Dear Comrades.

Allow me to present scientific interpretations of the Theme of the Mystery of Dogma - the "Holy Trinity" in interpretations based on the technology of Russian Philosophical Culture - the Trinity from the idealistic beginning?

I am sending the materials with one goal - to find out when and how this technology will be revived in Russia and what actions on my part should be taken in your opinion ???

The theory of organization, work and CHANGE of generations of spirituality of the Ethno-Russian People.

(based on the technology of the trinity from the idealistic beginning)

Why do you call the technology of materialistic dialectics, which was brought into Holy Russia by the Jewish-Christian-Communist religion, the PHILOSOPHY of the Spirituality of Orthodoxy?

Preamble.

Your Christianity contradicts the technology of the work of the culture of life of the Ethno-Russian People. Because the modern Civilization is the domination of the technology of materialistic dialectics. And the Technology of the work of the Culture of people's lives as a whole is the work of the Harmony of diversity or is it the technology of the trinity from the idealistic beginning.

The name "Orthodoxy" comes from the technology of the work of the Rule or the experience of the life of the Ancestors. And the Spirituality of the Ethno-Russian People is the work of three triune sets of processes - Rule, Reveal, Navi. NU or the technology of the work of three triune sets of generations - these are ancestors, contemporaries, descendants.

Let me introduce SCIENCE from a simple Russian Scientist - this is a technology of trinity from an idealistic beginning, this is a technology that has developed from time immemorial as a culture of life of the Ethno-Russian people and is interpreted as a technology for the work of three triune sets of processes - this is Rule, Yav, Nav ...... .. Well or the technology of the work of the culture of life of three triune sets of generations - these are ancestors, contemporaries, descendants .......

1. The technology of the trinity from the idealistic beginning.

Philosophy is three triune sets of TECHNOLOGIES - these are three monistic (or metaphysics); the three dialectics are materialistic dialectics, existential. idealistic; three triune technologies are a trinity from the materialistic beginning (this is the technology of Buddhism), this is a trinity from the existential beginning (this is the technology of Islam), this is a trinity from the idealistic beginning (or this is the technology of Christianity).

You will generously excuse me, BUT having familiarized yourself with your materials, this is just CHILDREN'S pampering, because you live, understand, and reflect only the material world through KNOWLEDGE. And ONLY in interpretations using materialistic dialectics.

If you want to have SCIENCE from the Ethno-Russian PEOPLE?

2. Scientific interpretations of the spirituality of ancient Russia.

(based on the technology of Russian philosophical culture - the trinity from the idealistic beginning).

The spirituality of the Ethno-Russian people or in the interpretation of the Jewish-Christian-Communist religion is Paganism. The priestly-church brotherhood reshaped the clothes of Ethno-Russian Orthodoxy on their Jewish shoulders, and Christian Orthodoxy turned out.

This religious CLOTHING brought by Christianity to Russia was simply put on the BODY of the culture of the work of the spirituality of the Ethno-Russian people.

Nowadays, like many years ago, the historical memory of the People is being revived, traditions, customs, mores, giving, etc., are returning in the spirituality of the common people, and in empiricism, or is it the experience of ancestors, which is transmitted in historical memory, and into science. The Spirituality of the Ethno-Russian People wakes up as a historical Memory of three triune sets of processes - both material HERITAGE and social (this is economics, politics, law), and spiritual (or this is ordinary consciousness and KNOWLEDGE, empirical, scientific).

Symbols of spirituality are being revived in holy places. On the temples are placed, carved from wood, the images of the gods, and in front of them a sacred fire burns. The words of ancient legends sound again, new generations of Priests and Magi accept initiation. The renewed pagan movement is gradually gaining momentum.

Christianity, which originated far from the Slavic tribes, as the spirituality of the humiliated and their masters, perceived Slavic paganism as an alien religion. Because, the technology of work of Christianity is a materialistic dialectic. But the technology of work of Ethno-Russian spirituality is a trinity from an idealistic beginning, or from a spiritual, intellectual, SCIENTIFIC one.

But the objective necessity of the entry of the Ethno-Russian people into the world economic process brought into the Russian SPIRITUALITY its divine, religious, dogmatic, Christian technologies, terminology, rituals and worship. Well, or Christianity is just CLOTHING dressed on the BODY of Ethno-Russian spirituality. Moreover, in its historical path of development, Christianity also went through three triune sets of stages of complication of itself - this is Protestantism, Catholicism, Orthodoxy.

The essence of the stages of development is that there was a change of three triune sets of processes - this is a change in the subject of religion, the technology of its work, the trend of quantitative and qualitative relationships (relationships are three triune sets of processes - interactions, relationships, mutual reflections). But the process of developing the spirituality of any nation works in the technology of THREE triune processes - this is evolution, revolution, leaps. So the change of the NAME of the Russian FAITH became Orthodoxy in Christian interpretations, names. But in the interpretations of Russian philosophical culture, the technological principles of the trinity, unity, harmony of the diversity of the totality of generations remained.

Due to the objectivity of the spirituality of any people, Christianity simply changed its name in the Russian FAITH. Moreover, each of the three triune sets of World religions works in the technology of trinity.

3. What is a trinity?

This is the simultaneous joint work of THREE triune sets of processes - material, social, spiritual. And the essence of the trinity is that in each specific process of life, of any property person, all three work simultaneously, BUT one of the processes dominates, the second constitutes a contradiction to it, and the third harmonizes the work of the process as a whole.

And the spirituality of people is simply people's interpretation of the RULES, the work of these processes through the abilities available to each nation in the work of three triune sets of principles - matter, space, time. But the basis of the spirituality of each nation is simply becoming more complicated, but does NOT change about the original, which is laid down in these triune sets of processes.

Orthodoxy was implanted in Russia in contradiction to the original Russian interpretations, because instead of the trinity of FAITH, a dialectic or contradiction between the people and the authorities was implanted. And therefore Russian spirituality was brutally destroyed from above. The people resisted this for several centuries and introduced paganism into Christianity in various ways (by allegory, coding, allusion, renaming by consonance or inner close essence, etc.), in the end, the people's (original pagan) worldview, ethics, dissolved into Christianity, creating a unique alloy.

Russian Orthodoxy, as spirituality, by the way, is a pagan name, from the three triune spiritual processes it is Rule, Yav, Nav, well, or three triune processes of the life of generations - these are ancestors, contemporaries, descendants. Therefore, the name comes from the name of the Experience of the Ancestors - from the Rule. And in an older interpretation of this trinity, the totality of property persons is given in such names - these are Yasun, Mirdgard, Dasun.

The very concept of culture has developed historically in the Russian language as processes built on the basis of the WORK of people, although it has historically different interpretations, which become more complicated depending on the complexity of the rules of the very practice of people's lives.

One of the interpretations of culture comes from the word "cult" - the faith, customs and traditions of the ancestors, created by the WORK of people in the course of socio-historical development. At the same time, labor itself is three triune types - physical, managerial, mental. And therefore there are three triune commodity processes - this is material production, this is social production (or these are constitutions, laws, tariffs, MONEY, etc.), this is spiritual production. And in the wake of the complication of the practice of people's lives, people's ability to cultivate the process of life is changing, and the interpretation of these rules of life is also changing.

Thus, spirituality, as a commodity production of the spiritual sphere of economic processes, is also changing. Here, such a concept as the Master Spirit (and similar ones: the lord; or the spirit of the locus, the spirit of the place, the genius of the place) is perfectly suitable - a common term of primitive religions, as well as modern folklore, which has passed as a synonym for the deity in all higher religions.

Thus, the Master Spirit is the work of idealistic processes (spiritual, intellectual, scientific, etc.). And they work in three triune sets of processes - these are material, social (economics, politics, law), intellectual.

4. Master Spirit.

The Master Spirit, as a set of RULES for the work of any particular process, works in three triune sets of processes: - the first set is three triune sets of objects - this is matter, space, time.

Matter is three triune sets of objects - these are physical, chemical, biological processes.

Space is the environment for the distribution of these objectivities, which work in three triune sets of participation in the organization of the process - they are dominant, contradictory, harmonizing (this applies to all three triune sets of processes).

Time is just a process of operation of periodicities in each of the components. - The second set of processes is the RULES of technology operation - these are monistic, dialectical, triune.

Monistic technologies are a process in which the main principle is the dominance of one of the components over the others and the organization of processes based on its rules of operation.

Dialectical technologies are the organization of the work of the process as a basis, where the principle of contradiction of two or more opposites works.

The trinity of the work of the process is when all three components work in each component, BUT one of them occupies a dominant position, the second forms a contradiction to it, and the third harmonizes the work of the process as a whole. - these are evolutionary processes, revolutionary, LEAP or transition to a new quality of being.

5. Objectivity of information work.

What symbols, images, customs, etc. Well, or visual, verbal, virtual reflections of the RULES of work of Ethno-Russian culture work in the practice of people's lives. Here we should mention the work of the trinity from the idealistic beginning.

According to this technology, three triune levels of complexity of PERSONS OF OWNERSHIP work in the process of people's lives - these are single processes of being of persons of property, these are separate, these are common. Well, or so, in the practice of people's lives, three triune generations work simultaneously - this is a family, a nation, an INTERNATIONAL person of property.

Moreover, the trinity of family spirituality is three triune sets of persons of property - this is male spirituality, female, children's. Likewise, national persons have three triune sets of components - past, present, future or continuity of generations, or these are three triune sets of generations - these are ancestors, contemporaries, descendants.

And the INTERNATIONAL person forms three triune world religions - this is Buddhism or the dominance of material spirituality; Islam or the contradiction of the material and the spiritual, Christianity is the harmony of the diversity of the three triune sets of processes - these are material, social, spiritual. Moreover, Christianity is three triune STAGES of complicating the technologies of religion, or is it Protestantism, Catholicism, Orthodoxy.

Thus, in the practice of people's lives, according to the existence of the spirituality of the Ethno-Russian people, there are three triune levels of complexity of the processes of spirituality:

- is it the general objectivity of the process or is it the Universal Spirituality.

- this is the Mediator between the universal and earthly spirituality or a separate one - this is the Spirit-Simargl.

— And only then the work of the Earthly spirituality is the Spirit-Rod, it is already the work of spirituality in the Souls of people or a single or three triune sets of processes or spirituality in communication between people — this is the Spirits-Mother-Earth, which people understand; these are the Spirits-Children-People; these are Spirits-Fathers-Reason.

Sincerely, Simple Russian Scientist Chefonov V.M.

I. Introduction

The word "culture" comes from the word "cult" - faith, customs and traditions of ancestors. Anyone who forgets this has no right to be considered a cultured person.

Before Christianity and other monotheistic religions, all nations were pagans. The culture of earthlings dates back millennia.

