God of water among the Slavs. Lizard - the god of water among the ancient Slavs

It is known that in Slavic, as in any pagan mythology, not just one, but a whole pantheon of gods is responsible for certain elements. The element of water was no exception. According to various standards of water gods (including small ones) in Slavic mythology there were about a dozen, but only three of them were considered the most important.

It is difficult to give an exact list of all the Slavic gods of water, but from legends, fairy tales and historical records, information about the following of them reached contemporaries:

1. Dana- goddess of water, patroness of rivers. The river deities Dnieper, Oka, Agdel, Don and Kama are mentioned along with her.
2. All mermaids, among them the mermaid Ros(wife of Perun, daughter of Asya-Yasuni Svetoslavna and Don).
3. Sea queen(her middle name is Queen Water).
4. Volyn- great mistress of the oceans.
5. Father Vodyanoy, considered the chief of water and Ozerny - the spirit of lakes.
6. Sea King and Sea Princess Moryana- maiden of the sea waters.
7. Gradivnik- god of evil rain, rain and hail. He was also called a sorcerer and sorcerer. It was believed that he could ward off bad weather from his native village.
8. Citygate- lord of the blessed rain.
9. Pereplut- in Slavic mythology, the god of the sea and navigation.
10. Sea Queens and Sea Maidens- sea beauties.
11. Rybich- patron of fish.

In addition to the main water gods, there are also minor water spirits, such as:

• swamps;
• whirlpools;
• water devil and others.

God of the Sea Pereplut

The Slavic god Pereplut is the god of all kinds of paths and roads, travelers and sailors. Accordingly, the god of navigation itself.

It was originally created to protect people from misfortunes on the water and prevent them from dying on sea voyages. Pereplut is silent and laconic. It was created this way in order to quickly save people from dangerous situations, often without explaining either the methods or the reasons.

The name Pereplut comes from the Church Slavonic Pereplut, which, in turn, comes from the words “to stray”, “rogue” and “swim”, since Pereplut is primarily the god of navigation.

• Element. This god belongs to the water element.
• Hierarchy. The merman are directly subordinate to Pereplut. The same cannot be said about the sea winds, but they always listen to the opinions and words of the deity.
• Sphere of influence. The main spheres of influence of Pereplut are considered to be navigation, routes and roads, sailors and travelers. But besides this, he is also considered the god of seeds, shoots and abundance. It is believed that the reason for this is that the roots of plants “stray” like roads, intertwine with each other and search for the right way. Therefore, Pereplut’s job is to show them this right path, to provide assistance. And where there is a good harvest, there is abundance.
• Reverence. In the “Word of John Chrysostom” there is an interesting entry that people drank “rolling around in roses” when they paid tribute to Pereplut. No one knows exactly the meaning of this phrase, so opinions converged on “twirling” - in the meaning of dance and round dance, movement. That is, this god was revered by movement.

Goddess Agidel

Agidel - goddess of the river Agidel. She is the granddaughter of the great god Svarog. Her father is Ilma Svarozhicha, and her mother is Alina Svyatogorovna.

Agidel is the second name of the Belaya River, which is located in the Southern Urals. This name was given to the river by the Bashkirs and Tatars.

• Mythology. The goddess Agidel is famous for the purity of her heart and the generosity of her soul. When the destructive breath of the evil Aspid, who appeared from Chaos, almost destroyed the world, it was she who had the strength and courage to save everyone and everything. The price of victory was her life, but the goddess did not disappear, she turned into a beautiful river that still flows from the Ural Mountains. Agidel carries its waters to the White Sea, sparkling with beauty in every drop.
• Sphere of influence. With the help of the goddess Agidel, travel-weary travelers could rest and quench their thirst. It flows like a river and sheds blessed rain on the earth, breathing life and strength into every sprout. It is thanks to her that the harvest grows well. In the eyes of the Slavs, Agidel is a kind and extremely bright goddess, the embodiment of all that is good.

It is not for nothing that the element of water is considered one of the main ones. Life itself is in it. And according to legend, the waters of the Agidel River could bring cleansing not only to the body, but also to the soul. Clear it of all bad things and bring lightness.

Patroness Dana

Dana (Danu) is one of the Slavic water goddesses. She is described as a fair-faced and beautiful river girl, who never stops babbling her lovely song.

• Sphere of influence. She is considered a kind and sympathetic goddess who, with her waters, preserves life in all living things. And with rain he will grow the harvest, and he will allow the weary traveler to drink, and he will wash the wound of war with his healing waters.
• Mythology. Perun boils rainwater in a thunderstorm flame, gives it to the sky and earth to bathe in downpours - and thereby gives the lands the power of fertility. And Dana carries this water around the world, therefore she is considered an assistant to the supreme god.
• Calendar days. Kupala holidays are considered the days on which the goddess receives the greatest honors.

Holidays of the water element in Slavic mythology

Since the element of water is directly related to the harvest, and the harvest is to survival and prosperity, holidays, dedicated to the gods this element is not enough. The main guest, in addition to all other gods, was usually considered Agidel. Below is a list of the most important dates:

1. January, from the 6th to the 7th the Small Vodokres is celebrated;
2. January, from the 18th to the 19th, the Great Vodokres is celebrated;
3. April, Vodopol is celebrated on the 3rd (the second name is Vodyanoy Day);
4. October, on the 4th, Vodyanoy is seen off (he and the mermaids are preparing for hibernation);
5. April, from the 16th to the 22nd the First Rusalia is held;
6. May-June, from the 26th to the 2nd, Green Rusalia is celebrated.

The Summer Solstice is considered an important holiday; the date of the holiday is variable, but is celebrated either from June 20 to 21, or from June 21 to 22.

The theme of the water gods in Slavic mythology is one of the most extensive and interesting themes of this mythology. It is far from necessary to know it, but it is always nice to plunge into what people lived native land centuries and centuries ago. It is not for nothing that myths are still very popular in the world.

Different from other gods that dominate the mythologies of various peoples. He embodied white and black, fire and water, feminine and masculine. At the same time he could appear both as the god of water and as the god of war.

The Slavs are one of the oldest ethnic groups that inhabit the earth to this day. And for such a long time, both the light goddess Dana and Vodyanoy were considered patrons of waters.

However, more ancient water deities are also known, whose cult dates back, according to some sources, a million years.

Lizard - Slavic god of water. His name, being modified into Yashu, Yashchura, itself speaks of hoary antiquity, being modified into Ancestor. The god of water himself, acquiring more and more new features, eventually appeared in the form of a crocodile. Traces of his worship are found in large quantities throughout the territory inhabited by Slavic tribes. For example, the village of Spas-Krokodilino, which is not far from Klin, the villages of Bolshaya and Malaya Yashchery, located in the Leningrad region. The name Yaschera is most often mentioned in the names of various rivers, streams and lakes (the Yaschera River and Lake Yashchino). Temples dedicated to him are most often found in the northern regions, and they are located, as a rule, on the banks of reservoirs. One of the discovered altars is located on a small granite island shaped like a crocodile, while the main place of worship is believed to have been located on the shore

Fishermen and sailors worshiped him fervently, composed songs ("... after all, he rules in the deep sea, the ancient guardian Lizard-Dragon..."), made sacrifices, because the god of water among the Slavs, along with others, demanded them. Long times the victim was a girl, who was thrown into the water and given to the Lizard as a wife. This custom allowed Academician Rybakov to identify the Slavic merman with the Greek Hades - the ruler of the underworld. Archeology shows that the world was divided into 3 parts, one of which was the underwater and underground world. Its rightful owner, responsible for waterways and wealth, was Foot and Mouth, and its main function was to absorb the luminary every evening and release it into the skies every morning. To the ancients, this spoke of the greatness of the sea monster, admiration for which is reflected in the absolutely round shape of the temples, which spoke of the perfection attributed to the Lizard.

However, over time, the offerings also changed, becoming more humane. They began to throw dolls depicting a young girl into the water, in some places the sacrifice was nuts poured into the mouth of an idol (according to some sources, the nut Savior is dedicated to this deity), in others they sacrificed a horse, decorated, anointed and smeared with honey. She was taken to the center of the lake amid chants, and the water god Lizard accepted this fragrant gift.

The popularity of this deity is evidenced by numerous finds in the form of various metal cloak clasps that came from those times (the so-called brooches), various vessels for drinking and storing water, bearing the symbolism of the Sea Dragon, which, in turn, served as a talisman. Sadko's famous harp was made in the shape of a lizard.

At the same time, the Slavic god of water, along with Kashchei, Korchun and Chernobog, belonged to the pekel deities. That is, to dark forces, was considered a sea reptile. In a word, the god of water Foot-and-mouth disease was diverse, like life itself, combining both light and darkness in equal parts.

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The Slavic people are considered relatively young in history. Under their own name, they were first mentioned in written sources only from the 6th century. We first encounter the name of the Slavs in the form oxhabnvos in Pseudo-Caesarius around 525. Currently, the region extending north of the Carpathians is recognized as the homeland of the Slavs. But when it comes to defining its boundaries, scientists differ quite significantly among themselves.
The problems of the origin and settlement of the Slavs are still debatable, but numerous studies by historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers and linguists make it possible to draw a general picture of the early history of the Eastern Slavic peoples.

In the middle of the 1st millennium AD. On the general territory of Eastern Europe, from Lake Ilmen to the Black Sea steppes and from the Eastern Carpathians to the Volga, East Slavic tribes formed. Historians count about 15 such tribes. Each tribe was a collection of clans and then occupied a relatively small isolated area.

According to the Tale of Bygone Years, a map of the settlement of the Eastern Slavs in the 8th-9th centuries. looked like this: the Slovenes (Ilinsky Slavs) lived on the shores of Lake Ilmen and Volkhv; Krivichi with Polotsk residents - in the upper reaches of the Western Dvina, Volga and Dnieper; Dregovichi - between Pripyat and Berezina; Vyatichi - on the Oka and Moscow Rivers; Radimichi - on the Sozh and Desna; northerners - on the Desna, Seimas, Sula and Northern Donets; Drevlyans - in Pripyat and in the Middle Dnieper region; glade - along the middle reaches of the Dnieper; Buzhans, Volynians, Dulebs - in Volyn, along the Bug; Tivertsi, streets - in the very south, near the Black Sea and the Danube. The group of Eastern Slavs includes: Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians.

The Slavs raised cattle and pigs, as well as horses, and were engaged in hunting and fishing. In everyday life, the Slavs widely used the so-called ritual calendar, associated with agricultural magic. It marked the days of the spring-summer agricultural season from seed germination to harvest and especially highlighted the days of pagan prayers for rain in four different periods. The indicated four periods of rain were considered optimal for the Kiev region in agronomic manuals of the late 19th century, which indicated that the Slavs had 4th century rainfall. reliable agrotechnical observations.

The pagans looked at human life from a purely material side: under the dominance of physical strength, a weak person was the most unfortunate creature, and again the life of such a person was considered a feat of compassion. The religion of the Eastern Slavs is strikingly similar to the original religion of the Aryan tribes: it consisted of the worship of physical deities, natural phenomena and the souls of the deceased, ancestral domestic geniuses. But we do not notice traces of the heroic element, which so strongly develops anthropomorphism, among the Slavs, and this may mean that conquering squads under the command of hero leaders were not formed among them and that their resettlement took place in a tribal, and not in a squad form.

East Slavic paganism on the eve of the creation of Kievan Rus and its subsequent coexistence with Christianity is reflected in a large number of materials that are sources for its study. These are, first of all, authentic and accurately dated archaeological materials that reveal the very essence of the pagan cult: idols of gods, sanctuaries, cemeteries without external ground signs (“burial fields”, “fields of burial urns”), as well as with preserved mounds of ancient mounds. In addition, these are various products of applied art, found in mounds, in treasures and simply in the cultural layers of cities, saturated with archival pagan symbols. Of these, the most valuable are women's jewelry, which are often used as wedding sets in burial complexes and are therefore especially rich in magical spell plots and amulets - amulets.

