Russian culture, paganism originated in ancient times. They absorbed the worldview of primitive people. All subsequent religions grew out of it. And without knowledge of Russian paganism, the religion of modern Russians will be incomplete.
Trends
Besides, beliefs have been constantly changing over the years. The way of life, occupations of the Slavs were subjected to changes. They imagined the world in different ways, but one thing remained unchanged in the history of the paganism of Ancient Russia - this faith was closely connected with natural forces. It was their worship. Monotheistic Orthodoxy subsequently absorbed the millennial traditions of Russian paganism. The old gods were transferred to the new ones.
Saint Elijah had the traits of Perun, and Paraskeva had the traits of Mokosh. St. Blaise reflected Veles. Russian paganism and Orthodoxy are closely interconnected. And the deities constantly acquired new signs, names changed, new epithets appeared. They took new places in the pantheon.
Sources
Medieval chronicles remain the source of the secret history of Russian paganism,teachings against pagan deities, chronicles. There is also information gleaned from folklore, from archaeological excavations. It is important to remember that history is written by the winner. And the fact that the ancient Slavs clung to the religion of their ancestors can only be guessed due to how much Russian Christianity adopted from paganism. And keep in mind that many data on the ancient religion have been lost.
So, the renounced books have not survived. This was the name of the magical writings that were brought to Russia from Byzantium and from the western territories. The same name was given to all the sheets on which the people wrote about their signs, beliefs, superstitions. It is noteworthy that the Russian people massively knew how to write, unlike the Europeans of that time. Both boys and girls from peasant families learned to write, and people actively corresponded with each other. Therefore, there were many such valuable sheets from different layers of society. But information about these most valuable monuments of the history of Russian paganism remained only in Christian literature, which, unlike them, was preserved. Once all pagan artifacts were banned, they were massively destroyed. And only rare specimens were secretly kept by people for many centuries. And they surfaced among representatives of modern Russian paganism, soothsayers, sorceresses. A well-known repudiated book is The Ostrologer. These are astrological remarks, which were used by the Russian princes of pagan times. The ancient Slavs considered how the stars influenced the happiness of newborns, predicted the fate of peoples, wars, and so on. Gromnik told about diseases and crops. A "Molnik"is a collection of lightning predictions.
In the "Kolyadnik" there are signs that are distributed by day. There are several more such books, but most of the stories about Russian paganism were ordered to be destroyed by the father of Peter I, Alexei Mikhailovich.
Artifacts
When Russia was baptized, paganism was preserved in the country in new forms. In particular, traditions were kept in serpentines. They were made of metal or stone; these are medallions with plots of the Christian religion. But on the reverse side, which was not visible to others, there was a mythological symbol, usually with snakes. This is a pagan symbol, as a rule, of the serpentine progenitor of the Scythians or the head of the Gorgon. Manufacturing continued until the 15th and 16th centuries.
Modern information
So, Russian paganism is still little studied. In the first place among the ancient Slavs was the sun god - Dazhdbog, Khors, Veles. There is still no exact explanation as to why he had multiple names. Dazhdbog was considered the patron of heat and light. Veles was the patron of cattle, and the great Khors was the sun itself.
Perun personified a thunderstorm, terrible thunder and lightning. The wind was Stribog. Heaven was called Svarog, it was the father of Dazhdbog, and the latter was called Svarozhich. The earth was called Mother Earth Raw. So, in Russian paganism they revered Mother Earth, Dazhdbog, Veles.
However, the images were not as vivid as in Greek mythology. There was no developed network of temples, clearlyorganized caste of priests. It is known that open places were decorated with idols where sacrifices took place. Sometimes they were human, but this was rather rare. At the same time, the Varangian myths did not influence the development of the Slavic ones, even though the Varangians were associated with the Slavs. They changed their cult to Russian paganism at times. It is known that the Varangian Prince Igor, together with his retinue, swore by the Slavic Perun and worshiped him.
Pagan cult
More than the cult of natural forces, the Russians developed only the cult of ancestors. Long-dead relatives were deified, considered the patrons of the family. The ancestor was called that - genus or shur. From the last word came the modern word forefathers. They also made sacrifices to him. The progenitress was called a woman in labor, she was revered in the same way as the genus. But when the family ties were destroyed, instead of shchur, brownies began to be venerated. It was the patron of the court, who managed the household.
The Slavs believed in an afterlife, and it was believed that the souls of those who had gone to another world remained on earth and settled in fields, forests and waters - mermaids, goblin, water. All natural phenomena were animated, the ancient Russians communicated with them. This is how pagan festivities were formed, which were directly related to the veneration of natural forces and the cult of ancestors.
For example, the ancient Russians welcomed the "turn of the sun for the summer." A special festival is a carol, which was called “ov-sen” in a different way. After this festival, there was a farewell to winter, a meeting of spring. Seen off the summer season -"Kupala".