Now not a word is spoken about paganism in schools. Not only students, but also teachers have no idea about paganism. Meanwhile, the school curriculum should begin with a fairy tale, song, myths of their ancestors. Myths are the primary layer of the cultural life of mankind; religion, science, and art draw their origin from them.

Slavic paganism developed along different channels: some tribes believed in the forces of space and nature; others - in Rod and Rozhanits, others - in the souls of dead ancestors and spirits (inspired forces); the fourth - in totem animals - ancestors, etc. Some buried (kept) their dead ancestors in the ground, believing that they then help the living from the Other World, left them something to eat. Others burned the dead in boats (boats), sending their souls on a heavenly voyage, believing that if the body is burned, the soul will quickly rise to heaven and there each will perish in its own star (hence - perish).

According to the ideas of the ancient Slavs, the highest gods lived in the sky, the spirits of nature lived on the earth, and evil demons lived underground. Probably, such a structure did not appear immediately. In the beginning there was a cult of the spirits of nature, the spirits of the patrons of man, the spirits of ancestors. Then the images of the gods were formed, the list of which was gradually replenished. Man improved, and spirits and gods became more and more humanized.

II. Slavic pagan world

Today it is possible to give only a general idea of ​​the Slavic pagan world. Moreover, if individual gods can be described in more or less detail, then only names have been preserved from others.

The most ancient non-personalized gods of the Slavs are Rod and Rozhanitsy. The genus is sometimes identified with the phallus, sometimes with grain (including solar and rain grain, fertilizing the earth). Women in labor are the female giving birth, giving life to all living things: man, flora and fauna. Later, Rod and Rozhanitsy began to perform more functions, unified into supreme gods and personified in different tribes of the Slavs - they received proper names: Yarovit, Svetovid, Rigevit, Makosh, Golden Baba, Didiliya, Zizya, etc.

The ancient Slavic ones include the worship of ghouls and coastlines.

1. Beregini and spirits

Beregini(like the Greek penates) kept the well-being of different places and types of nature, as well as the house. There were many house spirits: brownie, kutny god, grandfather, ergot and haste (spirits that contributed to human affairs), drowsiness (home peaceful deity of sleep), bayunok (storyteller, night storyteller, lullaby songwriter), laziness, otet (extreme laziness) , okoyoms, prosecutors, prokudy (rogues, non-rumors, pranksters), bannik (bath spirit), evil spirits, demons, devils, shishigs (devils with hair sticking out a bump), kikimora or shishimora (devil with hair sticking out a bump, deity of restless dreams and night phenomena). The Orthodox "devil" means the damned, who has crossed the line, the border.

There were many beregins; they protected people everywhere: at home, in the forest, in the field, on the water, protected crops, stockyards, children, sang lullabies to them, told fairy tales (tales), evoked dreams. Later they received some proper names, some proper group names, for example, own Did, Baba - progenitors; group - mermaids, goblin, etc.

Here is some of them:

grandfather (did)- progenitor, ancestor For those who believed that they were descended from Perun (Olgovichi and others), this is also a synonym for Perun. Grandfather is the guardian of the family, and, above all, children, of course. The senior man, a representative of the tribal eldership, who pacifies the passions within the clan, keeps the basic principles of the morality of the clan, strictly following their implementation. The forest deity was also called grandfather - the keeper of the Perunov treasure (gold, silver, i.e. Lightning, thunderstorms, silver rain). Grandfather prayed for guidance, the discovery of the treasure. According to legend, where the light shines, there is this treasure (rain with a thunderstorm), which is vital and important for people.

Woman. The most ancient of them is Baba Yaga.

What does Yaga mean? Why is she so scary? And even more so, no one believes that the terrible Baba Yaga is originally a caring coastline.

The word "Yaga" coarsened from "Yashka". Yasha in Slavic songs was called foot-and-mouth disease - once living on earth and the disappeared progenitor of all living things; hence our more understandable - ancestor. Baba Yaga was originally a progenitor, a very ancient positive deity of the Slavic pantheon, the keeper of the clan and traditions, children and the near-home (often forest) space. During the period of Christianity, all pagan gods and deities, spirits, including those who protected people (shores), were given evil, demonic features, ugliness of appearance and character, evil intentions. So the pagan strict progenitor was turned into an evil demon, which is used to scare our little children. In different Slavic tribes, there were later other progenitors who received proper names: Golden Baba, Golden Mother, Makosh, etc.

There are especially many coastlines (they were also later given evil features) among the wood spirits: a forester, a woodsman, a leshak, a wild man, Mikola (Nikola) Duplyansky, a companion, a boletus, crafty (bent and twisted, like a bow, and the same internally, which is the main thing) , grandfather, grandfather; as well as demons (Slavic "demon" literally means "without", and then any positive concept could follow, for example, a person without conscience, God, concept (knowledge), goodness, justice, honor, intelligence, etc.) devils ; shishigi; mavki forest; ghouls; anchutki (a cross between a devil and a duck); werewolves; werewolves (dlaka - skin); bats; miracle Yudo; forest king; sudichki and hartsuks (small spirits, assistants to Perun); famously one-eyed; bird fear-Rah - this is an incomplete list of forest dwellers who were the embodiment of the forest as a space hostile to man.

Sometimes the goblin did not differ from people, but more often the owner of the forest seemed to be dressed in an animal skin (dlaka); sometimes it was with animal attributes: horns, hooves, etc.

In winter, the habitual goblin in the forest was forced out by Perun's helpers, who were even more strict with a person - Kalinniks (from the word "fire"): Morozko, Treskunets, Karachun. Thus, a person, leaving the house in the forest, field, tuned in to a constant struggle with unforeseen circumstances and merciless elements; on the other hand, he could always count on the unexpected help of the forest deity, the forest owner, so he tried to please him; do not harm in the forest, do not beat animals unnecessarily, do not break trees and bushes in vain, do not litter the forest, do not even shout loudly, do not disturb the peace and quiet of nature.

The fact that from the Slavic kikimora (shishimora) - the deities of sleep and night ghosts tried to make an evil spirit, is evidenced by the second part of the word - “mora”. Mora (Mor), Mara is the goddess of death. But still, kikimora is not death. If she gets angry and plays pranks, for example, disturbs babies at night, confuses yarn left for the night, etc. - does not mean that someone will die as a result of her evil tricks. Kikimora is a weak, as it were, mirror image of only the fear of death, or even just fear.

Christianity managed to turn into its opposite and mermaid- the oldest type of coastline that lived in the waters. She was always depicted with a female face and breasts, a fish body and tail. The very word "shore" comes from the concept - to protect, to help the wandering, sailing, in distress to get to the shore. This was done by the Slavs mermaids. However, during the period of criticism and denial of paganism, the idea was gradually introduced that mermaids were drowned women and dead unbaptized children. They became afraid. It was believed that they are more dangerous for people in the Russian week (June 19 - 24), before Ivan Kupala, especially on Thursday (Perun's day). During the Russian week, they sang mermaid songs, hung yarn, threads, towels on trees and bushes - symbolic clothes for mermaids; either to appease them, or to pity ...

The ancient Semargl also ascended to the shores - a sacred winged dog that guarded seeds and crops. Semargl is, as it were, the personification of armed (warlike) good. Later, Semargl began to be called Pereplut, perhaps because he was more associated with the protection of plant roots (Pluto is the Greek god of the underworld). The cult of Pereblut celebrated the Russian week. And the seeds and crops began to protect Yadrey and Obilukh. Mermaids brought news of rain.

Bereginami were the same bird with a woman's face: the sweet-sounding Sirin, the Phoenix bird reborn from the ashes, Stratim - the mother of all birds, the oldest in the big one, the Firebird, swan girls (swans), Nail-bird, etc.

mythical half-animal, half-human also called chimeric or chimeras. The purpose of many coastlines is now lost. For example, the dog name Polkan, many people think that in ancient times there was such a winged dog (confusing it with Semargl), while polkan (half-horse) is literally a half-horse. The half-horse guarded the solar horses of Svetovid, the horses of the sun gods or the gods of thunder.

Among the half-horses are Russian Little Humpbacked Horse, Sivka Burka, etc. In appearance, they are half or much smaller than the heroic horses of God, they are plain, sometimes even ugly (hump, long ears, etc.). In a metaphorical sense, it is the half-horses-half-people who understand the affairs of people (gods and demons), speak human language, distinguish between good and evil, and are active in affirming good.

There is another extraordinary deity: Chur- the deity of the borders, one of the oldest deities of the coastline. Derived from "shur". Ancestors (ancestors) of any kind. Chur is connected with the world. He consecrates and protects the right to property (cf. “Chur-mine”), divides everything fairly: “Chur-in half!”, “Chur-together!”.

The word “chur” is associated with “damn”, “outline”, “outline”. Proto-Slavic "devil" - cursed, possibly violating boundaries, boundary, geographical, and then - inevitably, moral; replacing good with evil.

2. Pagan gods

Many references to solar cosmic pagan gods have come down to us.

Svarog- the god of the sky (Svarga - the sky), hence our expression "svara", "cook" - swear, scold, be like the sky in bad weather. Son of Svarog - Dazhdbog

Associated with Svarog Stribog - the god of air currents and elements. It was he who obeyed the winds. The proper names of some of them have been lost, perhaps one of them was called Wind, the other Hurricane, etc. But the names of the two winds have come down to us. This is Weather (Dogoda) - a light, pleasant westerly breeze. It is no coincidence that all the rest of the state of the atmosphere, except for the one named, is called bad weather. Posvist (Pozvist or Pokhvist) is the elder (or lord) wind living in the north. Depicted in a huge fluttering cloak.

Some believe that the sun god of the ancient Slavs was Yarilo, others - Dazhdbog, others call Svetovid. However, the Slavs had their own sun god. Name to him. It is best known among the southeastern Slavs, where, of course, there is a lot of sun.

From the ancient roots "horo" and "kolo", meaning a circle, the solar sign of the sun, the words "round dance", "mansions" (circular building of the courtyard), "wheel" are formed.

Hors is dedicated to two very large Slavic pagan holidays in the year - the days of the summer and winter solstices in June (when a cart wheel was rolled down from the mountain to the river - a solar sign of the sun, symbolizing the sun's rollback for the winter) and December (when they honored Kolyada, Yarila and so on. ).

Kolyada- a diminutive of "kolo", the sun-baby (it seemed to be a boy or a girl, because for a young child, gender still does not play any role; the sun itself is of a middle gender). This deity arose from the winter solstice, from the poetic idea of ​​the birth of the young sun, that is, the sun of the next year (This ancient idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe annual baby has not died to this day. It has been transferred to the concept of "new year". On postcards and in New Year's design of festivities it is no coincidence that artists depict the new year in the form of a boy flying in space).

