Short History of Russia from Perun to Vladimir the Red Sun

Slavic Pagan Gods

god, Russian, Christian, fire, water, creatures, religion, holiday, house, Perun, celebrations, cult, sun, feminine, ancient, master, plants, pantheism, Vladimir, funerals, prayers, forest, wedding, wife, giant, thunderstorm, souls, fertility, agriculture, life.

Russia Before Christianity

Before Russia accepted Christianity in 988 it had a major heathen religion.

The original idea of those pre-historical beliefs did not match with the Christian one, but in this country the new and the old religions got interlaced having formed a concept of dvoyeveriye (lit., doublefaith).

Major Gods

They made a sacrifice to two types of superstitious creatures: Upyr and Bereginya.

Then people changed their idols to another couple with offerings and sacrifice as major features again.

Perun became a major god among wide pantheon.

two kinds of creatures are evil and good.

Upyr is like a vamp, and Bereginya is a feminine creature that helps people.

Thus, everything was subdivided into black and white.

This period is remarkable by its symbolism.

Symbols of sun, fire, water, plants, and flowers served for protection from the Evil.

Second stage complied with the development permanent way of life and agriculture.

Masculine character was the one who gave souls to newborn children.

Feminine god was subdivided into Mother and Daughter.

Main symbols were marriage, love, and childbirth.

After conversion to Christianity these feminine characters were identified with Our Lady.

He was a god of war, weapons, and thunderstorm.

Slavic tribes were pretty aggressive, as well as most barbarians.

The major symbols of that time were: ax, sun, and "thunder sign" (sort of a wheel with six spokes).

A giant timber ox was the animal dedicated to Perun.

Dajdbog was a god of sun. Supposedly, the daylight was reflection of his fire shield.

Sunset and Dawn were brother and sister.

Every year people celebrated their wedding on Ivan's Day in summer.

(Later on St. Ivan's day in Orthodox Christianity.)

Sun was responsible for moral, and law.

Try to close one eye and look at the sun - you'll see it.

That's why Christian cross that looked just like the old one got easily accepted in Russia.

Another one was called Svarog, god of the Sky, forefather of everything.

The legend tells that Svarog presented the first plaugh to people.

He taught them to produce copper and iron.

In addition, he set the first series of laws for the community.

Makosh, his wife, the feminine god of Earth.

Next one, the god of Fire, was absolutely unique.

He was the son of Sky and Earth.

Actually, he was the cornerstone of ancient people's life.

Evil creatures did not dare to come close to the fire.

The tradition to jump through the fire comes from old Slavic beliefs.

If a guy and a girl could jump above the campfire holding each other's hands, their love should have lasted forever.

The true name of god of the fire was never mentioned aloud.

Possibly, that's why there is not any proven information about it.

Next one is much closer to the ground.

Yarila, the god of fertility and physical love.

He appeared like a strong young man.

Something between Freud's Id and Jung's Shadow (Max).

According to the legends, he looked like a dragon that breezes out fire.

And the last of the major gods is Simargl.

He was a god of soil, plants, kind of another fertility god.

Smaller Gods

These creatures lived close to the human beings, either helped or bothered them in everyday life.

Man felt like gods creating their own world.

He begged for pardon from the souls of trees he used for the construction.

That's why he made so called "building sacrifice".

It was an ox's or horse's skull dug under the eastern corner of the house.

So, Domovoy was a soul of dead animal.

He was a master of the house, looked like an tiny old man with a beard.

He was pretty kind, and people tried to be on good terms with him.

Other beast living out of house were a little less friendly.

Masters of the backyard, barn, and banya (Russian sauna) sometimes messed the things up.

The most obnoxious of them was Bannik (who lived in the banya).

He did all possible kinds of nasty things while people were washing themselves in the banya.

Though, the experienced men knew how to make friends with him.

Next deity appeared when Slavic tribes settled down, and started developing new lands.

It was called Polevik (pole - field in Russian).

He became one of the major ones as the agriculture was getting developed.

Field was a special object for all kinds of superstitions.

For example, crops were subdivided into masculine and feminine.

Women were not allowed to see the process.

There are lots of fairy tales about hardworking and dedication of peasants.

Forest provided practically everything from the building itself to the kitchenware.

Sometimes he looked like a giant, and sometimes hid behind a small plant.

To subdue the complicated paranormal world with its gods and creatures, Slavs worked out a schedule of prayers and rituals.

Christian church used barbarian celebrations to establish new holidays: Christmas in the beginning and Epiphany in the end.

Next pagan holiday was Shrovetide - wild, raging welcoming of spring and preparations for new farming season.

For example, excessive rain or absence of it.

So, that was the day of scary god - god of thunderstorm, Perun.

They were called shaman, magus, healers, and so on.

In general, Slavic paganism consisted of prayers for harvest, animism, and cult of the forefathers.

