Russian culture, paganism originated in ancient times. They absorbed the worldview of primitive people. From it all subsequent religions grew. And without knowledge of Russian paganism, the religion of modern Russians will be incomplete.
Trends
At the same time, beliefs have constantly changed over the years. Changes were lifestyle, the occupation of the Slavs. They differently imagined the world, but one thing in the history of paganism of Ancient Russia remained unchanged - this faith was closely connected with natural forces. It was a worship of them. Monotheistic Orthodoxy subsequently absorbed the millennia-old traditions of Russian paganism. Old gods carried over to new ones.
Saint Ilya possessed the features of Perun, and Paraskeva - the features of Mokoshi. St. Blasius reflected Veles. Russian paganism and Orthodoxy are closely interconnected. And the deities were constantly overgrown with new signs, names changed, new epithets appeared. They occupied new places in the pantheon.
Sources
The source of the secret history of Russian paganism is medieval chronicles, teachings against pagan deities, annals. There is also information gleaned from folklore, from archaeological sites. It is important to remember that the winner writes the story. And the fact that the ancient Slavs clung to the religion of their ancestors can only be guessed by how much Russian Christianity adopted from paganism. And you need to consider that many data on the ancient religion have been lost.
Thus, the renounced books were not preserved. So called magic scriptures that were brought to Russia from Byzantium and from the western territories. The same name was given to all the sheets on which the people wrote about their signs, beliefs, superstitions. It is noteworthy that the Russian people massively knew how to write, unlike the Europeans of that time. Both boys and girls from peasant families studied letters, and people actively corresponded with each other. Therefore, such valuable sheets from different layers of society were many. But there was information about these most valuable historical monuments of Russian paganism only in Christian literature, which, unlike them, was preserved. Once all pagan artifacts were banned, they were massively destroyed. And only rare instances people secretly kept for many centuries. And they surfaced among representatives of modern Russian paganism, magicians, witches. The famous renounced book is Ostrologist. These are astrological remarks, which were still used by the Russian princes from the time of paganism. The ancient Slavs considered how the stars influenced the happiness of newborns, predicted the fate of peoples, wars, and so on. “The Thunder” told about diseases and crops. And "Molnik" is a collection of predictions of lightning.
In Kolyadnik there are signs that are distributed by day. There are several more such books, but most of the stories about Russian paganism were ordered to be destroyed by the father of Peter I, Alexei Mikhailovich.
Artifacts
When the baptism of Russia took place, paganism persisted in the country in new forms. In particular, traditions were kept in the coils. They were made of metal or stone; these are medallions with subjects of the Christian religion. But on the reverse side, which was not visible to others, was a mythological symbol, usually with snakes. This is a pagan symbol, as a rule, the serpent ancestor of the Scythians or the head of the Gorgon. Production continued until the 15-16 centuries.
Modern information
So, Russian paganism is still little studied. In the first place among the ancient Slavs was the god of the Sun - Dazhdbog, Khors, Veles. There is still no exact explanation of why he had several names. Dazhdbog was considered the patron saint of heat, light. Veles was the patron saint of cattle, and the great Horse was the sunshine itself.
Perun personified a thunderstorm, terrible thunder and lightning. The wind was a Stribog. Heaven was called Svarog, it was the father of Dazhdbog, and the latter was called Svarogich. Earth was called Raw Mother Earth. So, in Russian paganism they revered Mother Earth, Dazhdbog, Veles.
At the same time, the images were not as vivid as in Greek mythology. There was no developed network of temples, a clearly defined caste of priests. It is known that open places took shape as idols where sacrifices took place. Sometimes they were human, but it was rather a rarity. At the same time, Varangian myths did not affect the development of the Slavic, even though the Varangians were associated with the Slavs. They sometimes changed their cult to Russian paganism. It is known that the Varangian prince Igor, together with his squad, swore by the Slavic Perun, worshiped him.
Pagan cult
More cult of natural forces among the Russians was developed only the cult of their ancestors. Long-dead relatives were deified, considered the patrons of the clan. The ancestor was called so - a genus or a schur. From the last word came the modern word of ancestors. Sacrifices were also made to him. The progenitor was called a woman in childbirth, she was revered in the same way as the clan. But when the family ties were destroyed, instead of schur, they began to honor brownies. It was the patron saint of the courtyard, who ran the farm.