Kolyada was celebrated during winter Christmas time from December 25 (Novel, Christmas Eve) to January 6 (Veles Day). This time coincides with severe frosts (cf. Mora - death), blizzards (cf. Viy) and the most violent abysses of unclean (in the Christian view) spirits and evil witches who hide the moon and the stars. Everything is covered with a frosty veil and seems dead. However, winter Christmas time is the most cheerful revelry of Slavic festivities. The mummers walked around the yards, sang carols - songs glorifying Kolyada, who gives blessings to everyone. They also glorified the well-being of the home and family.

On the nights of winter Christmas time, fortune-telling took place for the future harvest, for offspring, and most of all - for marriage unions. There are countless ways to guess. This custom comes from the desire to communicate with the ancient Slavic goddess, who was represented as a beautiful spinning girl spinning the thread of fate, the thread of life - Srecha (Meetings) - in order to find out her fate. For different tribes, the synonyms “court”, “rock”, “share”, “fate”, “lot”, “kosh”, “verdict”, “decision”, “choice” have the same meaning.

Srecha- goddess of the night No one saw how she was spinning, so fortune-telling took place at night. Most often they guessed at the betrothed (cf. The word “bride” literally means “unknown”). It is assumed that the duties of the goddess of fate among other East Slavic tribes were performed by Makosh who patronized household chores.

If during the winter holidays, fortune-telling took place at night, then during the days - ladins - conspiracies of brides, and then weddings.

The Slavic holiday Kupalo is associated with the summer solstice. The day of the summer solstice is the most important holiday of the Slavs, the time of the highest development of the creative forces of nature.

On the night of June 24, there was a custom not to sleep: to guard the meeting of the month with the sun, in order to see how "the sun is shining." The Slavs went to the ritual hills or glades near the rivers, burned fires, sang, danced round dances, streams. Jumping over fires was both a test of dexterity and fate: a high jump symbolized good luck in plans. With jokes, feigned cries and obscene songs, the straw dolls of Yarila, Kupala, Kostrubonka or Kostroma were burned (fire - woody parts of flax, hemp).

At dawn, all those who participated in the holiday bathed in order to remove evil infirmities and illnesses from themselves.

On the Kupala night, according to legend, all sorts of miracles happened: rare mysterious herbs bloomed - gap-grass, fern, etc .; unseen treasures were discovered. Evil spirits - witches and sorcerers - also indulged in all sorts of revelry, hid the stars, the month and so on.

From the merger of the name of the pagan Slavic holiday of Kupala and the Christian Ivanov's day (meaning John the Baptist), a new name for the holiday appeared - Ivan Kupala.

If Khors was the god of the sun, then Svetovid, Dazhdbog, Rugevit, Porevit, Yarovit, Belbog carried in themselves both the male tribal principle, and the solar, cosmic one. These gods of late Slavic paganism are the supreme (ancestral) gods of different tribes, so there is a lot in common in their functions. Dazhdbog- one of the most famous gods of the East Slavic tribes. This is a giving god, a giver of earthly blessings, as well as a god protecting his family. He gave man everything that is important (by cosmic standards): the sun, heat, light, movement (of nature or calendar - the change of day and night, seasons, years, etc.). Probably, Dazhdbog was more than the god of the sun, although he was very close to this, he denoted what we call "the whole wide world."

Belbog- the keeper (conservative) and the giver of goodness, good luck, justice, happiness, all the best. An ancient sculptor made a statue of Belbog with a piece of iron in his right hand (hence - justice). Since ancient times, the Slavs have known a similar (trial by iron) method of restoring justice. A person suspected of some misconduct was given a red-hot piece of iron in his right hand, ordered to walk ten steps with him; the one whose hand remained intact was recognized as right. The concept of "branded with iron" from ancient times was equivalent to "branded with shame." From here we learn that the supreme Slavic gods carried another function - the Supreme Judge, Conscience, the Zealot of Justice, as well as the punishing god, protecting the family from moral decline.

Svetovid(Svyatovid) - the god of war, the sun, victory among the Western Slavs, was depicted as four-headed. Holidays in his honor began at the end of the harvest, in August. The Slavs brought fruits collected from fields, orchards and orchards as a gift to God. The priest filled Svetovid's horn with young wine, symbolizing the fullness of the next year's harvest. A lot of young animals were sacrificed to Svetovid, which were eaten right there during the feast.

Rugevit- the supreme god of one of the Slavic tribes. Rugevit had seven faces, seven swords with scabbards hung from his belt, and he held one sword in his right hand. Rugevit stood guard over the life of his tribe.

Porevit- one of the tribal supreme gods, more ancient. Pora (spore) is nothing but a seed, and vita is life. That is, this is the god of the male seed, the giver of life and its joy, love, just like the East Slavic Yarovit and the already named Svetovid, Belbog, Dazhdbog, Rugevit.

Something close to all these gods Perun, thunderer, god of the Western Slavs. Perun had a huge retinue of relatives and assistants: Thunder, Lightning, Hail, Rain, mermaids and water, winds, of which there are four, like the four cardinal points. Hence the day of Perun is Thursday (cf. “after the rain on Thursday”, “pure Thursday”), sometimes there are seven, ten, twelve or just a lot of winds.

Bogatyrs, oxen serve Perun and other gods, personifying the forces of nature. If they roam, then stones are turned out from the mountains, trees are felled, rivers are dammed up with rubble. There are many such heroes of different strengths in Slavic mythology: Gorynya, Verni-gora, Valigora, Vertigor, Dubynya, Duboder, Vertodub, Vyrvidub, Elinya (spruce), Lesinya (forest), Duginya (arc oppression), Bor, Verni-voda, Zapri - water, Potok-bogatyr, Usynya, Medvedko, Nightingale the robber (hurricane wind), Force-tsarevich, Ivan Popyalov (Popel), Svyatogor, Water, etc.

Forests and rivers were dedicated to Perun, which were considered sacred, for example, the Bug, the Volkhov.

Associated with Perun and snakes. There were several meanings and purposes for snakes (as symbols).

There are two holidays in the calendar of the Slavs, during which snakes are remembered (more often these are harmless snakes), March 25 is the time when cattle are driven out to St. George's dew and snakes crawl out of the ground, the earth becomes warm, you can start agricultural work. September 14 - snakes leave, the agricultural cycle basically ends. Thus, these animals, as it were, symbolized the cyclical nature of rural field work, they were a kind of natural climatic clock. It was believed that they also help to beg for rain.

Images of snakes - snakes - adorned ancient vessels with water. The snakes from the Perunov retinue symbolized the clouds of heaven, thunderstorms, the powerful revelry of the elements. These snakes are multi-headed. You cut off one head - the other grows and shoots fiery tongues (lightning). Serpent-Gorynych - the son of a mountain - heavenly (clouds). These snakes kidnap beauties (the moon, stars and even the sun). The snake can quickly turn into a boy or girl. This is due to the rejuvenation of nature after the rain, after each winter.

Snakes are the keepers of countless treasures, healing herbs, living and dead water. Hence the snake-doctors and symbols of healing.

Snakes from the retinue of the gods of the underworld - Viy, Death, Mary, Chernobog, Kashchei, etc. Guard the underworld. A variant of the snake - the owner of the underworld - Lizard, less often - Fish. The lizard is often found in folk songs of archaic times, sometimes, having lost the ancient meaning of symbolism, it is called Yasha.

Many tribes, especially in hunting, forest regions, believed that their ancestor was a mighty gigantic beast. For example, bear, deer, foot-and-mouth disease, etc. The cult of Veles is associated with such ideas. The ancients believed that the family is descended from a god, who is shown only in the form of a beast, and then again goes to the heavenly chambers (the constellation Ursa Major, etc.).

Veles- one of the oldest East Slavic gods. At first he patronized hunters. Due to the taboo on the deified beast, it was called “hairy”, “hair”, “veles”. It also denoted the spirit of a killed animal, hunting prey. "Vel" is the root of words meaning "dead". To die, to repose means to be attached in spirit, soul to the heavenly ancestors, whose soul flies to heaven, but the body remains on earth. There was a custom to leave on a harvested field “I harvest ears of hair to Hair on a beard”, that is, the Slavs believed that the ancestors resting in the ground also help its fertility. Thus, the cult of the cattle god Veles was somehow associated with the ancestors, with the harvest, with the well-being of the family. Herbs, flowers, bushes, trees were called "hair of the earth."

Since ancient times, cattle has been considered the main wealth of the tribe, family. Therefore, the cattle god Veles was also the god of wealth. The root "volo" and "vlo" became an integral part of the word "volodet" (to own).

The cult of Veles goes back to the cult of Rod and Rozhanitsy. Therefore, together with Yarila, the Slavs on the Semik holiday, on the oil week and on the winter Christmas holidays paid tribute to the voluptuous cattle gods Tur and Veles, sacrificing round dances, singing, kisses through a wreath of fresh flowers and greenery, all kinds of loving actions.

The concept is also connected with the cult of Veles. Magi, since the root of this word also comes from "hairy", "hairy". Magi during the performance of ritual dances, spells, rituals in ancient times dressed in the skin (dlaka) of a bear or other animal. Magi are a kind of scientists, sages of antiquity, who know their culture, in any case, better than many.

Very revered among the Slavs were female goddesses, dating back to the ancient cult of Rozhanitsy. The most ancient is the goddess of the Western Slavs Triglav(Trigla). She was depicted with three faces, her idols always stood in the open air - on the mountains, hillocks, by the roads. She was identified with the goddess of the Earth.

Makosh- one of the main goddesses of the Eastern Slavs. Her name is made up of two parts: "ma" - mother, and "kosh" - purse, basket, koshara. Makosh is the mother of filled cats, the mother of a good harvest. This is not the goddess of fertility, but the goddess of the results of the agricultural year, the goddess of the harvest, the giver of blessings.

The volume of the harvest with equal labor costs each year is determined by lot, fate, share, a lucky break. Therefore, Makosh was also revered as the goddess of fate. In Russian Orthodoxy, Makosh reincarnated as Praskeva Friday.

Makosh patronized marriage and family happiness.

The Slavs were especially fond of fret- the goddess of love, beauty, charm. With the onset of spring, when nature itself enters into an alliance with Yarila, Ladin's holidays also came. These days they played burners. Burn - love. Love has often been compared to red, fire, heat, fire.

Many words of marital meaning, union and peace are associated with the root “lad”. Lad - conjugal consent based on love; get along - live lovingly; get along - marry; frets - engagement; got along - matchmaker; ladniki - an agreement on dowry; Ladkanya - a wedding song; fine - good, beautiful. And the most common - fret, so they called loved ones.

