News from chronicles, archaeological finds, and records make it possible to literally recreate, bit by bit, a complex and original religious system Eastern Slavs.

The ideas of the pagan Slavs about the earthly structure were very complex and confusing. Slavic scholars write that it seemed to them like a large egg; in the mythology of some neighboring and related peoples, this egg was laid by a “cosmic bird.” The Slavs have preserved echoes of the legends about the Great Mother, the parent of Earth and Sky, the foremother of Gods and people. Her name was Zhiva, or Zhivana. But not much is known about her, because, according to legend, she retired after the birth of Earth and Heaven.

In the middle of the Slavic Universe, like a yolk, is the Earth itself. The upper part of the “Yolk” is our living world, the world of people. The lower “underside” side is the Lower World, World of the Dead, Night Country. When it's day there, it's night here. To get there, you need to cross the Ocean-Sea that surrounds the Earth. Or dig a well right through, and the stone will fall into this well for twelve days and nights. Surprisingly, whether it is an accident or not, the ancient Slavs had an idea about the shape of the Earth and the cycle of day and night.

Around the Earth, like egg yolks and shells, there are nine heavens (nine - three times three - a sacred number among the most different nations). This is why we still say not only “heaven” but also “heaven”. Each of the nine heavens Slavic mythology has its own purpose: one for the Sun and stars, another for the Moon, another for clouds and winds. Our ancestors considered the seventh to be the “firmament,” the transparent bottom of the heavenly Ocean. There are stored reserves of living water, an inexhaustible source of rain. Let us remember how they say about a heavy downpour: “the abysses of heaven opened up.” After all, the “abyss” is the abyss of the sea, the expanse of water. We still remember a lot, we just don’t know where this memory comes from or what it relates to.

The Slavs believed that you can get to any sky by climbing the World Tree, which connects the Lower World, the Earth and all nine heavens. According to the ancient Slavs, the World Tree looks like a huge spreading oak tree. However, on this oak tree the seeds of all trees and herbs ripen. This tree was very important element ancient Slavic mythology - it connected all three levels of the world, extended its branches to the four cardinal directions and with its “state” symbolized the mood of people and Gods in various rituals: green Tree meant prosperity and a good share, and dried symbolized despondency and was used in rituals where evil Gods participated.

And where the top of the World Tree rises above the seventh heaven, in the “heavenly abyss” there is an island. This island was called “irium” or “virium”. Some scientists believe that the current word “paradise”, which is so strongly associated in our life with Christianity, comes from it. Iriy was also called Buyan Island. This island is known to us from numerous fairy tales. And on that island live the ancestors of all birds and animals: “elder wolf”, “elder deer”, etc.

The Slavs believed that migratory birds fly to the heavenly island in the fall. The souls of animals caught by hunters ascend there and answer to the “elders” - they tell how people treated them.
Accordingly, the hunter had to thank the animal for allowing him to take his skin and meat, and in no case mock him. Then the “elders” will soon release the beast back to Earth, allow it to be born again, so that fish and game will not be transferred. If a person is guilty, there will be no trouble... (As we see, the pagans did not at all consider themselves “kings” of nature, who were allowed to plunder it as they pleased. They lived in nature and together with nature and understood that every living creature has no less right for life than a person.)

Levels of Slavic mythology

Slavic mythology had three levels: highest, middle and lowest.

At the highest level were the Gods, whose “functions” were most important for the Slavs and who participated in the most widespread tales and myths. These are Svarog (Stribog, Sky), Earth, Svarozhichi (children of Svarog and Earth - Perun, Dazhdbog and Fire).

The middle level could include deities associated with economic cycles and seasonal rituals, as well as gods who embodied the integrity of closed small groups: Rod, Chur among the Eastern Slavs, etc. It is possible that most of the female deities belonged to this level, revealing close ties with the collective, sometimes less human-like than the gods of the highest level.

At the lowest level were various highly specialized beings, less human-like than the Gods highest level. These included brownies, goblins, mermaids, ghouls, banniki (baenniks), etc.

The common Slavic word “God” was probably associated with the designation of share, luck, happiness: one can compare the words “rich” (having God, share) and “poor” (opposite meaning), in the Ukrainian language - nebogo, neboga - unfortunate, beggar. The word “God” was included in the names of various deities - Dazhdbog, Chernobog and others. Slavic data and evidence from 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.

For clarity, you can depict a diagram of the levels of the Slavic Gods:

Supreme Gods of the Slavs

Mother Earth and Father Sky

The ancient Slavs considered the Earth and the Sky to be two living beings, moreover, a married couple, whose love gave birth to all living things. The God of Heaven, the Father of all things, is called Svarog. This name goes back to an ancient word meaning “sky”, as well as “something shining, brilliant.” Scientists note that another name for Heaven was Stribog - translated into modern language as “Father-God”. Legend tells that Svarog once gave people blacksmith's pliers, taught them how to smelt copper and iron, and before, according to the Slavs - and this is very similar to modern ideas - the Stone Age reigned on Earth, people used clubs and stones. In addition, Svarog established the very first laws, in particular, he ordered each man to have only one wife, and a woman to have one husband. In “The Tale of Igor’s Host” - a famous monument of literature created at the end of the 12th century - among the richest pagan symbolism one can find the allegorical name of the winds: “Stribozh’s grandchildren”. This means that the winds were considered the grandchildren of Heaven.

We still call the Earth Mother, and this is difficult to dispute. But people don’t always treat her as respectful children should.

The pagans treated her with the greatest love, and all the legends say that the Earth paid them the same. In one of the epics, the hero is warned not to fight with such and such a hero, because he is invincible - “Mother Earth loves him”...

On the tenth of May they celebrated the “name day of the Earth”: on this day it could not be disturbed - plowing, digging. The earth witnessed the solemn oaths; at the same time they touched it with the palm of their hand, sometimes they took out a piece of turf and placed it on their head, mystically making a lie impossible. It was believed that the Earth would not carry a liar.

Some scientists believe that the Goddess of the Earth was called Makosh (however, others, no less authoritative, argue fiercely with them.) You can try to carefully select the word according to its composition. "Ma-" means mother, mother. What does “cat” mean?

Let's remember the words “WALLET”, where wealth is stored, “Koshery”, where living wealth - sheep - is driven. “KOSH” is the name given to the leader of the Cossacks; “KOSH” was also used to describe lot, fate, and happiness. And also a box, a large basket, where they put the harvested crop - the fruits of the earth, but it was this that constituted the wealth, fate and happiness of the ancient man. So it turns out: Earth - Makosh - Universal Mother, Mistress of Life, Giver of the Harvest.

Dazhdbog Svarozhich

The ancient Slavs considered the Sun, Lightning and Fire - two heavenly Flames and one earthly - to be siblings, the sons of Heaven and Earth. The Sun God is called Dazhdbog (or, in another pronunciation, Dazhbog). His name does not come from the word “rain,” as is sometimes mistakenly thought. “Dazhdbog” means “the giving God,” “the giver of all good things.” The Slavs believed that Dazhdbog rode across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white golden-maned horses with golden wings. And sunlight comes from the fiery shield that Dazhdbog carries with him. At night, Dazhdbog crosses the lower sky from west to east, shining on the Lower World.

Twice a day (morning and evening) he crosses the Ocean on a boat drawn by waterfowl - geese, ducks, swans. Therefore, our ancestors attributed special power amulets (this word comes from the verb “to protect”, “to protect” and means an amulet, a talisman) in the form of a duck with a horse’s head. They believed that the Sun God would help them wherever he was - in the Day World or in the Night World, and even on the road from one to the other. In “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” Russian people are called “Dazhbozh’s grandchildren” - the grandchildren of the Sun. Although it tells about events that took place almost two hundred years after the official adoption of Christianity. This shows that the influence of paganism persisted for a very long time even in the conditions of Christianity, and some elements of paganism entered deeply into Russian Orthodoxy.

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 festival of the summer solstice (now known as Midsummer), their marriage was solemnly celebrated.

The Slavs considered the Sun all-seeing eye, which strictly monitors the morality of people and the fair observance of laws. It is not for nothing that at all times criminals waited for the onset of night, hiding from justice - not only earthly, but also heavenly, and the eclipse in the same “The Word and Igor’s Campaign” is taken as a terrible sign. And since time immemorial, the sacred sign of the Sun has been... the Cross! It is not difficult to see if you squint at the Sun. Isn't that why christian cross, so similar to the ancient pagan symbol, and has taken root so well in Rus'? Sometimes the Solar Cross was circled, and sometimes it was drawn rolling, like the wheel of a solar chariot. This rolling cross is called a swastika. It was turned in one direction or the other, depending on which Sun they wanted to depict - “day” or “night”. By the way, not only in Slavic legends do sorcerers, when casting their spells, walk “salt” (that is, on the Sun) or “anti-salt”, depending on whether their magic is good or evil.

Unfortunately, the swastika was used in fascist symbols and is now disgusted by most people as a fascist sign. However, in ancient times it was highly revered and was widespread from India to Ireland. It is often found on ancient Russian jewelry found by archaeologists. It can even be seen in the ornaments and patterns on clothes in the Ryazan Museum of Local Lore. As for the “fascist sign,” it is not difficult to see that it depicts the “night” Sun, rolling along the inner side of the lower sky. Thus, the real object of “worship” of fascist mystics is not the Sun, but rather its absence - the darkness of the night.

The interpretation of the swastika in the Buddhist tradition is interesting. It is called "manji" and is considered a symbol of perfection. The vertical line indicates the relationship between Heaven and Earth, the horizontal line indicates the struggle between the eternal opposites Yin and Yang, the essence of which we will not consider here. As for the transverse strokes, if they are directed to the left, then, from the point of view of Buddhists, this personifies movement, gentleness, compassion, goodness; to the right - firmness, constancy, intelligence and strength. Thus, the two types of manji complement each other: love and compassion are helpless without strength and firmness, and soulless intellect and strength without mercy lead only to the increase of evil. In general, “good must be with fists,” but it is Good.

Perun Svarozhich

Perun is the Slavic God of Thunder, the God of thunder and lightning. The Slavs imagined him as a middle-aged, angry husband with a red-gold, swirling beard. Let us immediately note that a red beard is an indispensable feature of the God of Thunder among a variety of peoples. In particular, the Scandinavians, neighbors and relatives of the Slavs in the Indo-European family of peoples, considered their Thunderer (Thor) to be red-bearded. The hair of the Thunder God was likened to a thundercloud. Scandinavian legends note that an angry Thor "shaked his hair." It is not definitely said what color Thor’s hair was, but the Slavic Perun’s hair is really like a thundercloud - black and silver. It is not for nothing that the statue of Perun, which once stood in Kyiv, is described in the chronicle as follows: “The head is silver, the mustache is gold.” The Slavs saw their God rushing among the clouds on horseback or in a chariot drawn by winged stallions, white and black. By the way, the magpie was one of the birds dedicated to Perun, precisely because of its black and white color.

The name Perun is very ancient. Translated into modern language, it means “He who hits hard”, “Striking”. Some scholars see a connection between the name of the Thunder God and words such as “first” and “right”. As for the “first”, Perun really was the most important God in the pagan pantheon of Kievan Rus and, probably, the eldest son of Svarog. The similarity of his name with the “right” is not without meaning: our ancestors considered Perun the founder of the moral law and the very first defender of Truth.

Perun’s chariot rushing desperately thunders across the uneven clouds - that’s where the thunder comes from, that’s why it “rolls” across the heavens. However, there were different opinions on this matter. They also said that thunder and lightning are the echo and reflection of the blows with which Perun rewards the Serpent Veles, who seeks to rob the Gods and people - to steal the Sun, cattle, earthly and heavenly waters. And in distant antiquity, it was believed that thunder was actually a “cry of love” at the wedding celebration of Heaven and Earth: it is known how well everything grows after a thunderstorm... According to some sources, Perun’s lightning was of two kinds: lilac-blue, “ dead”, striking to death, and golden, “living”, creating, awakening earthly fertility and new life.

It has long been noticed how clean and fresh the air is after a thunderstorm. The pagan Slavs found an explanation for this too. The whole point, they said, is that devilry he runs away in fear before Perun's wrath, hides in holes and does not dare to appear outside for a long time.

Perun, largely “responsible” for fertility, has special treatment to bread. A legend has been preserved about how a certain woman went to the field to work on the holiday of Perun (July 20), which, according to custom, was impossible to do. The angry Perun initially restrained his anger. But when the child, left at the boundary, soiled his diapers and the mother wiped him with a bunch of ears of grain (according to another version, a piece of baked bread was desecrated), a whirlwind arose and carried away the entire harvest into the cloud. They still managed to grind some of it back, but the bread never became “hundred-eared” (hundred ears on each stalk) again...

The legend about the origin of pearls is also connected with heavenly thunder. The Slavs believed that it originates from the reflection of lightning captured in the eyes of a pearl mollusk at the moment when it fearfully slams its shell shut at the sight of a thunderstorm...

Perun's weapons were initially stones, later - stone axes and finally - a golden ax: The gods “progressed” together with people.

Since ancient times, the ax - the weapon of the Thunderer - has been attributed miraculous power. An ax was used to hit the bench on which someone had died: it was believed that by doing so Death would be “cut down” and expelled. The ax was thrown crosswise over the cattle so that they would not get sick and would reproduce well.

With an ax they drew the Solar Cross over the sick person, calling on two brothers-Gods for help at once. And symbolic images of the Sun and Thunder were often engraved on the blades of axes. Such an ax, planted in a doorframe, was an insurmountable obstacle to evil spirits seeking to penetrate human habitation. There are countless customs and beliefs associated with the axe.
Even the well-known chicken god", a pebble with a hole in the middle, which caring owners are now trying to hang in the chicken coop, is nothing more than a memory of an ancient stone axe, one of the symbols of the pagan God of the Storm...

Another symbol of Perun is the so-called thunder sign, similar to a wheel with six spokes. Scientists believe that ancient people used the shape of a snowflake here, because Perun’s sanctuaries were built as close as possible to the clouds and the Sky - on the most elevated places where snow appears first. This sign can still be seen on the old huts. It was cut both for beauty and for purely “practical” reasons - as a lightning rod...

When the Slavs had princes and fighting squads, Perun began to be considered the patron saint of warriors. Therefore, some researchers now write that Perun is an exclusively “army-princely” God, not at all popular among the common people. It is unlikely that this was really the case! After all, a thunderstorm is not only a heavenly battle, it is also necessary for a plowman waiting for the harvest. And Perun’s main feat was precisely that he returned fertility to the Earth, returned the Sun and rain.

