern Slavs briefly describes the creation of the world. It is only known that at first a golden egg appeared, in which was the god Rod - the father of all living and nonliving.

He created the heavens, the earth, the trees, and all the gods went from him. From the name of this deity, the word "nature" was formed, which meant - everything is with Rod.

God's spirit became one of the first creations of the Family, and they depicted him in the form of a huge owl. Over time, she was given the name Mother Swa. From the spirit of God, Svarog appeared - the god of heaven, as well as the king of everything on earth.

Then Svarog had children: the sun god Dazhbog and the wind god Stribog. And then some gods created others, they, in turn, gave rise to other mystical creatures, until a whole divine kingdom with its own laws and rules was formed. Over the years, the names of the gods were replaced by others, but their essence remained the same. This is how the pagan culture with its divine hierarchy was gradually born.

The main gods

The pagan religion of the Eastern Slavs has changed greatly over the centuries. At the same time, new customs and beliefs did not replace the old ones, but became their continuation, partially changing their essence. Therefore, the popularity of obsolete gods often declined, as did their position in the divine hierarchy.

Originally, Rod was the main and most respected god. After all, he is the creator of everything on Earth, as well as the patron saint of the earth and fertility. He was sacrificed and sung songs of praise in the hope that he will look after the harvest and prevent diseases from infecting the fields.

Later, his place was taken by Svarog - a divine being responsible for order and peace in the lands of the Slavs. Over time, Svarog took over most of the merits of the Rod, becoming the creator of the sky and what is under it.

Veles, who was in charge of cattle, was no less revered god. This attitude was caused by the fact that the Slavs, like many other peoples of that time, were engaged in cattle breeding. If cows and other animals began to die, people thought that Veles was angry and requires a sacrifice. Another task of this harsh god was to look after the souls of the dead, so often prayers were offered to him that he would take care of the dead relatives.

Perunovo time

It should be noted that initially Perun was not the main god, but was only depicted as one of the sons of Svarog and Mother Sva. He was a thunderer and ruler of the rains. When times of peace gave way to frequent military campaigns, his role changed dramatically - Perun became the god of war and one of the most revered deities in the Slavic pantheon.

The reason for this is that lightning has always been considered invincible and deadly, bringing punishment to everyone who dared to stand in the way of Perun. Therefore, the governors believed that if the army enlisted the support of this god, it would be able to win without hindrance in any battle.

In order to attract the attention of Perun, the princes often made large offerings, built altars and watched for signs from heaven. This led to the massive spread of the cult of Perun, and the religion of the Eastern Slavs again changed the divine leader.

Variety of gods in Slavic culture

But not only the great gods were worshiped by the Slavs. The heavenly abode numbered dozens of less significant deities, and they were all responsible for a certain part of the life of people and natural phenomena, at least as they are presented by the religion of the Eastern Slavs. Briefly about the minor gods of the pagans.

• Dazhbog - the sun god, symbolizes dawn and prosperity.
• Stribog is the god of the wind, capable of sending storms and bad weather. He also looks after the passage of time and the changing seasons.
• Lada is the goddess of order and the first of the women in labor. It was she, according to legends, that gave birth to twelve months.
• Lelya is Perun's mother. This goddess watched over the crops, so she was held in special honor among the Slavs.
• Yarilo is the god of light and spring, over time they began to personify him with the solar circle.
• Makosh is the goddess of fate and the eternal spinner. They say that she weaved all human destinies on her spindle, and Dolya and Nedol helped her in this.

In addition, there were evil deities who tried to destroy people, constantly sending illnesses and misfortunes to them.

Magi - the connecting link between people and gods

The priest was present in every culture, so the religion of the Eastern Slavs could not do without him. In ancient times, people who can read the prompts of the gods were called sorcerers or wizards. They often came to them for help, since they, according to legend, knew how to heal diseases, remove the evil eye and bless in future undertakings.

What is true, unlike other religions of that time, pagan priests did not build temples and did not require increased attention to themselves. In most cases, they lived away from the settlements in order to protect themselves from the annoying crowd.

Rituals in ancient Russia

Religion and life of the Eastern Slavs are closely related. There are many beliefs and signs that people always pay attention to. So, the crops were always accompanied by prayers to the goddess Lele, so that she would then look after the harvest.

They attached particular importance to the funeral, because the observance of the rite depended on how the deceased would be met in the afterlife. The body of the deceased was placed in a small boat, then set on fire and allowed to flow. Thus, the soul of the deceased was sent down the river to afterworld, after which the ashes were buried in a mound. Armor, weapons and the corpse of a horse were placed in the graves of noble people and warriors, so that a person would not need anything in the other world.

Just as reverently, the religion of the Eastern Slavs guarded the ceremonies associated with the birth of a child, matchmaking and wedding.

Great celebrations and festivities

All holidays in the calendar of the Slavs were associated with natural phenomena and transitions from one season to the second. Many of them played such an important role in society that they remained even after the arrival of Christianity, although they changed their original purpose.

So, the first of the year was a celebration in honor of Kolyada, the god who brought knowledge to people. It was celebrated on the first of January, which later coincided with Christmas. That is why now there is a tradition to walk around the courtyards and ask for sweets in exchange for a verse of praise.

Another pagan holiday that still exists today is Ivana Kupala. It is celebrated on June 24 (according to the old calendar) in honor of summer solstice... According to legend, on this day, water has healing power, so people arrange this festivities by the reservoir. This day was originally intended to sing the sun god. It is in his honor that fiery circles or wheels are launched into the water, thereby demonstrating the movement of the sun across the sky.

The coming of Christianity

And although the religion of the Eastern Slavs reigned for a long time throughout the territory of Russia, the arrival of Christianity nevertheless ousted it. The reason for this was the patronage of Prince Vladimir, which left no choice for the common people.

For several centuries, the Magi tried to return the old traditions, but their business ended in failure. And only small temples and wooden idols to this day remind that in ancient times there were gods who were able to control the weather, heavenly bodies and the fate of man.

In Slavic fairy tales, there are many magical characters - sometimes terrible and formidable, sometimes mysterious and incomprehensible, sometimes 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 the whole world around was permeated with magic: in the thicket of the forest there is Baba Yaga's hut, in the harsh stone mountains there is a Serpent that abducts beauties, and a horse can speak human beings. Such a belief was called paganism, that is, "popular faith" ("people" is one of the meanings of the ancient Slavic word "language").

The ancient 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. 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 in 980 under the Kiev prince 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 actual beliefs of the Kievites, but served political purposes.

Due to the fragmentation of the ancient beliefs of the Slavs, very little information about paganism has survived, and even then it is rather meager. About higher slavic gods researchers usually learn 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 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.

The topic "Beliefs of the Eastern Slavs" is interesting to me, since paganism is an integral part of the history of our country - mysterious, appearing either in rock compositions, or in works of fiction, in art publications, or told by one of the grandparents as “what the great-grandfathers told” and, as far as I understood, excites not only me as an idle amateur, but, as it turned out, occupies the minds of many modern people who believe that paganism is not at all in the past.

The most important cultural prerequisite for the history of Russian civilization is the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. They were associated with the predominantly agrarian, agricultural nature of production in the 6-9 centuries. and the tribal nature of the society, divided according to the principle of kinship and neighborhood

The pagan religion corresponded to the era of the primitive communal system among the Eastern Slavs. Slavic paganism is a whole complex of beliefs, ideas, rituals that came from ancient times and which reflected the complete dependence of ancient people on the forces of nature. These are polytheistic beliefs and rituals that existed among the Slavs before the adoption of the monotheistic religion - Christianity.

The term "paganism" appeared in the Old Russian language after the adoption of Christianity to denote all pre-Christian and non-Christian cults and was used by Orthodox preachers. In other words, the term "paganism" is conditional and does not mean any specific beliefs, but any traditional folk religion. In modern scientific literature, the term "polytheism" is often used (from the Greek polys - numerous, and theos - god; that is, polytheism, belief in many gods).

Paganism belongs to an archaic type of culture that is very different from the traditional and modern types. From world religions ancient paganism in that the imperfection of man was not associated with his falling away from the divine ideal (fall into sin). Imperfection was considered a quality inherent in the whole world, both earthly and heavenly, both the world of everyday life and the world of the mysterious forces of nature. In essence, man himself was one of these forces. In order to achieve the fulfillment of his will, he could scare and force the brownie or the goblin to obey him, and people with witchcraft power, such as the priests-wise men or tribal leaders, could control the forces of nature: send and prevent rain, disease, crop failure, hunger , ensure victory in the war.

This worldview created a rather comfortable image of the world, in which there were no insoluble contradictions, there was no gap between everyday life and the ideal, man and God, the appearance of which in the great cultures of the East and Greece in the 8-2 centuries BC allowed the philosopher K. Jaspers to name this time is "pivotal" dividing the history of mankind. The spiritual revolution of the “axial time” caused people to strive for the ideal, to seek “salvation” from their imperfection. The emergence of world religions and great philosophical teachings, traditional culture is associated with it. The Slavs in the pre-Christian period did not possess a religion common to all tribes. However, their ideas about nature, the surrounding world, the elements that rule it are very close to each other. This allows us to speak of the existence of a special popular faith among the ancient Slavs, that is, PAGAN. Paganism is a national religion. Unlike the great world religions, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism, which do not recognize national borders, paganism is addressed only to the Slavs, or only to the Germans, or only to the Celts, etc., perceiving each people as a generic family community and opposing it to the rest the world.

The religion of the Eastern Slavs is strikingly similar to the original religion of the Aryan tribes: it consisted in the worship of physical deities, natural phenomena and the souls of the dead, ancestral, domestic geniuses; We do not notice traces of the heroic element that develops anthropomorphism so strongly among our Slavs - a sign that between them no conquest squads were formed under the command of heroic leaders and that their resettlement was not in squad, but in generic form.

