Old Slavic Gods

Perun
Perun is the Slavic god of thunder and the sky. He should not be confused with Svarog, who is also
a god of the sky because Svarog is the god of the universe, and Perun belongs to the lower sky, which
could be interpreted as the atmosphere. He is one of the most powerful Slavic gods. He represents the
destroyer because he is the god of bad weather and natural disasters. Perun is a member of the biggest
and the most powerful Slavic trinity (Triglav) together with Svarog and Svetovid (the theory that Triglav
is not a god, and that he represents a trinity is very questionable and disputed over, and it is possible
that it was first set by Neo-pagans). In many places, Perun is mentioned as Svarog's and Veles's brother.
Perun also represents the punisher of perjury, as well as the punisher of evil in general. Perun
punishes the evil and disobedient by closing the heavenly door to them. He punishes for perjury during
the life of the perjurer and uses lightnings in the process of punishing. In many written documents from
the early Middle Ages (Nestor's Chronicle, Sbornik Paisijev (Paisije's Anthology), Sofyskij Sobor), and
even in peace contracts can be seen that the Slavs swore to obey Perun himself and he was supposed to
punish and curse any man who would break the contract. Perun was most often mentioned and
frequently satanised in the Christian notes from the early middle ages. This shows us that the cult of
Perun was deeply implanted in the Slavs. Their dedication to Perun can also be seen in the fact that
many geographical places and plants bear his name (Perun's peak, and Perun's coast in Russia, Perunja
ves in Slovenia, mountain Perin in Bulgaria, perunika is iris germanica, etc.). Even today there are sayings
and curses with Perun's name in some Slavic languages. 'Go to hell' is 'do Paroma' in Slovakian, where
Parom represents Perun. The word 'thunder' is 'piorun' in Polish. The Baltic Slavs called 'Thursday'
'perendan'.
The name Perun is made from the suffix -un, or -unj (-) which signifies the doer of an action, and
the root 'per' which means to hit, to break, to smash. Thus Perun indicates a hitter, a breaker, a
smasher, a thunderer, and also a deity the destroyer, the demolisher. This was the reason why natural
disasters were attributed to him.
Legends tell us that thunders are heard because of the clattering of the wheels while Perun is riding in
his coach in the sky. On statues, Perun was portrayed as a strong man with a beard. Parts of his clothes
tell us that he is a warrior in his amour. There are some notions of Perun with a stone sledgehammer in
his hand, which he throws at people and petrifies them. There are also notions of him with a bow, which
used to be identified with a rainbow, and when he used it, the arrows would turn into lightnings. One of
the odd weapons of Perun were golden apples. Some folk songs show this:
... Te izvadi tri jabuke zlatne
I baci ih nebu u visine...
...Tri munje od neba pukoe
Jedna gaa dva djevera mlada,
Druga gaa pau na dorinu,

Trea gaa svata est stotina,

Ne utee oka za svjedoka,
Ni da kae, kako pogiboe.
Which translates as:
...Then he pulled out tri apples of gold
and threw them high in the sky...
... Three bolts of lightning cracked
The first hit two young brothers of the groom,
The second hit a pasha on a sorrel,
The third hit 600 wedding guests,
Not an eye of a witness was left,
Not even to utter, how they were killed.
There are some legends about Perun's conflict with Veles. Supposedly, Veles stole Perun's wife,
people, and cattle. Veles was hiding afterwards, but Perun found him by smashing the rock which he
was hiding behind and beat him. This Belarus story further tells us that Veles was compelled to stay on
the surface after this event. According to another legend, Veles took aside Dodola, the rain goddess,
during her and Perun's wedding, and expressed his love to her. After this, he was defeated by Perun in
the battle and banished to the surface until he eventually found his place in the underworld.
Perun was also associated with fire and fiery animals. Perun's animal was a fiery rooster, which is a sort
of Slavic Fenix. His beings were also dragons. Rites related to fire were connected with Perun. Next to
the idol the eternal fire was burning, which should not be extinguished in any case because, otherwise,
all the servants in the temple would be hurt. Perun was also a fighter against droughts. According to one
theory, he had an influence on the rain, and according to another, Dodola, Perun's wife, was the one
who influenced the rain. In any case, he could surely do a lot about it. Songs were sung:
Da zarosi sitna rosa,
oj dudula mili Boe!
Oj lija daj Boe daj!
Oj Ilija moj Perune!
Daj Boe daj, daj Ilija daj!
which translates as:
Let fine dew drizzle,
oh dudula dear God!
Oh Elijah give us, God, give!
Oh Elijah, my Perun!
Give us, God, give, give, Elijah, give!
(a chorus of Dodola song from around Gnjilane)
As far as plants are concerned, the Perun's plant was an oak tree. Even today, the Serbs call a kind
of an oak tree 'grm', which originates in the word 'grmeti', which means 'to thunder'. It is thus obvious

that grm was dedicated to thunder, i.e. Perun. Of the other plants there are iris, sage, nettle, apple, and
houseleek. The animals which symbolized him are a he-chamois, and a European bison. When they did
not have temples, the Slavs prayed to Perun in groves, at sacrificial altars, and under oak trees.
After the arrival of Christianity, the role of Perun was taken over by St. Elijah. Perun, as well as the
stories about him remained in the folk tradition, but some of them took the form of St Elijah stories, and
the others had to change the name of the main character. The Church satanised Perun, probably
because of his strong cult and strong influence on people's lives. The Novgorod Chronicle speaks about
this:
'
In the year of 6479 (989) Vladimir was baptized. Prins-Bishop Aim came to Novgorod, and
destroyed all sacrificial altars, knocked Perun down, and ordered that he should be thrown into the
Volhova river; and he was dragged through the mud and beaten with whips and sticks; an evil spirit
possessed Perun, and started to whine: Oh, I'm so unhappy! I fell into the merciless hands. And he
crossed the big bridge, threw his cudgel onto the bridge, and even today, madmen hit themselves with
the cudgel to please evil spirits. Then he ordered that no one should accept him (Perun), and in the
morning one inhabitant of Pidba went to the river bank at the very moment when Perun came to the
bank, and pushed him away with a pole: You ate and drank enough here, my little Perun, move on and
keep sailing! And the satanic object disappeared.'
by Nikola Miloevi
Belobog (Belbog, Belun)
Belobog is a deity whose historical existence was, and still is, a subject of numerous debates.
Belobog, which, translated into English, means White god, is imagined as a counterpart to Crnobog, or
ernobog (Black god) and as such represents the light deity of good essentially opposed to the deity of
evil. The first thing that a connoisseur of pagan religions will ask is: how come there is such a division
into black and white, good and evil in paganism? It is, indeed, a proper question. This division appeared
only with the acceptance of Christianity which is why Belobog is substantially considered to be a product
of Judeo-Christian religion mixed, by the common people, with their old religion. Spasoje Vasiljev is of an
opinion that Belobog was constructed in order to represent the opposite of Crnobog, and many others
think the alike. On the other hand, Belobog is not that much present in the Mythology of the Southern
Slavs, but he is often mentioned among the Western and the Baltic Slavs. This fact can explain why
Belobog seems so strange to us. But, is it really only the influence of Christianity that is the matter, or
must the occurrence of Belobog be sought in a much earlier age? According to the theory of Peter
Kotka, the Slavs accepted Belobog in the period when they lived in the Persian neighborhood (8th 2nd
c. BC). As we know, the Persian religion was dualist in its nature, thus two opposed forces Ormuzd and
Ahriman ruled the Persian universe. The Slavic Belobog would thus correspond Ormuzd, though he was
never on such a high place with the Slavs. Furthermore, Kotka presented a Slavic myth in which two
opposed forces, just like those mentioned above, were responsible for the creation of the Slavic world,
and the forces, of course, were Belobog and Crnobog. Both of these forces were necessary for the

creation of the universe, which is, indeed, a principle that could have been taken from the Persians.
However, this myth should not be taken for granted since there is a quite different myth about the
creation of the universe, and the myth is about a god Rod who created the cosmos from a huge egg.
However you look at it, the impression that Belobog is more of an abstract principle than a
typical anthropomorphic deity stays, which can be seen in the way it was represented by the Slavs. Well,
how was this deity represented? The Slavs imagined Belobog as an old man with a long white beard,
dressed exclusively in white. As such, he would appear only during the daylight, doing good deeds as he
went and bringing people success and happiness. Belobog helped many peasants to finish hard work in
the field and he showed many strayed travelers the way out of a thick forest. The general impression of
whiteness, light and positively made him an abstract deity, completely different from other gods. This is
why he is more likely the very principle of light and goodness wrapped in the form of an
anthropomorphic deity, than a god pagans would otherwise bow to.
Whether it is an abstract principle, or a manifestation of the supreme god (Ormuzd or Christian
Yahweh), the appearance of Belobog in the Slavic mythology should by no means be ignored. Certain
data about the notion of him with the Slavs can be found through the analysis of the name of this deity.
Belobog's name reminds us a lot of the names of gods of other pantheons: Baldur, Belunos, Baal etc. All
these deities are also of a light and solar nature since their names contain the same root (bal means
something light and bright). The very occurrence of Baldur in the Nordic mythology is parallel to the
occurrence of Belobog in the Slavic both seem a bit of a foreign body in their systems, by being
different in every possible way from other gods and by making their appearance seem extremely
mysterious. The same rules were applied both to Baldur and Belobog, Baldur was considered to be a
Christian creation, wherefore he was even named Hvit Christ, i.e. White Christ. As far as the Serbs are
concerned, Belobog's name has, up to now, remained with the people who use it to denote a deity,
which can be seen in an old saying he ate the white god, used to show that somebody ate very much,
i.e. that he ate everything there was to be eaten.
Devana
Devana The goddess most frequently associated with the Greek Artemis and the Roman Diana. In
a view of the fact that Devana and Diana are very similar names, it is considered that the Slavs took this
deity from the Romans. Her long name, Dziewona, or Dzevana as the Poles used to call her, is even more
reminiscent of the name of the Roman goddess of hunt, which is another argument in favor of the
theory that Devana is not an originally Slavic deity. However, Devana is a name of Aryan origin, which
offers a possibility that Devana and Diana are just two different variants of the same name. Which one?
Old Aryans believed in Devases, who were sons of Dayus, the father of the sky, meaning, gods
themselves. Words deus and theos, which also signify god, came from the Sanskrit term deva. Names of
numerous gods have their origin in this term: Dionysos, Zeus, Diona, Dana (Celtic supreme goddess),
and, of course, Diana and Devana. In this way, Diana and Devana would represent the primordial
supreme goddess who later lost her supreme power and became one of the gods. The belief in the
primordial goddess similar to Devana has existed in these territories from times immemorial. Inhabitants

of the Balkans bowed to Forest Mother, the mistress of forests and its creatures. Diana and Devana are
those forest goddesses, protectors of wild animals and goddesses of hunt. If we perceive Devana as an
aspect of the pagan Supreme Goddess, who appears through three phases of the moon and three
phases of a woman's life as the Virgin, the Mother, and the Old woman, we shall see that the first
aspect, that of the Virgin, is, by no means, Devana's aspect. The very name Devana comprises this
quality, for she is deva, or in English: a maiden, a virgin or a young girl. The forest goddess certainly
signifies a woman with something wild and unruly inside of her, as she has not given herself to a man.
This trimorphic goddess division certainly does not exist with the Slavs, at least not in its original form,
but it will be easier if the Slavic system is completed with the Celtic and some parallels are drawn
between the two kinds of paganism. More details about the Slavic supreme goddess and her possible
triple aspect can be found in a book by Aleksandra Baji The Great Goddess of the Slavs.
What else can we say about Devana? Her sacred animal is a mare, and Devana herself is considered
to be a goddess-mare. On Mount Devica, which is obviously connected to Devana, a rock with a picture
of a mare was found. Aleksandra Baji is of an opinion that Devana appears in Serbian epic poems as the
mother of Milo Obili, whose last name Obili originates in Kobili (from Serbian kobila, which means
mare; -i is a suffix for Serbian family names). Milo, thus, represents Jarilo, Devana's and Veles's son.
What was the marriage of Devana and Veles like? In the beginning, the goddess was opposed to
this marriage, however, Veles found a way to placate her. He turned himself into a basil flower and thus
soothed a bit wild Devana. As Veles's wife, Devana appears in Russian fairy tales as Vasilisa, a beautiful
wise woman who helps her husband to win numerous challenges. Apart from being mostly the forest
goddess, Devana is associated with rivers and lakes. Her trees are a hazel tree, and also a willow. The
Willow Day, a holiday celebrated in the early spring, is dedicated to this goddess. Anyhow, Spasoje
Vasiljev deems Devana a goddess of spring, which is the reason why we can consider her to be similar
to, if not identical with Vesna.
Lada
Lada The Slavic goddess of love and beauty, who appears as Freya, Isis, or Aphrodyte with other
peoples. It is, of course, linked to the planetary power of Venus who is, besides love and beauty,
associated with fertility. Lada is represented as a girl with long golden hair sometimes with a wreath of
ears of grain braided into her hair, which symbolizes her function of fertility deity thus making her an
aspect of Mother of Wet Land. A symbol of Sun, a mark of life-giving power was sometimes on her
breasts. As a fertility goddess, Lada has her annual cycles, which can be shown by the belief that she
resides in the dwelling place of the dead until the vernal equinox comes. This world of the dead is called
Irij, and here, besides Lada, dwells Veles, the horned god of cattle. At the moment when Lada is
supposed to come out into the world and bring spring, Gerovit opens the door of Irij letting the fertility
goddess bless the earth. At the end of summer, Lada returns to Irij (there is a similar myth in German
mythology in which Freya spends a part of the year underground among the elves, whereas Greek
Persefona dwells in Had during the winter period). Although her reign begins on the 21st of March, Lada
is primarily the goddess of summer. She follows Vesna, the Slavic spring goddess. However, both of
these goddesses are associated with fertility so sometimes it can sometimes be difficult to separate

their functions. As we can see, Lada's reign begins in spring, the proof of which is ladenj, another name
for April, given after this goddess. Apart from the Sun, Lada is also associated with rain and hot summer
nights, the ideal time for paying respect to the love goddess.
Lada's animals are a cock, a deer, an ant and an eagle, whereas her plants are a cherry, a
dandelion, a linden and a peony. Besides Venus, Lada is connected with the constellation of Taurus,
which Aleksandar Asov wrote about in The Slavic Astrology. Here, we can once again see here her
function of fertility goddess, whose reign begins in spring, mix with the function of the goddess Vesna. A
myth says that Lada is married to Svarog who is only with her help able to create the world. According to
another one, she is a companion of Jarilo, thus associated with Aphrodyte, whose lover is Ares. Rituals
performed in Lada's honor are most often linked with contracting marriages, or choosing a spouse. One
of the known rites is ladarice, also performed under the name of kraljice in Serbia. Vuk Karadi
described the basic characteristics of this ritual. On Holy Trinity Day, a group of about ten young girls
gathers, one of them is dressed like a queen, another one like a king, and another one like a colorbearer. The queen is sitting on a chair, while the other girls are dancing around her, and the king and the
color-bearer are dancing on their own. In this way the queens go from house to house looking for girls of
marriageable age. Jumping over the fire is another characteristic of rituals performed in Lada's honor.
This custom existed in all parts of Europe and its purpose was to ensure fertility as well as to protect
people and cattle from evil forces.
Crnobog (Cernobor, Cert)
Crnobog, as his very name shows, is Slavic black god god of night, chaos and evil. Slavs believed
that all evil originated from this god, so Crnobog, above all other gods, was the least favorably disposed
towards men. Most information about Crnobog we gather from Helmold. In one of his records he claims:
There is one curious custom among the Slavs. At their feasts they all drink from the same cup, and
while doing that they utter certain words which, I daresay, do not have the purpose of a prayer, but
rather a curse in the name of their gods - gods of good and evil. They believe that all good comes from
the good god, and all evil from the evil one. And so they call that god Crnobog in their own language. As
we can see, our forefathers thought that the role of one of their gods was to bring misfortune, and from
the example above it is clear that they themselves used that god to help them bring about bad luck (the
cursing ritual). Misfortune could befall the Slavs in many different ways through extreme cold, famine,
poverty, illness, or simply through a combination of circumstances, and Crnobog was responsible for
everything. Building around the fact that cold and darkness made their lives disagreeable, the Slavs
postulated an entity that was related to these natural phenomena. Crnobog, Cernobog, or Cert thus
became a winter deity and a god of darkness, a terrifying creature that shrouded the world in black.
However, we should bear in mind that the Slavs considered Crnobogs impact was necessary and that
consequently Cernobog was respected as all the other gods. None of the sources relevant to Slavic
mythology classifies Cert as a lower-rank deity and, regardless of being attributed the source of all
misfortune, he was considered equal to other gods of the pantheon. All this means that our forefathers
thought accidents were also caused by their gods, or that even extreme cold, famine, death and disease
were of divine origin (coming from either Cert or Morana). And what was sent by the gods certainly had

to be respected. This illustrates how pagan perception of the world is different to Christian, because
Christianity puts earthly life in the so-called vale of tears, while to pagans life, happy and unhappy alike,
is a divine bestowal.
Although old Slavic religion had no dualism characteristics, researchers of Slavic mythology put in
opposition to Crnobog a deity of contrasting properties Belobog. Belobog, as a principle of light and
goodness, should have been a contrast to Crnobog, or the power that counterbalances his negative
impact. To prove their theory that there was dualism in Slavic mythology the researches claimed that
names of some places can be related to Belobog. Some of these places are Belbuch in Pomerania,
Belobozice in Bohemia, as well as Bialoboze and Bialoboznica in Poland. However, as Louis Lger claims,
the name Belobog cannot be found in any authentic written document concerning Slavic culture. Some
Slavic myths, such as the myth of creation, feature Belobog, but we cannot be certain that this myth has
its origins in the pre-Christian period. This myth tells that the world was created by Crnobog and
Belobog who, through joint effort, brought their creation to perfection. Although during the process of
world creation the gods came into conflict, precisely those actions they performed against each other
caused the universe to look as it does. There was another dualistic concept that proclaimed Cernobog
god of the dark half of the year, opposed by Belobog the ruler of the sunny half. The rule of Belobog,
according to this belief, started with the winter solstice, while Certs rule over nature started with the
summer solstice. The winter solstice itself was the battle day of these two opposed powers, and on that
day Belobog won a victory. This belief could have its roots in authentic Slavic faith since all the other
pagan tribes understood that day in a similar way.
We have already mentioned that records on old Slavic religion give no information whatsoever on
family relations between gods. However, Vladimir Aleksejevic Istarhov, the author of The Strike of the
Russian Gods, says that Crnobog had a life companion, a she-goat Sedunja, with whom he had a son
named Vij. Although Istarhov did not record the myth about this relation, we can conclude that this
legend too dates from the period after conversion to Christianity, because Christianity associated
horned animals, especially goats, with evil forces.
However we choose to understand Cernobog, we should remember that no pagan system,
including the Slavic one, involves dualism. Polytheism, as a fundamental characteristic of pagan
religions, could never contain teachings about one unique primordial cause, or two of them. Due to this
fact, the Wicce system for example is a typical product of the new age, because this religion operates on
two basic principles male and female, that is God and Goddess. Slavic neo-paganism also postulates
only one god (sometimes it is Rod, sometimes Dazbog) that represents the primeval principle of the
universe. Such an idea of the universe did not exist in the authentic Slavic creed, neither did the division
between a good and a bad deity. This split could only come through the influence of Christianity, which
is based on dualism of good and evil embodied, on the highest level, in God and Satan, and in angels and
demons on lower levels.
Horz

In 980 Prince Vladimir erected statues of pagan gods on a hill above Kiev, unaware that he would
be the one to pull them down soon after that. Apart from the statues of Perun, Mokosi, Stribog,
Simargal and Dazbog, Vladimir also put up a statue of Horz. There is no information on how this statue
looked like, but we can at least guess how Horz was imagined by analyzing the records. Momir Jankovic
attributed to Horz these physical characteristics: solar halo above his head, on his head a horn that
symbolizes the Moon and on his chest a wolf devouring the Moon. From this description we can
conclude that Horz was above all a god related to the celestial bodies, although we can doubt that his
influence was confined strictly to this area.
A Ukrainian legend features Prince Viseslav who at his wolf pace covers the distance between
Kiev and the Crimea. His goal is to intercept Horz and reach the Crimea before a cocks crow. Horz here
has the role of the morning Sun that Viseslav has to outrun, but he also stands for the Moon whose path
Viseslav follows. What does Viseslavs wolf pace stand for? We know that Slavic folklore abounds with
stories about werewolves, the people who during their lifetime or after death turn into wolves. Prince
Viseslav is one of them, a werewolf who under the influence of Horz/the Moon casts off his human form
and takes the form of a wolf. Quite similar is the story of Emperor Trajan, a demonic creature who
performs evil deeds at night, lingering in the darkness and hiding from the morning sun. Horz is
therefore the Moon ruling over the werewolves, vampires and demons, although he cannot be thought
of as an evil force because of that, but simply an energy that awakes beastly, dark and hidden urges in
man and creatures similar to him. Horz is related to the Moon in yet another way. His symbol is a horn,
and on his chest he has a wolf devouring the Moon, thus symbolizing its eclipse. The adjective kors is
very similar to Horzs name, and it denotes something that is incomplete, imperfect. This adjective, of
course, refers to the Moon that in its crescent and waning phases looks exactly like that.
As we have said already, Horz represents not only the Moon, but the morning Sun as well, maybe
even the Sun at all its stages. Sreznjev, the researcher who discovered a Horzs statue, calls him Apollo.
Horz is sometimes thought to be the same as Dazbog, thus making a single deity Horz-Dazbog. Horzs
sisters are Hrsalkas the Sun girls. Linguistic analysis shows that Horz was sooner a god of the Sun than
the Moon. Precisely that analysis will point to the problem of Horzs primal origin and his position in
Slavic mythology.
Most experts (Dragoslav Srejovic, Louis Lger) do not consider this deity to be originally Slavic.
The basic problem that emerges when studying Horz is his name, which is not thought to be of Slavic
origin. What can etymology tell us? Spasoje Vasiljev thinks that the name Horz comes from the Iranian
word kursid and Hebrew cheres, both meaning the Sun. There are also Egyptian Horus and Persian
Khores, who have similar characteristics as Horz. All these words mark Horz as a god of the Sun, but he is
not just that. Horz is, like Svarozic, just another form of the Sun represented as the flame or the light
that appears as the Moon at night and as the rising Sun in the morning. Supporting this is one of his
forms Svarozic, son of Svarog, immaterial, the flame of heaven. As we know, Horz and Dazbog belong
to the svarozic group (little Svarogs), and they simply represent two aspects of one and the same
thing.
It then comes as no surprise that Horz and Dazbog are sometimes seen as one entity: Horz-