An animal was dedicated to Perun - a wild aurochs, a huge, mighty forest bull. Unfortunately, in wildlife the last tour was killed back in 1627 and only the domesticated descendants of the tours - domestic bulls and cows - have survived to this day. The tour was much more aggressive than the angriest domestic bull. Predatory animals were powerless against him, and among people, hunting aurochs was considered a feat.

People believed that Perun, walking around the world, willingly takes the form of a forest bull. And on July 20 (on the holiday of Perun), the turs allegedly ran out of the forest themselves and allowed themselves to be slaughtered for a sacred feast. Later, when people angered the Gods with something, the tours stopped appearing, and sacrificial bulls were specially fattened in the villages. This tradition was strictly observed in many places even in the last century. Only now a pagan feast was held near the church, and a Christian priest blessed it.

Perun also had his own tree - an oak tree, and he also had a favorite flower, which in Bulgaria is still called “perunika”. It has six lilac-blue petals (thunder sign), overgrown with golden hairs (lightning). It blooms in the spring, when the first thunderstorms thunder. This iris flower is Greek for "rainbow".

The sanctuaries of Perun were built under open air. They were shaped like a flower; in those sanctuaries that have been excavated by archaeologists, there are usually eight “petals”, but in ancient times, according to scientists, there were six.
The “petals” were pits in which unquenchable sacred fires burned. A sculptural image of God was placed in the middle. It is sometimes said that the ancient Slavs believed in idols. But this is the same as saying that Christians believe in icons. An altar was placed in front of the image of God, usually in the form of a stone ring. Offerings were placed there, sacrificial blood was shed: most often - animal, and if the people were threatened with serious misfortune - then human. Life has always been considered a sacred gift of the Gods: human sacrifice was an extraordinary, exceptional act. And we must also take into account that, according to the plots of some films and works of art, the person designated as a sacrifice did not necessarily burst into bitter tears and try to escape. The sacrifices were also voluntary: a person went to the Gods to tell them about the needs of his people, to ask for help, to avert trouble - as we would put it now, he “closed the embrasure,” that is, he performed a revered feat...

After the adoption of Christianity, Perun was not forgotten. Only a few customs that have survived to this day are mentioned here; in fact there are a great many of them. When Orthodox Church forbade praying to the former Gods, and the sanctuaries were destroyed with the same unnecessary cruelty with which churches were destroyed almost a thousand years later by militant atheists. However, scientists say that Christianity not only “smashed” paganism, but also tried to peacefully coexist with it, subordinating it to its hierarchy of values. It is no coincidence that particularly acute conflicts rarely occurred, because over time a kind of symbiosis arose. In particular, having been baptized, yesterday's pagans continued to honor the old Gods, only under new names. So Perun “transferred” many of his qualities to Ilya the Prophet, one of the most revered Christian saints. Another “heir” of the Thunder God is Saint George, the serpent fighter, whom we still see on the coat of arms of Moscow today.

Fire Svarozhich

The third brother of the Sun and Lightning, the third son of Heaven and Earth was Fire. We are still talking about the “fire of the hearth” - although most houses do not have fireplaces, but gas or electric stoves. In ancient times, Fire was truly the center of the world in which a person’s entire life took place, and even after death, a funeral pyre often awaited his body. In ancient times, Fire drove away darkness, cold and predatory animals. Later, he gathered around himself several generations of the clan - a large family, symbolizing its indivisible community.

During the meal, Fire was treated to the first and best piece. Any wanderer, a complete stranger, became “one of our own” as soon as he warmed himself by the fireplace. He was protected as if he were his own. Evil spirits did not dare to approach Fire, but Fire was able to cleanse anything defiled. Fire was a witness to vows, and this is where the custom of jumping in pairs over fires comes from: it was believed that if a guy and a girl were able to fly over the flames without releasing their hands, then their love was destined to live a long life.

What was the name of the God of Fire? Some scientists believe that the Western Slavs who lived along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea called it Radogost (Radigost). These researchers have serious evidence, and their no less authoritative rivals have refutations, so the final word has not yet been said. , the name of the God of Fire was so sacred (after all, this God did not live somewhere in the seventh heaven, but directly among people) that they tried to pronounce it out loud less often, replacing it with allegories. And over time, it was simply forgotten... This happened in the same way as the real name of the bear was forgotten: people tried to call strong and dangerous animals allegorically (in relation to a bear - “clubfooted”, “brown”). So the word “bear” means “knowing honey” - “loving honey.” Its real name is apparently lost forever.

But a great many signs and beliefs associated with Fire have not been forgotten. In the presence of Fire, it was considered unthinkable to swear: “I would tell you... but you can’t: there’s a stove in the hut!”

A Russian matchmaker, who came to woo the bride, would certainly stretch out her hands to the stove, warming her palms, no matter what time of year this happened: thereby she called upon Fire to be her ally and enlisted its support. The young husband solemnly led the newlywed three times around the hearth. And if at the moment of the birth of a child the Fire unexpectedly died out, then this was seen as a sure sign of the birth of a future villain. And here, finally, is why they break a plate in front of the newlyweds (“For good luck”), and before they broke a pot that had just been in the Fire: “How many pieces, so many sons!” Now most often they do not remember the meaning of this action.

A special sacred power was attributed to Fire, obtained in the most primitive way - friction. Why did everything ancient enjoy such honor, and still do today? The fact is that all the most ancient customs, techniques and tricks were believed to have been learned directly from the Gods by the forefathers and foremothers of living people. Let's remember the blacksmith's tongs and the plow, “fell from heaven,” or the “first” laws! Accordingly, all subsequent technical and social progress was partly a distortion of the ancestral “divine” wisdom, higher than which, in the opinion of ancient people, nothing could be.

So, Fire produced by friction was considered “pure”, not in contact with any defilement. The coming of the new year was celebrated every time by lighting such a fire. At the same time, it was believed that all the sins of the past remain in the past year along with the extinguished old Fire: thus, every year the world is given a chance to be reborn, to become kinder and better. Let us note in passing that the beginning of the new year in Rus' was postponed several times, it was celebrated either in March or in September, but scientists still recognize it as one of the oldest New Year, celebrated during the winter solstice, December 22-23.

The pagan Slavs also associated the emergence of people with Fire. According to some legends, the Gods created a Man and a Woman from two sticks, between which a Fire was ignited - the very first flame of love... According to another legend, Perun and Fire competed in accuracy, and at the moment when the flame and lightning struck the same point. unexpectedly for the Gods themselves, the first people appeared.

And this is not all that can be said about Fire. There are a great many striking examples of modern traditions that have come to us from ancient times. Where, for example, did our “cheesecake” come from? This is from the Ancient word “vatra”, that is, “hearth”.

Other Gods of the ancient Slavs

Rod and Rozhanitsy

It has already been said that the light irium was considered by the ancient Slavs to be the source of all life, the ancestral home of plants, birds and animals. There were gods, especially
“responsible” for the prosperity and offspring of all living things in nature, as well as for the multiplication of the human race, for marriage and love between people. These are Rod and Rozhanitsy, mentioned in ancient Russian literature.

Scientists have long argued about how important the role the Slavs assigned to God named Rod. Some argue that this is a small “family” Deity like the Brownie. Others, on the contrary, consider Rod one of the most important, supreme Gods who took part in the creation of the Universe: according to the beliefs of the ancient Slavs, it is he who sends the souls of people from heaven to Earth when children are born. In addition, researchers suggest paying attention to how much the most important words comes from the root "genus" consonant with the name of this God: KIN, HARVEST, HOMELAND, NATURE.

They usually talk about the Mother Goddesses in plural. Ancient manuscripts speak briefly about them, only mentioning bread, honey and “cheese” (previously this word meant cottage cheese), which were sacrificed to them. However, the manuscripts were compiled by Orthodox figures, so it is difficult to find detailed and accurate descriptions in them. However, modern scientists, having processed a large amount of archaeological, ethnographic, linguistic material, turning to information relating to neighboring peoples, came to the conclusion that there were two Rozhanits: Mother and Daughter.

The Slavs associated the Mother in Birth with the period of summer fertility, when the harvest ripens, becomes heavier, and becomes full. The ancient Slavs gave her the name Lada, and perhaps no fewer words and concepts are associated with it than with Rod. All of them have to do with establishing order: “GET GOOD,” “ESTABLISH,” etc.
The order in this case was thought to be primarily family: “LADA”, “LADO” - an affectionate address to a beloved spouse, husband or wife. "LADINS" - wedding conspiracy. Bulgarian “LADUVANE” - fortune telling about grooms. But the scope of activity

Lada is by no means limited to the home. Some researchers recognize the Great Lada as the mother of the twelve months into which the year is divided.

The ancient Slavs had a Goddess named Lelya - the daughter of Lada, the younger Rozhanitsa. Let’s think about it: it’s not for nothing that a child’s cradle is often called a “cradle”; a tender, caring attitude towards a child is conveyed by the word “cherish.” A stork that supposedly brings children is called “leleka” in Ukrainian. The Slavs believed that it was Lelya who took care of the barely hatched seedlings - the future harvest. Lelya-Vesna was solemnly “called out” - they invited her to visit, they went out to meet her with gifts and refreshments.

The holiday of Rozhanitsa was celebrated in the spring - April 22-23. On this day, sacrifices were made with vegetable and dairy products, which were solemnly eaten at a sacred feast, and then at night bonfires were lit: huge, in honor

Lada, and around it there are twelve smaller ones - according to the number of months of the year. According to tradition, it was a women's and girls' holiday, and men watched it from afar.

Yarila

Often, unfortunately, Yarila is mistakenly considered the God of the Sun. Among the ancient Slavs, Yarila had a different role. What do we mean by the word "rage"? In Russian language dictionaries you can find: “fury; a mash of blind, spontaneous, often senseless force.” And there are many more related words, and they all talk about strong emotions uncontrollable by reason. This side of love, which poets call “ebullient passion,” was “under the control” of the Slavic God Yarila. Even in the last century, in some places in Russia they celebrated the holiday “Yarilki”, timed to coincide with April 27, the very peak of the spring riot of nature.
It was believed that this love increases the harvest, which meant so much to the ancient farmer. After all, as we remember, the pagans did not oppose themselves to nature and did not reject its laws.

Yarila was imagined as a young man, an ardent, loving groom. In some places, wanting to emphasize his youth and beauty, they dressed up a girl as “Yarila”. They put her on a white horse, put on a wreath of wild flowers, and gave her left hand ears of corn, and on the right... a symbol of death - an image of a human head. The horse and “Yarila” were led through the fields, saying: “Wherever you step, there is a heap of life, and wherever you look, an ear of corn blooms!”

According to another version, Yarila appeared before people in the spring as a boy on a young stallion, in the summer as an adult man on a strong horse, and in the fall as an old man on an old horse. The ears symbolized life, and the image of the head is possibly due to the fact that he, like Egyptian Osiris, died and was reborn every year. The holiday was also dedicated to the farewell and “funeral” of the bald, aged Yarila. People knew: winter would pass and Yarila would return and rise.
Just as a grain buried in the ground is resurrected as a stalk, an ear, and ultimately a new grain. It is no coincidence that grain crops that are sown in the spring (as opposed to winter crops) are called “spring”...

Snake Veles

Scientists write that a fairy tale is a myth that has ceased to be sacred for those who tell and listen to it. This is a myth that is no longer widely believed. (By the way, in Ancient Rus' the word “fairy tale” meant a reliable story, more often a written one. And what we now call a fairy tale was then designated by the word “fable.” From him came the modern “fable” and the expression “fabulous” - embellished, fantastic, legendary.

So, there are many fairy tales about the Serpent Gorynych, who kidnaps (or is given as tribute to) beautiful girls and with whom heroes and heroes fight - from the epic Dobrynya Nikitich to Ivanushka the Fool. But this is also an echo of an ancient pagan myth that has survived to this day.
The myth about the struggle of the thunderer Perun with his eternal enemy - the monstrous Serpent. Similar legends exist among many nations.

In Slavic pagan mythology the “bestial God” Volos (or Veles) is known, clearly contrasted with Perun. His connection with the “cattle” (that is, animal) kingdom follows from his name: Hair - hairy - shaggy - shaggy. It is possible that the word “magician” comes from the name of this God and from the custom of his priests to dress in “shaggy” fur coats turned outward to imitate their Deity. Meanwhile, the name “Hair” just as definitely takes us into the world of snakes and worms. Anyone who has ever been to a village in the summer has probably heard chilling stories about “living hair” that lives in a river near the shore and can bite and be sucked under the skin. There is also a belief that the hair is animal or human, especially from bad person, - dropped into water or entangled in an egg, comes to life and begins to do evil deeds. In general, hair was considered an important receptacle of vitality. And there will be no trouble if the cut and discarded hair is picked up by an unkind sorcerer... This legend could have appeared from the legend of the forge Kiya, who was able to forge a person’s fate with the help of a hair.

In a word, many good reasons force some scientists to identify Volos with the legendary Serpent - the enemy of the Thunder God.
Let's listen to their story.

According to legend, the Hair Serpent somehow combines hairiness and scales in its appearance, flies on membranous wings, can breathe fire (although he is deathly afraid of fire, especially lightning) and loves scrambled eggs and milk. Therefore, another name for Volos is Smok or Tsmok, which means Sucker. Here it is appropriate to recall Smaug, the evil dragon from J. R. R. Tolkien’s fairy tale “The Hobbit”. This name was not chosen by the writer by chance!

But if you carefully re-read folk legends and fairy tales, it turns out that the Serpent in them is not so much evil as unreasonable and greedy. It is easy to see that the appearance of the Serpent is “composed” by the human imagination from parts taken from different animals. Perhaps it embodies the forces of primeval Chaos, the violent forces of a disorderly, wild, uninhabited nature, often hostile ancient man, but in essence not at all evil?..

The pagan Slavs worshiped both divine opponents - Perun and the Serpent. Only the sanctuaries of Perun were built, as already mentioned, in high places, and the sanctuaries of Volos - in the lowlands. There is reason to think that Volos, tamed and driven underground, became “responsible” for earthly fertility and wealth. He partly lost his monstrous appearance and became more human-like. It’s not for nothing that the last bunch of ears of corn was left in the “Beard Hair” field. In addition, there is a connection

Volos-Veles with music and poetry, it is not without reason that in “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” singer Boyan is called “Veles’ grandson”...

In 1848, a stone idol was found in the Zbruch River, clearly reflecting the division of the pagan Universe into the World of the Gods, the World of People and the Lower World. So, the Human World is supported from below by a kneeling mustachioed humanoid creature. He looks unhappy. Of course, there are no explanatory inscriptions on the ancient idol, but scientists believe that this is Veles, who settled in the depths of the Earth...