A peculiar, but very poorly studied remnant of the pagan side are the numerous names of tracts: “Holy Mountain”, “Bald Mountain” (the seat of witches), “Holy Lake”, “Holy Grove”, “Peryn”, “Volosovo”, etc.

Bald Mountain:

A very important source is the testimony of contemporaries, recorded in chronicles, or in specially recorded teachings against paganism.
For about a century and a half, Kievan Rus was a state with a pagan system, often opposed to the penetration of Christianity. IN Kievan Rus IX - X centuries An influential class of priests (“magi”) emerged, leading rituals, preserving ancient mythology and developing elaborate agrarian and incantatory symbolism.

In the era of Svyatoslav, in connection with the warriors with Byzantium, Christianity became a persecuted religion, and paganism was reformed and opposed to the penetration of Christianity into Rus': the so-called “Pantheon of Vladimir” was, on the one hand, a response to Christianity, and on the other, the assertion of princely power and domination of the warrior class - feudal lords.

The implementation of general tribal ritual actions (“cathedrals”, “events”), the organization of ritual actions, sanctuaries and grandiose princely mounds, compliance with calendar dates of the annual ritual cycle, storage, execution and creative replenishment of the fund of mythological and ethical tales required a special priestly class (“magi” , “sorcerer”, “cloud scavengers”, “witches”, “tricksters”, etc.).

A century after the baptism of Rus', the Magi could, in some cases, win over an entire city to their side to oppose the prince or bishop (Novgorod). In the 980s, Greek Christianity found in Rus' not simple village witchcraft, but a significantly developed pagan culture with its own mythology, pantheon of main deities, priests, in all likelihood, with its own pagan chronicle of 912 - 980.

The strength of pagan ideas in the Russian feudal cities of the Middle Ages is evident, firstly, from numerous church teachings. Directed against pagan beliefs and pagan rituals and festivals held in cities, and secondly, from the pagan symbolism of applied art, which was generally desired not only by ordinary people of the urban settlement, but also by the highest, princely circles (treasures of the 1230s). In the second half of the 12th century, the pagan element was still fully felt.

In Slavic religious beliefs there was a hierarchy characteristic of many peoples who worshiped several gods. The ancient Slavs also had a unique pantheon of gods.

Pantheon of Slavic gods:

The most ancient supreme male deity among the Slavs was Rod.

Already in Christian teachings against paganism in the 12th-13th centuries. they write about Rod as a god who was worshiped by all peoples. Rod was the god of the sky, thunderstorms, and fertility. They said about him that he rides on a cloud, throws rain on the ground, and from this children are born. He was the ruler of the earth and all living things, and was a pagan creator god. In Slavic languages, the root “rod” means kinship, birth, water (spring), profit (harvest), concepts such as people and homeland, in addition, it means the color red and lightning, especially ball lightning, called “rhodia”. This variety of cognate words undoubtedly proves the greatness of the pagan god.

All Slavic gods that were part of the ancient pagan pantheon were divided into solar gods and functional gods.
There were four solar gods: Khors, Yarilo, Dazhdbog and Svarog.

Dazhdbog

Functional gods: Perun - patron of lightning and warriors; Semargl - the god of death, the image of the sacred heavenly fire; Veles - black god, lord of the dead, wisdom and magic; Stribog is the god of the wind.

Since ancient times, the Slavs have celebrated the change of seasons and the changing phases of the sun. Therefore, each season (spring, summer, autumn and winter) had its own god (Hors, Yarilo, Dazhdbog and Svarog), who was especially revered throughout the season.
The god Horse was worshiped between the winter and spring solstices (December 22 to March 21); Yarile - between the spring and summer solstices (from March 21 to June 22); Dazhdbog - in the period between the summer and autumn solstices (from June 22 to September 23); to the god Svarog - between the autumn and winter solstices (from September 23 to December 22).
To denote share, luck, happiness, the Slavs used the word “god”, common to all Slavs. Take, for example, “rich” (having God, a share) and “poor” (the opposite meaning). The word “God” was included in the names of various deities - Dazhdbog, Chernobog, etc. Slavic examples and evidence of other most ancient Indo-European mythologies allow us to see in these names a reflection of the ancient layer of mythological ideas of the Proto-Slavs.

Everyone mythological creatures, responsible for one or another spectrum of human life, can be divided into three main levels: highest, middle and lowest.

Thus, at the highest level are the gods, whose “functions” are most important for the Slavs and who participated in the most widespread legends and myths. These include such deities as Svarog (Stribog, Heaven), Earth, Svarozhichi (children of Svarog and Earth - Perun, Dazhdbog and Fire).

At the middle level there were deities associated with economic cycles and seasonal rituals, as well as gods who embodied the integrity of closed small groups, such as Chur among the Eastern Slavs. Most of the female deities, somewhat less human-like than the gods of the highest level, probably belonged to this level.

At the lowest level were creatures that were less human-like than the gods of the highest and middle levels. These included brownies, goblins, mermaids, ghouls, banniki (baenniks), etc.

Kikimora

Baennik

When worshiping, the Slavs tried to observe certain rituals that, as they thought, allowed them not only to receive what they asked for, but also not to offend the spirits they were addressing, and even to protect themselves from them, if necessary.
One of the first people to whom the Slavs initially began to make sacrifices were ghouls and bereginii. A little later, they “began to serve the meal” to Rod and the women in labor - Lada and Lela. Subsequently, the Slavs prayed mainly to Perun, however, maintaining faith in other gods.

Cult of the Family and Women in Childbirth
Lada

Lelya, daughter of Lada

The beliefs themselves had a system determined by the living conditions in which this or that Slavic tribe found itself.

Until the end of the 10th century, the ancestors of the Slavs were pagans: they did not know the Christian faith and worshiped the deified forces of nature and the souls of the departed.
The temple is a place of worship of the gods of the ancient Slavs. Kapishche is an ancient Slavic word that denotes the space of a pagan temple, located behind the altar, and intended for the installation of caps (statues depicting gods) or other sacred objects.

Temple

Ghouls are vampires, fantastic creatures, werewolves who personified evil. Beregini, associated with the word cherish, protect, are kind spirits that help a person. Spiritualization of all nature, dividing it into good and evil beginning- very ancient ideas that arose among Stone Age hunters. Various conspiracies were used against ghouls, they wore amulets - amulets; many ancient symbols of goodness and fertility were preserved in folk art, depicting which on clothes, dishes, and homes, ancient people seemed to ward off the spirits of evil. Such symbols include images of the sun, fire, water, plants, and flowers.

The cult of Rod and Rozhanits, fertility deities, is associated with agriculture and reflects a later stage of development of the Slavic tribes. In addition, these deities were associated with the concepts of marriage, love and childbirth. Rod was considered one of the most important deities who took part in the creation of the Universe: after all, according to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, it was he who sent souls to born children from heaven to Earth.
There were two women in labor: Mother and Daughter. The Slavs associated the mother with periods of summer fertility, when the harvest ripens and becomes heavier. Her name was Lada. There are many words and concepts associated with it in the Russian language, and they all have to do with establishing order: get along, get along, get along, okay; ladushka, lada - an affectionate address to a spouse. Previously, the wedding agreement was called “ladins”. Lada was also considered the mother of the twelve months into which the year is divided.
Lelya is Lada's daughter, the youngest woman in labor. Lelya is the goddess of trembling spring sprouts, first flowers, young femininity, tenderness. Hence, a caring attitude towards someone is conveyed by the word “cherish.” The Slavs believed that it was Lelya who took care of the spring shoots - the future harvest.
Later, after the baptism of Rus', Rozhanitsy was equated with the Christian Mother of God.

The cult of Perun, the god of thunder, war and weapons, arose relatively late in connection with the development of the druzhina, military element of society. Perun, or as he was also called Perun-Svarozhich, appeared to the Slavs as an armed warrior racing on a golden chariot drawn by winged stallions, white and black. Since ancient times, miraculous power has been attributed to the ax - Perun's weapon. Thus, an ax with a symbolic image of the Sun and Thunder, planted in a door frame, was an insurmountable obstacle to evil spirits seeking to penetrate a human home. Another symbol of Perun is the “thunder sign”, which looks like a wheel with six spokes. His image was often reproduced on the shields of Slavic warriors. An animal was dedicated to Perun - a wild aurochs, a huge forest bull.
After baptism, the Slavs “transferred” many of Perun’s properties to Elijah the Prophet, one of the most revered Christian saints.

Dazhdbog was the god of the Sun among the pagan Slavs. His name does not come from the word “rain,” as is sometimes mistakenly thought, it means “giving God,” “giver of all good things.” The Slavs believed that Dazhdbog rode across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white, fire-maned horses with golden wings. And sunlight comes from the fiery shield that Dazhdbog carries with him. Twice a day - morning and evening - he crosses the Ocean-Sea on a boat pulled by geese, ducks and swans. Therefore, the Slavs attributed special power to talismanic amulets in the form of a duck with a horse’s head.
The Morning and Evening Dawns were considered sister and brother, and the Morning Dawn was the wife of the Sun. Every year, during the great summer solstice of Ivan Kupala (Orthodox Midsummer Day), their marriage was solemnly celebrated.
The Slavs considered the sun to be an all-seeing eye, which strictly monitors the morality of people and the observance of laws. And since time immemorial, the sacred sign of the Sun has been... the cross! Squint your eyes at the Sun and you will see it. That is why christian cross, so similar to the ancient one pagan symbol and took root so quickly in Rus'.
Svarog was the god of Heaven among the Slavs, the father of all things. Legend says that Svarog gave people the very first plow and blacksmith's tongs, and taught them how to smelt copper and iron. In addition, Svarog established the very first laws for the human community.
Makosh - Earth - personifies the feminine principle of nature and is the wife of Svarog. The expression Mother Earth, a modern version of the name of the ancient Slavic goddess, is still pronounced with respect and love by Russian people.
Fire - Svarozhich, was the son of Svarog and Makoshi. In ancient times, fire was truly the center of the world in which a person’s entire life took place. Devilry she did not dare to approach the Fire, but the Fire was able to cleanse anything defiled.
The fire was a witness to vows, and this is where the Russian custom of jumping in pairs over a fire came from: it was believed that if a guy and a girl were able to fly over the flame without opening their hands, then their love was destined for a long life. By the way. the true name of the Fire God was so sacred that it was not spoken aloud, replacing it with allegories. Apparently, this is why it never reached us; in any case, scientists do not have a consensus on this matter.
The name was forgotten, but the signs associated with Fire were not forgotten. The Russian matchmaker, who came to match the bride, stretched out her hands to the stove at any time of the year: thereby calling Fire to be her allies. The young husband solemnly led the newlywed three times around the hearth, asking God the Fire for a happy life and many healthy children.
Yarila was the god of fertility, reproduction and physical love among the ancient Slavs. It was this side of love, which poets call “ebullient passion,” that was “in the jurisdiction” of the Slavic god Yarila. They imagined him as a young, handsome man, an ardent groom in love.
The serpent - Volos (Veles) in Slavic pagan mythology - is the divine opponent of Perun. It embodied the forces of primeval Chaos, violent, disordered, uninhabited nature, often hostile to ancient man, but essentially not at all evil. And with them are the animal instincts of man himself, that part of our personality that does not know the word “need”, only “want”. But there is nothing wrong with this, you just need to keep your passions in subjection.
According to legend, the Serpent God combines hairiness and scales in his appearance, flies with the help of membranous wings, and can breathe out fire, although he is very afraid of fire itself (especially lightning). The Serpent - Veles is a big lover of milk, hence his second name - Tsmog (Smog), which in Old Slavonic means Sucker.
The pagan Slavs worshiped both divine opponents - Perun and the Serpent. Only the sanctuaries of Perun were in high places, and the sanctuaries of Veles were in the lowlands. Some legends suggest that the Serpent Volos, tamed and driven underground, became responsible for earthly fertility and wealth.