Dazbog. Namely, the Sun as the light of day is seen as Dazbog, and the Moon that illuminates the night is
Horz (the Sun of the night). Apart from that, Horz is also the morning Sun that Trajan and Prince Viseslav
try to elude. Horz as one of the svarozic had one more role. In the Preun-Horz-Veles trinity, that was
worshipped before the statues of the Kiev pantheon were erected, Horz was perceived as the flame. In
Horz we can see different forms of the earthly flame that is a manifestation of Svarogs heavenly fire,
the fire that appears on earth as the Sun, the Moon and the flame.
Horzs name is related to many place names, like Horsovo and Horos in Bulgaria, the island of
Hortica on the Dnjepr River and the Horem Sea that the Volga flows into. Czech term for fire is horecka,
which once again indicates that Horz can be a svarozic taking the form of a flame. One of the terms
used to refer to a rooster is oroz, so this is the animal that heralds the coming of Horz as the morning
Sun. There is also xorovod, a type of dance.
Although the Slavic origin of Horz is disputable, we have included him among the traditional Slavic
deities. Horz is mentioned in Nestors chronicle in the description of the Kiev pantheon, and in many
other sources as well. We have already mentioned the Ukrainian legend of Prince Viseslav, which is
found in The Stories of Igors People. Jordanes, the chronicler that studied the period of history from the
second to the sixth century AD, mentions the Hortica Island on the Dnjepr as the site of a temple
dedicated to Horz. Numerous place names support the theory that Horz was a Slavic god, but when
analysing this deity we must take both interpretations of his origin into consideration.
by Vesna Kakaevski
Dazbog, Dazdbog, Dabog, Dajbog
Dazbog was a god of the Sun, flame and rain. Dazbog was also considered to be a giver-god,
because one of his names was Dajbog. The first part of the name is daj a form of the verb to give,
while the second part bog means god. But what did Dazbog actually give? It is possible that giving
refers the Sun and sunlight which is essential for many natural processes. The Sun was also very
important to the Slavs. It was the source of life and was always considered to be a positive force. The
Sun gave life to the Earth, and the god who gave it was therefore Dajbog. Dazbog actually stands for the
Sun disc.
In all surviving medieval texts concerning the Slavs, Dazbog is always mentioned at some point.
His name was written down by Roman, Greek and Russian chroniclers who wrote about old Slavic creed.
Helios from Greek texts was translated into Slavic as Dazbog. In the Malalin manuscript dating from the
6th century Helios was also translated as Dazbog. The Russian translator tried to tell a story set in Egypt,
but he substituted Greek gods for Slavic. Dazbog is also mentioned in the Spanish Code, an epic telling
about Igors quest and many other things. Vladimir the Great put statues of seven gods in front of his
palace in Kiev, and among them was Dazbogs statue.
To a family he was a protector of the houses fireplace and its fire, mans basic necessity for

survival during the winter, and an indispensable help in performing everyday work. But flames could be
cruel and turn against men, and take them to the underworld or destroy their property. Flames
benevolence was crucial to survival, and many rituals were therefore related to them.
Dazbog was definitely the god of rain, too. One of his names was Dazdbog, and dazd in many
Slavic languages means rain (Slovak, Czech, Russian, Polish). The rain was important because harvests
depended upon it. In times of drought many rain invoking rituals were performed.
We know that the Slavs addressed their gods as their equals and that they considered themselves
gods descendants. To be more precise, they thought of themselves as Dazbogs grandchildren, or his
lineal descendants. Due to a short lifespan, it was uncommon in those times that grandchildren should
meet their grandfather.
Dazbog was one of Svarogs sons. It is not certain how many sons Svarog had, but Dazbog was
almost beyond doubt one of them. Some authors mention only two Svarozic and Dazbog (Vyacheslav
Vsevolodovi and Vladimir Toporov), while others mention Perun, Svetovid, Dazbog and Veles as Svarogs
sons, and they refer to all of them as a group - svarozici (little Svarogs). Be that as it may, Dazbog
appears in every combination.
During the day, the Sun was in the sky giving out light, while at night it was in the underworld.
Actually, every morning Dazbog would set out on the journey across the sky riding a white horse or
riding in a carriage, and in the evening he died or went to the world of the dead, only to come to life
again next morning. We can notice in Dazbog the cycle of dying and rebirth that is frequently found in
many pagan creeds, including Slavic paganism. The Serbs mention Dazbog, and folklore preserved a
lame Daba, who was almost always presented as an evil spirit, which probably indicates Dazbogs nature
when being a part of the underworld, that is the world of the dead. The Serbs more than any other
people imagined Dazbog as a lame old man, dressed in animal skins, usually bear skin, accompanied by a
wolf. The wolf actually stands for his animal incarnation, or his primary shape that did not cease to exist
after Dazbog turned anthropomorphic. The wolf became a servant, and often a messenger as well.
Although his basic form was anthropomorphic, Dazbog frequently changed his shape, and his earliest
wolf form remained his symbol. As the Serbs considered themselves his descendants, the wolf became a
sacred animal. In one catalogue of peoples, it is recorded that the Serbs were descendants of the wolf.
Saracen is descended from the boar, Turk from the snake, Tatar from the hound, Serb from the wolf,
Bulgarian from the bull, Aleman from the eagle
The belief in the power of the Sun was extremely strong among the Slavs. Cajkanovic claims that
Dazbog was the supreme god of the Serbs. This is supported by the fact that a Slavic festivity dedicated
to the invincible Sun coincides with Christmas Day. Since this holiday was impossible to uproot, it was
simply substituted by a similarly important Christian one.
Upon conversion to Christianity demonic characteristics were attributed to Dazbog. He became
the most powerful of the demons and the main opponent of the Christian God. This was possibly due to
his appearance of a lame one-eyed old man, dressed in dark bear skin, dwelling in the underworld quite

often. We can however opt for the possibility that this was due to the power of Dazbogs cult that was
to be eliminated at all costs. Dazbogs characteristics were later in Christianity transferred to St Sava,
who was also presented in folk tales as a shepherd followed by a wolf. St Sava is also a giver in those
tales.
by Nikola Miloevi
Gerovit, Jarilo
Gerovit could be understood in two ways: as a war god or as a Sun god who, as Jarilo, stands for
the one who bestows fertility. We will first examine Gerovits warrior nature.
Jarilo - On the island of Rujan there was a temple in which Gerovits statue with seven heads and
eight swords took up the central position. The temple was built from wood and had only one room with
four columns, while the walls were decorated with purple drapery. What did the seven heads of Gerovit
(or Rudjevit, as he was called on the island of Rujan) symbolize? Some think that this god embodies all
the seven gods of the Kiev pantheon, while others claim that the seven heads stand for the seven
summer months during which Gerovit ruled. The same goes for the seven swords, while the eighth one,
which Gerovit holds in his hand, is his own and therefore represents an attribute of a war god. There
was also a shield covered with golden plates that was kept in the temple as a holy object and
represented Gerovit himself. This shield was carried out among the people who bowed respectfully to
the image of their god.
As for the planetary connections, Alexander Asov links Jarilo with the warrior planet Mars. Many
facts support this claim: Jarilos colour is red, while he himself is connected with the zodiac sign of Aries.
The month of Belojar the term is a compound containing Jarilos name - started on March 21st, the
day when the Sun enters the Ram. Term jare (meaning kid) also survives in the expression used to
denote this month, and lambs were in the old days sacrificed in Gerovits honor. We also have the noun
jarost (frenzy) and the reflexive verb razjariti se (fly into a rage) that contain Jarilos name and so
perfectly describe his warrior nature. After the Slavs converted to Christianity St George took over
Gerovits role. St George is a warrior-saint fighting dark forces embodied in the form of a dragon. Some
people claim that this dragon stands for pagan gods and forces that Christianity proclaimed to be
demonic and St George by killing the dragon actually kills precisely those demons. But if we consider
St George to be none other than Gerovit, this explanation becomes invalid and masks a much clearer
mythical picture. If we go beyond the boundaries set by a religion, in this case by Christianity, we come
to the image of a solar, just god, a god who abides by the law of Justice, who destroys the forces that try
to get in the way of Light, forces that cause degeneration and ruin of all that is good, beautiful and just.
Mars is the planet related to this kind of divine purification and destruction of what ought to be
destroyed. Another fact supports Asovs theory that Jarilo and planet Mars are interdependent. Greek
Ares, equivalent of Roman Mars, is Aphrodites lover, and her Slavic equivalent is Lada. As we know,
Gerovit and Lada are represented in Slavic mythology as a divine couple. This match can be interpreted
in two ways: as a mixture of Love and Hate, or a connection between Love and War that can become
Loves other side, and vice versa. But it can also be interpreted quite differently: as a relationship and

connection between a god and goddess of fertility. This brings us to the analysis of Gerovits other
aspect, the study of Gerovit as a fertility god.
We have already mentioned that Gerovits seven heads could symbolize the seven summer
months of his reign. Opposed to him is Porevit, the ruler of the remaining five winter months. At the
same time, he was Gerovits brother, and there was a temple on Rujan Island dedicated to him. Seen as
a god of fertility, Gerovit stands for the Sun itself - abundant harvests depend upon it. As a protectorgod he also protects the crops from hail that can destroy them. In rituals Gerovit was celebrated
primarily as a fertility god. Festivities dedicated to him took place in the early summer, and their aim
was to celebrate a new waking of the sun after a winter period. One Slavic ritual is very similar to the
ritual the Celts used to perform to honor their fertility god the Horn God. During the festivities
dedicated to Jarilo boys would make a doll from straw and young twigs, and the doll represented
Gerovit. The Slavs used to throw this doll in the water, hoping that it would bring a bumper harvest. As
we know, the Celts used to burn the effigies made of wicker for the same reason, and they represented
their Horn God as a green deity covered in leaves.
by Vesna Kakaevski
Koledo
Koledo is a being that can be seen in two ways as a winter spirit and as a god. Festivals
dedicated to Koledo took place in the winter, and the most important one was Koljada that coincided
with the date of the winter solstice. Customs related to this holiday survived into Christianity, and some
authors consider that Christianity took this holiday over and transformed it into Christmas. In Bulgaria
Christmas is still called Koleda, and the greeting used on this day is merry Koleda.
Koledo is Ovsenjs twin brother. Their mother is Zlatogorka Maja and their father is Dazbog. Ovsenj
was born before Koledo and harnessed the horses to the heavenly chariot to make way for his brother.
Koledo symbolizes the descent of god Krishna or Krisnji to earth. Ovsenj appears in the summer and
Koledo in the winter. On the day of the winter solstice Ovsenj says farewell to the old year and Koledo
welcomes the new year, or the new Sun.
Koledo gave people the knowledge of the universe and the celestial bodies. He gave them a book
about the stars that the Slavs called Koledos Star Book. Here we can see another similarity between
Koledo and Krishna. Krishna brings people knowledge in form of books Vedas, and Koledo does the
similar thing. If we consult the Vedas we can draw a conclusion that Koledo is an embodiment of Krishna
or Krisnji, the term used by the Slavs to denote this god. Koledo made a calendar for the humans, a
calendar that the Slavs called Koledos gift, and he also revealed to them the knowledge of the Great
Circle (probably the Milky Way). According to legend, Koledos last descent on earth was around 6530
BC. Since then the knowledge was passed on from one generation to the next. The Greeks used to say
that they got their sacred knowledge of the stars from the Hyperboreans from the north. Hyperboreans
are the people from Greek myths who lived in the far north. They never waged wars and they lived in

luxury. They worshipped the Sun and the solar gods. It was said that the Sun never set in their country.
From the facts that they worshipped the Sun and lived in the north we may conclude that these people
were actually the Slavs. The Book of Veles tells about the time when the Slavs led easy lives and knew of
no wars. We can therefore propose a theory that the Greeks acquired the knowledge on astronomy and
astrology from the Slavs. The Slavs in their turn gained this knowledge from Koledo.
Koledos name is mentioned in many toasts. There are the so-called koledar songs or koledi.
These lyric ritual songs are mostly performed during Christmas holidays and are even today present in
many areas. It was thought that, while bidding the old Sun farewell, Ovsenj released the dead, so men
dressed in various clothes and went through the villages making noise. Koledars were exclusively men.
They learned koledar songs from the village master. Koledars went through the village and sang for one
entire night, up until the afternoon of the next day. There were always twelve of them, but they split up
into two groups of six. Each group had a leader who carried a lantern decorated with rosemary. There
were also three singers and a treasurer. They would hire a bag carrier whose only role was to carry the
gifts given to them by the heads of the households they went to. The gifts mainly consisted of food and
drink.
Here is an example of a koledar song:
Our host, koledo!
Has an infant, koledo!
Young infant, koledo!
Male head, koledo!
On his head, koledo!
Mink hat, koledo!
Koledars went through the streets and knocked at the doors of the houses that had a candle
burning in the window. They sung songs dedicated to every member of the household. They sang to a
groom, a household head, a bride, babies, children. All koledar songs had their purpose. Koledo was
mentioned in them as a protector and his name was chanted as a plea for happiness, strength and love.
Through that he became a protector of the family and its individual members. He was later in some
songs substituted by the Christian God, logically, we may say, since Koledo was a Vedic god, just one of
the manifestations of one and the same god.

Stribog, Striboh
Very little is known about Stribog today. A lot of information about this deity is lost, even though
Stribog was one of the most important gods of the Slavs. Testimony to his role and importance is the
fact that he is mentioned in all the old epics about the Slavs. In the epic Slovo o polku Igorove it is said
that the winds, the grandsons of Stribog, blow from the sea. This leads to conclusion that Stribog is
imagined as an old person, since he has grandsons. The grandsons were the winds from all directions.
Many of the western chroniclers wrote that Stribog could be a destroyer of the good, but this should not

be taken seriously, because these chroniclers always wrote with a purpose to decrease the importance
of Slavic gods and impose their religion, mostly Christianity. In order to understand this better, we
should consider the region where Slavs lived. These were mainly plains, in the vicinity of rivers and
swamps. Winds could be strong in these regions, but there were no winds that could destroy such as
hurricanes and tornados. Therefore, Stribog could not be a destroyer. The winds in the regions where
Slavs lived did not destroy, so Stribog as the lord of the winds, was not a destroyer. In order to
understand his role, we need to see what his name consists of. A part of the name tells us that it is a
deity, namely it contains the word bog (god). We should learn more about the function of Stribog from
the first part of his name, the word STRI. The verb to spread in some Slavic languages, like Slovakian, is
roztrusovat. It is clear that a sound change occurred so that s became z, but otherwise we can see the
word STR from Stribogs name. Considering this, it is probable that he was pollinator of seeds, the one
who spreads small things, but he could also spread litter.
He was imagined as an old man who had a warriors horn. With this horn he woke up the winds, his
grandsons. Because of this feature a lot of army chiefs identified with Stribog and saw him as an ideal.
By the same token, princes often built his idols and worshipped them. Stribog was especially worshipped
in Kievian Russia, with the eastern Slavs. A lot of records from that time tell us about this. In the record
Povest vremennih let it is mentioned that Stribogs statue was built on a hill above Kiev, together with
Peruns, Hors, Dabogs, Simargils and Mokos.
Stribog was also a protector of Vesna, together with Jarilo. Stribog, as a god of wind and air, brought
Vesna every spring on the wings of an easy spring gale. Together they defeated Morana every spring and
brought spring and better life conditions to the earthly world.
Eagle was the animal consecrated to Stribog. Plants consecrated to Stribog were hawthorn and oak.
When pledges were made, Stribog was often warrantor. Festivities in Stribogs honor were organized in
the summer as well as in the winter. They were probably organized in the summer in order to invocate
winds and rain, while in the winter they were organized in order to appease him. In the period of
Christianization Stribogs characteristics were overtaken by St. Bartholomew and Stevan vetroviti
(windy).

Rod
As well as all other religions and peoples, the Slavic religion also has its own genesis story. One of
the first questions of every conscious being is related to the genesis. Where did everything come from?
Where did the man's environment come from and how did it come to be? What is the purpose of the
man on the Earth? How should one behave and act? Religions answer plenty of these questions with a
genesis myth. Where there is a beginning, there is a cause, and where there is a cause, there is the
purpose of existence.
Rod is a creator. Actually, he is everything that exists. He was self-born. In the beginning, there

was only darkness, and Rod was, like a bud, trapped in an egg. When he gave life to the love goddess,
Lada, the shell cracked and love went out through the openings (this manner of creation of the Universe
reminds us of the Big Bang). Having cut his own yolk stalk, Rod separated celestial waters from the
waters of the ocean by placing the Earth between them. When he released himself from the egg, he
continued creating. He separated the truth from a lie, light from darkness, Nav from Jav, good from evil.
After that, he created Mother Earth who entered the ocean. Rod is the creator of all gods. At the end of
the creation, Rod made celestial bodies, nature, and natural phenomena from himself. He made the Sun
from his face, the Moon from his chest, stars from his eyes, sunrise and sunset from his forehead, dark
nights from his thoughts, winds from his breath, rain, snow, and hale from his tears, and thunders and
lightnings from his voice.
By doing this, Rod became the principle of the universe. He created a cow Zemun and a goat
Sedunia. Their milk was spilt and it created the Milky Way.
Rod - Svarog completed the creation of the world by setting up 12 pillars which support the
celestial vault. It is mentioned in some sources that Rod created the stone Alatir which he used to stir
the milk of life and from the milk, Mother Raw Earth (Mother Earth, mentioned earlier) and the Milky
Ocean were created. According to the same sources, Alatir remained at the bottom of the Milky Ocean,
and the duck Sveta (sveta meaning holy), which later hatched many gods was created from sea foam.
Rod actually represents a monotheistic side of Slavic religion. Although there are many gods with
the Slavs, Rod actually represents a God which fits into present monotheistic religions. Also, Rod fits into
the scheme of Nietzsches God, who existed in order to create the world and establish the principles of
the universe. Once he had completed his goal, he was able to disappear, to die. Rod has become the
principle and stopped appearing as a god, stopped interfering directly with the lives of mortals and gods,
however, he is always present in them and the principles he represents influence everything. He is in
everything, in fact, he is the foundation of everything. All the visible and invisible represents Rod.
Rod is worshiped in another way as well, however, that way has also something to do with the
genesis. Rod is a protector of fruits, birth, and family. In all Slavic languages, all of the following nouns
have a common root ROD (urod [fruits], rodjenje [birth], porodica [family]). The following words also
contain ROD in their roots: rodjak [cousin], rodbina [relatives], porod [offspring], priroda [nature], narod
[people]. This shows how much the Slavs respected Rod and to which extent they saw the foundation of
everything in him. The literal translation of the Slavic word priroda which means nature is close to
Rod; and the word narod which means people literally translates as on Rod, and Rod is also the
protector of people. Rod is the protector of kinship and relations between clans. Rod is in everything as
a foundation or as a sort of a base. Rod is everywhere around us in the manner later represented in
Christianity (with the difference that Rod is deprived of his name, because Christian god is nameless).
It is quite possible that numerous Slavic gods are just epithets or incarnations of Rod. There is a
similar phenomenon in Hinduism, where Krishna has a lot of incarnations. Thus, there is a connection
between the Slavs in Europe and the period before their arrival in Europe when they, as well as all Indo-

European people, had lived on the territory of modern India before they moved to Europe. There are
many analogies which go in favor of this theory, starting with the fact that some Slavic words originate
in Sanskrit (e.g. Swarga, which means sky in Sanskrit).
by Nikola Miloevi
Kupalo
Anyone who even superficially searched the sites on Slavic mythology had a chance to find a deity
named Kupalo in numerous glossaries and dictionaries. Brief explanations and descriptions of this god's
roles will induce the reader to conclude that this is simply a god of bathing (kupati se = to bathe) whose
main feature became an integral part of his name. The problem of Kupalo's tradition and, in general, his
status as a god, is hardly ever the target of such perfunctory research which will withhold many useful
and valuable pieces of information from the reader.
Before we proceed to examine the origin of Kupalo in Slavic mythology, we will give a brief
explanation why we have enlisted him among the non-traditional Slavic deities. Firstly, none of the
traditional sources on Slavic mythology mentions this god, his temples, statues, or the members of his
cult. Although the same is true of many Slavic gods, and even more of goddesses, authors like Vasiljev,
Srejovic and Leg do not even mention Kupalo and think that he was not worshipped by the Slavs before
conversion to Christianity. If we however turn to the Christian sources, that is the authors who describe
Slavic customs and myths of the late Middle Ages, we will see that the situation is quite the opposite.
The period following the conversion of the Slavs is very important for the research on Slavic mythology,
since at that time many new myths were established while some old ones were modified. The period of
the so-called religious duality was characterized by interpenetration of the traditional Slavic religion and
the new, Christian, ideology. That was the time when the myths about Rod and world creation emerged,
as well as many links of kinship between gods unmentioned in the myths related to the pre-Christian
period. Regardless of what the customs related to Kupalo were like before Christianization, we cannot
find any information on them in the traditional sources dealing with Slavic mythology. The only thing we
know is that the customs were connected with the celebration of the summer solstice (21st June), and
that this festival was, upon conversion, substituted by St. John's Day, or the day of Russian Ivan Kupala.
We will therefore start our analysis with the Christian holiday, and end our article with a final conclusion
about Kupalo's nature.
John the Baptist, or Ivan Kupalo, appeared, according to legend, on the Volga River in the
fifteenth century AD. After that, the holiday dedicated to this saint was celebrated in Russia, and its
main characteristic was ritual bathing. The Christian saint himself was always connected with the act of
bathing since St. John was the one who baptized Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan River. In the
Christian world, ritual bathing was therefore related to spiritual and physical purification and to some
sort of initiation. On the other hand, even before St. John's holiday was established in Russia, there was
the tradition of ritual bathing already existing among the Old Slavs. What's more, Alexander Asov thinks
the introduction of St. John's holiday was just an incentive for the renewal of the Slavic tradition he

refers to as "kupalenjska". Consequently, even before the Slavs adopted the customs related to the
festival of the so-called Ivan Kupalo, they had evidently followed some similar custom. Some sources
inform us that the Slavs used to celebrate the summer solstice, called Kupalo, of which ritual bathing
was a compulsory part.
We can conclude beyond doubt that in this way a Christian holiday was purposefully established in
the Middle Ages Russia in order to render Christianity more acceptable to the Slavs. Insignificant
difference between the dates of pagan and Christian holiday supports our claim since, as we know, St.
John's day is celebrated on 7th July. Now we can draw a conclusion about Kupalo's nature he was
connected to the period of the summer solstice celebrations the custom of ritual bathing.
What else can we learn from the sources on Slavic customs? During this holiday, ritual cleansing
was not preformed only by bathing holy fires were also used for the same purpose. These holy fires
were most frequently jumped over, since the Slavs believed that in that way they could free themselves
from the influence of negative, that is demon, forces. They used to lead cattle over the holy fire for the
same reason.
Apart from that, there was a custom of searching for and cooking magic herbs. There was one
more interesting custom, with which we will deal in more detail, since it is related to a myth featuring
Kupalo. The myth is connected to the custom of throwing wreaths down the river, the purpose of which
was to help young Slavic girls find their future husband. Once upon a time, the myth says, there were
twin brother and sister Kostroma and Kupalo. Separated at birth from each other, they grew until they
were at a marrying age. As she was walking by the river one day, Kostroma's wreath fell from her head
into the river and was accidentally picked up by her long-lost brother Kupalo. Ignorant of being
relatives, Kostroma and Kupalo got married, since a boy who picked up a girl's wreath was bound by
custom to become her husband. Learning however that they were related, Kostroma and Kupalo
drowned, and the gods, feeling pity for them, turned them into flowers.
Can we, from everything mentioned above, conclude that the Slavs worshipped a god of male
gender named Kupalo? Not at all. Description of a "kupalenjski" ritual (the term used by Asov) supports
the theory that Kupalo's holiday was actually dedicated to a goddess. Namely, on the day of the summer
solstice the Old Slavs would make a doll from straw, having female genitals, and then ritually destroy it.
Most frequently they would "drown" Kupala doll in the water or burn it ritually, and similar practice was
common to the former neighbors of the Slavs the Celts. Kupalo could therefore have been of female
gender as well, that is, this deity could have had the name Kupala. Was it really a deity or just the spirit
of the solstice is the question we still have no answer to. Slavic custom of ritual bathing is described in
The Book of Veles, the authenticity of which is still a matter of dispute. On the plate number 14 of The
Book of Veles one of the authors says: "We wash our bodies and our spirit in the pure living water". Text
on the plate number 25 says something similar: "And Kupalo sends us the message that we have to be
an army of pure bodies and souls. And so we follow the footsteps of he who is our protector in a
righteous fight". We can see from all this how much attention the Slavs were devoting to the purity of
body and soul, and how much their behavior was influenced by a strict moral code. This kind of attitude

is closely connected with the Slavs' Aryan origin, since the old Vedans had a similar view of the world
and performed similar cleansing rituals.
We hope that Kupalo's role in Slavic spiritual world is now somewhat better explained. Slavic
system of spiritual values cannot be fully understood if we do not take into consideration the
significance the Slavs attached to spiritual and bodily purification. Due to that, we can think of Kupalo
primarily as a symbol of the Slavs' striving for spiritual and moral purity, which makes the problem his
divine status, his gender or his traditional origin less significant for the research into and analysis of
Slavic religious feeling.

Lela (Ljelje, Poljelja)

Lela as a deity is not mentioned in Russian sources on old Slavic religion, nor in the sources on
the religion of the Polab-Baltic and the Western Slavs in general. Serbian lyric songs, however, are full of
invocations of Lela, whereas in Serbian epic poems this character also appears, admittedly, masked
behind the name of Jelena or Jelica. We can therefore rightfully conclude that Lela might have been
worshipped on Serbia's territory or even beyond.
Judging by the roles associated with this goddess, we can think of Lela as a very old deity. In the
Southern Slavs' religion she has the role of the Forest Mother whose cult is connected to the period of
matriarchy. Lela is most similar to Greek Artemis, since both are associated with wild female sexuality in
the period when women had not yet been made inferior. She was the goddess of the forest, taking care
of the forest creatures and the people who sought shelter in the woods. Aleksandra Bajic thinks that
Lela is the protector of women still invoked by Serbian and Vlach women who face serious problems.
We can see from all this that Lela is the most similar to Devana due to her unrestrained femininity. On
the other hand, differences between Devana and Lela are considerable. Devana is, above all, a goddess
of marked lunar characteristics, unlike Lela, who is represented as the goddess of summer and the bride
of the Sun.
In this way, Lela stands for that part in woman which slowly is submitting to male dominance and
which gives in only to the one who is as divine as she. Her companion is the Sun himself, of whom Lela is
eternal bride. In lyric folk songs she is also referred to as the Sun's little sister. By analysing the myths
about Lela we can see how a supreme female deity was dethroned and made to share her divine
features with her male counterpart. The goddess of matriarchy was losing her power more and more
until the point when she was finally deprived of her divine status in Christianity, which mentions no
female deity.
What can we learn about Lela from Serbian lyric poems? They represent her as the daughter of
Lada, the goddess of love. In some poems these two goddesses are perceived as one: "Lejla, Ljejla / Hey
Poljelja, Ljelja / Liljana Lada" .* Ljelj was thought to be her father, and her brother was Poljelj, as can be
seen from the following lines: "that beautiful dance of Lada, / both of Lada and of Ljelj, / and of their

son Poljelj, / and of their daughter Poljelja".* In the songs of this type there frequently occurs an
exclamation "le" which is considered to be a short form derived from Lela's name. The exclamation
"le" is in Serbian and Macedonian songs associated with expressing sadness and sorrow, and
consequently, in the group of Southern Slavic languages the term used for keening is "lelek". Here is an
example of "lelek": in Macedonian poem "Zajdi, zajdi"a young man complains to the forest about his
transience addressing her as "you forest, lo, my sister", uttering his grief in that way. The exclamation
"le", thus connected to the forest, supports the theory that Lela was the goddess of the forest. Lela also
appears in lyric poems in disguise as a wild forest girl wooed by many men, none of whom is destined
to have her. When this girl is taken away by the suitors representing the emperor of Turkey, the skies
vent their rage by sending thunder and lightning down on them. They are punished for being
impertinent enough to kidnap the Sun's sister, the cousin of the Moon and the mistress of the forest.
Epic poems feature a girl named Jelica, who is frequently the companion to the heroes representing
solar deities. One of those heroes is, for example, duke Prijezda, who jumps into an abyss with his wife
to avoid being captured by the Turks. Natko Nodilo thinks that duke Prijezda and his brother Pojezda are
Slavic version of the Asvins, Hindu heroes that are considered to be the descendants of the sun.
According to Aleksandra Bajic, Jelica that appears in this epic poem ("The Death of Duke Prijezda") is,
like many other Jelicas, none other than Lela, the powerful goddess of the forest and the bride of the
Sun.
*taken from: SVEVLAD
Majka Vlazna Zemlja, Matka Ziema, Mati Syra Zemia
Mati Syra Zemia (Moist Mother Earth), Slavic mother goddess, is probably one of the oldest and most
important deities. Her name explicitly describes her as forever fertile, life-giving and reproductive force.
The cult of the mother goddess originates from the period of matriarchy, the system that, in some of its
forms, lasted among the Slavs even until the 10th century. Records on the life of Lady Olga (second half
of the 10th century) mention that the women of that age had almost the same rights as the men. Olga
herself was the owner of a land, and she ruled over it before she married Lord Igor, whose throne she
inherited.
Majka zemlja
According to written sources, mother goddess, along with an array of natural deities and ancestral
spirits, was worshipped until 988. We can see here that some forms of matriarchy survived up to the
point when prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and pulled down the polytheistic idols
placed on a hill above Kiev. As for the women rights on our territory, the situation was quite similar.
Vladislav Ribnikar thought that the Slav women had lost their rights only after the Serbs had accepted
Byzantine customs and laws. Although all the researchers do not share the idea that women's rights
were equal to men's (Marija Gimbutas), they generally agree that the Slavs lived in some type of
matriarchy. This fact was used by Maria Semionova, the writer, who in her novels on Vukodav described
Slavic society as the one in which women were sacred. Another fact supports the claim that the cult of
mother goddess was very old she was never represented in a human form, but was rather worshipped

as the divine Earth itself. As we know, this type of perception is characteristic of the oldest form of
religion animism. In animism, everything that surrounds the man is divine and infused with a soul.
Mati Vlazna Zemlja is just one of the names of the mother goddess. In Poland she was known as
Matka Ziemia, and in Lithuania as Zemyna, that is, the Earth itself. In The Book of Veles she is mentioned
as the cow named Zemun, the divine cow connecter with the constellation of the Bull (the town of
Zemun was probably named after this mother goddess). The cow is certainly related to a goddess of
fertility, since every mother goddess is represented as having many breasts. The Slavs always had a
particular connection with their mother goddess, quite different from the one they had with all the
other gods. This connection was a mix of love, admiration, and the feeling of deep intimacy. Mother
goddess was the only deity whom the Slavs addressed directly, without mediators or using priests'
services. She had the role of an oracle that the Slavs consulted for advice, but she was also a divine
witness and judge. In the disputes about private property, people used to plead with her to be their
witness and they swore by her name. To confirm that the marriage ceremony is satisfyingly concluded,
people would swallow a lump of earth or put it on their head. Her help was also invoked when the cattle
needed protection from disease. The Slavs would make a furrow with a plough in the earth around the
cattle, releasing in that way the protective power of the earth.
Since Mati Vlazna Zemlja was one of the most worshipped deities, it comes as no surprise to find
traces of her cult among the Slavs even after they converted to Christianity. In Russia, after 988 there
was a period of the so-called religious duality, during which pagan gods were worshipped along with
Christ and Christian saints. Characteristics of mother goddess were transferred to Virgin Mary. A myth
presenting mother goddess in a somewhat atypical role originates from this period. This myth tells
about how Rod and Lada created the universe, and how the three worlds Jav, Nav and Prav were
created. Jav was connected with Majka Vlazna Zemlja and it stood for everything that people could
perceive with their five senses, the material world. Sources available on the internet describe an event
that took place in a Slavic village (the name of the village is not given) in which cholera broke out. The
village women gathered one night and started to plough the earth in order to stir the powers of the
mother goddess and plead with her for help. While doing this, they tried to look as scary as possible, so
they carried skulls and various tools with them. Their goal was to drive cholera out of their village by
using the power of Majka Vlazna Zemlja, at the same time awaking an ancient force that was slumbering
within themselves for hundreds of years. The village virgins let their hair hang loose, and the old women
covered their heads with a white cloth. The group made terrible noise to scare the evil forces, and every
man that chanced to be in the women's way was beaten by the tools they carried. It would not be
surprising to witness this kind of ritual in the times of matriarchy, when the woman had the leading role
in the society and when it was believed that she was the human form of the earth goddess. But this
particular event took place at the beginning of the 20th century. This shows that the cult of Majka
Vlazna Zemlja survived into our times in an almost unaltered form, and we can consequently conclude
that this goddess was one of the most important deities of the Slavic pantheon.
Moko