Funerals got more complicated by the end of pagan period in our history.

Prince Vladimir (The Saint, aka The Red Sun) became prince of Kiev in 980 and tried to make pantheism like federal supported religion.

The attempt to make a major religion out of Slavic pantheism did not satisfy Vladimir so he had to turn to existing major religions.

Major Concepts of Slavic Religion

In relation to Mat Syra Zemlya

A dry stone represents, a goddess of water, a happy omen, a state of sleep, a stream of the dnieper, able to kill the snake, ancient river, areas the mother goddess in the form of a doll, as a year god, as attempts to imitate the voice of perun, as perun's sword, as the corn goddess, as the fire hidden in the eyes of god, as the thunder god, as to feed the world, as to heal the world, at the beginning of the spring, at the crack of dawn, attributes of the sun and perun are, away the devil

Baba yaga, back to life, banya, barley in the birth rituals, bath-house, bathed in the pure waters, bathing in the pure, be married to the celestial water maiden, beer or wine, before the final battle, bel goruch kamen, belbog, belonged to the svetovit, between the world of the dead and the world of the living, blessing them with children, blood or tears, born from the dry earth, brought to the bath, brought to the table, by the thunder god perun

Chernobog, come to see the child

Dazhdbog, dead water, decorated with flowers, demon, dips in ice-holes or river waters, drenched in water and, drink honey and beer, drunk the fluids of life from the celestial

Enters the womb of the mother earth, evil-warding powers

Father to all stones, fire in the bath-house, flask with live water, flowing river, forces of nature, forces of winter, from the seven springs or wells, from under the stone, from under the tree, from under the white stone

Gives the groom water, good phenomenon

Heals wounds, himself incapable of impregnating the earth, himself represents the sun, his adversary the dark, his eyes in the holy water collected, his turning into stone, his voice in thunder, holds the fire-stone, horse-drawn

Ilya is different, ilya the prophet, in birth rituals, in death rituals, in the centre of the universe, in the open field stands an oak tree, in the spring perun overpowers the snake, is a sin to strike the earth, is rubbed with honey, is the dispenser of the water of life

Killing the demon

Latir stone, lies the snake, lifts the heaviest swords, like the oak tree, live water

Made from straw, made in an earthen, made of straw, magical efforts to protect the world from the evil, mat sera zimlia, moist mother earth, mokosh, mother earth, mother in the form of a virgin

Near the springs

Oak tree, ognionoi kamen, on nature worship, on the eastern slavic people, on the graves of relatives, out of the clutches of the forces of darkness, outdoors in a grove

Palace in the east in a two-wheeled, pantheon of gods, paraskova pyanitsa, perun is in the image of a man with a wooden, perun is the god of the heavenly, perun is worshipped, perun releases the holy waters, perun remained the central god, placed in the water tub, places stones in the wombs of women, possess the power of resurrection, power to tell the future, pre-christian slavic religion, pure waters

Rain water, raisins in the death rituals, rejuvenates the old, related to the life-cycle, represents the cycle of life, resurrects the dead, returns to the earth, rod or svetobog, rod or svetovit

Sacred rains, separates the worlds of the dead and the living, seven judges, shooting of fire arrows, similar to a death mask, soaked in female waters, soaked in holy waters, soaked in the female waters, sprinkled with dead water, sprinkled with holy water, sprinkled with live water, standing in the field, steals the holy waters, strikes the enemy hard, sun-god, svetovit or belbog

The belbog, the bath-house, the beating of drums, the black god, the bride to be becomes, the burning of the birch tree symbolizes, the central god, the creation of the world, the cult of the dawn, the dead hero, the defeat of the demon, the eastern slavs, the forces of nature, the god of the seasons, the grave stone represents, the image of perun overlaps with that of the sun-god, the male fire, the moist mother earth, the mother earth goddess, the mother welcomes the groom with a bucketful of water, the other of dead water, the perun cult, the sacred winds, the slavic deity, the sun and fire, the sun and the moon, the sun as the eye of god perun, the sun god, the sun the fire-stone, the water of life, the white god or the god of heavenly, the woman in confinement, the world tree, the zaria goddess

Union with the mother earth

Virgin women, virgins in white dresses

Water as queen, water collected from the seven springs to drink, water represents perun's, with live water, with water and fire made, with water and stone, wooden idols, worshipping the corn