“Minor” deities were those who lived side by side with man, helped him, and sometimes hindered him, in various economic affairs and everyday concerns. Unlike the main deities, which no one had ever seen, these quite often appeared before people's eyes. The Slavs have a huge number of traditions, legends, fairy tales and even eyewitness accounts about these cases, from ancient times to the present day.

Here are some of these deities: Brownie, Ovinnik, Bannik, Dvorovy, Polevik and Poluditsa, Vodyanoy, Leshy.

The brownie is the soul of the house, the patron of the building and the people living in it. The construction of a house was filled with the deepest meaning for the ancient Slavs, because in this case a person was likened to the Gods who created the Universe. Great importance was attached to the choice of the start time of work, the choice of location and building materials. This is how, for example, trees were chosen. The creaky ones were not suitable, because the soul of a tortured person cries in them; the dried ones were not suitable - they have no vitality, which means the people in the house will get sick.
When cutting down trees, the pagan Slav blamed himself before the tree souls expelled from the trunks, and he himself fasted for a long time and performed cleansing rituals. But the ancient Slav was still not completely sure that the felled trees would not begin to take revenge on him, and in order to protect himself he made so-called “construction sacrifices.” The skull of a horse or bull was buried under the red (eastern) corner of the house, in which carved statues of gods, and later icons, were placed. And from the soul of the killed animal, the Brownie actually arose.
The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He presented himself as a little old man with a face similar to the head of the family. By nature, he is an eternal troublemaker, grumpy, but caring and kind. People tried to maintain good relations with Domovoy, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped keep the house in order and warned of impending misfortune. Moving from house to house, Domovoy was always invited, through a conspiracy, to move with his family.
Domovoy, who lives next to a person, is the kindest of the “small” deities. And just beyond the threshold of the hut, “your” world becomes more and more alien and hostile.

Brownie

Dvorovy - the owner of the yard - was considered a little less friendly than Domovoy. Ovinnik, the owner of the barn, is even less so, and Bannik, the spirit of the bathhouse, standing completely out of the way, on the edge of the yard, and even beyond it, is simply dangerous. For this reason, believers consider the bathhouse - a symbol of seemingly purity - “unclean.” In ancient times, the word “unclean” did not mean something sinful or bad, but simply less sacred, more accessible to the action of evil forces.

Many terrible stories are told about Bannik even today. He appears as a tiny but very strong old man, naked, with a long, moldy beard. Fainting and accidents that sometimes occur in the bathhouse are attributed to his evil will. Bannik’s favorite pastime is scalding those who are washing with boiling water, splitting stones in the stove and “shooting” them at people. Maybe he will drag you into a hot oven and tear off a piece of skin from a living person. However, you can get along with him. Knowledgeable people always leave Bannik a good steam, a fresh broom and a basin clean water. And they never push each other on - Bannik can’t stand it, he gets angry. And if you fall under Bannik’s arm, you need to run out of the bathhouse and call Ovinnik or Domovoy for help: “Father, Help me out!”

When they began to clear forests and plow the land for fields and pastures, the new lands, of course, immediately acquired their own “small” deities - the Fieldmen. In general, there are many beliefs and signs associated with the grain field. Thus, the division of agricultural crops into “male” and “female” survived until the last century. For example, only men sowed bread, stripped almost naked and carried sowing grain in special bags made from old pants. Thus, they seemed to enter into a “sacred marriage” with the plowed field, and not a single woman dared to be present. But turnips were considered a “female” crop. And the women also sowed it almost naked, trying to transfer part of their reproductive power to the Earth.
Sometimes people met an old man in the field, unprepossessing in appearance and extremely snotty. The old man asked a passerby to wipe his nose. And if a person did not disdain, a purse of silver would suddenly appear in his hand, and the old Polevik would disappear. In this way, our ancestors expressed the simple idea that the Earth generously bestows only on those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.

The working day in the villages began early, but it was better to wait out the midday heat. The ancient Slavs had a special mythical creature who strictly ensured that no one worked at noon. This is Poluditsa. They imagined her as a girl in a long white shirt or, on the contrary, as a shaggy, scary old woman. The half-women were afraid: for non-compliance with the custom, she could punish, and severely - now we call it sunstroke.

Behind the fence of the dwelling of the ancient Slav, the forest began. This forest determined the entire way of life. In pagan times, in a Slavic house literally everything was made of wood, from the dwelling itself to spoons and buttons. And besides, the forest provided game, berries and mushrooms in a huge variety. But besides the benefits bestowed upon man, the wild forest has always been fraught with many mysteries and deadly dangers. When going into the forest, every time one had to be prepared to meet its owner, Leshiy. “Leshy” in Old Church Slavonic means “forest spirit.”

Leshy's appearance is changeable. He can appear as a giant, taller than the tallest trees, or he can hide behind a small bush. The goblin looks like a person, only his clothes are wrapped the other way around, on the right side. Leshy's hair is long, gray-green, there are no eyelashes or eyebrows on his face, and his eyes are like two emeralds - they burn with green fire.
A goblin can walk around an unwary person, and that person will rush around inside the magic circle for a long time, unable to cross the closed line. But Leshy, like all living nature, knows how to reward good for good. But he needs only one thing: that when a person enters the forest, he respects the forest laws and does not cause harm to the forest. And Leshy will be very happy if you leave him somewhere on a tree stump some delicacies that don’t grow in the forest, a pie, gingerbread, and say out loud thank you for the mushrooms and berries.
There is an expression in Russian: “to get married near a broom bush.” It means civilian, i.e. unofficial marriage between a man and a woman. Thus, the Russian language has preserved the memory of the most ancient pagan marriages that took place near the water, near sacred trees - brooms. Water, as one of the Sacred Elements, was considered a witness to an unbreakable oath.

The water deity was Vodyanoy - a mythical inhabitant of rivers, lakes and streams. The merman was represented in the form of a naked, flabby old man, goggle-eyed, with a fish tail. The spring Waters were endowed with special power, because the springs, according to legend, arose from the lightning strike of Perun, the most powerful deity. Such keys were called “rattling” and this is preserved in the names of many sources.

So, water - like other natural essences - was an originally good, friendly element for the Slavic pagans. But, like all the elements, it demanded that it be addressed as “you”. She could have drowned her, destroyed her for nothing. Could demand sacrifices. It could have washed away a village placed “without asking” from Vodyanoy - we would say now, without knowledge of local hydrology. This is why the Vodyanoi often appears in legends as a creature hostile to humans. Apparently the Slavs, as experienced forest dwellers, were less afraid of getting lost than of drowning, which is why Vodyanoy in the legends looks more dangerous than Leshy.

And the ancient Slavs sincerely believed in all this.

Sacred trees
A unique category of places of worship were sacred trees and sacred groves, “trees” and “groves” in the terminology of medieval scribes, not sufficiently mentioned in historical sources.

One of the revered trees was the birch, with which a number of spring rituals and round dance songs are associated. It is possible that the birch tree was dedicated to the shores, the spirits of goodness and fertility. Ethnographers have collected a lot of information about the “curling” of young birch trees, about spring ritual processions under the bound branches of birch trees. A felled birch tree on Semik (the ancient date is June 4) served as the personification of some female deity and was the center of all Semitic rituals. Trees involved in pagan ritual were lavishly decorated with ribbons and embroidered towels.

The embroidery on the ubrus contained images of those goddesses with whom prayers were made and sacrifices were made during these periods: the figures of Mokosh and two women in labor (mother and daughter) Lada and Lelya, prayers in “groves”, in “trees” can be functionally likened to the later church deity, where the temple corresponded to a grove or clearing in the forest, the fresco images of deities corresponded to individual revered trees (or idol trees), and the icons corresponded to images of Mokosh and Lada on ubruses.

Trees located near springs, springs, springs, enjoyed special reverence, since here it was possible to simultaneously turn to the vegetative power of “growing” and to the living water of the spring gushing from the ground.

The cult of oak differs significantly from the cult of birch and trees growing among students. Oak - the tree of Zeus and Perun, the strongest and most durable tree - has firmly entered the system of Slavic pagan rituals. The Slavic ancestral home was located in the oak growing area, and the beliefs associated with it must go back to ancient times.

Up to the XVII - XIX centuries. oak and oak groves retained a leading place in rituals.

Animal deities
In a distant era, when the main occupation of the Slavs was hunting, and not agriculture, they believed that wild animals were their ancestors. The Slavs considered them powerful deities who should be worshiped. Each tribe had its own totem, i.e. a sacred animal that the tribe worshiped. Several tribes considered the Wolf to be their ancestor and revered him as a deity. The name of this beast was sacred, it was forbidden to say it out loud, so instead of “wolf” they said “fierce”, and called themselves “Lutichs”.

During the winter solstice, the men of these tribes wore wolf skins, which symbolized the transformation into wolves. This is how they communicated with the animal ancestors, from whom they asked for strength and wisdom. The wolf was considered a powerful protector of the tribe, a devourer of evil spirits. The pagan priest, who performed protective rites, also dressed in animal skin. With the adoption of Christianity, the attitude towards pagan priests changed, and therefore the word “wolf-lak” (that is, dressed in dlaka - wolf skin) began to be called an evil werewolf, later “wolf-lak” turned into “ghoul”.

The owner of the pagan forest was the bear - the most powerful animal. He was considered a protector from all evil and a patron of fertility - it was with the spring awakening of the bear that the ancient Slavs associated the onset of spring. Until the twentieth century. many peasants kept a bear's paw in their houses as a talisman-amulet, which was supposed to protect its owner from disease, witchcraft and all kinds of troubles. The Slavs believed that the bear was endowed with great wisdom, almost omniscience: they swore by the name of the beast, and the hunter who broke the oath was doomed to death in the forest.

The myth of the Bear - the owner of the forest and a powerful deity - has been preserved in fairy tales. The true name of this beast-deity was so sacred that it was not spoken aloud and therefore did not reach us. Bear is a nickname for the animal, meaning “undereaten”; in the word “den”, a more ancient root is also preserved - “er”, i.e. “brown” (den – bera’s lair). For quite a long time the bear was revered as a sacred animal, and even much later, hunters still did not dare to say the word “bear”.

Of the herbivores in the hunting era, the most revered was Deer (Moose), the ancient Slavic goddess of fertility, sky and sunlight. In contrast to real deer, the goddess was thought to be horned; her horns were a symbol of the sun's rays. Therefore, deer antlers were considered a powerful amulet against all night evil spirits and were attached either above the entrance to the hut or inside the dwelling. By the name of their antlers - “plow” - deer and elk were often called elk. An echo of the myths about the celestial Moose are the popular names of the constellations - Ursa Major and Ursa Minor - Elk and Elk Calf.

The heavenly goddesses - the Reindeer - sent newborn fawns to earth, which fell like rain from the clouds.

Among domestic animals, the Slavs most revered the horse, because once upon a time the ancestors of most peoples of Eurasia led a nomadic lifestyle, and they imagined the sun in the guise of a golden horse running across the sky. Later, a myth arose about the sun god riding across the sky in a chariot. The image of the Sun-horse is preserved in the decoration of the hut, crowned with a ridge and the image of one or two horse heads. An amulet with the image of a horse's head or just a horseshoe, like other solar symbols, was considered a powerful amulet.