Goddess Mokos was worshipped by the Eastern Slavs, but some forms of her name also appear
among the Western Slavs (Mukes, Mukus, Mococize). Mokos was the goddess of spinning, but she was
also a protector of women, taking care about their health and their children. She helped the women in
labor and protected their babies, at the same time helping the women keep a good marriage. Besides
spinning, Mokos was connected with other duties reserved for women and with household
management, but spinning was the skill that was in close relation with this goddess. There were many
customs concerning Mokos as the protector of the spinners.
Moko Slavic women would throw hemp, called "mokrica" (mokar = wet), into the water. The hemp was a
sacrifice offered to Mokos. Hemp yarn was not to be left over the night, lest Mokos would spin it.
Another of Mokos's roles was to protect the sheep and their fleece; the Slavs made offerings to her for
that reason, too. A pair of scissors, basil and a skein of wool used to be put before the feet of Mokos's
statue, with the aim of insuring protection for the lambs that hadn't been shorn yet. Even after
conversion to Christianity, some beliefs related to Mokos were kept. In northern Russia, there was a
belief that during the Lent Mokos went from house to house supervising the spinners. It is thought that
Mokos had a role similar to that of the Sudjajas (Sudjaje = the Fates). Since she was connected with
spindle and distaff, it is assumed that Mokos's area of influence stretched to the cosmic plain, making
her the goddess that controlled human destiny and cut the short thread of human life.
Another action related to Mokos was casting spells. The women that practiced sorcery in the 16th
century Russia were called mokose. Aleksandra Bajic brings Mokosa in connection with Baba-Jaga, a
witch from Russian fairy tales that lives in a cottage placed on chicken legs as foundations and helps
boys and girls by giving them magic objects. A question arises, however, whether Mokos was originally a
witch goddess or she became one after Christianization.
Mokos was a goddess of the Kiev pantheon. Her statue was erected by prince Vladimir in 980 AD
on a hill above Kiev, but it was pulled down by the same prince eight years later, after he converted to
Christianity. How was Mokos represented? In northern Russia she was imagined as a woman having a
big head and long arms. Vollmer, the historian, mentions Mokos's statue representing a figure put
together from parts of different animals. Owing to that, Mokos was considered to be the goddess of
ugliness, pains, troubles and human passion, but this interpretation has no foundation in the traditional
ways of representing Mokos.
What can we learn from etymological analysis of Mokos's name? The name of this goddess is
most frequently connected with the word mek (= soft), so she could be related to something that is soft.
Since she was the spinners' goddess and the protector of the sheep, it is most probable that the
adjective "soft" refers to fleece. Mokos could also be connected with the adjective mokro (= wet), which
makes some authors identify her with Majka Vlazna Zemlja. This identification is certainly based on one
of Mokos's characteristics she was also seen as the goddess of fertility. The rain was therefore
sometimes referred to as "Mokoss milk". The term Mokos is also used in Finland, where it can usually
be found as a surname. The Finns are thought to have taken this name over from the Slavs, or to be

more precise, those whose last name is Mokos are thought to be of Slavic origin.
Mokos is sometimes identified with Vida, Svarog's wife. She was, along with Svarog, the creator of
mankind, and was consequently connected with the white bee, Slavic mythical ancestor. The bee is
therefore Mokos's holy animal, along with the sheep and the snake. Her plants are lime, flax and
"kantarion". Lime is of course related to the first woman made of lime-wood, created by Mokos.
According to Cajkanovic, flax is a plant frequently used in casting spells, whereas "kantarion" is used in
treating problems connected with female reproductive organs.
Mokos's characteristics were transferred onto St. Petka. St. Petka is also the protector of women,
and it is interesting to know that Vlach women frequently mention this saint while performing magic
rituals. Some of them pray to St. Petka to help them perform the ritual, and she even appeared to a man
to welcome him into a witch cult. Mokos's holy day is Friday women must not spin on that day,
otherwise Mokos will punish them. The festival dedicated to this goddess was celebrated some time
between 25th October and 1st November, depending on which date happened to be Friday. As we
know, St Petka's Day is celebrated on 27th October, and that holiday is fixed to that date, although it
probably shouldn't be because Friday is dedicated to female deities Freya (Friday) and Venus (venerd).
On Mokos's holiday people would go to a lime-tree wood and make offerings usually consisting of herbs
and various vegetables, but there is also a record that they sometimes sacrificed birds to this goddess.

Morana
Morana was the Slavic goddess of winter and death. As the goddess of winter, she was never
popular among the Old Slavs, which is understandable if we have in mind the climate in which they used
to live. Morana was a long and cold winter, a winter that could bring death through famine and extreme
cold, that could cause disease and massive death of the cattle. Her arrival was therefore always
expected with fear and her departure was celebrated with a lot of noise and cheer. Her complete
opposite was goddess Vesna, whom the people used to welcome with festivals and jubilation, at the
same time joyfully witnessing the departure of Morana the winter. Numerous rituals were connected
with seeing Morana off. People would most frequently make a doll representing this goddess and then
ritually destroy it. They made the doll from straw or switches, and then beat it with their hoes. After that
they either threw it into the water or burned it. There was another ritual related to Morana, that was
performed in the month of March. That was the so-called mackare (maska = mask), when a masked
group of people used to gather in order to scare Morana and drive her away.
Let us now deal with the relations between Morana and other Slavic deities. Stories concerning
these relations are of obscure origin and disputable authenticity, but we will on this occasion take them
as relevant sources on Slavic mythology, since they offer a wealth of information on Morana's nature.
According to one of these stories, Dazbog, the Sun-god, went to the underworld called Nav in search of
his wife Zlata Maja, but there instead of her he met Morana, who seduced him. Since after some time
she became bored with Dazbog and found another lover Jula Crnobog, Morana decided to poison

Dazbog, but he was saved by Ziva. Then he burned Morana and banished her back to Nav. This story
perfectly fits the process of the Suns movement throughout the year, because the Sun, according to the
belief of every pagan people, spends the winter in the underworld, called Nav by the Slavs. His mistress
is then the winter herself, and she tries to prevent him from leaving the underworld by giving him the
drink of oblivion. But Morana cannot rule forever, so at the end of the story Dazbog is released and she
is destroyed. Another myth brings Morana in connection with Voden, making them a divine couple of
the underworld. Voden (also called Moran) and Morana drown people in their Morana - dark waters, so
the Slavs tried to propitiate them by sacrificial offerings. As a water goddess, Morana also appeared as
Modruna, a witch that the Slavs living in the Urals believed to inhabit the ponds. She usually appeared as
an ugly old woman, but to those who showed no fear before her she appeared as a beautiful young girl.
The name of the Morava River has some similarities with the name Morana, another fact that supports
the theory that Morana was a water deity. The argument is even stronger if we know that the Slavs
thought of water as a hiding place of dark forces and a connection with the underworld Nav.
Morana was described as a woman of dark hair and a terrifying appearance. A similar description
was used for another creature of quite the same nature Kuga (kuga = the plague). Kuga was probably
just one of the aspects of Morana. Another was Mora a female demon that attacked people by night
and sat on their chest causing nightmares. Witches were also connected with Morana, like many other
demonic beings. But we cannot claim that Morana was an entirely negative goddess. No pagan system
has a deity with such characteristics, since the unrealistic division between the absolute good and
absolute evil came only with Christianity. In Morana we have an example of how our ancestors
worshipped even something that did not bring them good, but rather made them scared and terrified.
by Vesna Kakasevski
Podaga
The island of Rujan on the Baltic Sea was one of the most important religious centers of the Old
Slavs. Its inhabitants were well-known for their dogged perseverance with their old religion, refusing to
convert to Christianity. On the island of Rujan, there were temples dedicated to Svetovid, Rudjevid,
Peorevid and Porenucije, but apart from these gods, another god of an unusual name is mentioned
Podaga. It is not yet determined whether this god had his own temple, or his picture, like the picture of
Svarozic, was in a temple of another god. Since the written sources do not mention the exact location of
the picture, we are unable to draw any conclusion concerning the problem of Podaga's role whether
he had any special functions, or he was just one of the manifestations of a Slavic god. For that reason,
we will, in our analysis of Podaga's nature, concentrate on the limited data based on a Helmold's text
and on the etymological analysis of Podaga's name.
Of all the chroniclers that dealt with life and religion of the Old Slavs, only Helmold mentions this
deity. He also refers to Podaga as Pion, and the text in its entirety says: "The Slavs have various forms of
superstition. Idols of some of their gods are in their temples, like the statue of Pion, also called
Podaga..." The excerpt from Helmold's work is therefore the only historical piece of information that we

have on this god. What can we learn about Podaga in this way? Nothing apart from the fact that the
Slavs used to worship a deity of that name and that the statue or the picture of him was placed in a
Rujan temple. Consequently, all further analysis has to be reduced to etymological study of Podaga's
name. Maretic, the researcher, identifies the name Podaga with the name Budigoj, since the latter is
frequently mentioned in the Slavic languages. Since this conclusion is not thoroughly explained, we will
only mention how Maretic interprets the name Budigoj, that is allegedly the same as the name Podaga.
Budigoj is seen as the god of wakefulness (budan = "awake"), that is, the god of the awakened life. Louis
Leg and Spasoje Vasiljev rightfully challenged this conclusion. Leg thought that the name Podaga was
a consequence of sound metathesis, and that its original form was Pogoda. His theory can be supported
by facts. A Polish historian named Dlugos mentioned a female deity whose name was Pogoda. Goddess
Pogoda was, according to Dlugos, the goddess of temperature. Accepting Leg's theory about the
existence of a deity named Pogoda, Spasoje Vasiljev performed the following etymological analysis:
according to him, the name Podaga is a compound consisting of two words the preposition po and the
root god, that is related to time or to a certain period of time. The root god can be found in Serbian
word godina (="year"), also used by the Croats, the Bosnians, the Macedonians, etc. Vasiljev therefore
thinks that Pogoda was a deity related to a certain period of time, a kind of a deadline or time limit, or a
period by the end of which something had to be performed. Since our ancestors were primarily focused
on agriculture and since they organised their lives in accordance with the natural fertility cycles, Pogoda
was, according to Vasiljev, connected with field work, hunting and fishing. All of these activities depend
on the natural cycles, like seeds' germination, growth and ripening, or the cycles of animal life based on
the periods of mating, procreation, migration, etc. The verb pogoditi (= "to guess") is also related to
Pogoda's name, which is why we can bring this god in connection with the ability to guess the right time
to sow, reap, hunt. This verb is also related to hunting, since hunting implies shooting and hitting
animals with arrows, spears, harpoons, or bullets (gadjati = "to shoot", pogadjati = "to hit"). Gods of
hunting frequently appear in various mythological systems of ancient Europe there are Greek Artemis
and Roman Diana both were goddesses of hunting. There is also Uler, Nordic god of hunting and
archery, Finnish Horagalis, etc. Apart from that, Pogoda could also have been a deity quite similar to
Greek Chronos, but none of the interpretations given above is based upon historical facts, and we
cannot rely on them in our analysis of Slavic mythology.

by Vesna Kakasevski

Multi-Headed Slavic Deities

Slavic mythology is specific in many ways. It is characterized by a division into a great number of
pantheons that are related to a certain geographical area, and by a system of values that is rarely met in
other peoples' mythologies and religions. However, the most distinctive characteristic of the old Slavic
religion is the fact that a great number of Slavic gods was represented as having more than one head.
This tendency was particularly characteristic of the Baltic and the Plab Slavs. Let us just mention the
statues of Svetovid, Rudjevid, Porevid, Radgost and Porenucije, as well as the statues of Triglav, the

three-headed god that was worshiped by the ancestors of the today's Poles. The cult of a three-headed
god was also cherished among the Southern Slavs, and the name of this entity was Trojan. Simargal was
also represented with a number of heads statues of him featured a terrifying seven-headed god having
conspicuous warrior characteristics.
If we carefully examine the phenomenon of the multi-headed Slavic deities, we will notice that none
of them was represented as having an arbitrarily chosen number of heads. Svetovid was always
represented as four-headed,
Triglav as three-headed,
Simargal as seven-headed, etc.
What is the meaning of these numbers? It is usually thought that Svetovid's four heads stand for the
four sides of the world that this all-seeing god is looking at. The five heads of Porevid are perceived as
the five winter months, whereas the seven heads of Rudjevid represent the seven months of the
summer season. Speaking about Simargal, we have pointed out that his name was related to number
seven, and this can be brought into relation with his seven heads.
As for Triglav, the number of his heads can be connected with the concept of the holy trinity that existed
in the religion that preceded Slavic paganism. It was, of course, the ancient Aryan religion Vedantism,
and the same concept would later become a characteristic of Christianity, that remained the official
religion of the Slavic peoples to this day.
The Book of Veles also mentions triple deities that are referred to as the Triglavs. We can rightfully
conclude that the concept of a holy divine trinity had always existed among the Slavs. The question why
the statue of Porenucije had five heads remains unanswered, as does the question what the four heads
of the Zbruc idol stand for. It is possible that this is just another statue of Svetovid, but it could also be
that it features four different deities two male and two female. The phenomenon of the two-headed
god Radgost we will analyze in greater detail somewhat later in the text.
We will try to explain the phenomenon of the multi-headed Slavic gods from a philosophic and
psychological standpoint. Our analysis of this phenomenon will be based on the philosophy Friedrich
Schelling, a German philosopher who lived in the eighteenth and the nineteenth century. His
interpretation of entire mythology was based on a key that we will adopt here for the needs of this
analysis in order to, if but vaguely, throw light on the dark corners of Slavic mythological system.
Schelling's entire philosophy of mythology is based on the idea that the mythology of one people is the
reflection of its theological consciousness that, at the moment of creation of that mythology, was at a
certain level of development. The theological, or the mythological, consciousness will be defined as the
consciousness of a people that implies a certain attitude towards the divine, regardless of whether the
divine consists of a number of gods or just one object of worshipping God or Nature. The lowest level
of mythological consciousness, according to Schelling, is related to the period of animism, when no deity
was particularly important, but rather, through the belief in natural spirits, the entire Nature was

worshipped. On the other hand, the highest level of mythological consciousness was reached in the time
of ancient Greece, when all the deities were separate as individuals, with their roles clearly defined and
their personalities fully developed. If we choose to interpret Slavic mythology according to this key, we
will come to the conclusion that the consciousness of the Slavic tribes, at the time when their mythology
was being created, was at a level between animism and a fully formed mythological system such as, for
example, the one of the Greek mythology was. The Slavs' mythology was, naturally, closer to a
systematized mythology than animism, since its concept clearly shows the tendency to organize the
mythological content according to a system. The final impression is that Slavic mythology was only one
step away from complete systematization, so the highest level of mythological consciousness was never
reached.
The fact that Slavic gods were represented as multiple-headed creatures will serve as a proof of
Schelling's thesis that every people had reached a certain level of theological, or mythological,
consciousness. From such perceptions of deities we can conclude that in Slavic consciousness those
deities were not completely individualized, but were rather seen as unified in a way. This is particularly
true of the gods of the Polab and Baltic Slavs that were represented as multi-headed, but it is also true
of the gods of other Slavic pantheons whose roles were not clearly defined but were interwoven with
the roles of the other gods. Based on Schelling's theory of mythology, we can conclude that every Slavic
deity that was represented as having more than one head actually symbolized a small pantheon.
According to this interpretation, the five heads of Porevid stand for five different gods, and the seven
heads of his brother Rudjevid stand for the seven gods of the Kiev pantheon. Triglav and Trojan could
therefore represent three different gods, or three different aspects of one and the same god. As for
Svetovid, he was one particular god whose multiple nature was only accentuated by his representation
as a four-headed being. Unfortunately, this cannot be applied to the entity represented in the Zbrucki
idol that, apart from four different deities, also features three different spheres of the Universe:
heavenly, human, and the underworld. From everything mentioned above we can conclude that the Old
Slavs were not very precise in expressing their understanding of their gods, and for that reason, instead
of a number of gods, they used to represent only one.
What is interesting is that this key could be used to interpret some other phenomena of Slavic
mythology, such as the fact that some deities could have animal form. As we know, Dazbog and Hors
were wolves by nature, Radgost was connected to the tiger, etc. This phenomenon can de interpreted as
the influence of shamanism upon Slavic mythology, and it was a manifestation of an idea that preceded
paganism as the level of theological consciousness that the Slavs functioned at. By examining this
phenomenon, we can see how mythological consciousness of the old Slavs was gradually developing
from animism, going through the stages of shamanism and totemism, finally to reach the level at which
the gods were perceived as individual and almost fully differentiated entities. For that particular reason
Radgost was not represented as a clearly defined god, but the idea of him was rather lodged in Slavic
consciousness as inseparable from his animal form the tiger.
by Vesna Kakasevski

Some less Familiar Deities of the Old Slavs

Crnoglav Crnoglav is mentioned in a document known as Knytlinga saga that tells how Svetovid's
statue was pulled down. As we can see from his name, he was a black-headed god (crna = black, glava =
head) who, in addition to that, had a silver moustache. In Knytlinga saga he is presented as a god of war.
Cislobog The Book of Veles describes this deity as a god of numbers and measurement whose role is to
keep the cosmic order. The Old Slavs were particularly concerned with how the numbers affected
reality, and they consequently thought some numbers were lucky and the others unlucky. The even
numbers were lucky. This can be related with the dominance of the solar principle in their religion.
Ezi (Ezi-Jezi) The Slavs of Poland used to worship a female divine trinity comprised of the goddesses
Leda, Lada and Ezi. It is possible that, behind the name of goddess Ezi, or Ezi-Jezi, Ziva herself was
hidden.
Leto (Leda) Leto was a goddess of the Polacks, a member of the Leda-Lada-Ezi trinity. As can be seen
from her very name, she was the ruler of the summer and of ripe wheat (leto = summer).
Jula Deity of such name was worshiped in the town of Julin, which was also known as Volin. It is
thought that this was a local deity that gave her name to the town (Julin means "belonging to Jula").
Jula's worshipers bowed to a holy spear that was placed in the town square. Some authors, like the
chronicler Ebo, claim that the spear actually belonged to Julius Caesar, the legendary conqueror of Julin.
Theoreticians of Slavic Vedantism make parallels between Jula and Crnobog.
Pizamar - Knytlinga saga mentions this deity as well. His statue was in the town of Korencija. Louis Leg
thinks that Pizamar and Besomar are one and the same.
Porenucije Deity of this name was worshiped on the island of Rujan, or to be more precise, in the
southern regions of this island, in the town of Korencija. The statue of Peruncije represented a god
similar to Svetovid it was a deity with five faces, four of which were on his head, and the fifth one was
on his chest.
Porevid (Puruvid) Another god mentioned in Knytlinga saga. His statue was pulled down, along with
the statues of Rinvid and Turupid, by the Danish king Valdemar, who launched a campaign against
Korencija town. It is possible that this god was equal to Proven, or Perun. Porevid's statue had five
heads, the same as Porenucije's.
Rinvid A god whose statue was destroyed during king Valdemar's invasion of Korencija. Leg thinks
that Rinvid was one and the same with Rudjevid, a god of the island of Rujan whom we have equaled
with Gerovit.
Turupid A deity of Korencija whose statue was also destroyed by king Valdemar. It is not unlikely that

Turpid was a warrior god, since in the language of the Kasubas, the Polish Slavs, there is a similar word
that could be translated as "shake" or "jolt". This word is trepoet, and is quite similar to Turpid's name.
Zizileja A deity mentioned by a Polish historian Dlugos. She was the protector of children, watching
over their fate. It is possible that we are dealing here with just one more form of goddess Ziva who,
among other things, was perceived as a mothering character.
Spirits

Bannik (BAHN-neek) The Bathhouse Spirit. Bathhouses resembled saunas that had an inner steaming
room and an outer changing room. A place where women gave birth and practiced divinations, the
bathhouse was strongly endowed with vital forces. The third firing (or fourth, depending on tradition)
was the offering to the Bannik, and no Christian images were allowed as it might offend the occupants.

Boginki (boo-GIN-kee) "Little Goddess" Traditionally, covens of old women would perform sacrifices
and rituals for the nymphs of the riverbanks. Boginki were said to steal babies from their human parents
that were replaced with Odmience the Changed Ones. These spirits are said to be the original deities of
life and predate the sky gods. They also appear to be forerunners of the Rusalki.

Djabelek An imp who plays practical jokes; in modern terminology now means "demon" or "devil." As
always, children in families who have too much energy and are always in mischief are called "djablek" in
a loving, but amused way.

Dogoda (doh-GOH-da) Gentle Spirit of the West Wind, associated with love.

Dola The protective spirits which embody human fate. They can appear in the guises of a God, a cat, a
man, a mouse, or a woman. They have their own preferences and provinces; and they would hound you
if you made choices that were not planned by Fate.

Domowije (doh-moh-VEE-yeh)/ domowy skrzat house elf - The Grandfather house spirit; resembles a
male head of a family living or dead. The favorite places for these spirits to live is the threshold under
the door or under the stove. He is responsible for maintaining peace and order in the household.
Peasants made sure to feed him nightly, in return for being well taken care of and protected. When a
new house is constructed, the owner would attract one of these spirits by placing a piece of bread down
before the stove was put in. Special care was taken to make sure to only obtain pets and farm animals
he liked, but the domowije would torment the ones he didn't care for. Salted bread wrapped in a white
cloth appeases this spirit. Putting clean white linen in his room was an invitation to eat a meal with the
family. Hanging old shoes in the yard makes him happy as well. The Domowijes behavior could foretell

or forewarn about the future. He will pull hair to warn a woman of danger from an abusive man. He
would moan and howl to warn of coming trouble. If he shows himself, it forewarns of death, if weeping
it is said to be a death in the family. If he is laughing there are good times to be expected. If he strums a
comb there is a wedding in the future.

Kikimora (kee-kee-MOHR-ah) or Shishimora A female house spirit that is sometimes said to be

married to the Domowije. She usually lives behind the stove or in the cellar. She will look after the
chickens and the housework if the home is well kept. If not, she will tickle, whistle, and whine at the
children at night. She comes out at night to spin; if she appears spinning to someone it is said that
person will die. To appease an angry Kikimora it is said one should wash all the pots and pans in a fern
tea. She is said to look like an average woman with her hair down (Slavic women kept their heads
covered).

Lakanica, Lugovik (loo-GOH-veek) A meadow spirit; Polish field spirit.

Leszi, Leshii (LESH-ee) Male woodlands elves who protect wild animals and have a close bond with the
wolf. He is also seen in the company of bears. He is said to shape shift to any size, animal or plant. He is
the Forest Lord and carries a club to express his ruler ship in the wood. If one could be friends with the
Leszi, he would teach them the secrets of magic.