Her child is associated with Lada, whose name is found in female and male incarnations: Lel(Lelya, Lelio) or Lyalya (Lelia). Lel is a child of Lada, he induces nature to fertilization, and people to marriage unions.

Paulel- the second son of Lada, the god of marriage. He was depicted in a white simple everyday shirt and a wreath of thorns, he gave the same wreath to his wife. He blessed people for everyday life, a family path full of thorns.

Also associated with Lada Znich- fire, heat, ardor, the flame of love, the sacred ardor of love (cf. on the back).

3. Gods of death and the underworld

The gods of the sun, life and love, the earthly kingdom were opposed to the gods of death and the underworld ... Among them - Chernobog , the ruler of the underworld, the representative of darkness. The negative concepts of “black soul” (a person who died for nobility), “rainy day” (day of disaster) are associated with it.

One of the main servants of Chernobog was Viy(Niy). He was considered the judge of the dead. The Slavs could never come to terms with the fact that those who lived lawlessly, not according to conscience, deceiving others, and unjustly used the benefits that did not belong to them, were not punished. They sincerely believed that they would take revenge, that someone else's grief would be cast off, at least not in this one - but in the next world. Like many peoples, the Slavs believed that the place of execution for the lawless was inside the earth. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter. This god was considered the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts, especially for those who have a guilty conscience.

Associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter Kashchei- deity of the underworld. It symbolizes ossification, numbness from frost in the winter season of all nature. Kashchei is not a real god of death, his power is short-lived.

The real goddess of death was Mara(Mor). Hence, probably, the words “die”, “death”, “die”, “die out”, “dead”. The Slavs also had touching images of female deities of mortal sorrow. karny(cf. okarnat, punishment befell) and jelly ; KruchinyandZhurba(in other tribes) - embodying boundless compassion. It was believed that the mere mention of their names (regret, pity) relieves souls and can save them from many disasters in the future. It is no coincidence that there are so many cries and lamentations in Slavic folklore. The root "three" is associated with the denial of an unfavorable sign - "odd", as a symbol of unhappiness, which is why it is often found in spells.

III. Conclusion

Fusion of paganism and Christianity

Christianity has ruled our land for a thousand years. If it had come to bare ground, it would not have taken root so firmly. It lay down on the prepared spiritual soil, its name is faith in God. Paganism and Christianity, despite the fact that you can find in them the most opposite positions in relation to certain phenomena (for example, to sacrifices, to the concept of sin, enemies), the main thing is in common: both of them are faith in God - the creator and guardian of the entire world we see.

The ancient Slavs did not separate the gods from the forces of nature. They worshiped all the forces of nature: large, medium, small. Every force was for them a manifestation of God, God was everywhere for them. Light, heat, lightning, rain, a spring, a river, wind, an oak that gave them food, fertile land, etc. All this, large and small, which gave and moved life, was a manifestation of God and, at the same time, God Himself.

A person changed, thinking changed, faith became more complicated, and faith changed. Christianity, which came to Russia with the sword of Prince Vladimir and trampled on pagan temples and shrines, could not resist the ethics of the people, their aesthetic predilections, could not but take into account the established rules of life.

So Easter- optimistic holiday of Christian salvation and resurrection - united with pagan rainbow- the day of memory of the ancestors and all the dead. In Christianity, it was not customary to commemorate the dead with food - this is a purely pagan tradition, but it is she who has now taken over. Even seventy years of atheism have not struck out of the timetable for the life of an Orthodox Slav the day when he is accustomed to commemorate dead relatives. During the rampant most terrible orgy of the union of militant atheists, during the years of war, famine, the flow of people to the cemetery on Easter days was not interrupted, because this tradition is not a thousand, but several thousand years old.

Thus, not only Christianity influenced paganism, but vice versa. After a millennium of Christianity, a pagan holiday passed safely - buttermilk. This is the farewell to winter and the meeting of spring. The pagans baked a pancake - a symbol of the hot spring sun - and ate it hot, thus filling themselves with the solar energy of life, solar power and health, which should have been enough for the entire agricultural annual cycle. Part of the pechev was given to animals, not forgetting to commemorate the souls of the dead.

Winter and summer Christmas time- games in honor of the god Svetovid during the turning of the sun for summer or winter are also not completely forgotten. Summer Christmas time partly merged with Christian Trinity and winter ones happy christmas holidays .

More examples of the fusion of holidays and individual gods can be given. Thus, both faiths have undergone many changes from their original nature and now already exist together and monolithically, having received the name Russian Orthodoxy .

All the current disputes about which is better - paganism or Christianity? - groundless. Well, let's say paganism is better. So what? After all, it does not exist in its pure form, in the broad faith of the people, in broad knowledge. Ask people who knows the name of the Slavic god of the sun? - no one will say. Also Christianity - it was split into many currents: Catholicism, Lutheranism, Gregorianism, etc.

The only acceptable thing for a modern Russian person is to return to Russian Orthodoxy. But this does not mean that everything pre-Christian should be considered useless and useless. Paganism must be studied as the most ancient period of our culture, the infantile and youthful period of the life of our ancestors, which will strengthen our spirit, give each of us the strength of the spiritual and national soil, which will help us endure in the most difficult moments of life.

Literature

1. A.A. Kononenko, S.A. Kononenko. "Characters of Slavic Mythology". Kyiv, "Corsair", 1993.

• A.I. Bazhenova, V.I. Verdugin "Myths of the ancient Slavs." Saratov, "Hope", 1993.
• G. Glinka. "The Ancient Religion of the Slavs". Saratov, "Hope", 1993.
• A. Kaisarov "Slavic and Russian mythology". Saratov, "Hope", 1993.
• B. Cresen. Veles book. Saratov, "Hope", 1993.

Applications

Characteristics and drawings of some characters of the mythology of the ancient Slavs

(drawings by E.I.Obertynskaya)

Perun - the supreme god of Kievan Rus; a formidable god commanding celestial phenomena; god of War. Tall, broad-shouldered, black-haired, big-headed, golden-bearded (honey flows down his beard). In his right hand is a bow, and in his left hand is a quiver with arrows. The strongest in nature, fights evil forces. August 2 - Perun's day. On this day, all evil spirits, escaping from the fiery arrows of Perun, turn into various animals. In the old days, on August 2, dogs and cats were not allowed into the house, so as not to cause a thunderstorm - the wrath of Perun. Perun's bird is a rooster, Perun's day is Thursday. The statue of Perun the Thunderer stood in the pantheon of the gods of Prince Vladimir.

Veles (Volos) - the god of cattle breeding and wealth, the patron of the animal world. He related man and animal, taught people not to kill animals, but to use them in the household. Veles - the guardian of the Magi, creators, shepherds, merchants; endows a person with talent, physical data: tall, good voice, hearing. He is the father of giants; ox - mighty, big. Volos is one of the gods of the pantheon of Prince Vladimir, his day is Monday. The ancient Slavs had a reaping custom - "curling a beard." The last ears were not reaped, but woven into a beard, as a gift to the god Veles. Grass and forest are the hairs of the earth.

Yarilo (Yar) - the deity of awakening nature, the patron of the plant world. This is a young handsome man on a white horse and in a white robe with a wreath of spring flowers on his head. In his left hand he holds ears of corn. In the spring, "yarils" were celebrated, which ended with the funeral of Yarila. Where Yarilo passes - there will be a big harvest, whoever he looks at - love flares up in his heart. Yarilo was identified with the Sun. In many songs, sayings, people turn to this deity with requests for a warm summer and a good harvest. June 4 - Yarilin day.

Dazhbog (Dazhdbog) - the god of the sun, harvest, the son of Svarog, the husband of the goddess of love. In myths - one of the first kings and legislators, laid the foundation for the chronology according to the solar calendar. A handsome strong young man, a young prince, a trustee of plowmen and sowers. Gives a person physical strength, health, wisdom, skill. In the annals, he is called the ancestor of the Russians. Dazhbog is also the keeper of earthly keys. The sun god closes the earth for the winter and gives the keys to the birds, which take them to the vyrey - the summer kingdom, the country of departed souls. In spring, the birds return the keys and Dazhbog opens the earth. One of the gods of the pantheon of Prince Vladimir, his day is Wednesday.

Belbog is a god who lives in heaven and controls them. It appears as an old man with a long gray beard, in white clothes and with a staff in his hand. There is the personification of a bright day. All the time in contradiction with the dark forces of the night, the personification of which is Chernobog. Belbog with his staff collects white clouds, if they were dispersed by the winds, pierces them to make it rain.

Zibog is the god of the earth, endowed with great power. He is the Creator, the Creator. He raised the earth in one place and mountain ranges, ridges, hills stood up; lowered it in another - water poured out, seas and oceans formed; made a furrow with huge fingers - rivers flowed. And where the little finger touched - the small lakes splashed. Zeebog keeps the earth, and people make him angry - the earth shakes, erupts volcanoes, raises huge waves. Zeebog is mighty, shaggy eyebrows, a beard is developing, it’s better not to anger him.

Rod is the god of the universe, living in heaven, who gave life to all living things that only exist in the world. Genus is credited with creative and masculine power (a phallic deity). Clay, wooden and stone images, protective talismans of this god are found during excavations. The genus is the embodiment of the ancient goddess of fertility, the masculine principle. The cult of this god, like most pagan gods, was lost after the introduction of Christianity.

Svarog is the god of heavenly fire, the father of Dazhbog. He threw Kuznetsk pincers to the ground from the sky and since then people have learned to forge iron. Svarog broke the heavenly cover with rays and arrows, opened the sky and the sun, sent heavenly fire to people, without which you can’t make weapons or jewelry: he kindled inspiration with sparks in the hearts and souls of the masters. Svarog is a capricious god, he rarely revealed his secrets to anyone. He presented himself in the form of a young broad-shouldered blacksmith, silent and strict; patronizes blacksmiths, whom they call his grandchildren - svarozhichs.

Khors is the god of the solar disk, the eye of the sky. An affectionate and kind god who gives his warmth to everyone. No one can defeat him, because it is impossible to approach him: he rises above all in heaven. Appears to be a handsome young man. On the idols of the god Khors, solar signs were depicted. Khors is the god of the pantheon of the Kyiv prince Vladimir, his day is Tuesday.

Stribog is the god of the air elements, the ancient supreme deity of the sky and the universe. He breathes evenly and noisily, walks along the expanses of the sea. And if he gets angry, he will buzz, spin, howl, gather clouds, raise a wave, scatter ships, or even sink. It is presented in the form of a harp plucking the strings, with a bow behind his back, and on his belt - a sagaidak with arrows. Stribog - overcoming obstacles, the winds are his grandchildren, his day is Sunday. One of the gods of the pantheon of the Kyiv prince Vladimir.