Humanoid deities
Over time, man became increasingly freed from fear of the animal world, and animal features in the images of deities gradually began to give way to human ones. The owner of the forest turned from a bear into a shaggy goblin with horns and paws, but still resembling a man. The goblin, the patron saint of hunting, left the first game caught on a stump. It was believed that he could lead a lost traveler out of the forest, but if he got angry, he could, on the contrary, lead a person into the thicket and kill him.

With the adoption of Christianity, the goblin, like other spirits of nature, began to be perceived as hostile.

The deities of moisture and fertility among the Slavs were mermaids and pitchforks, pouring dew from magic horns onto the fields. They were spoken of as swan girls flying from heaven, as mistresses of wells and streams, as drowned mavkas, as midday girls running through the grain fields at noon and giving strength to the ear of corn.

According to popular beliefs, on short summer nights mermaids come out of their underwater shelters, swing on branches, and if they meet a man, they can tickle him to death or drag him with them to the bottom of the lake.

Deities are monsters
The ruler of the underground and underwater world, the Serpent, was considered the most formidable. The serpent, a powerful and hostile monster, is found in the mythology of almost every nation. The ancient ideas of the Slavs about the Snake were preserved in fairy tales.
The Northern Slavs worshiped the Serpent - the lord of underground waters - and called him the Lizard. The Lizard's sanctuary was located in swamps, the banks of lakes and rivers. The coastal sanctuaries of the Lizard had a perfectly round shape - as a symbol of perfection and order, it was opposed to the destructive power of this god. As victims, the Lizard was thrown into the swamp with black chickens, as well as young girls, which was reflected in many beliefs.

All Slavic tribes who worshiped the Lizard considered him to be a sun-sink; every day the evening luminary descends beyond the world and floats to the east like an underground river. This river flows inside the two-headed Lizard, swallowing the sun with its western mouth and spewing out of the eastern. The antiquity of the myth is evidenced by the fact that the Lizard is not hostile to the sun: he returns the luminary voluntarily.

Serpent

The custom of sacrificing a person to the underwater god existed for a very long time in the north in a transformed form: for example, on Onega at the beginning of the twentieth century. the old people made a stuffed animal and sent it into the lake in a leaky boat, where it sank. Another sacrifice made to the Lizard was a horse, which was first fed by the entire village and then drowned.

With the transition to agriculture, many myths and religious ideas hunting era were modified or forgotten, the rigidity of ancient rituals was softened: human sacrifice was replaced by horse sacrifice, and later stuffed animals. The Slavic gods of the agricultural era are brighter and kinder to people.

Calendar holidays and rituals
The calendar holidays and rituals of the Slavs were closely connected with the economic (and therefore vital) interests of the peasant, therefore their dates were largely determined by the agricultural seasons. In addition, the annual holiday cycle could not help but be determined by the most important astronomical dates, usually associated with the movement of the sun.
A significant part of common Slavic holidays was associated with the cult of ancestors. From ancient times to the present day (in particular, among the East Slavic peoples) the custom has been preserved of visiting cemeteries and the graves of parents in Radonitsa, Semik (before Trinity) and Dmitrievskaya parent's Saturday. Equally ancient are the customs of eating at the grave, commemorating with alcohol and leaving food for the deceased at the grave. Until recently, remnants of pagan funeral customs persisted on other Christian holidays, such as Christmastide, Maslenitsa and Maundy Thursday. On Christmastide, due to winter time, we did not visit the cemetery, but commemorated our ancestors at home. On Maundy Thursday, baths were heated for the ancestors (so that they could wash themselves) and bonfires were lit at the gate (so that they could warm themselves). As a rule, memorial holidays were timed to coincide with milestone periods of the year - solstices and equinoxes. Apparently, at this border time, gates opened between the world of the living and the world of the dead, through which the souls of the dead came into the world. They visited their descendants, and they had to greet them properly - warm them, wash them, give them something to drink and feed them. The souls of ancestors could bless, or they could send misfortunes - it all depended on how they were met, which is why it was so important to honor the ancestors.
Dead ancestors, like those resting in the ground, in the afterlife, were associated in the human mind with the earth, therefore, the future harvest largely depended on the blessing of the ancestors. For example, Maslenitsa is associated both with the idea of ​​fertility and with the cult of ancestors - competitions (running, fist fights, taking a snow town) and main meal on Maslenitsa, while the memorial one is pancakes. The fertility of the land and the fertility of livestock, as the main economic interests of the peasant, were given special attention in his holidays and rituals. On Vasilyev's evening (New Year's Eve), ritual food was prepared - piglet or sheep's legs, cookies in the form of livestock ("kozulki") were baked - the purpose of all this was to attract fertility and prosperity for livestock. The same purpose, as well as ensuring the safety of the livestock, was served by numerous rituals of St. George’s Day in the spring, when the first pasture of livestock took place.

Scarecrow Maslenitsa
Numerous rituals with stuffed animals depicting various ritual characters contributed to the fertility of the earth - these are Maslenitsa, Yarila, Kostroma, Kostrubonko. The ritual included, as a rule, honoring and venerating the scarecrow, walking with it through the streets, accompanied by fun, and then seeing it off - funeral, burning or torn to pieces. Apparently, the scarecrow represented the focus of fertility and fertility, and the rituals of seeing it off were supposed to convey this fertility to the earth - especially since such rituals were almost always carried out in the spring or early summer.
In Semik and Trinity Week, the role of the stuffed animal was played by the Trinity (Semitskaya) birch tree, with which they performed almost the same rituals - they decorated it, worshiped and honored it, ate ritual food under the birch tree, sang songs and danced in circles, curled its branches, performed the ritual of “cumulus” , carried around the village and, finally, broke and scattered branches across the field - the purpose of all these rituals was to attract fertility and a good harvest, as well as fertility and successful motherhood, as in the case of cumulation. Only girls and women participated in all Semitic rituals performed with the birch tree.
In addition, rituals of causing rain (in case of drought; in the case of prolonged rains, the ritual was aimed at achieving good weather) were supposed to contribute to ensuring fertility and harvest. The ritual involved a girl, usually an orphan, who was called Dodola or Peperuda. According to scientists, her name and the image itself are apparently associated with the Thunderer-Perun (perhaps Dodola represented the wife of the Thunderer). She was taken around the village, decorated with flowers and watered with water, while songs were sung asking for rain.

Henryk Semiradsky. Night on Ivan Kupala
One of the most important Slavic holidays was the night of Ivan Kupala. On this night, nationwide festivities were held - songs and dances. Among the Kupala rituals, noteworthy are lighting and jumping over fires, swimming and riding burning wheels down the slopes. Often the holiday took on a riotous character. In addition, medicinal and magical plants were collected that night.
According to reconstructions, the Slavs had holidays dedicated to deities as such. In particular, there could have been a Perunov day and a day dedicated to Veles, which were later replaced, respectively, by Ilya’s day and the day of memory of St. Blaise of Sevastia or St. Nicholas Day. However, we do not have direct data about these holidays, so their dates and content remain only reconstructions.

Wedding customs and rituals
Wedding customs varied among different tribes depending on the type of marriage. Slavic pagan marriage was polygamous: in some cases, a man could have several wives and concubines, in others, women’s marriage partners could change. “The Tale of Bygone Years” identifies two types of marriage and wedding ceremonies among Slavic tribes, which can conditionally be called patriarchal and matriarchal.

Patriarchal marriage:
The Polyans have the custom of their fathers being meek and quiet, being bashful before their daughters-in-law and sisters, mothers and parents; They have great modesty before their mothers-in-law and brothers-in-law; They also have a marriage custom: the son-in-law does not go for the bride, but brings her the day before, and the next day they bring for her - whatever they give. Similar morals were described back in the 6th century by the Byzantine author Mauritius:

The modesty of their women exceeds all human nature, so that most of them consider the death of their husband to be their death and voluntarily strangle themselves, not counting being a widow for life.

Patriarchal marriage and polygamy are characteristic of the ancient Slavs. For example, the payment for the bride was called “veno” in Ancient Rus', and the wedding ceremony was called “taking off the shoes” of the groom. The ancient “taking off of shoes” is recorded by later rituals of removing the groom’s shoes and the saying “Wash your feet and drink water.” In the cases mentioned in the chronicles, the bride was always “brought in.”

Matriarchal marriage:
...And they didn’t have marriages, but they kidnapped girls near the water... And they dishonored themselves in front of their fathers and daughters-in-law, and they didn’t have marriages, but they organized games between the villages, and they gathered at these games, to dances and to all sorts of demonic songs, and here they kidnapped their wives in agreement with them: they had two and three wives.
Some information about pre-Christian wedding rites and customs can be gleaned from church teachings against paganism:

And this is what the pagans do: they lead the bride to the water when they marry her, drink a cup in honor of demons, throw rings and belts into the water.

The tradition of marriage near water (lake, well) is confirmed by later ethnographic data - folk signs and a similar ritual that was revived among some Old Believers after Nikon’s reforms. On the other hand, one of the final rites of the wedding may be reflected here - testing the bride, walking with her on water to a river or lake. And when someone has a wedding, it is celebrated with tambourines, pipes and other demonic miracles.
And it happens even worse: they make a man’s penis, put it in buckets and bowls and drink from them, and when they take it out, they lick and kiss it.

There is no doubt that in Ancient Rus' there was a certain phallic wedding ritual. Obviously, the phallus was used as magic symbol: he was supposed to give fertility to the newlyweds and fertility to the earth. The data of this teaching is also confirmed by archeology - there are repeated finds of phalluses carved from wood, discovered in ancient Russian settlements.

Funeral rites and ancestor cult
The cult of dead ancestors was extremely widespread among the Slavs from ancient times until recently. In this regard, the Slavic funeral rite is of interest. “The Tale of Bygone Years” describes this ritual among the Vyatichi:

And if anyone dies, they perform a funeral feast over him. After it, a large bonfire is built, the dead man is placed on it and burned. After this, having collected the bones, they put them in a small vessel and place them on a pole near the road. This is what the Vyatichi people do today. The Krivichi and other pagans follow the same custom.

By funeral feast here, apparently, we mean competitions in memory of the deceased and memorial events in general. The custom of leaving a vessel with the bones of the deceased on pillars near roads is clarified by later ethnographic records: pillars in cemeteries were considered a kind of border between the living and the dead. Utensils used at funerals were thrown at these pillars. The pillars themselves were often made with a semblance of a roof and recesses - for the convenience of the souls of the dead who lived near them. Later, cemetery columns were replaced by Orthodox crosses.

Information about the funeral rite can also be gleaned from the chronicle story of how Olga buried her husband, Prince Igor, who was killed by the Drevlyans:

Olga sent to tell the Drevlyans: “Here, I’m already coming to you. Brew a lot of honey near the city where you killed my husband, so that I can cry over his grave and perform a funeral feast for my husband.” Hearing this, they brought a lot of honey and brewed it. Olga with a small squad and lightly came to Igor’s grave and cried for her husband. Then she ordered the people to fill a large mound, and when they had poured it, she ordered a funeral feast to be performed. Then the Drevlyans sat down to drink, and Olga ordered her youths to serve them.

From this passage it follows that the feast included drinking mead, that mounds were built over the graves (apparently, their size depended on the status of the person being buried) and that there was a custom of crying over the grave of the deceased. All this information is confirmed by ethnographic records and (about mounds) archaeological data. In addition to these customs, the “Prologue” mentions such an element of funeral ritual as “badyn”, that is, vigil, staying awake next to the deceased during the night, which, apparently, was performed by a significant number of people with lamentations, songs and games.