Mamuna A highlander Polish spirit said to lead one down the wrong path, literally and figuratively.
Mamony The Polish Wild Woman spirit of the forest. She resembles such nature goddesses as Artemis.
Mora Souls of living people that leave the body during the night, and are seen as wisps of straw or hair
or as moths.
Naw Demons from the souls of persons that had met a tragic death or premature death.
Neuri Shape-shifters of uncertain origins. They are said to be sorcerers that can take the shape of a
wolf for one week once a year.
Nocnitsa "Night Hag," nightmare Spirit that also goes by the names Krisky and Plaksy. She is known in
Bulgaria as Gorska Makua.
Odmience Changlings left behind by the Boginki.
Polewiki, Polevoi (poh-LEH-veek) A field spirit that appears as a deformed dwarf with different colored
eyes and grass for hair. He appears either at noon or sunset and wears either all black or all white. He
will lead wandering people in a field astray; give them diseases or ride them over with his horse if he
finds them asleep. If a person falls asleep on the job after drinking, the Polewiki might murder them.

Appeasing the Polewiki requires two eggs and a rooster, a toad and crow placed in a ditch when no one
is looking. Poland was named after the word Pole, which means field.
Poludnica, (poh-wood-NEET-sah) The whirlwind named "Lady Midday," who makes herself more
evident in the middle of hot summer days. She takes the form of whirling dust clouds and carries a
scythe. She will stop people in the field to ask them difficult questions or engage them in conversation. If
anyone fails to answer a question or tries to change the subject, she will cut off their head or strike them
with illness. She may appear as an old hag or beautiful woman, or a 12 year old girl; and she was useful
in scaring children away from valuable crops. She is only seen on the hottest part of the day and is a
personification of a sun-stroke.
Psotnik (spoiler) Elves, "mischief makers."
Rarog (RAH-rook) A hawk, falcon, or fiery dwarf who turns himself into a whirlwind. The word for
whirlwind seems to be a late bastardization of the name Swarog. In Lusitania to the people of Urals it
was customary to throw a knife into a whirlwind to kill the demon residing in it. Bulgarians, Russians,
and Pommeranians still cast themselves face down before a whirlwind to ward off misfortune and
illness. Russians would shout "a belt around your neck!" in order to strangle the demon.
Rusalje, Rusalki (roo-SAHW-kah) They are the Spirits that live in the waters from Fall to Spring; in
some traditions they reside in the waters from Summer to Fall. In other tales, they become the Sky
Women when they return from the waters. They are called Queen of Fairies and it is said only witches
dared to swim with the Rusalje. The belief that the thunder and lightening of spring time was brought by
the Sky Women mating with the thunder gods; so Spring festivals included celebrating the return of the
Rusalje from the waters by placing wreaths on the waters, circle dances, and fire festivals. They brought
moisture to field and forest.
Sky Women The warm weather incarnations of the Rusalka. Slavic women would go out in the first
snow fall and make snow women to honor them, as it is believed to be brought by the Sky Women.
Smierna Polish Spirit of Death.
Spor These spirits made the corn grow, and the cattle mature. The Spirit of fertility; and it is said every
family invoked them.
Sudice (The Fates) Spirits of judgement that meted out fortune, destiny, judgement and in some cases,
fatality.
Tloka The Spirit of neighborly compassion which compels you to put aside disagreements to come to
the aid of a community member in financial trouble or help a neighbor repair a damaged home.
Topieke Water spirits of human souls that died drowning, residing in the element of their own demise.
Treasurer/Karzelek (kar-ZEH-lek) gnome They live in mines and underground workings and are the
guardians of gems, crystals, and precious metals. They will protect miners from danger, and lead them

back when they are lost. They will also lead them to veins of ore. To people who are evil or insult them
they are deadly; pushing them into dark chasms or send tunnels crashing down upon them. Hurling
rocks, whistling or covering ones head are actions that are offensive to the Treasurer; who will warn the
offender with handfuls of pelted soil in their direction before taking serious action. The word for
treasurers is still a mystery, the Polish name being the closest resemblance.
Wila Reputed in Poland and Lithuania to be the shape-shifting souls of the dead that were believed to
visit the homes of their families. Peasants would lay flowers in the entrances to caves where they
believed the Wila resided. Offerings for the Wila consist of ribbons, round cakes, vegetables, fresh fruit
or other flowers left at sacred trees, fairy caves and wells. They are the female spirits that lived in the
mountains, woods, and clouds that could shape-shift into horses, falcons, or swans also.
Wodjanoj (vohd-YAH-noy) Male water spirits that are master shape-shifters that are said to live in
underwater palaces made from the treasures of sunken ships. They are reported to marry the Rusalki;
and are asked to help by fishermen by placing a pinch of tobacco in the water and say "Heres your
tobacco, Lord Wodjanoj, now give me a fish." A Wodjanoj can be appeased by giving him your first fish
or pouring butter into the water. Millers, beekeepers, and fisherman were protected by theWodjanoj.

Strzyga Vampires in Slavic culture that had two hearts and two souls, as well as two sets of teeth, but
one set growing in normally would pinpoint a Strzyga. When they die, only one soul gets passed on, and
the other soul causes the deceased Strzyga to come alive and prey upon other living beings. Burying the
body in a separate place than the removed head is said to prevent Strzyga from rising back from the
dead; but also burying the body face down with a sickle around its head is said to work as well.
Zors Male spirits of Daytime.

Mythical Creatures
Ala
Ala is a mythical creature that became a part of the Southern Slav tradition under the influence of
Turkey and Greece. It is believed however that, even before these cultures made an impact on the
mythology of the Southern Slavs, there was in it a creature that possessed the characteristics of Ala.
There is a strong connection between Alas and other creatures, especially the roles of these creatures
and the role of Ala, that probably is not the consequence of the impact made by other cultures, but was
present even before that, and only the creatures name was changed afterwards. Ala was known only in
the areas influenced by the Greeks and the Turks, therefore only to the Southern Slavs, and not to all of
them either.
Ala stands for a demon of stormy weather. It brought hail, thus destroying the crops, and was
consequently hated among the people. It was opposed by the dragon. The dragon was a good demon

that chased Ala away from the place it lived and protected the crops. According to some beliefs, Ala
could also be driven away by a Vetrovnjak, Zduhac, or a Dragon man. It was believed that Ala
brought storms that uprooted trees. Actually, Ala was considered to have rooted up the trees itself. Ala
was believed to be strong. There is a common comparison as strong as Ala that is used for
extremely strong people. Ala could bewitch a man, and such a man was referred to as Ala-possessed.
Adaja - Duan Boi
In Serbian tales, the form Ala takes is not specifically defined and it varies from one geographical area
to another. In Gruza for example, people believed that Ala was an invisible being that lived in the air,
whirlpools and lakes. It could only be heard - storm sounds announced its coming. If it was heard, the
clouds were shot at in order to kill Ala. In areas around Leskovac Ala was believed to have a horses head
and a serpents body. It was thought to be quite big, hiding its head in the clouds and uprooting the
trees with its tail. People believed that a man who saw its head would go mad. There was a perception
of Ala as a monster with a big mouth holding a spoon it eats with in its hand. For that reason people who
ate excessively were called Alas. Also, in some parts of Serbia people thought that an eagle that could
be seen before the storm was in fact an Ala heading the storm clouds. There was another belief which
said that the eagle is a friend of men, fighting Ala and drawing the storm clouds away from its region.
Therefore in some parts of Serbia people were encouraged by the sight of an eagle because they
thought it would defend their lands from hail and other unwelcome precipitation. In eastern Serbia the
eagle was thought to be fighting with Ala and leading rain and storm clouds away from its lands to
protect its nestlings from the storm. It was therefore thought that those areas where eagle built its nest
would be dry. In Macedonia and Skopje Montenegro a mythical creature with Alas characteristics was
called Adzer or Lamnja and it was believed to be a woman who drank grain or grapes in bloom. It
was also chased by the dragons, but then it was the most dangerous and could hide in the grain. Upon
conversion to Christianity St. Elias took over the role of Ala fighter and killer. In Bulgaria this creature
was called Hala, and was imagined as a thick black cloud from whose tail hail came down. Bulgarians
also knew of a similar creature called Lamja that was pictured as a woman with sharp nails, having a
dogs head with sharp teeth, her body covered in yellow scales.
Other Slavic tribes had another demon of stormy weather Baba Jaga, who was pictured as a
woman of huge physical stature, with a big nose and a protruding chin. She was thought to be eating
children and her presence brought storms and cold weather. She was supposed to be living in the forest,
in a house standing on chicken legs, surrounded by a fence made of human bones and skulls. It is
probable that, when it comes to the Southern Slavs, this demon merged with a foreign one. The fact
that Lamja or Lamnja was considered to be a woman supports this claim.
The term ala itself is of Greek origin and its primary meaning was hail. Lamnja also comes from
the Greek language. In Greek mythology Lamia was not a stormy weather demon, but Zeuss lover with
whom he had several children, but jealous Hera killed them all. For that reason Lamia destroys other
peoples children, and people added the attribute gluttonous to her name. This attribute was used to
refer to Ala as well. Ala was also called the insatiable.

In some areas two names denoting this creature were conjoined. Thus Ala combined with
Lemnja gave Alamunja. She stood for a strong wind that carried off hay and sheaves, and bent trees
to the ground. She was a creature possessing extraordinary physical strength, so a proverbial
comparison used to describe a hard-working man was He toils like Alamunja.
by Nikola Milosevic translation by Snjeana Todorovi
German
In Serbia, there were two types of belief related to German. One German or Djerman was a demon of
atmosphere that brought bad weather, storms, rain and hail. Another German was Christian St
German, but he as well acquired some characteristics attributed to the ruler of weather conditions, so
consequentially we have an interesting case of symbiosis between Christian and pagan elements.
German was a Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 727 and was later canonized.
As for customs related to German, we know of many ways of burying the German doll. The doll
was usually made of clay and had prominent genitals. Protruding sexual organs in gods effigies were a
sign of that gods significant influence on fertility. The doll could also be made of straw. Germans burial
was usually performed in times of severe drought. The ritual was preformed by girls, and usually it was
prerequisite that they should be virgins. Dodolas also took part in the ritual, and one man was allowed
also his task was to make a coffin. The point of the whole ritual was to invoke rain.
When the storm was coming, in many regions women chanted various verses asking German to
draw the storm elsewhere, to some place where it could do no damage.
Dolls representing Kupalo, Marena and Jarilo were also made. Jarilos characteristics were rather
similar to Germans, so we can conclude that German actually took over Jarilos characteristics upon
conversion to Christianity, and was transformed from a god into a demon.

Lesnik
Lesnik was the forest spirit of the Old Slavs. His connection to the woods is visible in his very name,
since "les" in the Old Slavic language (and in many living Slavic languages as well) means "forest". In the
areas surrounding Vranje this forest spirit was called "Suman". In Russia he was called "Ljesi", and we
are also familiar with the names "Ljesovik", "Lesak", "Lesnoj" and "Lisun". His wife's name was
"Lesacaha", "Lesoviha" or "Lesiha".
Lesnik - Duan Boi
In Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and Slovenia the appearance of the forest people was a common thing
(lesni lide, lesni muzove). The forest people were wild and of similar appearance and temperament as
the lesnik folk, but unlike Lesnik, who is in other areas usually an individual forest spirit, they lived in
communities.

Lesnik was imagined as an anthropomorphic creature, but he had the head of a horned animal
and was dressed in fur. It was not uncommon to imagine him with hooves. In rituals, men would appear
masked as Lesnik and tease "snaska". Snaska was a man dressed as a woman. In these rituals, the man
wearing the mask was identified with the mask, i.e. the creature whose mask he was wearing.
Lesnik was favourably disposed towards the shepherds and watched over their flocks. He was also
the protector of wild animals, a feature that seems contradictory to the previous one, since wild and
domestic animals were perceived as traditional enemies. But this role of his was, in the mind of the man
of that time, completely acceptable, because Lesnik was in charge of managing relations between them.
It was believed that someone had to solve the problems of antagonism. This role was later transferred
onto St. Sava, who was the protector of domestic animals and at the same time the shepherd of the wolf
pack. Lesnik could appear in completely human form, only that he would then have just one eye or have
no eyelashes. According to folk stories, Lesniks lived in every larger forest. They frequently kidnapped
beautiful women and took them to their cottages, which were covered with fur. They also made the girls
dance in circle around them. Some people believed that Lesnik was all covered in fur. Bears were his
pets and they were often together. Lesnik was sometimes imagined as a shepherd whose flock consisted
of bucks, does and rabbits, guarded by wolves and lynx. Legend says that Lesnik had no shadow. He
announced his arrival by making tremendous noise. He also played the reed-pipe superbly.
Lesnik - Lesniks belong to the group of the oldest fairy creatures. Perhaps only water demons and ghosts
are older than them. The phenomenon of such a creature as Lesnik is not restricted to Slavic tribes, it is
pan-European. Almost every people in Europe had its own being with characteristics similar to Lesnik's.
To some it was the forest spirit, as it was to the Slavs, while to others it was one of the gods. So all
across Europe we find various names Pan, Satyr, Silen, Faun, Sylvan, Dionysus. The close similarities
between the characteristics of these creatures and Slavic Lesnik are not difficult to notice. Supporting
the claim that Lesniks are one of the oldest fairy creatures is the fact that before the Slavs started
building temples, religious ceremonies were performed in the woods and forests. The forests were
deeply respected, and many plants and trees were considered holy. Many supernatural powers were
ascribed those plats and trees. Lesniks are mentioned in almost every record on the Old Slavs. They
appear in Kapitolar Paderbornski and in The Story of Ivans People.
Babicas, Nocnicas*
Babicas are demons of childbirth illness. They are evil, they cause disease, even kill the newborn child
and the mother. There probably was no such a malevolent demon at any other stage of life as there was
at childbirth. A newborn infant was the target of these demons, as well as its mother, within forty days
after delivery. The mother and the child were impure during this period and were therefore susceptible
to the attack of Babicas. After conversion to Christianity, the child was considered impure until it was
christened. There was probably, even before Christianization, a rite which made a child an accepted
member of the community, after which it couldnt be attacked by the evil spirits. Babicas, or Nocnicas as
they were also called, could attack indirectly as well, through an object that the baby and its mother
came into contact with. For that reason clothes or any other objects that were touched by the mother

and the child were never left outdoors overnight. Within forty days after delivery there had to be a light
burning constantly in the house, since demons were believed to be afraid of it. Generally, fire had a very
important role in the mythologies of all Indo-European tribes. Fire was believed to be divine. In many
mythologies fire was personified into a deity, or it was thought that a god had passed on the knowledge
of fire to men.
Demons of childbirth illness were called Babicas or Nocnicas, but more frequently they were
euphemistically just referred to as they. In the past, all female demons were called witches by the
Serbs. Euphemistic substitutes for the names of evil spirits could be explained by the fact that uttering
the name of a deity or a demon was thought to be the same as calling for its presence. The real names
of demons, and even gods, were therefore scarcely ever used. This poses a problem for the researchers
because consequently many demons names were forgotten.
Babicas always attacked during the night. There could be one or more the more of them
appeared, greater the harm they could do. Sometimes midwives had to sleep with the child to prevent
the attack of the demon. Actions performed against childbirth demons were mainly preventive, but
there were also actions taken to counteract ill effects. Among preventive actions is the above
mentioned light and fire that had to be kept constantly burning for forty days. In some regions the child
was smeared with garlic because evil spirits were believed to be afraid of it. Things giving off foul odor
such as tar, brimstone, old shoes, horn and the like - were burned around the baby. Iron was used in
some areas to fight Babicas off. Magic power of iron was known throughout Europe. In India iron was
considered to be protection against ill spirits. In Christianity, bells were attributed a similar role. Red
thread was used as amulet. A woman that had just given birth to a child would put a thread of red wool
in her hair and put the lock in her mouth. She would also string several cloves of garlic, a metal coin and
a thread of white wool. This string was put around the childs neck, and it was thought that Babicas
couldnt harm it then. Water was also a form of protection. It was purifying in every sense, and
therefore defended the mother and the child. Ritual bathing was also a common practice. One of the
actions taken both to prevent and ameliorate ill effects was incantation. Incantation was performed
exclusively by women because it was considered to be a womens business. Incantation includes
uttering charms that should secure benevolence of gods and demons and thus cure the disease.
Nocnicas are mentioned in Brother Rudolphs Catalogue of Magic dating from the 13th century,
and in Hussit records from the 15th century, which also give instructions for protection against them.
Another euphemistic expression is found in these records. In those areas (Bohemia) they were simply
called the evil ones.
*In Serbian, the terms are babice and nocnice. They are both plural, and are usually used in this
form when denoting the beings discussed. Singulars are babica and nocnica to which -s is added to
make English plural. Babica could roughly be translated as midwife, only an evil midwife, whereas
nocnica is a derivative of the word noc, meaning night, therefore a woman coming at night.
Mora

Mora was a mythical creature very similar to a witch. Various legends concerning Mora were
wide-spread in the western parts of Serbia, whereas in the eastern parts and in Vojvodina they cannot
be found. It was actually believed that a woman first became a Mora and after that a witch. Only a
young girl could turn into Mora, a girl that was old enough to have sex. She could become a witch only
after marrying. A girl could be identified as Mora by some mark on her body, a mole for example. Moras
could also be born by a witch mother. However, not every mother had to be a witch in order to give
birth to a Mora. If the child was born with a red caul, it was a sign that she would become a Mora, and
after that a witch. In some areas the caul was burned or buried, but the child's fate was believed to be
inextricably bound up with the caul. According to that belief, burning the caul could kill the child. If a girl
was publicly revealed as a Mora, she would lose all her powers and become like any other ordinary girl.
For that reason, if they saw a child was born with a red caul, midwives would go in front of the house
and shout that a Mora or a witch was born. On the other hand, since it could embarrass the family, this
custom was sometimes avoided.
Mora could not kill a man like a witch could. She could only torture him. This torture usually took
place during the night, while the man was asleep. He would then dream bad dreams and breathe heavily
because Mora was choking him. This is the reason why people say that someone was having nightmares
(nona mora = night-mare) if he was having bad and unpleasant dreams. When they went about their
evil business, Moras were invisible and could creep through any hole. Meanwhile, Mora's soul was
believed to be wandering around in the shape of a fly. It was believed that garlic could protect people
from Moras (garlic was a protection against the greatest number of mythic creatures). During the days
when moras and witches were believed to be the most active, people used to smear garlic over their
skin. Children were particularly taken care of. Like witches, moras could not pass by a broom that was
turned over or the blades that were stuck into the door. They were believed to be intolerant of
immortelle and wormwood.
All sorts of amulets were used as protection against moras. Another defense against moras was to take
their hat from them. Then they had to do anything that the possessor of their hat wanted, just to get it
back.
Rusalka
Rusalkas are female water demons. They are usually imagined as beautiful girls, with long, red,
unbraided hair. They did not wear any clothes. A girl who drowns becomes a rusalka, and in some
regions it is considered that the rusalkas are girls who drowned before their wedding or who did not
have a funeral. They used to dwell in the vicinity of rivers and only during the Rusal week Pentecost
week.
Rusalkas used to live under water, in castles. They were in the dominion of Water Spirit. They had
their czarina, who led them on the road to the ground and who rode in the golden carriage. She used to
call upon the other rusalkas with a horn. The queens name was Diva, Divka, Divina and Dana. She was

emperors daughter who was drowned by her stepmother. They only get out of water during Rusal week
and they stay only for one week. They were devoted to music, singing and dancing. They are mean
spirited towards other people, and they particularly dislike women. If someone saw a rusalka, he could
become deaf or fall into a dancing fit, which was considered the worst punishment one could get from
the rusalkas. During this fit, tiredness would lead to death. This exaltation with music and dancing lasted
as long as the rusalkas were on the ground. Written documents from the 14th century testify about
these events. Also, rusalkas were considered to bring many incurable diseases. During the Rusal week
people used to stick to certain prohibitions so as not to offend rusalkas or come in touch with them and
by that provoke a punishment. It was forbidden to climb trees, because rusalkas were considered to
dwell in tree crowns while on ground. It was forbidden to work in wine yards or perform any kind of
agriculture-related work. Rusalkas came during Rusal week to give the necessary humidity to the fields,
so that the above mentioned work could hinder rusalkas. This was particularly the case with Wednesday
of the Rusal week. People believed that, where rusalkas danced their circuit dance, everything grew
more exuberantly than elsewhere. Women were forbidden to do the washing or throw the water in any
other way because that could insult rusalkas and they would drown these women. Sleeping on the floor
was also forbidden. This prohibition has to do with a belief that the soul leaves the body during sleep, so
then rusalka or some other spirit could inhabit the body. Then these people would become possessed
and a rusalka would speak through them. People were not supposed to shear sheep because they would
go crazy and the people in question would get a disease called rusa. It was also said that people got
rusalija if they got sick from other diseases during the Rusal week. If people planted paprika or tomato
during the Rusal week, it was believed that it would not grow.
If someone had to transgress the prohibitions, wormwood was considered to be an efficient medium
against the actions of rusalkas. In that case, the person would carry with him wormwood that rusalkas
were afraid of. Also, if a person ate garlic he was considered immune to the actions of the rusalkas. In
some regions people ate wormwood every day during the Rusal week. Furthermore, a magic circle
made with a knife could also be used as protection. If someone saw rusalkas and did not have
wormwood with him he could make a circle with a knife on the ground, and rusalkas would not cross it.
They were also believed to be afraid of knife.
Rusalkas came on Tuesday, which started the Rusal week, and left the following Tuesday. People
made ceremonies to welcome and banish rusalkas. It was customary for women to participate in these
ceremonies and for this purpose they identified themselves with the rusalkas. Ceremonies during the
Rusal week were called rusalje and kranjice. The Wednesday of the Rusal week was called crooked
Wednesday (kriva sreda). It was believed that anything planted that week will grow to be crooked and
dwarf-like. The Thursday of the week was called green Thursday (zeleni etvrtak). It was strictly
solemnized and people were not allowed to do anything that day. In Christianity, Rusal week was
transformed into a holiday called Pentecost (Duhovi), more precisely rusalije were renamed into
Pentecost. Pentecost is a holiday with a lot of pagan heritage, but it does not last a whole week. Rusal
week (Pentecost) stands for a synthesis of Christianity and paganism. The celebration of rusalija in
Serbia was first described by the Archbishop of Ohrid, Dimitrije Homitijan, when he forbid it.