Beregini - air maidens that protect people from ghouls. The Slavs believed that beregini live near the house and protect the house and its inhabitants from evil spirits. Cheerful, playful and attractive creatures, singing enchanting songs with delightful voices. In early summer, under the moonlight, they circle in round dances on the banks of reservoirs. Where the coast ran and frolicked, there the grass grows thicker and greener, and in the field bread will be born more abundantly.

Numerogog is the goddess of the moon. She holds in her hand the moon, according to which time was calculated in ancient times, she is characterized by calmness, measuredness, impassivity. Her period is from early twilight to dawn, but despite this, she is indifferent to the dark forces of evil. Contemplating reality, calmly counts both seconds and centuries. He likes to walk in the snowy expanses on long winter nights, and to swim in warm water on short summer nights.

Nemiza is the god of air, the lord of the winds. His head is crowned with rays and wings, and a flying bird is depicted on his torso. Light as a feather, and sometimes he turns into a feather and sways in the air, resting from worries. When, in the very heat, a slight coolness suddenly touches the brow, it is Nemiza who favors, lazily flapping her wing. Nemiza is not grumpy and allows the winds to frolic without interfering in their affairs. But if they really quarrel and spin a crazy carousel, he will intervene and put things in order.

Alive (Zhivana, Siva) - "giving life", the goddess of life, she embodies the life force and opposes the mythological incarnations of death. He holds an apple in his right hand and a grape in his left. Alive is in the form of a cuckoo. In early May, sacrifices are made to her. The girls honor the cuckoo - the spring messenger: they baptize in the forest, fumble among themselves and curl wreaths on a birch.

Frost (Frost) - the god of winter, cold weather. Dressed in a warm fur coat, walks through the forests and covers the trees with snow. In winter, he is a complete master, in his submission are snowfalls, blizzards and blizzards. Always at war with the spring, resisting its coming, attacking at night, but always retreating in the end. Not all travelers are happy in their possessions. Depending on the behavior of a person, and sometimes on his own mood, he can reward a person or punish him. If he gets angry, he will sprinkle with snow, zavyuzit, knock him off the road, climb under his clothes. It can freeze your ears or hands, or even completely freeze.

Lada is the goddess of love, the patroness of marriages, the hearth, the goddess of youth, beauty, fertility. Femininity itself, tender, melodious, fair-haired; in white clothes - she will bring a guy to a sweetheart on Kupala night in a round dance, and hide her stepdaughter from her evil stepmother under the branches when she gathers to meet her friend. In young families, the hearth supports: it’s about to go out, and Lada will throw a twig, wave her clothes - the hearth will flare up, touch the hearts of the unreasonable with warmth, and again the harmony in the family.

Makosha (Mokosh, Makesha) - Slavic deity, patroness of women's work, spinning and weaving. Also agricultural deity, mother of the harvest, goddess of abundance. The flower is a poppy, intoxicating like love. From the name of this bright flower, which the girls embroidered on wedding towels, is the name of the goddess. Makosha is the deity of female vitality. The only female deity whose idol stood on a hilltop in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir. For some northern tribes, Mokosh is a cold, unkind goddess.

Lel is the young god of love. Due to his youthful years, Lel is sometimes simply amused by love, although he does it out of good intentions - for him this is a fun game. A handsome young man with curly hair makes girls fall in love with him by playing the flute and singing to them. When he doesn’t have a pass from another chosen one, Lel finds a boyfriend for her and convinces both that they were looking for each other. Lel appears in the spring, lives with his brother Polel in the forest. Together they go out in the morning to meet Yarilo. Lelya's pipe can be heard on the Kupala night.

Weather is the god of clear days, the herald of spring, the husband of the goddess Zimtserla. Light-faced, clear-eyed, beardless, cheerful in disposition. And sometimes he quarrels with his wife and walks gloomy. That's why the days are cloudy, and even rainy: Zimtserla pours tears. And when bad weather - a serious quarrel. Anger and anger pass, the weather is reconciled with his wife, again the days are clear and beautiful. We ask: “What will the weather be like?”, but we should be: “What will the weather be like?”

Karna (Karina) - the goddess of sorrow, the weeping goddess of the ancient Slavs, the sister of Zhelya. If a warrior dies far from home, Karna is the first to mourn him. According to the legends, weeping and sobbing can be heard over the dead battlefield at night. This goddess Karna in black long clothes performs a difficult female service for all wives and mothers.

The Magi (magician, wizards) are the chosen ones of the gods, mediators between heaven and people, executors of the will of the gods. Every popular faith presupposes rituals, the performance of which is entrusted to chosen people, respected for virtue and wisdom, real or imaginary. The Magi were the guardians of the faith, lived as hermits, ate gifts and sacrifices that were intended for the deities. They had the exclusive right to grow a long white beard, to sit during the sacrifice, to enter the sanctuaries. After the introduction of Christianity, they were persecuted, as they worshiped pagan deities and defended the old faith and rituals.

Bes is one of the names of Chernobog. Later - a generalized name for evil spirits. Ugly, with pig snouts, long ears and tails, horned and shaggy. Able to move quickly in space. Especially zealous in bad weather in autumn and winter. They grunt, champ, howl, squeal, spit, spinning in a frenzied dance. They lead a lone traveler astray, lead him into an impassable thicket or into a quagmire, push him into an ice-hole; they frighten the horses and, clinging to the mane, drive them to death. They can transform into inanimate objects.

Brownie is the patron of the house. They also call him for obvious and proven merits with the name “master” and for the antiquity of the years of his life - “grandfather”. Appears in the form of an old man, a shaggy little man, a cat or other small animal, but it is not given to see him. He is the guardian not only of the whole house, but mainly of all who live in it. Naughty: making noise, rocking the bed, throwing off the blanket, scattering flour. But it also helps: washing dishes, chopping wood. Rocks a child. On February 7, on Efim Sirin, the brownie is fed porridge so that he does not sneer. On April 12, at John of the Ladder, the brownie rages until the first roosters.

Bannik (baennik, laznik baynik) - an evil spirit that lives in a bathhouse, appears in the form of a small naked man with iridescent eyes. He always lives in an unheated bath, the steam drives him out for a short time. Can kill a person washing at an inopportune time (after midnight). First, it puts you to sleep, then with long and thick lips it envelops your mouth and drives hot air into your chest. He especially dislikes drunkards. Skillful people kick him out with a bath broom. The bannik washes along with the devils, goblin, ovinniks in the fourth place, whoever gets caught by them at this time will be steamed. If it happened, you need to run backwards.

Vodyanoy (vodyannik, vodyadnik) - the spirit of rivers and lakes, like all spirits from evil spirits - is not only a "grandfather", as he is usually called, but also a genuine "ancestor". Always naked, in black scales, wrapped and girded with mud, with long green hair and a beard, in a hat made of kugi. Instead of hands - paws with membranes, a fish tail, eyes burning with red-hot coals. He sits on a snag and loudly claps on the water. He gets angry - he breaks dams, washes away mills, drags animals and people into the water. Fishermen, millers, beekeepers sacrifice to him.

Chur (Tzur) - the ancient god of the hearth, protecting the boundaries of land holdings. A hearth and a warm hut are Chur's habitat. He is called upon during divination, games, etc. (“Church me!”). Chur sanctifies the right of ownership (“Chur is mine!”). He also determines the quantity and quality of the necessary work (“Too much!”). Churka is a wooden image of Chur.

Witch - according to ancient legends, a woman who sold her soul to the devil. In the south, this is a more attractive woman, often a young widow; in the north - an old woman, fat as a tub, with gray hair, bony hands and a huge blue nose. It differs from other women in that it has a small tail and has the ability to fly through the air on a broomstick, a poker, in a mortar. He goes to his dark deeds without fail through the chimney, can turn into different animals, most often a magpie, a pig, a dog and a yellow cat. It gets older and younger with the month. On Sila August 12, witches die after drinking milk. A well-known gathering place of witches for the Sabbath on Kupala Night is in Kyiv on Bald Mountain.

Baba Yaga is a forest old sorceress, witch, sorceress. The character of the fairy tales of the Eastern and Western Slavs. She lives in the forest, in a "hut on chicken legs", she has one bone leg, she does not see well, she flies around the world on a mortar. You can trace parallels with other characters: with a witch - a way to move, the ability to transform (turn into animals); with the goddess of animals and the forest - life in the forest, the complete subordination of animals to her; with the mistress of the world of the dead - a fence of human bones around the hut, skulls on stakes, a deadbolt - a human leg, constipation - a hand, a lock - teeth. In most fairy tales, she is the opponent of the hero, but sometimes his assistant and giver.

When the term “paganism” is mentioned, something very ancient and dark immediately appears, secret magic lost over the millennia of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, rituals of worshiping the forces of nature, amulets and sorcerers. In fact, paganism in Russia peacefully coexisted with official Orthodoxy until the 19th century (calendar rituals and customs), and some of its artifacts remained in modern Russian culture and life.

By the way, interest in paganism in popular culture has not waned to this day: the cult of ancestors, animism, various energy practices and divination draw their phenomenology from Slavic paganism, which once again emphasizes the preservation of "dual faith" in the form in which it developed immediately after baptism Russia. According to Berdyaev, it is in dual faith that the identity of the Russian people lies; one can go further and argue that the mysterious Russian soul is precisely explained by the fusion of these two opposite elements - paganism and Christianity.

This article will analyze Russian and Soviet historiography on the influence of the paganism of Ancient Russia on the development of Russian culture. The issues of paganism were most closely studied by the Soviet archaeologist, academician B. A. Rybakov, who published two monographs - “The Paganism of the Ancient Slavs” and “The Paganism of Ancient Russia”. In them, the researcher of Slavic culture shows the enormous influence that paganism had on the state and folk life of Kievan Rus, and also analyzes the continuity and refraction of pagan beliefs in the life of Rus after the adoption of Christianity, and even their penetration into Orthodox rites.

Another prominent scientist who devoted himself to the study of ancient Russian paganism is E. V. Anichkov, who wrote the fundamental work "Paganism and Ancient Russia", published in 1914 in St. Petersburg and, unfortunately, has not been brought into the framework of modern spelling, which, however, does not prevent more and more new generations of historians from getting acquainted with it. Anichkov, being a historian of literature, considered paganism precisely through the prism of folklore and folk art, and was also a supporter of syncretism in the study of culture.

In addition to Rybakov and Anichkov, another Russian scientist made a great contribution to the study of paganism in Ancient Russia and showed its great importance for the development of Russian culture. This is Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor V. Ya. Petrukhin (with V. Ya. Petrukhin's monograph "Ancient Russia. People. Princes. Religion" can be found on the website of the Historian).