Dark Gods

The life of ancient man was not always easy. Difficulties forced us to look for the culprits; they appeared in the form of evil Gods. Among the Western Slavs, Chernobog was such an embodiment of evil: this name truly speaks for itself. It is known that his sculptures were black, with a silver mustache. Whether the Eastern Slavs (the ancestors of Belarusians, Ukrainians and Russians) believed in him or not cannot be said with certainty. Perhaps they believed, it is unlikely that they had less reasons for this than their Western brothers.

But the evil Goddess named Morana (Morena, Marana) was definitely known both in the West and in the Slavic East. She is associated with darkness, frost and death. Indeed, her name is related to such words as “pestilence”, “darkness”, “haze”, “haze”, “fool”, “death” and many more equally unkind ones. From India to Iceland, mythical characters are known who cause all sorts of evil: the Buddhist Mara, who tempted righteous hermits, the Scandinavian “Mara” - evil spirit, capable of tormenting a sleeping person, “trampling” him to death, Morrigan, Goddess of the ancient Irish, associated with destruction and war; finally, the French word for “nightmare.” You can also remember Morgana, Morgause and Mordred from the epic about King Arthur and his knights.

Echoes of the legends about Moran can be traced in the epics about Dobrynya and “Marinka”, who tries in every possible way to destroy the hero, in particular, turns him with her witchcraft into a tour - golden horns. The same epics tell about the unholy connection of “Marinka” with the Serpent. There is reason to see the ancient Morana in the Bulgarian legend about the “evil woman” who “killed many people” and threw a dirty veil over the silver Moon: from then on it became covered with dark spots and, frightened, began to walk above the Earth much higher than before (between By the way, astronomers write about secular changes in the orbit of the Moon...). Other legends tell how Morana and her evil minions try every morning to stalk and destroy the Sun, but each time they retreat in horror before its radiant power and beauty. Finally, the straw effigy, which is still burned in some places today during the ancient pagan Maslenitsa holiday, at the time of the spring equinox, undoubtedly belongs to Morana, the Goddess of death and cold. Every winter she briefly takes power, but she is not allowed to establish herself forever: again and again the Sun, Life and Spring triumph...

Low level gods and spirits

Among the many small deities, it should be noted Dvorovoy (the owner of the courtyard), who was already slightly less benevolent than Domovoy; Ovinnik (the owner of the barn) - even less so, and Bannik, the spirit of the bathhouse, which stood at the very edge of the yard, and even beyond it, is simply dangerous. For this reason, believers considered the bathhouse - a symbol of seemingly purity - unclean. Sometimes he is represented as a tiny old man with a long, moldy beard. Fainting and accidents in the bathhouse are attributed to his evil will. To pacify Bannik, the Slavs left him in the bathhouse clean water, a broom and food, otherwise the bannik could get angry and seriously harm the person, even killing him. Bannik’s favorite pastime is scalding those who are washing with boiling water, splitting stones in a stove and “shooting” them at people.

Behind the fence of the courtyard of the ancient Slav the forest began. The forest gave to the ancient Slav construction material, game, mushrooms, berries, etc. But in addition to the benefits bestowed on man, the wild forest has always been fraught with many deadly dangers. The owner of the forest was Leshy. Leshy literally means “forest”. His appearance is changeable. He seemed to be either a giant or a dwarf. IN different places There are different stories about Leshem. However, most often he looks like a person, but his clothes are wrapped “in reverse” (sometimes, however, instead of clothes he wears only his own fur). Leshy’s hair is long, gray-greenish, but on his face there are no eyelashes or eyebrows, and his eyes, like two emeralds, burn with green fire in the forest darkness. He could lead a person into a thicket, scare him, beat him, but he knew how to pay good for good.

When people began to clear forests and plow open “burns” for bread, of course, new deities appeared - Poleviki. In general, there are no fewer beliefs and signs associated with a grain field than with housing. Sometimes people also met old Belun in the field - nondescript in appearance and extremely snotty. He asked a passerby to wipe his nose. And if a person did not disdain, a purse of silver suddenly appeared in his hand. Perhaps in this way our ancestors wanted to express the simple idea that the Earth generously bestows only those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty?

The working day in the village always began early. But it’s better to wait out the midday heat. The ancient Slavs also had a mythical creature who strictly ensured that no one worked at noon. This is Midday. They imagined her as a girl in a long white shirt or, conversely, as a shaggy, scary old woman. Poludnitsy (or Rzhanitsy) were afraid: for non-compliance with the custom, she could severely punish - now we call it sunstroke. Having caught a man in the field at noon, she sometimes forced him to solve her riddles to the point of exhaustion. But Midday was not only formidable.
She taught the person who became friends with her to dance to the envy of everyone. Living in a region abundant with rivers and lakes, the ancient Slavs naturally developed a whole complex of religious veneration for water. For example, the Slavs were sure that the most unbreakable oaths were made near water; they also tested it with water in court, and used water to tell fortunes about the future. Water was addressed as “you”. She could have drowned her, destroyed her for nothing. It could demand victims, wash away the village with a spring flood. That is why the Vodyanoy, the mythical inhabitant of rivers, lakes and streams, often appears in legends as a creature hostile to humans.

The central myth of the ancient Slavs

Now that we have become acquainted with all the main Gods of the Slavs, we can convey the content of the fundamental legend of ancient Slavic mythology. This myth tells about the appearance of evil gods and the opposition of good gods to them.

One day, the Sun-Dazhdbog and his brother Perun traveled together in the Underworld. And here, from beyond the edge of the Universe, a dark star appeared without rays, with a long bloody tail. She wanted to strike the Earth, which was fast asleep, to death - her husband, Heaven, came to the rescue: he shielded the Earth and took a cruel blow. But he was unable to completely avert the misfortune. A tailed monster swept over the entire Earth, burning forests with a terrible, unprecedented fire, and finally fell somewhere at the far edge.

...The God Brothers almost drove the greyhound horses, flying to the eastern edge of the Ocean. When the boat crossed it, drawn by white swans, and the winged stallions soared again, Dazhdbog for many days did not dare to look down brightly and clearly as before. For a disfigured, dead strip stretched across the entire Earth, and there, in the black smoke, a frightened, understanding Fire was rushing about. And from the wounds of Heaven, water gushed down to the ground in streams, flooding the lowlands, destroying and washing away everything that had survived the fire...

The young Gods didn’t think twice: they rushed to save their mother and father. To save your world before it again becomes the shapeless lump it was before birth. They bandaged the wounds of Heaven with white stripes of clouds and damp shrouds of fog. Calmed the Fire. They lit a rainbow over the few surviving People, showing the way to salvation...

That’s when we saw mountains at the far edge of the Earth that were not there before, mountains that looked like monstrous clouds from a distance. They firmly fused into the body of the Earth. The Gods carefully headed towards those mountains... It turned out that the mountains were iron. Hot, they managed to cool down, and the sharp peaks breathed black frost, stored somewhere inside, and before our eyes they were overgrown with snow and ice. Never before had the young Gods seen anything like this... Well, most of these mountains fell down, beyond the edge of the Underworld, lifeless for centuries, and only one ugly ridge desecrated the face of the green Earth. The Gods saw: all living things were retreating from the Iron Mountains, everything was fleeing from the deadening cold - forests, rivers, grass, flowers...

They carefully drove around the Iron Mountains and, in one deep abyss, discovered a path through the Earth, all the way to the Lower World. A thrown stone would have flown there for twelve days and nights, but the sparkling chariots, of course, were faster. Soon the brothers found themselves in the Underworld. And when Dazhdbog raised his fiery shield, they saw two creatures desperately shielding themselves from the light, a man and a woman, looking more like terrible dreams than like People or Gods...

It was then that for the very first time Perun wanted to swing his ax not to ignite life, but to destroy it. But the man and woman fell to their knees and began to beg for mercy. And Perun lowered his hand with the ax raised. He has not yet learned to be merciless and strike when they kneel. Perun and Dazhdbog fed them and told them about the earthly and heavenly structure.

But a year later, frost began to come from the Iron Mountains, devastating the Earth, and the Svarozhich brothers sought to quickly pass these places.

But then a lot of time passed, the Earth recovered from the blow, the wounds of Heaven healed, although a scar remained - Milky Way, where, according to Slavic beliefs, the souls of the dead flew away. Dazhdbog warned the Month not to approach the cold mountains when he was walking in the sky, because, although the gods of the Iron Mountains kindly received the brothers, they still aroused mistrust. The Young Moon gave his word to Dazhdbog and kept it for a long time, but once he could not control his curiosity.
He directed the white bulls that drove his chariot to the Iron Mountains. A dirty blanket rose from there and dragged the Month into the cave. When the brothers-gods entered this cave, they saw the completed feast and realized that Morana had seduced the Month, and immediately celebrated the wedding.

This time Perun’s thunder sounded angrily, and his ax cut the Month in half. The brothers took the dead Moon home, where morning Star Dennitsa, their sister, cured him alive and dead water. Since then, the Moon rarely appears full in the sky, and sometimes disappears completely, and after Morana wrapped him in a veil, he was able to wash away the stains. People believed that the Moon was waning and hoped to be born pure again, but fate was merciless.

The evil Morana and the lawless Chernobog were buried for a long time in the darkness of the damp caves, not daring to come out into the light. And Perun, who had desecrated his golden ax with blood, worked for a year in the workshop of the forge Kiya - he atoned for the sin. Murder was generally considered a terrible sin in Rus'. Even warriors who returned from a campaign did not sit down at the same table with their relatives for a long time and worked in forges and in the field, atonement for their guilt. Since then, all evil spirits have been afraid of iron, feeling the power of Perun, and if you line the door with iron or hang an iron horseshoe over it, then evil spirits will not dare to enter the house.

Meanwhile, Chernobog and Morana stole the snake's egg. Before this, snakes were not poisonous and lived in peace with people. They wrapped this egg around the hair of the woman who wiped the child with ears of bread and sucked out all the living things from it.

A snake hatched from the egg, which they called Volos, or Veles. He grew up quickly and became very strong. But he was not evil - just greedy and stupid. He flew around the earth, turned into whoever he wanted and committed various sins. But one day, Morana, with his help, took out an ice needle and made him an ice tooth, which could be used to put the Svarozhichi to sleep.

One day they stole Perun’s bride Lelya and Dazhdbog went to the Iron Mountains to check what was going on with Chernobog and Morana. But there Veles hit him in the back with an icy tooth, and the Sun did not rise over the Earth at the appointed hour. Perun went after Dazhdbog, leaving the Fire to shine on people and warm them. But no matter how much Perun fought with Veles, he could not defeat him - Chernobog and Morana stood behind him, helping him. Perun's eyes and heart were torn out and chained in ice.

For thirty-three years the Sun was not above the Earth, thunder did not roar and Perun’s lightning did not flash. But one day the grown-up children of the blacksmith Kiya - brother and sister Svetozor and Zorya - came to the sanctuary of Perun, lit a fire and
Svetozor sacrificed his blood. Then the earth opened up and the exhausted Perun climbed out of the crack. The cue helped him recover from his wounds, find new horses and find an ax, which, after the fatal battle, was not given to Veles, but flew to the Earthly world.

Perun, having gained strength, with Kiy and the Kieviches came to the Iron Mountains and in a fierce duel defeated Veles, broke the ice tooth and imprisoned Chernobog and Morana in underground darkness. Despite all Morana’s assurances that it was impossible to melt the icy grave of Dazhdbog and Lelya, Perun and Kiy managed to do this and resurrected the Gods.

Religious holidays

If the Slavs worshiped natural phenomena, then it is easy to guess on what occasions and at what time of year they would celebrate their Religious holidays, which are closely related to nature and changes in it. The holiday of Kolyada, Ivan Kupala, and Maslenitsa were deeply revered by the people. At these festivities, the Slavs worshiped stone and wooden idols - figures of gods.

These idols were placed in the center of a round platform with a raised middle or, conversely, with a funnel-shaped depression in the center. The site was surrounded by one or two ditches and low ramparts. Sometimes the inside of the shaft was fenced with a palisade. An altar was placed next to the idol. The places where idols were worshiped were called “temples” (from the Old Slavonic “kap” - image, idol), and those where sacrifices were made (“requirements”) were called “treasures”. By now, many pagan idols have already been found, but the most remarkable monument of Slavic paganism is the four-headed Zbruch idol, found in the 19th century on the Zbruch River, a tributary of the Dniester. Conventionally, this idol is called Svyatovit. This is a tall tetrahedral pillar three meters high, on each side of which there are a series of images. Three horizontal tiers of images symbolize the division of the Universe into heaven, earth and hell.
At the top, on each side of the pillar, crowned with one common cap, are carved full-length figures of four deities - the goddess of fertility, Perun, a female deity with a ring in right hand and a male figure with a saber at his belt. In the middle tier, figures of men and women alternate - this is the Earth and a round dance of people holding hands. In the lower tier there are three figures of mustachioed men. These are underground gods who support the Earth above them. The Slavs also had wooden statues. Around 980, the Kiev prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich placed huge idols of pagan deities in his capital. Among them, the wooden idol of Perun was especially luxuriously decorated: it had a silver head and a golden mustache. Wooden idols of the Eastern Slavs are pillars, in the upper part of which human heads were carved.

Sacrifices were made to these idols: animals, grain, various gifts, and sometimes human sacrifices. Near the image of the pagan gods, fortune-telling and ritual lots took place, which were performed by mysterious “magi.”

Magi, fortune tellers, magicians, Bedouins, witches... Very little is known about the Slavic Magi, but Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov in his work on history ancient Russia draws a close connection from the Slavic Magi to the Finnish Magi, explaining this by the close proximity of the two peoples; and notes that after the adoption of Christianity, the Magi mainly appear in the Finnish north and from there they trouble the Slavic peoples.

Greek and Roman mythologies are so common in Western culture that most people have never heard of the polytheistic pantheon of other cultures. One of the least known is the Slavic pantheon of gods, spirits and heroes that were worshiped for hundreds of years before Christian missionaries began actively promoting Christianity in the region.

Slavic mythology has two main differences from Greek and Roman myths. Firstly, many of the spirits are still part of legends and fairy tales among Slavic peoples. Secondly, there are very few records left about the old Slavic pantheon of gods, so scientists are trying to reconstruct information based on secondary documents. However, Slavic mythology is very fascinating.

1. Baba Yaga

Among all the world's mythologies, Baba Yaga is found only in Slavic legends. Many other Slavic gods and creatures have equivalents in Roman or Greek mythology, but Baba Yaga is unique. At first glance, she seems indistinguishable from the witches in European folklore. Baba Yaga looks like an old woman and has a very long nose. When travelers meet Baba Yaga, she blesses or curses them depending on her mood.