According to where they lived, fairies are divided into sea fairies and hill fairies, and rusalkas as water
demons or fairies got their name from the Slavic ruslo river. Also, they had red hair, and such people
are even now said to have rusa hair in Serbian. As women are considered to be blond or brunette
according to their hair, rusalkas could be mythical creatures of rusa hair.
Since women were the only ones in charge of the agricultural work in the matriarchate, they were
also the only ones responsible for the fruitfulness of the crop. That is why rusalkas, traditionally, left
their water hiding-places and inspected the crops and aspersed them with humidity in order to improve
them. Beliefs that plants grew better where rusalkas danced testify about this.
Fairy (Vila)
Vila - Fairy is a female mythical creature, in Slavic mythology, who lives in nature. Fairies were mostly
friendly with people, but they could also be vengeful. This notion of affection and disaffection is normal
in mythology, because it is often a case that the affection of creatures and gods is dependent on people
and their deeds. They usually lived in forests and by the rivers, and often in the mountains. They got
their names based on their habitat planinkinje (mountain fairies), zagorkinje (hill fairies), vodarkinje
(water fairies), brodarkinje (boat fairies) and oblakinje (cloud fairies). Some fairies built their castles in
the clouds.
Fairies are imagined as very beautiful, slender girls, with long unbraided hair over their back and
breasts. Their hair was mostly blond or red; golden hair is also mentioned. A fairy was not allowed to
lose a single hair, because it was believed that her hair is where her strength is. They wore thin white
dresses, so they were often called white fairies in folk poems. Less frequently, fairies were nude, but
in that case their hair covered their breasts. Also, the fairies had wings and wing shields (okrilje). The
supernatural power of the fairies was in their wing shields. They would take it off when they bathed in
the river. It is probably some kind of
Vila clothing that is worn over the wings. If someone managed to steal fairies wing shield he would become
her master and she would have to listen to him. People who stole fairys wing shield would marry the
fairy, but they would have to be careful that the fairy does not take her shield back, because then the
fairy would be vengeful and would avenge for her humiliation. While a fairy is taking a bath no one was
supposed to see her because she would punish him, unless he stole her shield during the occasion. The
belief that a part of clothes is connected to the character and the power of the person who is wearing it
exists also when it comes to a head shield, i.e. a hat. Namely, it was believed that a hat contained a
character of a man, as well as that it shows his position in the society. A man whose hat was taken or
stolen was dishonored, and the erdap boat-men had a traditio: when an accident occurs on a boat,
they throw a hat in the water first as a sacrifice. The vengefulness od the fairies could be awoken if
someone challenged her, whereas her affection was earned if someone helped the fairy, for example
help her untangle her hair from a bush. Since there were no male fairies as they were exclusively female
mythical creatures, they would sometimes have relations with mortals. Folk tales mention goblins as
people, mortals, who had relations with a fairy and by that earned some supernatural powers. They
would still remain mortals. These people chosen by the fairies were physically Vila - Romana Radulovi

strong, mainly mountain shepherds. The transition of power from a fairy to a mortal was also possible in
other ways. When a fairy nurses a child, it is believed that the child will grow to have supernatural
powers. Here we see the slavic belief in the brotherhood by milk. Namely, it was believed that by
lactating, a child gets some of the characteristics of the mother. Also, a fairy could pass over
supernatural powers to a man if he did something for her, and there are examples in poetry of a fairy
entering a brotherhood with a man (Vila Ravioila and Marko Kraljevi). Fairies often healed the wounds
of wounded heroes, because they had a way with plants. When plants are in their natural surrounding
they know it well. Fairies were also believed to be able to bring a person back to life.
Fairies were born out of dew or they grew out of flowers. In some regions they are believed to be
born the same way as other people, and only later became fairies. A girl fairy had to go through
initiation in order to become a fairy, where the main fairy would give her wing shield, and by that fairy
powers. Initiation existed with men as well. A girl was considered a woman the first time she
participated in a circuit dance. The fairy ceremonies also had circuit dances and whoever stepped on it
would be punished. Fairy ceremonies were secret and no one was allowed to see them. Whoever saw
fairies dance, bathe or perform some other kind of ceremony could end up with blindness, paralysis or
could even end up dead. Locations where fairies held their ceremonies were known and usually
contained the word vila in their name, such as Vilin Izvor on the mountain Kom or Viline vode in
Belgrade.
Fairies could also transform into certain animals. Usually they transformed into swans, falcons,
horses and wolves. We can often see in poems how fairies ride a horse od a deer and go hunting. They
had bows and arrows to shoot when someone offends them.
Fairies are definitely the creatures best preserved in the tradition and they were very popular with
the people. Vuk Stefanovi Karadi also wrote about them in the book Vjerovanje stvari kojijeh nema:
Fairy
Fairies live in big mountains and around water. A fairy is every young, beautiful girls dressed in a white
thin dress, and with a long unbraided hair falling down her back and breasts. They will do no harm to
anyone unless they are offended (if someone steps on their circuit dance or into their dinner or offends
them in some other way), and when they do get offended they punish the person who offended them
in various ways, by shooting their leg or arm, or both legs or arms, or in the heart so he dies on the spot.
Milosnicas*
The Slavs had certain mythic beings, "babicas" for example, that could harm only a specific group of
people at a specific point in time. Babicas therefore attacked only new-born babies and their mothers
within forty days after delivery. There were however mythical beings that could bring illness to anyone
anytime. Those were "milosnicas". Milosnicas could come alone or in a group and bring disease to an
area. Depending on how many milosnicas participated in the attack, the intensity of the disease and the
number of the people that catched it varied greatly. People believed that no one could be saved from
milosnicas, because they could suddenly fall upon any man. Similarly to other demons of disease,
personal names of milosnicas were never mentioned and were consequently forgotten. However, those

names were known to people in the past. People believed that mentioning the name of a god or a
demon was the same as summoning them. Logically, nobody had any intention of deliberately
summoning a disease demon, so the names that were never mentioned at some point sunk into
oblivion. Apart from the term milosnicas, these creatures were also called milostive (another derivation
from the noun milost), the good mothers or aunts. These names are not indicative of the role that
milosnicas had, but the people believed that by calling the demons by such flattering names they would
pacify them and prevent their attack, or at least reduce its scope. People actually wanted milosnocas to
treat them like good mothers or aunts would.
Milosnicas were imagined as women dressed in black. D. Marinov says that they were invisible.
People had to give them presents to prevent being tormented by them. Their number was not always
the same. It varied depending on the type of the disease that would break out in certain periods: smallpox, diphtheria, etc. Each of the milosnicas carried a disease and could cause its spreading. They caused
epidemics by joining forces.
There was a ritual aimed at driving milosnicas away. If the people suspected that a disease would
break out, or if an epidemic had already started, they would light fires at the crossroads and on the road
leading into the village. They believed that by doing that they could prevent the disease from entering
the village. Food and drink were given out at certain places in the village, and some sort of festivity
including songs and dance was organised. These rituals were called either The Aunts or Baba Kalja. They
were performed when frequent deaths of people in the neighboring villages made the villagers doubt
that the disease would spread on their village as well.
*derived from noun milost = mercy; Serbian plural form is milosnice, and could be translated as "the
merciful women"; the noun is of female gender
Vampire
Vampire - A vampire is a demonic creature known to all Slavs. People can turn into vampires after their
death, as well as during their lives. For the nature of vampires to be understood better, something
should be said about the Slavs belief of the life after death.
The Slavs believed that a person has the body and the soul which are inseparable during their
lives. After death the soul separates itself from the body and goes to another world the world of the
dead (Nav). However, according to the tradition and customs preserved until nowadays, the journey to
another world lasted for 40 days. During that time the soul visited the home of the deceased, and
dwelled in the places where the deceased had most often dwelled. If the death was difficult, it meant
that the deceased was unwillingly parting with his soul. It was believed that good, honest and just
people part with their souls more easily than the evil and the unjust. The evil, as well as those who
found it difficult to part with their soul on their dying bed were the ones who usually turned into
vampires. It mostly happened within the forty days, before the soul entered another world (Nav).
However, the soul of the evil could not access the other world, so it remained trapped in the world of

the living. Such soul would return to its body and the dead person would become a vampire. If a soul
was trapped, it could reenter the body even after the forty days.
The deceased whose grave had been crossed over by an animal could also turn into a vampire.
The cat was usually mentioned as a culprit. There was also a belief that if the persons body was not
burnt after their death, their soul could remain trapped inside their body forever, in this world, and that
the person could become a vampire.
In various parts of the Slavic world, the vampire is called by different names: vukodlak (werewolf),
lampir, lapir, vjedogonja, jedogonja, and most often upir. A Proto-Slavic word for fire is pir, and un
signifies negation. Unpir, or upir is a word for a creature that fire cannot harm, that is, it signifies a being
condemned to be trapped inside the body of a person which was not burnt.
A vampire was imagined as a blood-colored man, with no flesh or bones, filled with a red
gelatinous mass. It was believed that a vampire could be destroyed if his skin was damaged. In that case,
the gelatinous mass would leak out of his body. Vampires are said to have often returned to their wives,
and even to have had children. The children of a vampire could be either humans or vampires,
depending on the gender of the vampire and of the child. If they were of the same sex, the child would
become a vampire, too. A vampire could be invisible, and he also appeared as a man, or as a dog,
sometimes even as a wolf. He could pass through the slightest opening or a hole. Vampires did evil
deeds. They usually strangled their victims and drank their blood. People could not notice them, but
domestic and farm animals grew restless during their presence.
Different precautions were taken for the purpose of destroying a vampire, such as putting thorns
around the grave so that the vampire would damage his skin. These measures appeared along with
Christianity and the disappearance of the habit of burning the dead. The Slavs believed that hawthorn
had magical qualities, so a hawthorn stake was the most efficient weapon in the battle against vampires.
Cajkanovic is of an opinion that a hawthorn stake was used to hammer the deceased to the coffin;
however, his skin would also be damaged by the act. Wine used to be poured into the mouth of the
deceased because it replaced the blood and satisfied the vampires lust for blood.
Vampire A person could become a vampire during their life if they were possessed by the evil spirit;
however, in certain areas, it was thought that one could even become a vampire during their life due to
the lack of spells cast on a child at an appropriate moment, or if a person signs some kind of a contract
with demonic forces. Living vampires also did evil deeds and drank blood, they brought diseases;
however, it was more difficult to destroy them. A living vampire was also called koldun by the Russian,
and prikoljish by the Vlahs.
The vampire is mentioned in The Nestors Chronicle; in Dusans Code, a penalty was prescribed
for those who dug up vampires, whereas a 7th century Nomocanon prescribes a penalty for burning a
werewolf. Vampires became a particular sensation in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century. It is
believed that the first mentioning of the notion in Western Europe occurred in the Austrian magazine
Vossische Zeitung number 98, which was published in 1725. There was a report of the death of Petar

Blagojevic (Peter Plogojowitz) after which ten more people died, who said that Blagojevic had contacted
them. The team of doctors was even sent from Vienna. After the grave had been dug up, the non
decomposed body of Blagojevic was found with traces of blood on his teeth.
Dragon
Zmaj A dragon is one of the demons of atmospheric phenomena. His major role was to fight against ale,
the demons which carried hail-producing clouds, therefore the destruction of crops. So, dragons were
good demons, whose role was, according to the beliefs, to rule atmospheric conditions in peoples favor.
It was dragons duty to provide rain when it was needed.
Dragons were dimorphic creatures, half people, and half animals. A dragon is a fiery bird with a
long tail, which, in summer, threw sparks around itself. When among people, a dragon could take up a
human form. The dragons habitat was by forest waters in mountains (even today, these places are
called dragon trees), and it could also settle in a hollow beech.
A dragon could arise from several species of animals after they had reached a certain age. It could
arise from a carp, a snake, a ram, or from an Aesculapian snake. There are many stories widespread
among the people, mostly among the Danube fishermen,
Zmaj - who allegedly saw a carp coming out of the water and transforming itself into a dragon.
When a carp reaches a certain age, wings start growing on its body and it exits the water as a dragon. As
it flies, the sparks it throws around itself are shaped as carp scales. In some parts, carp meat was
forbidden, thus it was avoided in food preparation because the carp was considered to be a sacred
animal. It was even considered that a man who would eat a carp was in danger of getting epilepsy.
Dragons with horns arose from rams. If an Aescupian snake was cut in half and the front part went into a
hole, it was believed that a dragon would spring from it. During rainy years, it was deemed that a dragon
sprang from a carp which had never been caught; on the other hand, if there was a dry year, it was
thought that a dragon had sprung from an Aescupian snake of the same qualities. The gender of a
dragon depended on the gender of the animal. A dragon could breathe blue or red fire.
Zmajeviti covek - Dragons could have sexual and love relationships with beautiful women. A dragon
could be invisible to everyone except to the woman he fell in love with. This kind of relationships with
women used to be very common and the women who experienced a sexual intercourse with a dragon
were pale, with sunken cheeks and they would lose the wish to have sex with a human because of the
dragons huge potency. Women found it hard to free themselves from the relationship with a dragon,
and they couldnt talk to anyone about it. Women, usually, did not even want to break off the
relationship with a dragon; however, dragons would be driven away if there was a dry year, because it
was considered that the dragon had, because of a woman, neglected his role to bring rainfall. A dragon
would usually visit a woman through the fireplace. If a woman wanted to end the relationship with a
dragon, she would fumigate her hair or would find a hollow beech the dragon lived in and burn it. Hot
water was also considered to be able to hurt a dragon, so a cauldron full of hot water was placed under

the fireplace. When a dragon fell into the cauldron, he would burn. Allegedly, a woman could repel a
dragon if she had with her some suet of another, burnt down dragon.

A woman could even have a child with a dragon. For the sake of better posterity, relationships Zmaj with dragons did not use to be considered a sin. Also, it was believed that the children of dragons and
their lovers were males. It was believed that the children begot with a dragon were extremely strong,
invincible, and also very wise, and that they had some supernatural qualities. Because of such beliefs,
some great heroes were given a nickname Dragon. Therefore, the grandson of the last ruler of Serbia,
Djuradj Brankovic, bears the nickname Fiery-dragon in some folk poems. His birth was cloaked in
mystery as well, so it is mentioned in folk poems that he has a wolfs paw, an eagles wing, and dragons
wheel under his arms, and a blue flame comes out of his mouth. Also, a hero of the First Serbian
Uprising, Stojan Chupic, was given a nickname The Dragon of Nocaj. The children of a dragon looked
like all the others, except it was believed they had a bigger head and small wings under their arms.
Despot Stefan Lazarevic was believed to be a child of a dragon, which is testified in the poem Empress
Milica and the Dragon of Jastrebac.
A dragon represents a kind of a mythical ancestor, Cajkanovic called it the mythical hero, and
that is why people thought heroes were of dragon origin. The dragons formation from animals speaks
about his totem-related origin. In the Slavic mythology, forests were imagined to be the dwelling places
of ancestors, and also as places where dragons live, so this can be seen as a proof that the dragon is a
mythical ancestor of the Slavs.

The Structure of the Universe

Ancient Slavs thought that the structure of Universe is like an egg. This egg was laid by the
cosmic bird The Great Mother Ziva. The Earth is located inside the Universe, as if it a yolk.
The upper part of the yolk is the world of the alive people. In central part is located the
world of the dead people. There are nine Heavens around the Earth. The seventh Heaven is
Paradise, but nobody knows what is situated on the eighth and ninth Heavens. The parents of all
creatures are Stribog (God-Father, the God of Heavens) and Mother Earth (Macosh). 10 of May
is Earths birthday. Nobody dares to disturb her this day. The oath to Earth is inviolable, because
a perjured will be punished by Our Mother Earth. Macoshas holy day is Friday, especially the
ninth and tenth (1 of March was the beginning of the year). Volos is the ruler of the world of the
dead people. He is also a god of wisdom and poetry.
"Everywhere you walk through the Rusland, beautiful Forests are around you, and the Land
feels happy to see you. And near the Oak you stop, shocked by his might and strength. He has
foliage which seems like a very old man's gray hair, full of knowledge unknown to us. In that
time, you hear Great Thunder from the Sky, and Oak laughs the whole time the Thunder voice
walks around the Lands... Stay where you are now, and I will tell you about a mighty God... He
is Perun.

He is a God of War, of Warriors ("Drujina" means War Kindred), of Thunder, of Rain and
Strength. His holy tree is an Oak (Drusus), and Slavs, long after the official religion was
Christianity, celebrated Oaks, and if a man is ill, or on a holiday, he goes to the Holy Oak with
gifts, and sings to him songs, and asks him about his life. Perun's weapons are the Axe, or
Hammer, which symbolize Thunder and Lightning, and also certain Stones, or Thunderer
Arrows, that all symbolize strong Thunder and Lightning. The people often wear Axe pendants,
as was amongst the Finn's culture, and in Scandinavia betimes."
Collected works of Slavic folk songs, by linas and skazkas are in thousands of volumes.
They contain primordial Veda, which were lost by Aryan in India and Iran. Some of collected
works contain more ancient songs than legend of Puran. One of the most important sources of
Slavic mythology is Veda of Slavs. This is a collection of South Slavic (Bulgarian pomaks)
Songs.
Other literary monuments are Book of Veles, which was written on wooden plates (43
plates) by priests of Ancient Novgorod in V-1X centuries, Perunitza(12 plates), About
Kitovras. Basny and Koschuny(143 plates) of V century. White Book, Gold Book, Book
of Birds and others were eliminated in the beginning of XX century. Most of them were sold
abroad.
The World is divided by three parts: Nav the World of the dead, Yav The World of live and
Prav the World of Gods and our ancestors. We glorify Prav.
Ive translated a legend about the creation of the World from the Book of Kolyada.
The creation of the World.
In the very beginning The World was in the Darkness. Later the Gold Egg appeared. There was
Rod inside it. Rod is Creator of our Universe. Rod gave birth to Love-Lada. The strength of love
destroyed the Egg and created the Universe an innumerable quantity of worlds and also our
World.
The Sun came out of His face,
The light Moon of His breast,
Thick stars of His brows,
Dark nights - of His thoughts,
Wild storms of His breath.
Rod created the Nature and divided our World into Nav, Yav and Prav.
Rod created the World Ocean.
Rod created the cow Zemun and goat Sedun. Milky Way was created of their milk. Rod created
Stone Alatar. He beated up milk with Alatar and created Moist Mother Earth of butter. Rod
gave birth to Svarog. Svarog finished creation.
Alatyr
White-inflammable Stone Alatyr appeared in the beginning of the Time. World Duck was
created in the depth of the World Ocean. She found Alatyron the bed of the Ocean. Alatyr was
very small and went into Ducks beak, but Svarog cast a spell. Stone began getting bigger. Duck
wasnt able to hold Alatyr. Alatyr dropped on the Earth and turned into a big mountain. Alatyr

is a sacred stone. It is impossible to cognize the stone, which serves for connection between
human being and God. Svarogs Laws are cut on Alatyr. Alatyr is a sacred centre of the World,
which unites Prav, Yav and Nav.
Svarog and Semargl.
Svarog (His name means shining) stroke Alatyr with a sledge-hammer in the beginning of the
Time. Fiery God Semargl appeared from a spark. Ratichs Svarogs warriors came out from
fiery whirlwind. Semargl illuminated the Universe like Sun. Smoke became His flag and flame
became His horse. There was scorched earth after Him. Gods Wind rose because of Great flame
of Svarog and God of Wind Stribog was born. He started to fan the Great Svarogs Flame.
Great Black Zmey, who was born by World Duck, decided to imitate Svarog. He crept up to
Alatyr and stroke stone with a sledge-hammer. Dark sparks produced all evil forces.
Semargl gave battle Great Black Zmey, but was defeated. Sun grew dark and darkness cloaked
the Earth. Svarog came to His fathers heavenly smithy. Great Black Zmey also flew there. He
licked through three firmaments and got into the smithy. Svarog and Semargl caught His tongue
with burning hot tongs. They harnessed Zmey to plough. Then they separated Yav from Nav
with that plough. Svarog and Semargl became Lords of Yav and Great Black Zmey became the
Lord of Nav.
Svarga.
After the battle with Great Black Zmey Svarog came down to the Earth. He saw that the Earth is
covered with blood. He cut the Earth and She soaked the blood. Svarog started arranging the
World. Don, Danube and Dnepr began flowing into furrows, which Zmey had ploughed.
Ripey mountain range (Caucasus) appeared on the place of the battle between Semargl and
Zmey. In Ripey, above Alatyr was created Svarga the Gods Kingdom of Heaven. Sacred Elm
grew on Alatyr and connected Svara and Yav. In the east part of the crown of Elm bird
Alkonost made the nest and in the west part Sirin. Iriy Garden was created and sacred
prophetic bird Gamayun often visits it.
Svarogs Circle.
Svarga is also the Celestial Heaven, named Svarogs Circle. Svarogs Circle fastened to the
North star (Sedava) with the Heaven axis (Stozhar). Circle rotates and the farthest parts of Circle
make one revolt per 27 000 years - Svarogs Period. It is divided into 12 epochs. The God of
Time Chislobog calculates the duration of epochs.
Chislobog counts our days.
He says his numbers to Gods.
He knows whether itll be Svarogs Day or Svarogs night.
Book of Veles
Perun moves Svarogs Circle, following Chislobogs numbers.
People pray Perun not to stop.
Thunder God Perun,
God of battles and struggle,
Enlivening all existing,

We pray You not to stop move Circle!

Book of Veles
Domovoy.
When God created our world, he threw down all evil creatures from Heavens. Those of them,
who dropped near human dwellings, became kinder. They acquired all humans habits.
Domovoys are merry, light-hearted, but very sensitive creatures. If people respect domovoy, they
find happiness. Usually domovoy is called as hozain(host). Land ladies often leave bread for
him near the stove. When people moved to another house they take their domovoy with them.
Land lady put a pot with coals or shoe near the stove and cast a spell in the night. Next morning
they move to their new dwelling with the domovoy inside the pot or the shoe. Domovoy looks
like an old man covered with thick hair. He saves dwelling from evil, take care of cattle and
babies. He likes hard-working people and punishes loafers.
Makosha.
Makosha (Makosh) the Great Goddess. She knows the secret of Prav and Svarogs Circle.
All Gods and people obey Her. She keeps an eye on maintenance of rituals. She rewards those
who follow ancient customs. She sits in Her Heaven castle with Dolya (Luck) and Nedolya
(Failure) and spins the threads of destinies.
She threads spins,
Winds them into a ball.
These threads are not usual, but magical.
Our life is made of these threads
From the beginning the birth
Till the end, the last ending the death.
Book of Kolyada
Makosha knows the secrets of destinies, secrets of previous incarnations and next reincarnations.
She demands human being to follow predestined way. She allows people to make their own
choice between Pravda (True) and Krivda (Lie). Those, who dont make their way, ruin their
souls. They are not human beings in their next reincarnations. Makosha is a woman, thus She is
changeable. She can bring luck, but also grief. She rewards only those, who have strong will and
struggle for happiness. She points the way out of the most hopeless situations, if people dont
give way to despair. Makosha sent the Goddess of Luck Srecha. Srecha knocks the door and
meet people on the threshold. If people give to despair, stop their struggle, Makosha leaves them.
Monstrous old women Likho Odnoglazoe (One-eyed), Krivaya, Nelogkaya will take them to the
place where grass-snakes lament graves of Karn and Zhela.
Nearby the sea-Ocean, on the island Buyan
Is white-inflammable Stone Alatyr.
There is castle on that Stone.
In that castle beautiful Makosha
With Her two sisters.
They spin silk threads.

From Russian spells.

In Christianity Makosha is associated with Madonna and Saint Paraskeva-Patnitsa (Friday).
Her birthday is 10 of May. The Day of Paraskeva is the last Friday of October.
this is the translation of "Songs of bird Gamayun". It was done by Sergei Naumov.
Roll 10
"Tell, Gamayun, prophetic bird, tell about the birth of Dazhdbog the
Kind, the son of Mighty Perun and beautiful mermaid Ros. And about the
combat with father of him, as they fought and fraternized, tell about
Dazhdbog's victory..."
In the ancient Russian mythology Dazhdbog appears as a son of the Almighty Perun and a
mermaid named Ros. Perun is a son of Svarog (Vedic Isvara) who is a top God in Russian pagan
beliefs, a kind of an analogue of Cronos of the Greeks, although he did not actually create the
World, he only created the living Universe but... this is the different story of cosmological beliefs
of Russians. Perun symbolizes a victory (not the war as he is not Mars, and ancient Russians did
not have this kind of god) over enemies, lightnings and things of that sort (looks like Zeus of
Greeks but not exactly as he shares some other functions). Basically, Perun is a male God, God
of warriers, those who protect the Land. His day is July, 20th, if I remember this right. So, you
see that Dazhdbog is a grandson of Svarog, and we all, Russians, are his grandchildren. This kind
of relationship makes Dazhdbog similar to Vedic Indra if you will, although I can not give a
100% for such a correspondence. I should also make a note that mermaids in Russian mythology
are not the ones with a fish tail, as in many other European pagan religions, though. These are
just beautiful girls that dance on celebrations, before harvesting, etc. Ros is also a name of the
river which is still alive and doing well. It is in Ukraine, and it is one of the many branches of the
river Dnepr. Look for the town called Belaya Tserkov (White Church) on the map and you will
immediately see the river. One brunch of Slavs that lived near Ros called themselves rosichi or
later rusichi that finally gave a name to the state of Rus, its Peter the Great's modification
Rossiya (Russia) and to all Russkie (Russians). This explanation seems to be close to the truth
because it has a very strong religious and mythological underlay -- a thing of the extreme, if not
the first, importance when one is trying to analyze an ancient civilization. This explanation also
seem to be connected with another name, Ruskolan, an ancient name for the state. It is a
conjunction of two words: Rus and Kol. In this context Kol does not mean a stick (there is such a
meaning of this word in Russian language) but a solar turn-around, equinox.
Russian mythology teaches that on this very day the fight between the God of Light, Belobog,
and the God of Darkness, Chernobog, turns around. After the winter equinox day becomes
longer -- Belobog wins, and after the summer equinox it shortens -- Chernobog wins. Each
equinox has a celebration associated with it: the winter equinox is celebrated on Koliada's Day,
and the summer on Kupala's Day. You see, this sequence of events represents a seasonal change,
and it was of the great importance for ancient Russians who were mostly farmers.
Unfortunately, many Western scholars still make the largest mistake on this matter: they get the
word Rus from some Scandinavian or German roots. God blesses them, though, for everybody

wants to belong to a nation that originated everything -- pride is one of those seven deadly sins of
mankind! These issues are fully covered and very extensively discussed in the literature.
But... where does the word Dazhdbog come from, anyway? All right, here is one version of Yuri
Miroliubov that I personally support. The word is a complex conglomerate of the two. Listen:
Dazhdbog --> Dazhdbo --> Dai Bo --> Dai Bog. The final two are in English Give me, God.
However, let's go back to Dazhdbog's story.
Once Perun went by a bank of the Dnepr river and, on the other side, he saw several girls
dancing and singing. He felt in love with one of them, Ros, and tried to get to that other bank but
Dnepr did not allow him to swim across. Then Perun took his golden arrow and made a shot
towards the bank where Ros was standing. The arrow flew as lightning and struck into a big
stone that started to shine when the arrow hit it. A fire image of a man appeared on that stone,
and Perun screamed to Ros: "Call out for Svarog, and He will help you".
Ros called out for Svarog, he came and helped her out to create a man from the stone. That man
was Dazhdbog. He happened to be really mighty (anyway, he was a son of Perun) but he never
saw his father. When he grew up he studied books, ancient wisdom, and an art of a battle. The
glory about him was spreading over the Land. At that time his father Perun was walking over
that all the sky and lands recognized who was going. Ros also recognized him and told him:
"Grettings, Mighty Perun, Svarog's son".
"So, you know my father as well"!
"Do not be angry, mighty Perun, but walk to the clean field and see your son, Dazhdbog, but be
graceful as Dazhdbog is still young".
So, he did. Perun went to the field and saw his son playing with a cudgel. Then Perun told
Dazhdbog:
"Stop boasting, and show how mighty you really are".
And the two, father and son, started to fight. They fought for three days and three nights, fought
that lands, woods and sea screamed, and finally Perun weakened and fell down. Dazhdbog asked
him then:
"Tell me your name and name of your father, oh warrier"!
"I am Perun, son of Svarog and came from the shining Iriy".
Then Dazhdbog said:
"Sorry, father! I did not know that this is you because I never saw you before! Rise, my dear
father"!
After this fight they both got together and Dazhdbog asked his mother to allow him to go with
his father to the shining Iriy (the World where the Gods live). Ros allowed him to go and
Dazhdbog joined other Gods.

Roll 11
"Tell, Gamayun, prophetic bird, as Dazhdbog, son of Perun married young
Zlatogorka Vievna..."