In historical science, it is customary to consider paganism (any - both ancient Russian and ancient Egyptian) in two guises. Firstly, paganism is an ideological stage in the development of any modern civilization, it is an established system of ideas about the world and the place of man in this world, based on the deification of the forces of nature, and, therefore, is primitive. Secondly, paganism is also a cultural model for the formation and development of any ethnic group, which gives it characteristic unique features, and gives the people their own identity and to some extent contributes to the formation of their mentality. Within the framework of these two models, we will consider Old Russian paganism in this work.

Sources for the reconstruction of paganism in Ancient Russia

To study paganism, it is necessary to use the entire range of historical sources available today. When analyzing the role of paganism in the development of Russian culture, researchers rely on sources: written, archaeological, folklore, ethnographic and linguistic. It is impossible to say which of the sources is the most important, the opinion about certain phenomena of the pre-Christian culture of Russia should be based on a synthesis of information.

Chronicles, lives of Russian and Byzantine saints, epistolaries, legal documents (contracts, etc.), memoirs of travelers, historical chronicles are available to us from written sources. So it is from the chronicle called the Tale of Bygone Years that we learn about the pagan pantheon of Vladimir, which he ordered to be installed in Kyiv, and then forced the local population to pray for him. In the text of the agreements concluded by the Rus with Constantinople, we see that the princes and the squad swore by Perun, and we understand that he was the supreme deity in the Russian pagan tradition. The data of archaeological excavations tell us about the burial rites, that the pagan Rus preferred to cremate their dead, and to pour burial mounds over the burnt ashes. We also learn that our ancestors were ambivalent about the dead themselves, endowing them often with supernatural powers. Songs, epics and fairy tales that have come down to our time in a form processed by numerous unknown storytellers tell us about the rites, conspiracies and cults that were in use in Ancient Russia. Ethnography forms our view of ancient Russian paganism as an original cultural phenomenon in the relationship of its material and non-material components. So, for example, it is reported that to this day, ancient Russian pagan images are preserved in embroideries and folk crafts. Finally, linguistics determines for us the origin of certain pagan gods, reveals the patterns of borrowing and interweaving of various cultures, and often helps to establish the geographical location of one or another object of material culture.

We find a lot of evidence of what ancient Russian paganism was like in various messages of church hierarchs. The messages themselves, of course, were intended to indicate to a person that it is bad to worship "filthy" gods, however, for the researcher, these sermons represent the most interesting material. Among other things, they themselves are living witnesses to the fact that even after baptism, paganism in one form or another continued to exist in Russia.

Interesting from the point of view of a source on paganism is the "Word of St. Nifont about the Mermaids." Saint Niphon himself was a remarkable personality, his extensive life had a great influence on the Orthodox tradition in Russia. “The Word...”, of course, was said in order to get rid of demonic games, however, thanks to the meticulousness of the Byzantine saint, modern historians have learned a lot of interesting things about mermaids and mermaids. The mermaid processions were accompanied by singing and dancing, playing the flute and represented a kind of festive procession, involving other passers-by into its orbit, those who could not go and have fun threw money to the mermaids. Such festivities were nationwide and were often held in the streets and squares.

Old Russian pantheon

As mentioned above, written sources on Russian pagan mythology are mostly Christian. In Russia, there was no complex of legends about Slavic gods, such as, for example, in Greek or Scandinavian mythology (saga). We did not have our own Homers and Ovids, who could translate mythology into the language of poetry and prose, and thus popularize it, therefore, among other things, we draw knowledge about the ancient Russian gods from oral folk art. In addition, there are still numerous notes of eyewitnesses - Christian, Arab or Jewish (Khazar) travelers who compiled memoirs about the life and customs of Ancient Russia. Unfortunately, not a single Russian written source created in the era preceding the baptism of Russia is known today. Even the very first historical source - the Tale of Bygone Years dates back to the 11th century at the earliest, there is nothing before it, no written evidence.

As noted, in order to study paganism, scientists have to draw on the entire range of sources available to them - ethnographic, folklore, archaeological, but using them in synergy (and this is the only way it is possible to use them) leads to numerous methodological problems, differences in interpretations, interchangeability of different phenomena, etc. Overcoming such difficulties, historical science still strives to build an integrated approach to the categorization of the pantheon of Slavic gods, which, at the very least, it succeeds.

So, today we know the following Slavic deities:

Perun- the supreme god, the twin of Zeus and Thor, because he throws lightning and is also called the thunderer. He is also the patron of the princely family, he is sworn by the princely squad at the conclusion of international treaties. It is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years, as well as by Procopius of Caesarea, who, however, does not call him directly, but indicates that the Slavs have a god of thunder, to whom they sacrifice bulls.

Horse Apparently a sun god. Historians could not find out the origin of the name of this god and, according to several sources (one of which is hagiographic), he was attributed to the personifying sun. In one of the sources, Khors is called a Jewish god, which may indicate that he was borrowed from the Khazar Khaganate, which professed Judaism. The researcher of Russian paganism V. N. Toporov believes that the name Khors is of Iranian origin and passed into the Slavic pantheon from the Scythians and Sarmatians.

Dazhbog, Stribog, Semargl- deities from the pantheon established by Prince Vladimir before the baptism of Russia, in Kyiv. Their purpose is not defined. Dazhbog is associated with the sun (but in this case it turns out that two people already claim the sun - Khors and Dazhbog, which makes no sense), Stribog with the wind, Semargl, unfortunately, could not be classified, to which element or phenomenon it remains unclear. According to O. Bodyansky, Dazhbog is just another name for Khors, in our opinion, this statement really makes sense.

Among the Slavic pantheon there are also female deities (somehow the language does not turn around to call them goddesses), one of them is Mokosh, patroness of weaving and crafts in general. The appointment of Mokosh was derived from her etymology, which does not contradict the folklore traditions and rituals associated with this name. Mokosh in the Christian tradition was transformed into Paraskeva Friday.

All of the above deities are present in the so-called pantheon of Vladimir. When Vladimir Svyatoslavich occupied the Kyiv table, he decided to restore paganism, which was "abolished" by his brother Yaropolk, who previously ruled in Kyiv. The Tale of Bygone Years says that Vladimir “placed idols on a hill outside the Terem courtyard: a wooden Perun with a silver head and a golden mustache, and Khors, Dazhbog, and Stribog, and Simargl, and Mokosh. And they sacrificed to them, calling them gods, and brought their sons and daughters, and sacrificed to demons, and defiled the earth with their sacrifices. And the Russian land and that hill were defiled with blood. Judging by these chronicles, people were sacrificed to Perun and the rest, since blood defilement is applicable only to human victims, animal sacrifices in the annals were not stigmatized (but not encouraged) and were considered simply a demonic custom, one of many. In the Christian tradition, any kind of sacrifice is prohibited.

Vladimir Svyatoslavich at the Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod. With his foot he tramples the idol of Perun

V. Petrukhin pointed out one curious moment. All of the deities listed are of Slavic origin, while the squad and princes of the initial centuries of Russian history proper are Varangians. That is, the Varangians-Rus did not bring Scandinavian gods with them - Thor, Odin, etc., but accepted the local ones and even made them their patrons (Perun is the patron of the prince and squad).

The supreme god of the Eastern Slavs (namely the ethnic group, as opposed to the princely gods) is considered to be Svarog, the god who, according to legend, gave fire to mankind and taught to forge metal. Svarog was especially revered by the peasants, since he was the first plowman: having defeated a huge monster - the Serpent, he plowed a barrier furrow along the Dnieper. The appearance of Svarog in mythology is attributed to the Iron Age, that is, to the Proto-Slavic community.

The material confirmation of the existence of such a pantheon is the Zbruch idol, which was discovered in 1848 in the Zbruch River (hence the name) by the inhabitants of the village of Husyatin in Ukraine. The idol is carved from stone and dates back to the 10th century. B. A. Rybakov identified one of the female figures depicted on the sides of the idol as Mokosh, because she holds a horn in her hands, and the second as Lada, the goddess of spring and marriage, since she holds a ring in her hand. One of the male figures with a sword and a horse was identified by the scientist as Perun (the god of the squad), and the other, on whose clothes the image of the sun appears, as Dazhbog (Khors). The lowest tier of the Zbruch idol is represented by only one male figure, who, as it were, supports the rest of the tiers with his hands. Apparently, this is the figure of Volos (see below for more details about him).

Zbruch idol. OK. X century. Stone. Height 2.67 m. Krakow Archaeological Museum, Krakow, Poland

Separately, it is worth highlighting Mother-Cheese-Earth, as a common supreme female deity. She is not present in the pantheon of Vladimir, however, we find her traces in all chronicles, as well as epics and folklore.

Another interesting Slavic god, mentioned here and there in chronicles and lives - Hair or Veles, the so-called "cattle god". Volos entered the Orthodox tradition as a devil or a demon. Idols of Volos were in many Russian cities, they were located mainly where artisans and peasants lived, that is, residents employed in labor, as opposed to the squad, which they also “fed”.

B. A. Rybakov noted several layers in Slavic paganism, as if replacing each other. These layers can be compared with the historical eras of the existence of Slavic mythology, which, according to the scientist, is the successor of Egyptian and Greek mythology. The connecting link between these epochs is the Rod and women in labor - the deities of fate and tribal unity. Until now, the Russian language has preserved the stable expression “it is written in the family”, which quite accurately conveys the purpose of these pagan phenomena. The clan and women in labor were often denounced in Church Slavonic literature, since the rites of honoring them were preserved throughout the entire Christian era in Russia. In the 16th-century Russian Breed Book, which was used by priests as a kind of program of control questions at confession, there is such a question for women: “did they cook porridge on the day of the Nativity of Christ?” The custom of "cooking porridge", kuti or baking pies and bringing them to church the day after Christmas is an example of Russian dual faith. It was women in childbirth who patronized the fate of the newborn, respectively, for the Russians of that time, it was more than a good reason to propitiate the pagan deities immediately after the birth of the Christ child. The Church tried to condemn, and where it could forbid such rituals, but they, nevertheless, remained in the culture of everyday life of the Russian peasantry.

FROM By birth and rozhanitsi Closely related are the rites of honoring the ancestors (ancestors) and the propitiation of the home (the spirit of the house).

The same Rybakov builds the following sequence of ancient Russian gods worshiped by the Slavs (based on “The words of St. Gregory were invented in the crowd about how the first trash of existing tongues bowed to an idol”): 1) mermaids (ghouls and beregini) water demons; 2) clan and women in childbirth (spirits of clan and destiny); 3) Perun. As we can see, beliefs go from more primitive - the forces of nature, to more and more complex and personified deities. By the way, the data of archeology as a whole confirm such an evolution of pagan beliefs.