But Baba Yaga also has a number of features that are unique to this image. She lives in a hut on chicken legs, and she travels in a flying mortar. Like traditional witches, Baba Yaga always carries a broom with her, but she uses it to cover her tracks. No one knows exactly where the Slavs got this image in their myths.

2. Bannik

The bathhouse has always been an important part of life in Eastern Europe, especially in countries such as Russia and Ukraine. They especially often took a steam bath in the winter or when they had a cold. Considering how strong the social and cultural influence of the bathhouse was in Slavic society, naturally, it could not do without the spirit of the bathhouse - the so-called bannik. Bannik was a mischievous spirit who most often looked like an old man with long claws. Whenever people bathed in the bathhouse, they left soap and a heated bathhouse for the spirit so that it could also wash itself.

The myths claimed that the bannik could predict the future: when he was asked a question, the bannik would gently touch the back of the questioner if the future was good. But if the prediction was bad, then the spirit could scratch the person’s back. Before the young couple stayed in the bathhouse together for the first time, guests would throw stones and pots at the walls outside to scare away the bathhouse.

3. Zduhac

Among the Slavic peoples before Christianity, witchcraft was an important part of culture. Witches and warlocks protected people and settlements from villains and spirits. Chief among these defenders of the ancient Slavs were the zduhachi - people who used supernatural powers to protect their village and attack other villages. Scientists suggest that the zduhachi traditions are most likely a modified form of Eurasian shamanism.

Shamanic traditions were most likely brought to the west by Trans-Siberian Finno-Ugric and Uralic ethnic groups. The ancient Slavs were a superstitious people, and the idea of ​​a supernatural protector fit well into their belief system.

4. Brownie

Brownies are household spirits that were found everywhere in pre-Christian Slavic myths. Although Christian missionaries largely succeeded in ridding themselves of old pagan ideas among their new flock, brownies continued to be believed in for centuries. Brownies were household spirits, masters and patrons of the home, who were generally considered good spirits. Most often they were depicted as small bearded male creatures, similar to Western European household spirits.

Many legends claim that brownies were often seen working in the yard in the guise of the owner of the house, although he was fast asleep in bed at the time. Less often, the brownie took the form of a cat or dog. If the people in whose house he lived were rude and slobs, then the brownie began to plot various intrigues for them. If they behaved decently and left milk and cookies for the brownie, then he would help with the housework.

5. Kikimora

The opposite of the brownie was the kikimora - an evil spirit in everyday Slavic mythology, which is especially common in Polish and Russian stories. A kikimora was a witch or the spirit of the deceased who took up residence in a house and was usually seen as a source of evil. Usually the kikimora lived behind the stove or in the basement of the house and began to make noise when it became hungry. Most of the time, the kikimora terrorized the family, especially if the house was not in order.

According to Slavic traditions, the kikimora entered the house through the keyhole and tried to strangle people while they slept. To prevent this from happening, they read prayers at night and placed a broom next to the door. However, kikimora usually played dirty tricks on people who did not keep their home in order. If she liked the house, she would help take care of the chickens, as well as other household chores.

6. Mokosh

Before the advent of the Christian era, Mokosh was a Slavic fertility goddess, mainly believed in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. She was traditionally considered a servant of Mother Earth - the goddess of nature. Unlike Mother Earth, Mokoshi continued to be worshiped in the 19th century. Faith in Mokosh most likely came to the Slavic lands from the Finno-Ugric tribes. Mokosh was usually depicted as a wanderer who was responsible for yarn, childbirth and the protection of women.

7. Radegast

Radegast is one of the oldest gods in Slavic mythology. Its name comes from two ancient Slavic words that mean “dear guest”. This is why it is believed that Radegast was worshiped as the god of feasts and guests. It is believed that Radegast wore black armor and was armed with a throwing disc.

Researchers believe that he was an important god for leaders and city councilors, as there was a tradition where the person leading the city council would perform a ritual during which he would invite Radegast to visit.

8. Chernobog

Of all the Slavic deities, Chernobog is one of the most famous and one of the most mysterious. Today is about him. Apart from the name, practically nothing is known. Mention of Chernobog is found in the writings of Father Helmond, a German priest who lived in the 12th century. Judging by Helmond's works, Chernobog was the personification of evil.

9. Veles

In ancient Slavic mythology there is a god who is the personification of evil and the antagonist of the supreme god Perun. We are talking about Veles. Scientists have discovered many sources confirming the influence of Veles on the ancient Slavs. In Slavic myths, Veles was a supernatural force responsible for the earth, water, and the underworld. It is also associated with magic and cattle. The Slavs believed that Perun and Veles were in constant confrontation, and Perun defended human world from Veles. Nevertheless, many temples dedicated to Veles were built. He was also the patron of musicians and wealth. Since the ancient Slavs generally did not have a clear distinction between good and evil, Veles was not considered completely bad.

10. Perun

Most scientists believe that the thunder god Perun was the supreme god of the ancient Slavs. It is most often found in old Slavic texts, and Perun symbols are very common in Slavic artifacts. Usually the Slavs depicted Perun on a chariot with an ax in his hand (which he threw at his enemies, after which the ax returned to his hand).

Perun also used fire arrows or magical golden apples that destroyed everything. When Christian missionaries first arrived in Kievan Rus, they tried to wean the Slavs from pagan cults. In the east, missionaries began to claim that Perun was the prophet Elijah, and Western missionaries replaced the image of Perun with the Archangel Michael.

Sl Avian spirits and undead

ANCHUTKA- an evil spirit, at a later time - one of the Russian names for devils. Anchutka is connected with water and at the same time flies; Sometimes Anchutka is called a water, swamp: he lives in a swamp. He has wings. His usual epithets - “footless”, “horny”, “fingerless” - mean that he belongs to evil spirits. In fairy tales he is heelless because the wolf bit off his heel.

AUKA- forest spirit, related to the goblin. Just like the goblin, he loves to play pranks and jokes, and lead people through the forest. If you shout in the forest, it will come back from all sides. You can, however, get out of trouble by saying the favorite saying of all the devils: “I walked, I found, I lost.” But once a year, all methods of fighting forest spirits turn out to be useless - October 4, when the goblin goes berserk. “Auku, tea, you know? Auka lives in a hut, and his hut is covered with golden moss, and he has water all year round from spring ice, his broom is like a bear's paw, smoke comes out of the chimney briskly, and in cold weather Auka is warm... Auka is an ingenious one: he knows a lot of tricky annoyances, jokes, he will make a monkey, turn over like a wheel and want to scare, and it's scary. Yes, that’s why he’s Auka, to scare.”

BABAY- evil night spirit. He lives in thickets of reeds, and at night he wanders under the windows, makes noise, scratches, and knocks on the windows. Babais scare small children who don’t want to go to bed. They say about him that he walks with a big knapsack at night under the windows, finds a naughty child and takes him to the forest. “Ay, bye, bye, bye, /Don’t go, old man, Babai, /Don’t give the horses hay. /Horses don’t eat hay, /Everyone is looking at Mishenka. /Misha sleeps at night /And grows by the hour. /Ay, bye, bye, bye, /Don’t come to us, Babai.”(Lullaby).

BAGAN- patron spirit cattle, he protects them from painful attacks and multiplies the offspring, and in case of his anger he makes the females infertile or kills lambs and calves at their very birth. The Belarusians set aside a special place for him in the cow and sheep sheds and set up a small manger filled with hay: this is where the bagan settles. They feed the hay from his manger to the calving cow as if it were a healing medicine.

BAENNIK(bannik, laznik, bainik, bathhouse) - an unclean spirit from the undead that settles in every bathhouse behind the heater, most often under the shelf on which they usually steam. He is known to all Russian people for his evil unkindness. “There is no meaner bannik, but no one is kinder,” - They speak in the native Novgorod region, but they firmly believe in his readiness to harm and strictly observe the rules of servility and ingratiation. They believe that the baennik always washes himself after everyone else, and therefore everyone is afraid of the fourth break or the fourth steam: “he” will attack, begin to throw hot stones, splash boiling water; if you don’t escape skillfully, i.e. backwards, it can completely scald you. The spirit considers this hour (i.e., after three breaks) to be its own and allows only devils to bathe: for people, a bath is supposed to take place around 5-7 o’clock in the afternoon. The baennik strives to own the bathhouse indivisibly and is dissatisfied with anyone who encroaches on his rights, even temporarily. Knowing this, a rare traveler caught at night will decide to seek shelter here. Since the bathhouse owner has a direct responsibility to remove waste from the bathhouse, it is his right to cause waste to those with whom he is dissatisfied. They curry favor with the baennik by bringing him a treat of a piece of rye bread sprinkled with coarse salt. And in order to take away his power forever, they bring him a black chicken as a gift. Baennik tries to be invisible, although some claim that they have seen him and that he is an old man, like all the spirits akin to him: it is not for nothing that they have lived in this world for such an innumerable number of years.

BAYECHNIK(perebayechnik) - an evil household spirit. The storyteller appears after the bedtime stories scary stories about all evil spirits. He walks barefoot so that no one can hear him standing over a person with his arms stretched out over his head (he wants to know if he’s scared or not). He will throw up his hands until what he has said comes true and the person wakes up in a cold sweat. If you light a torch at this time, you can see shadows running away, that’s him. Unlike the brownie, it is better not to talk to him, you can get dangerously sick. There are four or five of them in the house. The most terrible one is the mustachioed bastard, his mustache replaces his hands. You can protect yourself from the breaker with a spell, but it has been forgotten.

DRUM- a character who appeared quite recently. He usually lives in city apartments. He loves to play pranks - he knocks, makes noise, throws dishes off the table, spills paint, lights gas, moves and throws all sorts of objects. Prefers to live in families with children. Nobody saw him. He readily talks to those he likes and answers all questions by knocking. Based on his character type, he can be classified as a house-elder: he treats good owners kindly, and does not tolerate evil ones.

BAYUNOK(Cat-bayun) - house spirit, storyteller, nocturnal, lullaby songbook. Sometimes he appears in the form of the Bayun Cat: “Near Lukomorye there is a green oak; /The golden chain on that oak tree: /Both day and night, the learned cat /Everything walks around on the chain; /He goes to the right - he starts a song, to the left - he tells a fairy tale” (A.S. Pushkin “Ruslan and Lyudmila”).

DEMONS- in Slavic mythology, there are evil spirits that live everywhere on Earth; they are not found only in heaven (HEAVEN). It is in this sense that this term is used in folk art, especially clearly in conspiracies. Demons can appear in various forms. The Russian proverb is typical: “U The undead do not have their own appearance, they walk in disguises.” The most common image of demons in iconography and folklore is this - dark, horned, tailed, with hooves on their feet. The activity of demons as tempters is directed at all people, but they are especially not indifferent to monks, ascetics and hermits. "...IN The demon is leading us around the field, apparently, /Yes, he is circling around. /Look: there he is playing, /Blowing and spitting on me; /There - now he’s pushing /a wild horse into the ravine; /There was an unprecedented mileage /He stuck out in front of me; /It sparkled with a small spark /And disappeared into the darkness of the night.”(A.S. Pushkin. “Demons”).

INSIDE-SHAKERS- spirits of disease (see “fever”).

GODDESSES- female mythological characters of Western Slavs. During the period of the spread of Christianity, the good functions of the goddesses were replaced by “Christian virtues,” and they themselves were given the functions of evil or negative spirits. The main function of the goddesses was the abduction and replacement of children. They are depicted as old ugly women with large heads, saggy breasts, swollen bellies, crooked legs, black fanged teeth (less often in the guise of pale young girls). They are often attributed lameness (a property of evil spirits). They can also appear in the form of animals - frogs, dogs, cats, be invisible, appear as a shadow. They could be women in labor who died before the ceremony of entry into the church was performed on them; children and women abducted by goddesses; the souls of dead women, girls who got rid of the fetus or killed their children, women suicides, perjurers who died during childbirth. Their habitats are ponds, rivers, streams, swamps, and less often - ravines, burrows, forests, fields, mountains. They appear at night, in the evening, at noon, during bad weather. Their characteristic actions are washing clothes, baby diapers with loud blows of rollers; the person who interfered with them is driven out and beaten; they dance, bathe, beckon and drown passers-by, dance them, lead them astray; spinning yarn; comb hair; they come to women in labor, beckon them, invite them with them, charm them with their voice and gaze; kidnapping women in labor and pregnant women. They replace children by throwing their own freaks in their place; kidnapped children are turned into unclean spirits; They torture people at night, crush them, strangle them, suck the breasts of children and men, and cast spells on children. They are also dangerous for livestock: they frighten and destroy livestock in pastures, drive horses, and braid their manes.

PAIN-BOSHKA - Forest spirit. Lives in places with berries. The spirit is crafty and cunning. Appears before a person in the form of a poor, frail old man, asking for help in finding his lost bag. You can’t give in to his requests - you’ll start thinking about the loss, you’ll get a headache, and you’ll wander through the forest for a long time. "Quiet! Here comes Boli-boshka himself! - I sensed it coming: he’s going to get into trouble, he’s in trouble! All emaciated, dwarf, as pale as a fallen leaf, a bird’s lip - Boli-boshka, - a pointed nose, handy, and the eyes seem sad, cunning, cunning.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

SWAMPMAN(bolotyanik, bagnik) - the spirit of the swamp. Identical to water. Popular fantasy finds a swamp a completely suitable place for evil spirits to settle, as evidenced by many proverbs and sayings, for example, “Where are the swamps, the devil is there”, “There will be no devil without a swamp, and a swamp without a devil”, “There are devils in still waters” and etc. “The swamp is playing tricks on you. It beckons you dark force» (A.A Blok. “A swamp is a deep depression...”).

BOSORKUN(vitryanik) - mountain spirit. Together with strong wind swoops down on crops, destroys them, and causes drought. Spoils people and animals - causes sudden illnesses and ailments (for example, a cow's milk will be mixed with blood or disappear completely). The Hungarians have a similar mythological character - Bosorkan, a witch, an ugly old woman with the ability to fly and turn into animals (dog, cat, goat, horse). It can cause drought and damage people and animals. Bosorkan harms people mainly at night. “Bosorkuns harm people mainly at night, the time of their special activity is Midsummer’s Day (June 24), Lutsa’s Day (December 13) and the day of St. George (April 24), the patron saint of livestock”(N.I. Tolstoy).

VAZILA(stable keeper, herd keeper) - the patron spirit of horses, he is represented in human form, but with horse ears and hooves. Every householder has his own vazila, who lives in a stable (barn), takes care of the horses, protects them from diseases, and when they go to the herd, removes predatory animals from them.