Pre-Christian Christmas in Ukraine

Ukrainian Christmas customs are based not only on Christian traditions, but to a great degree on those of the pre-Christian, pagan culture and religion. Christianity was introduced into Ukraine in 988 A.D. The ancient pagan Feasts of Winter Solstice, Feasts of Fertility became part of Christian Christmas customs. The Christmas Eve Supper or Sviata Vecheria (Holy Supper) brings the family together to partake in special foods and begin the holiday with many customs and traditions, which reach back to antiquity. A kolach (Christmas bread) is placed in the center of the table. This bread is braided into a ring, and three such rings are placed one on top of the other, with a candle in the center of the top one. The three rings symbolize the Trinity and the circular form represents Eternity. A didukh (meaning grandfather) is a sheaf of wheat stalks or made of mixed grain stalks. It is placed under the icons in the house. In Ukraine, this is a very important Christmas tradition, because the stalks of grain symbolize all the ancestors of the family, and it is believed that their spirits reside in it during the holidays. After the didukh is positioned in the place of honor, the father or head of the household places a bowl of kutia (boiled wheat mixed with poppy seeds and honey) next to it. Kutia is the most important food of the entire Christmas Eve Supper, and is also called God's Food. A jug of uzvar (stewed fruits, which should contain twelve different fruits) and is called God's Drink, is also served.

The family sits down to a twelve-course meatless Christmas Eve Supper. There are twelve courses in the Supper, because according to the Christian tradition each course is dedicated to one of Christ's Apostles. According to the ancient pagan belief, each course stood was for every full moon during the course of the year. The courses are meatless because there is a period of fasting required by the Church until Christmas Day. However, for the pagans the meatless dishes were a form of bloodless sacrifice to the gods.
The first course is always kutia. It is the main dish of the whole supper. Then comes borshch (beet soup) with vushka (boiled dumplings filled with chopped mushrooms and onions). This is followed by a variety of fish - baked, broiled, fried, cold in aspic, fish balls, marinated herring and so on. Then come varenyky (boiled dumplings filled with cabbage, potatoes, buckwheat grains, or prunes. There are also holubtsi (stuffed cabbage), and the supper ends with uzvar.

At the end of Sviata Vechera the family often sings Kolyadky, Ukrainian Christmas Carols. The favorite Ukrainian carol is Boh predvichny (God Eternal) which has a very beautiful melody and Iyrics. Some Ukrainian carols are unusual because they mention Ukraine while others are ancient pagan songs of a thousand years ago which have been converted into Christian carols. There are two main groups of Christmas songs in Ukraine: the koliadky, whose name is probably derived from the Latin "calendae" meaning the first day of the month and which are sung on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; the second group of Christmas songs is called shchedrivky, which is a derivation from the word meaning generous. The latter are sung during the Feast of the Epiphany. Both koliadky and shchedrivky have pagan elements in them, but many have been Christianized. For example, one pagan carol tells of a landowner who is awakened by a swallow and told to make preparations, because three guests are coming to his house: the sun, the moon and the rain. In the Christianized version the three guests become Jesus Christ, St. Nicholas and St. George. The very popular Ukrainian carol in the United states, "Carol of the Bells", in its originality is a shchedrivka and tells of a swallow (herald of Spring) that has come to a landowner's house and asks him to come out and see how rich he is, how many calves he has, and so on.

Caroling required extensive preparation. Each group had a leader. One member dressed as a goat. Another as a bag carrier, the collector of all the gifts people would give them. Yet another carried a six-pointed star attached to a long stick with a light in its center, which symbolized the Star of Bethlehem. In some places the people even had musical instruments, such as the violin, tsymbaly (dulcimer), or the trembita (a wooden pipe about 8-10 feet long, used in the Carpathian mountains by the Hutsuls). Caroling was not a simple singing of Christmas songs; it was more of a folk opera. The carolers first had to ask for permission to sing. If the answer was yes, they entered the house and sang carols for each member of the family, even for the smallest child. Sometimes they even performed slow ritualistic dances. They also had to present a short humorous skit involving the goat. The custom of the goat accompanying the carolers has its origin in the pagan times when the goat represented the god of fertility. The skit showed the goat dying and then being brought back to life. This also symbolized the death of Winter and the birth of Spring. The caroling always ended with short well-wishing poems, appropriately selected for each home.
Koliadky and shchedrivky are the oldest groups of Ukrainian folk songs.

Sacred Sign of Perun

Slavic Gods Glossary - Old Slavic Gods Reference

Short History of Russia from Perun to Vladimir the Red Sun
From its darkest roots to the Christian takeover

ADVENTURE TRAVEL to Russia. Flights to Kazan, Samara, Novgorod

Is Ruegen Island same as Buyan Island? Slavic Gods Temple

Prince Vladimir the Red Sun Accepts Jesus as his Saviour

Slavic Gods - Dazhdbog

Slavic Gods - Slavic Domovoi Spirit of Home

The Founding of the City of Kiev

Religion of Russia Before Christianity. Major Concepts of Slavic Religion

Prince Igor Goes to War

Prince Oleg Attacks the Greeks

Prince Yaroslav Wrestles a Bear and Wins Respect of Finn Tribesmen

Viking Rurik Invades Russia. Norman Rule in Russia

Who Were Those Vikings, Anyway?