Once again we emphasize the fact that we learn about all the gods of the Slavic pantheon mainly from their Christian sources, in particular from the Tale of Bygone Years. Recorded legends about Perun and other gods appear much later. This is due to the fact that the Slavic language, in which the first scribes wrote, was considered the sacred language of the Russian Church, since it was spoken and brought to Russia by the first Slavic ascetics - Cyril and Methodius. Accordingly, the first Russian scribes did not dare to describe on it “poganish” customs and “poganish” gods. Yes, they did not have such a task in principle. For example, Nestor’s task was to derive the history of the Russian land from the cosmogonic beginning of the whole earth in general, that is, from the “languages” that scattered after the Flood, and also to attribute it to the diocese of one of the apostles (in this case, Andrew the First-Called was chosen). Naturally, at that time the influence of the actual folk culture, which professed paganism and animism, on the development of the nation was not recognized. And only in the period of modern history this influence was recognized as fundamental.

Inferior mythology

In addition to the gods, ancient Russian paganism is rich in representatives of lower mythology, all these vampires, mermaids, goddesses and kikimors. The forces of nature and their patrons - goblin, water and field, existed on a par with the patron gods of atomospheric phenomena. The lower mythological entities also include people endowed with demonic properties - witches, witches, plagues, sorcerers, warlocks. Also various demons of diseases are presented in various ways, including diseases of cattle, devils, demons, demons of fate.

The most important witch in the pagan mythology of the Slavs is well known to all of us. Baba Yaga is a witch who lives in a hut on chicken legs. According to the descriptions, this hut is very similar to the domino, in which the ashes of the dead were buried after cremation. Therefore, folklore researchers concluded that Baba Yaga is actually a “bad” dead man, a restless soul living in his coffin hut and harming people. The attributes of Baba Yaga are, in addition to the hut, which always stands on the edge of the forest, a bone leg, a stupa in which she flies and pursues people, and a pomelo. As you can see, the paraphernalia is completely similar to the paraphernalia of medieval witches flying on a broomstick. The bone leg tells us that Baba Yaga is a character of two worlds - this and the other world, in fact, she is the guide of souls to the afterlife. In the initial period of Slavic history, bloody sacrifices were made to her in order to appease her. According to Ibn Fadlan, who attended the burial ceremony of a noble Slav, it was also attended by an old witch woman, whose duties included the ritual murder of concubines who agreed to follow the dead to the next world. It is quite possible that the image of Baba Yaga was transformed from this real-life character.

Hood. V. M. Vasnetsov Baba Yaga, 1917, House-Museum of V. M. Vasnetsov, Moscow

Vampires or ghouls- these are the unburied dead, or those who during their lifetime were sorcerers or witches, whose souls do not accept the other world, and they remain on this one. At night, they rise from their graves, attack people and drink their blood. Belief in vampires is supported by archeological evidence. Numerous burials in which stakes, knives, spears were stuck into the remains, or whose graves were laid with stones, indicate that the belief in the "mortgaged" dead originates in pagan tradition. Belief in ghouls persists in Russian folklore to this day.

A character of Slavic mythology well known to us from fairy tales. Above we have quoted St. Nifont about the mermaid procession. According to the hierarch, this holiday was rather a merry procession, a kind of carnival, which is quite curious, since the mermaids themselves, water nymphs, are rather negative characters. According to legend, they lured people into the swamps and could tickle to death. According to some reports, a mermaid is also a “mortgaged” dead person who died as a result of drowning and remained unburied. Mermaid, as the term implies, is a female character. Later, in the Orthodox tradition, drowned women who remained unbaptized began to be considered mermaids.

Hood. V. Prushkovsky. Mermaids. 1877, National Museum, Krakow, Poland

Goddesses- a rather specific character of lower Slavic mythology, since they are dangerous only for pregnant women and women in childbirth. According to legend, goddesses are old or ugly women who themselves died during childbirth or were not baptized and now attack women in labor and kidnap babies. They also substitute for children, strangle women in labor during sleep, take away milk, etc. Children who are taken away by goddesses or who are killed by their mothers become demons. The habitat of goddesses is similar to mermaids, goddesses also live near water bodies, and sometimes under water.

The word has been preserved in Russian to this day, as today they call an ugly or poorly dressed woman or old woman. Kikimora in lower Slavic mythology is the wife of a brownie, lives in a house behind a stove or in a barn and does little harm to the household. Unbaptized babies, stillborn and with congenital deformities, as well as "mortgaged" dead become kikimors. It is believed that the image of kikimora is similar to the image of the supreme deity Mokosh, which is related to the cult of agriculture, fertility, weaving. Kikimora also spins wool, sometimes shearing sheep, thus stealing from the owners. According to beliefs, it is possible to negotiate with a kikimora and even conduct conversations, ask her about anything, she answers with a knock. If she is in a good mood, she can also predict the future.

Kikimora. Drawing by I. Ya. Bilibin

With the deities and spirits of the loci (patrons of the forces of nature), not everything is so simple. Actually, before the baptism of Russia, many of these supernatural beings were peaceful. Goblin and water were the patrons of their elements and were not seen in sabotage. With the advent of the Christian tradition, all these spirit loci were outlawed and, accordingly, acquired a demonic essence.

It was after the establishment of Christianity that the goblin became the demon of the forest, which confused people, made them wander around the same place. In the pagan tradition, the goblin is a good spirit of the forest, which understands the language of animals and birds, keeps order in the forest and helps (!) Unlucky travelers find their way if they get lost.

Accordingly, the water one is the spirit of lakes, rivers, springs, it is believed that he has power over mermaids and other swamp evil spirits, lives under water, in polynyas, in abandoned mills. The merman has his own livestock, which he grazes, this, of course, is fish - catfish, carps and pikes.

Water. Drawing by I. Ya. Bilibin

Folklore tradition of Ancient Russia

As you can see, Slavic pre-Christian mythology is very rich and diverse. Thanks to ethnographic research, today we can recreate the life and culture of our ancestors in all the diversity and multicolor of folklore traditions, crafts, epics, legends and rituals. We can say that the folklore tradition is a mirror of the life of Ancient Russia.

Although, for example, E. V. Anichkov, considered paganism in Ancient Russia to be “wretched”, Slavic gods “miserable”, and morals “rude”. And indeed, if we compare the myths and legends of the Slavs with the richest mythology of Ancient Greece or Scandinavia, then the comparison will not be in favor of Russia. Pagan Russian rituals are indeed very primitive, but on the other hand, Old Russian folklore can be considered one of the most significant. Rybakov, in order to refute Anichkov's point of view, conducted the most serious research on ancient Russian pagan mythology and, one might say, "proved" that we are no worse, and our paganism can be poetic and comprehensive.

Above, we have given a three-part scheme for the development of Slavic beliefs, to which we will add a few remarks in this paragraph. In particular, it is noted that belief in ghouls, mermaids, brownies and other demonic creatures has long survived the era of paganism and is found up to the present day. The second remark: the worship of Perun, the supreme deity, occurs long before the time of the formation of the Old Russian state (Iranian and Scythian-Sarmatian roots can be traced in the etymology of the name). Thus, it is possible to speak about the inheritance of the stages of development of paganism, singled out by Rybakov, rather conditionally.

All three stages of paganism are reflected in the folklore of Ancient Russia, it is natural that it is rather difficult to analyze the chronology of folklore, therefore both primitive demons and perfect god-heroes exist at the same time.

As already noted, the written tradition in Russia had as its goal to determine the place of the new, newly born statehood in Christian civilization, and therefore swept out from the book pages everything that contradicted Orthodoxy. All this was, first of all, paganism, with its "filthy" fables and heroes, the Church called them "blasphemers." However, it was not possible to completely expel paganism from the life of the people of that time. If earlier the worship of pagan gods required certain ceremonials, sacrifices and rituals, then from the moment of the baptism of Russia, it lost its sacredness and remained in everyday life in the form of fun, tales, fables, youth games, fortune-telling, etc. In this, one might say, paganism has survived in a relaxed form to the present day, influencing the development of the entire Russian culture and continues to do so to this day.

In general, the ancient Russian folklore tradition and the rituals and customs associated with it had close ties with the agricultural calendar. The change of seasons was considered by our ancestors as a struggle between cold and heat, symbolic death and rebirth.

Ancient Russian paganism also had its own priests, they were called Magi and attributed to them magical power and authority. Already after the Christianization of Russia, the sorcerers tried to regain power in the minds of the inhabitants, however, their attempts, which received the name “revolt of the sorcerers” in history, failed. In the 11th century, rebellious sorcerers are announced either in Novgorod or in Kyiv, sometimes the people and princes take their side, sometimes the sorcerers are “beaten”.

Hood. A. P. Ryabushkin. Prince Gleb Svyatoslavovich kills a sorcerer at the Novgorod Veche (Prince's Court), 1898, Nizhny Tagil Art Museum of Fine Arts, Nizhny Tagil

The very phenomenon of the sorcerer, sorcery, is a cross-cutting plot of the Slavic folklore tradition. Let us recall the death of the Prophetic Oleg from a horse, prophesied by the Magi, the legend of Vseslav Polotsk, who was born not from love, but from sorcery (witchcraft), the Magi predict the victories and defeats of the Russian princes. Characteristically, the Magi fight witches, accusing them of hiding crops or sending drought, famine, and disease (pestilence). In order to remove the curse, the witch had to be killed and a loaf of bread or a fish cut out of her stomach, after which the disasters receded. The priests struggled with these cruel customs as best they could, sorcery was declared heresy and, thus, outlawed.

Hood. V. M. Vasnetsov. Oleg's meeting with the magician. 1899, watercolor, State Literary Museum, Moscow

The most famous phenomenon in the Russian folklore tradition is, of course, epics. We adhere to the point of view that epics as a heroic epic originated precisely in Ancient Russia, and perhaps even earlier, with the coming to power of a prince with a retinue.

There are many theories regarding the origin of the epic as a genre, in modern science the sum of these theories is recognized as correct. That is, epics are also legends in which the heroes (a kind of twins of the Slavic gods) fight misfortunes (forces of nature) and emerge victorious from them; in epics we also see echoes of real historical events, romanticized by subsequent retellers and censuses; certainly, some epics or their elements were borrowed from the folklore of the western and eastern neighbors. Thus, Russian epics are a complex phenomenon, depending on who turns to its study (historian, literary critic, linguist), one or another of its facets is revealed.

From the point of view of history, of course, real historical events are reflected in epics. “The Tale of Igor's Campaign”, epics of the Vladimirov cycle, Zadonshchina - are based on real facts that have been confirmed in official science. In this regard, the epic epic received the status of historical folklore.