VEDOGONI- souls living in the bodies of people and animals, and at the same time house geniuses, protecting family property and home. Each person has his own vedogon; when he sleeps, the vedogon leaves the body and protects his property from thieves, and himself from the attacks of other vedogons and from magic spells. If a vedogon is killed in a fight, the person or animal to whom it belonged dies immediately in his sleep. Therefore, if a warrior happens to die in a dream, then they say that his vedogon fought with the vedogon of his enemies and was killed by them. For the Serbs, these are souls that produce whirlwinds with their flight. Among the Montenegrins, these are the souls of the deceased, house geniuses, protecting the housing and property of their blood relatives from attacks by thieves and alien witches. “Here, you fell asleep happy, and your Vedogon came out as a mouse, wandering around the world. And it doesn’t go anywhere, to what mountains, to what stars! He’ll take a walk, see everything, and come back to you. And you will get up in the morning happy after such a dream: the storyteller will tell a fairy tale, the songwriter will sing a song. Vedogon told you all this and sang it to you - both a fairy tale and a song."(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

VIY(Niya, Niam) - a mythical creature whose eyelids descend to the very ground, but if you lift them with a pitchfork, then nothing will be hidden from his gaze; the word "wii" means eyelashes. Viy - with one glance he kills people and turns cities and villages to ashes; fortunately, his murderous gaze is hidden by thick eyebrows and eyelids close to his eyes, and only when it is necessary to destroy enemy armies or set fire to an enemy city, do they lift his eyelids with a pitchfork. Viy was considered one of the main servants of Chernobog. He was considered a judge over the dead. The Slavs could never come to terms with the fact that those who lived lawlessly, not according to their conscience, were not punished. The Slavs believed that the place of execution of lawless people was inside the earth. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter. He was revered as the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts, especially for those who do not have a clear conscience. “...He saw that they were leading some squat, hefty, club-footed man. He was all covered in black earth. His legs and arms covered with earth stood out like stringy, strong roots. He walked heavily, constantly stumbling. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron.”(N.V. Gogol. “Viy”). "... Today Viy is at rest,” the two-headed horse yawned with one head, and licked his lips with the other head, “Viy is resting: he destroyed a lot of people with his eye, and from the country-cities only ashes lie. Viy will accumulate strength and get down to business again.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

WATER(vodyanik, vodovik, bolotyanik) - a watery, evil spirit, and therefore is considered by everyone and everywhere to be real devils. People imagine the merman as a naked old man, with a large puffy belly and a swollen face, which is quite consistent with his spontaneous character. At the same time, like all cloud spirits, he is a bitter drunkard (there is no doubt that this quality was added with the advent of Christian “enlighteners”, who brought with them wine drinking and the use of strong alcoholic beverages). Vodoviks are almost always married and have many children; they marry water maidens, drowned women and those unfortunate girls who were cursed by their parents and, as a result of this curse, were taken by evil spirits to underwater villages. The merman's ill will towards people is expressed in the fact that he tirelessly watches over every person who appears, for various reasons, in his damp and wet domain. It takes away to permanent housing everyone who decides to swim in rivers and lakes in the summer after sunset, or at noon, or at midnight. Underwater, he turns his prey into bonded laborers, forces them to pour water, carry and wash sand, etc. Never dying, mermen, however, change when the moon changes: when they are young they themselves are young, when they are old they turn into old people. In the south they are represented with a human body, but with a fish tail instead of legs; The water creatures of the northern cold forests are grimy and horned. Vodyanoy is in an irreconcilably hostile relationship with his grandfather, the brownie, with whom, during chance meetings, he inevitably gets into fights. In the case when a merman lives in swamps, it is also called Bolotyanik.

WOLF SHEPHERD- the lord of stormy thunderstorms, who controls the heavenly wolves-eaters of the sun, following him in large flocks and in the wild hunt replacing hounds. According to legend, the wolf shepherd rides out on a wolf, holding a long whip in his hands, or walks ahead of a large pack of wolves and pacifies them with a club. He then appears in the form of an old grandfather, then he himself turns into a wolf, prowls the forests as a predatory beast and attacks the village herds. This werewolf, stopping under a shady tree, turns from a beast into an old man, gathers wolves around him, feeds them and assigns each his prey: he orders one wolf to slaughter a cow, another to eat a sheep, pig or foal, and a third to tear a man to pieces. Whoever he chooses to sacrifice to the wolf, despite all precautions, will no longer escape his fate.

VOROGUSHA(voroguha, sorceress) - one of the fever sisters, she lands in the form of a white night moth on the lips of a sleepy person and brings him illness. In the Oryol province, a patient is bathed in a decoction linden color. The patient should take the shirt taken off from him early in the morning to the river, throw it into the water and say: “Mother witch! you’re wearing a shirt, and get away from me!” Then the patient returns home silently, without looking back. “Old Vorogusha came out of the forest and walked across the field with a crutch.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

VRITRA- a demon who steals rain clouds for the winter.

VYTARASHKA- the personification of love passion, depriving a person of reason: you can’t take it with anything and you can’t drive it into a black oven, as one dry spell is expressed. “And the scarlet Vytarashka exulted like a scarlet swan, spread her wings, - it was impossible to drive her into the black oven, - the unquenchable hot blood shivers, the zealous heart, exhausted by the Kupala fire.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

GARTSUKI- in Belarus these are spirits that live in the mountains, which with their flight produce winds and bad weather. They look like little children; when they rush into flights while playing, a whirlwind arises from their fast running and begins to spin the sand, and when they rush through the air, their flight produces a storm and bad weather.

TWO-HEAD- a creature capable of containing two souls - human and demonic. The number “two” among the Slavs, unlike the numbers “one” and “three,” had supernatural power. Usually, a double-minded person behaves like any other person during the day, but at night he immediately falls into a deep sleep, so it is impossible to wake him up. At this time, he wanders outside his body in the guise of a dog, hare, horse, etc. Sometimes after the death of a double-minded person, his pure soul goes to the next world, and the unclean soul becomes a ghoul. “...If anyone detains the wandering Double-Double, he can kill with his own power or the power of the wind, from which there is no escape. You can wake up a double-minded person by turning his head over to where his feet were. In this case, the Double-Damed One will be sick for at least two weeks.”(N.I. Tolstoy).

DEDKO- living spirit; According to the beliefs of the Western Slavs, the prisoner sits in the granary all winter and eats the reserves made.

GRANDFATHERS(dids, dzyads) - common Slavic spirits of ancestors. The grandfather is the guardian of the family and, above all, of the children, of course. The eldest man, a representative of the clan eldership, who pacifies passions within the clan, preserves the basic principles of the morality of the clan, strictly monitoring their implementation. Belarusians and Ukrainians called grandfather the house deity who guards the hearth, the stove fire, like the small Perunov fire, in contrast to the big one in the sky. The forest deity, the keeper of Perunov's treasure, was also called grandfather. They prayed to the grandfather for instructions, for the discovery of the treasure. In Belarus, the keeper of gold treasures is called Dedka. He walks along the roads in the form of a beggar with red, fiery eyes and the same beard, and, meeting an unfortunate poor man, he gives him money. In the Kherson province they say that the treasure often appears in the form of an old man in torn and dirty beggar’s clothes. In Ukraine they talk about an old, white-haired and snotty grandfather who wanders around the world, and if you wipe his nose, he is immediately sent away in silver. Among the Slavs, a special rite of honoring grandfathers was performed in the spring on the rainbow - the seventh day of Easter or in the fall. They treated grandfathers at Christmas and New Year. The souls of deceased relatives were invited into the house and donated food to them, pouring it under the table or putting it out the window. Food was also taken to the cemetery and placed on the graves. Grandfathers were depicted as “blockheads” with a torch. In Belarus, during the ritual, the owner carried a lit torch around the table three times, fumigating the souls of the dead.

DOMOVOY-DOMOZHIL(Dobrozhil, Dobrokhot, Breadwinner, Grandfather, Sisedka, Batan, The Other Half, Zhirovik, Lizun, Posten, Karnoukhiy, Kletsnik, Jester, Oblom, Sadolom) - a representative of the hearth, according to its original meaning, there is the god Agni, identical to Perun the Thunderer. As the embodiment of the fire burning on the hearth, the brownie was revered as the founder and ruler of the clan. This is a short old man, covered all over with warm, shaggy fur. Throughout the forested north of Russia, the brownie is called Susedko and Batan for his willing cohabitation with the Orthodox Russian people. In the families of the Olonets region they even call him the honorary name “The Other Half”. In any case, he - Domozhil, and for the custom of living in warmth and comfort - Zhirovik and Lizun. Because he is still an invisible creature, an undeniable and genuine “undead” (neither a spirit nor a person), the brownie is also called Posten, as a ghostly creature, a ghost. Sometimes they call him “karnoukhim” because he seems to be missing one ear. In Belarus he is also called Kletsnik - the keeper of house cages and storerooms. If the brownie is angry, then he takes up the same tricks as someone else's brownie. That is why he is called the Jester, Bummer and Sadol. In Rus', in the person of the brownie, the initial founder of the clan, the first organizer of the family hearth, is honored, and therefore the concept of him is not divided into many homogeneous spirits: in each house there is only one brownie. The activities of the brownie are limited to the possessions of the family with which he is connected by sacred ties of kinship and cult; he only cares about his home. In Rus', the brownie is also the patron saint of chickens, and in his honor on November 1st a special celebration is held, known as “chicken name day”.

DOMOVOY-DORVOY- received his name from his place of usual residence, and by the nature of his relationship with homeowners, he is ranked among the evil spirits, and all stories about him boil down to the torment of those domestic animals that he does not love. Appearance the yard looks like a housekeeper. He is always friendly only with a goat and a dog, he does not like other animals, and the birds do not obey him. He especially does not tolerate white cats, white dogs and gray horses - a knowledgeable owner tries not to keep such animals. Gifts are presented to him on an iron fork in a manger.

DREAM- evening and night spirit. Loves children, but is not so gentle with adults. Comes at dusk. “Lyulya, Sandman came, / She wandered under the wing, / She lay down in Sasha’s cradle. /Hugged Sasha with her hand"(Lullaby).

WEN- one of the many nicknames for a brownie. They call him Zhirovik because he loves to live in warmth and cold. Another name "lisen" or "slime" for some everyday habits: fiddling with dishes at night, licking them, loves to lick hot pancakes and pancakes. He prefers to live behind the stove or underground; he likes to hang around the stove. An invisible creature. "Oh, grandma, go home, the slime has come, licked off the oatmeal, orga, wheat, noodle flour... And the slime’s tongue is like a grater...”

EVIL- evil spirits, small creatures that, having settled behind the stove, remain invisible and bring misfortune to the house: no matter how great the owner’s wealth, it will quickly disappear and poverty will come instead of contentment. There is a spell: “Don’t let the evil ones beat him!” With their tiny stature and restless character, they resemble house dwarfs and thus provide evidence of the ancient connection between the mythical personifications of fate and death and elemental thunderstorm spirits (another evidence is the ability of transformations). In the folk tale they play the same role as Grief, Likho and Nedolya. Belarusians have preserved a proverb: “The evil ones asked for three days, but you won’t survive three years!” Sinisters travel around the world and settle down to live in societies; in the same way, according to popular sayings, “Trouble does not come alone,” “Troubles come in strings.” Ukrainian “God, they beat you!” - wishing for misfortune, “to be evil” - to hell. “Have mercy, mother, look, there is your son with a piece of bread and a stick, he left the house and is walking along the rolling stones - wherever his eyes look, and the evil spirits - the companions of grief, wrap themselves around his neck, whispering in his ears: “We will not leave you!”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

IGOSH- related to kikimore; a stillborn child, a premature baby, a miscarriage, a freak without arms and legs, who settles in a hut and disturbs householders with his pranks.

ICHETIK- an evil spirit from the water family. Just like the water one, the ichetik lives in rivers and other bodies of water. According to his functions, he is an assistant to the merman (the merman has many assistants besides him - for example, mermaids and shishigi). The ichetik does all the minor work - it washes away the banks, destroys bridges, and floods the crops. Its appearance is similar to that of a merman, but it has not grown much. Like all the undead, he loves to play cards and drink beer. Sleeps from autumn Nikita to spring Nikita.

CHIEF- a person who has been bypassed by a goblin loses his meaning and memory.

KARAKONJALS(karakonjuly, karakonjo) - among the southern Slavs there are water demons. They come out of the water or from caves and unclean places during the Christmas period. They appear in the form of horses with a human head and two arms or wings; naked people covered with thorns; shaggy red or black demons with tails and horns; little people luring people to the ice; in the form of a dog, sheep, calf or a shaggy, horned and tailed man. “It was believed that after midnight they attack people, ride them until the first rooster or the first cry of a donkey, drive people around the village, fields, along the river bank. They are afraid of fire, iron, ashes from badnyak, bread, salt, etc.”(N.I. Tolstoy).

KARACHUN(korochun, kerechun, krachun) - evil spirit (Belarusian, korochun - "sudden death at a young age, convulsions, an evil spirit shortening life" rus. karachun - "death", "destruction", "evil spirit"). Karachun is also the name of the winter solstice and the associated holiday - Christmas (in Transcarpathia, krachun is a Christmas pie). The name Korochun is close to the names Kert and Krak, which designate the Slavic Cityvrat. Horutans and Croats have a word "Kurt" used in the meaning "fire" there is a saying: “We won’t all go to Kert, some will go to hell.” “In a white fur coat, barefoot, shaking his white shaggy hair, shaking his big gray beard, Korochun hits the stump with his club - and the furious eyuzi rings, the frost scratches with its claws, the air cracks and breaks.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

STOREMAN(treasurer) - a spirit that guards treasures and valuables buried in the ground. In the north they call him "storeroom" and they admit that there are two watchmen: “layun,” so called because he turns into a husky dog ​​during the first attempt to steal the treasure; another - "tickler" protecting treasure in the form of a white-sided tickling magpie bird.

KLETNIK- this is what they call the keeper of house cages and storerooms in Belarus. This is one of the nicknames of the brownie-courtyard, which clearly indicates the space within which the power of the brownie is honored and sacrifices are made to him. All house-elders are given help from house- and yard-keepers. Their work, in some places, is not considered independent, and everything is entirely attributed to one “master”. In other places, the labors of each household spirit are shrewdly distinguished.