The Slavs believed in the afterlife, and it was believed that the souls of those who had gone to another world remained on the earth and settled in the fields, forests and waters - mermaids, goblin, water. All natural phenomena were animated, the ancient Russians communicated with them. Thus pagan festivities were formed, which were directly related to the veneration of natural forces and the cult of ancestors.
For example, the ancient Russians welcomed the "turn of the sun for the summer." A special festival is a carriage, which was called “ov-senzhen” in a different way. After this festival there was a farewell of winter, a meeting of spring. They also saw off the summer season - “bathing”.
Trisinum was also common - a memory of the dead. There were holidays of "Rusal", "Rainbow" - during them the Russian pagans remembered those who had gone to another world. It is noteworthy that many of the customs adopted at that time survived paganism. So, the carriage remained at Christmas time, the farewell of winter - at Shrovetide, and the rainbow — at Holy and Fomin's weeks. Rusalis are usually celebrated on Midsummer Day.
The change of paganism
It is noteworthy that eight years before the adoption of Christianity, Prince Vladimir himself at the state level established several important deities. The annals preserved information about the human sacrifices of that era.
Cult traces
Mother Earth, as the pagans believed, gave its life and took it. In the Slavic cult, she was represented in the form of a woman, and everything green was her hair, the roots were veins, the rocks were bones. And the rivers were blood. When they swore by her name, they ate a handful of earth. And if a person violates it - it was like death. It was believed that Mother Earth would not carry the one who had betrayed the oath. And this belief remained in the phrase: "So that I fall through the ground."
The requirement for her was grain. The family was revered, and the most famous women in labor were Lada with her daughter Lelei. Lada is the protector of family, love, fertility. Lado in ancient legends meant a beloved friend, lover. The female form of the same word is a lover, bride, wife.
Lelya was considered the patroness of spring sprouts and flowers. She was the goddess of girlish love. Female representatives gathered flowers with berries. Customs associated with fertility were carried out with naked bodies.
Customs
So, information about such an ancient pagan custom of Russians has been preserved. The hostess lay in the field, pretending to give birth. Between her legs was a loaf. The Russians conjured during Holy Week so that the bread would be more productive. The owner shook the plow, as if plowing. And the naked housewife collected cockroaches, and then, turning them into a rag, carried them to the street.
There was a slander on cattle. And also in the Vyatka region, the mistress ran naked with an old pot into the garden and knocked over to the stake. So he was left for the whole summer. It was believed that the pot would protect the poultry from predators. The ritual was done strictly before the sun rose.
And in Kostroma, even in the 18th century, the following pagan custom was held. The naked housewife, sitting on the handle of a broom, three times went around the house, like a witch.
Yarilo
Yarilo was a cheerful deity of fertility. He patronized love, the advent of children. "Yar" translates as "power." It was a young man in white. Sometimes he was portrayed with his wife, who was also dressed in white. She had a human head in her right hand and ears of corn in her left. This symbolized life and death.
Yarilo always had a wreath of flowers on her head. His day was April 27th. That day, a woman mounted a white horse and walked around a tall tree. After that, the horse was tied and a round dance started. So we met spring. In addition, there was the second holiday of Yarilo, celebrated it in the summertime during the Peter Lent. Then he was depicted as a young man in white, he was with ribbons, flowers. This was the head of the festival, which was accompanied by refreshments and festivities.
It was believed that this deity awakened plants, youthful strength and courage in people.
Honoring Veles
Veles was a deity and patron of animals, as well as the underworld. Veles' winged serpent was considered the deity of forest animals. In his honor a fire was kindled that did not die out. Gathering bread, the pagans left Veles with ears of corn. In order for the cattle to be healthy and prolific, a white lamb was sacrificed.
It was a god to whom human sacrifices were made. Information about this has been preserved in the oldest records of Russian pagans. The victim - animal or human - was killed, and then burned. And if this fire at Veles went out, the sorcerer was removed from the Keremeti, while electing a new priest by lot. The sorcerer, who did not follow, was slaughtered, burning the corpse in sacred fire. It was believed that only such a procedure amused this formidable god.
The fire was extracted by rubbing a tree against a tree - only in this way was the extracted spark considered "live". And when Russia was baptized, instead of Veles, Blasius appeared. And on the day of this saint, the Russians brought treats to domestic animals, watered them with baptismal water. If diseases appeared in domestic animals, people created a furrow around the village and walked in a circle with the icon of Blasius.