Two major stages can be distinguished in the development of the epic epic. The first is the birth of the epic as a genre, the actual pagan period. In the epics of this cycle, almost mythical heroes-heroes act. They personify the forces of nature and have not just physical, but supernatural strength. This is how we portray the giant Svyatogor, who is not held by Mother-Cheese-Earth, Mikula Selyaninovich - the pre-Christian hero-plowman who challenged Svyatogor. Mikula's daughter, Vasilisa, is a cross-cutting female character in the entire Russian epic epic. Volga Svyatoslavich is another ancient character of epics, he can turn into different animals and "reads from books."

Hood. A. P. Ryabushkin. Mikula Selyaninovich. 1895. Illustration for the book "Russian epic heroes"

After the ancient period of epics, two more are distinguished - Kyiv and Novgorod, formed after the baptism of Russia and therefore not related as such to ancient Russian paganism. In the Kiev cycle, heroes-heroes are grouped near the figure of Vladimir the Red Sun (most likely a poetic image of the real-life Prince Vladimir), Sadko and Vasily Buslaev act in the New City cycle.

In conclusion, we note that paganism in Ancient Russia was quite multifaceted. We do not agree here with the opinion of Anichkov, who considered him miserable and miserable. Of course, ancient Russian mythology cannot be compared with the ancient Greek pantheon, but in Russia the lower sphere of mythology is strong, with its mortgaged dead, demons of the elements and other evil spirits. There is no such wealth of goblin, brownies and kikimor in any other pagan religion.

An important feature of ancient Russian paganism is its all-pervading nature, as well as the preservation of "dual faith" throughout the history of our country. Rites, spells, amulets and divination have remained in our culture to this day, pagan semiotics has firmly entered the Orthodox tradition despite the numerous prohibitions of church leaders that were distributed already in the first years after the baptism of Russia.

The influence that paganism had on Russian literature is enormous: epics, fairy tales, ritual songs can be traced in almost all works of classical and modern Russian literature. Pushkin, Gogol, Platonov and even Mayakovsky turned to pagan sources in their work.

The pagan tradition of Ancient Russia has played and continues to play a huge role in the development of the entire Russian culture.

Paganism is a religion based on the belief in the existence of several deities, and not in one creator God, as, for example, in Christianity.

The concept of paganism

The term "paganism" itself is inaccurate, as it includes too extensive a layer of culture, today the terms "polytheism", "totemism" or "ethnic religion" are used instead.

The paganism of the ancient Slavs is a term that is used to refer to the totality of religious and cultural beliefs of the ancient Slavic tribes before they adopted Christianity. There is an opinion that the term "paganism" in relation to the culture of the ancient Slavs does not come from the religion itself (polytheism), but from the fact that numerous Slavic tribes living on the territory of Russia had one language, although they were not connected with each other. Nestor the chronicler used the term "pagans" to refer to the totality of these tribes, that is, tribes united by one language. Later, paganism began to denote the features of the religious and cultural views of these ancient Slavic tribes.

The emergence and development of paganism in Russia

Slavic paganism began to take shape as early as the 1-2 millennium BC, when the Slavic tribes gradually began to stand out from the peoples of the Indo-European group, settled in new territories and interacted with the cultures of neighboring peoples. It was from the Indo-European culture that the images of the god of thunder, the fighting squad, the god of cattle and the important image of mother earth arose. Also an important influence on Slavic paganism was the Celts, who not only brought certain images into the Slavic religion, but also gave the Slavs the very word "god" to designate images. With the German-Scandinavian mythology, Slavic paganism has a lot in common - the presence of the motif of the world tree, dragons and other deities, transformed taking into account the living conditions of the Slavs.

After the Slavic tribes actively began to separate and leave for different territories, paganism itself was also transformed, each tribe had its own elements. In particular, by the 6-7th century, the religion of the Eastern and Western Slavs was quite noticeably different from each other.

It should also be noted that often the beliefs of the ruling elite of society and the lower ones could also differ significantly, as mentioned in the ancient Slavic chronicles. What was believed in the big cities might be different from what the villagers believed.

With the formation of the ancient Russian centralized state, relations between the Slavs and Byzantium and other countries began to develop, paganism was increasingly questioned, and in some cases even persecuted - teachings against paganism appeared. In 988, the Baptism of Russia took place and Christianity officially became the main religion, displacing paganism, however, it should be noted that, despite the fact that to this day Russia remains a Christian state, there are territories and communities where people still profess Slavic paganism.

The essence of Slavic paganism

Despite a sufficient number of historical sources, information about the beliefs of the ancient Slavs remains very fragmentary, so it is not easy to form an accurate picture of the world of our ancestors. It is generally accepted that the religion of the ancients was based on belief in the power of nature and the earth - hence the gods-rulers of certain natural phenomena. In addition to the higher gods, there were also lower creatures - brownies, mermaids and others - who could not seriously affect a person's life, but could participate in it. The Slavs believed in the existence of hell and heaven, in the existence of a soul in a person, which was one of the important values.

The Slavs had many rituals associated with the interaction of people and gods, they brought offerings, worshiped, asked for help and protection. As for sacrifices, oxen or other cattle were most often offered, there is no exact information about human sacrifices of Slavic pagans.

List of Slavic gods

Common Slavic gods:

• Perun - Thunderer, the main god of the pantheon;
• Mother - Cheese Earth - the female personification of the viviparous, fertile land, she was worshiped, asking for a good harvest or a large number of children; there was also an "oath by the earth", which was considered inviolable.

Gods of the Eastern Slavs (pantheon of Prince Vladimir):

• Perun is the main god, patron of the prince and squad, also a thunderer;
• Horse - the personification of the sun;
• Dazhdbog - a solar deity, is considered the ancestor of the Russian people;
• Stribog - a deity associated with the winds;
• Simargl - a messenger between heaven and earth;
• Mokosh - a female deity, the patroness of spinning and weaving;
• Hair is the patron saint of cattle;
• Veles is the patron of storytellers and poetry;
• Rod and women in labor - deities personifying fate;
• Svarog - the blacksmith god;
• Svarozhich is the personification of fire.

Characters such as Maslenitsa, Kolyada, Kupala and others cannot be considered gods in the full sense of the word, they were only ritual personifications of certain phenomena that were often burned during pagan holidays and rituals.

The persecution of the pagans and the end of paganism

With the development of the Russian state and the increasing focus on more developed countries, paganism gradually began to be persecuted by supporters of Christianity. However, the population of many territories desperately resisted the adoption of Christianity even after the official baptism of Russia - many newly-born Christians returned again to paganism, secretly performed old rituals and worshiped the old Slavic gods. The relationship between Christianity and paganism has always been very tense, but along with the growing role of the Christian Church in the political and social life of Russia, the new religion gradually supplanted paganism and eventually almost destroyed it.

History of Russia from ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century Froyanov Igor Yakovlevich

Paganism of the ancient Slavs

Paganism of the ancient Slavs

The religion of the Eastern Slavs was paganism. Its origins lie many millennia before the beginning of our era, and echoes persist to this day. The ideas of some researchers of the past that East Slavic paganism was a poor, colorless religion should now be abandoned. In East Slavic paganism, one can find all those stages that were characteristic of other pagan cults that existed among other peoples. The oldest layer is the worship of objects and phenomena of the immediate environment, which were woven into human life. Sources have survived to our time that testify to the worship of the ancient Slavs to such objects and phenomena. These are the so-called fetishism and animism. Echoes of such beliefs were worship, for example, stones, trees, groves. The cult of stone fetishes is very ancient. The object of worship was not only trees, but also the forest. Totemism was also widespread - this is the belief in the origin of the human race from some kind of animal. Along with the veneration of the oak, the Dnieper Slavs, for example, worshiped sacred animals - wild boars. The question of the totemic cult among the Eastern Slavs is rather complicated. It is possible that in a number of cases we are faced with the transformation of totemism into the cult of ancestors in the form of animals. The archaic layers of Russian folk tales testify to the existence of totemism among the Eastern Slavs.

A variation of the ancestral cult in the form of animals is werewolfism. So, in Russian epics, Volga hunts in the form of a falcon, turns into an ant. The Russian fairy tale makes extensive use of the motif of the transformation of a beautiful bride-maiden into a swan, a duck, a frog. The detachment of the spirit-"double" from the object to which it is inherent, along with totemism, gives rise to faith in the souls of the dead, as well as the cult of ancestors. Invisible spirits - the souls of ancestors and relatives, twins of fetishized objects and phenomena, objects of a totemic cult gradually "inhabit" the world surrounding the ancient Slav. The object itself is no longer the object of veneration. Worship refers to the spirit that lives in it, the demon. Not the object itself, but the spirit (demon) has a positive or negative impact on the course of events and on the fate of people. Paganism ascends to a new stage - the stage of polydemonism. Spirits, originally representing a homogeneous mass, are isolated. First of all, according to the habitat, becoming the "owner of the place." In the water element lived water and coastlines, the forest was the kingdom of the goblin or forest man, and field workers live in the fields in tall grass. In the dwelling, the “owner” of the brownie is a little hunchbacked old man.

Demonic beliefs brought the Eastern Slavs closer to the next stage - polytheism, that is, faith in the gods. Among the gods that were known in Russia, Perun stands out - the god of thunder, lightning and thunder. They also believed in Volos or Veles - the god of livestock, trade and wealth. His cult is very ancient. There were also Dazhbog and Khors - various incarnations of the solar deity. Stribog is the god of wind, whirlwind and blizzard. Mokosh, apparently, is the earthly wife of the Thunderer - Perun, who originates from the "mother of the damp earth." In ancient Russian times, she was the goddess of fertility, water, later the patroness of women's work and girlish fate.

Finally, Simargl is the only zoomorphic creature in the pantheon of ancient Russian gods (a sacred winged dog, possibly of Iranian origin). Simargl is a lower deity who guarded seeds and crops.

The shifts in East Slavic society, which are discussed below, led to pagan reforms. Archaeological research in Kyiv testifies that the pagan temple with the idol of Perun, originally located within the city fortifications, is transferred to a place accessible to all those arriving in the land of the meadows. Thus, Kyiv, being a political capital, turns into a religious center. Perun is nominated for the role of the main deity of all the Eastern Slavs. However, in 980 a new religious reform was undertaken - a pagan pantheon was built from the deities already known to us. "Setting idols" - an ideological action, with the help of which the Kyiv prince hoped to retain power over the conquered tribes.

Old Russian paganism was so widespread that even after the adoption of Christianity, in terms of worldview and practical actions, Ancient Russia was a pagan society with the formal existence of elements of the Christian faith and cult in it. Most of the pagan beliefs and customs continued to be observed without or with little introduction of Christian norms into them in the subsequent time.

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