KOLOVERTYSH- the witch's assistant. “On the roof sat a gray owl - a damn bird, and at the chicken’s leg, at the door, sat Rotator, sad: a panty, not a panty, short and motley, with a saggy, empty, flaccid crop... This is a crop, he collects everything there the witch will get: butter, cream - and milk, all the spoils. The goiter is full and drags after the witch, and at home she takes everything out of the goiter, as if from a bag, and the witch eats it: butter, cream and milk... - The witch made me out of a dog, in a clever way: our dog Shumka gave birth - The wolves ate Shumka! - the witch took the place where Shumka’s puppies lay, whispered, dragged me into the hut in the back corner under the stove, and seven days later I came out into the world. I am Kolovertysh, like a dog’s son...”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

KORGORUSHY(kolovershi) - in East Slavic mythology, the brownie's assistants; They look like cats, most often black, hence the dislike and fear at the sight of a black cat. According to southern Russian beliefs, they bring supplies and money to their owner from other houses, stealing from under the nose of a careless neighbor. Because of this, courtyards most often quarrel. During these quarrels, the korgorushki chatter, break dishes, and turn everything in the house upside down.

KRIKS-VARAKS- a mythical creature, the personification of a child's cry. If a child screams, you need to carry him to the barn and, rocking him, say: “Crixus-varaxes! go beyond the steep mountains, beyond the dark forests from the baby so-and-so.” Krixa is a crybaby. Varaksa is a windbag. “Crixus-varaxes galloped from behind the steep mountains, climbed into the priest’s garden, cut off the tail of the priest’s dog, crawled into a raspberry grove, there they sawed off the dog’s tail, played with the tail.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

CURRENT- demon One day, the giant man and Kurent argued among themselves which of them should have the white light. They fought for a long time, dug up the whole earth with their feet and made it what it is now: where before there were wide plains, high mountains and deep abysses appeared there. Neither one nor the other overpowered the enemy. Then Kurent took the vine and squeezed it so tightly that wine burst out of it; with this wine he intoxicated a man at the very time when he was sitting on a high mountain at God's table (here lies an allegory indicating a method of depriving one of strength white man through drinking alcohol and smoking). Soon God returned and saw a man dozing at the table; God got angry and threw him out with a strong hand down the mountain, which is why he lay broken and half-dead for many years. When the man recovered, his strength disappeared: he could neither jump across the sea, nor descend into the depths of the earth, nor ascend to the heavenly table. Thus, Kurent took possession of the world and man, and from that time on people became weak and small (delivering a person from these vices will return him to his former strength and divine abilities). In some areas, this is a crafty and cheerful demon who, by playing the harp and pipe, heals illnesses and makes everyone dance without rest.

KUTNY GOD- brownie (kut - corner).

ICY(cringing) - the spirit of straw. Like many spirits of Slavic mythology, the Ice One sleeps in winter. It wakes up only with the arrival of spring. In the summer, he stays awake and waits for the end of summer to climb into a fresh pile of straw and fall asleep (he is the personification of the winter sleep of nature, the plant world; a sleepy and lazy person is sometimes called by his name). Nobody has ever seen him. Sometimes only on a hot afternoon will someone rustle in the straw and someone’s sigh will be heard. “From last year’s straw, the demon of the straw began to purr, crushed by the warm straw. And the meadow responded, hummed, and the whole shore clicked and groaned and cooed, and the forest began to chirp like a dragonfly.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

LESAVKI- forest spirits, relatives of the forester, old men and women. They look like hedgehogs. Just like the woodsman, they love to play pranks and play. Most of the time, lesavkas sleep - they are very awake short period time: from late summer to mid-autumn. Among the Olonchans, in their dense and pristine forests, there live “forest elders” or “fathers” who lure children into the forest, but for what purpose they keep them there and what they feed them, the most knowledgeable people cannot say. “Old men and women - Lesavki sit in last year’s leaves, grab hands, jump through the forest, whistle throughout the forest, without heads, without a tail, jumping, that's how they whistle"(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

FOREST SPIRITS- originally they were presented in the following form: shaggy creatures with goat legs, beard and horns, reminiscent of satyrs and fauns of the ancient world. If they are dressed, then in sheepskin coats; These sheepskin coats are not belted and flutter freely in the wind, like the cloudy mantle of a wild hunter. Later they received proper names.

Goblin(free, yad, forest, righteous, leshak, forester, forester, fox, polysun, connecting rod, thief, barely, wild little peasant, tsmok, king with golden horns, forest king, ruler of the forest) - forest evil spirits, full and unlimited owner forests: all animals and birds are under his jurisdiction and obey him unrequitedly. The goblin differs from other spirits by special properties inherent to him alone: ​​if he walks through the forest, he is as tall as the tallest trees. In the Kyiv and Chernigov provinces, a distinction was made between foxes and field workers; the former were represented as giants of a grayish and ashy color, while the latter were told that they were equal to the height of grain growing in the field, and after the harvest they diminished and became as tiny as stubble. Like all thunder spirits, the goblin can receive various images, and thereby becomes closer to werewolves. Most often he is a hefty man, but even in this human form he retains demonic characteristics: he is wearing a sheepskin coat, but as is always the case with evil spirits, it is not belted and is wrapped with the left hem over the right. The goblin rushes through his forests like mad, with extreme speed and always without a hat. His eyebrows and eyelashes are not visible, but you can clearly see that he is carno-eared (there is no right ear), that the hair on his head is combed to the left. He is also represented as having one eye, which indicates his affinity with the Cyclops giants. Possessing the ability to roll over, the goblin often pretends to be a passerby with a knapsack over his shoulders. If the goblin appears naked, then it is easy to notice how similar he is to the generally accepted image of the devil: he has horns on his head, goat legs, his head and the entire lower half of his body are shaggy, in braids, a wedge-shaped goat beard, long claws on his hands. In Belarus, it is called forest clot, which kills the owners' livestock, sucks milk from cows at night and makes the fields infertile. In the Vladimir province the goblin was called a wild peasant. Near Ryazan they believe that kings with golden horns live in the forests. Leshy do not so much harm people as they play pranks and jokes and, in this case, are quite similar to their brownie relatives. They play rude pranks, as befits clumsy forest dwellers, and make evil jokes. The most common methods of pranks are to lead a person into a thicket in a place from which there is no way to get out, or to put fog in the eyes, which will completely confuse him, and the lost person will circle around the forest for a long time. However, the goblin still does not lead people to direct death. The goblin punishes people for using obscene words and uttering curses.

LISTIN- an old blind spirit, the leader of the Lesovkas, his wife and assistant - Baba Listina. They are not as boisterous and nimble as woods, they sit in a pile of leaves near a stump or in a ravine and command who should rustle when. In the fall, at first a light whisper is heard - this is Listin and Listina consulting and assigning work to the scaffolders. And then there is rustling and noise, round dances of fallen leaves, nobility, woods playing. “The mole rat Listin will pass by the tree and rustle its leaves, don’t be afraid: Listin is not scary. Listin only likes to scare"(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

FEVER(fever, dashing manka, manya, godfather, good woman, aunt, friend, child, shaking-not-whispering, shaking, shaking, rattling, shaking, crackling, shaking, formidable, Ledey, lady, chills, chills, swollen, jelly . , looking, fire, Nevea, Nava, Navier, dance-vitsa, dryness, dryness, yawning, yaga, sleepy, pale, light, spring, deciduous, water, blue, fever, podtynnitsa, dung beetle, spindle, bog-wort, stonefly -podosennitsa) - a ghost in the form of an evil and ugly maiden: stunted, starved, feeling constant hunger, sometimes even blind and armless; “a devil who has eyes that are kindled, and hands of iron, and hair of a camel... to do evil deeds to people, and to dry up the bones of women, to dry up the milk, and to kill a baby, and to darken the eyes of men, to weaken the muscles”(an old conspiracy). Fever - nine or twelve winged sisters; they live in the dark dungeons of hell. One of them - the eldest - commands her sisters and sends them to earth to torment the human race: “burn and shiver the body, crush white bones.” On the second of January, Frost or Winter drives them out, along with evil spirits, from hell, and the fevers seek refuge in warm huts and attack the “guilty ones.” This belief is due to those colds and chills that are so common during the cold season of winter. Fevers have their names and describe the torment with which each of them torments the patient (see above: for example, bone breaker - “ Just as a strong storm breaks a tree, it also breaks bones and backs”; yellowing or jaundice - this “to turn a person yellow, like the color in a field”). Neveah(dead) - the oldest sister to all fevers. To get rid of a fever, you can wear a snake crawl (a baby snake that has crawled out of a hole) on you, without taking it off at night or in the bathhouse. “And they are stunted and starved - Death of a Cow and Vesnyanka-Pososennitsa with forty sisters run through the village, an old woman in a white shroud, calling out to the voice. They have done a lot of troubles - if a wolf eats them, then the Dung Mouse will pretend to be under the mew, then the Dung Mouse will catch you in the yard, then it will jump off the spindle and jump into the spinner - the Spindle, then it will jump out from the swamp hummock - the Bolotnitsa: they would spoil the cattle, take the blush out of the white faces, put arrows in the back, hook the fingers on the hands, shake the body"(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

LUGOVOY- the spirit of the meadows, a small green man dressed in grass, helps mow the grass during haymaking. Considered to be the child of a field worker (field). Runs through the meadows and catches birds as food for its parent. He gets very angry when the mowing is missed - he drives the grass into wild growth and braids it so much that it cannot be cut or torn; and even dries the grass on the root. If mowers come for such mowing, they tear the braids.

YELL(chemor, igrets, black jester, Likhnovets, bummer) - the devil.

FLYER- a person over whom an evil spirit has flown will certainly go crazy.

BABY MARA- settle in huts; in their image, the idea of ​​thunderstorm spirits merges with the shadows of the departed.

MARA(Marukha) - souls of the departed; identical to kikimoras, i.e. these are babies who died unbaptized or were cursed by their parents, and therefore fell under the power of evil spirits. In Russia, these are old little female creatures who sit on the stove, spin yarn at night and all whisper and jump, and throw bricks at people. In Poshekhonye, ​​Mara is a beautiful, tall girl, dressed all in white; she is considered a field spirit. In the Olonets province, mara is an invisible creature living in a house in addition to the brownie, with clear signs kikimoras (spinning at night on a spinning wheel that they forgot to bless, tearing the tow, tangling the yarn). Among the northern Great Russians, the mara is a gloomy ghost who sits invisible behind the stove during the day, and at night comes out to play pranks with spindles, a spinning wheel and spun yarn.

MEZEVIK- the brother of the meadowman (meadow), just as small, wearing clothes made of grass, but not green, but black. He runs along the boundary, guards it, just like his brother, looking for food for his field-faring parent. He punishes those who violate the boundary, crosses it illegally, installs and corrects markers, and helps hard-working owners in the field. But if he finds a person sleeping on the boundary, he leans on him, ties his neck with grass and strangles him.

MORA- the evil spirit of disease and death; in Serbia and Montenegro it is recognized as a demonic spirit that flies out of the witch in the form of a moth (the generally accepted representation of the soul), "Press and press" at night of sleepy people and " their breath is gone."

SEA COW(Cow or Commodore Death, anthrax) - cattle plague; an ugly old woman whose hands hold a rake; she herself rarely enters villages, and for the most part she is brought in unseen. It is shown mainly in autumn and early spring, when cattle begin to suffer from lack of food and bad weather. Cow Death often takes on the form of a black dog or cow and, walking among the herds, infects the cattle. In the Tomsk province, anthrax was represented in the form of a tall, shaggy man with hooves on his feet; he lives in the mountains and comes out hearing curses: “Scarce those!”, “Stain those!”

SEA PEOPLE(Pharaohs) - in Ukraine they talk about them - “It’s half a man, and half a rib.” When the sea is rough, sea people swim to the surface and sing songs. In other places these sea people are called pharaohs, mixing the ancient legend about the sea people with biblical story about the Pharaoh's army, drowned in the waves of the Black Sea. They say that these people have fish tails and that they have the ability to predict the future.

MOKHOVY - a tiny spirit of green or brown color, lives in moss, punishes those who pick berries at the wrong time. Mokhovoy bypasses everyone who has gone deeper into the thicket. It will either lead you to a place from which it is difficult to get out, or make you circle around the forest in the same place. Usually Mokhovoy does not lead people to death, but only tortures them and then lets them go.

NAV(Navier, Navy) - initially - the lower world in the Slavic three-level worldview. In late Slavic mythology, the embodiment of death. In ancient Russian monuments, Navier is a dead man. A related name of an independent deity is in the list of Polish gods. Among other Slavic peoples this is a whole class mythological creatures associated with death. In Galicia there is a legend about a happy people "rahmane" living beyond the black seas. In southern Rus', these people are called Navs, the Great Day they celebrate is Navsky or Rusal. Bulgarian Navi are evil spirits, twelve sorceresses who suck blood from women in childbirth. Among the Bulgarians, boys who are stillborn or who die without baptism become ghost spirits. “On Navii Day, on Radunitsa, they celebrated the “calls” of the dead here.”(P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky. “In the Woods”).

UNDEAD- creatures without flesh and soul - everything that does not live as a person, but has a human appearance. This word was formed from the verb “to live” with a negative particle “not” and in its meaning directly corresponds to Morana (death) and the widespread diseases known among the Slavs under the general name of pestilence. The undead have many faces. A typical Russian proverb: “The undead do not have their own appearance, they walk around in disguises.” Many proper names for characters related to the undead are associated with their habitat: goblin, polevik, omutnik, etc. External characteristic signs include abnormal (for humans) manifestations: hoarse voice, howl, speed of movement, change of appearance. The attitude of the undead towards people is ambiguous: there are malicious demons, and there are also well-wishers. “Here the Undead went around the old spruce and wandered - the blue hairs swayed. He moves quietly, pushes mud through the moss and swamp, takes a sip of swamp water, a field goes, another goes, a restless Undead, without a soul, without a form. Either he will step over like a bear, then he will calm down more quietly than a quiet beast, then he will spread into a bush, then he will burn through with fire, then like an old man withered legs - beware, he will distort! - then a daring boy and again, like a board, there he is - a scarecrow with a scarecrow "(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

NIKOLA(Mikola) is the name of the spirit, which later went back to Saint Nicholas (Greek Nicholas - from “Nike” and “Laos” - winner of nations), who is popularly considered the patron saint of all workers. Among the southern Slavs, Nikola is a forest spirit who lives freely in the forest (no stake...). "AND will do Nikola is merciful and will tear down the iron and place it from earth to heaven and the ban with three gilded keys, and throw those keys into the Ocean Sea; (in the Okiyan Sea) lies an alatyr stone: you shouldn’t lie down with the stone, and you shouldn’t float out the keys, according to my word.”(spell).