All this the Eastern Slavs did not know until the 10th century. Their world was inhabited by many strange creatures that personified the forces of nature. Gods and spirits were everywhere: in the rain, in the sun, in the forest, under the threshold of a house, in the water, on the ground. The Slavs tried to find a common language with everyone, to appease some and scare others. These were local deities, numbered in tens and hundreds. They, like people, were kind and evil, simple-minded and cunning. Some helped a person to achieve his goals, others, on the contrary, hindered. There was nothing in them of the omnipotence and perfection of the Christian God. In order to communicate with the pagan gods, it was not necessary to fight for spiritual purity, as the Christian monks did, but it was only necessary to know certain technical techniques: rituals, prayers, conspiracies.

Having arisen in deep antiquity, when human consciousness was just beginning to form, Slavic paganism did not remain petrified, but developed together with primitive society. In the 12th century, interesting notes were compiled about the development of pagan beliefs among the ancient Slavs: "A word about how pagan peoples worshiped idols and brought them sacrifices." Its author divided the history of Slavic beliefs into three periods: first, the Slavs made sacrifices to the ghouls and berechiny (in other sources? Is written “berehyny”); then they began to "set a meal" to Rod and women in labor; finally, in the late period of paganism, they began to pray to Perun (this periodization takes place in the educational book for grades 10-11 of general education institutions, I.N. Ionov "Russian civilization, 9th-early 20th century"? M .: Enlightenment, 1995 ).

Another source (A. Lukutin "History. Grades 9-11", Moscow: AST-PRESS SHKOLA, 2006) provides the following data: scientists note 4 stages in the development of Slavic paganism.

The first stage corresponds to the era of the Stone Age, the Slavs made sacrifices to the "ghouls" and "berehyns". Ghouls and beregini are good and evil local gods. Ghouls are vampires, werewolves, mermaids, goblin. Usually this former peoplewho died not by their own death, not buried and avenging this alive. You can fight them knowing the protective rites. Especially often ghouls inhabited remote, little-visited places: forests and rivers. In the villages they were looked for in wells. Christian priests for a long time accused the peasants that they "devour (pray) to demons and swamps and wells." Beregini were good deities. Up to our times, for example, the idea of \u200b\u200ba brownie, which can be both evil and good, has come down to us, depending on how you appease him. N.M. Karamzin wrote in the “History of the Russian State”: “In the superstitious traditions of the Russian people, we also discover some traces of ancient Slavic worship of God: until now, ordinary people talk about goblin, who look like satyrs, live as if in the darkness of forests, equal with trees and grass, terrify wanderers, bypass them and lead them astray, about mermaids or nymphs of oak groves (where they run around with their hair loose, especially before Trinity Day), about beneficent and evil brownies, about kikimors. "

Later, when the ancient Slavs made a transition from a nomadic to a sedentary lifestyle, when agriculture appeared, the cult of the Rod and Rozhanits, the deities of fertility, was born, which is associated with the development of the tribal system and agriculture among the Slavs. In Rod, the forces of the fertility of the earth and the unity of generations of people were simultaneously personified. After all, the fertility of the land, according to the beliefs of the Slavs, is provided by the ancestors, and if the land does not bear fruit, then the sacrifice must be brought to them. The pagan idea of \u200b\u200bthe unity of the world was also manifested in the fact that the ability of a person to produce offspring was considered to stimulate the creative forces of nature.

Therefore, the spring holidays in honor of Rod and Rozhanitsy were accompanied by general drunkenness ("not in law, but in peace" and obscenities. At this stage in the development of pagan beliefs, attempts appear to depict the gods in a humanoid form.

It is significant that after the adoption of Christianity, the peasant women prayed to Rozhanitsy on a par with the Christian Mother of God. According to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, Rod is the creator of the entire Universe. He "blew" life into people, commanded the sky, rain, fire, and sent lightning to the earth. The famous historian B.A. Rybakov in his work “History. The early centuries of Russian history "writes about Rod as follows:" God Rod was the supreme deity of heaven and the universe. He was compared with Osiris, Baad Gad and the biblical Sabaoth. This was a deity more significant than the princely retinue Perun who replaced him. " And here is another interesting version of his own: “On the Dnieper, 120 km from Kiev, at the mouth of the Ros River, there was the city of Roden, from which there is now a settlement on a high mountain - Knyazhya Gora.

Judging by the location in the middle of the area of \u200b\u200bantiquities of the Rus of the 6-7 centuries, Rodin could be the tribal center of the Rus and be named after the main god of the ancient Slavs - Rod ... Such an assumption would fully explain the chronicle phrase (possibly taken from Greek sources of the 9th century) " Give birth, we inherit Russia ... ". The name of the union of tribes by a common deity can also be traced in the name of the Krivichi, named after the ancient native (Lithuanian) god Kriva - Krivite. The Rus on the Ros 'river could get their name from the god Rod, whose place of worship was Roden on the Ros'.

Gradually, many of the functions of the Family passed into the jurisdiction of other gods.

Rod got assistants - Yarilo and Kupala.

Yarilo personified the awakening spring. The Slavs saw him as a young handsome youth who rode through the fields and villages on a white horse and in a white robe.

Kupala was seen as the fruitful deity of summer. His day was celebrated on June 24, and was preceded by "Rusalia" - celebrations dedicated to the nymphs of fields and waters.

The worship of the god Veles (Volos), the patron saint of cattle and cattle breeding, arose at a time when the ancient Slavs learned to tame wild animals. It was believed that this god contributed to the accumulation of wealth.

In the 8-9 centuries, a "divine" picture is formed, where each deity has its own place:

Svarog is the ruler of the sky, to which the entire Universe obeys (he can be compared with Zeus among the ancient Greeks). Svarog had several children.

Svarozhich, the son of Svarog, is the god of fire, the patron saint of blacksmiths and blacksmithing, as well as jewelers.

Dazhbog is the son (according to another version - the daughter) of Svarog, who personifies the sun. By slavic beliefsDazhbog lives in the far east, in the land of eternal summer. Every morning Dazhbog makes a circular detour across the sky in his illuminating chariot.

Khors is a deity close to Dazhbog and directly related to him. He appeared to be a white horse, also running over the land from east to west.

Stribog is the god of wind, storm, hurricane and in general all bad weather. He was worshiped by people whose activities depended on weather conditions: farmers, travelers, sailors, etc.

Mokosh (Makosh) is the patroness of women, women's handicrafts, as well as trade, the mother of the harvest, the goddess of the earth.

Simargl (Semargl) - appeared to be a sacred winged dog. The purpose of this deity was not fully understood. It is only clear that he was a deity of a lower order, a winged dog that guarded seeds and crops, was considered the god of the underworld. (Simargl and Horos, or Khors, mentioned in The Tale of Bygone Years, are apparently Iranian deities brought to Russia by the Khorezm guard hired by the Khazars).

Over time, when military campaigns took a significant place in the life of the Eastern Slavs, Perun became one of the most revered gods - the lord of thunder and lightning, the patron saint of the prince, warriors and military affairs in general.

The phenomenon of a thunderstorm, lightning is the most amazing of natural phenomena; it is no wonder that primitive man gave him first place among all other phenomena: man could not help but notice the beneficial effect of a thunderstorm on the life of nature, could not help but notice that the light of lightning independently at any time reveals its power, while, for example, the action of the sun is limited , is subject to a known law and can only be found in known timeyielding dominion to another, opposite and, therefore, hostile, beginning - darkness; the sun was darkened, died in the eyes of man, and lightning never lost its power in his eyes, was not defeated by another principle, because the light of lightning is usually accompanied by rain that is usually life-giving for nature - hence the necessary idea that Perun sends rain to thirsty nature, which without him would perish from the burning rays of the sun. Thus, lightning was for primitive man a generating force, with the character of a higher deity, acting, reigning predominantly, moderating, correcting the harm caused by other deities, while the sun, for example, and for the pagan worshiping him was something suffering, subordinate. Finally, lightning received the significance of the supreme deity-ruler in the eyes of the pagan because of its terrible punitive power, acting quickly and directly.

Gradually, Perun seizes supreme power over the rest of the pagan gods, pushing Svarog into the background. The latter retains the right to patronize artisans engaged in the processing of metals.

The oath of weapons, Perun and Veles is already known from the story of the 911 treaty between the Kiev prince Oleg (882-912) and the Byzantines.

In the "Tale of Bygone Years" under 980, it is said that the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, having seized Kiev and began to reign in it, even before the baptism of Rus put wooden idols of the gods on the Mountain, not far from the princely palace,: Perun, Khors, Dazhbog , Striboga, Simargla, Mokoshi. However, among the gods there was no Rod, Rozhanits, Svarog, Svarozhich and Volos. Scientists explain this choice of the prince by the fact that the pagan pantheon of Vladimir was intended for the prayer not of ordinary people, but of the Kiev nobility, who lived on the Mountain and preferred to worship their gods.

The Slavic pagan world is surprisingly poetic, permeated with magic and the belief that all nature around us is alive. Our distant ancestors worshiped the elements, believed in the kinship of people with animals, and were convinced that the beast-progenitor of their kind always patronizes its human descendants. The pagan Slavs made numerous sacrifices, most often allocating part of their prey for hunting, catching fish or harvesting to deities, good and evil spirits inhabiting the world around them. Each Slavic tribe prayed to its especially revered gods, but often they differed only in the pronunciation of names.