Once at a time, Dazhdbog was going through a big and wide field. He saw a warrior-girl riding a
horse. The blood boiled up in his heart and the God has decided to try her. He took his sword and
hit the girl but she didn't show any sign of weakness. He did it once more and one more time but
only got injured.
"Who are you?", asked Dazhdbog.
And the girl answered:
"Hmmm... I thought these were flies stinging me but you look like a warrior".
So, she grabbed him, put into a crystal casket and locked this casket with a silver key. Then the
girl got her horse and went away. She was riding the whole day and the whole night, three days
in a raw but her brave horse got tired and started to implore:
"Oh, you brave and mighty Zlatogorka, daughter of Vij, you excuse me, please, my dear, but I
can't carry two great warriors anymore!"
Zlatogorka recalled that she carries a warrior and released him:
"Oh, the brave young warrior! I want you to marry me, and if you won't I'll slay you"!
"Release me, Zlatogorka, I agree to be your husband".
They got together and went to mountains where they met Svarog and mother Lada who blessed
them to become husband and wife. So, that was the deal. There was a wonderful bride on
Heavens and everybody was happy.
This happiness did not last for a long time, and here is why. Once Dazhdbog and Zlatogorka
were riding horses in deep mountains of Armenia and found a strange tomb. There were the
following words on it: "The one who lays in here will stay there by a will of the Fate".
Zlatogorka asked Dazhdbog to give it a try (oh, these women were always the same!!). He tried,
and the tomb was too small. Then his wife tried and the tomb was just of the right size. She
asked Dazhdbog:
"My amiable husband, you put the cover on, for I want to lay here for a while and look around".
He put the cover on as his wife asked him to do and... yes it happened exactly as you expected: it
was a deadly move, the cover could not be removed anymore. Dazhdbog tried to hit it with his
cudgel and his sword but... Then Zlatogorka said:
"You, my husband, go to my father Vij, give him my last bow and ask him to forgive me as I
must stay here in this tomb forever".
Dazhdbog went to Vij and told him about what happened:
"She asked to give you her last bow and asked for the forgiveness. Probably Rod himself wishes
this to happen".
Vij got really angry. He thought that Dazhdbog killed his daughter, so he tried to through him
away from his Kingdom. Vij asked to give him a hand but Dazhdbog made his cudgel red-hot
and gave it to the King. As Vij cried out that Dazhdbog brings light to his world, so he gave his
daughter the forgiveness. Dazhdbog went back to the tomb and told Zlatogorka her father's
forgiveness, so she rested forever. He then wrote on that tomb: "Zlatogorka Vievna rests here by
the wish of mother Mokosh and the will of the Divine Rod".
The only thing left for me is to explain a couple of new names. Zlatogorka can be translated into
English as Golden Hill, and Lada is Svarog's wife. The name is still in use in Russia and
basically means love: when a married couple lives in love people say that they live ladno (it is an
adverb). The expression is a little bit old fashioned but it is OK. You see that Svarog, the forces

and laws of the Universe, is married with love, and this union gave the birth to everything. Vij is
a representative of the Underground Kingdom (what a nice abbreviation -- UK), a story of which
is a totally different one. If you read Gogol's "Night before Christmas" you should remember Vij
from there. Mokosh is actually the Fate. The very important and special character is Divine Rod.
This is the heart of all pagan religion of ancient Russians. He created everything, he is the only
one who really rules the World, he created Lada and with her help broke the Darkness. By the
way, the word divine, I believe, comes from Sanskrit, as Deva ( ) means the God in this
language. The spelling in Sanskri is not entirely correct but this is a problem of my typesetting
system: I still can't quite teach it the conventions. Sorry!
Roll 14
"Tell, Gamayun, prophetic bird, as Dazhdbog married Marena"
As we can see Dazhdbog lived alone not for a long. He had found Marena. This name is in use
even now and even in English.
Once at a time, a big feast happened in Irij. All the Gods came there and Svarog and Lada
met them all. Dazhdbog had been there also, and on the middle of the joy he had decided to take
a walk in Irij. Walking along he discovered a nice palace, music was playing there as golden
strings. He wondered : "What might that be?" and found the answer: this was a palace of Marena
Svarogovna. So, Dazhdbog entered the palace and got to Marena's halls. She was sitting there on
a high throne, she invited him to eat with her and all her guests but Dazhdbog refused this
invitation thinking that Marena was quite known sorcerers and could poison him. When the
dinner was finished she tried to get him into her rooms but young man refused and got out of the
palace quite fast. That made Marena really mad, and she started to conjure on Dazhdbog...
Marena's guests were coming back home and on their way they met Perun who asked what
they were up to. The guests told God that they had a nice dinner in Marena's palace and that they
saw Dazhdbog there as well. This was quite striking for Perun, so he decided to get in a hurry
and teach his son not to visit such suspicious places as Marena's palace:
"You, my son, should think where you are going. I advise you to break with Marena and forget
this whole story."
Dazhdbog got really offended and asked his mother Ros:
"Mom, why is dad so angry? I have been in this palace only once and spent there just an hour."
"Your father was really worried about what happened because Marena is a terrible sorcerers.
You should keep your feet far from her palace. Do not look that she is beautiful."
As any child Dazhdbog got mad towards his mother because he thought she started to teach
him how to live. His blood boiled up, and, as you expected, he went to Marena's palace. As
Dazhdbog entered the palace, he made a shot with his golden arrow. Marena's guests asked him
why he did that. Dazhdbog was really angry and said that he will make pieces out of the guests if
they won't shut up. Then Marena suggested to turn Dazhdbog into an ox. Everybody agreed and
so was it. They threw him away from the palace. Next day shepherds found this ox and
recognized Dazhdbog in him. They grabbed the ox and delivered to Ros. The mother called for
Perun and asked him to get Marena and force her to turn Dazhdbog back to a man. Perun found
Marena and said a couple of "nice" words to her. She found the ox and promised that she will

turn Dazhdbog back to a man if he agrees to marry her. There was nothing anybody could do,
and the wedding happened.
Roll 15
"Tell, Gamayun, prophetic bird, as Kashchej stole Marena from Dazhdbog,
and as Dazhdbog was looking for her, and as Zhiva saved Dazhdbog..."
The news about Dazhdbog's bride was so great that Kashchej himself got jealous and decided to
abduct Marena. He called for a great amount of evil spirits that flooded the Land. Unfortunately,
only Dazhdbog alone was there, no other Gods, so he himself fought all these spirits. He fought
them for three days and three nights, and finally finished them all. Then he got back home and
felt asleep. Kashchej entered Dazhdbog's home and started to persuade Marena to come with him
because Dazhdbog, as he told her, was only a natural son of Perun, so was only a half-god. This
trick worked, Marena turned into a bird and disappeared together with Kashchej. When
Dazhdbog woke up he, obviously, did not find his wife, so he asked his father to go with him and
look for her but Mighty Perun said that this is his son's duty, so Dazhdbog left alone.
Let's now clarify some things. First of all Kashchej is a representative of the Underground
World, son of Vij. However, another thing seems to be of the great importance here -- a general
subject of the ancient song. All Russian fairy tales follow this line: Kashchej abducts a beautiful
wife, so a husband gets sad and goes to look for the Kashchej's death and for his wife. Further
development of this line leads a reader to cosmological beliefs of pagan Russians, about creation
of the World by Rod. This subject is a bit complicated, so I will not discuss it here, this is not a
proper place for it. I will only mention that these cosmological descriptions are very similar to
the Vedic ones. A little picture at the end of this essay represents just what I said: a search for the
death of Kashchej.
...So, Dazhdbog was heading towards Kashchej and Marena and shortly he recognized them.
However, Marena poured a goblet of wine and said:
"Oh, my husband, Kashchej took me with the force. Drink this wine for a great grief!"
Dazhdbog finished it all and fell down. "What a great power the Hop has!", said Marena and
asked Kashchej to kill her husband but the former refused to do this because Dazhdbog once
saved his life and Kashchej promised to forgive him three times. "This will be the first time",
said Kashchej and they threw Dazhdbog to a deep well that led to the Underground World...
After a while Dazhdbog woke up and found himself in a deep cave. God whistled calling for his
horse. The horse came and dropped his tail to the cave that Dazhdbog used to climb up. They
continued their journey and found Marena and Kashchej two more times. Two more times
Dazhdbog drank the wine and two more times Marena was trying to force Kashchej to kill her
husband but he refused. Finally, Marena nailed Dazhdbog to the rocks in Caucasus mountains in
the hope that nobody will find him there.
I think now you recall Greek mythological story about Prometeos. See the parallels? That will be
a food for your brain for the rest of the day. If you are really interested in ancient civilizations
you will think about it for long enough time. I promise!
Let's get back to our story... At that time Zhiva (means Life in many Slavic languages), a

daughter of Svarog asked her father to go for a walk outside the Gardens. He allowed, she turned
into a dove and flew away from Irij. During this airing she discovered Dazhdbog nailed in the
mountains and felt in love with him. She asked him to turn away from Marena as the former was
actually death and wouldn't give anything to him. He agreed, and the Dove took Dazhdbog away
from the mountains to Irij and healed.
the myth about Dazhdbog is the central myth in Slavic paganism.
Roll 16
"Tell, Gamayun, prophetic bird, tell us about the death of Kashchej
Immortal, tell about the Great Flood..."
When Dazhdbog recovered he decided to find Kashchej and kill him. Zhiva told Dazhdbog that
there is no way to kill Kashchej because he is Immortal God and Marena's friend. They are both
deaths.
"It can't be that", answered Dazhdbog, "It is not possible that Rod made the World this way. His
death must be hidden somewhere!".
So, our God went to Makosh the Fate and asked her. She told Dazhdbog that the death he is
looking for is hidden in the Egg, the Egg is in the Duck, the Duck is in the Rabbit, the Rabbit is
in the Chest, the Chest is under the Oak on the Island. So, Dazhdbog left to look for Kashchej's
death. On his way he met the Eagle, Wolf who promised to help Dazhdbog if he will need them.
When the God came to the coast the great Snake helped him to get to the Island. Then Perun
helped to get a Chest, Wolf grabbed the Rabbit, and Eagle-Rarog caught the Duck. So,
Dazhdbog found this Egg.
When ancient tales and stories describe the creation on the World by Rod this Egg has a very big
meaning as a source of the Fire that created everything, and Rarog is a small part of this Fire.
Our hero took the Egg and went to Kashchej's palace. Marena was trying to give him wine using
her old trick but Zhiva appeared again as a dove and spilled the wine. Nothing could stop
Dazhdbog anymore, and he broke the Egg. As he did it, the Voice from Rod came and said that a
Celestial Fire will appear from the broken Egg, and the Fire will kill everything as the end of the
World will occur. So, that was it! All the Gods got together in Irij in order to protect it from the
Fire because Irij represents Good, and the Fire is a wild and powerful Nature that only wants to
destroy everything.
At this point the manuscript is sort of fuzzy. It looks like either a person who copied it from the
ancient source got a real mess in his head or we have a very interesting theory here. The thing is
that further events are described in a mixed pagan-plus-old-testament way. The text describes the
Great Flood and Gods who survived it. Anyway, let's get to the end of our story.
Roll 17
"Tell, Gamayun, prophetic bird, about the birth of the Kin of Russians,

about Laws given by Svarog..."

So, after the first era finished, Dazhdbog and Zhiva started to create the new world. They planted
woods, released fish into the sea. Dazhdbog had set Prav, separated Nav and Yav. These are the
parts of the natural life flow, as Russians believed in. Dazhdbog and Zhiva accepted golden
wreaths from Svarog and got married. So, that's how Russians appeared, and that's why they are
called his grandchildren. Just because we really are...
I should admit, I did not expect this essay to be that long but it finally happened to be that way.
A lot of details and beautiful descriptions of places and battles, did not describe the creation of
the World by Rod, appearance of Svarog, other Gods, and kept silent about other important
figures: Veles and Yaro. The first one is sometimes shown as a God of farmers, the second one
represents spring, love and looks like Apollo. There are a lot of men in Russia who wear the
name Yaroslav, a true Russian name with a great history and honor.
To be honest, the essay seems to me a bit dry since, I believe, I failed to give you a real taste of
the events. However, this can really be justified: it is incredibly hard to translate tales into
another language, especially if the languages are so different, English and Russian. Moreover,
this ancient style of the manuscripts seems to be a little bit weird even for the modern Russian
language, so I ask you to forgive me a kind of sharp translations. I smoothed it as much as I
could trying to bring a bit of humor into the text. You may be a little bit confused about this
name Gamayun. Well, this, you guessed right, is a prophetic bird in Russian mythology. The bird
knows everything, she saw all the events. In the books the one is painted as a bird with girl's
head and very big wings. She is usually sitting on trees in woods and tells stories.
As old Russian fairy tales say, " And I had been there, was drinking mead and beer but no drop
got to my mouth." It means that I spent all my time talking, which is how it is supposed to be
when a person tells fairy tales.
The theme Afterlife, Western Pagans belief. They are very close to ours. Natural biological
death doesnt mean final destruction of human being. Only body is ruined, but immortal soul
returns into body of newborn baby.
The care of baby begins long before the birth. Pregnant woman is considered as giving
happiness. She is always invited to gardens to have fruit; it means that garden will be more
prosperous. Now women give birth in hospitals, but before it took place in a washing house,
where Yav and Nav are very close. It was considered that woman, giving birth also opens the
way to the Underworld. The father took newborn and showed him/her to Sky, to rising Sun for
long life, to Fire in the home, put to the Mother-Earth and dip into Water. Thus baby became
under patronage of all elements. If you want we can go on with this theme.

Festivals - Winter
Koljada (Kohl-YAH-da) - The Winter Solstice
Most agree that the word comes from the Roman word "calendae" which meant the first 10 days
of any month. Some, however, believe the word is derived from the word "Kolo" or wheel - much

like the word "Yule" is an Anglo-Saxon word for wheel. The holiday's original name may have
been "Ovsen". The holiday was filled with revelry. Processions of people masked like animals
and cross-dressers roamed the village. Often they were accompanied by a "goat"- a goat's
head, either real or (usually) made and stuffed on a stick. The person holding the "goat" would
be covered by a blanket to play the part. Sometimes a child on horseback - symbol of the reborn
sun - would accompany them; the horse was often played by two young men in horses
costumes. One of the wenders would carry a spinning solar symbol, internally lit by a candle, on
a stick.
This unusual group would stop and sing Koljada songs from house to house. These songs
usually included invocations to "Koljada", the god or goddess of the holiday, praises and good
wishes,requests for handouts and threats for refusal. The handouts, also called "koljada",
usually took the form of little pastries or "korovki" shaped like cows or goats. The were
sometimes just in the shape of the animals head, but often were described as having "horns
and tails and everything." The korovki were traditionally baked by the old people in the house,
the grandmothers and grandfathers.
The "tricks" played by those who were not rewarded could be brutal: Garbage might be brought
from all over the village and piled in front of the offending host's gate, their gate might be torn off
and thrown in the nearest water or livestock could be led off.
In Poland one "caroller" would carry a bundle of hazel twigs and after receiving koljada, would
gently hit his host/ess with a small stick loudly wishing "Na shchestia, na zdravia, na tot Noviy
Reek" (happiness, health, in the coming New Year). A small twig was left with the farmer who
nailed it above his door for wealth and protection.
Bonfires were sometimes lit and the dead ancestors asked inside to warm themselves. Mock
funerals were held where a person pretending to be dead was carried into the house amidst
both laughter and wailing. Sometimes even a real corpse was used. One young girl would be
chosen and tradition made her kiss the "corpse" on the lips. If a pretend corpse was used, the
person would leap up after being kissed - a symbol of rebirth.
Holiday foods included kut'ia, a traditional funeral food consisting of whole grains and pork. The
whole grain is a universal symbol - "the seed as the mysterious container of new life" (J A Propp
p.8)
On the last day of the koljada season in Poland, all the unmarried men of the village would get
together to "wend" for oats. It was impossible to get rid of them with a scoop of oats; it took at
least 7 liters. The farmer would keep a sharp eye on his grain that night, because otherwise the
carollers would steal it as part of the evening's custom. With the money from the sold oats the
men would hire musicians and organize a large dance party in the village during the pre-Spring
festival period.
If you don't give us a tart - We'll take your cow by the horns.
If you don't give us a sausage - We'll grab your pig by the head.
If you don't give us a bliny - We'll give the host a kick.
New Year's Day - originally on the Winter Solstice,

New years was considered the most powerful time for divination. A traditional New Year's
divination was called podbljunaja (powd-blyew-NIE-ya) or "under the plate". Pork was
traditionally eaten at this time.

Spring Festivals
Strinennia - Mar 9th. Clay images of larks were made, their heads smeared with honey and
stuck with tinsel. They were carried around the village amidst the singing of vesnjanki,
invocations to Spring. Birds were thought to bring the Spring with them upon their return.
Children were given pastries shaped like birds to toss into the air while saying "The rooks have
come.". Sometimes the pastries were tied to poles in the garden. The baking of these pastries
was to ensure that the birds would return.
Oh little bee, Ardent bee!
Fly out beyond the sea.
Get out the keys, the golden keys.
Lock up winter, cold winter
Unlock summer, warm summer.
Warm summer A summer fertile in grain.
Maslenica (Mah-sweh-NEET-sa)
"Butter woman" from the word Maslo which means butter. Originally it was practiced at the
Vernal Equinox but later was celebrated the week before lent. Maslenica (mah-sweh-NEET-sa),
sometimes called Shrovetide, was a celebration of the returning light, a time of games and
contests, especially horse racing, fist fights, sliding and mock battles. It was a time for protection
and purification rituals and a time of gluttony, obscenity and dissolution.
At the beginning of the festivities a life-sized corn doll would be made as a personification of the
holiday. The doll would be invoked and welcomed by the name Maslenica. Sometimes a
drunken peasant was chosen, instead, to represent Maslenica. He would either be dressed in
woman's clothing or in a costume sewn all over with bells. His face would be smeared with soot
and he would be seated on a wheel resting on a pole within a sledge. Wine and pastries would
surround him and as many as could would accompany him in other sledges. Crowds would
follow on foot, laughing, dancing and singing ritualsongs. Corn "Maslenitsas" were also driven
around in barrows, wagons or sleighs accompanied by crowds of celebrants.
Many customs honoring the sun were included in the festivities such as the lighting of bonfires,
pushing a wheel whose axel pole was a flaming torch about or circling the village on horseback
with torches. Farmsteads were also circled at this time, either with a religious icon or with
brooms, sweeping around the entire property three times to create a magickal circle which
protected against illness and evil spirits.
Traditionally, the house and barn were cleaned and decorated and holiday foods such as bliny
(pancakes), kulich (sweet bread) and paskha (pyramid shaped cottage-cheese bread) were
prepared. Special loaves were baked and fed to the cattle to guard them from unclean spirits.

Kozuli, pastries shaped like cattle, goats, etc. were prepared and eaten to bring on the
multiplication of the herds. Eggs were decorated and rolled along the ground in order to transfer
the fertility of the egg to the earth. The customary "swinging" which occurred at this time was
believed to strengthen the stock and fertility of the villagers as well.
Maslenitsa was considered to be a time for purification. All salt was prepared for the coming
year, as salt was used for cleansing and curative purposes. Ritual baths to prepare for the
oncoming work in the fields were also taken before sunrise and followed with fumigation in the
smoke of the juniper.
Another important part of Slavic ritual is the funeral meal. A huge feast was prepared and
brought to the cemetery where it was eaten amidst much wailing and laughter. Food was always
left for the dead. In Eastern European ritual, funeral and fertility rites are intertwined. Volos, a
god of the herds, is believed by many to be the same god as Veles, an underworld deity.
At the end of the week the Maslenitsa (if a doll was used) was taken to a field outside the
village, usually where the winter crops were planted. There it was destroyed, either by being
torn apart and thrown into the field or burned. This was the remnant of an earlier cult of a dying
and resurrected God, Volos perhaps, whose death brought life to the fields. The "God" was
always destroyed with laughter as such a "death" was seen to bring life. Smaller dolls were also
made for individual households which were also torn apart at the week's end and fed to the
livestock. This was believed to ensure their fertility and the customary willow branch they were
fed was thought to protect them for the entire year to come.
Our Dear Maslenica, dear, leli, dear
Came for a while, for a while, leli, for a while
We thought for seven weeks, seven weeks, leli, seven weeks
But Maslenica stayed only seven days, seven days, leli, seven days
And Maslenica deceived us, deceived us, leli, deceived us
To lent she offered a seat, offered a seat, leli, offered a seat
Bitter horseradish she put out, put out, leli, put out
And that horseradish is more bitter than xren, more bitter than xren,
leli, more bitter than xren.
(Traditional Maslenica song - Zemcovskij - xren is a form of horseradish also)
It is interesting to note that in this song, the singer laments that he is betrayed by Maslenica
because she gives up her seat to Lent and gives him bitter things (to eat). In the Slavic
traditions, The periods directly before and after Easter were filled with customs, rituals and
celebrations although Easter itself came and went without much ado. This is supposedly due to
the Orthodox Priest's successful efforts to keep the day of Easter, itself free of pagan
influence.The holiday of Maslenitsa lasted a week and marked the beginning of the Slavic
Spring Festivals which continue through to the Summer Solstice, Kupalo.
Radunica - (Rah-doo-NEET-sa) The second Tuesday after Easter. This holiday was originally
known as Nav Dien (Day of the Dead) and was a bi-annual holiday to celebrate the ancestors.
The original dates of these two holidays were probably May eve and November eve - crossquarter dates. Usually feasting and celebrating occurred in the cemeteries among much ritual
wailing. Offerings, often of eggs, were left to the dead.

Ascension - 40 days after Easter. This holiday may have originally fallen on May eve and been
tied in with the holiday of Nav Dien. On this day, lark pastries were again baked. After supper,
all would rest a while and then take their lark pastries into the rye fields. A prayer would be
offered at each side of the field while the larks were tossed into the air and people cried "So that
my rye may grow as high". The larks were then eaten.
Village girls customarily imitated the spring bird's song. Songs were sung on opposite ends of
the village with one chorus answering the other. When finished, another song would begin in the
distance and in this fashion the songs would travel from village to village.
Rusal'naia Week- (Roo-sahl-NIE-ya) originally just after May eve
The holiday was possibly named after the Roman holiday Rosalia. During this week the Rusalki,
female water spirits, were said to leave the rivers and go to the forests and fields. Birches were
considered a source of vegetative power and homes were decorated with birch branches, both
inside and out.
On the Wednesday of this week, girls would go into the forests and choose and mark the
birches. The following day, Semik, bringing fried eggs (omelets) & beer, they would decorate the
chosen trees with flowers. One special birch would be chose and "curled". That is, the ends of
the twigs would be knotted and twisted to form wreaths. The fried eggs would be placed around
it while Semickajas (songs sung only at Semik) were sung. Then the kumit'sja ceremony would
be held: The girls would kiss each other through wreaths on the birch tree and swear an oath of
friendship. This spell was believed to ensure that they would be friends for life or, "kumas".
This tree was sometimes left in the forest, and sometimes cut down and brought into the village.
No males were allowed to touch the tree. The tree might be dressed in woman's clothing and/or
stripped of its lower branches. Sometimes this tree was set up in a home as a guest. If left in the
forest, its tip might be bent down and tied to the grass, ensuring that its sacred energy would
return to the earth. Girls would sing and dance the xorovod around the tree.
Banishings of the Rusalki were performed during Rusal'naia. Dolls of them were made and
ritually torn apart in the grain fields.
On the Sunday of this week, girls would perform memorial rites on the graves of their parents
and afterward divide eggs among their family members. Then the sacred birch tree was
removed from the village and tossed into a local river or stream. Girls would take wreaths from
their heads and toss them in after the birch. If their wreath floated off, love was to come from the
direction the wreath floated toward. If the wreath sunk, the girl was supposed to die within the
following year. If it circled, misfortune would come.
I, a young girl, am going to the quiet meadow, the quiet meadow.
To the quiet meadow, to a little birch.
I, a young girl, will pick a blue cornflower,
A little blue cornflower, a cornflower.
I, a young girl, will weave a wreath.
I, a young girl, will go to the river.
I will throw the wreath down the river.
I will think about my sweetheart
My wreath is drowning, drowning.

My heart is aching, aching.

My wreath will drown.
My sweetheart will abandon me.

Summer Festivals
Kupalo- (Coo-PAH-loh) - the Celebration of the summer solstice.
Kupalo comes from the verb kupati which means "to bathe" and mass baths were taken on the
morning of this holiday. On this holiday, the sun supposedly bathed by dipping into the waters at
the horizon. This imbued all water with his power and therefore, those who bathed on this day
would absorb some of that power.
Fire was sacred to the ancient Slavs and fires were never allowed to go out. In the sanctuaries,
fires were tended by the priests and in the home, guarded by the mother. On the eve of Kupalo,
however, all fires were extinguished and rekindled with "new fire". New fire was created by
friction. A peg was rotated within a hole in a block of wood made especially for this purpose. In
some areas, animals were sacrificed on Kupalo's eve and a feast prepared of them entirely by
men was shared as a communal meal. Bonfires were lit and couples jumped over them. It was
considered a good omen and prediction of marriage if a young couple could jump the flame
without letting go of each other's hand. Cattle was chased through the fires in order to ensure
their fertility.
At the beginning of the celebration, a straw image of "Kupalo" was made of straw, dressed like a
woman and placed under a sacred tree. At the end of the festival, the effigy was ritually
destroyed by burning, "drowning" or being ripped apart. Afterward, elaborate mock funerals
were held. Two people pretending to be a priest and deacon would cense the figure, with a
mixture of dung and old shoes burning over coals in a clay pot. The funeral was carried out
among much wailing and laughter.
Kupalo was considered the most powerful time to gather both magical and medicinal plants. It
was considered the only time to gather the magical fire-fern. On Kupalo's eve, the flower of the
fern was said to climb up the plant and burst into bloom. Anyone who obtained it would gain
magical powers including the ability to find treasures. To gather the herb, one must draw a
magic circle around the plant and ignore the taunts of the demons who would try to frighten
them off. Kupalo marked the end of the "Spring festival" period which started in the beginning of
March.