NIGHTS(prostrates) - female mythical creatures who at night, especially on Fridays, knock and play pranks in the huts; The women are afraid that they will not spin all the flax, and they hide their tows from them. Identical to marukhas.

NIGHT LIGHTS(krixes) - night demon spirits. They attack mainly newborn children, before baptism. This is an indeterminate type of creature. Sometimes they appear as women with long hair in black clothes. After death, women witches who did not have children become nocturnists. “For fear of moths, mothers are careful not to leave diapers in the yard after sunset, leave the house and carry the child; do not leave the empty cradle open or rock it, use various amulets for the cradle (plants, a needle, etc.); do not bathe children and do not wash diapers and linen in “night” (stayed overnight) water.”(S.M. Tolstaya).

OBILUKHA- the spirit that protects seeds and crops is responsible for the quantity and quality of the harvest.

OVINNIK(Gumennik, Podovinnik) - the most evil of the house spirits: it is difficult to please and humble him if he gets angry and loses his temper. His eyes glow with hot coals, like a cat’s, and he himself looks like a huge cat, the size of a yard dog, all black and shaggy. He knows how to bark and laughs like a devil. He was instructed to sit under the garden in the pit in order to watch the order of laying the sheaves, to observe the time and timing of when and how to flood the barn, and not to allow this to be done on major holidays. If he gets angry, he will throw coal between the grates and let the whole barn get busy and burn. This spirit lives in the barn; shaggy, and one arm is bare and longer than the other. He punishes with his bare hand, throwing heat into the unharvested sheaves of careless owners. This spirit's eyes are multi-colored, his fur coat is inside out; in calm weather he sleeps. He rarely extends his furry hand to tell girls wealth. On Easter Sunday morning, a girl puts her hand in the window of the barn: if the spirit does not touch her hand, she will go as a girl, with her bare hand she will marry a poor man, if her shaggy hand touches the barn, she will marry a rich man.

OGUMENNIK(bean barn) - a spirit living on threshing floors (threshing floor is a place where they thresh, as well as a shed for compressed bread) and barns; although it is considered a house spirit, it is very evil: it is difficult to appease it. If you get angry - neither crosses in all corners, nor prayers, nor icons will help - then guard the threshing floor with a poker in your hands on September 4 against Agathon the Ogumennik. In some places, they say, you can appease him if you bring pies and a rooster: the rooster’s head is cut off on the threshold and blood is sprinkled in all corners. “Going to the threshing floor and bringing a sheaf of straw was considered one of the most severe punishments, since one does not go to the threshing floor at night for fear of falling into the clutches of the threshing floor...”(All year round. Russian agricultural calendar).

BATH- house spirit, extreme laziness (to work - to sweat, to be lazy - to die).

PLANETERS- mythical creatures that reside in rain and hail clouds, controlling the movement of clouds, precipitation, wind, and weather. During the period of the spread of Christianity, it was added that children who died unbaptized, thrown off or sent by their mother, poisoned or killed were turned into them; drowned people, hanged people and other unclean dead, children of goddesses and strigones (ghouls). Meanwhile, the recognition in Christianity of the existence of various deities, spirits, angels, archangels, etc., that is, not people (incorporeal), speaks of Christianity’s recognition of polytheism and the attribution of this religion to paganism. Double-minded people could also become planetaries, who were transported to the sky during a thunderstorm or storm. Sometimes the planetaries fell to the ground from the clouds along with the rain or went to the ground to straighten a broken rope. The planetary could land on the border of the village, go to the nearest village and ask the first person he met for milk from a black cow and an egg from a black chicken, and then returned to the border and from there, along with the fog, ascended to his cloud. Planeteers were friendly towards people they met and warned them about storms and hail. It is believed that planetites feed on flour in the clouds, which people throw into the wind or into fire to protect themselves from hail. Ordinary people who knew how to predict the weather and drive away clouds from their village (with the help of sharp iron tools, a special stick used to separate a frog and a snake, a special spell-prayer, etc.) could also be called planetaries.

CHANGELING- sometimes, instead of a kidnapped child, maras place their own child. Such a changeling has an evil character: he is cunning, wild, unusually strong, gluttonous and loud, rejoices in every misfortune, does not utter a word - until he is forced to do so by some threat or cunning, and then his voice sounds like that of an old man. Where he settles, he brings misfortune to that house: livestock gets sick, housing deteriorates and falls apart, businesses fail. He has a penchant for music, which is revealed both by his rapid success in this art and by the wonderful power of his playing: when he plays any instrument, then everyone - people, animals, and even inanimate things - indulges in uncontrollable dancing. To find out if a child is truly a changeling, you need to build a fire and boil water in an eggshell, then the changeling exclaims: “I as old as an ancient forest, and I’ve never seen eggs boiled in shells!” - and then disappears.

FIELD - a spirit assigned to guard grain fields. Appearance the field worker in folk mythology is vague. In some places he appears as an ugly, small man. Regarding his kind, but mischievous disposition, the field worker has much in common with the brownie, but in terms of the nature of the pranks themselves, he resembles a goblin: he also leads him off the road, leads him into a swamp, and especially makes fun of drunken plowmen. Field workers, unlike other evil spirits, have a favorite time of day - noon. Like all unclean spirits, field workers are bribe-takers, proud and capricious. “Another old man - flourished in the boundless steppe in the middle of the feather grass, where cranes and dragons with their heads are buried and the supreme armored man With the spear together is not visible: there the old man buried himself in the ground up to his waist and endures how a loose worm gnaws at him, and he only eats the little boogers that crawl into his mouth; and this hermit is called old Polevik, and he is five hundred years old.” from "The Hour of God's Will").

FIELD GRANDFATHER(field grass, buckwheat, zhytsen) - living spirit; In the summer half of the year it lives in fields. When the grain is ripe and the villagers begin to reap or mow it, the field worker runs away from the swings of the sickle and scythe and hides in those ears of corn that still remain on the root; together with the last cut ears of corn, it falls into the hands of the reaper and in the last sheaf of the harvest is brought to the threshing floor or to the farmer’s house. This sheaf is dressed up as a doll and placed in a place of honor, under the images. They believe that her presence in the house brings God's blessing to the owner, his family and granaries.

POLISUN(Lisun, Lisovik) - the lord of the forests, whom folk fantasy depicts as shaggy and with goat legs. Identical to the wolf shepherd.

TRAVELER- a spirit that promotes human affairs and their success.

GHOST(ghost) - the soul of a deceased or absent creature that can be seen by a living person. The usual habitat is in abandoned houses and cemeteries or in the forest, next to a protected treasure. He can come to a person’s house and demand some services from him. The ghost is transparent, it does not cast shadows. The only way to escape from him is to run without looking back; if you turn around, you will die.

PROCURES - one of the nicknames of house spirits; rogues, unhearing, pranksters.

PUSCHEVIK- a forest spirit living in an impenetrable forest. “All movement here seems to have stopped; Every scream frightens me to the point of trembling and goosebumps in my body. Tree trunks swayed by the wind rub against each other and creak with such force that they cause the observer a sharp aching pain under the heart. Here a feeling of painful loneliness and invincible horror befalls everyone, no matter what efforts he makes on himself. Here everyone is horrified by their insignificance and powerlessness” (S.V. Maksimov. “The Unclean, Unknown and Power of the Cross”).

ZHANITSA- a spirit living on strips of rye. The entire plant kingdom seemed to ancient man to be the embodiment of elemental spirits, which, combining their existence with trees, bushes and herbs (putting on their green clothes), thereby received the character of forest, field or living geniuses. Rzhanitsa make holes - paths in the rye a small inch wide, along which all the ears are cut.

SHED- a yard spirit whose place of residence is a barn. Just like other yard spirits: Ovinnik, Kletnik, Ogumennik, Khlevnik, Barn, then they are peaceful, then, without any apparent reason, they begin to play pranks, fool around, causing constant disturbances and obvious losses in the household. In such cases, they take decisive measures and, instead of affection and pleasing, enter into open struggle with him.

SATANAIL(Satan) - in Slavic legends an evil spirit. The name Satanael goes back to the Christian Satan, but Satanael's function is associated with archaic dualistic mythologies. In dualistic cosmogony, Satanail is the opponent of the demiurge god. In the medieval South Slavic and Russian “Tale of the Sea of ​​Tiberias,” Lake Tiberias in Palestine is presented as a primary boundless ocean. God descends through the air onto the sea and sees Satanail floating in the guise of Gogol. Satanail calls himself a god, but recognizes the true God "Lord above all lords." God tells Satanail to dive to the bottom and take out the sand and flint. God scattered the sand over the sea, creating the earth, but he broke the flint, kept the right part for himself, and gave the left part to Satanail. By striking the flint with his staff, God created angels and archangels, while Satanael created his demonic army. “...The Magi told how God washed himself in the bathhouse, sweated and wiped himself with a rag, which he threw from heaven to earth. Satan began to argue with God about who should create man from her (he himself created the body, God put the soul). Since then, the body remains in the earth, the soul after death goes to God.”(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

DEATH- mythical creature; Russian monuments (ancient manuscripts, wall paintings and popular prints) depict Death either as a monster, combining human and animal likenesses, or as a dry, bony human skeleton with bared teeth and a sunken nose, which is why people call it snub-nosed. Death was considered unclean by evil force, which is why both in language and in beliefs it comes close to the concept of darkness (night) and cold (winter). “...Suddenly an old woman met him, so thin and scary, carrying a bag full of knives, and saws, and various hatchets, and propping herself up with a scythe... Death (it was she) and said: “I was sent by the Lord to take your soul !(collection by E.V. Barsova. “Soldier and Death”).

HURRY AND ERGOTS- spirits that promote human affairs.

SPRYYA(Prytka) - the spirit of agility, dexterity, which is born with a person and dies with him, or passes on to another. Whatever the spirit of this or that person is, that’s how he succeeds in life. This spirit helps, helps out. If the spree goes to another person, it’s obvious, they say “a second youth came to him.”

FEAR(Rakh) is a mythological character mentioned in Russian conspiracies, the embodiment of a fiery wind - a hot wind. Since ancient times, winds have been personified as original creatures. In popular prints the wind and "the spirit is stormy"are depicted as winged human heads blowing from the clouds. By popular belief, winter blizzards are caused by unclean spirits; running through the fields, they blow into their fists.

SCARECROW(Frightener) - house spirits that make fussing and knocking at night; they appear either as light, airy ghosts or take the form of various animals.

SUSEDKO- Throughout the forested north of Russia, for his willing cohabitation with the Orthodox Russian people, the brownie is called Susedko and Batan. "- And the neighbor -... Kikimora's husband - is so old... All overgrown... small, just a bunch of rags... and they live in a hut, in the yard of the cattle... they go everywhere... To see the horses... If he loves horses, he puts some hay in them... and combs them, strokes them... And with all my heart I saw at night... there was no one in the hut... So quietly. And I hear something sharply sewing on the top of the stove. And she herself was lying on the floor... When she turned her head... and from the beam a gray cat easily jumped onto the floor..."(E. Chestnyakov. “Happened”).

HAPUN(slammer, grabber, kidnapper) - an unknown and invisible creature, a character in the mythology of the Western Slavs. If a person disappears somewhere, then it is the work of an invisible abductor. Where he takes him, and what he does with him, no one knows. It is assumed that he may appear in the form of a tramp, a beggar, a soldier; “Leika, not finding her husband in the tavern, and not calling for him in the yard, clasped her hands, howled and screamed that Khapun, who had appeared in the form of a soldier, had carried him away.”(O.M. Somov. “Tales of Treasures”).

KHLEVNIK- a yard spirit living in a stable. It is named after its habitat. In the stable he manages and plays pranks. He is also an assistant to the brownie, like other yard spirits: Barn, Bannik, Ovinnik.

HOVALA(khovalo) - a spirit with twelve eyes, which, when he walks through the village, illuminate it like the glow of a fire. The personification of the many-eyed lightning, which is given the name Khovala (from “ to eat" - hide, bury), because she is hiding in a dark cloud; Let us remember that Viy, identical to this spirit, wears a bandage over his ever-burning eyes. Khowala loves to live where the treasure trove is buried. “Khowala rose from the warm barn, raised his heavy eyelids and, diving in the heavy bent ears, lit up his twelve stone eyes and blazed. And Khovala blazed, scorching the stuffy sky. It seemed as if there was a fire there, there the sky would break into pieces and the white light would end.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

THIN- evil demon; bad - trouble.

CRAP(hitnik, merek, arrow, lyad, connecting rod, kostoder, kozheder. Lame, Antipas without heels) - an evil spirit, undead, whose purpose of being on earth is to confuse the human race with temptation and lure with guile; Moreover, people are tempted according to the direct orders of the prince of darkness or Satan himself. They are depicted as black, shaggy and covered in fur, with two horns on the top of their heads and a long tail. Some claim that devils are sharp-headed, like owls, and many are sure that these spirits are certainly lame. They broke their legs even before the creation of man, during the crushing fall of the entire host of demons from heaven. The devils' favorite pastime is playing cards and dice. The devils either play pranks, resorting to various jokes, which, according to their nature, are always evil, or inflict direct evil on various forms and, by the way, in the form of diseases. To facilitate their activities, they are gifted with the ability of transformations. Most often they take the image of a black cat or a black dog. The remaining transformations occur in sequential order: pig, horse, snake, wolf, hare, squirrel, mouse, frog, fish (preferably pike), magpie. However, they do not dare to turn into a cow, a rooster, a dove and a donkey. In regional dialects, the devil is called a hitnik; they say about him that he steals everything that is laid down without a blessing. There are many stories in which the possession of gold is attributed to devils, which is why Jesus called the Jews sons of the devil for their excessive love of gold. In folk tales, the devil is often a skilled blacksmith, with which his black appearance and his presence in caves covered with soot and burning with hellish flames are in harmony.”

DAMMITS- female demons, their character coincides with cloud, water and forest wives and maidens.

DAMMIT HORSE- catfish, which the crowfish usually rides; In some areas it is not recommended to eat this fish. A caught catfish should not be scolded, lest the water one hear it and decide to take revenge for it.

WOOLLY- night demon. It can be assumed that the brownie is called woolly. People believe that the brownie is all overgrown with thick wool and soft fluff; even his palms and soles are covered in hair, only his face near his eyes and nose is bare. The furry one strokes the sleepy ones with his palm at night, and they feel how his hand is woolly. If he strokes with a soft and warm hand, this portends happiness, but if he strokes with a cold and bristly hand, it will be worse.