Very little information has been preserved about the paganism of the ancient Slavs. In most cases, it is known about the supreme Slavic gods from the later Christian teachings against them. Speaking of pagans, Metropolitan Macarius in the 17th century. wrote: “Their wicked supplications: the forest, and stones, and rivers, and marshes, and 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. " Deifying the world around them, the Slavs, as it were, concentrate all their scattered beliefs around the three main phenomena in their primitive life: hunting, farming and housekeeping. Forest, field and house - these are the three pillars of the Slavic universe, around which the entire pagan Slavic mythology is formed, Slavic paganism reflects and expresses the entire life of a communal peasant: a cycle of agricultural work, domestic life, weddings, funerals, etc.

Hunting beliefs were very common.

In the primitive era, the forest not only gave the Slavs the opportunity to survive, get food, build a solid dwelling, heat it with fire, fuel for which was in abundance around, but also endowed them with special ideas about their origin. Hunting clans and tribes believed that their distant ancestors were wild animals with supernatural magical powers. Such animals were considered great deities and their totems were worshiped, that is, sacred images that protected the family. Each tribe had its own totem.

The most important deity of the forest pantheon of the ancient Slavs was the BEAR. His mighty image was perceived as the image of the great master of the forest - the most powerful beast. The true name of this beast was forever lost, because it was not pronounced aloud and, apparently, was known only to the priests. Oaths and treaties were sealed with this sacred, unpronounceable name. In everyday life, the hunters called their god "honey badger", hence the name "bear". The ancient root "ber", preserved in the word "den", that is, the lair of the ber, sounds the same as the Scandinavian word "ber" - bear, and means "brown."

The cult of the WOLF was extremely widespread, especially among the northern Slavs. During the holidays and important ceremonies dedicated to this animal, the men of the tribe dressed up in wolf skins. The wolf was perceived as a devourer of evil spirits, it was not for nothing that the priests of the wolf cult and even simple warriors from the "wolf" tribes were considered good healers. The name of the powerful patron was so sacred that it was forbidden to pronounce it aloud. Instead, the wolf was designated with the epithet "fierce." Hence the name of one of the largest Slavic tribes "lutichi". The feminine principle, always associated with fertility, in the forest era was personified by the great goddess DEER or MOTHER. Unlike real females of deer and elk, the goddess had horns, which also makes you think of a cow. Horns were considered symbols of the sun's rays, so they were a talisman against dark forces and were attached above the entrance to the dwelling.

Both hunters and farmers revered the HORSE. They represented the sun in the form of a Golden Horse running through the heavens. The image of the sun-horse has been preserved in the decoration of the Russian hut, decorated with a horse with one or two horse heads. Amulets with the image of a horse's head, and later just a horseshoe, were considered solar symbols and were perceived as powerful amulets.

According to pagan beliefs, the rituals of those distant years were also. For example, the rites of the ancestor cult (worship of the souls and geniuses of the departed). In ancient Russian monuments, the focus of this cult is, with the meaning of the guardian of relatives genus with their women in labor, i.e.grandfather with grandmothers - an allusion to the once dominant polygamy among the Slavs. The same deified ancestor was honored under the name chura,in Church Slavonic form pike; this form has survived to this day in a complex word ancestor.The significance of this ancestor-grandfather as the guardian of all relatives has hitherto been preserved in a spell from evil spirits or unexpected danger: mind me! those. keep me, grandfather. Protecting relatives from evil dashing, chur also protected their family property. The legend, which left traces in the language, gives the chur a meaning, the same as the Roman term, the meaning of the guardian of the patrimonial fields and borders. Violation of the boundary, the proper boundary, legal measure, we now express the word too, means chur -measure, border. This meaning of chur can, it seems, explain one feature of the funeral rite among the Russian Slavs, as described by the Primary Chronicle. The deceased, having performed a feast on him, was burned, his bones were collected in a small vessel and placed on a post on the crossroads where the paths intersect, i.e. the boundaries of different possessions converge. Roadside pillars are landmarks that guarded the borders of the ancestral field or grandfather's estate. Hence the superstitious fear that took possession of the Russian man at the crossroads: here, on neutral soil, a relative felt himself in a foreign land, not at home, outside his native field, outside the sphere of power of his guardians.

The infant people could not understand the spiritual existence behind the grave and imagined the souls of the departed forefathers accessible to all sensations of this white light; they thought that winter is the time of night, darkness for the souls of the departed, but as soon as spring begins to replace winter, then the night path for souls who ascend to the heavenly light, the moon and others, rise to a new life stops. On the first holiday of the newborn sun, on the first winter Kolyada (a holiday that now coincides with the holiday of the Nativity of Christ), the dead have already risen from their graves and frightened the living - hence and now the time of Christmas is considered the time of wandering spirits.

The essential rite of the holiday consists in walking to praise the deity and collect alms, as you can see, in times of pagan offerings were collected for a common sacrifice.

Shrovetide - the spring holiday of the sun is at the same time a commemorated week, which is directly indicated by the use of pancakes, a commemorated food. Since the ancient Maslenitsa, the living greet the dead, visit their graves, and the Red Hill holiday is combined with Radunitsa, the holiday of light, sun for the dead, it is believed that the souls of the dead rise from dungeons during the commemoration and share the commemorated food with the one who brought it.

So, spring is met on Krasnaya Gorka, usually round dances begin, the religious significance of which and attitude to the sun are beyond doubt. The time of the resurrection of all nature and the strengthening of desires was considered the most decent time for marriage and for congratulating young spouses: this congratulation is known as vyunitism. The long struggle with the Maslenitsa feast of the Church ended in the end only with his removal during the period of Great Lent before Easter. However, the pagan character of the holiday was preserved. According to the beliefs of some Slavic tribes, on Shrovetide days, the deity of winter Morana concedes his power to the deity of spring Lada. According to other beliefs, this is a holiday of death and resurrection of the fertility goddess Maslenitsa or Kostroma, whose straw image was burned at the end of the holiday, and the resulting coals were scattered over winter crops.

The importance of games and laughter during Christmas and Shrovetide was important. In this sense, games in weddings, the capture of snow towns are especially characteristic. At the same time, laughter was of a ritual nature: it was supposed to provide fun and harvest for the next year. The attitude to the burning of Maslenitsa was more difficult. According to custom, some people were supposed to cry at this time, while others were to laugh. This rite expresses the idea of \u200b\u200bthe immortality of the creative forces of nature, the absence of death.

The custom of visiting the graves of deceased relatives is associated with the current Christian holiday of Easter, but these are echoes of a pagan holiday that occurred at the time before plowing. It was associated with the desire of the peasants to gain support from dead ancestors in awakening the fertile forces of the land, ensuring the harvest. The time after Easter was known as the Navi festival, that is, the festival of the dead. At this time, boiled eggs were rolled on the graves, oil, wine and beer were poured on them. All these were victims who were supposed to remind the dead of their kinship and duty to the living. By the way, such sacrifices were made several times during the spring and summer; the church later turned them into a celebration of parental Saturdays, a visit to the cemetery, accompanied by the commemoration of the dead.

In direct connection with the belief that in the spring the souls of the dead rise up to enjoy the new life of nature, there is a holiday of mermaids, or mermaid week. Mermaids are not river nymphs or nymphs of any kind; their name does not come from the channel, but from blond (those. light, clear); mermaids are the souls of the dead, coming out in the spring to enjoy the revived nature. Mermaids appear from Holy Thursday, as soon as the meadows are covered with spring water, willows bloom. If they seem beautiful, they always bear the imprint of lifelessness and pallor.

CM. Soloviev wrote this about mermaids: “The lights coming out of the graves are the lights of mermaids, they run through the fields, saying:“ Boom! Boo! Straw spirit. Mother gave birth to me, laid unbaptized. " Until the day of Troicin, mermaids live in the waters, they only go to the shores to play, and after all, among all pagan peoples, the waterway was considered a guide to the underworld and back from it, therefore mermaids appear in rivers, near wells. But already from the day of Troicin the mermaids moved to the forest, to the trees - the favorite place of the souls' stay until death. The mermaids of the game are games in honor of the dead, as indicated by dressing up, masks are a rite that not only Slavs needed during the holiday for the shadows of the dead, since it is common for a person to imagine a dead man as something terrible, ugly and think that especially the souls of evil people turn into terrible and ugly creatures.

Among the Russian Slavs, the main holiday of mermaids was Semik - the great day of mermaids, on which they were seen off. And the end of the week with mermaids - Trinity Day - was the final holiday of mermaids, on this day, according to legend, mermaids fall from the trees - for them the time of spring pleasures ends. On the first Monday of Peter's day, there were some Slavic places in some places and games - escorting mermaids to their graves. By the way, Semik was considered a girl's holiday, dedicated to Yarila and Lada, the goddess of family harmony. At this time, a young birch tree, the sacred tree of Lada, was removed with ribbons and houses were decorated with birch branches. The girls went to the forest to weave wreaths of flowers, lead round dances and sing ritual songs. On Thursday of the week of seven, in the afternoon, in the midst of the holiday, a review of brides was held. In the evenings, young people "chased mermaids" - played with burners with stems of wormwood or buttercup in their hands. According to legend, these herbs protected from the wiles of evil forces. On the last day, the birch was cut down, and the girls' wreaths were let down the river. Whoever has a wreath floats far away - that one will soon get married. For fun and fortune-telling, the Semites week, which was celebrated in the last century, is called green Christmastide.