Feast was also common - this is a memory of the dead. There were holidays "mermaids", "radiunica" - during them, Russian pagans remembered those who had gone to another world. It is noteworthy that many of the customs adopted at that time survived paganism. So, the carol remained at Christmas time, the farewell to winter - in Maslenitsa, and the radunica - on Holy and St. Thomas weeks. Mermaids are usually celebrated on Midsummer Day.
Change of paganism
It is noteworthy that eight years before the adoption of Christianity, Prince Vladimir himself established several important deities at the state level. The chronicles contain information about human sacrifices of that era.
Traces of a cult
Mother Cheese Earth, as the pagans believed, gave life and took it away. In the Slavic cult, she was represented as a woman, and everything green was her hair, the roots were veins, the rocks were bones. And the rivers were blood. When they swore by her name, they ate a handful of earth. And if a person breaks it, it was like death. It was believed that Mother Earth would not wear the one who betrayed the oath. And this belief remained in the phrase: “So that I can fall through the ground.”
The requirement for her was grain. The clan was revered, and the most famous women in labor were Lada with her daughter Lelei. Lada is the protector of family, love, fertility. Lado in ancient legends meant a beloved friend, lover. The feminine form of the same word is lover, bride, wife.
Lelya was considered the patroness of spring sprouts and flowers. She was the goddess of girlish love. The female representatives picked flowers for them withberries. The rituals associated with fertility were performed with naked bodies.
Customs
So, information about such an ancient pagan custom of Russians has been preserved. The hostess lay down in the field, pretending that she would give birth. She had a loaf between her legs. The Russians conjured during Holy Week so that the bread would be more fruitful. The owner shook the plow, as if plowing. And the naked mistress collected cockroaches, and then, having rolled them up in a rag, carried them to the street.
There was a slander on cattle. And also in the Vyatka region, the hostess ran naked with an old pot into the garden and knocked it over on a stake. So it was left for the whole summer. It was believed that the pot would protect poultry from predators. The ritual was done strictly before the sun rose.
And in Kostroma, even in the 18th century, the following pagan custom was carried out. The naked mistress, sitting on a broom handle, walked around the house three times like a witch.
Yarilo
Yarilo was a cheerful deity of fertility. He patronized love, the appearance of children. "Yar" is translated as "strength". It was a young man in white. Sometimes he was depicted with his wife, who was also dressed in white. In her right hand she had a human head, and in her left - ears of corn. It symbolized life and death.
Yarilo's head always had a wreath of flowers. His day was 27 April. On that day, a woman mounted a white horse and walked around a tall tree. After that, the horse was tied and a round dance began. This is how we welcomed spring. In addition, there was the second holiday of Yarilo, it was celebrated in the summer during the Petrovsky fast. Then he was portrayedin the form of a young man in white, he was with ribbons, flowers. It was the head of the festival, which was accompanied by refreshments and festivities.
It was believed that this deity awakened plants, youthful strength and courage in people.
Honoring Veles
Veles was the deity and patron of animals, as well as the underworld. The winged serpent Veles was considered the deity of forest animals. A fire was kindled in his honor, which did not go out. Gathering bread, the pagans left ears of corn for Veles. In order for the livestock to be he althy and prolific, a white lamb was sacrificed.
It was a god to whom human sacrifices were made. Information about this is preserved in the oldest records of Russian pagans. The victim - an animal or a person - was killed, and then burned. And if this fire at Veles went out, the sorcerer was removed from the Keremeti, while choosing a new priest by lot. The sorcerer, who did not follow, was stabbed to death, burning the corpse in a sacred fire. It was believed that only such a procedure amused this formidable god.
Fire was produced by rubbing wood against wood - only in this way the spark obtained was considered "alive". And when Russia was baptized, Vlasy appeared instead of Veles. And on the day of this saint, Russians brought treats to pets, gave them baptismal water to drink. If diseases appeared in domestic animals, people created a furrow around the village and walked in a circle with the icon of Blasius.
Svarog
The deity of fire is Svarog. The ancient pagans revered fire as something sacred. It was forbidden to spit in it or throw out garbage. If it burned, it was impossible to pronouncedirty words. It was believed that fire heals and cleanses. Sick people were carried over the fire, and it was believed that evil forces perished in it. The marriage ceremony consisted in the fact that the bride and groom walked between two fires. So the family was cleansed of damage.
There were also victims in honor of Svarog. They were chosen by lot or at the direction of the Magi. As a rule, they killed animals, but they could also choose a person. In the "Slavic Chronicle" of the 12th century, the following line was preserved: "… sometimes sacrificing people - Christians … this kind of blood gives special pleasure to the gods." And in the chronicles of the 11th century, “The Acts of the Bishops of Hamburg,” the story of the death of John was preserved: “The barbarians cut off his arms and legs, threw his body on the road … as a sacrifice to the god Radegast.” Later, the cult of fertility was replaced by the cult of war.
Near Veliky Novgorod was the temple of Peryn, where people were sacrificed. Peryn was once an island. But in the 60s of the twentieth century, a dam was erected here. And then the island became part of the mainland.