Interesting information about the funeral rite is provided by the chronicle story about the death of Vladimir Svyatoslavich:

At night they dismantled the platform between the two cages, wrapped him (Vladimir) in a carpet and lowered him with ropes to the ground; then, placing him on a sleigh, they took him and placed him in the Church of the Holy Mother of God, which he himself had once built. Having learned about this, countless people came together and cried for him...

In this case, you can observe the most ancient ritual - in order to remove the deceased, they dismantle the wall. This is done so that the deceased, carried out in an unusual way, cannot return and does not disturb the living. Another ancient ritual described in this passage is the use of sleighs to transport the deceased, even despite summer time. Sleighs were used in funerals as the most honorable, calm and respectable form of transport.

There is also a common ritual food for all Eastern Slavs at funerals - kutia, pancakes and jelly. Almost all East Slavic holidays are associated with the cult of deceased ancestors, who were remembered at milestone moments of the year - on Christmastide, on Maundy Thursday and Radonitsa, on Semik and before Demetrius Day. On the days of remembrance of the dead, a bathhouse was heated for them, fires were lit (to keep them warm), and food was left for them on the festive table. The Yuletide mummers represented ancestors who had come from the other world and collected gifts. The purpose of all these actions was to appease the deceased ancestors, who could bless the family, but could also cause harm - scare, appear in dreams, torment and even kill those who did not satisfy their needs.
The belief in the so-called “hostage dead” was very widespread among the Slavs. It was believed that people who did not die a natural death do not calm down after death and are capable of harming the living, so they were superstitiously feared and revered during general commemorations.

Slavic calendar

The graphic diagram presented here clearly shows how the pantheon of Slavic gods listed in the Book of Veles easily fits into the seasonal calendar, reflecting the main activities of the ancestors of the Slavs: agriculture, hunting, fishing, beekeeping, as well as the main festivals with which each cycle began and ended.

In ancient times, the year among the Slavs was divided into three main seasons: the period of agricultural work (spring), the time of ripening and harvesting (covered summer and autumn) and winter. These three seasons are shown in the diagram in green, yellow and blue, which allows you to immediately determine which gods patronized this or that time of year and when their days were celebrated. The presence of such an archaic three-season cycle in the “Book of Veles” testifies to its authenticity. Although, as we will see later, there are already tendencies towards a quaternary division (four months in each season and four weeks in each month).

The indicated tripartite nature of the calendar testifies to its deepest roots, dating back to the times of the Indo-Aryan community of cultures. The three-season nature of the year was then determined by the ancient Indo-Aryans’ idea of ​​the trinity of the world (Svarog-Perun-Sventovid and Yav-Rav-Nav among the Slavic-Aryans and Vishnu, who created the Universe through THREE STEPS, among the Hindus).
As scientists - astroarchaeologists testify, by 2300 BC. the lunar landmarks of ancient sanctuaries-observatories were replaced by solar ones, and the calendar-astral tandem of Svarog and Dazhdbog (solar sign with Taurus at the head) arose. Taurus is the embodiment of Dazhdbog. Since Taurus led the Solar Zodiac between 4400-1700. BC, then 2300-1700. BC. - this is the time when the Slavs began to honor the interconnected Svarog-Dazhdbog. It was then that the Slavic-Aryan tripartite calendar probably began to take shape.

The fact that this calendar was known until the 9th century. AD (the time of writing the “Book of Veles”), indicates both its universality, it can be used even now, and the deepest traditions of continuity of the Slavic priests of the Sun, who in turn relied on the system of sanctuary-observatories of Ancient Aratta in the Danube-Dnieper region V - IV thousand BC, Trans-Ural Arkaim III millennium BC. and Maidans (ancient Indian “aidanov”).
Such observatory sanctuaries, which stretched along the northern border of the then agriculture, formed the backbone of Indo-European culture, from which mounds and ancient sanctuaries radiated to the north and south. Their priestly servants maintained connections with each other for thousands of years, even in late antique times, surprising the enlightened Greeks and Romans with legends about the distant journeys of the Hyperboreans led by Apollo. This tradition was finally interrupted with the establishment of Christianity and the destruction of temples, the calendar and observatory functions of which were partially transferred to the church.

So, let's look at the diagram.

This calendar includes seventy-seven gods located in seven stake circles (seven is a sacred number for the Slavs)
In the center is the Great Triglav (Svarog-Perun-Sventovid).
Svarog (from Sanskrit svga- “sky”) - Supreme God, Lord of the Universe, Creator of the World. He is the beginning and essence of the entire Zodiac. He created Reality from Navi according to the law of Rule, and that’s all. what ends in Yavi again passes into Nav. Nav is blue, the color of the sky. Therefore, Svarog in the sign of Triglav shown in the diagram is oriented towards the blue segment. And although this is a symbol of Navi, a symbol of Winter, it is during this period that the winter solstice (Kolyada) occurs, when “the sun turns to summer”, and Life (Reality) is born in the depths of Darkness (Navi).
Perun is a sign of Fire, his element is Summer, he is focused on the yellow segment.
Sventovid - the Lord of Spring - points to the green segment. The authentic ancient Slavic sign of the Great Triglav, placed in the center of the diagram, which was deciphered and executed in color, fully reflects the close relationship of the substances Navi-Prav-Yavi, Svarog-Perun-Sventovid, Spring-Winter-Summer, Air-Fire-Earth and other “trinities” that made up the multidimensional philosophy of our ancestors.
Since “three,” as already indicated, is a sacred number in Slavic Vedism, all the deities listed below are divided into Trinity - Great and Lesser Triglav.
Only the first colo is represented by two gods - Belobog and Chernobog, the gods of Light and Darkness, Reveal and Navi. At the same time, the world axis separating them is Svarga, on both sides of which they fight and thereby balance the world.

The second colo - Khors, Veles, Stribog - the gods of Summer. Winter, Spring. Veles also acts as the god of the Underworld, the god of the kingdom of Navi, where the souls of the dead go after death.

The third circle is corresponding to the previous one, here each segment is divided into two subcycles: Stribog includes Kryshen and Vyshen. Another option is Kryshnya - Kryzhen. It's time for Kryzhnya - it's the time of ice drift, the time of melting snow, when drops begin to ring from the icicles hanging from the ROOFS. Kryshen is the very beginning of spring, while Vyshen (another version of VESEN) is already completely spring, SPRING time. The ruler of spring, Stribog, includes these two pores, just as Chore is divided into Lel (the beginning of summer) and Letich (the zenith of summer), and Veles into Radogoshch (the beginning of winter) and Kolendo.

The fourth colo presents other hypostases of the gods of the three main seasons, where Yar marks Spring, Dazhd - the god - Summer, and Sivy - Winter.

Fifth Kolo - each season is divided into four months, where Beloyar is March, the beginning of spring and the Slavic agricultural calendar. Next, clockwise - Lado (April). Kupalo (May - ancient calendars confirm that Kupalo was celebrated in May), Senich (June), Zhitnich (July), Venich (August), Zernich (September), Ovsenich (October), Prosich (November), Studich (December) , Ledich (January), Lyutich (February).

The sixth and seventh stakes appear to represent the names of the four weeks in each month, again based on nature and the main types of agricultural activity.
So, in Beloyar the beautiful (Krasich) Spring-Zhiva (Zhivich) comes, everything awakens, the first grass (Travich) appears. Preparations for agricultural work begin. Magicians reveal the Vedas (Vedich) to people - whether spring will be favorable, when to sow spring grass, and so on. The spring equinox arrives, and the holiday of the Great Yar or, otherwise, Bogoyarov Day (Velikden) comes.
In the month of Lado, the stems (Steblich) turn green, the flowers (Tsvetic) and leaves (Listvich) bloom, and the birds (Pticich) begin to chirp. On these joyful days of spring awakening, the Red Mountain holiday is celebrated - a memory of the rich and peaceful life of the Ancestors in the Karpen Mountains. All deceased relatives are commemorated (corresponds to the current Parent's Day).
On Kupalo the animals (Zverich) begin their spring games. The sky is clearing, people are admiring the stars (Zvezdich). The water (Vodich) in rivers and lakes is warming up, and the swimming season begins. Kupalo, the god of Slavic Purity and Health, is celebrated.

On Senich there are thunderous (Gromich) rains (Dozhdich), fruits (Plodich) and seeds (Semich) are ripening, and haymaking is in full swing. The day of the summer solstice is coming - the holiday of the Great Triglav (currently Trinity).
Zhitnich is rich in linden (Lipich) honey, bees swarm (Pchelich), there is an abundance of fish in the rivers (Rybich), and berries in the forests (Yagodnich). This month celebrates the Day of Perun, who, performing the functions of the god of Battles and Struggle, is also the patron of the harvest. It is thanks to Perun, appearing in the guise of Vergunets-Perunts, who sheds blessed rain on the earth, that forests and meadows grow luxuriantly, and the Ognishchansky fields are filled with grains, promising a generous harvest.
Birch (Berezich), maple (Klenich) and Reed (Trostich) are harvested on Venich. Second mowing of green (Zelenich) grasses. The harvest of grain begins - they reap the wheat, the wheat, and tie it into sheaves (“veno venatyat” - hence VENICH). The First Sheaf or Dagestan Day is celebrated.

Zernich - the suffering (Stradic) is over. The grain is threshed on threshing floors and stored in bins. The lakes freeze motionless (Ozernich), the mountains (Gorich) become covered with haze, and the autumn winds begin to blow (Vetrich). The day is coming autumn equinox, the Great Autumns are celebrated.
Ovsenich - even the straw has been removed (Solomich), the time has come for leaf fall (Listopadich) and mushroom picking (Gribich). People rejoice that with rich supplies they will be saved (Spasich) in the cold winter. Small Ovseni are celebrated.

Prosich is the first powder. It's time for hunting, as well as autumn trading. Guest merchants (Gostich) come from all sides, conversations are held (Besedich), hospitable and hospitable Slavs celebrate Radogoshch.
Studich - snow falls (Snezhich), the ground is frozen. It's time to start military (Ratic) training. You can also go on journeys (Stranich), visit distant countries (Stranich). The month ends with the celebration of Kolyada - the day of the winter solstice and Christmastide, dedicated to the completion of the annual circle and the birth of a new young Sun (Christmas).

Ledich is a celebration of Veless, the ruler of Svarozh Navi, who from now on begins to increase the light (Svendich) “by a hair’s breadth” every day. The Shchuras and Ancestors (Shchurich) who are in the kingdom of Beles are revered. This month, meetings of the Clans, Councils of Elders (Radic) are held, princes and relative elders (Rodic) are elected, and other “public events” are carried out.

Lutch - although the frosts are still severe, the sun of the “underworld” is gaining strength and adding light (Svetich). This month, Rod-Rozhanich-Svarog (Kin), the First Ancestor-Progenitor, is revered. Blood relatives (Kravich) get together, discuss all sorts of matters, eat pancakes with butter (Maslenich). Maslenitsa and Rooftop are celebrated - people say goodbye to winter.

So Svarog Kolo invariably and eternally rotates, measuring the Great and Small numbers of Reveal, which are kept by Chislobog.
It should be noted that this calendar does not include gods who are not associated with seasonal cycles and are, so to speak, “universal” - these are Chislobog, Mother Sva-Slava, Makosh, Semargl-Ognebog and some others, whose functions were associated with others sides of Being.

We can talk about the Slavs for a very long time, but this will already be the history of the Slavs. Finally, let’s touch on the topic of the origins of the Slavs, and also say a few words about modern Slavs.