On June 24, a big holiday was celebrated, which came down to us as Midsummer's Day, or Ivan Kupala. This holiday, however, like Maslenitsa and Kolyada, is common, i.e. not only for all Slavic, but also for foreign peoples. Although according to the rituals of the holiday, one can guess that he refers to three elemental deities - both Svarozhichs, the sun and fire, and water, but it can be attributed to one sun. The night of Midsummer's Day was accompanied by the gathering of herbs, to which miraculous powers were attributed; bathing (because the sun, according to the beliefs of the Slavs, exerting a miraculous effect on everything, also produced it on the water) - after all, bathing during the summer solstice is healing; lighting fires and jumping over them, because the jump was judged on the luck in marriage (in addition, lighting fires is necessary for sacrifices). And on a summer holiday, the rite of extermination of the scarecrow of Mary is repeated - cold and death: she is drowned in water or burned, (Ionov calls her the goddess of spring Lada. The sun, which gives life and growth to everything that exists, should have been a force that arouses natural desires - hence The festival of Kupala was connected with the festival of Yarila, by the way, some negative (according to the later clergy) phenomena, for example, the abduction of maidens, took place during this festival.Ivan Kupala was considered, and even now, the most famous and witchcraft of the pagan holidays.

These are the main initial features of the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. Over time, they could also be distorted: the same deity in different tribes bore different names; after, with the convergence of the tribes, different names could already appear as different deities. Elemental deities initially did not have sex and therefore easily changed it afterwards: for example, the sun could easily be both male and female, and the husband and wife of the month.

CM. Soloviev believes that the main distortions of the original religion of the people were always and everywhere priests and artists, and that is why among our Eastern Slavs, who did not have a class of priests and the custom of depicting deities as idealized was not widespread, religion remained in much greater simplicity. The chronicles are silent about the existence of temples and priests among the Eastern Slavs (and if there were temples, this would certainly be reflected in the chronicles, as well as the destruction of them).

The Eastern Slavs did not have a priestly class, but there were magi, fortune-tellers, magicians, sages and witches. Very little is known about the Slavic Magi, but there is no doubt that they had a close connection with the Finnish Magi in the close proximity and alliance of these two peoples, especially since after the adoption of Christianity, the Magi mainly appear in the Finnish north and from there muddy the Slavic population (and From time immemorial, the Finnish tribe was distinguished by a penchant for magic, from time immemorial it was famous for it: the Finns were developed mainly about evil deities, about evil spirits and about messages with them.

So, the Magi is the old Russian name for the ministers of pagan cults. They were first mentioned in the chronicle in 912: one of the Magi predicted the death of Prince Oleg of Kiev from his own horse. Near 1071, the story is told about the unrest in the Rostov land during the famine, which were headed by two wise men. Later, the magi were called astrologers, sorcerers, "warlocks" - that is, people possessing some secret knowledge, fortune-telling from "renounced books". In the Christian tradition, it was believed that demons endowed the magi with the gift of prediction and miracles. Sorcery was later prohibited by the decisions of the Stoglav Cathedral, they were subjected to persecution, punishment, persecution, execution.

The pagan gods were, first of all, local deities and the implantation of their cult in other tribal lands (for example, the cult of Perun in Novgorod) was not always successful. On this basis, it was unthinkable to achieve the spiritual unity of the country's population, without which the creation of a lasting state is impossible.

The pagan religion gradually ceased to be a connecting link between various social groups in Kievan Rus. Sooner or later, it had to give way to another religion, which could in one way or another satisfy the interests of all social strata.

Pagan beliefs did not enjoy authority in the countries closest to Russia: Christian Byzantium, Jewish Khazaria and Bulgar, who had adopted Islam. In order to have equal relations with them, it was necessary to join one of the great world religions. Actually, this is what happened. The aforementioned Vladimir 1 Svyatoslavich converted to Christianity around 987-88 and began to plant a new religion, calling for help from Greek priests.

Persecuted paganism had one path: first to the outskirts of Russia, and then to the corners of human souls, to the subconscious, in order to stay there, apparently forever, no matter how they call it: superstition, remnants of a past faith, etc.

And if you think about it, how much is the new really new, and the old - irrevocably outdated?

Paganism had a significant impact on the formation of Christian worship and rituals. For example, there are pre-Christian Christmastide between Christmas and Epiphany. Pagan Shrovetide became the threshold of Great Lent. Pagan memorial rites, as well as the ancient Slavic cult of bread, were intertwined in Christian Easter, the cult of birch and grass, as well as other elements of the ancient Slavic Semik, on the feast of the Trinity. The feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord was combined with the feast of gathering fruits and was named the Apple Savior. Pagan influence is sometimes traced in the ornaments of the monuments of ancient Russian temple construction - solar (solar) signs, decorative carving, etc. Pagan beliefs left their mark on the monuments of literary and oral folk art, especially in the epic, epics, songs. At the level of everyday superstitions, paganism persisted, constantly remaining a means of mythological man's assimilation of nature.

I find the data that I have read in preparation for writing this test work very interesting. It turns out that paganism is not only the past of our country (I do not mean the residual phenomena that survived during the holidays, etc.). This is the current religion! Since the following data (which, I confess, I found on the Internet) shocked me, I decided to bring them in my control work (in quotes, because these are quotes).

“At the present time in Russia there are a number of pagan movements and communities that aim to revive the original Russian faith. Despite the fact that the total number of their members is significant less number followers of various Christian and other religious movements, their ranks are constantly replenished with new members - true Russian patriots. Russian pagans are the successors of a long historical process. Modern paganism is a complex worldview, the basis of which is the path of personal self-improvement using independent thinking. According to intellectuals, paganism is Poetry; in various cities of Russia, in the last decade, pagan communities have emerged, which set themselves the goal of restoring the faith of their ancestors in its entirety and in accordance with modern understanding. For a thousand years, paganism has gone from decay and oblivion to scientific, and after aesthetic and, finally, spiritual revival... In light of this, the process of the formation of Slavic paganism seems irreversible. Paganism inherits all the diversity of man's communication with the spirits and forces of Nature, to which the wise men and ordinary people of past centuries turned to. All these practices take place in our time. Paganism, being a universal and all-embracing philosophy, remains at the same time a deeply national phenomenon. This tradition manifests itself through the totality of the traditions of each specific people, set forth in an understandable and characteristic language for it, taking into account all the specifics of the national perception of the world.

One of characteristic features modern Russia is the presence of known differences between urban and rural lifestyles. Modern urban pagans, as a rule, pay more attention to philosophical and historical concepts, literary and scientific activities, etc., while the rural ones give preference to the mainly practical side of the matter (rituals, the arrangement of temples, accompanying craft activities, etc.) ). Recently, however, there has been a tendency to merge small communities into larger ones, where both of these trends meet, which in the future will make it possible to restore historical traditions lost over the past seventy years. Paganism, devoid of any rigid systems, dogmas and prescriptions obligatory for all people without taking into account their personal properties, is able to return a holistic view of the world to a modern person, stimulating his personal spiritual search and not adjusting it to a narrow framework.

On the official scheme of the Losiny Ostrov National Park, a pagan temple is designated - one of a dozen operating in the capital. In the bodies of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, only 17 religious organizations of pagans are registered (and most of them are located in the territory of Mari El), but religious scholars claim that there are actually several hundred pagan communities in our country. This is much more than Catholic and comparable to the number of Old Believers. Most Russian pagans do not need registration - so far everyone is allowed into the forest. “To embark on the path of paganism,” says the sorcerer Ingeld, “you have to go beyond the threshold and walk an inconspicuous path into the forest. And then listen attentively - to the rustle of leaves, the creak of tall pines, the murmur of a key.

It only seems from the outside that the new Russian paganism is marginal. Walk in the morning after the summer Ivan Kupala (July 7) or the winter Kolyada (December 25) through Tsaritsynsky or Bitsevsky parks - and you will come across fresh campfires, colorful ribbons on trees, wheat grains and flowers sacrificed to the spirits of the forest. Although pagans hardly ever do missionary work, thousands of people gather for their colorful performances. Each city in central Russia has its own "sacred trees", and in tourist centers such as Suzdal or Pereslavl-Zalessky, crowds of tourists "worship" pagan shrines - Perunova Gora and the Blue Stone. The pagans and those millions of Russians who unconsciously participate in pre-Christian rituals - they decorate Christmas trees, leave vodka and bread on the graves, wonder and spit over their right shoulder - consider "their own". "

“According to the British Center for Religious Sociological Research, Russia comes out on the 4th place in Europe in terms of the number of pagans. The third place is occupied by neighboring Ukraine, and the first and the second, respectively, by Iceland and Norway. "

To be honest, I do not quite understand the desire to revive paganism, even in new forms. My generation, in principle brought up on the ideas of atheism, can hardly, in my opinion, seriously and consciously accept the pagan religion. Most likely, this is a tribute to fashion (somewhat paradoxical: we rush from one extreme to another, we want to stand out from the crowd, to show “how extraordinary we are!). Although, again, this is my personal opinion. By the way, an example of the fact that modern paganism is just a fashionable trend is paganism in the "new age" style, which some consider refined and elite. It incorporates all the “most fashionable” in this world: “ecological consciousness”, “free love”, feminism, and music in the style of “ethno”.

For me, paganism is, as the poet put it, "legends of deep antiquity," which I respect and which fascinate with their primitiveness, amaze with the beauty, naivety and primordial nature of the preserved cultural monuments, but that's all. I respect paganism as an integral part of our history and culture. But modern paganism, as a movement, makes me feel surprised and misunderstood.

You can polemize on this topic as much as you like, but it is impossible to begin the history of Russian culture with the baptism of Rus, just as it is impossible to derive it from Byzantium. It is impossible to deny that the entire Christian culture has been largely rethought in accordance with the traditional pagan ideas of the Slavs. This was the manifestation of the syncretism of Russian culture - the fusion of various, often contradictory elements in it. And the fact that the pagan beliefs of the Slavs are the most important cultural prerequisite for the history of Russian civilization is proved by history itself.

Literature

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V.O. Klyuchevsky Russian history course. ? M .: Mysl, 1987.

