Intro On Slav Pantheon And Religion

Author: * Ryurik Skotkonung - 9 Posts on this thread out of 61 Posts sitewide.
Date: Apr 1, 2006 - 23:42

The Role of Religion among the Russian Slav and the Varangian

Deities of Note

Perun - The god of the Thunderbolt/Thunderclap was worshipped intensely in Kiev by the Russian princes, who descended from the Varangians. From this fact, we see the direct correlation between Perun and the Scandinavian god, Thor. As the Larousse World Mythology states: “Both deities were Lords of the Storm and Masters of the Lightning.” This would have made the Varagians transition into East Slav culture more seamless due to the close relationship in the culture’s pantheons. It is said that the Slavs and Varangians would place arms [weapons] at the feet of a wooden [oak?] statue of Perun in Kiev. On the banks of Lake Ilmen near Novgorod, a circle of stones surrounded by a deep ditch thirty-eight yards in diameter was found in the neighborhood of Perynia [Perun resemblance]. In 988, the Christian religion was adopted by the Slavs and Varangians. Thus, this sacred circle was destroyed along with many other tangible pagan elements.

Velos - The god of cattle, prosperity, and commerce.

Mokos [Mokusa] - Some believe that the goddess is Finnish in origin [name also is a Finnish surname]. The goddess wanders during spring disguised as a woman visiting houses, guarding sheep, and fleecing them herself. Slavs would put strands of fleece on the stove at night for her.

Troian - Known throughout Russia and the Balkans as a demonical creature. In the Balkans, Troian was known as a god of the night who had wax wings just like Icarus of the ancient Greeks. The most likely theory that scholars have proposed is that Troian – was taken/created from the Roman Emperor Trajan, whose official Roman cult could have influenced the Slavs in Dacia.

Pereplut - This god was worshipped by taking a drink from a sacred horn. Perhaps, he was also the god of fortune.

Religious Archaeological Evidence
In Vschstiz on the banks of the Desna, a gorod [fortified enclosure] led to the discovery of a holy place of significance. It was semicircular in shape and bounded by ten wooden pillars. At the foot of these pillars, several ceramic vases were found laid out and in the center of the semicircle archaeologists found traces of the brazier [a pan where charcoal is burned].

In Pskov, the sacrificial remains of a horse and ceramic vases were found in a gorod there.

One of the greatest finds occurred in 1848 at Liczkowce in the Zbruch [Zbrucz] River. The Swiatowid was found. The item was given this name due to the fact that it had four faces crowning a stone pillar – two male and two female. Do they represent the four cycles of the year? I have yet to find a definitive answer from the scholars.

The Dawn of Christianity
In 988 CE, Prince Vladimir was baptized in Constantinople and upon his return to Kiev he had his famous wooden statue of Perun dragged by a horse through Borytchevo to the Dnieper where he had several men beat the idol with sticks and curse at it. They mocked the devil that had used the statue to deceive men in the form of Perun. Finally, the statue was cast into the water and shortly after the population of Kiev was mass baptized in the Dnieper.

Sources [So Far]

Larousse World Mythology Editor: Pierre Grimal [Professor at the Sorbonne]; Paul Hamlyn: New York; 1965; pgs. 405-407