The Slavs (in ancient times Slovenes) are the largest group of linguistically related ethnic groups in eastern and southwestern Europe, united by a common origin. Depending on linguistic and cultural proximity, the Slavs are divided into three large groups: eastern, western and southern.
The total number of Slavic peoples according to 2002 data is over 300 million people, of which: Russians - 145.2 million, Ukrainians - about 50 million, Belarusians - up to 10 million; Poles - about 45 million, Czechs - about 10 million, Slovaks - 5.5 million, Lusatians - 0.1 million; Bulgarians - 9 - 10 million, Serbs - up to 10 million, Croats - 5.5 million, Slovenes - up to 2.5 million, Montenegrins - 0.6 million, Macedonians - 2 million, Muslims (self-name - boshњatsi (Bosniaks), other names - Bosnians, Bosans, Muslims) - about 2 million.
In addition to these ethnic groups, there is an ethnic group that is still emerging. These are the so-called Rusyns. They are Slovaks by origin who moved to the territory of Yugoslavia (since February 2003 - Serbia and Montenegro). This microethnic group is very small – about 20 thousand people. Now there is a process of formation of the literary language of Rusyns.
The Slavs occupy a vast territory of Eastern Europe, as well as the northern and central parts of Asia. It immediately strikes the eye that the Slavic states are not gathered in one group, but are scattered, scattered. In the second half of the 19th century. There were no independent Slavic states. The Slavic peoples were part of three empires: Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman. The only exceptions were Montenegrins who lived in the small independent state of Montenegro, and Lusatians who were located in Germany. By the end of the 20th century. All Slavic peoples, except the Russians and Lusatians, already had state independence.

Now the largest Slavic state in terms of area is Russia (Moscow). Russia is located in northeastern Europe and also occupies the northern and central parts of Asia. In the west, Russia is bordered by the East Slavic states - Ukraine and Belarus. Further north in Eastern Europe are Poland and the Czech Republic. These West Slavic states border on Germany in the west, on part of whose territory (between Berlin and Dresden, along the banks of the Elbe and Spree rivers) live the Lusatian Serbs (Cottbus, Bautzen). Another West Slavic state - Slovakia - is located between Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland. The South Slavs partially occupy the Balkan Peninsula and adjacent territories. They border neither the Eastern nor the Western Slavs. South Slavs live in Bulgaria, as well as in Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Slavs, Wends - the earliest news about the Slavs under the name Wends, or Venets, belongs to Roman and Greek writers - Pliny the Elder, Publius Cornelius Tacitus and Ptolemy Claudius. According to these authors, the Wends lived along the Baltic coast between the Gulf of Stetin, into which the Odra flows, and the Gulf of Danzing, into which the Vistula flows; along the Vistula from its headwaters in the Carpathian Mountains to the coast of the Baltic Sea. The name Wend comes from the Celtic vindos, meaning "white". By the middle of the 6th century. The Wends were divided into two main groups: the Sklavins (Sklavs) and the Antes. As for the later self-name “Slavs,” its exact meaning is not known. There are suggestions that the term “Slavs” contains a contrast to another ethnic term - Germans, derived from the word “mute”, i.e. speaking an incomprehensible language. The Slavs were divided into three groups.
The Eastern Slavs included the Polyans, Drevlyans, Northerners, Dregovichi, Radimichi, Krivichi, Polochans, Vyatichi, Slovenians, Buzhanians, Volynians, Dulebs, Ulichs, Tivertsy, Croats.
The Western Slavs are the Pomorians, Obodrichs, Vagrs, Polabs, Smolintsy, Glinyans, Lyutichs, Velets, Ratari, Drevans, Ruyans, Lusatians, Czechs, Slovaks, Koshubs, Slovints, Moravians, Poles.
The South Slavs included Slovenians, Croats, Serbs, Zakhlumians, and Bulgarians.

The Slavs are the largest group of peoples in Europe, united by similar languages ​​and common origins. The oldest historical information about the Slavs, known as the Vends, dates back to the 1st - 3rd centuries. AD From ser. VI century the name “sklavens” appears repeatedly in the texts of Procopius, Jordanes and others. By the 2nd half. VII century are the first mentioned. about the Slavs from Arab authors. Linguistic data connects the ancient Slavs with the region of Central and Eastern Europe - in the territory from the Elbe and Oder in the west, in the Vistula basin, in the Upper Dniester region and to the Middle Dnieper region in the east. The northern neighbors of the Slavs were the Germans and Balts, who together with the Slavs constituted the northern group of Indo-European tribes. The eastern neighbors of the Slavs were Western Iranian tribes (Scythians, Sarmatians), southern Thracians and Illyrians, and Western Celts. The question of the ancestral home of the Slavs remains controversial, but most researchers believe that it is located east of the Vistula.

VENDAS, Wends, Veneti, collective name for a group of Western Slavic tribes that once (at least from 631–632) occupied a large part of the territory of modern. Germany between the Elbe and Oder. In the 7th century. The Wends invaded Thuringia and Bavaria, where they defeated the Franks under the command of Dagobert I. The raids on Germany continued until the beginning of the 10th century, when Emperor Henry I launched an offensive against the Wends, setting their acceptance of Christianity as one of the conditions for concluding peace. The conquered Vendas often rebelled, but each time they were defeated, after which more and more of their lands passed to the victors. In 1147 the church sanctioned a crusade against the Wends, which was also approved by St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The campaign was accompanied by the mass extermination of the Slavic population, and henceforth the Vendians did not offer any stubborn resistance to the German conquerors. German settlers came to the once Slavic lands, and the new cities founded began to play an important role in the economic development of northern Germany. From about 1500, the area of ​​distribution of the Slavic language was reduced almost exclusively to the Lusatian margraviates - Upper and Lower, later included in Saxony and Prussia, respectively, and adjacent territories. Here, in the area of ​​the cities of Cottbus and Bautzen, live the modern descendants of the Wends, of whom there are approx. 60,000 (mostly Catholic). In Russian literature, they are usually called Lusatians (the name of one of the tribes that were part of the Vendian group) or Lusatian Serbs, although they themselves call themselves Serbja or Serbski Lud, and their modern German name is Sorben (formerly also Wenden). Since 1991, the Foundation for Lusatian Affairs has been in charge of preserving the language and culture of this people in Germany.

The Slavs, according to many researchers, just like the Germans and Balts, were descendants of pastoral and agricultural tribes of the Corded Ware culture, who settled at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. e. from the Northern Black Sea region and the Carpathian region in Central, Northern and Eastern Europe. The Slavs are represented by archaeological cultures, among which the following were of particular importance: Trzyniec, widespread in the third quarter of the 2nd millennium BC. e. between the Vistula and the middle Dnieper; Lusatian (XIII - IV centuries BC) and Pomeranian (VI -II centuries BC) on the territory of modern Poland; in the Dnieper region - the Chernoles culture (VIII - early VI centuries BC) of the Neuroi or even Scythian plowmen - according to Herodotus. Presumably the Podgortsevo and Milograd cultures (7th century BC - 1st century AD) are associated with the Slavs. Existed from the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. in Pripyat and the Middle Dnieper region, the Zarubintsy culture is associated with the ancestors of the Eastern Slavs. It was a culture of the developed Iron Age, its carriers were farmers, cattle breeders and artisans.
In the II-IV centuries. n. uh, as a result of the movement of Germanic tribes (Goths, Gepids) to the south, the integrity of the territory of the Slavs was violated, after which the Slavs apparently divided into Western and Eastern. The bulk of the carriers of the Zarubintsy culture moved in the first centuries AD. e. to the north and northeast along the Dnieper and Desna. In the III-IV centuries. the Middle Dnieper region was inhabited by tribes that left the Chernyakhov antiquities. Some archaeologists consider them Slavs, but most consider them a multi-ethnic group that included Slavic elements. At the end of the 5th century, after the fall of the Huns, the Slavs began moving south (to the Danube, in the Northwestern Black Sea region) and their invasion of the Balkan provinces of Byzantium. The Slavic tribes were then divided into two groups: the Antes (who invaded the Balkan Peninsula through the lower reaches of the Danube) and the Sklavins (who attacked the Byzantine provinces from the north and northwest). The colonization of the Balkan Peninsula was the result not of resettlement, but of the settlement of the Slavs, who retained all their old lands in Central and Eastern Europe. In the second half of the first millennium, the Slavs occupied the Upper Dnieper region and its northern periphery, which previously belonged to the eastern Balts and Finno-Ugric tribes. Both Antes and Sklavins split into separate tribal groups already in the 7th century. In addition to the well-known Dulebs, there were probably other Slavic tribal associations listed in the Tale of Bygone Years: Polyans, Drevlyans, Northerners, Krivichi, Ulichi, Tivertsy, Croats, etc.

If we move along the East European Plain from north to south, then 15 East Slavic tribes will appear in front of us in succession:

1. Ilmen Slovenes, the center of which was Novgorod the Great, which stood on the banks of the Volkhov River, flowing out of Lake Ilmen and on whose lands there were many other cities, which is why the Scandinavians neighboring them called the possessions of the Slovenes “gardarika,” that is, “land of cities.”
These were: Ladoga and Beloozero, Staraya Russa and Pskov. The Ilmen Slovenes got their name from the name of Lake Ilmen, located in their possession and also called the Slovenian Sea. For residents remote from the real seas, the lake, 45 versts long and about 35 wide, seemed huge, which is why it had its second name - the sea.

2. Krivichi, who lived in the area between the Dnieper, Volga and Western Dvina, around Smolensk and Izborsk, Yaroslavl and Rostov the Great, Suzdal and Murom.
Their name came from the name of the founder of the tribe, Prince Krivoy, who apparently received the nickname Krivoy from a natural defect. Subsequently, a Krivichi was popularly known as a person who is insincere, deceitful, capable of deceiving his soul, from whom you will not expect the truth, but will be faced with deceit. (Moscow subsequently arose on the lands of the Krivichi, but you will read about this further.)

3. Polotsk residents settled on the Polot River, at its confluence with the Western Dvina. At the confluence of these two rivers stood main city tribe - Polotsk, or Polotsk, the name of which is also derived from the hydronym: “river along the border with Latvian tribes” - lats, lets.
To the south and southeast of Polotsk lived the Dregovichi, Radimichi, Vyatichi and Northerners.

4. The Dregovichi lived on the banks of the Pripriat River, receiving their name from the words “dregva” and “dryagovina”, meaning “swamp”. The cities of Turov and Pinsk were located here.

5. The Radimichi, who lived between the Dnieper and Sozh rivers, were called by the name of their first prince Radim, or Radimir.

6. The Vyatichi were the easternmost ancient Russian tribe, receiving their name, like the Radimichi, from the name of their ancestor - Prince Vyatko, which was an abbreviated name Vyacheslav. Old Ryazan was located in the land of the Vyatichi.

7. The northerners occupied the Desna, Seim and Suda rivers and in ancient times were the northernmost East Slavic tribe. When the Slavs settled as far as Novgorod the Great and Beloozero, they retained their former name, although its original meaning was lost. In their lands there were cities: Novgorod Seversky, Listven and Chernigov.

8. The glades that inhabited the lands around Kyiv, Vyshgorod, Rodnya, Pereyaslavl were called so from the word “field”. Cultivation of fields became their main occupation, which led to the development of agriculture, cattle breeding and animal husbandry. The Polyans went down in history as a tribe, more than others, that contributed to the development of ancient Russian statehood.
The neighbors of the glades in the south were the Rus, Tivertsy and Ulichi, in the north - the Drevlyans and in the west - the Croats, Volynians and Buzhans.