The pal en:pole all dances around is a symbol of tree of life and kupala older k pala or
now "ku palu" mean to pole, in the direction of pole. The taking bath in water is kpiel .
The way of singing without accompaniment is a kapella. The tradition of Kupala may
have old IE origin. Kochanowski relation of the folk song highlight it few times:

Autumn Festivals

Harvest - Harvest Holidays occurred anywhere from Aug 2 to the autumn equinox and lasted
from 4 days to a week. Various rituals center around the reaping and threshing of the
sheaths.The Harvest Holidays of the Slavs were far more practical than ritual. The songs sung
at this time are almost completely concerned with the work at hand or praises for the host and
hostess or the one who brought the cup. Work parties called tolo'ka or pomoi' were formed and
these traveled from farm to farm until all the work was done. The host was obligated to provide
the day's food and entertainment.
St. Ilia's Day - August 2nd. In the Ukraine, this day marked the beginning of autumn. It was said
"Until dinner, it's summer. After dinner, it's autumn." Ilia is closely related to Perun and this was
most probably one of Perun's holy days. After this day, no swimming was allowed as Ilia will
curse anyone he finds swimming after his feast day.
Yablochnyi/Medovoy Spas - or "Apple/Honey Saviour. This is a crossquarter holiday
between the summer solstice and the fall equinox. It celebrates the wealth of the harvest when
fruit and honey are ready to be gathered. The first fruits and honey picked on this day and the
bee hives were blessed.
Zaziuki - on or around Aug 7, might be the same holiday as Spas. Particular attention was paid
to the first sheaf (zazhinochnyi or zazhinnyi) which was usually brought into the house and
threshed separately. Sometimes it was blessed and then mixed back in with the seed. The end
of the harvest celebration was called Dozinki. The last sheaf (the dozhinochnyi orotzhinnyi) was
also brought in the house where it was either decorated with flowers and ribbons or dressed in
woman's clothing. It was then placed in the entrance corner of the home or near any religious
icons until Oct 1, when it was fed to the cattle. Sometimes the last sheaf ceremony was merged
with the ritual surrounding a small patch of field that was left uncut. The spirit of the harvest was
said to precede the reapers and hide in the uncut grain. This small patch was referred to as the
"beard" of Volos, the God of animals and wealth. The uncut sheaves of wheat in "Volos' beard"
were decorated with ribbons and the heads were bent toward the ground in a ritual called "The
curling ofthe beard". This was believed to send the spirit of the harvest back to the Earth. Salt
and bread, traditional symbols of hospitality were left as offerings to Volos' beard.
Svarog's Holiday - September 21
This is the Autumn Equinox festival. People drink mead in honor of Svarog.
Mokosh Day - Mokosh was honored on the Friday between Oct 25 and Nov 1. She was given
offerings of vegetables. One reference fixes this date on Oct 28.
Zaduski, Dziady November 2, The Day of the Dead is a solemn celeberation, for it is believed
that at this time the souls of the dead return to visit their homes. At twilight the family lights
candles, to shine a beacon to the souls as they return.
Since the earliest of times, Poles have honored the dead in celebrations and special ceremonies. Since it
is not a common practice to believe in reincarnation, ancestors are honored highly for their guidance and
wisdom, and at these times they are invited to rejoin those who still walked in human form. It is felt that
twice yearly the spirits of the deceased had easier access to the world of the living ... in the spring, right
before Equinox, which was rife with ritual bidding death farewell, and at this time of the year, which
corresponds roughly to the timing of Samhain in the Celtic traditions.

Unlike many other pagan traditions, however, this does not mark the turning of the new year, which
occurred for the pagan Pole at Yule, when Solstice day if the shortest day of light ... and all days following
it mark the rebirthing of the Sun, and hence the new year. This time of the year is magical and special, the
time of spirits and souls, divination and remembrances.
Days are shorter with every pass of the sun, now, and ruby red sunsets are followed too quickly and too
early by the appearance of the looming harvest moon, low to the horizon. Looking out into the horizon
shows evidence of the death and dying of nature around the people of the fields plants that have
yielded their last fruits now lay withered on the ground. The time of the babie lato (crones summer), that
short period of warmer weather after the first killing frost, has long since departed. Bright scarlet and
orange speckles the trees, where even the slightest whisper of a breeze now sends them into flight. The
gentle dew that drips onto the ground quickly turns to frost, as the nights become tinged with a hint of the
winter that is to come. Bundling around the fires to keep warm against the lowering temperature, there, in
the darkness, watching the shadows dance against the walls it is in this time that every sound, readily
identifiable by light, soon become the voices of the deceased ... stillness embraces the countryside, a
vast contrast to the hum of activity of creatures and people a mere month ago.
Zaduszki is a solemn celebration, for it is believed that at this time the souls of the dead return to visit
their homes. At twilight the family lights candles, to shine a beacon to the souls as they return. Extra
places are set at the table for the evening meal so that the invisible guests might join in the breaking of
the ritual bread, made of rye and shaped in long loaves that uncannily resemble a wrapped body.
Invocations are spoken, imploring the ancestors to partake of the feast that is to be served, and
welcoming them in love. Among the foods served for this repast are very old generational dishes, such as
kasza (buckwheat groats), so that all would enjoy and partake of the feast, even those souls that had
been gone for centuries. As the meal is passed around the table, the first servings go always onto the
plates reserved for the spirits, and vodka is poured in their honor as well.
After the meal is consumed, all food that remains is wrapped up, and the family proceeds in the inky
darkness to the cemetery. Here they offer the food to the deceased (where the stories of picnicking on the
grave sites comes from, by the way), and light candles in their honor. In the midst of the solemnity, in old
times at least, the beggars would step forth, playing an integral part in the ritual. All families who attended
grave site rites brought food and drink for the beggars; in return, the beggars agreed to help them get
messages to the deceased.
Beggars, in old society, played an important part in the faith-life of the community. Most often, people
were beggars not because they didnt feel like working or settling down, but because they were special,
touched lightly by the hand of the divine. It was said that they more than most talked to the spirits, and
connected with the souls it is my opinion, shared by few, that this tradition arose around those
individuals who were nomad types, the (for want of a better term here) saintly folk, and around those as
well that were different, not in their appearance, which by virtue of being alone and without a home was
naturally disheveled, but different in the sense of being ... less worldly, less preoccupied with the material
plane, those for whom talking to the Mother was an accepted everyday occurrence, those who heard
voices and saw spirits. Shamanic? Perhaps.
In several places in Poland it is customary to launch candles onto the waterways to send messages to the
spirits. Wax is melted into half walnut shells, set to flame, and gently launched onto the river. From here
they travel to the other world bearing greetings, asking for guidance, and announcing the coming of the
colder times to those who live out-of-time (amazingly, there is a belief in Slavic tradition in a place that
exists with us, but out-of-time ... a world that once was part of ours, but was so disgusted with this place
that they disappeared,phased outand only those who truly seek it and live a life in connection with
the all-that-is can find it. It sounds vaguely like the legends I have heard of Avalon, home of the gods in
Celtic cosmology.).

After the cemetery rites are completed, it is time then to return home, and speak both to the past and
to the future, for it is at this time that this world and the spirit world are in closest touch. These are the
times of augury and divination.
Traditionally Poles did not use Tarot, depending more often on natural symbols and the rune-like symbols
used on items such as pisanki (hand-decorated eggs) for their messages. It is great fortune to find a
natural runic symbol this eve, either in the formation of a tree or in the pattern of color on an animals fur
... or in the way the moon rises over the hill. Animals, it is said, can tell us many things, and since their
forms are far older than ours, it is believed that they are wiser, and should be listened to. This day in
particular, house-hold pets are either the bearers of good news, or dreaded as the harbingers of ill tidings.
They are watched carefully, and every nuance is noted and interpreted ... and woe be it to the person
whose animal friend sleeps the entire day away!
It is great joy to be confronted this night with an animal or plant spirit, one that perhaps you have an
affinity with, or one that is to teach you a new lesson ... so carefully watch the shadows as you walk this
night, for maybe, just maybe, there is a coyote sitting ... waiting ... and laughing as you pass.
On this special night dreams are of critical importance, more so than any other night, for they too will
show you where you are to be, and give you messages from other planes. All who attempt this particular
form spend a long period of time before retiring in meditation, asking for guidance, and opening their
souls to be receptive to what is to be said.
Owls silently pass overhead ... and we listen to the sound. Mother Moon breaks through the trees ... and
we watch her reflection for a sign. Dreams that were respectfully requested dance in our souls until the
light of morning peaks into our windows ... and we try to remember what we have learned. The souls of
our departed ancestors and family members return once again to the place where all is interconnected ...
and the family cat turns from sage back into household mouser, as the time of Dzien Zaduszki has
passed for another turning.

Festivals from Old Slavic

Festivals
The analysis of Slavic mythology wouldn't be complete without a comment on the system of the
old Slavic festivals. These festivals were based on a specific understanding of time, which is why
we will, in this text, compare Christian and pagan perception of temporality. The complete list of
pagan and Christian-pagan festivals that were celebrated and that are still celebrated by the
Slavic peoples will be completed by a short reference to the old Slavic calendar.
The festivals that are celebrated today in the Balkans have their roots in the pre-Christian
period. While religions such as animism (accompanied by the practicing of shamanism) and
paganism held sway over this territory, the festivals that were celebrated were in accordance with
the abovementioned religious concepts. Those were most frequently the festivals of harvesting,
haymaking, threshing, and the like. There were also festivals dedicated to some gods. The
festivals that were in the times of paganism celebrated all over Europe were the summer and the
winter solstices and the celebrations of the spring and the autumn equinoxes. Solstices and
equinoxes were celebrated on the territories inhabited by the Slavic tribes, too, and they were
called Maslenica (21st March), Kupalo (21st June) and Koljada or Ovsen (21st December). The
autumn solstice was not a holiday as such, but it was rather a part of the numerous harvesting

festivals that were celebrated in the period between Kupalo and Koljada. After conversion to
Christianity, solstices and equinoxes have lost their previous importance, but some pagan
festivities were kept and were only given new, Christian characteristics. The majority of
Christian festivals that are celebrated today has pagan elements, so the religion of these areas is
sometimes called dvoverje (=dual religion), a religion that is at the same time both Christian and
pagan. This religion has yet another name racial Slavic Christianity.
To be able to understand why our forefathers had the need to organize celebrations on
certain dates and to formulate a calendar, we must first try to understand their perception of time,
nature, and the Universe in general. The Old Slavs thought, as did every other pagan people in
Europe, that time was a cyclical phenomenon. To them, it represented a period that was
constantly repeating itself, with no possibility of qualitative development. Thus the time was not
a history, but it was rather composed of periods, or cycles. The pagans thought that nature too
had its own cycles, and our ancestors tried to harmonize their lives with those natural cycles.
Those were primarily the fertility cycles, which is why the pagan tribes used to divide the year
into a fertile and an infertile part. Such cyclical understanding of time was also reflected in
mythology. In pagan religions we can find numerous legends of world creation and its end,
followed by the emergence of a new Universe. A typical example of this is the Norse myth of
Ragnarok, the end of the world after which a new cosmos is born. Slavic paganism also nurtured
something similar the cycles that were called Svarog's day and night, the periods that
constantly interchanged and in the process completely altered the characteristics of the universe.
Unlike pagan understanding of time, Christianity perceives it as linear. This concept of
time is based on the works of St Augustine, a Christian philosopher that lived in the fourth and
the fifth centuries AD. Being in accordance with this theory, the Christian history also has linear
characteristics, it has a beginning, a line of development, and an ending, and it is a history in the
full sense. The appearance of Christ is thus followed by his crucifixion, then by the Apocalypse
and the Second Coming. Linear perception of time is typical of the entire western philosophy,
and the idea of history as a meaningful process culminated in the philosophies of Marx and
Hegel.

Festival Russia
The concept of present-day festivals therefore has its roots in that primary pagan understanding
of time as a cyclical phenomenon. This concept is based on the yearly movements of the Sun,
during which it stands in different positions in relation to the Earth. This is at the same time the
basis of the old Slavic calendar, and its elements are present in the calendar we use today. Pagan
festivals were the result of our forefathers' need to regulate their lives in accordance with the
natural cycles, and they managed to do this by fixing certain dates and formulating a calendar. In
that way, the time of sowing, harvesting, and other field work and social activities, was
synchronized with the yearly cycle of the Sun and therefore also with the natural cycles of
fertility. So the Old Slavs had a solar calendar and the festivals which are, in neo-paganism,
called the yearly Sabbaths. However, those were not the only festivals that our ancestors used to
celebrate, since certain dates were connected with some Slavic deities. A complete list of Slavic
festivals would look as follows:
Koljada (21st December) date of the winter solstice. The name of this festival originated from

the name of Koledo, the spirit or the god of the winter solstice.
Strinenija (9th March) during this festival people used to show their respect for goddess
Vesna.
Maslenica (21st October) on this day people would make a corn doll (Maslenica) that stood
for the spring spirit.
Krasnaja gorka (the first Sunday following Easter) the festival itself was older than Easter,
and it included the burning of a doll symbolizing Marena, Slavic goddess of winter and death.
Radunica (the second Tuesday following Easter) the festival also known as the Day of the
Dead. On this day, offerings were made to the dead, and those most frequently consisted of eggs.
St Eorgij (23rd April) the name Eorgij was later changed into St George, but this holiday was
rooted in the pre-Christian period when, instead of St Eorgij, it was probably dedicated to Veles.
The Rusalkas' Sunday (seventh or eighth week following Easter) this festival was dedicated
to the "Rusalkas", the water fairies.
Perundan (20th June) the most important festival of the Old Slavs, during which usually a
animal sacrifice was offered.
Kupalo (22nd June) the festival of the summer solstice. On this day, ritual bathing was a
common practice, as well as the ritual burning or throwing into the water of a doll called Kupalo.
In Russia, this festival later became the festival of Ivan Kupalo, or St John's Day.
St Elias (2nd August) in Christianity, St Elias took over all of Perun's characteristics.
Medov spas (celebrated sometime between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox)
during this festival, people used to bless the first fruits that were picked and the first honey that
was gathered on that day.
Zaziuki (7th August) a festival connected with the end of harvest.
Mokos's Holiday (celebrated exclusively on a Friday, in the period between 25th October and
1st November).
The festivals listed above were celebrated primarily in Russia and the Ukraine, but there
were similar festivals on other territories inhabited by the Slavs. Since we know of no historical
sources that could provide information on pagan festivals characteristic of our territory, we will
have to rely on the analysis of the present Christian festivals. St Elias's Day is celebrated in the
Balkans, and, as we have already mentioned, it used to be a festival dedicated to Perun. There is
also Whitsuntide, celebrated in mid-June, that is connected with the "Rusalkas". The Slavs
inhabiting this territory also celebrated their own Koljada the proof of this are the "koledar"
songs, which mention Koledo, the spirit of the winter solstice. St Petka's Day is no other than
Mokos's Day, the only difference is that this festival in Christianity became fixed to one date.
Examples such as these are numerous, so we can freely conclude that the Slavs in all parts of
Europe used to have a developed calendar and a strictly formulated system of festivals.
This is the list of the most significant Pagans holidays.
Kolyada (December 24-31)
The Days of Volos (January 1-6) The pray to God of cattle Volos. Defense from wolves.
Turitsy (January 6) The day of Bull, as symbol of living power and prosperity.
The Day of Nav'(March 1) The Day of dead ancestors.
Maslenitsa (March 21) The Day of equinox (the ancient, Christian Maslenitsa is connected with
Easter).
Komoeditsy (March 24) The Day of awakening bear.

The Day of Karna (April 7) Pray to Karna, the goddess of cry.

The Day of Lelya (April 22) The goddess of Love.
Rodonitsa (May 1) The Day of Rod, the God of Universe and family.
Grudie Rosnoe (May 20-30) The pray to Rod about rain and harvest.
The Day of Yarilo (June 4) The day of God of Sun.
The week of mermaids (June 19-24)
Kupala (June 23) The Day of Solstice. The Day of human energy, the restoration of spiritualmaterial balance. The Great holiday of Cosmic and Earth Love. Kupala is the God of Yav (the
World of alive people).
The Day of Perun (July 20) Perun is the God of Thunder and War.
The Day of Harvest (August 7)
Spozhinky (August 15) The last day of haymaking.
The feast of Lada and Lelya (September 8) The finish of field work. It is also send-off of
summer and warm.
The Day of Svarog (September 21) The Day of autumn solstice. Svarog is the God of Heaven
and Fire.
The Day of Makosha (Friday between October 25 November 1) The Holiday of Mother
Moist Earth. The Thanksgiving to Her.
The Day of memory of Volhvs (November 11)
The day of memory of Svyatogor (December 3) The Day of Great Warrior.

Days, Months etc...

The contemporary Ukrainian and former Russian names for the months wasn't absolutely equal.
I'll tell about Ukrainian names now.
Sichen' (January) snowstorm whips people and nature
L'utyi (February) evil
Berezen' (March) the month of birch-tree.
Kviten' (April) the month of flowers.
Traven' (May) the month of grass.
Cherven' (June) beautiful, (the gold is chervlene) red cherry.
Lipen' (July) the month of lime-tree.
Serpen' (August) the month of a reaping-hook.
Veresen' (September) the month of heather.
Zhovten(October) yellow (Ukrainian).
Listopad (October) fall of the leaves (Russian).
Listopad (November) Ukrainian.
Gruden' (November) congelation of the earth (Russian).
Gruden' (December) Ukrainian.
Studen' (December) cold (Russian).
Of course, there were some more names for months in different regions.
The year was divided into two paths summer and winter. The Brezozol (Berezen') was the first
month of the year, because the nature woke up from the winter sleep. Zhiva was the Lady of

summer and Mora (Morena) was the Lady of winter.

Slavs differ two faces of Sun the Sun of summer (B'elobog), but the Sun of winter
(Chernobog).
Nobody knows the ancient names of days of the week. I think that we have almost the same
names:
1.Ponedel'nik (after Nedel'a)
2.Vtornik (the second)
3.Sreda (the middle)
4.Chetverg (the forth)
5.P'atnitsa (the fifth)
6.Subbota (Jewish Shabbat)
7.Nedel'a (the day-off; Russians have Christian name Voscresene (Ressurection))
Till 18 century we used letters instead numbers (in ancient times runes).
I cant find information about Monday. If we consider 5-days week, that
Tuesday is the day of Veles.
Wednesday Lada
Thursday Perun
Friday Macosha (Mother Moist Earth)

Names for the week:

Croatian

Polish

Ponedelnik
Vtornik
Sreda
Cetvrtok
Petok
Sabota
Nedela

Poniedziaek
Wtorek
roda
Czwartek
Pitek
Sobota
Niedziela

English
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Our Rites
Poles practice natural folk magics ... candles, herbs, signs in nature, food magic, sympathetic rites
and all times of the year have their special rituals. It is not surprising then that one of the most common
forms of divination this night is a candle rite. In an otherwise dark room, two mirrors are placed facing
one another, and a candle is lit between them. The person seeking to see what is to pass stares intensely at
the candle flame, and nowhere else, in absolute silence of environment, thinking no thoughts. (You try it
... its not easy). When all thought has ceased, and the candle flame seems to have a life of its own, move
your gaze to the pitch black corner of the room, and study the shadows within it. Here then, you will see
what is to pass.

Perhaps one of the most simple candle divination's done this is as follows: melt some wax in the bowl of a
spoon, preferably beeswax, and then pour it slowly into a glass of water. The shapes it takes as it falls, and
then hardens, will tell you what the future brings you, if you carefully discern the runes and shapes it
makes. I have been told that some Germanic folks of my acquaintance do this divination as a family
tradition every New Years with melted lead ... perhaps a natural growth from this practice?
Beeswax is sacred to the Poles. The bee has an honored household member status because it is Melissa,
the Mother in Bee Goddess from ancient times, and making also the linden tree, their favorite home,
sacred as well. The month of July (Lipiec) was named for the Linden. Beeswax is used in almost all
magics, most notably the crafting of pysanki in the spring time, the blessings of fields, the making of
thunder candles in February, and the canning of crops in the fall.

Types of Rites we see in history

Circles - Most Slavic people worshiped in natural circles and groves; and it plays a large part in
all kinds of magic. In all traditions, circles can be made of with lighted candles, drawing circles
in the soil, or with natural objects and tools. They are used to surround evil or protect oneself
from it.
East - "Mother Earth, subdue every evil and unclean being so that he may not cast a spell on us
nor do us any harm." West - "Mother Earth, engulf the unclean power in thy boiling pits, and in
thy burning fires." South - "Mother Earth, calm the winds coming from the South and all bad
weather. Calm the moving sands and whirlwinds." North - "Mother Earth, calm the North winds
and clouds, subdue the snowstorms and the cold." The jar, which held the oil, is buried after each
invocation and offering is made at each Quarter. (Slavonic mythology 1977:287)
All through the night people are celebrating, singing songs, hiking, doing readings (fortunetelling). A blot is held near water.
they held a "Veche" (Thing) and decided to swear an oath:
Tip the horn in remembrance of those (people) who died at the Christian's "virtuous" hands.
celebrate our Gods by drinking a toast to them and burning bonfires
Slavic pagans remember their ancestors in prayer.
enlisted the help of many vikings who helped him rule his kingdom and fight against his enemies
The Varangian's (Viking's) king was a good example of the Rus-Viking

The Blot and Sumbel

The Blot is the most common ritual within Asatru...but if in history we find that the Polish used
both the Blot and Sumbel in their rites. It maybe that it is from their large trades with the Norse
for honey which made their Honey Mead, that this came to be. But don't be dismayed, the Poles

also seemed to worship in circles, out in a grove that was lite up (we use tiki torches in a large
circle) with a bonfire too. Any how back to Blots and Sumbels.. How they are set up and worked.
The Blot in its simplest form a blot is making a sacrifice to the Gods. In the old days this was
done by feasting on an animal consecrated to the Gods and then slaughtered. As we are no longer
farmers and our needs are simpler today, the most common blot is an offering of mead or other
alcoholic beverage to the deities.
Sharing and gift giving was an important part of most ancient cultures and had magical
significance. Leadership was seen as a contract between the leader and follower. It is said, "A
gift demands a gift."
By sharing a blot with the Gods we reaffirm our connection to them and thus reawaken their
powers within us and their watchfulness over our world.
A blot can be a simple affair where a horn of mead is consecrated to the Gods and then poured as
a libation, or it can be a part of a larger ritual. A good comparison is the Catholic Mass which
may be part of a regular service or special event such as a wedding or funeral, or it may be done
as a purely magical-religious practice without any sermon, hymns, or other trappings.
The blot consists of three parts, the hallowing or consecrating of the offering, the sharing of the
offering, and the libation. Each of these is equally important. The only physical objects required
are mead, beer or juice; a horn or chalice; a sprig of evergreen used to
sprinkle the mead; and a ceremonial bowl, known as a Hlautbowl, into which the initial libation
will be made. The blot begins with the consecration of the offering. The (Priest) or Wprowadza
(Priestess) officiating at the blot invokes the God or Goddess being
honored. Once the God is invoked, the Ksiadz takes up the horn. His assistant pours mead from
the bottle into the horn. The Ksiadz then traces the hammer sign (an upside down T) over the
horn as a blessing and holds it above his head offering it to the Gods. He
then speaks a request that the God or Goddess bless the offering and accept it as a sacrifice. At
the least one will feel the presence of the deity; at best one will be able to feel in some inner way
the God taking of the mead and drinking it.
The mead is now not only blessed with divine power, but has passed the lips of the God or
Goddess. The Priest then takes a drink of the horn and it is passed around the gathered folk. In
our modern rituals each person toasts the deity before they drink. Although this sounds like a
very simple thing, it can be a very powerful experience. At this point the mead is no longer
simply a drink but is imbued with the blessing and power of the God or Goddess being honored.
When one drinks, one is taking that power into oneself. After the horn has made the rounds once,
the Kapanw again drinks from the horn and then empties the remainder into the hlautbowl. The
Kapanw then takes up the evergreen sprig and his assistant the Hlautbowl and the Kapanw
sprinkles the mead around the circle or temple or onto the altar. If there are a great number of the
folk gathered, one may wish to drop the drinking and merely sprinkle the various folk with the
mead as a way of sharing it. In a small group one might eliminate the sprinkling and merely
drink as the blessing.

When this is done the Hlautbowl is taken by the Priests and poured out onto the ground. This is
done as an offering not only to the God invoked at the blot, but it is also traditional to remember
the Matka Ziema, the Earth Goddess, at this time, since it is being poured onto her ground. Many
invocations mention the God, Goddess, or spirit
being sacrificed to, and then Mother Earth, Prayer "Hail to the Gods and to the Goddesses as
well; Hail Earth that gives to all men." With this action, the blot is ended.
Obviously this is a very sparse ritual and if performed alone could be completed in only a few
minutes. This is as it should be, for blots are often poured not because it is a time of gathering or
festivity for the folk, but because the blot must be poured in honor
or petition of a God or Goddess on their holiday or some other important occasion.
For example, a father tending his sick child might pour a blot to Zywie the Goddess of healing.
Obviously he doesn't have time to waste on the "trappings" of ritual. The intent is to make an
offering to the Goddess as quickly as possible. At some times a full celebration might not be
made of a holiday because of a persons hectic schedule, but at the least a short blot should be
made to mark the occasion. However, in most cases a blot will at least be accompanied by a
statement of intent at the beginning and some sort
of conclusion at the end. It might also be interspersed with or done at the conclusion of ritual
theater or magic.
One important thing to note about any ritual is that ours is a holistic religion, integrated into
everyday life. We do not limit our Gods or spirituality to a certain time and place. While the
sacrament of the blot is usually poured as part of a ceremony, the feast after wards, singing of
sacred songs, reciting of poetry, toasts at mealtime, etc., are all part of our religion.
We are following the rites and attitude of the Asatru which is a very vibrant, intense, and
somewhat rowdy religion. Invocations to the Gods, particularly outside, are often shouted at the
top of ones lungs, and are punctuated by loud "Hails!" which are echoed by the folk When
someone in the ritual says "Hail!" or hails a God ("Hail Piorun!" for example) it's appropriate to
repeat after them in a similar tone and loudness.

Sumbel
The Sumbel
One of the most common celebrations noted in tales of our ancestors is the Sumbel or ritual
drinking celebration. This was a more mundane and social sort of ritual than the blot, but of no
less importance.
The sumbel is actually quite simple. The guests are seated, (traditionally, in some formal
fashion), and the host begins the sumbel with a short statement of greeting and intent, and by
offering the first toast. The horn is then passed around the table and each
person makes their toasts in turn. At the sumbel toasts are drunk to the Gods, as well as to a
persons ancestors or personal heroes. Rather than a toast, a person might also offer a brag or
some story, song, or poem that has significance. The importance is that at the
end of the toast, story, or whatever, the person offering it drinks from the horn, and in doing so

"drinks in" what he spoke.