Rybakov B.A. The world of history. - M .: Young Guard, 1987.

Mironenko S.V. History of the Fatherland: people, ideas, solutions. / Essays on the history of Russia 9 - early 20 centuries. - M .: Politizdat, 1991.

The world of Russian history. / Encyclopedic reference. - SPb .: St. Petersburg branch named after V. B. Bobkova, Russian Customs Academy, 1998.

Putilov B.N. Ancient Russia in faces. - SPb .: Azbuka, 2000.

Ionov I.N. Russian civilization (9th - early 20th century). - M .: Education, 1995.

Lyubimov L. The Art of Ancient Rus. - M .: Education, 1974.

Soviet encyclopedic dictionary. - M .: Soviet encyclopedia. 1982.

The World History. People, events, dates. / Encyclopedia. ? Rider / s Digest, 2001.

Merkulov. Russia has many faces. - M .: Soviet writer, 1990.

Kravtsov N.I., Lazutin S.G. Russian oral folklore. - M .: Higher school, 1983.

Karamzin N.M. History of Russian Goverment. - M .: Eksmo, 2005.

http://heathenism.ru/target.

http://heathenism.ru/new_edge.

http://heathenism.ru/slav.

The religion of the ancient Slavs historically existed in Slavic cultures - form religious life, which arose in the pre-Christian period as the primordial religion of the Slavs and after the introduction of Christianity passed over to the position of an "unofficial", popular belief. The religion of the ancient Slavs is a set of religious beliefs and attitudes that developed in pre-Christian Slavic culture, as well as ways of organizing spiritual experience and behavior. Historically, the religion of the ancient Slavs goes back to the religion of the most ancient Indo-Europeans. It acquired a relative integrity and originality in the era of Slavic unity, which lasted until the second half. 1st millennium AD The gradual resettlement of tribes from the Proto-Slavic homeland (lands between the Vistula and the Oder) led to the formation of differences in religious beliefs and cults of the southern, western, Baltic and eastern Slavs, which, however, with an increase in the features of the features

indigenous community. As new lands were developed, some forms of religious life borrowed by the Slavs from neighboring peoples were added to the ancient Indo-European mythology and to the Proto-Slavic religious tradition. The religion of the Eastern Slavs included fragments of Iranian, Finno-Ugric and some other beliefs. In the X century. some ancient Slavic religions, for example, Kievan Rus, reached the stage of early state religion.

The Slavs' ideas about the sacred are rooted in the Indo-European primordial basis: from the Indo-European root * k "uen- (* k" wen-) originates a large family of Slavic words with the element * svet-, meaning sacred. Indian, Iranian and Baltic linguistic data show that Indo-European ideas about the sacred were originally associated with the idea of \u200b\u200bsuperhuman strength, life-giving and filling existence with the ability to grow. Related meanings of strength, growth, increase are established for Slavic words that expressed ideas about the sacred.

Holiness the Slavs endowed heaven and earth, water sources, plants, fire, certain areas of space, periods of time, forms of activity and a number of other phenomena that had a special life value in their perception and in which they saw the presence of an extraordinary power of growth, abundance, life-giving. The element svet-, denoting the corresponding qualities, was part of many Slavic names: Sventovit is the name of the god of the Baltic Slavs, Svyatogor is the name of a mythological hero, Svyatoslav, Svyatopolk is the names of princes, etc. The ancient Slavs possessed a developed system of concepts about other-human beings, secretly present in the world and, if necessary, showing their anthropomorphic, zoomorphic or theriomorphic appearance and their power. The highest category of such creatures were the gods.

The very word god existed among the Slavs already in the pre-Christian era and,

judging by the related words of the Indo-European group, it originally denoted a share, a lot, happiness (this meaning is retained in Russian, poor - "deprived of a share", rich - "having a share"), as well as the bearer of the share. The Slavs stood on the positions of polytheism, and the composition of the gods, their names, functions in different areas of Slavic culture differed significantly, although there were common Proto-Slavic gods.

Sources undoubtedly testify to the worship of the Slavs to the God of Thunder, the earliest mention of which dates back to the 6th century. (Dig Caesarea. War with the Goths). The god of the stormy sky, typical of common Indo-European religious mythology in the East Slavic culture, is known under the name of Perun. Among the Eastern Slavs, Perun is a warrior god, patron of the princely power and squads, military craft. Perun was given a distinctly anthropomorphic appearance of a formidable warrior, sometimes equestrian; attributes of Perun were lightning, "thunderous" arrows, axes and other weapons, the sacred tree of Perun was an oak. According to the "Tale of Bygone Years", the Eastern Slavs in the pre-Christian era revered Beles (Volos) as one of the main gods, whose cult has its own counterparts in other Slavic religions. Whiter - "cattle god", ie. god of offspring and harvest, god of the life-giving forces of the earth. The power of Beles over the life-giving juices of the earth indicates his involvement in the underworld, which was perceived by the Slavs not only as “ world of the dead”, But just like the foundation of the earthly world, the root of its vital forces. As the patron saint of cattle, Beles was associated with wealth, and therefore with gold, therefore, red and yellow were attributes of Beles; another attribute of this god is wool, a symbol of wealth. In the views of the Eastern Slavs, wool, furry indicate the relationship between Beles and the bear.

We can talk about the East Slavic cults of Dazhbog ("the giving god") - the sun god, Stribog - the god of the winds, Svarog - the god of fire, possibly heavenly, solar fire, Rod - the god who personified

the continuity and integrity of generations descending from one ancestor. The Baltic Slavs worshiped Sventovit - a warrior god, honoring a sword and a white horse as his attributes, Svarozhich (Radgost) - the god of the sun and military success, Triglav - the god of magical knowledge and some other deities. There is little reliable information about other gods of the Slavic religions, their names, functions, statuses, and the degree of prevalence. There is practically no exact data about the ancient gods of the southern and western Slavs, although scientific reconstructions indicate the existence of images that corresponded to common Slavic ones. Some cults were borrowed by the Slavs from neighboring peoples, such are the East Slavic cults of the gods Khors and Simargl, taken from Iranian beliefs.

Along with male deities, the Slavs worshiped female deities associated primarily with marriage, birth and handicrafts. Among the Eastern Slavs, such are women in labor and the goddess Mokosh (Makosh), the patroness of spinning and household worries, whose anthropomorphic image was retained by tradition until the 19th century. Female deities have formed marriage pairs with male deities, but exact matches have not yet been established.

In 980 of Kievan Rus, Prince Vladimir, in the course of a religious reform, attempted to streamline the hierarchy of the gods within the national pantheon. He established for official worship the cults of Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl, Makosha, under the leadership of the princely druzhina god Perun. The state cult established by Vladimir did not stand the test of time and a few years later was canceled by Vladimir.

In addition to the clearly personified images of the gods, the Proto-Slavic religious consciousness developed an idea of \u200b\u200bthe divinity of the sky, perceived as a masculine principle, and the earth endowed with a feminine nature. The sacred marriage of heaven and earth was conceived as the source of life for all that exists. In the religion of the Eastern Slavs, the earth acted in an anthropomorphic

the image of the progenitor - Mother Earth, Mother of the damp earth, nurse, patroness and - what is especially remarkable - compassionate permissive of sins.

The veneration of heaven and earth was complemented in the Orthodox religion by the worship of water elements, certain species of trees and species of animals, which, as a result of personification, could acquire a personified appearance or receive the status of impersonal forces and spirits. Such personified beings also represented good or ill-fated states. human life - such are, for example, fever, mara, - or certain habitats - house, wood goblin, water, etc. Together, they constituted the lowest category of Slavic mythology in relation to the gods - pandemonium. The evil characters of the Slavic pandemonium were called demons.

The ideas of gods, good and evil spirits were subordinated to the idea of \u200b\u200bthe dualism of light and darkness, good and evil, truth and falsehood, characteristic of the religious worldview of the Slavs.

The Slavs had widespread ideas about the origin of the entire human race from the ancestor earth, which at the same time acted as a participant and henchman of each new birth of a human being. Human life was considered initially predetermined, while the mythological image of fate among the Slavs, like most other Indo-European peoples, had a thread that was spun by divine spinners at the time of birth (in Russia, perhaps, women in labor and Makosh). The religion of the Slavs, however, was not reduced to absolute fatalism, for a person was recognized as having the right to compete with the immutability of fate.

The Pre-Slavs shared a belief rooted in Indo-European antiquity in the existence of an immortal soul, which is separated from its corporeal shell under special circumstances (in the witchcraft, during witchcraft,

for example), as well as at the time of death. According to Slavic beliefs, which are very discordant in this part, the world of the dead, to which the soul went after death, could be located both underground and in heaven. The Slavs thought of this world as a fertile land, a place of peace after earthly troubles. There was no idea of \u200b\u200bhell in the Proto-Slavic religion. Serious sinners, people who died an unnatural death, the dead who were left without burial, could not go to the afterlife, becoming, according to Slavic beliefs, evil spirits, navias, ghouls. The beliefs of the Slavs allowed the idea of \u200b\u200bthe posthumous reincarnation of the soul both in the human body and in another, above all, zoomorphic guise. It was also believed that some people have a witchcraft ability to shape-shifting: such are, for example, wolf-lacquers-wolf-men.

Belief in the immortality of the soul and posthumous existence was the basis of the Slavic ancestor cult. According to Slavic ideas, relatives who passed into the "other world" received access to the controlling elements of non-human beings and forces, before which they can act as intercessors for their kind; on the other hand, the ancestors themselves acquired special power in their posthumous existence, good or evil. The Proto-Slavic cult of ancestors included memorial days, rites of remembrance, rituals of seeing off to the “other world” and “meeting” the souls of ancestors, reverence for cult images, etc. Until the XI century. in the Slavic environment, the ritual of killing the elderly was widespread, due to the belief in the magical power of the creatures of the "other world" and the hope for their protection.