9. Rus' is the name of one, far from the largest, East Slavic tribe, which, because of its name, became the most famous in the history of mankind and in historical science, because in the disputes over its origin, scientists and publicists broke many copies and spilled rivers of ink . Many outstanding scientists - lexicographers, etymologists and historians - derive this name from the name of the Normans, Rus, almost universally accepted in the 9th-10th centuries. The Normans, known to the Eastern Slavs as the Varangians, conquered Kyiv and the surrounding lands around 882. During their conquests, which took place over 300 years - from the 8th to the 11th centuries - and covered all of Europe - from England to Sicily and from Lisbon to Kyiv - they sometimes left their name behind the conquered lands. For example, the territory conquered by the Normans in the north of the Frankish kingdom was called Normandy.
Opponents of this point of view believe that the name of the tribe came from the hydronym - the Ros River, from where the whole country later became known as Russia. And in the 11th-12th centuries, Russia began to be called the lands of Rus', glades, northerners and Radimichi, some territories inhabited by the streets and Vyatichi. Supporters of this point of view view Rus' no longer as a tribal or ethnic union, but as a political state entity.

10. The Tiverts occupied spaces along the banks of the Dniester, from its middle reaches to the mouth of the Danube and the shores of the Black Sea. The most likely origin seems to be their names from the Tivre River, as the ancient Greeks called the Dniester. Their center was the city of Cherven on the western bank of the Dniester. The Tivertsy bordered on the nomadic tribes of the Pechenegs and Cumans and, under their attacks, retreated to the north, mingling with the Croats and Volynians.

11. The streets were the southern neighbors of the Tiverts, occupying lands in the Lower Dnieper region, on the banks of the Bug and the Black Sea coast. Their main city was Peresechen. Together with the Tiverts, they retreated to the north, where they mixed with the Croats and Volynians.

12. The Drevlyans lived along the rivers Teterev, Uzh, Uborot and Sviga, in Polesie and on the right bank of the Dnieper. Their main city was Iskorosten on the Uzh River, and in addition, there were other cities - Ovruch, Gorodsk, and several others, the names of which we do not know, but traces of them remained in the form of settlements. The Drevlyans were the most hostile East Slavic tribe towards the Polans and their allies, who formed the ancient Russian state centered in Kyiv. They were determined enemies of the first Kyiv princes, they even killed one of them - Igor Svyatoslavovich, for which the prince of the Drevlyans Mal, in turn, was killed by Igor's widow, Princess Olga.
The Drevlyans lived in dense forests, getting its name from the word “tree” - tree.

13. Croats who lived around the city of Przemysl on the river. San, called themselves White Croats, in contrast to the tribe of the same name who lived in the Balkans. The name of the tribe is derived from the ancient Iranian word “shepherd, guardian of livestock,” which may indicate its main occupation - cattle breeding.

14. The Volynians were a tribal association formed on the territory where the Duleb tribe previously lived. Volynians settled on both banks of the Western Bug and in the upper reaches of Pripyat. Their main city was Cherven, and after Volyn was conquered by the Kyiv princes, a new city was erected on the Luga River in 988 - Vladimir-Volynsky, which gave the name to the Vladimir-Volynsky principality that formed around it.

15. The tribal association that arose in the habitat of the Dulebs included, in addition to the Volynians, the Buzhans, who were located on the banks of the Southern Bug. There is an opinion that the Volynians and Buzhans were one tribe, and their independent names arose only as a result of different habitats. According to written foreign sources, the Buzhans occupied 230 “cities” - most likely, these were fortified settlements, and the Volynians - 70. Be that as it may, these figures indicate that Volyn and the Bug region were populated quite densely.

As for the lands and peoples bordering the Eastern Slavs, this picture looked like this: Finno-Ugric tribes lived in the north: Cheremis, Chud Zavolochskaya, Ves, Korela, Chud; in the north-west lived the Balto-Slavic tribes: Kors, Zemigola, Zhmud, Yatvingians and Prussians; in the west - Poles and Hungarians; in the southwest - Volokhs (ancestors of Romanians and Moldovans); in the east - the Burtases, the related Mordovians and the Volga-Kama Bulgarians. Beyond these lands lay “terra incognita” - an unknown land, which the Eastern Slavs learned about only after their knowledge of the world had greatly expanded with the appearance in Rus' new religion- Christianity, and at the same time writing, which was the third sign of civilization.

Continuing the series of blogs about the elements, after the Element of Fire I move on to Water. Today I will also talk about this element, its Spirits and much more.

In the circle of Elements characteristic of the Western Tradition, after Fire (South - noon), comes the Element of Water (West - sunset).

The qualities of the Water element are: passive, feminine, receptive, supportive, subconscious, creative, fluid and generative. In a mundane physical sense, water is a liquid mixture of oxygen and hydrogen molecules. In an esoteric sense, the concept of Water includes all liquid substances. In addition, the primeval Waters, as the prototype of all matter, contain all solid bodies before they became solid and took shape. The so-called “moving body” of a person in modern psychology is translated as a symbol of the unconscious or an archetype of femininity in an individual. Water is seen as a symbol of Motherhood, the Great Mother, as well as the great, incomprehensible and mysterious source of Wisdom, which is located inside the subconscious. Briefly, Water symbolizes the infinite realm of possibilities that precedes all forms and all creatures. Water creation is limitless and immortal. Immersion in Water hints at a return to a state when the form has not yet appeared. Like the Fire Element, Water also symbolizes ideas related to transformation and regeneration.

The element of Water includes the highest forms of Love and deep emotions - compassion, faith, loyalty, devotion. Associated with Water: friendship, cooperation, all alliances based on intimacy, pretense, tight negotiations, beauty, rest, recuperation, meditation, spirituality, wounds, restoration, childhood and infancy, home, receptivity, family, swimming, diving, fishing, ancestors, medicine, hospitals, compassion, doctors, nannies, insight.

Undines– Spirits of the Elements of Water. This type of incorporeal spiritual entities consists of moist or liquid ether. Their vibration level is close to the Water Element. Therefore, Undines are able to control and manage water flows in nature. They also affect the vital fluids in plants, animals and humans. Myths describe the Undines as water nymphs, water elves, mermaids and nereids. According to tradition, they are energetic, graceful and generally supportive of people. The King of Water Spirits is called Nyxa.

This is how creatures associated with the water element are designated. They can be found where there is a natural source of water. In all the waters of the planet, rain, river, sea, etc., undines show their vigorous activity. They are mortal, but live longer than people and other Spirits. Undines are busy maintaining the human astral body and stimulating our sensitivity to nature. They affect elevated mental as well as emotional feelings. The energy of creation, birth and intuition is associated with them. In each of us, undines support bodily fluids - blood, lymph, etc. When we harm our own body, we harm them, the undines, whose position forces us to endure all this. Their own development depends on the individual. As we grow, so do they. Diseases of the blood infect them, and many modern diseases affecting the endocrine organs, such as AIDS, associate the undines with human karma and the consequences of the disease, regardless of their own desire. Water is the source of life, and these creatures play an essential role in finding that source within ourselves. They have a lot to do with discovering our gifts of empathy, healing and cleansing. Ondines are usually female, although they can also be merpeople. They help us discover our own beauty, both external and internal, and understand that true beauty is determined by what we do, and not by how we look. Undines also awaken strong emotions and creativity in us. They help us assimilate life experiences so that we can take advantage of them as fully as possible. They help us feel the fullness of life and get maximum pleasure in various areas of creative creation, be it sex, art, or the selfless implementation of the responsibilities assigned to us. Undines often work with us through our dreams. When we dream of water and sensual images, such dreams often reflect the activity of the undines, their efforts to awaken in us the desire for creativity. By collaborating with them, we strengthen our astral body, expanding our perception capabilities.

The Slavs clearly associated mermaids (Mavkas or Navkas) with water. Navka, Navya - there is a direct connection with Navya, the underground world of the Slavs.

They swim to the surface only in the evening and sleep during the day. They lure travelers with beautiful songs, and then drag them into the pool. The big holiday for mermaids is Kupala. On the night of Kupala, mermaids dance, have fun, and dance in circles together with Kupala and Kostroma, who drowned in the river. The habitat of mermaids is associated with the proximity of reservoirs, rivers, and lakes, which were considered the path to the underworld. That's why waterway mermaids came to land and lived there. Also, according to Slavic beliefs, these mermaids did not have a tail. They were often confused with sirens from ancient myths, but they can live not only in water but also in trees and mountains. They obey God Yarila and his father Veles. A mermaid is most often a drowned girl who, out of great love, threw herself into the water, and then turned into a mermaid... In Slavic mythology, mermaids are usually harmful creatures into which dead girls, mostly drowned women, and unbaptized children turn (cf. Mavka ). They appear as beautiful girls with long flowing hair. green hair(cf. South Slavic forks, Western European undines), less often - in the form of shaggy, ugly women (among northern Russians). In the mermaid week following Trinity, they come out of the water, run through the fields, swing in the trees, and can tickle those they meet to death or drag them into the water. Thursday is especially dangerous - a great day for mermaids. Therefore, during the mermaid week it was forbidden to swim, and when leaving the village, they took with them wormwood, which mermaids are supposedly afraid of. In response to the mermaids' requests to give them clothes, the women hung yarn, towels, threads on the trees, and the girls hung wreaths. All Trinity week they sang mermaid songs, on Sunday (the mermaid ritual) they expelled and “said off” the mermaids. The mermaid was usually portrayed by a girl whose hair was let down, a wreath was put on, and she was escorted off to the rye with songs. Pushing her into the rye, the guys ran away screaming, and the “mermaid” caught up. Often mermaids were depicted in the form of a stuffed animal (sometimes a dressed sheaf of rye), carried into the field and left there on the boundary or torn and scattered across the field. There are known cases of drowning of a scarecrow, accompanied by an imitation of a church funeral. In this version, the rite of seeing off the mermaid was clearly influenced by the “funeral of Kostroma.” In the southern Russian and Volga regions the ritual of “driving a mermaid” is known. The image of a mermaid is associated both with water and vegetation, combining the features of water spirits (sometimes a mermaid was represented in the retinue of a merman) and carnival characters embodying fertility, such as Kostroma, Yarila, etc., whose death guaranteed the harvest. Hence, the mermaid’s connection with the world of the dead is also likely: apparently, under the influence of Christianity, mermaids began to be identified only with harmful “hostage” dead people who died an unnatural death.

Similar characters are found among many other nations. The mermaid of Irish mythology was beautifully drawn (and described) by British artist Brian Froud - The Fideal.

Fideal wanders along the shores of lonely lakes at midnight, passionately wanting to find a lover. Her song is sad and bewitching, overwhelming the will. Her kisses are cold, her hands hold you, pull you down and drag you into the depths of cold waters. Maybe you would be happy to stay there with her forever, but she leaves. She goes back to the shore and you are forgotten. Fideal sings again in search of a new lover, and you are left lying in the cold water with unseeing eyes and algae in your mouth.

Like last time, I bring to your attention Water Meditation.

To meditate, it is best to find a quiet place on the shore of a lake, river or ocean where you can position yourself so that your toes can be submerged in the water. If you are not afraid, you can be directly in the water or in a boat. The main thing is that you feel calm and confident. Those who live in the city can use a large vessel of water for this meditation. Relax and look into the water. Touch it with your hands. Breathe evenly, slowly. Inhale through your nose and smell the water, let it fill you, touch you from the inside along with the air and leave you with the exhalation through your mouth. Feel the touch of water on your skin, stretch your hands further and extend it. Concentrate and allow thoughts to flow from your palms like drops. Now you are water, feel your own flow, how you touch the bottom, the sandy shore, the muddy bottom. Hear the roar of stones that yield to your strength and rumble, carried away by the waterfall. You now have the original movement, the primitive strength. Feel it. Let the water fill your consciousness and guide you. Let it cleanse you from sorrows, troubles, wash your soul, mind, body. When you feel that you can do this, return your consciousness back to your own body, remove your hands from the surface of the water and take a few deep breaths. Scoop up a handful of water, wash your face with it, and let it flow through your hair. Thank the water, say goodbye to it and get up. If you meditated indoors, pour the water from the vessel onto the ground (garden, flower bed, etc.)