SHISH- brownie, demon, evil spirit, usually living in barns. Many people are familiar with the expression: “Shish for you!”, corresponding bad wishes. Shish plays her weddings at a time when whirlwinds raise dust in a column on the roads. These are the same Shishas who confuse the Orthodox. They send annoying and unpleasant people to Shisha in anger. Finally, “drunk cones” occur in people who have drunk themselves to the point of delirium tremens (to hell). The name Shisha is also attached to every carrier of news and earpiece in the ancient sense of the word, when “shishas” were scouts and spies, and when “for shishimorism” (as they wrote in the acts) estates were given, in addition to salaries, for services rendered by espionage. “Shish was naked from birth, his yard was hollow, there were no livestock, and there was no one to lock up... Shish’s property was a wooden pot and a pork horn with tobacco. There were two fake boilers, but they burned to the ground.”(B. Shergin. “Shishov’s misfortunes”).

SHISHIGA(Shishigan) - brownie, evil spirit and loitering person, connecting rod, the same as Shish. Smart housewives place a plate of bread and a glass of milk by the stove in the evening - this way they can appease the shishig. In some places, shishigi are understood as small, restless spirits that try to come to hand when a person is doing something in a hurry. “...The shishiga will cover you with its tail, and you will disappear, and no matter how much you search, they will not find you, and you will not find yourself either...”(A.M. Remizov. “The irrepressible tambourine”).

SHYSHKO- unclean spirit.

SHOOLICUNS(shilikuns, shulukuns, shlikuns) - seasonal demons, hooligans. Shulikuns, associated with the elements of water and fire, appear from the chimney on Christmas Eve (sometimes on Ignatius Day) and go back under the water on Epiphany. They run through the streets, often with hot coals on an iron frying pan or an iron hook in their hands, with which they can grab people (“hook and burn”), or they ride on horses, on troikas, on stupas or “hot” stoves. They are often as tall as a fist, sometimes larger, can have horse legs and a pointed head, fire blazes from their mouths, and wear white homespun caftans with sashes and pointed hats. On Christmastide, shulikuns crowd around at crossroads or near ice holes, they are also found in the forest, teasing drunks, spinning them around and pushing them into the mud, without causing much harm, but they can lure them into an ice hole and drown them in the river. In some places the shulikuns carried a spinning wheel with a tow and a spindle into the cage so that they could spin the silk. The shulikuns are capable of stealing the yarn from lazy spinners, lying in wait and taking away everything that is supposed to be without a blessing, getting into houses and barns and stealthily stealing lime or supplies. According to Vologda beliefs, babies cursed or destroyed by their mothers become shulikuns. They often live in abandoned and empty sheds, always in cooperatives, but they can also get into a hut (if the owner does not protect herself with a cross of bread), and then it is difficult to drive them out. In the Russian North, shulikuns are the name of Christmas mummers.

Greek and Roman mythologies are completely familiar to western man, but the West knows almost nothing about the polytheistic pantheon of other cultures. The most unknown of these pantheons are the Slavic gods, spirits and heroes, the legends of which survived the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity.

Slavic mythology has two key differences from Greek and Roman. Firstly, most of the creatures are still widely present among the Slavs in everyday images and folk tales. Secondly, the Slavic pantheon of gods is not properly documented; researchers reconstructed information about them from secondary documents. However, this pantheon is very fascinating, and, of course, it’s worth knowing about it.

Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga - bone leg

Baba Yaga is a unique creature, invented exclusively by the Slavs. Many others Slavic gods and heroes have analogues in Greek or Roman mythology, but Baba Yaga does not. At a superficial glance, she resembles various witches from European folklore. An old woman with a long hooked nose and skinny legs. She either blesses or curses the travelers she comes across, depending on her mood.

However, it also has unusual features. Her home is a hut on chicken legs that can walk on its own. And the old woman moves, if not in a hut, then in a mortar, which is controlled by a pestle and at the same time also flies. Baba Yaga, like any ordinary witch, has a broom, but its purpose is to cover up the traces of her mistress. In some legends, Baba Yaga is described as three sisters with the same names.

It is unknown when exactly the tales of Baba Yaga were born. Unlike many other creatures from Slavic myths, Baba Yaga “lived well” in modern world- certainly in the 20th century. Her vitality is partly explained by the fact that the old woman’s morality is completely ambiguous. Travelers from all over the world flocked to Baba Yaga in the hope of gaining great wisdom.

Bannik

Lives in the bathhouse

The bathhouse is an important part of Eastern European life, especially in Russia and Ukraine. In winter, people go to the bathhouse more often than usual - because it strengthens the immune system and is very good for health. In ancient Russian records, the bathhouse is often mentioned. They even gave birth to children in it. Since the bathhouse was so important, its spirit, Bannik, also appeared in Slavic legends.

Bannik is a malicious creature who rarely does good to anyone. He looks like a naked old man: shaggy and clawed. According to legend, bathers left the bathhouse after the third, or at most fourth, entry - so that Bannik could take a steam bath alone. He was constantly thanked and placated with soap. Bannik foresaw the future. You had to ask him about your fate and wait for an answer: if everything is good ahead, Bannik will pat you on the back, but if the future is gloomy, your back will feel the claws of the evil old man. If Bannik gets angry, he will tear off the skin of the offender.

In Rus', children were usually born in a bathhouse, and people came up with different ways to prevent Bannik from interfering with the birth of a baby. The midwife not only helped the woman in labor, but also had to scare away Bannik. According to legend, he ate newborn babies or tore off their skin. To prevent this, the midwife dipped stones in water and threw them into the corner of the bathhouse, thereby diverting the attention of the evil spirit.

The bathhouse was also important in the marriage ceremony. The newlyweds had to take a steam bath, and so that Bannik would not touch them, the wedding guests lined up on the street and threw pottery and pieces of rubble at the walls.

Zduhac

Weather fighter

In pre-Christian times, magic was of great importance to the Slavs. To protect people and lands from destroying spirits, witches and magicians were brought in. The zduhachi were considered the main protectors from bad weather. These were people with supernatural powers. They defended their settlement and sent disaster to someone else's.

Researchers cannot say exactly where the Zduhachi customs came from. Apparently, this is a kind of Eurasian shamanism. It was most likely brought with them from Siberia by the migrating Finn-Ugrians and Uralians. The ancient Slavs were very superstitious people, and the idea of ​​​​a supernatural protector came to their court. There was a zdukhach in every settlement. He fought with the zduhach of another village. These battles often took place in the clouds.

Sometimes the zdukhachi turned into animals and started a fight in this guise. If the zdukhach did not know how to change his appearance, he had many other weapons. For example, a staff charred at both ends, used as a magical talisman. How did the zduhač gain strength? Some legends talk about some kind of special attire, others claim that the zduhach made a deal with a demon. Legends about the zduhači are perfectly woven into modern culture, especially in Montenegro. The Zduhaci were no longer considered protectors of settlements, but widely known legends began to refer to various influential people as the Zduhaci. For example, the Montenegrin general Marko Milyanov and many spiritual leaders of this country.

Brownie

Good patron of the house

Brownies are household spirits common in pre-Christian Slavic tales. Christian missionaries managed to oust almost all pagan gods and creatures from the minds of the newly converted Slavs, but the belief in the brownie did not die out for centuries.

Brownies protected the hearth and were kind creatures. Short male creatures with a beard, they resembled house spirits from Western Europe— hobgoblins. In order to redo all matters and protect the house, the brownie often took on the guise of the head of the family. While he was sleeping soundly in his bed, the brownie could easily go out to work in the garden. At the same time, the neighbors mistook him for the owner of the house. Occasionally this spirit would also turn into a cat or a dog.

The brownie tormented the ill-mannered and unkempt wards in the manner of a poltergeist: he arranged various unpleasant pranks until the household members came to their senses and behaved as they should. The brownie knew how to predict fate. If he happily started dancing, expect good luck. If you rubbed the teeth of a comb - for the wedding. If you extinguish the candles, there will be trouble in the house. The legend of the brownie survived the twentieth century, and from time to time his image is still found in Russian art.

Kikimora

Mischievous lady

Kikimora is the opposite of a brownie. This evil domestic spirit was especially clearly manifested in the legends of Rus' and Poland. This is a witch or the spirit of a deceased person who used to live in this house. She lived underground or behind the stove, demanding food for herself, making a loud noise. Kikimora tormented and kept all household members in fear, especially if they did not keep order. She leaked into the house through the keyhole, sat on a sleeping man and strangled him. It was the kikimora that the ancient Russians considered the cause of sleep paralysis.

They scared the kikimora away with the help of complex prayers and a broom at the doorstep. It was the custom of the Poles to make sure that children cross their pillow before going to bed - then the kikimora will not come. Although meeting her was life-threatening, more often than not the kikimora only tormented the household and tried to scare them.

In dirty and untidy houses, she began to whistle and break dishes. But when she liked the house, the evil guest diligently looked after the chickens and helped with the housework. Kikimora - an important part Slavic myths, it is often mentioned in various works: literary, oral and musical. A spider, previously unknown to science, was recently even named in honor of this spirit.

Mokosh

Pagan goddess of fertility

Mokosh is a Slavic goddess of fertility, the heroine of Russian and Eastern Polish myths of the pre-Christian era. Mokosh served Mother Earth herself, the goddess of all living things, but the worship of Mokosh gradually replaced the worship of Mother Earth.

The cult of Mokoshi lasted until the 19th century, and the goddess herself is still popular in today's Russia. Although the image of Mokosha, apparently, comes from the Finno-Ugric epic, faith in her little by little spread throughout Slavic lands. This, by the way, explains the Finnish etymology of the name of the goddess. Mokosh was considered a wandering goddess, patron of spinning, childbirth and women. People who believed in her were sure that Mokosh would bestow life in the form of children and precipitation. According to legend, rain is breast milk Mokoshi, awakening life in the earth.

The cult of Mokoshi included fertility rituals and prayers to boulders in the shape female breast. On the last Friday of October, the Slavs held festivities in honor of the goddess. They performed round dances in two circles: the outer one represented life, and the inner one - death. Christian missionaries did their best to eradicate the cult of Mokoshi and tried to replace the goddess with the Virgin Mary. However, not very successfully - Mokosh still remains an important figure in Slavic mythology.

Radegast

God of hospitality and, according to one version, the punishing face of the Almighty

Radegast is one of the oldest Slavic gods. There is very little primary information about him; knowledge is mainly restored from secondary documents. The name of God consists of two words, which are translated from Old Slavonic as “any guest.” From this, the researchers concluded that Radegast was considered the patron of hospitality. According to legend, the hosts organizing the feast sent an invitation to Radegast - with the help of. God appeared in black armor and with weapons. Researchers believe that he was especially revered by leaders and city rulers.

During the meeting of the City Duma, it was customary to call her head Radegast. As a result, this god became iconic for the politics and economics of the Slavs. Collecting myths about Radegast is not easy, because Christian preachers eradicated his cult with special zeal. On Mount Radgost, located in what is now the Czech Republic, there once stood a huge statue of Radegast, but the missionaries Cyril and Methodius destroyed it. According to one legend, in 1066 the Slavic pagans sacrificed the Christian bishop Johann Scotus to Radegast. Such acts forced the missionaries during the conversion to Christianity to put an end to the cult of Radegast, so most of the primary documents were lost.

Chernobog

The most famous and the most unknown

Chernobog - the most famous to the population Slavic deity. He appears in the Disney animated feature Fantasia and plays a major role in Neil Gaiman's popular novel American Gods. By the way, the book is going to be filmed. Oddly enough, Chernobog is one of the most abstract gods in the Slavic pantheon. It is almost impossible to find primary sources about him, and secondary documents are provided mainly by Christians.

The first mentions of Chernobog were found in the writings of the 12th century. They belong to the pen of Father Helmold, a German priest. According to Helmold, the Slavs performed rituals dedicated to Chernobog: they passed a bowl around and whispered prayers designed to protect them from this deity. From Helmold's works, researchers learned: Chernobog embodied evil. He wore a dark cloak and was the devil himself. It is unclear whether this myth prevailed throughout Rus', but in its north it was absolutely widespread. The image of Chernobog is similar to the image of more ancient god evil, Veles.

Veles

Perun's evil brother

At any ancient mythology Usually there is one god who personifies all the evil in the world, and another supreme god, personifying all that is good. Among the Slavs, the role of the evil god went to Veles. He is constantly at odds with his positive brother, the thunderer Perun. The importance of Veles for the ancient Slavs is confirmed by many sources. Veles possessed supernatural powers and patronized the earth, water and the underworld. He was related to magic and large livestock.

According to legend, Veles entered into battle with Perun and was defeated. And although there are no primary sources to support this myth, researchers have recreated it by analyzing Slavic folk songs, secondary records, and comparing them with other Indo-European myths. The Slavs believed that Veles and Perun fought continuously. The good brother protected the world from the evil one. However, temples were also erected to Veles - mostly in lowlands and depressions. Veles was also known as the patron of music and prosperity.

The ancient Slavs did not have a clear division between good and evil, so they did not perceive Veles as exclusively bad. However, Christian missionaries, who dreamed of putting an end to Slavic paganism, began to assert in their sermons that Veles is a Christian devil. Thus, gradually the images of Veles acquired features characteristic of Satan described in the Bible.

Perun

The embodiment of goodness and justice

Although not all researchers agree in their views, but still general opinion This is: the ancient Slavs considered the thunderer Perun the supreme deity of the entire human race. It was he who was most often written about in the old days, it was he who was most often depicted. For the ancient Slavs, Perun was the main god in the pantheon.

The god of war and thunder, he rode a chariot and wielded various mythical weapons. The most important was the magic axe. Perun threw it at the wicked, after which the ax itself flew back into the god’s palm. He also used stone and metal weapons and fire arrows. When Perun wanted to completely destroy his enemies, he resorted to magic golden apples. They were a talisman of complete destruction and devastation. For his heroic nature, Perun was portrayed as a strong, strong man with a beard made of bronze.

In the legends, Perun more than once entered into battles with Veles for the human race and always won, expelling his evil brother to the underworld. That is why Perun was considered the most important deity.

In 980, Prince Vladimir the Great erected a statue of Perun in front of his palace. The influence of Rus' grew, and with it the cult of Perun spread throughout Eastern Europe. Having appeared in Rus', Christian preachers began to disabuse the Slavs of their pagan faith. In the east, preachers declared Perun the prophet Elijah and proclaimed him a patron saint. Western preachers replaced Perun with Saint Archangel Michael. Over time, Perun became associated with a single Christian God, however, his cult did not die out. He has survived to this day, and fans of this cult annually hold festivities on July 20 in honor of the pagan thunder god.

Slavic mythology is full of stories about creatures, half of which we don't even know. Good or evil, they are firmly entrenched in culture, and stories about them still circulate today.

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