At the common and tribal level, the cult of ancestors took shape in the veneration of ancestors, ancestors, genealogical heroes who founded a community and performed miraculous deeds for the benefit of descendants. In the East Slavic culture, the genealogical heroes attested by the "Tale of Bygone Years" are Kiy, Schek and Khoriv; among the Novgorod Slovenes, the memory of their ancestors - the founders was preserved in the legends about Slovenia and

The most important Proto-Slavic rituals were closely associated with agricultural labor, with natural cycles, forming a circle of calendar rituals in their interweaving. The basis of the calendar rituals, which were performed at certain times - holidays ("holy days"), was agrarian magic.

When performing the rituals, ritual objects were used, among which the most important role was played by cult images of gods and ancestors, often volumetric idols (Old Russian cap).

Significant events in public or private life were accompanied by occasional rituals designed to ensure a favorable outcome of the case. Domestic (family) rituals, which were performed during the performance of everyday activities - food, work, etc., filled the everyday life of the ancient Slavs.

Proto-Slavic rituals knew "rites of passage", the implementation of which is mediated by the change of a member of an archaic collective of his social position. Rites of youthful initiation (which, however, did not leave a deep trace in Slavic culture), wedding rituals were built on the idea of \u200b\u200bthe symbolic death of the main characters and their subsequent revival in a new quality. These ceremonies involved ritual tests, demonstration of relevant knowledge and skills by applicants. As a "rite of passage", the funeral was arranged, sending the soul of the deceased to the "other world" to reunite with the community of ancestors.

Proto-Slavic rituals included prayers, spells, magical actions using fire, water, amulets or other ritual objects. The rituals of sacrifice were of particular importance. Under some circumstances, human sacrifices were performed. But usually, as a gift, the Slavs offered sacrificial animals, cereals, intoxicating drinks, money and other values \u200b\u200bto the gods. Often the sacrifice took the form of a ritual feast. In the context of ideas about

the sacrificial meal, in which the god invited by prayer participated simultaneously as host and guest (Proto-Slavic gostb), the Old Slavic gospodb was formed with the meaning “guest and host of the sacrificial feast”.

A significant place in the Proto-Slavic religion was occupied by the rites of fortune-telling, the most important of which were confined to the "borderline" states of time - to the dates of the winter solstice, to the transition from winter to spring, etc. Ancient sources indicate that the Slavs guessed by the behavior of the sacred horse, by the lot, by signs, by prophetic dreams and in other ways. Many gods were associated with the practice of fortune-telling, for example, Sven-tovit and Svarozhich among the Baltic Slavs.

Family rituals were performed at home, the most important of them - in specially designated places in the house. For the administration of collective divine services, especially remarkable areas were used - river banks, groves, etc., as well as specially equipped sanctuaries - temples. Some rituals, on the contrary, gathered participants in "wild" places - at road crossings, in abandoned dwellings, etc.

The religious community of the Slavs did not represent a single whole either from the point of view of a harmonious agreement of beliefs, or in terms of organization. Religious differences, local peculiarities already existed among the most ancient Slavic tribes. As the Slavs settled from the historical ancestral home, these differences were assimilated. However, within specific communities, the orderliness of religious life was quite strict.

The primary cell of the religious life of the Proto-Slavs was the family or a consanguineous community of families - a clan united by the cult of common ancestors. The head of the family was the main protagonist in the home rituals. The worship of common gods, genealogical heroes, and local spirits united clans and families within a settlement or tribe. Initially, the most important sacred rites at this level were administered by elders and princes. Tribal unions and early state formations

established state cults, created sanctuaries and temples for worshiping common gods - such are the temple of Perun near Novgorod, the Kiev sanctuary of the six Vladimir gods, the Sventovit temple in Arkona, etc.

Gradually, in the Slavic environment, a special layer of people stands out (among the Eastern Slavs - magi), professionally engaged in the administration of the main rituals, storage and transmission of religious knowledge. The Eastern Slavs revered the Magi as intermediaries between people and gods, as soothsayers and witches.

The organization of religious life reached the most developed forms among the Polabian-Baltic and Eastern Slavs.

The development of the religion of the ancient Slavs was interrupted by Christianization, which began in the Slavic environment in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium AD. The Polabian-Baltic Slavs fought for the longest time for the preservation of the primordial beliefs, who saw in the Christianity spread by the missionaries-papists a phenomenon hostile to their national independence, for the missionaries accompanied the German feudal lords who seized the Slavic lands. During the uprisings against German rule, forcibly baptized Slavs destroyed churches, expelled and killed priests, reviving pre-Christian beliefs and ritual practices. The last attempts to return to the original religion took place in the XIV century. in the lands of Lusatian Such persistence in upholding former beliefs is explained, in addition to political and social reasons, by the fact that the religion of the Polabian-Baltic Slavs by the beginning of Christianization was highly developed and firmly merged with ethnic self-awareness.

In other Slavic lands, the preservation of Proto-Slavic beliefs was to a lesser extent associated with the processes of mass irreconcilable opposition to Christianity from the standpoint of the primordial religion. Here, after baptism, the primordial religious traditions move to the position of "unofficial", popular beliefs and continue to exist in complex

relations of confrontation, mutual influence with Christianity for a long time. As a result of the interaction of the Proto-Slavic religion and Christianity, a kind of religious phenomenon was formed, called "dual faith". The most deeply and thoroughly "dual faith" took root among the Eastern Slavs. In the culture of the Eastern Slavs, "dual faith" is a form of organization of religious life, syncretically combining primordially Slavic beliefs and customs with the Orthodox.

In the culture of the Eastern Slavs, the formation of "dual faith" took place on the basis of the counter-development of pre-Christian ideas and those aspects of Orthodoxy that were in close contact with popular religiosity. So, under the influence of Christianity, primarily Christian heresies (Bogomils, etc.) and apocryphal literature, the proto-Slavic ideas about the dualism of creative principles that create human destiny were further developed, the cosmology inherited from antiquity, mythological images and some others changed in the direction of convergence with Christianity sides of the traditional Slavic worldview. Significant changes have taken place in the East Slavic pantheon and pandemonium. In particular, the cults of the Family and women in labor have come to the fore; under the influence of biblical mythology, the image of the Sort, judging by the medieval written evidence, acquires the features of God - the creator of mankind; solar images of Yarila, the god of the spring sun and love passion, Kupala, appear in personified form. The East Slavic pandemonium is replenished with some images borrowed from Middle Eastern and Greek demonology. It is characteristic that the Proto-Slavic deities and spirits, losing their former place in the hierarchy of higher powers with the introduction of Christianity, retained in the popular consciousness the signs of possessing the quality of holiness in its ancient understanding - they were attributed to the presence of superhuman strength, life-giving or deadly.

For its part, Russian Orthodoxy went to meet the Proto-Slavic

beliefs, combining the images of Christian saints with the images of the ancient Slavic gods (Elijah the Prophet with Perun, Blasia with Beles, etc.) or assimilating the images of Proto-Slavic mythology as "demons", correlating the church calendar and rituals with the agrarian magical practice of rural population, as well as allowing other serious and insignificant deviations from the canonical norms, which eventually took the form of the so-called "popular Orthodoxy".

Mutual concessions and mutual influence of the primordially Slavic religion and Russian Orthodoxy led to the formation of syncretic religiosity, which organically combined with the foundations of folk spirituality and folk life, coexisting until the 20th century. next to church life, and sometimes in it itself. The doctrinal positions of this syncretic religiosity received their most systematic presentation in spiritual verses.

At the beginning of the XX century. in Russia, in the circles of the creative intelligentsia, interest in pre-Christian Slavic beliefs as a phenomenon that can play a positive role in modern spiritual development... Throughout the XIX century. the cultural prerequisites for this kind of religious quest were formed. Domestic ethnographers and folklorists collected and published a huge amount of material on the history of the spiritual culture of the Slavs, which revealed the ideological wealth, ethical and aesthetic merits of traditional folk religiosity. Literary and pictorial works appeared that poeticized Russian antiquity in its pre-Christian or "two-faith" form. Romanticism gave national antiquity the status of an ideal state and purity of the national spirit. On the basis of these cultural prerequisites, a significant part of the creative intelligentsia turned to the "primordial" and "genuine" culture, untouched by the influence of Christianity. Pre-Christian beliefs were presented as the elixir of youth, capable of returning "aging" Europe to "freshness" and "clarity" of the world. A tribute to this passion, mixed with mysticism, theosophy

and other fashionable trends at that time, gave V. Rozanov, D. Merezhkovsky, M. Prishvin and many other writers and artists of the "Silver Age".

In the 80s. XX century. again there was a tendency for the revival of Slavic paganism. It is primarily due to the growth of Russian ethnic self-awareness and increased interest in the historical past of the Fatherland. In its most radical forms, Russian "neo-paganism" is associated with a certain type of Russian nationalism, from the standpoint of which Christianity as a supranational religion cannot become the spiritual basis of national self-affirmation. "Neo-paganism" refers to the images of the Proto-Slavic gods (especially willingly - to the images of Perun and Rod), makes extensive use of ancient symbolism (for example, the image of lightning - "Perun's arrows", stylized images of birds, pitchfork-mermaids, etc.), tends to the revival of the details of the traditional Slavic costume and pre-Christian rituals. The mythology and doctrine of the Russian "neo-paganism" is largely based on the "Veles book", which is regarded as a reliable ancient source. Meanwhile, the dating and authenticity of this text have been questioned by modern science.