The sumbel is also an important time for the folk to get to know each other in a more intimate
way than most people are willing to share. At sumbel, barriers can be lowered in a place which
is sacred to the Gods. Thoughts can be shared among companions and friends without
embarrassment or forced intimacy.
One format for the sumbel is to drink three rounds. The first is dedicated to the Gods, the second
to great heroes of the folk such as historical figures or heroes from the sagas, and the third to
personal ancestors, heroes, or friends which have passed from this
world.
Another theme for a sumbel is past, present, and future. This type of sumbel is more of a magical
ritual than one of celebration. The idea is to make toasts which bring up some aspect of your past
and present situation, and a third toast or brag which represents your wishes for the future. One
might make a toast to the first ritual one attended as the past, a second to the companions and
kindred then gathered, and for his third toast might state that he intends to be dedicate himself as
a priest in the coming year. The purpose would be to link the coming event of his dedication with
the two already
accomplished events of pledging and finding a kindred -- two other important rites of passage. In
this case initiation as a priest then becomes something which is linked to a chain of events that
have already occurred, rather than an isolated action which might occur. Thus magically, this
moves the person towards his goal.
A third and ever popular type of sumbel is a free-for-all where stories are told, toasts are made,
and bragging is done until all gathered are under the table. Perhaps this is not quite so esoteric or
purposeful as the previous ideas, but it's certainly in keeping
with the examples of our Gods and ancestors. In any case, no matter how relaxed a sumbel has
become, I have never seen one that was merely a drinking event. Some of the most intense
experiences I have had with people have come from such "open ended" sumbels.
These are only ideas. The sumbel is a very free form type of thing and the framework is very
simple to adapt.
The blot and sumbel make up the mainstream of our modern Polish tradition. This does not mean
that they are the only rituals that we perform, but in one way or another most rituals revolve
around one or both of these "generic" ceremonies.

Prayers and Devotions - Solitaire Rites

Morning Prayer to Dazbog
Hail the rising Sun,
Great God, Bestower of all good things.
Shining brightly your chariot drawn across the heavens
Driving back the blanket of night.

Mighty Dazbog, who starts the day as an infant

Ends the day as an old man, be my Pace-setter.
Help me to structure my day
Time to work, play and pray.
Let me not lose myself to the hammering call
Of all that needs to be done.
Help me to follow your rhythms,
For you are wise and practical
And Your presence blesses us all.

Evening Prayer to Miesiac

Hail the rising of the Moon,
Beautiful Goddess, sensual singer of the nights blessings.
Sometimes hidden, sometimes bright, You watch over us
Taking your place in the heavens,
Following the path Your husband daily treads.
Bless me, Miesiac
Take from the ichor of the days efforts.
Wash me in Your healing light,
Clothe me in Your comforting darkness.
Embrace me, my beautiful Goddess
And whisper what secrets You would
In my waiting ears
That I may find in the nights embrace,
Sweetest slumber.
Meal Blessing

by Sigrun Freyskona

For this food we are eating,

We give thanks to the gods of the Earth and Sea.
We bless the spirits of those it came from.
We bless those who made this food, and we
Bless those who share it with us.
May this food nourish our bodies
As well has our hearts.
(you may trace a swastika over food, visualize it in a golden light, and eat)
Prayer for Faith

by ElizabethVongvisith

I have come her alone,

Most Holy Ones, alone before
Your harrow, or some other place
Sacred to You, or none at all---

The bathroom, the subway, the edge o

Of my unmade, cold and lonely bed
To ask You for yet another boon,
Though You have already granted many
And I know better than to push my luck.
I ask for faith, Holy Ones, faith
To remember and understand those times
When You have touched me, shown evidence
Of Your presences, spoken to me, gladdened
My heart, for now I am aching and afraid,
Here before You, here in my aloneness,
And I cannot find the radiant spark of life
That You granted me when first I drew breath
And felt Your power moving through me.
I ask for faith, Holy Ones, faith
To overcome the fears and weaknesses
Which stand in the way of my becoming
The person I was born to be, imperfect
But aware, strong and courageous even
If my hands never touch a sword or fire
The cold iron trigger of a gun, for now I
Cannot find You near me, no matter how often
I reach into the void, searching and afraid
That there is nothing beyond this empty space.
I ask for faith, Holy Ones, faith
To forget this pain and do what I must,
If I must bear the terrible sorrow of never
hearing Your voices again, never knowing
Your presences, never seeing Your light,
For if this is what must be, let me at least
Remember that once I saw You, divine,
In a flash of glory, and let me carry that
All through the long years that lie ahead,
Or into the darkness just before the gate
Which beckons only a short way before me.
I ask for faith now, Holy Ones,
And in this, I gather up the last wisps
Of what faith I have left, that You
Will hear me, that some among You
May feel moved to guide me, aloud or
In the profound silence of the soul
And that I may receive into my hands

All the tools I need to build that faith into

Nothing so much as a mighty fortress,
But the crumbling wall which, I know,
I shall have to scale again and again.
And I shall keep the faith You give me,
Most Holy Ones, gods and goddesses
Who fire and ice have circled my world
Ever since I first learned Your names,
So that it may grow an burn and warm me
When the sun grows dim and winter comes.

Prayer of the Lone Worshiper by ElizabethVongvisith

O Holy Ones,
Shining gods and goddesses
Of the Thee Worlds,
Keep watch over me
As I strive to honor my ancestors
And follow my hearts dictates
In reverence and worship.
I will remain steadfast
In my devotion to the gods
Though I remain solitary
In my veneration of You.
I will keep the Holy days
With joy and celebration
Though I am without companion
Before Your sacred harrows.
I will persevere
In both feast and famine,
Though I struggle unaided
To maintain my faith.
I will follow Your guidance
With courage and hope
Though I have no allies at hand
And the road grows difficult
O goddesses and gods,
Blessed and mighty,
Walk with me, Holy Ones,
And be me kith and kin
As I forge my faith alone.

The Rekawak or Sleeve Festival (April)

The Rkawka or "Sleeve" Festival is a tradition that has been celebrated in Krakw, Poland, for
centuries. It always takes place on the Tuesday after Easter, at the foot of Krak`s Mound, which
is one of four artificial mounds in Krakw.
Krak`s Mound, which is the most ancient of all, is situated in the southern part of the city.
Legend says that the pagan subjects loved their ruler Krak so much that after he died, they built
an enormous burial mound for him, carrying earth in their sleeves (rekaw).
In the early Middle Ages, Rkawka was a religious festival connected with the cult of the dead.
Sword and axe fights took place to honor the memory of the dead and scare away demons that
could threaten good souls. People lit fires on graves and offered food to the dead.
Today the festival is no longer a religious event. Its aim is to demonstrate what life and work
were like in the early Middle Ages. During the festival, the area around the mound is supposed to
look like an old Slavic settlement from the past, with primitive tents and workshops
demonstrating barrel making, black smithing, rope making, and other trades.
It is the people who make this festival so attractive and colorful. Mostly university students, they
impersonate pagan Slavs: those dressed as peasants wear light flaxen shirts and trousers, women
wear colorful robes and dresses with jewelry, while warriors have helmets, swords and iron or
leather armor.
In 2006, there were also events that referred to this year`s festival theme: "Courtship and
Marriage of Slavic People." So, they staged courting and wedding traditions, marriage fortune
telling, and the ritual suicide of a widow. There were also competitions, e.g. of housewives
milking the goats (goats were artificial, and rubber gloves imitated udders. Very funny!). There
were dances and a concert. The festival lasted all day.

Knights in Krakow ready to do battle

Polish Medieval Camp

Medieval Ladies Dress

Wreathes of Flowers and Herbs (June)

In Poland more than a thousand years ago single girls wore wreaths of flowers on their heads.
Often times in June they made and wore herbal wreaths for the mid summer (midsummer)
solstice which they celebrated on the eve of St. John, June 22 with the St. John's fires. Each

region had its own fires of St. John, but most all ended with the maidens throwing their wreath in
the fires. If the burning wreath was thrown in the river and then pulled OT by a single man it
might mean they are engaged. These customs are ancient and are not often celebrated in urban
areas.
Polish maidens wore wreaths for many occasions, with the most significant one also the last time
being their wedding. Many of the flowers had special meanings with some of these being
universal. Romantics, lovers and brides all were given the herb rosemary as a symbol of fidelity,
remembrance and love. Since this is a plant native to the Mediterranean area it must have come
along with its legends by way of ancient traders crossing Poland. Later when bouquets became
more popular it also was placed with roses for a girls to carry.
Both lavender and Myrtle were also associated with love and worn and carried by brides. These
like the rosemary were brought to Poland in some unknown time, but became very popular a
popular traditions. Roses and rue both probably natives were also used in both hair wreaths and
later in bouquets. The housewife grew all for her daughters and other young females in the
family. The art of making a beautiful hair wreath was practiced by all of the women. Early
records and diaries often to give detailed list of each sprig of herb or flower used in both air
wreaths and bridal flowers. Poles are romantic in general and this type of flower symbolism
appealed to all, especially in ancient times.
Throughout Europe during the Middle Ages some flowers and herbs were thought to protect one
from ills. People of means would carry little bunches of special herbs and blooms to hold up to
their noses when in the city and in crowded places. This custom spread also with little bouquets
called Tussie Mussie by the English and soon becoming known by many. This is little nosegay
of flowers and herbs. They goes back to the ancients but were made throughout Europe from
medieval times. That was an era when there was little or no public sanitation and people thought
by carrying and sniffing the little nosegay it would protect them from sickness and plague. Made
of scented medicinal herbs, like rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint and rue it was rather antiseptic
and protected one from germs and bad odors. They also threw or strew these same strongly
scented herbs and flowers on the floor of homes to freshen the air and protect against the plague.
Although some blooms had meaning during the Middle Ages and Shakespeare often used herb
and flowers to convey meaning in his prose and poetry, it was during the Victorian era that many
lists of flowers and meanings began to circulate. Most young ladies knew the symbolism of
flowers so they could send and receive bouquets with a message. Lavender, roses and sweet
smelling violets were favorites as were Forget-me-nots for true love, and purple lilacs to say
falling in love with you. Even today some people who grow and use herbs in America are
familiar with the following meanings and make Tussie mussies with a message:

Rosemary - for remembrance

Sage - immortality and good virtue
Lavender - love
Myrtle (Myrtus communis)- a symbol of love and fertility
Ivy - faithfulness and friendship
Globe amaranth - everlasting feeling and love
Mint - virtue and truth

Roses - love forever

Many times these plants and blooms are used in wedding bouquets and as wedding favors. Even
the color of the rose has meaning:

White roses signify simplicity or purity

White and Red roses together-unity
Red -true love and passion

It is fun to create your own special bouquets or hair wreath.

Midsummer (June)
At the end of June, at the time of Summer Solstice, when night is shortest and Nature bursts with
blossoms and growth, we celebrate the Holiday of Fire and Water, also called Noc Kupaly,
Sobtka or Kres.
The name Kupala is an ancient notion which derives most probably from either:
1. taking a purifying bath at that time,
2. crowds of people coming and feasting together,
3. the green high pole, similar in its symbolic meaning to Maypole.
Sobtka meaned a festivity celebrated on Saturday (it used to be a holiday a couple of centuries
ago) or, later in the past, a bonfire lighted on top of hills and balks all over Indoeuropean Europe.
The name 'Kres' stands most probably for an activity of kindling a bonfire by rubbing oak timber
(male) with a piece of linden or birch timber (female). In English speaking countries, the magical
night is commonly known as Midsummer Night.
The The Holiday of Fire and Water (with fire regarded as male element and water concerned as
female one) was and still is regarded as fundamental manifestation of life force. During that
magical night people go to rivers and lakes to bathe in order to become young, healthy and
fertile. There is no happier holiday than Kupaa, because, as they say, on that morning the sun
dances and the power of life fills every particle of Nature.
This year we will celebrate the festivity on Saturday, June the 23rd on a huge meadow close to
the Polish city of Poznan. As it is typical for this culture, we will begin with the sun setting. The
celebrations will take all night and are planned to be finished in the morning, after the sun will
rise.
Beeing created by common people- for people, with no desire for profits other than to be as Free and as
united with the Nature as it is possible, at least for this one, special night.

Dziady

(October)

There is an old tradition with pagan roots - celebrated in the area of Eastern Poland, Belarus and
Lithuania about four times a year. One of these times happened to be at the end of October - near All

Saints Day, All Souls Day and Halloween. It is called "Dziady". "Dziady" in Polish means "grandfathers",
"forefathers" or just "old men". This ceremony was described in detail by Adam Mickiewicz, a great
Polish poet, in a poetic Romantic drama called simply "Dziady". According to Mickiewicz, common
people were gathering in abandoned houses or chapels near the cemeteries, with food and drink for the
souls. The souls were then summoned back and their life and deeds were discussed and judged
according to the folk wisdom rather than Christian biblical tradition. People were judged not only
according to what they did in their lives but also for what they failed to do or what they lacked.

The ceremony of "Dziady" described by Mickiewicz is a very poetic vision in which villagers are
talking directly to the souls. Such ceremony could not take place in a real life. But many parts of
the ceremony base on real tradition. For instance in the past the villagers were gathering
together, they were sharing food with the descendant members of the community, they were
remembering them and praying for them. It is also true that they believed that some magic words
and spells could help the souls.
Lets analyze ceremony of "Dziady" envisioned by Mickiewicz. Villagers were able to see only
these souls who were still unable to enter the heaven because they committed sins which have
not been forgiven yet, so they were still hanging somewhere between a kingdom of alive and
dead.
As we mentioned already, the concept of good and evil is a bit different from the Christian
tradition. Not only evil is a sin but also a lack of good will, inactivity, passivity and negligence.
The degrees of souls' sins were different.
First villagers see the souls of two small children. The children are guilty only because they died
so young that they were not able to experience bitterness and a real suffering in life like adults
do. After receiving a grain of mustard seed (which has bitter taste) children leave to heaven since
their "crime" was not that serious.Then a ghost of a man appear. This man committed mortal
sins, among them - cruelty, greed and pride. He was a bad master who did injustice towards his
servants. Nobody can help him: "who was never a human - no human can help him". This soul
cannot be salvaged.
Finally villagers see a young girl. Her sin is also not a mortal one. She broke a heart of a young
man as she played with his feelings. She never experienced a real love, empathy, she lived unreal
life without "touching the earth" according to the common wisdom. Her punishment would
terminate in two years, then she would be able to enter the heaven.
The appearance of every soul is preceded by burning of distaff, boiler with vodka and wreath.
This ceremony is also called "Goat's Feast".

Death and the After Life

Funeral Customs
After a death, the windows and doors of a house were left open so the soul could leave.

Early Slavs cremated the dead on pyres with earthly things, then put the ashes in an urn and
buried it in a cairn; direct burial was a result of foreign influences. The dead were often buried
with heads to the east. The burial included articles for the soul's journey, like food, drink,
clothing and coins. In areas where it was believed that the soul must travel across a wise sea, the
body was burned in boats, or buried in boat-shaped coffins.
At the graveside, profane jokes were sometimes made by masked men in Bohemia. After the
funeral, a banquet was held and food left out for the dead soul. On the first night, water was left
out too. Kuchiya is food for the dead and ancestors, a pudding made from barley groats and
honey or wheat groats, poppy seeds and honey.
Ceremonies were held on the third, seventh, twentieth and fortieth days after the death, plus six
months and a year. The rites were often performed at the grave site.
The Afterlife
The Thrice Tenth Kingdom was one version of the afterlife; its name comes from a folktale. It
may lie beyond an impenetrable forest on the other side of a fiery river, or beyond or below the
sea, or above or below the earth. To get there, one must climb up hillside of iron or glass to
celestial land of goodness, so one must save one's nail clippings so that they would turn into
talons after death for the climb to the other world. Other versions say the otherworld is located in
the rainbow or in the Milky Way.
Nav is the name of the underworld, the realm of the dead, much like Hades. Volos and Lada
were also said to reside here. Lada would return from the underworld in the spring. Ancestors
were thought to dwell below earth, and cracks and holes in the earth were thought to be gates to
underworld

The Rekawak or Sleeve Festival (April)

The Rkawka or "Sleeve" Festival is a tradition that has been celebrated in Krakw, Poland, for
centuries. It always takes place on the Tuesday after Easter, at the foot of Krak`s Mound, which
is one of four artificial mounds in Krakw.
Krak`s Mound, which is the most ancient of all, is situated in the southern part of the city.
Legend says that the pagan subjects loved their ruler Krak so much that after he died, they built
an enormous burial mound for him, carrying earth in their sleeves (rekaw).
In the early Middle Ages, Rkawka was a religious festival connected with the cult of the dead.
Sword and axe fights took place to honor the memory of the dead and scare away demons that
could threaten good souls. People lit fires on graves and offered food to the dead.
Today the festival is no longer a religious event. Its aim is to demonstrate what life and work
were like in the early Middle Ages. During the festival, the area around the mound is supposed to
look like an old Slavic settlement from the past, with primitive tents and workshops
demonstrating barrel making, black smithing, rope making, and other trades.

It is the people who make this festival so attractive and colorful. Mostly university students, they
impersonate pagan Slavs: those dressed as peasants wear light flaxen shirts and trousers, women
wear colorful robes and dresses with jewelry, while warriors have helmets, swords and iron or
leather armor.
In 2006, there were also events that referred to this year`s festival theme: "Courtship and
Marriage of Slavic People." So, they staged courting and wedding traditions, marriage fortune
telling, and the ritual suicide of a widow. There were also competitions, e.g. of housewives
milking the goats (goats were artificial, and rubber gloves imitated udders. Very funny!). There
were dances and a concert. The festival lasted all day.

Knights in Krakow ready to do battle

Polish Medieval Camp

Medieval Ladies Dress

Wreathes of Flowers and Herbs (June)

In Poland more than a thousand years ago single girls wore wreaths of flowers on their heads.
Often times in June they made and wore herbal wreaths for the mid summer (midsummer)
solstice which they celebrated on the eve of St. John, June 22 with the St. John's fires. Each
region had its own fires of St. John, but most all ended with the maidens throwing their wreath in
the fires. If the burning wreath was thrown in the river and then pulled OT by a single man it

might mean they are engaged. These customs are ancient and are not often celebrated in urban
areas.
Polish maidens wore wreaths for many occasions, with the most significant one also the last time
being their wedding. Many of the flowers had special meanings with some of these being
universal. Romantics, lovers and brides all were given the herb rosemary as a symbol of fidelity,
remembrance and love. Since this is a plant native to the Mediterranean area it must have come
along with its legends by way of ancient traders crossing Poland. Later when bouquets became
more popular it also was placed with roses for a girls to carry.
Both lavender and Myrtle were also associated with love and worn and carried by brides. These
like the rosemary were brought to Poland in some unknown time, but became very popular a
popular traditions. Roses and rue both probably natives were also used in both hair wreaths and
later in bouquets. The housewife grew all for her daughters and other young females in the
family. The art of making a beautiful hair wreath was practiced by all of the women. Early
records and diaries often to give detailed list of each sprig of herb or flower used in both air
wreaths and bridal flowers. Poles are romantic in general and this type of flower symbolism
appealed to all, especially in ancient times.
Throughout Europe during the Middle Ages some flowers and herbs were thought to protect one
from ills. People of means would carry little bunches of special herbs and blooms to hold up to
their noses when in the city and in crowded places. This custom spread also with little bouquets
called Tussie Mussie by the English and soon becoming known by many. This is little nosegay
of flowers and herbs. They goes back to the ancients but were made throughout Europe from
medieval times. That was an era when there was little or no public sanitation and people thought
by carrying and sniffing the little nosegay it would protect them from sickness and plague. Made
of scented medicinal herbs, like rosemary, thyme, lavender, mint and rue it was rather antiseptic
and protected one from germs and bad odors. They also threw or strew these same strongly
scented herbs and flowers on the floor of homes to freshen the air and protect against the plague.
Although some blooms had meaning during the Middle Ages and Shakespeare often used herb
and flowers to convey meaning in his prose and poetry, it was during the Victorian era that many
lists of flowers and meanings began to circulate. Most young ladies knew the symbolism of
flowers so they could send and receive bouquets with a message. Lavender, roses and sweet
smelling violets were favorites as were Forget-me-nots for true love, and purple lilacs to say
falling in love with you. Even today some people who grow and use herbs in America are
familiar with the following meanings and make Tussie mussies with a message:

Rosemary - for remembrance

Sage - immortality and good virtue
Lavender - love
Myrtle (Myrtus communis)- a symbol of love and fertility
Ivy - faithfulness and friendship
Globe amaranth - everlasting feeling and love
Mint - virtue and truth
Roses - love forever

Many times these plants and blooms are used in wedding bouquets and as wedding favors. Even
the color of the rose has meaning:

White roses signify simplicity or purity

White and Red roses together-unity
Red -true love and passion

It is fun to create your own special bouquets or hair wreath.

Midsummer (June)
At the end of June, at the time of Summer Solstice, when night is shortest and Nature bursts with
blossoms and growth, we celebrate the Holiday of Fire and Water, also called Noc Kupaly,
Sobtka or Kres.
The name Kupala is an ancient notion which derives most probably from either:
1. taking a purifying bath at that time,
2. crowds of people coming and feasting together,
3. the green high pole, similar in its symbolic meaning to Maypole.
Sobtka meaned a festivity celebrated on Saturday (it used to be a holiday a couple of centuries
ago) or, later in the past, a bonfire lighted on top of hills and balks all over Indoeuropean Europe.
The name 'Kres' stands most probably for an activity of kindling a bonfire by rubbing oak timber
(male) with a piece of linden or birch timber (female). In English speaking countries, the magical
night is commonly known as Midsummer Night.
The The Holiday of Fire and Water (with fire regarded as male element and water concerned as
female one) was and still is regarded as fundamental manifestation of life force. During that
magical night people go to rivers and lakes to bathe in order to become young, healthy and
fertile. There is no happier holiday than Kupaa, because, as they say, on that morning the sun
dances and the power of life fills every particle of Nature.
This year we will celebrate the festivity on Saturday, June the 23rd on a huge meadow close to
the Polish city of Poznan. As it is typical for this culture, we will begin with the sun setting. The
celebrations will take all night and are planned to be finished in the morning, after the sun will
rise.
Beeing created by common people- for people, with no desire for profits other than to be as Free
and as united with the Nature as it is possible, at least for this one, special night.

Dziady

(October)

There is an old tradition with pagan roots - celebrated in the area of Eastern Poland, Belarus and
Lithuania about four times a year. One of these times happened to be at the end of October - near
All Saints Day, All Souls Day and Halloween. It is called "Dziady". "Dziady" in Polish means
"grandfathers", "forefathers" or just "old men". This ceremony was described in detail by Adam

Mickiewicz, a great Polish poet, in a poetic Romantic drama called simply "Dziady". According
to Mickiewicz, common people were gathering in abandoned houses or chapels near the
cemeteries, with food and drink for the souls. The souls were then summoned back and their life
and deeds were discussed and judged according to the folk wisdom rather than Christian biblical
tradition. People were judged not only according to what they did in their lives but also for what
they failed to do or what they lacked.
The ceremony of "Dziady" described by Mickiewicz is a very poetic vision in which villagers are
talking directly to the souls. Such ceremony could not take place in a real life. But many parts of
the ceremony base on real tradition. For instance in the past the villagers were gathering
together, they were sharing food with the descendant members of the community, they were
remembering them and praying for them. It is also true that they believed that some magic words
and spells could help the souls.
Lets analyze ceremony of "Dziady" envisioned by Mickiewicz. Villagers were able to see only
these souls who were still unable to enter the heaven because they committed sins which have
not been forgiven yet, so they were still hanging somewhere between a kingdom of alive and
dead.
As we mentioned already, the concept of good and evil is a bit different from the Christian
tradition. Not only evil is a sin but also a lack of good will, inactivity, passivity and negligence.
The degrees of souls' sins were different.
First villagers see the souls of two small children. The children are guilty only because they died
so young that they were not able to experience bitterness and a real suffering in life like adults
do. After receiving a grain of mustard seed (which has bitter taste) children leave to heaven since
their "crime" was not that serious.Then a ghost of a man appear. This man committed mortal
sins, among them - cruelty, greed and pride. He was a bad master who did injustice towards his
servants. Nobody can help him: "who was never a human - no human can help him". This soul
cannot be salvaged.
Finally villagers see a young girl. Her sin is also not a mortal one. She broke a heart of a young
man as she played with his feelings. She never experienced a real love, empathy, she lived unreal
life without "touching the earth" according to the common wisdom. Her punishment would
terminate in two years, then she would be able to enter the heaven.
The appearance of every soul is preceded by burning of distaff, boiler with vodka and wreath.
This ceremony is also called "Goat's Feast".

Death and the After Life

Funeral Customs
After a death, the windows and doors of a house were left open so the soul could leave.

Early Slavs cremated the dead on pyres with earthly things, then put the ashes in an urn and
buried it in a cairn; direct burial was a result of foreign influences. The dead were often buried
with heads to the east. The burial included articles for the soul's journey, like food, drink,
clothing and coins. In areas where it was believed that the soul must travel across a wise sea, the
body was burned in boats, or buried in boat-shaped coffins.
At the graveside, profane jokes were sometimes made by masked men in Bohemia. After the
funeral, a banquet was held and food left out for the dead soul. On the first night, water was left
out too. Kuchiya is food for the dead and ancestors, a pudding made from barley groats and
honey or wheat groats, poppy seeds and honey.
Ceremonies were held on the third, seventh, twentieth and fortieth days after the death, plus six
months and a year. The rites were often performed at the grave site.
The Afterlife
The Thrice Tenth Kingdom was one version of the afterlife; its name comes from a folktale. It
may lie beyond an impenetrable forest on the other side of a fiery river, or beyond or below the
sea, or above or below the earth. To get there, one must climb up hillside of iron or glass to
celestial land of goodness, so one must save one's nail clippings so that they would turn into
talons after death for the climb to the other world. Other versions say the otherworld is located in
the rainbow or in the Milky Way.
Nav is the name of the underworld, the realm of the dead, much like Hades. Volos and Lada
were also said to reside here. Lada would return from the underworld in the spring. Ancestors
were thought to dwell below earth, and cracks and holes in the earth were thought to be gates to
underworld