Since ancient times, people have associated water with mystery and mysticism. The seers looked into the surface of the water to find out what was coming. Water is an element that bestows wisdom, knowledge, and communication abilities. The properties and behavior of water have not yet been fully studied. Water is known to remember information, which cannot but be useful in rituals. For example, you can simply say a couple of gentle and kind words to the water and drink it. You'll see, your mood will lift, and your soul will feel lighter. In general, rituals addressed to water are aimed at penetrating into the essence of things, learning something secret, getting answers to questions, and seeing the future. Water is also often used in love magic (various water spells, making potions).

Water has memory and, when spoken to, changes its structure. So to speak, “you enter the program” and drink it, or sit in it. And you get the result. Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto found a way to show how water changes when we convey our intention-mood to it (verbally) by photographing its frozen crystals obtained immediately after exposure using a powerful electron microscope and a camera built into it. Below are a couple of photos.

The first is the energy of Love, the second is the words “you got me.”

Whatever you do when turning to Water and its Spirits, try to follow a few rules:

First of all, relax. Water does not like fuss and tension. You can meditate a little before starting the action, or just take a couple of deep breaths.

It is best to perform the ritual outdoors near a pond. However, this is often not possible, so you can simply place a bowl of water at the ritual site.

The most suitable time for performing “water” rituals is night. Like everything secret, water loves darkness and twilight. If you want to perform the ritual during the day, choose a rainy day. If it doesn’t work out, carry out the action later in the evening.

Water loves silence. It can also be natural silence (natural natural sounds without extraneous noise). Therefore, perform the ritual in silence or with calm, slow music. - When calling on Water, if possible, turn your gaze to the west.

Finally, make an offering to Water. If you are in nature, you can lower a wreath of fresh flowers into a pond, drop wine or your own blood into it. If you are at home, you can do the same (except replace the wreath with a bouquet of flowers).

I continue to publish methods for cleansing the physical body (in relation to each of the Elements) according to Leonard Orr.

Cleansing with the element of Water:

Practice pranayama in the bath.

Take a bath twice a day.

Drink only clean water.

Learn the science of cleansing your energy body.

Achieve peace and relaxation.

Almost every resident of Western civilization (including residents of Russia) has a toilet and hot water at home; and this opens the door to physical immortality to the broad masses. For most modern people, it is not difficult to take a bath twice a day, as the immortal yogis do. I believe that the ability to take hot baths is the highest gift of modern civilization to humanity. I believe that human life expectancy has doubled in the last hundred years, largely due to the fact that indoor plumbing has made water purification such a pleasant experience. Warm water helps open and cleanse the chakras. Cold water cleanses and automatically closes the chakras. But this gift of science and technology will not benefit us unless we consciously use it. To fully understand the meaning of water cleansing, it is necessary to both take a shower and completely immerse yourself in water. The effect of breathing exercises increases if you do them in the bath. Oceans, rivers, lakes and, especially, hot springs are priceless gifts of nature. Performing breathing exercises in warm water gives a completely different effect than breathing in cold water. A simple breathing exercise in hot water, if done daily, can be a powerful act of spiritual cleansing. To get the maximum benefit, practice immersion in a bath, sea or river, both during meditation and before and after it. Being aware of your thoughts and body as you enter and exit the water allows you to notice how swimming changes your emotional and mental state. Thinking while you lie in a warm bath is the best form of meditation I know. Daily bathing cleanses your energy body, which is the basis of the physical body. To become immortal these days, you must first of all learn to take a good soak in water.

Speaking about the Element of Water, I will also mention the Slavic Tradition.

This time I will also bring the Slavic (Vendian) rune of Water.

Lelya(based on the works of A. Platov)

Keywords: Love; Water; Attraction; Lelya

The goddess of this rune - Lelya - was revered by the Slavs as the daughter of the Great Mother. Her name is associated with a very wide range of ancient roots, such as lalya (“child, girl”), cherish, and so on, right up to the Sanskrit lila - “game”. Both the young goddess Lelya herself, Yarovit’s sister, and her rune are associated with the element of water, and more specifically, living, flowing water flowing in springs and streams. In the Nordic Tradition, this is the goddess of Strength who leads, just as a stream of water leads. Under different names we meet her in European fairy tales about the sea (river) Virgin, in the tales of King Arthur, where she acts as the Guardian Virgin of the Holy Grail and the Road to it, in Slavic and many other ritual myths. In magic, the Lely rune is the rune of intuition, knowledge-beyond-mind, the Power that leads in the journey-search, as well as spring awakening and fertility, flowering and joy. In the German runic series, this rune corresponds to the Laguz rune and, partly, Vunyo.

Finally, I’ll tell you about Slavic Goddess Water - Dana.

Dana - goddess of water

Dana, in the descriptions ancient Slavic gods, represented by a fair-faced girl, she is like a river with a voice murmuring a cheerful song. She can give a drink to a tired traveler, wash the wounds of a warrior, or, rising into the sky, fall like torrential rain to the ground. Dana was honored as a kind and bright goddess who gives life to all living things. By analogy, the names of such rivers as the Dnieper (Danapris), Danube, Dvina, Dniester, Donets come from her name. The name Dana is complex, comes from DA (water) and NA (nenya), that is, “Water is Mother.” Dana originally had the name Dyva, that is, cosmic water, in Yavi - the world of people, it manifests itself to all earthly rivers and reservoirs and has a feminine principle. Dana comes into our world along with light and fire, she is young Lada. She is the embodiment of health and bodily beauty. By water Slavic traditions The gods bequeathed to people to cleanse and illuminate the Body and Soul, since the water of the source, icy, in its cold has the heat of fire, just as the fire of a home contains the coolness and freshness of water. It is her, Dana, the Sun - Dazhdbog imprisons for the winter in order to free her at Vodokres, because she is the mistress of spring thunderstorms. To wash the soil and make the harvest rich you need living water Goddesses - Danes.

Dana is the wife of Dazhdbog and his opposite, they are both children of the Great Mother Lada. Water in Slavic mythology has many manifestations and arrives during the year in four states, as well as the state of the Sun - Dazhdbog. All Slavic world celebrates the wedding of Dana and Dazhdbog on Ivan Kupala Day. The tree of Dana is the linden tree, and the day of glorification is January 6 and every Friday of the year. The goddess should be glorified near healing springs, while decorating them with ribbons and wooden images of the goddess. The Slavs always placed vessels near springs and wells so that a tired traveler could drink. The waters of the goddess not only sanctify and cleanse the body, but also wash the evergreen tree of Rod.

Gods and goddesses of the water element

SEQUANA - patron goddess of the sacred river Seine (Gaul). The water of this river purifies and eliminates incurable diseases.
Amphitrite - goddess of the sea, wife of Poseidon
Limnades - nymphs of lakes and swamps
Naiads - nymphs of springs, springs and rivers
Nereids - sea nymphs, sisters of Amphitriata
Ocean - personification of the mythological world river washing the Oikumene

Oceanids - daughters of the Ocean
Pontus - god of the inland sea
Poseidon - god of the sea
River gods - gods of rivers, sons of Ocean and Tethys
Tethys - Titanide, wife of Ocean, mother of the Oceanids
Tritons - retinue of Poseidon and Amphitrite
Triton - god, messenger of the depths
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Aztext:

Akuekukiotisiuati - goddess of the ocean, flowing water and rivers
Amymitl is the god of lakes and fishermen.
Atl is the god of water.
Atlacamani is the goddess of storms that originate in the ocean.
Atlaua - "Lord of the Waters", a powerful god of water
Coatlantonan - Goddess of earth and fire, mother of the gods and stars of the southern sky
Tlaloc - god of rain and thunder, agriculture, fire and the southern side of the world, ruler of all edible plants;

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Greek gods

Nereus is the son of Gaia and Pontus, a meek sea god.
Poseidon is one of the Olympian gods, the brother of Zeus and Hades, who rules over the sea elements.
Proteus is a sea deity, son of Poseidon, patron of seals.
Triton is the son of Poseidon, one of the sea deities, a man with a fish tail instead of legs, holding a trident and a twisted shell - a horn.

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Egyptian gods:

Hapi is the god of the Nile. He was depicted as a corpulent man with vessels in his hands from which water flows.
Slavic gods:
Dana - Goddess of water. Daughter of Pereplut. Danube's wife. In accordance with local custom, it is given the name of the river of the given region.
Danube - God of rivers and fishing. Father of mermaids, husband of Dana. Brother of Svyatogor and Svyatibor. In local customs it is given the name of the largest river.
Kupalo - God of purification, lust, love, marriage; associated with water and fire. The mask of Dazhbog. Brother of Useny, Radogoshcha, Kolyada. Spouse of the Swimsuit.
Pereplut - God of the sea, navigation. Dana's father. Mister of the watermen.
Perun - God of thunderstorms, fertility, war, patron of warriors, fire, strength, power, law, life, weapons, martial arts, patron of the harvest, giver of blessings, rain. Son of Svarog. Brother-rival of Veles. Dodola's husband. Diva's father, Kryshnya, Cityvrata
Sitivrat - God of rain, fertility. son of Dodola and Perun.
Eurynome, she once was in charge of the entire lower underwater world, caves, springs

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Mayan and Aztec Gods and Goddesses:
Camaxtli (Camaxtli) is the god of the stars, the polar star, hunting, war, clouds and fate.

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OCEANIDS AND NEREIDS

Oceanids - in ancient greek mythology[nymphs, three thousand daughters of the Titan Ocean and Tethys. Although the Oceanids varied greatly in their function and degree of importance in the mythological system, they were generally associated with the countless rivers of southern Europe and Asia Minor, like their brothers the river streams. They form the chorus in Aeschylus's tragedy "Prometheus Bound".

The most famous oceanids from myths are: Asia, Hesione, Dione, Doris, Callirhoe, Clymene, Clytia, Clonia, Lethe, Metis, Ozomene, Pleione, Perseis, the eldest of the oceanids is Styx, Tyche, Philyra, Eurynome and Electra.

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Nereids (ancient Greek: Νηρηδες) - in Greek mythology, sea deities, daughters of Nereus and the oceanids Doris.

There are 50 of them (Hesiod in “Theogony” claims that there are fifty of them, but calls fifty-one by name) or 100. They live in a grotto at the bottom of the sea.

Judging by their names, they are the personified properties and qualities of the sea element, since it does not harm a person, but is favorable to him and enchants him with its charm. They attended Thetis's wedding. They composed the chorus in Aeschylus' tragedy "The Nereids". The XXIV Orphic Hymn is dedicated to the Nereids.

The Nereids lead an idyllically calm life in the depths of the sea, having fun with the measured movements of round dances, in time with the movement of the waves; in the heat and moonlit nights they go ashore, or organize musical competitions with newts, or on the shore, together with the nymphs of the land, they dance in circles and sing songs. They were revered by coastal residents and islanders and kept the legends that were written about them. Belief in them has survived even to our time, although the Nereids of modern Greece are generally nymphs of the water element and are mixed with naiads.

The most famous of them were:

Amphitrite - wife of Poseidon;
Thetis is the leader of the Nereid choir, to whom Zeus and Poseidon wooed, but was given in marriage by Zeus to the mortal Peleus after receiving an unfavorable prediction from Prometheus;
Galatea is the beloved of Acidas, who was killed by the Cyclops Polyphemus in a fit of jealousy;
Nemertea (ancient Greek Νημρτεια - truth);
Thalia - participated in the lamentation of the Nereids along with Achilles for the dead Patroclus.

Source - I collect names on the Internet, Wikipedia mainly helps me.