Shinto

Syntonism developed in the 6th-7th centuries. The term "Shinto" ("path of the gods") appeared in the Middle Ages. The mythological tradition contained in the first Japanese written records reflected the complex path of the formation of the system of Shinto cults, which included the deities of the Northern Kyushu tribes who came to Central Japan and the gods of the local population who lived here.

Local gods were pushed aside, the supreme deity was the "solar" goddess Amaterasu, who "created" the Japanese islands and sent her grandson Niniga to earth, who laid the foundation for the "divine" imperial dynasty.

The ancestral deities - "udzigami" ("uji" - clan, "kami" - deity) were of paramount importance for the ancient Japanese. The functions of the "ujigami" included the protection of the clan, patronage of the life and various activities of its members. In addition to ancestral deities, the deities - the rulers of the natural elements: earthquakes, hurricanes, rain and snow, as well as numerous landscape deities with which the Japanese inhabited the entire world around them, were of great importance. Any mountain, hill, forest, river, waterfall had its own kami - a guardian god, whose power of action extended precisely to this area and, as a rule, here exceeded the capabilities of the main deities of the Shinto pantheon.

In the cult of the goddess Amaterasu, there are three "divine" regalia - a mirror, a sword and jasper pendants. According to the mythological tradition, the sun goddess passed them on to her grandson Ninigi, sending him to earth with instructions - to illuminate the whole world and rule over it, conquering the rebellious. -There was also an interpretation of regalia adapted to life practice as symbols of the most important virtues: a mirror is a symbol of honesty, jasper pendants - compassion, a sword-wisdom. The highest embodiment of these qualities was attributed to the personality of the emperor. - The main Shinto temple complex was the sanctuary in Ise - Ise Jingu (founded, apparently, at the end of the 7th century). Ise Jingu is considered to be the Amaterasu shrine, where her cult as the supreme deity and deity-progenitor of the imperial house, and through him all the Japanese, is sent.

At the end of the V-beginning of the VI century. in Central Japan, the struggle between the heads of clans for influence in the common tribal association intensified. The process of transition from an early class society to an early feudal one intensified and expanded. The internecine struggle reached the greatest aggravation in the relationship between the Soga clans and the coalition of the military clan Mononobe with the priestly Nakatomi. In their quest for power, Soga used a foreign religion - Buddhism. The first mentions in sources about penetration

buddhism date back to the beginning of the 6th century. In 538, the embassy of the Korean kingdom of Baekje, which arrived in Yamato, presented the king with several Buddhist sutras and a statue of the founder of Buddhism, Shakya Muni, but information about Buddhism was known to the Yamato population much earlier.

Confucianism also spread in the country. Confucian ideas of the cult of Heaven found fertile ground for their perception among the royal elite and its aristocratic environment, cultivating their "unearthly", "divine" origin. The ethical program of Confucianism with its clear hierarchical division of society and strict fixation of the place and responsibilities of each in it fully corresponded to the desire for power of the clan clans. The principle of filial piety and filial duty attracted special attention of the Japanese in Confucian ethics - for the lower strata this principle was unambiguously realized in the cult of ancestors, for the higher ones it was equally unambiguous - in the unquestioning and all-embracing submission of subjects to the "divine" dynasty of rulers.

Confucian ideas were widely used in concrete reproduction on Japanese soil of state institutions borrowed from the mainland, but in the struggle for power for Cora in 587, Buddhism began to spread widely, numerous Buddhist monasteries and temples were built, they were provided with lands, slaves, and significant funds were allocated from treasury.

Buddhas and bodhisattvas were endowed with the same magical propertiesAs the kami, they were approached with specific requests: to heal from diseases, to send a rich harvest, to protect from evil, “to be the guardian of any locality, village, etc. By this time, in the vast pantheon of Shintoism, the division of the gods into "heavenly and earthly" had appeared, reflecting the desire of the Yamato kings to strengthen their religious prestige: the "heavenly" gods living in the "Heavenly Land" were declared the progenitors of the royal house, the "earthly" - the ancestors of the conquered, subordinate clans. Buddha and

bodhisattvas naturally entered this pantheon as new gods. At the same time, the sphere of relations between different strata of the population and nature belonged to Shinto. Shinto, which arose as a religious practice of an agricultural community, was a reflection of collective views and requests, while Buddhism had in mind an individual person, appealed directly to a person. Local beliefs and Buddhism shared the life practice of the Japanese: bright joyful events - birth, marriage - remained in the jurisdiction of the ancestral gods, headed by the "solar" goddess Amaterasu; death, interpreted by Shinto as filth, took under the protection of Buddhism, presenting the concept of "rebirth", "salvation in the Buddha's paradise."

This is how the merging of the two religions gradually took place - syncretization, in Japanese terminology "ryobusinto" - "the path of Buddhism and Shinto." Government activities that provide official support to local cults were also important. The Taihoryo Code of Laws (701) noted the creation of a special jingikan department (Office of Celestial and Terrestrial Deities), whose functions included Shinto rituals during state religious celebrations and control over the activities of large state shrines. Another way of supporting the interaction of the two religions was government decrees on local kami - as protectors of Buddhist deities. By order of Shotoku, a combination of Shinto and Buddhist rituals takes place, even in such a main and secret ceremony as "eating the fruits of the new harvest" - Buddhist monks are invited to it. The erection of a huge statue of Buddha Vairochana during the construction of the Todaiji temple in Nara is also significant, when, before starting work, they asked Amaterasu for "advice". Local Shinto gods "suggested" a place in the north of the country, where the missing gold for casting the statue was mined. But the highest form of religious syncretism was the concept of "honji suijaku", according to which the deities of the Shinto pantheon can be considered as a temporary embodiment of the Buddhas

and bodhisattvas. Thus, the sun goddess Amaterasu became the embodiment of the "Diamond Light" Buddha Vairochana.

A stage in the development of Shinto was the emergence of the concept of "Ise Shinto", the main goal of which was to strengthen the cult of the emperor. One of the reasons for the emergence of this concept was the strengthening of the authority and influence of the sanctuaries, especially the Ise Jingu, during and after the Mongol invasion (1261-1281). Then the cult of the "progenitor" of the imperial house Amaterasu, who "lived" in Ise, grew unprecedentedly and helped her descendants - the divine wind "kamikaze", twice scattering the attacking fleet, averted the threat. The development of Ise Shinto in the second half of the 16th century. led to the emergence of a new cult, allowing the deification of a person during his lifetime, while the basis was not belonging to the imperial family, but major political and social deeds. This reflected the general situation in the country, which had developed at the end of the 12th century, when the military-feudal nobility (samurai) came to power, which actually made the power of the imperial house nominal, limiting it to the sphere of the Shinto cult. The feudal dictator Oda Nobunaga (1533-1572), who fought for the unification of the country, declared himself a god and demanded worship of himself as a kami. His associate, the dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598), was also deified. According to the will of the shogun (head of the military-feudal government) Tokugawa Izyasu, it was necessary to build several sanctuaries and a chapel to worship his spirit.

During the reign of the Tokugawa dynasty (1603-1687), various streams of Confucianism enriched Shinto ethical ideas, creating a broad basis for the revitalization of Shinto - Confucian syncretism. Schools were formed that set the task of substantiating the cult and institution of imperial power on the basis of historical material. Relying on ancient mythological vaults, these schools expanded and scrupulously expounded the idea of \u200b\u200bthe authenticity of the origin and actions of the divine dynasty of Japanese emperors, emphasized the role of the "tenno" (emperor) as a source and bearer of the "national"

identity. The forgotten wisdom of the ancient "Way" - "miti" (Chinese "dao") of Japan was revived, the "Shinto of antiquity" ("fukko shinto") was restored.

The ideas of protecting the emperor and restoring the imperial power became the ideological basis of the opposition movement for the overthrow of the shogunate system.

Discovery of the country in the middle of the 19th century. after two and a half centuries of seclusion and the appearance of foreigners, the flow of Western culture that poured into the country, deepened the crisis of feudal society and worsened the situation of the majority of the population. The slogan "sleepy joi" ("veneration of the emperor, expulsion of the barbarians"), put forward by scholars of the Mito school at the beginning of the 20th century, primarily by its prominent representative Aizawa Seishisai (1781-1863), found a response and support in various social strata, including in opposition samurai circles. The anti-foreign and anti-Shogun movements united under one slogan. Many thousands of protests against the shogun were initiated by pilgrims to Shinto shrines in the fall of 1867 and became the first stage of the Meiji bourgeois revolution (1867-1868).

The end of the struggle that led to the collapse of the shogunate system and the restoration of the imperial power meant the choice of a new path - the modernization of the country, the transformation of all social life, including the sphere of religious consciousness. However, in order to fulfill the assigned tasks, the new government bodies had to reckon with the historically established traditional structure of the national social organism, including the specificity of culture. The principle "wakon yosai" - "Japanese spirit, European knowledge" seemed to be optimal.

In March 1868, a decree was published on the return to the unity of the system of religious ritual and the administration of state affairs (the unity of religion rt politics). The jingikan, the Office of the Celestial and Earthly Gods, was restored; 660 BC - the date of accession to the throne of the emperor of the mythological period of Japanese history Jimmu - was

declared the beginning of the chronology from the "founding of the Japanese Empire". At the same time, ancient Shinto rituals began to be restored to enhance the religious and political authority of the imperial house. The cult of the emperor - tennoism - became the center of state Shinto, which in fact replaced many gods with one "living god". The theoretical substantiation of Tennoism was a complex complex of concepts - "kokutai" (roughly translated as "national essence", literally - "body of the state"). The components of the kokutai are the “divine” origin of the Japanese and their state, continuity in the centuries of the imperial dynasty, national identity embodied in the special character of the Japanese with his moral virtues, loyalty and filial piety. The ideology of tennoism, using the traditional concept of a "harmonious state", contributed to the strengthening of nationalist tendencies, and ultimately - in the upcoming wars - the consecration of militarism (propaganda of the "divine mission" - "hako iti u" - "the whole world under one roof").

In general, the state Shinto complex included: dynastic Shinto, which was the property of the imperial family; tennoism - the cult of the emperor; temple - in which the veneration of both general Japanese and local gods is essential; home - with a kamidan - a miniature analogue of a temple place of worship.

After Japan's defeat in World War II, the course of democratization of the country began under conditions of a general democratic upsurge. Measures were taken to eradicate militarism and Tennoism. In 1946, in a New Year's address to the people, Emperor Hirohito renounced his divine origin. Were carried out progressive reforms in the education system, abolished "moral education" in schools, based on the cult of the emperor. The 1947 Constitution changed the status of the emperor, now he was declared "a symbol of the state and the unity of the nation."

However, the position of state Shinto was not fundamentally changed. The main direction of the policy of reviving Tennoism is attempts to restore Shintoism in the status of a state religion. In 1946, the highest Shinto leadership established the Association of Shinto Shrines - Jinja Honcho, which allowed the preservation of a single centralized system of shrine management. The Association includes a significant part of them - more than 78 thousand. This made it possible to achieve the transfer to the ownership of the sanctuaries of the vast land plots occupied by them, which previously in most cases belonged to the state.

Already in 1952, the rituals of the imperial court acquired the character of official state ceremonies. As a state act, Shinto ceremonies were held for the elevation of Akihito (son of the reigning emperor Hirohito) to the rank of heir to the throne and his wedding in 1959. An equally important stage in strengthening the idea of \u200b\u200bstate Shinto was the revival of the obarai, a rite of great purification from the filth of the entire Japanese nation. The state's symbolic participation in the rite of the highest religious person emphasized the unity of the national religion and the imperial power.

In 1966, the Kigensetsu holiday, the day of foundation of the state, which is celebrated annually on February 11, was restored, canceled by the 1947 constitution. The school textbooks re-included the mythological era of history with information about the "divine" origin of the imperial dynasty and people. A special place in the effort to restore Tennoism is occupied by the Yasukuni Temple, built in 1868 in Kyoto in honor of the soldiers who fell for the emperor, and after the bourgeois revolution was moved to Tokyo. The sanctuary was administered by the Ministry of the Army and the Navy.

In 1969, on the basis of the Association of Shinto Shrines, the Shinto Political League was created - an organization that for the first time after

liquidation of the state Shinto openly set the political task of participation in the government. In January 1989, Emperor Hirohito passed away. The Shinto system defined the entire varied complex of ceremonies in the ritual of the throne of inheritance. The creed of "divine regalia", state and imperial seals, the first reception by the emperor of high-ranking officials by decision of the government were carried out not only as a purely religious ceremony, but also as a state act.

Conclusion

National religions are religions that are widespread and addressed to a certain nation, nationality, ethnos. These religions often accompany the process of formation and development of an ethnic community and, as a result, act as components of its history. Sometimes they are associated with the formation of national statehood, their functioning is intertwined with the functioning of state bodies, which gives reason to call them national-state (Confucianism, Judaism). For the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that in the development of the state of this or that nation, the world religion (for example, Islam in the Arab world) can play an important role, that is, not only the national religion, but also the world religion can be state, therefore the term “national-state religion ”Is not entirely legitimate. The category "national religion" itself is often used to define religions that can be classified as transitional religions (for example, the religion of the ancient Greeks), or local, that are widespread in a certain region, but are not addressed to a certain people or nation (for example, zaraostrism ). In the first case, they forget that a nation is a product of a sufficiently high level of development of society. Since it is impossible to talk about the ancient Greek whether the ancient Egyptian nation, then the religion of the Ancient

Egypt and Ancient Greece to national impossible Even if we recognize the existence of the ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek peoples, these religions do not adequately meet the national criteria. Proceeding from this, some researchers distinguish between early national religions (which include the same religions of Ancient Greece, etc.) and later ones, which can hardly be considered correct. By recognizing local religions, the criterion here should be the answer to the question of whether that community, to Gregory Morris Japanese candles, veka balconies, where religion, nation, ethnos, people are addressed. This approach helps to clearly recognize and determine whether this or that religion is really national or early national (for all the ambiguity of such a term) or local, etc. Some scholars use the terms “ethnic” and “folk” religions to define certain types of national religions.

Based on the etymology of the Greek word etnikos (generic, folk. Pagan), folk religions are identical, in fact, ethnic in the narrow sense of the word. Folk religions are traditionally considered the so-called natural religions, that is, those that arise naturally as a result of the gradual and long-term development of the worldview ideas of a particular ethnic community about the natural and supernatural world, which are presented in the form of myths, traditions, customs, rituals, cults. A certain ethnic community arises and is maintained due to a single genetic (blood-spoken) origin, common territory of residence and language of communication, shared historical memory, which are recorded in the ancestral legends about the origin of the people and are constantly reproduced during the implementation of collective rituals. Some researchers even equate ethnos and ethnic religion, considering the components of an ethnos to be what constitutes its ethnic religion.

Popular religions include such religious complexes that arose among early ethnic groups and corresponded to their spiritual, ideological, and cultural needs. These are, first of all, ancient Iranian, ancient Egyptian, ancient Indian, ancient Greek, ancient Slavic and other religions, which passed on to more developed religions of state ethnoses-peoples (Zoroastrianism, Greek or Roman polytheism, the religion of the Aztecs or Incas, the religion of the East Slavic tribes of Kievan Rus, etc. ). Folk religions are manifestations of autochthonous traditions that not only preserve them, but also develop and improve. Folk religions are compulsory for members of certain ethnic communities. As a rule, they are not chosen, they are born in them.

The characteristic features of national religions include:

1. The presence in one form or another of the idea of \u200b\u200b"God-like" of the given people.

2. The presence in one form or another of restrictions on contacts (joint activities, marriage, etc.) with representatives of other faiths.

3. Specific ritual (cult).

4. Ritualization of everyday life (transformation into a rite of some kind of everyday action, for example, “mekva” in Judaism).

5. National religions reflect the socio-political living conditions of a given people (Confucianism and the imperial system in China, Hinduism and the caste division of society in India).

6. National religions reflect the mentality and psychology of their people.

Main:

1. Lebedev V. Yu. Religious studies. - M .: "Yurayt", 2013. - 629 p.

2. Yablokov I.N. Fundamentals of Religious Studies. - M .: Gardariki, 2002 .-- 511 p.

Additional

"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 indicated, is an attempt to generalize 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 specialists 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 compile 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 decay 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 a twin deity (Yarilo and Yarilikha, Ivan da Marya) and the deity of 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 inhabiting 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 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 the 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. - during the military campaigns of the Kievites - 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 most of the 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 hits 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, striking 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 "the giving God", "the 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 on 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, the 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 the person the goddess of happiness and good luck - Srecha. But if a person sank down, 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 - Likho 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 purify 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 newlywed young husband solemnly circled around the hearth three times, asking God-Fire 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 of Veles goes back to the ancient root "led" with the meaning "dead". It embodied the forces of primitive Chaos, violent, disordered, uninhabited nature, often hostile ancient man, but inherently not malicious at all. 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 reveals 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 out 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, whom 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 misfortune. 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 bad, but simply less sacred, more accessible to the action of unkindly disposed forces towards a person.

Meadow. The spirit of the meadows, by a popular representation, depicted as a small green man in grass clothing who helps mow the grass during haymaking. Considered Polevik's child. The meadowman is very angry when the mowing is missed - it drives the grass to wild growth and braids it so that it cannot be cut or torn; and 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 "small" deities - Poleviks, according to popular beliefs, designed to protect grain fields. When the grain 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 signs 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 seed in special sacks 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 man 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 watched so that no one would work at noon. This is Poluditsa. She was imagined as a girl in a long white shirt or, on the contrary, as a shaggy, terrible old woman. The half-women were afraid: she could punish for non-observance of custom, and cruelly - now we call it sunstroke.

Leshy. A forest began behind the fence of the ancient Slav's dwelling. 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 huge 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 Old Church Slavonic 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. Goblin can go around an unwary person, and he will rush around inside a 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, 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 comprehensive and is not a separate area of \u200b\u200bthe popular 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 bannikov and mermaids) or a forgotten identification (pagan Perun with the Christian saint Ilya). Therefore, practically destroyed at the level of texts until the XI 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, as well as somewhere not far from the house there was a family cemetery, so that long-dead ancestors also invisibly took part in the life of the family.

Many more children were born in those days than in our time, i.e. in terms of 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 think 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, 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, and therefore 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 construction 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 morning it 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, on a 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. Food was cooked in the oven, people slept on it, in some places they used it as a bath; predominantly folk medicine was associated with it. The stove 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 only moved when performing certain rituals, such as 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 the 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 were dying 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, there is an Angel of the Lord. If the house was a protection, a refuge, then the gate was a symbol of the border between one's own, developed space and a foreign, external world.

They were considered a dangerous place where all evil spirits dwell. They hung icons 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 plugged 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 stages. 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 three years old, he underwent a pull-up - that is, he was put on a horse, girded with a sword and three times circled around the yard. 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 to witness 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, long sad, mournful songs of the bride and her sobs are associated with this.

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

The first night was spent on thirty 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 way so as not to desecrate the land and water with an "unclean" dead. 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 survived 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 have been preserved in almost all christian holidays Russia. And the whole Christian culture has been 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

Fig. Perun

Fig. Dazhdbog

Fig. Svarog

Fig. Makosh-Earth

Fig. Yarila

Fig. Semargl

Fig. Wedding ceremony

Fig. Funeral rite

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